Forest of sorrows

[Silquestnocte]

Red Gypsy

Elise could feel color starting to rise in her face at his compliments and small touches. She was used to flirting, but wasn't quite so used to someone flirting back quite so easily.

"I'm Elise. Don't assume that you'll get a taste just because you have a pretty face Brim" She teased. Actually, he probably was going to get a taste. Good looking men were a hard breed to find most of the time, and then they had a tendency to already be tied to someone else already.

Elise turned her eyes downward and sighed as she thought of how she had gotten here. One moment, she had been sitting on the floor holding a candle as the spell required, the next she was sitting in a clearing. "I don't really have much of a choice in the matter of me going back or not. I'm hopeless with magic, a failure when it comes to it really. I was with nearly a dozen other witches and wizards, there's no way I'm getting back on my own power. I just can't do something like that." Just like that, her mood had done a full 180 as her mind filled with the thoughts of her own ineptitude with magic.

"It's ridiculous, I have the power, but it never works. Never has... I'm probably the worst witch to walk the face of the Earth." Her thoughts continued to spiral down further down into the dark grey of depression. The grass beneath the horse began to brown around the edges and whither as her power began to eat away at it. Brimstone would soon begin to feel an unpleasant prickling sensation as her rouge magic would try and eat him away as well. Although most living things besides plants had enough energy to keep from being killed completely, it was still not fun to feel something akin to sandpaper trying to wear you away.  

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Brimstone was fully ready to be sympathetic to her plight when he felt her start to sap at his life energy. That couldn't be tolerated. But he knew instantly that the key to getting her to stop was to snap her out of the depression cycle. No amount of talking was going to do it so he simply did what he did best.

He raised one hand and cupped her face with a thumb under her chin then kissed her. But that was a tame word for what he did. He didn't just kiss her, he took over her mouth and used his innate ability as half incubus to trigger a minor desire in her instead of the depressive spiral she was headed for.

He figured that lust and desire had to be better than depression and despair, after all. Besides, it could only help his new quest to get her in his bed.

What he wasn't counting on was her taste. She was like honeyed wine and sent his mind reeling. His hand at her thigh tightened a bit, letting out an involuntary moan as his other hand cradled and tilted her head back a bit more so he could deepen the kiss even more.  

[Silquestnocte]

Red Gypsy

Elise stiffened as the demon kissed her, but then promptly melted into his embrace. Like a blanket, the weight of her magic was lifted as her subconscious decided it would invest itself in the sensations the demon was sparking inside of her. When he moaned, she turned her face away and leaned back just far enough for Brimstone to watch her eyes go from dazed to furious. A crack resonated through the trees as what felt like the slap of an angry woman impacted the side of his face. But her hands hadn't moved from where they were still gripping her purse. Most of the time, she would have been upset that she had lost her grip on her own magic not once, but twice in the matter of moments. But right now she was quite satisfied, she had been about to raise her hand and do the same anyway, and now she didn't have to bother.

"What in Oblivion was that!", she fumed. He may have enjoyed a flirty witch on his lap, but Brimstone probably wasn't going to enjoy an angered one.  

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Brimstone had to grin at her fury over the kiss, completely unrepentant. Gods, she was beautiful when she was pissed off!
"Well... You're not depressed and trying to drain me now, are you?" he pointed out to her in total honesty, knowing that he'd been right to distract her.
As he looked her flushed face over, he didn't bother to hide his very obvious interest, "And you're beautiful when you're pissed off, by the way," he couldn't resist adding that in.
At least he'd introduced himself before he'd kissed her, and it been a very nice kiss, so he wasn't sure what she was complaining about.  

[Silquestnocte]

Elise tsked her tongue. "Well... I suppose you did manage to distract me." She huffed before letting her arms cross themselves over her chest. "Still, you shouldn't touch a lady like that uninvited." Her only acknowledgement of his compliment was the slight coloring of her face, she wasn't about to grace him with a response to that

It had been a nice kiss indeed, but loosing control was something she was trying to fight, not give into.

Red Gypsy

 

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Brim threw his head back and laughed at her openly, living every bit of her attitude. He took control of himself enough to be reduced to a chuckle and used one hand to raise her chin so she could get a good look at his amber-flame eyes, "Perhaps where you are from, Witchling, but not here. Here my status as a demon demands that I am not only able to defend myself from all attacks, but must also prove myself worthy of any female. Believe me when I say that I have dealt with alot worse than a little draining. If my kiss restored you to thinking clearly and flinging verbal bards at me, then I consider it a job well done. To admit that it was one of the better kisses I have ever had is simply being truthful to you," he said honestly, delighting in the blue fire of her eyes.

He released her chin as his other hand directed the horse to turn around and head for the castle, making sure she stayed in his lap easily, "And if I tell you that I am hoping to repeat my impertinent action, I am again simply telling you the unvarnished truth. I know I deserved that slap from you but I find that the threat of another is only wetting my appetite for another taste of the honeyed wine of your mouth," he added as horse began to trace a slower pace back.  

[Silquestnocte]

Red Gypsy

Elise huffed at his response, and look pointedly away, but she did arrange herself so her back would be leaning against his chest as they rode. For all her bluster, it seemed that she was alright with how things were going. After a few moments of silence, she spoke up. "So, the demon realm huh? And you're a demon?" Elise hummed to herself before craning her neck to look up at Brimstone. "That means I shouldn't trust you until I've bound you or something. Eh, whatever." She shrugged and and went back to leaning against him.

The area was lovely, light filtering through the leaves, a strong chest to lean against. Enjoying a bit of a vacation for a few days in a new place wouldn't be too bad. After all, there were quite a few witches who would never have a chance to even glimpse inside this realm, the source of the majority of their summonings. But here she was, snuggled up against who she was nearly sure was an incubus judging by the way he was acting. "So, where are we going Brim?"  

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Brim gave another of his soft chuckles as he slid his free hand around her. To keep her from falling off the horse, of course.
"I can almost hear your mind working, Witchling. Yes, you're in the demon realm, with a demon who is quite likely more trustworthy than your former companions, I'm guessing, if they managed to con you into a spell that sent you here. These days it's almost impossible to transport here by accident. Especially after what happened with the queen-to-be," he said as he neck-reined the mare through a brook then onto a more obvious trail.
"As for where we are going.... I don't think I'll tell you. I am justifiably proud of my home realm and don't want to prejudice your opinion with foreknowledge. So simply enjoy the ride through the misnamed Forest of Sorrows. If you're lucky, you might get to see more than just the odd carrabuck or two," he finally decided that taking the scenic route might not be a bad idea.
If they were both lucky, they might run into one of the Drow. Still, he thought she might like to see the roses of the Cliffs of Blood...  

[Silquestnocte]

Red Gypsy

Elise's forehead wrinkled as she considered the fact that she may have been sent here by her friends. Well, Jacklyn was still pretty upset that she had accidentally killed her prized succulents, but that wasn't exactly something you banished your friend to the demon realm for.

"Hm, well, trustworthy or not, you're the only person I've run into, and I don't exactly know where to go in order to get help..." She squeaked a little when some of the chilled water from the stream splashed onto her ankles, more out of surprise than anything. Her hands gripped the arm around her waist as a reflex to the cold. Hoo boy, those were nice biceps. Her attention was momentarily drawn to the intricacies of Brimstone's hands and forearms. So sue her that she wanted to appreciate little bits of beauty when they crossed her path.

"I guess that's fair enough to not tell me where we're going, but if it makes you feel better, I remember next to nothing about demonology besides a few traits of some of the more common species. I wasn't exactly a top student. I'm going to react in various stages of surprise and awe like a tourist probably." Just about everything she was going to see and experience here was going to be relatively new.  

[Red Gypsy]

Silenced Nocturne

Brimstone directed the mare towards the Cliffs of Blood easily, taking the route slowly. Along the way, he made sure to point out the various wildlife they came across: the carrabuck he'd expected that were the demonic version of whitetail deer only with larger horns and deep red coats, a few tree hares that were almost a squirrel with rabbit qualities and a chameleon-like fur, a raptor high up in the canopy, and a rare demon-steed. The last was one of the stallions that didn't have a herd yet, taller than a normal horse and built like a war steed, this one had violet eyes, a deep grey coat, and silver main and tail. The stallion simply watched as they passed by then resumed his grazing.

Brim explained all of it to Elise as they moved along the trail. He slowed to a lazier gait as they approached a river and a break in the trees, finally stopping so that she could take in the Cliffs.

While the six hundred foot waterfall was impressive as it flowed down into the river, he found the roses even more impressive. Their vines covered the entire cliff face in a riot of color, from the many hues of the blooms to the deep redish green of the leaves. The latter had given the cliffs their name.

He leaned in next to her ear, "I give you the Cliffs of Blood, Witchling," he whispered to her as he inhaled her subtle but intoxicating scent and reminded himself that she likely wouldn't appreciate his thought of taking her right there on the soft moss next to the river with the Cliffs and waterfall as witnesses. Though the image in his mind had to leave her with little doubt of his attraction thanks to the position she had on his lap...

In truth, he was extremely grateful for the distraction that the little witch presented to him. She was keeping his mind off of other things that were demanding his attention. But since there were no solutions to his current problems, he was more than happy to help with the problem currently sitting in his lap...  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Brimstone was out riding int he forest again, this time allowing the stallion he was riding to run as much as he wished. Riding was the only thing that kept him sane these days. Harrow was getting worse as each day passed and his only refuge was staying at Lareth's castle as Harrow's representative on the Council.

He was still uncertain about going to the king with what he knew and the king's distraction with the wedding and his queen's pregnancy helped Brim out because it allowed him to think and kept the king from noticing any... inconsistencies in his behavior.

He raised his head as he neared the edge of the forest and noticed someone walking into the forest with a crossbow. He pulled his horse to a slow stop and sat back in the saddle casually, "So, what brings you to the Forest today?" he asked politely.

One thing about brim that everyone agreed on: he was always polite. Of course, he also fostered the image that he was a useless fop, but that was only for the benefit of his uncle and his spies. It hid the fact that he had a very keen and intelligent mind and the image hid it all very well....

He only had to hold out just a little longer... Just until his sister was old enough...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Into the fires of battle!

Red Gypsy

Wuflric Von Shadowfang

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Wulfric paused when he heard someone, looking in the direction of the voice he noted the man on the horse and casually walked over to him “the call of the hunt beckons me into the forest, I hear that there is one who has been terrorizing the people so I’ve been contracted to hunt this person and put an end to their deeds” Wulfric stopped at that point and just looked at the man curiously, his scent had already told him that he was a unique demon, perhaps one of the Elementals he’d heard stories about once, hard to say for sure but one never knew in the demon realms. His eyes eventually looked away towards the forest and noted that while the name did indeed was one thing it’s appearance was something entirely different and not a place befitting such a name, the smells though did cause his stomach to rumble slightly noting that he hadn’t eaten anything in a while, and while he did have rations with him nothing tasted better than that of freshly killed game, and knew he was going to have to go hunting at some point before he reached his destination so that he could begin his hunt. The smells of the forest caused his eyes to change briefly to an orange color which only showed he was going to be hunting sooner than later.

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Unto the anvil of war!

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

We may have to remake the Forest in VI Main Areas... If so, you can post in the Castle Courtyard and move from there.

Brim noted the eye-color change and gave an understanding smile at the sound of his stomach growling and shifted in the saddle only enough to keep the stallion in place, despite the beast's desire to continue running. Demonic HellHorses were a trial to ride most days, but not for one of his clan. Thankfully, the smell of the horse kept anyone from guessing what his clan was.

"Well, I can help you out, surprisingly. Esabel's been out of the realm for about a week or so. But I can direct you to Sebastet's island; Esabel seems to like her graveyard for some reason. If nothing else, you'll be able to get a food hunt in while you're there. Sebastet's been very clear that her island is a true sanctuary to shifters of all flavors as well as other races. I can open a portal for you to get there. Thankfully, the Council was required to do a bit of a walk-over there a few weeks ago and my uncle missed it. So I know where to bring you out there. I'll put you between the castle and the forest," he explained, a bit of his foppish mask showing in the process.

He turned a bit at the waist and formed a simple portal for the male with the destination clearly visible on the other side. Thankfully, it only smelled a small bit of his namesake and the smell would dissipate quickly once the male was on the other side, "That is, if you don't mind the help..." he added with a teasing half grin.  

[Wolfe Garm]

Into the fires of battle!

Red Gypsy

Wuflric Von Shadowfang

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Wulfric wasn’t one to ask for help since he’d spent most of his time doing things himself, but one thing was certain this fellow was more informed than those he spoke to about the contract. Finally, he spoke up “matters not to me come if you must I’ll have no objections, so long as I am able to hunt my prey is all that I care about” his eyes were focused on the portal for a moment before his stomach growled again, lowering his head he sighed and continued “though it seems my hunt will have to be delayed until I can eat” Wulfric was slightly annoyed he hadn’t eaten anything before he took this contract which wasn’t like him usually he ate something before he started a job so that he wouldn’t waste time on anything else and remained focused on his hunt, this time though it seems he was going to have to put aside time to hunt for a meal before he could start the hunt that would be essential for him to be paid.

Standing he finally looked at the man and bowed slightly before he walked through the portal unsure if he would follow him or simply leave it at that, regardless he was going to have to set up camp after he got there and went hunting.

[leaves area by portal]

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Unto the anvil of war!

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Brimstone gave a returning nod to the male as he stepped through the portal and closed it once he was on the other side. He stared at the spot for a moment then gave a soft sigh as he looked down briefly, "I wish I could go with you..." he whispered to himself.

After that one brief moment, though, he pulled himself back together and gave the horse his head, allowing him to run as fast as he wished back to the castle...