Lovers' Oath

Author's Note:

Alright, Chapter 7. Sooner than chapter 6, but not as soon as I would have liked. It's short, yet, hopefully, good. As usual, thanks to my wonderful editor Gabriel who took time out of his exhausting schedule to do the editing and polishing this chapter, And a huge thanks to my readers who regularly read and vote and comment and again wait for the next chapter. Now go enjoy the chapter.

*****

"SHE DID WHAT?" Rohan bellowed into the communication unit plugged into his ear, making Kahun wince at the receiving end.

"Sir, she went back in to retrieve Chief. He couldn't get out before the explosions started and got trapped inside the burning factory." The vampire supplied.

"DAMN IT!" Rohan cursed loudly. At the show of his temper, everyone inside the Hall stopped in their tracks and warily eyed him at his seat in the communication center. Suddenly he sprang up to his feet and hurriedly typed in a few commands and watched a particular satellite feed of the currently burning and collapsing factory on a side screen with a frown.

"Sir do you want us to go back in?" Kahun's voice disturbed his thoughts.

"Absolutely not!" Rohan sternly commanded, "Come back to base with those darned data cells intact." After a brief silence, the steely reply came.

"Copy that. Over and out."

Once Rohan was sure that the vampire would obey his orders, he whirled in place, his commands ringing out to each corner of the building as he spoke into the internal communication system,

"Daniel, Rubin, Rogers, Joyce, Maurice, report to the armory in five minutes. Sarah, Louise, to your circles please, prepare a transport." Wheeling around to a very stunned Johan, he instructed, "Send out another team of 20 operatives to follow us by road within 10 minutes. No humans, only vampires and Weres."

"B..But... It will take you at least 2 hours to reach the factory." Johan confusedly stuttered.

"That's why my team won't be using the conventional modes of transport. The witches will transport us directly through their circles." Rohan gritted out before he walked away to meet his team in the armory, not taking another look back at either the comm center or the hall, both of which had already burst into a frenzy of activity as operatives sped around purposefully, preparing for the emergency mission.

*****

Heavy smoke was making it difficult for her to breath. She coughed loudly, laboring to supply fresh air to her lungs. Slowly blinking, she looked up at the smoke covered sky, not quite aware that she was lying on a mount of debris, more of which continuously fell down around her. Gasping for breath, she sat up straight, her eyes quickly adjusting to take in the burning building to her side, on her other side a high wall obstructed her view. As she remembered how she had gotten there, she jumped up to her legs.

"Crap!" Rayn cursed under her breath, not daring to do so loudly in case a demon heard her. As she looked for a point of entry into the building so she could get to Kiel, she gingerly touched the back of her head with a finger, wincing as it grazed the spot she had hit on a chunk of concrete when she had fallen down from the high boundary wall, causing her to black out. As she felt the ground shake and hadn't yet found an entry, she panicked. She was losing precious seconds, each of which may be taking Kiel closer to death, on top of what she had already lost having fallen unconscious. After another searching glance, she decided to seek entrance to the upper floors. Surely, all this rubble having fallen away, there must be a crack from which she could get entry.

As she turned around to look up at the high wall, she again cursed her luck. The wall on this side was smoothed away unlike the outer side, making it impossible for her hands to find holds on it. Unfortunately, she hadn't yet been able to shift fully into any of her Were forms - despite Sam and Priyal's best efforts. The bigger size would have been very handy at this situation.

"Desperate times, desperate measures." She muttered and closed her eyes, searching within herself for a touch with her beasts. Suddenly another howl of a wolf pierced the skies. Opening her eyes, her head snapped in the general direction of the howl. "Kiel..." She whispered worriedly.

A small part in the back of her mind noted that he must have been able to evade the demons for a little while, he had moved from where he was last time he had howled. He was still alive. 'Alive, but injured.' Her heart fluttered. She suddenly realized her vision had changed. Everything now seemed sharper, and - red. Looking down, she found a glistening set of claws adorning her finger tips. "Wonderful." She bitterly muttered. She wanted a full shift, but it seemed her beasts had other ideas. Only comfort was, the long claws would help her grip better. Not wasting another moment, she jumped up in the air, trying to cover as much initial height as possible, and landing on the wall, she clung to it with her claws which dug deep gashes into the wall, then quickly scaling it, pulling up on the narrow strip of wall within a few seconds.

As Rayn ran swiftly on the narrow top of the boundary wall, she felt another blast shake the grounds.

"Damn it!" She angrily muttered. The more the blasts continued the harder it became for her to locate Kiel. She still kept running, having only a slight idea where he was based on the last point his howl had come from. As she found an opening into the building where a portion had blasted away, leaving only the contorted concrete structure open from the ground up, she promptly jumped in, landing softly on a narrow strip of metal that was part of the concrete skeleton of the building. As she half ran, half jumped around and over the fallen away floor, her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of glistening black fur three floors below, her view only slightly obscured by a part of the floor below. With a light jump forward, she caught a rod protruding from what once was supposedly a pillar above her, and swung herself to land on another metal bar that was almost directly above where Kiel was. Squatting down on it precariously, she glanced down at the situation below. As she took in Kiel's position, she was immensely relieved at having found him when she did. Kiel, in his hybrid form, was completely surrounded by at least 12 demons, only five of which were lower level demons, all the rest of them higher in the hierarchy - very capable at fighting, and fighting with speed. With a silent prayer to the Gods, she took out her guns, feeling slightly uneasy as the cold metal contacted her new found, equally cold and sharp claws, and jumped down to land in a crouch beside the snarling and bleeding Kiel.

As she landed softly by his side, Kiel whirled, thinking a demon had been able to come close to him and lifted a clawed paw to rake down its front, only coming to a halt a second before he did so. His stark blue eyes took in the terrible beauty before him, smiling up at him. He sucked in a startled breath as he recognized who that beauty was.

'Marvelous.' His beast purred, momentarily forgetting his surroundings, the danger, everything. The human part noted she looked equally dangerous, 'But marvelous, nonetheless.' The beast agreed with an animalistic growl of desire. Only if those damned demons weren't around, he would claim that dangerous beauty right now. Her eyes were completely golden, no iris was visible, neither any of the white parts; her smile revealed two rows of sharp, pointed teeth, glistening in the fire; her dark hair fanned out behind her, framing her pale face in perfect contrast. As he watched mesmerized, she lifted one clawed hand up at him, a gun held firmly in it with its muzzle pointed right at his head and said,

"Duck." and fired twice in succession just as he had managed to get his head out of the line of fire. Whirling around, he found a demon crumpling to the ground a few feet away from him. Two more shots rang out from her guns, doing away with another demon. Hearing swift heavy foot falls behind him, he turned around just in time to stop a demon about to take out Rayn. Snarling, he vaulted up, grabbed the demons head and as he landed, snapped it away from its body with a powerful jerk, utilizing the demon's own body weight to make the jerk effective. As he heard her shooting away and the ground shook as the demons fell, he felt new hope that they would yet live to see another day, because she was with him.

Standing back to back with Kiel, Rayn didn't feel an ounce of the worry that had been eating away at her heart a few minutes before - before she had found him. She had nothing to worry about now. They were together. And that was all that mattered to her right then and there. As they made short work of two more demons, she smiled darkly seeing an opening to a side that should lead them out of the building. Inch by inch they fought their way towards that opening, unaware that with each inch of ground they covered, more and more demons seemed to join their enemies. What was once 12, now almost had grown to 30 or so growling and ever advancing demons, almost chasing them towards the opening.

*****

"What do you mean it's taking time?" Rohan irritatedly asked Sarah. With a sharp look, she lifted up her chin stubbornly,

"We're not getting enough energy to open the Gate. A few more minutes are all we need. And silence helps." She coldly supplied, again starting to chant and walk around the circle, pausing at strategic points as the other witch also did the same on the other circle. As both of them came to the point where the two circles touched each other, the two women held hands and with closed eyes started to chant louder, the air around them thickening.

"What's happening, why isn't the Gate opened yet?" Someone asked in a quiet tone from behind Rohan. As he turned around, he found Rogers standing there with a frown.

"Their flow of energy is disturbed. They can't get enough energy to open the Gate. This is their third attempt." Rohan muttered to the other man, his eyes glued to the air around the women which was now taking an oblong shape. As their chanting increased pace, suddenly the now mist like shape fractured down the middle and scattered away. The women staggered back from each other.

"Fuck." Rohan growled, trying very hard to control his temper. As he desperately watched, the two women again started drawing the circle without a pause, and again started their chanting. From behind him, Rohan heard a slight shuffling,

"Yes, 'Fuck' indeed. This has never happened before. Something must be blocking the Line. Excuse me. I'll be back in a moment." Rogers muttered and left as he saw Rohan nod.

*****

"Coming this way was a mistake." Rayn slightly panted as she again evaded clutching hands of another demon and slashed down at its arm with her sharp claws, successfully detaching it from its body. "We are trapped."

"No. This indeed is the right way out. That's why the demons are trying so hard to keep us in." Kiel coolly supplied as he decapitated another demon.

"Well, I hope you are right, then. We don't stand a chance otherwise." She muttered. Things had gone from bad to worse in the last ten minutes. Her ammunition for the guns had almost melted away. When she had finished all the bullets, she had felt as if the fight had just started. There were more demons now than when she had started firing. They only had her bare hands now to defend themselves.

"Remind me why you don't have a blade?" Kiel demandingly growled from mid-air as he tried to vault over one demon and land on its scaly back.

"I didn't exactly have a lot of time to get out of the van. The explosions kinda ruined that." She almost ran up the length of a pillar and jumped back into a slight clearing amidst the growling and clutching beasts. Landing in a crouch, she kicked out, taking a demon off its feet, and panted, adding, "Besides, I didn't think there would be so many of these fucking bustards. I'd estimated about 12-15 before jumping in. Where the hell do they keep coming from, anyway?"

"No idea. Some underground bunker, possibly." He replied before growling viciously as he tore down the middle of two demons with his claws.

"Where did your daggers go?" She asked, eying two of the demons who currently advanced at her, trying to decide which one to go for first.

"Two of these fuckers decided they felt too good inside them and fell down with the daggers beneath them. Didn't have time to get them back." To Rayn's astonishment, he hadn't tired yet, despite having taken most of the fight onto himself, away from Rayn.

"Ugh..." she gasped as a demon managed to land a disorienting blow on her jaw. As her head reeled from the punch, she felt another blow hit her across her chest, causing her to get thrown back several feet and into another demon's reach. Even as she tried to get her bearings back, she felt the foul stench of the demon's mouth that was descending towards her throat.

"No." Kiel growled as he saw the beast lift her bodily holding her throat. A gurgling sound came from her throat. Snarling, he momentarily disregarded the demons advancing on him and instead, started to cut through the beasts like a crazed animal. As he saw the demon's talons puncture her throat, drawing blood, his heart clenched, despairing that he would be too late. Only if he could cover a couple of feet more...

As he snapped another demon's neck blocking his way, he saw in his peripheral vision her body going slack. With another growl he lunged at her captor, his arm outstretched to grab the monster's throat in his claws.

Even as Kiel's claws dug deep into the foul beast's arm with which it held Rayn, another demon threw a heavy punch at his middle. The blow made Kiel stagger back a few steps, his claws ripping out a large chunk of flesh off the arm of the demon that was restraining Rayn. Roaring in rage, the demon dropped the now limp body of Rayn on the floor and whirled towards Kiel, the black blood dripping from the wound falling freely on Rayn's deathly pale face and neck.

*****

She felt the pain as the demon's talons dug into her throat. She felt the blood start to drip from her wounds. Her thoughts were in frenzy. Even as she thrashed and dug her own claws into the demon's arms, she realized it was futile against its increasing hold on her throat. The demon wasn't merely killing her; it was killing her slowly, enjoying each of her desperate attempts at freedom as they failed to deter her death. The demon slowly increased its pressure on her throat, gradually cutting off air supply to her lungs. As blood flowed out of the punctures in her throat, she felt the darkness coming. '

No'

She frantically thought. They weren't out of enemy territory yet. What would be the point of her dying if she didn't manage to accomplish the task for which she had come back in the first place? If she died, Kiel would be alone, and would not be able to make it out alive.

'No. That wouldn't do.'

As the thought formed in her head, she stopped thrashing, hoping against hope that would make the demon drop her, thinking she had died. To her disappointment, the demon didn't immediately discard her.

She heard Kiel's furious roar, felt the jerk when he attacked her captor, and then, her whole body burst with pain as she hit the cold stone floor. Gasping silently in pain, she tried hard to just lay there for a second and catch her breath. As she inhaled, the sharp pain on her throat threatened to overtake her awareness. She felt the darkness clouding her consciousness again. The air she was getting wasn't enough, and with every passing second, her strength diminished as blood flowed out of her wounds. Something was dripping on her face and neck, something cold, and foul smelling. She tried to pull her head away from it, but her body didn't cooperate. The liquid slowly seeped into her mouth; her tongue tasted a bitter liquid -a liquid unknown to her. She again tried to coax her body into action. Still, her body remained limp.

She heard Kiel's snarl. She even heard the sound of a demon's claw slash through his body. Her ears told her he was circled by, two... no, three demons. Her nose told her he was bleeding profusely, his body must be marked with long gashes from which blood flowed freely. The air was thick with his scent. She heard the '

snap'

as he broke one of his attackers' necks. She even heard him panting as he tried to come towards her, pushing through the demons. She felt him drawing nearer. He was close. Just a few steps more. Her heart fluttered in anticipation of feeling his touch. So close... She could hear his heart thumping on in a wild rhythm... in worry. He was worried she wasn't alive. He would know when he touched her. Blood still flowed in her body.

She felt the ground vibrate as rapid footfalls approached Kiel from behind. With a loud thud Kiel's knees collided with the ground as a massive club hit his head from behind. As she heard the second blow hit his chest, she heard the painful crunch of rib-bones breaking. His body hit the ground not even a step away from her. Her own heart fluttered in panic as she heard his heart falter.

'No. Please, no, no, no. You can't die. Not now. Not here.'

She heard him yelp in pain as a demon kicked him.

'I won't let you die.'

she felt something snap inside her. Some... binding restraint... Just broke. She felt a fiery heat start in her body. Her eyes snapped open, a vicious growl emanating from her throat. As she stood up, almost without any effort, she found herself head to head with the demons. Her height had increased. As she stepped forward and ripped down the front of the first demon within her arm's length, she found that her claws had extended as well. Everything around her was in sharp contrast. Every movement she made was blindingly fast, yet her vision didn't falter. She didn't even need any effort to easily decapitate the first few demons. As she crouched over Kiel's body, the throng of demons retreated a little, maintaining distance as they formed a circle around them. Every now and then, one of the vile beasts would break away from the circle, snarl and then again retreat. Not paying attention to them, she glanced down at Kiel. He was covered with wounds. Long gushes marred his back. His black fur covered with blood - his own blood as well as his enemy's. Shaking his head, he tried to lift himself up, but fell down as his arms gave away.

Lifting her eyes back up, she found the demons much closer. They had moved in, closing the circle in on them. Snarling, she crouched down, her claws ready to defend herself and Kiel. But even with her increased speed, she knew it was impossible to cut through the innumerable demons now surrounding them. As her eyes darted around, she felt a sharp pain start at her left arm. The pain started from a point on her lower arm, then like a heated metal flowing through her veins, reached to her fingertips. She didn't get the opportunity to look down at her arm as a demon broke rank and attacked her from the left. Without thinking she slashed out with her claws. To her surprise, right before her claws made contact with the demon's flesh, a hilt of a dagger formed at her left palm, her hand instinctively gripped it, and a curved blade appeared just as it slashed through the demon's head. Looking down at her right hand, she found a similar dagger take shape almost out of the air.

'The Bloody Pearls.' Her brain only had a second to register the weapon as familiar, before the circle around her rapidly closed in. Without wasting time, she started slashing through the numbers with her new-found weapons. As she heard several demons approach her from behind, instinctively she made a backward stabbing motion, and the straight blades came out of the hilts, going straight through the demons' throats. Without missing a beat, she twirled the hilts, swinging them forward, and the straight-blades cut out of the flesh as if going through butter, successfully decapitating three more enemies as she made a half-circular turn.