THE KEEPERS
Part 3
By Elizabeth

"How do I quit this gig?"  
 
Chaim sighed. "This is not the time or place to get 
cold feet, dear girl."  
 
Rhea stamped one bare foot testily, a testament to 
blazing fury in the simple red satin shift she'd 
been given to wear. "I look like a high-priced 
hooker! I'm NOT wearing this getup!"  
 
"You will undergo a drastic physical transformation 
during the ritual, one that will surely destroy your 
own clothing." Chaim explained heatedly. The old man 
briefly cursed the lady's stubborn fire, even as he 
reveled in it. "Unless you wish to perform the 
ritual nude, you will wear this garment."  
 
Rhea opened her mouth to shout again, then froze. 
After a moment, she closed it.  
 
"No use wrecking my favorite pair of jeans." she 
murmured. "And as much as I instinctively care about 
you, there's no way I'm gonna do this in the buff." 
She tugged at the shift absently and huffed. "All 
right, let's just get this done then, huh?"  
 
Chaim smiled gently as victory came to him.  
 
She is truly a child of Fire, he whispered 
silently to the Demon Lord within him. Worthy of 
your power. I am sure she will never make you regret 
your choice.  
 
Power whispered through him, and for the first time 
in many decades, he felt the deep growl of his 
master ripple through his mind.  
 
A dish fit for a king. Begin, Prince Chaim.  
 
Chaim motioned for Rhea to stand beside him, in the 
middle of a circle he'd drawn on the floor in bright 
red chalk.  
 
"Ready?" he asked her, opening a weatherbeaten 
leather volume in his hands.  
 
She looped her arm through his, taking a deep 
breath. Slowly, she nodded.  
 
Chaim gazed at the yellowed, crumbling pages of the 
book he held. When he seemed to find the page he was 
looking for, he smiled and began to chant.  
 
The language he began to speak in was completely 
alien to Rhea, a harsh guttural tongue that reminded 
her of a distant thunderclap. However, something 
about the strange words Chaim uttered called to her. 
An unbidden power swelled in her chest, not from 
anything magickal but solely from her. A sense of 
self-awareness that was almost painful, a confidence 
and strength she never thought herself capable of 
feeling. She could see her own limitless potential 
unfurled before her eyes like a fine tapestry, and 
it gave her a sense of surety about everything she'd 
ever known. She was invincible, she was all knowing, 
because she knew the most important thing of all: 
herself.  
 
Chaim continued, and as he chanted the feelings 
changed. The power soaked into her bones, her very 
core, and she knew it would never leave. In its 
place began to spark another sensation that was far 
more intimate. Warmth spread over her skin as her 
body began to tingle. Passion filled her body as 
readily as power had, setting every nerve on fire. 
Her breathing quickened, her muscles clenched as the 
tide of sheer feeling enveloped her. Slowly, she 
slipped her arm out of Chaim's, afraid of what the 
passion might drive her to.  
 
Strangely, though, she felt no desire. The feelings 
she was having seemed to be sexual, but the craving 
for contact with warm human flesh was not there. 
What she felt was far more powerful, even more 
primal than the drive to mate. It was both purely 
physical and intensely emotional. Her very soul 
soared, ignited by the power within and fueled by 
the universe itself. Every cell was consumed, 
burning in the core of a pure white flame. Rhea knew 
then and there: this was what it was to truly feel.  
 
Chaim's inflection changed. A chill wind touched 
her. The tide shifted.  
 
Furious hatred consumed her. She continued to burn, 
but the flame had changed from cleansing white to an 
angry red. She felt anger, hate, sorrow, spite...all 
with an intensity that terrified her. Her hands 
twitched visibly with the sudden impulse to wrend 
human flesh. She craved the feel of warm human blood 
pouring through her fingers, drenching her skin in 
hot liquid life.  
 
What is happening to me? she asked an unknown 
entity, falling to her knees. In the background, she 
knew that Chaim continued to chant even though she 
could no longer hear him. Her ears roared, her flesh 
ached, her spirit bent to the force that was 
consuming her.  
 
I'm going to die. This is all some horrible game 
and Chaim is trying to kill me.  
 
You cannot destroy that which does not wish to 
perish. Is it your desire to die now?  
 
No! I don't want to...but I can't beat this! I'm 
not strong enough to beat something so terrible! 
 
 
You have tasted true power and known pure depth 
of feeling. Now you burn in the fires of passion and 
blacken in the corruption power brings.  
 
I don't understand...  
 
Each aspect has two sides. Good would not be good 
without evil to mirror it. Even the sun must be 
obscured by the blackest of clouds, otherwise there 
would be nothing to reflect its flashing glory.  
 
Rhea's raw, exposed arm tingled as she felt a gentle 
touch upon her bicep. She looked up from the floor, 
where she now cowered on all fours.  
 
Her eyes met that of a monster.  
 
The spirit that she had seen standing behind Chaim 
only two hours before now stood before her, in the 
flesh. His vicious armor gleamed dully in the dim 
light of the room, his red eyes had gone dark. Two 
warm black irises now gazed gently into her eyes, 
full of something that Rhea could only describe as 
affection. His glossy black hair hung around his 
shoulders, drawn away from his face at the top. The 
stark black and white batwing visage that she beheld 
was strangely comforting.  
 
The being's fingers encircled the arm he touched. 
With an infinitely careful grip, he helped her to 
her feet. Rhea was shocked by the grace of the 
creature, not to mention its carefully controlled 
strength.  
 
"My Lord." she heard Chaim sigh behind her. She 
turned to see that the old man was kneeling before 
the demonic spirit.  
 
Rhea turned back to the Demon Lord. "I still don't 
understand all this."  
 
There is nothing in all of Creation that does not 
come without a price, a throaty growl whispered 
in her head. If you join with me, you will pay 
that price. No passion without pain, no power 
without responsibility...and no love without hatred. 
For the life you experience, you will also know 
death in a hundred different forms.  
 
"Chaim." she whispered.  
 
The Demon Lord nodded. That is one. You care for 
him unquestioningly...without knowing why or how. 
Yet you will see his end.  
 
She turned away from the Demon Lord and stared at 
Chaim, still kneeling. She bent to touch his 
shoulder, bid him return to his feet.  
 
When Chaim rose under her touch, his snow white 
tangle of hair was jet black and glossy, hanging to 
his shoulders in a cascade of curls. His worn 
features were smooth and flushed, his brown eyes 
lively with life and youth. The heavy, ragged 
clothing he wore hung loosely on a young, firmly 
muscled frame.  
 
"Oh God!" Rhea breathed.  
 
Chaim looked down at himself, stared at his hands 
which now stood free of liver spots and lines. He 
flexed his fingers.  
 
"I have not been able to do that without pain in 
centuries." he sighed, his eyes closing 
ecstatically.  
 
Rhea hugged him, then trembled with shock.  
 
"You can't keep this." she realized, pulling away. 
"You're going to die."  
 
Chaim smiled broadly and nodded. "I am still 
content. I've lived longer than I could ever have 
dreamed in my mortal life. I've seen so much, and 
I've aided Mankind in ways no one could ever even 
conceived. I have lived my life..." He paused, 
reaching to touch Rhea's cheek, "...and I have been 
able to know you. For that, my Lady, I will always 
be grateful."  
 
Rhea flinched when she heard the strangely formal 
tone he used, then caught sight of her own face 
reflected in Chaim's glittering eyes.  
 
Her red hair had turned a deep wine color and 
literally sparkled, like rubies had been woven into 
each individual strand. Her black eyes had bled out 
to the whites, making them deep, endless pits of 
night. She now understood why Chaim made her change, 
because the simple shift had torn and now lay around 
her ankles. Her back had sprouted wings. Dragon's 
wings, larger than her whole body. They were deep 
scarlet spotted with black, with thick glossy scales 
covering them. She reached back with a newly taloned 
hand to touch the flesh of one, and was surprised by 
how supple they were. She could feel the touch of 
her own hand in this new extension of her back and 
shivered.  
 
She felt the Demon Lord come up behind her, felt his 
gloved hand touch her bare shoulder. A shudder 
passed through her body and the strange feeling 
between her shoulder blades disappeared. She knew 
that her wings were now gone, her nails short, and 
her appearance normal once more.  
 
The Demon Lord turned her around gently and gazed 
into her eyes.  
 
This is only a shadow of your true nature. The 
blood of The Red Dragon flows through your veins, 
makes you a worthy mate for me. Renounce me, and you 
will return to your life as before, no memory of us 
will remain. Your blood will be purged and you can 
live as a human. Join me, and you will die. You will 
die, and shall be reborn as what you have seen.  
 
Rhea stared at the Demon Lord, and in the blackness 
of his eyes she saw the world as she perceived it. 
Everything she'd ever thought and felt about 
anything was reflected in those depths. She realized 
that Chaim was right...this being was her soulmate. 
He didn't just share her spirit...he was her spirit. 
The Demon Lord embodied all the strength and passion 
she'd always had inside, reflected the fire she knew 
lay in the world around her.  
 
"I'm in." she whispered. "I'll pay the price and 
join with you." She paused, remembering Chaim's 
likening of this union to a wedding. "You just 
better not snore."  
 
The Demon Lord grinned, showing off a set of fangs 
rivaling those of any vampire. An incredibly long, 
serpentine tongue snaked out and ran over his lips 
hungrily.  
 
You are a spicy dish, my child...I shall enjoy 
sampling your delicacies.  
 
"Well, first you gotta finish this thing. How do we 
do that?"  
 
The Demon Lord stepped forward, reaching up with a 
discreetly clawed hand to stroke her hair. He leaned 
forward, and Rhea allowed it, her nudity forgotten.  
 
When his lips touched hers, she didn't resist. Rhea 
only fell into the sensation of his incredibly warm 
touch, of his electric lips on hers.  
 
She didn't even notice when the flames began to burn 
around them, consuming the pair in a pillar of 
ancient hellfire.