The Contrast

"So Rose, do you feel any better now that you know what is going on?" Balok asked her. They were walking in deadly silence. Rose was quiet with a pensive expression on her face which worried him. He would have felt more comfortable if she would not have avoided looking into his eyes on their way back to the tavern.

"I don't know. I should feel relieved, but I am not." She spoke almost in a whisper.

"He said that it was not your fault, that the man which tried to rape you died, so don't blame yourself."

"But what, if I REALLY killed him. What if there is blood on my hands?" Finally she dared to look into his eyes; her emerald eyes searching for something, as if she needed the proof that she was indead innocent.

"I know you didn´t want do it. There is no blood on your hands and you know that." The dark elf wanted to assure her. From the depth of his soul he knew that Rose didn't kill that man. By the Moon´s grace, she was pure, completely pure. He reached out to hold her snow white hands, but Rose jumped like it was the most dangerous thing in the world.

"Rose... what...?" He didn't like this; he didn't like this at all.

"I am sorry, I am just nervous because of everything that happened. That is all. I only need some sleep."

Balok stared at her. Part of him was insulted that she refused to let him hold her hands, but an other part of him wanted to comfort her. He knew that she was very tense and nervous, but who wouldn't be? To discover that you have great magical abilities was a heavy burden. Not only that Rose wasn't aware of that, but she was also very young and so to say a novice in this game. For a moment Balok wondered what she would have done if Vetehinen had not made the offer to train her. He didn't want the answer to that question.

"Allright, just relax and please stop worrying." He received a strange look from her. It was like she was fighting a battle within herself. They continued walking in silence; each of them in their own world. Eventhough they were walking side by side it felt as if there was a huge distance between them. Two strangers in the night just like at the beginning. He knew that there would be a time when Rose would need him, so he let her have it her way. He almost had eternity, he could wait. The right time would come.

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

"That cursed filthy drow! If it wasn't for him I would have had that pussy all for myself!" the gang leader yelled with anger. His crew nodded in unison. Never before had they seen him so angry, almost furious because of some girl. Those who were with him to witness the battle between him and the drow knew that their leader wouldn't give up so easily.

It was not common for a werewolf to just let go of a female, despite of her race, once he has chosen her. He would hunt her down until the very end, but they knew that the drow was very strong. "What are you going to do boss? " one of his gang asked him.

"I will wait for an opportunity to come. I must find his weakness." But the truth was that he knew very little; he didn't know how to challenge the drow.

"If you wait too long, it may be too late for you to have the girl," said a voice out of the shaddow of the dark street where they currently were. The werewolves all turned around and saw the tall silhouette of man leaning against a wall.

"Who the fuck are you? If you are looking for trouble then you just found it!" the leader said. His voice was threatening, almost like a wolf's growl but the stranger didn't even flinch.

"Just someone who could help you getting the girl, but I will demand payment." They stared at him.

"And why would I need your help motherfucker?" asked the leader.

"That´s because you failed to rape her because of the drow," he said calmly. The whole gang instantly shifted into werewolves and lounched to attack him, but the leader stopped them.

"Stop! You said because of the drow. Do you know him?"

"Sorta. Lets just say I have some unfinished business with him," the stranger replied calmly. "So do you accept my offer or not?"

"You said you need payment. What do you want?"

"Blood," was all he said. The stranger came out of the shaddow and the werewolves stared stunned at the vampire. Now they knew why they were so strained in his presence. It was in the nature of vampires and werewolves to hate and fight each other. Like predators fighting for a territory, they wanted the bigger part for themselves. The leader changed into his wolf form and along with his pack attacked the vampire. All of them were lying on the ground in no time; the vampire was too strong for them.

"As I said, I could help you getting the girl and my payment is blood. I have no intention to fight with you cubs" the blond vampire said with a smirk. He looked at the pack leader waiting for an answer.

"What is your name vampire?"

"Balthazar... Balthazar Maestri. So do you accept my offer?"

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

Rose was struggling in the bed. Again she dreamed of her being chased by angry people who wanted to burn her like a witch. But in one single moment the dream changed and she saw a beautiful young woman with long black hair and curvy body. She had the smile of someone who knew exactly who she was and what she could do and have if she wanted to. She was dressed in a long black and orange dress and somehow she resembled a gipsy. The woman was walking on a street, as if she was searching for someone. The next moment she turned and stared at Rose. Her gaze was so piercing that Rose felt a chill running down her spine and when she saw the evil smile on the woman's lips Rose screamed.

Balok wrapped his muscular, black arms around her. Rose was screaming and she didn't even recognise him when she finally opened her eyes.

"Shhh... you are safe. It was only a nightmare. I am here and you are safe with me." Balok was rocking her gently back and forth. He wished he could help her, but he was not the master of dreams and had no influence on her dreams. Rose calmed down somehow when she heard his voice.

"Again... again people wanted to kill me, although I did nothing to harm them."

"It was just a dream and now you know why you dreamed it. It is a reflection of your fear of hurting others. You command the fire, but you have yet to learn to do that properly."

"I don't know Balok. It was this woman who..."

"What woman?" the drow blinked at her. Of who had Rose dreamed of? Was she someone from her past life in the brothel?

"I saw a woman in my dream. She had black hair and was very beautiful, but there was something evil in her. Something evil in her eyes when she looked at me. I wanted to escape."

"Tomorrow you will go to Vetehinen, tell him about your dreams. He may help you with that." He was moving his hand up and down her back. There were strange things going on. Things he could neither understand nor predict. He kissed Rose to calm down her even more. The kiss was supposed to comfort her, but the drow suddenly found himself getting aroused. He continued to kiss her face; every part of her face. Rose was enjoying his attention and was kissing him back. For a moment, she tensed when she felt his hand cup her breast.

"Balok..."

"It's ok Rose. I want you to forget about the dream for now. I want you to focus on my touch. Believe me, there is no better cure for nightmares than pleasure." He said as he undressed the both of them. It would be a lie to say that he just wanted a release. No, he wanted to make her feel comfortable and to forget her dream. Yes, he wanted to take her, but it wouldn't be just for his pleasure, but for the pleasure of both of them.

He let his lips travel from her neck to her breasts, her stomach and finally down to the core of her womanhood. She held her breath as he kissed her there and more. Balok was exploring her with his mouth while he held her hips with his strong hands.

"Balok...ah...you are unbelievable. You don't... know what you are...doing!" Rose moaned. Oh, he knew what he was doing and wanted to make her speechless with his actions. He liked her taste like the rest of her. Balok liked Rose, her beauty, her courage which somehow was buried by her uncertainty, her worry provoked by the information of her powers. He liked everything. It felt completely natural to be here with her, feeling her hips moving against his mouth. When she came he got up and entered her. Their sex was gentle this time, they took their time. In her passion she scratched his back with her nails. Suddenly he got up and Rose stared at him.

"Don't worry; I just want to get something," he assured her. Rose was still confused. Why did he leave her and got out of the bed? Her eyes were searching for an answer and then she saw the flask of oil. She didn't need any further explanation. She knew what that was for, some of the prostitutes frequently used oil to avoid pain.

"Do you want to do that?" she asked him. There was a brief silence before he answered.

"It's my fantasy, but we won't do it if you feel uncomfortable with it. It's not my wish to bring you pain."

Rose thought about it. Balok really never hurt her and always cared for her pleasure beside his own. She also knew about anal pleasure and that some women enjoyed it. But back in the brothel she could easily recall the screams of pure pain because some of the customers liked to take a prostitute unprepared, enjoying her suffering. Rose thought about it for a moment and decided to give it a try. She smiled at him and rolled on the stomach.

Balok soaked his fingers in oil and brought them to her ass. He gently massaged her to make her relax and then massaged her opening. He never hurried and let her body adjust to his fingers. He must have done it right because Rose let out a pleasurable moan. He smiled as he felt her body extending enough to let him in and he positioned himself above her.

"Relax, we will go slowly. Tell me if you feel pain." Rose nodded and he entered her. The feeling was strange, not like their usual sex, but it wasn't unpleasant. There was no pain. He began to move gently and slowly increased the speed of his movements; always paying attention to her. Together they came to the point when they could not control themselves any longer and Balok let out an animalistic scream and climaxed inside her, which took her over the edge aswell. Spent and tired, they fell asleep.

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

"Now pay attention on this child," it was the first instruction that Vetehinen was giving her and Rose was very careful to remember everything he was going to teach her. "There are four types of elementals: fire, water, earth and air. Each of them has special abillities connected to his or her element. Since you are a fire elemental, we will start with the basic control of your element."

He put some logs in the fireplace, but didn't light the fire. The sage told her to stay in front of the fireplace. Rose looked at him and then at the logs.

"Raise your hand and spread the fingers. Yes, just like that. Now I want you to focus your attention and thoughts only at the logs and to let your energy flow."

Rose swallowed... to tell the truth she was very nervous. What if something went wrong? But she had to do that. She forced herself to calm down, doing what he asked of her. Her palm started to glow and a small ball of fire appeared. She threw it at the logs and the ball hit the target, but it didn't cause a fire, only a few sparks emerged.

"It´s alright child, I didn't expect this to be perfect at the beginning. Do it again."

This time the fireball was stronger and a small fire was burning in the fireplace. Rose was pleased with her work. It was still scary that she was capable of doing it, but now she wanted to learn and get to know her powers. They practised with fireballs, throwing fire and to control the power. That was the hardest part of the training and by the end of the day she was exhausted. When she was finished Balok, who was waiting for her and occasionally watched her training, took her back to the inn.

"So, how do you feel? Any better?" he asked. The reason why he waited for her was not only because he wanted to watch her training, but because he wanted to escort her safely back to the inn.

It was notlike she couldn't defend herself. She could by now if she used her power. But Vetehinen insisted that Balok had to protect her now, to make sure she didn't have to use her power; at least not until she knew the basic rules. Like Vetehinen said, she was like a baby dragon... powerful, but without the knowledge to control herself. In other words, she could be very dangerous and the result of using her power right now would be fatal. The drow chuckled to himself, just like playing with fire.

"I learned to throw fireballs. It was intimidating at first, but later I got used to it." She indeed sounded content and there was also a sparkle of happiness in her eyes and Balok was pleased. "Vetehinen explained that I must focus on the object and clear my mind when I lounch a fireball. It's not hard, but I have problems to control the power."

"Well, we can stay here as long as it takes you to master your power. I have plenty of time."

"But what about your people? You have to inform them about what Vetehinen told you."

"I already told them. I talked with one of my people through the crystal ball and that person will tell the others. They needed the information, not me really."

"Who did you talk with?" Rose asked.

"Well,...uh...I talked with a very trustful person. I don't know the proper word in the human language to describe it to you." This was the first time that Balok lied to her.

Rose studied his face, his expression, seeking for something. He felt really bad that he lied to her, but he didn't want to scare her. Especially didn't he want Rose to know about HER. Eilistraee herself knows that it would be too risky for them to meet each other.

Rose gave up and let it pass for now. It was not like they were married, he didn't have any obligation or duty concerning her person. The very thought brought a small wave of sadness to her heart, but Rose decided to ignore it. It was no use to even think about it. They were strangers and lovers, nothing more. There would be the moment when they would seperate from each other and she would be broken hearted if she let her emotions lead her.

"Are you too tired for a little walk through the city?" Balok asked her. She didn't even notice that they stood there in silence. Yes, she was tired but she also wanted to see the city and she wanted to go to bed without feeling completely sad.

"I would love to. Let's go."

"Allright then."

Their walk was slow and comfortable. The city was as beautiful in the moonlight as it was during daylight. He showed her a place where the habitants were having a cockfight and it seemed that a red one was going to be the winner. But his opponent was not going to give up. Somehow that black roster mesmerized her, as if he wanted to send her a message not to give up despite everything.

They betted on the black rooster and in the end he won. People congratulated them and gave them the price, a small necklace with an emerald pendant. Balok gave it to Rose and she tried to protest but he said that although they betted together, it was her idea to participate in the first place. In the end she accepted and thanked him. The necklace fitted her very well and she like it. They turned to leave when someone from the group behind them shouted at them.

"Do you know that the emerald is a gem of steady love?"

Both of them seemed to be confused and looked at each other only to move faster toward the inn. Rose´s face glowed as if she had a fever and Balok´s expression was hard to describe. They didn't say a word until they were in their room. Balok let out a heavy breath.

"I am sorry,"she said.

"Sorry? Sorry for what?"

"I was my fault that you feel uncomfortable."

"You did nothing wrong. It was that person who shouted after us. But the necklace fits you excellent."

"Thank you. I really never had any kind of jewellery. I will treasure this one."

"As for what that person said about the gem, it's just a story. Believe me, where I live there are a lot of gems and drows use them for magic, healing and trade. Gems can be used for many things, but they can't change, control or affect emotions."

Rose nodded, the gem was beautiful, but somehow she couldn't get those words out of her head. Steady love... something that she would never experience. No one would love her. No one would care for her. Balok was her lover and she liked him, but he didn't have any deeper feelings for her than maybe friendship. Yes, the term fitted. One weird friendship based on sex and trust.