An Ethereal Love

Shan’s feet sank into the sand as she came to a stop. She hated the sand, the heat, just about everything here. The sand always got in her socks, and the temperature was almost too much to bear. Her amythest eyes drifted over the dirty buildings of Delu. They were as dull, ugly, and dirty as she remembered them to be. Over the short, square buildings loomed the ridged structure of Sheinron’s castle. Just for while … and then I’ll never have to see it again … She closed her eyes with a short smile on her lips. Just a little while longer and then she would see him again. Shan didn’t have any clue as to how he would do it or when, but she trusted and believed every word he had last spoken to her.

“My love ... take heed, for the Gods have summoned me. My time on this Earth is over, and it is time for me to enter the realm of the Ether. I promise you, it is escapable, and I will find a way to be within it and within your presence here at the same time. Tell Terrin that I am glad to have had him as a friend ... and remember ... I shall see you again, however ... the date of this return is still ... quite ... unknown. Farewell, my ... l ... lo .. lo ...”

And the Heaveflame closed his eyes, his Earthly body forever useless.

“Whatcha lookin’ at, sweet cheeks?”

Shan turned her head to see a group of filthy Dark Elves. Their white hair glimmered with grease in the hot sun. The leader of the group must have been the one to speak. His dull, brown eyes were narrowed mischeivously, and his lips were cracked into a horrid smirk showing his yellow teeth. I forgot how much I hated this race … The gang was taking refugee under the shade of a near by building. Shan had been standing just out side the street that lead into town. She forgot that she had been staring blankly into nothing.

Shan’s face fell into its normal impassive stare. She looked away from the gang of male Dark Elves and continued on her way down the dusty, cobble street. Her pointed ears picked up the shuffle of their feet as they fellowed. Damn … Their foot steps quickened. The half elf leaned over to the right of the street and quickly side-stepped into an alley. She turned around quickly to see them all file into it. Perfect, I also forgot how dull-minded they are. The leader with the yellow teeth smiled again, making her skin crawl. I’m glad Tokumaru’s teeth look nothing like that …

“Hey, sweet-thing,” he jeered as he sliped a nine-inch blade out from a sheath on his belt. All their black faces were smirking and s******ing to each other. “Now, don’t scream … I would hate to have to ruin your body with this.”

Do they even see my swords at all? wondered Shan, studying them without even the slightest change in expression. Her eyes closed softly as she exhaled. Slowly, she took in a breath. The female samurai dashed forward, whipping Aisu out before any of them could blink. Shan struck the leader in the middle, dark blood sprayed onto the dry bricks of the alley. Aisu was then jerked up to slice off his head, which went to the ground with the rest of his blood with a dull thud. Shan’s sword still hovered in the air where she cut him down. His followers stared with wide eyes at the dark red blood on the long blade of her katana. The samurai finally opened her eyes and stared blankly back at them. They all were running, stumbling, out of the alley and down the street. Shan pulled a blood-stained cloth from her belt and pinch Aisu’s blade between it and slid it on the steel. After she wiped all the blood off, she tucked Aisu back into its sheath and went back out of the alley. This was life in Delu, and she wished she could have fogotten it forever.

It didn’t take long for Shan to reach the black gates of the castle. The guards seemed a little surprised to see her. They blinked a few time, but silently opened the gates for her. With each step, her heart seemed to sink farther down into her stomach. It was the same kind of sick feeling she had also forgotten. Eventually, she reached the dark, twenty feet heigh, oak doors. The guards in their emerald-green uniforms nodded and opened them for her. Slowly, she took the turns and twists in the corridors that would lead her to Sheinron’s throne room. He was usually there this time of day. The thought made her insides turn uncomfortably. Just for a while … But how long? He said it was unknown to him. Tokumaru … please don’t be too long …

Shan looked up, and she was at his double doors. She raised her hand to push it open. It trembled as she lifted it and placed it on the polished oak door. Tokumaru … give me the strength to do this … please … Shan shut her eyes as her brown eyebrows furrowed. How long …? The half elf hesistated for a moment with her hand still pressed to the smooth wood. “I shall see you again.” She felt her heart leap back up into her chest, and she pushed the door open.

It was an extremely large room. The ceiling was about fifty feet above her head, and the wall on the other side of the room was triple that length from her. The width of the room was about the same as the height of the walls. All the walls, ceiling, and floors were made of a black and gray marble. It was was very clean and polished, unlike the streets and building out side. On each side of the room was a huge balcony. In the middle of the room were a few black leather couches and armchairs, used when hosting meetings with Sheinron’s advisors. On the very end of the lengthy room was a large black throne. It appeared to be made out of some type of stone that was a shiny black, almost crystal looking. On each side of the throne was a double door, leading to the king’s personal bedroom.

Her dark purple eyes jerked away from his bedroom doors. She found Sheinron sitting in an armchair. His light gray eyes were not looking at her at first. The king’s face would be consider handsome, from what the female Dark Elves would say. Shan never thought so. His face was sort of long and narrow, but he had a strong chin and jawline. His hair was white, like the normal Dark Elf’s was, and reached down pass his broad shoulders. He had a slight widow’s peak, which parted his hair to the sides of his black face. The Dark Elf king was wearing his usual maroon silk shirt with black buttons, the last few at the top were still undone. His cloth pants were black with a black leather belt fastened with a silver buckle. On his feet were perfectly polished boots of the black leather. His hands were clasped together in front of him with his elbows resting on his thighs as his gray eyes studied a large, black bird that was perched the arm of the chair next to him. Shan recognized it to be the raven, Tak, Sheinron’s spy and messager. His calm, impassive eyes drifted over to her in the doorway.

“… Ah, Shan, Tak told me you would coming,” he said, and he rised from his chair, folding his arms behind his back. “He also told me you did not get the sword.”

Shan was silent for a moment. She had to force her stiff mouth to move. “… No … I didn’t.” Sheinron let out a short sigh and turned away from her.

“I see … that is all. You may return to your room if you wish,” said the king, his tone was blank and emotionless. He worded it perfectly: “return to your room” meant, of course, that her freedom had been rejected. “If you wish” meant that she may go anywhere in Delu, but the city was the limit. She already knew this would happen, but that was okay. Just for a while … Shan forced herself into a bow with her arms ridge at her sides, and her face remained motionless without a single expression. Just for a while, she reminded herself as she tipped her head down to him. Then I will never have to submit to him ever … again.

Shan left the room quickly, closing the door silently behind her. She leaned her back against the door and exhaled, tipping her head back against the polished wood and closing her eyes. It wasn’t as bad she thought it would have been. At least he didn’t suggest anything … But how long would that last? She didn’t know how long Tokumaru would take. Dear Akasha … please come soon, love. Shan stood up straight and shuffled slowly down the hall; her face was blank, but the ache in her chest reminded her.

The half elf strode through the dark brick corridors of granite. Her feet knew the way to her room. She stared down at her black sandals as they traveled the gray floor. She didn’t even look up to push the door to her room open. Her room held few things. She didn’t need much room or things. It didn’t matter, the castle never felt like home. It had been a while since she had been home. Home had been with her father, before he died. There was a small balcony on the opposite side of the room with stone railing. The carpeting was a deep maroon and very soft to the touch. The walls were the same gray bircks in all of the corridors. There was a bed against the right wall of the room. Her comforter was colored crimson like the color of blood, and so was her pillow case. The sheets under the comforter were a cream white. The wood was made of a cherry oak with a small headboard. The head of the one-person bed faced the wall that Shan’s bedroom door was on. There were double doors of the same cherry oak that were to her closet on the same wall as her entrance to her right. In front of her and on the left wall of the square room was a large cherry oak dresser with six drawers and a tall mirror that reached up to the ceiling.

Shan slipped off her sandals at the door and flopped down on her soft but firm bed to stare blanky at the stone ceiling. No … this wasn’t home. It wasn’t anything but a prison. She turned over on her side to gaze outside her balcony and over the city. Shan finally allowed a frown and sagging eyes of sorrow. She had barely been there for an hour and already she couldn’t stand it. It was so strange, even just that little time she had spent away from here … with Tokumaru … had changed her so much. She used to sit in here and stare out into the desert and consider jumping off the balcony … just to end it all. This time … she just needed to wait and everything would be okay. For so long … she had been shutting off her emotions … Why was it that one man was able to change that? A few tears managed to slide down her face from her purple eyes as her lips curved into a soft smile. Come back to me soon …


The next few months weren’t so bad. She barely saw anything of Sheinron. He didn’t seem to have any thing for her to do. So Shan spent the next few days locked up in her room, sleeping for the most part. She didn’t realize how much her little adventure had drained her. She only got up to eat, drink, and use the bathroom. She slept for a week before she felt like herself again. Though, she still found it hard to feel normal in the castle. Shan would then work herself tired again by training in Sheinron’s training room. She went at times she knew he wouldn’t be there. Each night she would fall a sleep thinking about just one person … About four months went by, and still Tokumaru hadn’t come.

Shan had already planned her escape perfectly. She knew the Heavenflame could tear Sheinron apart if she asked him to. Of course … she had never told Tokumaru anything about Sheinron. The Dark Elf king was her greatest shame as a samurai. She would tell him later … but not just yet. She wanted to be completely free of Delu before she told him anything. She considered leaving before hand, but Sheinron could track her easily. She knew this just from listening to his affairs. Before she left for the sword, she had heard the Dark Elf king discussing some people that he was trying to find with some other man—she couldn’t remember his name—and Sheinron knew almost exactly where these people were that they were trying to find. Someone named Kira Greenthorn and a few other names, but Shan couldn’t remember them and it wasn’t really important to her anyway. It only told her that Sheinron could find anyone he wanted … except Tokumaru. The male samurai was faster than anyone she knew. Not even Tak would be able to track him. It was like those stories she used to be told before she would go to sleep as a little girl. Her father used to tell them to her. There would be a beautiful princess trapped in an old castle guarded by a dragon and a knight in shining armor would slay the dragon and rescue the princess. Shan liked it better as a girl when her father would change the story so that the girl in the castle would slay the dragon and save herself. But … what if the girl wasn’t able to slay the dragon? Shan hated being helpless and unable to help herself. However, Tokumaru had taught her that it was okay to ask for help from time to time.

The sun was setting in the sandy dune beyond the city buildings when Shan finally retired to her room after a lot of training. An orange glow loomed in from her balcony, filling the room with the last of the sun’s warmth. She slipped her sandals off at the door like always. The tired samurai tunged the tie in her hair out and let her chocolate-brown hair fall into her face and down around her shoulders and pass her waist. The half elf stepped absent-mindly in front of her mirror. She stared a few minutes into her amythest eyes and then down at her feet. When she looked up, she gave a jump and her eyes flew wide open.

“Sheinron!” she exclaimed, and whipped around to see him stare back impassively with his gray eyes. He was wearing his usual outfit, but it appeared he had removed his boots at the door. The Dark Elf was a tall man, and with him standing so close it reminded her of his height and strength. She didn’t even hear him come in. Shan leaned into her dresser with her hands pressed to the surface of the polish cherry oak.

“I’m sorry, did I scare you?”

Shan remembered to let her face fall into a blank expression. She never wanted him to know what she was thinking and expressions told more than words could. The female samurai didn’t reply. The Dark Elf king stood there for a few moments in the warm, still air and orange sunlight. Shan hated that. He never said much, and he always had that stoical look on his face. Did he even feel anything at all? Or was he simply empty?

Sheinron stepped closer, but he didn’t stop. Soon, he was so close that Shan could see his widow’s peak. Shan’s breath was caught in her chest. She felt the tingle of fear crept into her limbs, making her unable to move. His black hands slipped around her waist, pressing the small of her back to push her closer to him. His lips were barely touching hers. Shan turned her face so that they press into her cheek. No … oh no … His mouth paused for a moment, but continued to kiss her cheek. His warm breath clung to her skin as she heard him breathing softly. It was that same smothering heat that made her want to choke. His gentle lips traveled down to her neck. His right hand glide over and up her side. It went up to her breast and began to caress it. Shan squeezed her eyes shut. Oh Akasha … no … I … I won’t … His mouth started to suck on her neck softly. I won’t … I won’t let him have my body anymore! His hand slipped under part of her bandages and rubbed her nip with his thumb. She felt the stiff flesh of his hand run over her softer skin. The touch of his hand was too warm … it wasn’t that comforting warmth that Tokumaru had.

“N-no … no!” cried Shan, shoving her palms against Sheinron’s chest, making him jerk backwards. The dresser shudder violently from the force of her shove. “Don’t touch me!”

Sheinron’s eyebrows tensed for a moment and his mouth curved into a brief frown of confusion. Eventually, his face fell back into his impassive mask. His hands sank into his pants’ pockets. Shan’s eyes furrowed into a hardened glower, and the shade of her eyes darkened into a blackish-purple. Her lips were pressed together angrily into a thin line. A few silent moments stretched on.

“Strange … you never protested before,” said Sheinron, with his calm voice that Shan despised with her whole being. How could he sound so calm all the time? Doesn’t he get mad or depressed like normal people do? What was wrong with him?

“B-because I didn’t have a choice!” shouted Shan. It felt so good. So good to scream at him like this, like she had yearned to do for so long. “I had to get a job to support my father!”

“Your father has been dead for a year.”

“I know that!” the half elf retorted. Her hands were tensed tightly at her sides. Sheinron frowned slightly, like he didn’t really understand.

“Then why didn’t you refuse me before? All you had to say was no, Shan. I was never forcing myself on you. You let me,” said the Dark Elf. He blinked and that was all. He acted like he was talking about the weather. No … no … NO! He couldn’t … but she thought … She never had to let him have his way with her? So all this time …Shan felt her heart and stomach plummet to the floor. No, it couldn’t be true. She refused to believe it. Her insides turned, making her head spin. The samurai stared at him with stunned eyes that were beginning to fill with tears.

“L-liar!” screamed Shan, and she jerked forward toward him with tears that were being to slide down her cheeks. Her had flew up and back-handed him. His head was forced to the side, but he made no noise. His expression didn’t even change. So she hit him again with the other side of her hand. “You’re lying! You knew! You knew but did it anyway! I hate you! I HATE YOU!”

Shan continued to slap him, trying to make his face at least harden with anger or pain … make it change to somehting else besides that stocial stare. Her hand began to ache from hitting his face so much. Sheinron’s black skin made it difficult to see if it were bruised yet. He just stood there, letting her hit him. Shan let her hands curl into fists. When she went to hit him, his hand was already tightened around her wrist. The half elf brought up her other hand, but he already had hold of it as well. The female samurai struggled, twisting her wrists in his hands, trying to escape his strong grasp. She let out a few furious grunts trying to pull away.

“We’re not so different,” said Sheinron carelessly. “We are both people of few words and few expressions. It’s sad that you would hate a part of yourself as well and so much.”

Shan stopped struggling for a moment. She came to a stop, but he still held her wrists in his large, stronger hands. The half elf stared down at their feet to avoid his gray eyes. “Why didn’t you let me go?” whispered Shan. “When my father died, why didn’t you let me leave?”

The Dark Elf stared blankly at her bowed head. His mouth remained motionless without an answer for her pointed ears to hear. He let go of her wrists and turn to walk away from her.

“W-why?” she repeated, letting a sob choke out from her throat. The Dark Elf didn’t answer. Instead, she heard his feet shuffle over the carpet and over to his boots by the door.

“Why?” she demanded again. Her ears heard the door open with a squeak and his boots clunked on the stone floor outside her room.

“WHY?” she screamed as Sheinron shut the door. Shan’s throat felt raw and sore from screaming and crying. The half elf still stood in the middle of her empty room with her head titled downward at her feet, pushing her hair back out of her face as tears trickled down quietly. Why did this happen? Akasha, why did this happen? She didn’t care what Sheinron said. He knew that she hated him. He always knew, but he continued to have sex with her anyway. He knew she didn’t like it. He knew she hated him. He knew but he continued to ... She wasn’t like him either. Sheinron was—he was … What if I am like him? Shan’s hand slid up into her hair, forcing some of it out of her face, which was still wet with tears but falling back into an impassive stare at her maroon floor. What if … she asked Tokumaru to kill him? Would he do that for her? She … she wanted to see that damn Dark Elf dead, because she hated his stoical face and calm voice. Because she hated his placid and manipulative words. She hated Sheinron Blackwater so utterly … that her heart began to burn with it in her chest with a heat that seemed to make it difficult for her to breathe.

There was a sudden thunking noise out on the balcony that made her jump.