The Contrast Ch 09

Rose was exhausted. The whole day she was either helping the innkeeper in the kitchen, or she was cleaning the inn. Nevertheless, she was pleased with the result. The kitchen and the whole inn were clean and shining, the customers had their stomachs filled, and she even got some meat and sweets as a reward. Rose decided to prepare a delicious dinner for the two of them, using the meat and sweets she got plus some cheese and vegetables. She could have asked for some wine, but she didn't have the money. Nonetheless, Rose was sure that Balok would enjoy everything she had prepared. It was almost night time when she had everything ready. She wondered where Balok was and when he would return.

She sighed and dropped on the chair, her eyes closed. The incident in the kitchen came back to her mind´s eye. The innkeeper was right. She SHOULD have got a burn, but there was nothing at all. As if she was imune to the fire. Rose was confused and worried. She had to tell Balok about that. Surely, being of elven kind, he definitely had some magical abilities and some kind of knowledge about magic. She was human, so this was weird; the fire was supposed to leave some kind of mark on her hand. She was also glad, that the innkeeper thought he imagined the whole thing. She knew that she couldn't explain to him what happened.

The door to their room opened and her dark lover entered with a thoughtful expression on his face. He smiled as he saw her, showing his snow white, slightly sharpened teeth. Rose wondered if he had found the person he was seeking and what that person actually told him.

"Hello Rose," he said, "did you get bored while I was gone?"

"No, I helped the innkeeper in the kitchen." Balok frowned at this. "I simply couldn't sit here doing nothing at all. Don't you worry, nothing bad happened. He was nice to me and gave me some meat and sweets as a reward. I also asked him for some vegetables and cheese, because I wanted to make dinner for us."

Balok approached her and took her in his arms, beginning to kiss her passionately. His kiss made her melt away and she almost forgot about the dinner until she heard his stomach growling.

"I would rather devour you, my dear. But my stomach won't agree with me and the food you prepared smells delicious and it would be such shame to waste it." Balok said to her. Rose giggled at that. She would not mind if he wanted to devour her because that was exactly what she wanted to do to him. They sat at the table and started to eat. The atmosphere was pleasant, but Balok noticed the worried expression on Rose's face. Was he so deep in his own thoughts not to notice that?

"Rose, are you alright?" his eyes were fixed on her. Rose looked at him.

"I do have to tell you something."

"So have I, Rose."

"You go first."

"No, you go first, because I can see that something is troubling you."

"You also look troubled Balok... but never mind. While I was working in the kitchen, something happened." Balok stared at her half surprised and half worried. "No, no... nothing like THAT happened. The incident was very strange. I was putting dough in the stove when a small flame caught my hand. The innkeeper was scared and tore me away from the stove. He told me, he thought that he had seen the fire burn me, which was true. The flame had indeed touched my hand, but I felt no pain at all. There is no burn, see?" Rose showed him her hand. Balok was confused and a little worried. "I had to convince the innkeeper that he had merely imagined the whole thing. I don't know what happened and you are the only person I know who possesses some magic and also the only person I trust, Balok."

"Maybe I should have told you this sooner... during our travel, when we were sleeping; you always pushed away your blanket in your sleep. I would cover you again only for you to push it away again. It was as if you were so warm that you didn't need the blanket."

Rose stared at him, as if he had two heads. More than once she tried to speak, but no sound came from her lips. Balok was also worried now. For the first time in his life he felt useless; he didn't know what to say or what to do. It was crystal clear that something was happening with Rose and he didn't know what. This fact led him to his decision. He would take her to Vetehinen. Perhaps that sage knew how to help her.

"What is happening to me?! Please... Balok, help me."

"Rose..."

"Did I...did I cause the fire in the brothel?" she was nervous and Balok wished he could say something to calm her down.

"Please, calm down. You see, when I found Vetehinen and talked with him, he said that he wanted to meet you and talk with you. Maybe he knows something. We shall go to him first thing tomorrow."

"You told him about me?! Did you tell him about my...work?" She was worried. What if that man knew about her, about Madame Ruby and the brothel? She didn't want to be exposed and for a moment she believed that Balok had told him everything.

"Certainly, I would never say something like that. That is a matter merely between you and me." His expression was weird and Rose could not figure out what it was. It was obvious that Balok was slightly annoyed and the tone of voice when he said it made clear that he meant it. But the thing which caught her attention was that strange expression on his face. It was almost...as if he would blush, but there was no trace of redness on his black cheeks. Rose tried not to giggle and Balok noticed it. "This is not funny, you know. That man has an excellent sense of smell. He even knew that it was only a few hours since we both had sex ..."

Rose was now laughing while holding her stomach. Yes, this was embarrassing, but also so ridiculous that she could not help herself. Balok stared at her; he was surprised, annoyed and glad at the same time. Yes, he was annoyed because she made him remember what Vetehinen told him, and glad that she seemed less worried and in a better mood than before. The two finished their dinner and went to bed. This time they didn't make love but only cuddled.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

The blonde vampire was stroking himself in the night. His eyes were closed in sadistic passion as he was pleasuring himself while bringing back the memories of his Meadora. He recalled their passion and the way she would make him climax. Why the hell she chose a human rather than him? After all he gave her the gift of immortality. He wanted her for himself and couldn't bear the thought of her being with another man; despite her decision. A decision that made life a living hell for the both of them. They could have lived forever, dominating over other beings. But of all races, Meadora chose a human. Her heart belonged to a simple human being, the lowest of all races! How that happened was still an enigma to the blonde vampire. He screamed as he climaxed, his bloody seed covering the snow beneath his feet.

Recovering from his orgasm, the vampire smiled. Now it was time for the hunt, but he still wanted to know something more about the drow he heard of. He had a vague idea about what kind of task the drow could have; but he wanted to see his level of power. Surely, the race of drows could not be described as weak; even the weakest of them had some kind of great power or skill. The vampire could attack the drow right now, but he wanted to know whom he was dealing with. He would wait, observe and listen. He had to be ready and needed enough information about the drow before he would attack him.

As for the little bitch, all he knew was that her power was growing; but he didn't know her current level of power. He wondered if he would have to kill her to steal her power; or if he could simply take what he longed for, keeping her as his slave. If he let her live, he would certainly make sure to make her life as miserable as possible. He would torture her in every possible way and make her wish she was dead. Unfortunally his former plan didn`t work out too well, because his most loyal servant made a big mistake. Instead of making Rose´s life a living hell, his servant acted like a useless fool and then the damned dark elf destroyed his plan. He had to use some other tactic to gain what his dark soul craved most.

++++++++++++++++++++++

Rose was nervous while they were walking through the town. Although Balok had told her that Vetehinen only wanted to talk to her, she was worried. What if he knew everything about her and wanted to take her back to her native city? By law, everyone who found an escaped slave, or in her case a prostitute, had the right to return this person to its master; even by using force. A gentle squeeze on her shoulder brought her back to reality. His amethyst colored eyes were watching her confused as the dark elf suddenly stopped in midstride which made her realize that she had also stopped. They continued their way side by side.

"I told you, he only wants to talk to you and if there will be some kind of danger, I won't let you get harmed," Balok said, breaking the silence between them. It was a bit strange for him because since they´ve met, they were talking a lot getting to know each other. This was different.

"I know that, but I have the feeling that this is not a good idea. I have the unpleasant feeling that something bad awaits us. That is all, call it women's intuition if you want, but I just know."

"You know, it's good to listen to your intuition, so maybe you are right; and no, I won't laugh at you. I believe you, but this will be merely a simple conversation. Vetehinen will speak with you about something and if he tries to capture or hurt you he better watch his back." This made Rose giggle. When ever she was with Balok she felt safe and she liked that feeling. Surely, she never wanted to use him by any means. She knew that sooner or later she would have to take care of herself without having him by her side to protect her. They continued walking when Balok felt a snowball hitting his back. He quickly turned around only to see Rose smiling at him with a snowball in her hand.

"You said that man should watch his back, but what about your back?" She wanted to think of other things, and to quit worrying. Balok couldn't refuse the challenge and grabbed some snow, made his snowball and threw it at her. He was attacked again with a snowball. For some time they kept throwing snowballs at each other, as they continued their way. Balok liked the playful side of Rose. He wished he knew what was going on with her, but he only had some ideas and wasn't sure about them. Either way, he believed that she was stronger than it seemed. All she needed in her life was freedom; and in his opinion she had at least achieved this freedom halfway. With new knowledge about herself and her possible abilities everything else would fall into place by itself. What ever it was that was going on, he was sure that Vetehinen knew something that could help her.

This time it was easier to reach Vetehinen's house. Lust like Balok on his first visit, Rose was amazed by the ancient beauty and décor of the house.He was glad that Rose was trying to be brave. This girl succeeded to surprise him again and again and that was one thing he liked. Rose wasn't someone who would give up easily, she just wanted to know. And here they were; at the place where they would find the answers to their questions. The door opened and they stepped inside and went upstairs.

"Welcome, please have a seat," said Vetehinen. This time the room was changed into some kind of lounge with a large coffee table and three cream colored armchairs. Balok actually wanted to remain standing, but when Rose accepted the invitation, he decided to sit down too.

"Now, child...," said the man as he looked deep into her eyes. "I suppose you have already heard of meand I know this comes somewhat suddenly, but I wanted to talk to you."

"Yes, Balok told me that you will give him some advices if I accept to come." Balok watched her and noticed that Rose didn't seem to be nervous; just like him when he visited Vetehinen for the first time.In the presence of this man one could feel simply comfortable and totally relaxed.

"It may be a bit confusing, but I assure you that there is a reason why I insisted to see you. Please, tell me what happened yesterday."

Rose gulped and tensed a bit; but remembering Balok´s promise to protect her, and her own promise that she would be brave she told Vetehinen everything she could. He listened to her without interrupting, his face fathomless. The more Rose told him the more relaxed she felt, she even had the feeling that she was safe; there was something reassuring that seemed to emanate from the man with the green hair and beard. She even told him about her life in the brothel and how she and Balok met.

"This is very interesting indeed. Please, can you describe to me how you felt when you were sick?"

"Well, it felt like I was burning; like I was thrown into flames. I couldn't leave my bed and I was always sweating."

"Very well..., now I will ask both of you... have you ever heard about 'the elementals'?"

"The elementals... yes, I heard some things about them," said Balok. He was slightly confused by the whole conversation between Rose and Vetehinen. However, this question sparked his interest to participate in the conversation. "I have heard that they are a very special kind of witches and wizards. Their power is greater than that of a 'simple' witch or wizard. But I do not understand..."

"Your knowledge is correct. Only a few actually know about them; and only a small number of them live among us, and they don't expose their powers very often. Rose... I believe that you are one of them; that you are an elemental."

"What?! I am a witch?" Rose was stunned and so was Balok.

"The elementals are so named, because they possess power over one of the elements. There are four elements: water, air, earth and fire. It seems that you have control over fire. That is why you did not get hurt in the kitchen. The element you control can´t harm you, but you are vulnerable to the other elements."

"But...that would mean...," she lost her voice and her face lost its color. Balok immediately knew what she wanted to say and his hand gripped hers.

"I am afraid so... but child, it was not your fault. You didn't even know that you had that power. Besides, I can assure you that no one except that man died in the incident." He smiled at her worried expression.

"But, how do you know that. You weren't even there. How can you know?"

"I do know, believe me. You should not feel guilty. You have merely destroyed the brothel and killed an evil, sadistic man with no heart; which was not such a bad thing. Actually, it was rather an accident than an act of killing and you know that."

One could see that Rose was troubled; actually even scared because of all the information she had just received. Balok could see that she was deep in thought. She had wanted to know what was going on and now she was trying to absorb and accept what Vetehinen had told her. Even the dark elf was surprised; the information about the elementals was both important and scary. Never before was he scared, but measured on what the sage had said about them, the elementals were very powerful and dangerous since not everybody knew about them.

"So what can I do?" asked Rose after few minutes. "Can I somehow get rid off my power? I am afraid I might kill an innocent. If I had power over one of the other elements I wouldn't mind."

"No child... you can't." His voice was gentle and a bit sad. "You were born like this; neither can you get rid off your power nor can you change it. You don´t have to worry though, all you need is training."

"Are you able train me? Apart from Balok I don't know any other person with magical abilities, let alone one that could train me." Rose was looking for a solution to her dilemma and there was also hunger in her eyes; hunger for knowledge.

"I could train you. Even though, I am not an elemental, I know exactly what is required to do so. The question is, will you be able to trust me and do you accept my offer?"

Rose stared at him, as did Balok. The sage patiently waited for her answer. It seemed like she was inwardly struggling with herself. Balok wanted to say something... to help her somehow, but he didn't want to have an influence on her decision. He knew that he was not skilled enough to help her and he wondered whether she trusted Vetehinen enough to accept his offer.

"I accept," Rose said, "and I will promise you to do my best, sir." When he heard this, he smiled at her sympathetical, for he was satisfied with her decision. Balok and Rose said goodbye to him and left the house with the promise to come back the next day.