Roses & Thorns

Roses & Thorns(Noelle) Roses & Thorns
Chapter One


“Thor, come back here!” Darcheck ordered as his son swiftly left the room. Darcheck rose out of his throne and followed Thor. He grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. “You will do as I say!” he spat loudly; face red and tunic blowing with the night’s wind. Thor sneered, struggled out of his father’s grasp on his collarbone and, unfolding his wings, flew out the narrow window, leaving Darcheck fuming.

Evena shyly approached her husband and in a smooth tone tried to calm him:
“Darcheck, Thor’s young still, he can’t-”
“He’s nothing but a failure!” roared Darcheck in Evena’s ears and, raging, turned and ordered:
“Go find him!”

Three soldiers that stood around their king’s throne flew out by the large metal doors without a sound. Darcheck sat back on his throne and leaned his head back. At that moment, a young demon, wearing a long black cloak, entered and bent down in front of him.
“Yes?” asked the demon king.
“Master, we have captured two young elves and a water nymph that were hiding in the human’s village, Eladur.”
“Bring the elves in, throw the water nymph in a fire pit; she’s of no use to us.”
“As you wish master.” said the demon before backing out of the room.

****

“Arggg!” Thor smashed his fist into the concrete, making the wall crumble down; he stared at his fist, wishing to feel some relief as he smashed it into another tomb, destroying it in a matter of seconds. The young demon prince gave an exasperated sigh and let himself slowly fall back against a wall, breathing in the cool air and letting it scorch through his empty throat. Thor suddenly felt a hand sit lightly on his shoulder.

“Thor,” the light voice he recognized as his mother’s blew into his ear. “Don’t be too harsh with your father; you know how things are right now for him… it’s hard.”
“He makes it that way for himself, why can’t he be happy with what he has? Does he have to want more?”
“The elves have threatened for us for a while now; it’s time for us to defend ourselves, and as the king of the demons, it’s his job.”
“What a sweet way to put it.” Thor sneered back. He shrugged her hand off and stood up, turning to face his mother, “leave me alone and go back to your husband.”

Evena sighed and peered into her son’s eyes longingly before unfolding a pair of large red wings and flying off into the dark sky. Thor sank back to his knees before hearing the sound of gravel behind him. He instinctively jumped up into a crouching position, lips curled up over sharp fangs defensively and wings ready to unfold at a seconds notice.
Thor waited but instead of seeing the elf, or enemy he expected, he saw a young woman, with slightly auburn hair blowing around her face with the slight breeze, revealing a pair of perfect full red lips that beautifully contrasted her pale and smooth skin. Her walk was elegant, inhuman, as she seemed to dance her way to the alley in which Thor stood. He straitened himself out, letting his wings sink back into his skin without a trace and pretended to be examining a large marble tomb. What was this girl doing so late? It couldn’t be earlier than 1 o’clock at night. Just as thousands of inquiries fleeted through his mind Thor was hit by a wave of her scent. It was that of roses, thousands of sweet smelling roses. But Thor smelled something amiss, in that gentle smell, there was a stench mixed in. One Thor easily recognized as that of an elf.

A silky voice interrupted his thoughts:
“Hello.”
“What are you doing here so late?” asked Thor, harsher than he would’ve wanted.
“I could ask you the same thing,” answered the young woman, laughing a discrete laugh that surrounded Thor like a million thousand chiming bells. Seeing Thor’s unwillingness to answer, she continued, “I have trouble sleeping; the night calms me.”
Thor nodded.
“I’m Roseline. Rose for short,” she said, unperturbed by his silence.
“Thor,” Thor spoke in his clear and delicate voice. Why was she talking to him? Shouldn’t she be afraid, as any person is when they see Thor? After all, he didn’t resemble humans. Maybe it’s the dark, she doesn’t see me as I truly am, Thor concluded.
“Do you live here?” Thor asked Rose, intrigued by the beautiful girl, like no mortal, or immortal for that fact, had ever intrigued him.
“I do now. I just moved to Bloomfield,” When she spoke, her lips parted in the most attractive way, and each word coming out perfectly enunciated.
“You?” she asked.
“No, I’m um…not from here.”
Rose nodded knowingly, her striking blue eyes bore into his.
“I’d better get going, goodbye,” she told him, an inch of sadness coloring her melodic voice.

Thor reached out, wanting to keep her there, but reality caught up with him. She was human… or something like that. She didn’t want him, like he wanted her. It wasn’t possible. So Thor simply nodded again. “Goodbye,” he whispered, and turned back to the tomb he had been pretending to examine, until he heard the crunch of gravel get further and further away, fighting the entire time not to call the young woman back.

Not bothering to check if anyone was in the whereabouts, Thor pushed off the ground, letting the air carry him back to the demon’s palace, high in the sky.