i'll do anything :: kole

However long it takes someone to get from Adhbhar to Deilig. That's how long it had been since Kavi had opened Kole's letter. A lock of Neeva's hair had been in the envelope, as well as an earring. The earring was one that Neeva had made herself, a favorite of Kavi's, and he would recognize it anywhere.

A psychopath had his fiancee, and it took mere seconds for Kavi to decide he would do whatever it would take to get Neeva back. And so, without much thought, Kavi visited the room that held Adhbhar's star piece and shoved it into his satchel. Then, without a word to anyone, he headed for Deilig.

Along the way Kavi finally allowed himself to think about what he was doing. Really what he was doing was he finally allowing his daemon to talk to him about. She'd been screaming telepathically at him the entire time he was stealing to just take half a second to think about what he was doing and form a plan, but he'd been in no state for her common sense, then.

What are we doing? Ribbon asked shrilly, fluttering above his head in a panic. She was just as upset as Kavi, but was able to set aside her worries about Neeva more practically. As long as they were going as quickly as they could, worrying about Neeva right now wasn't helping. They needed a plan and they needed one now.

I don't fucking know, Kavi said, his voice steely.

Well we can't just hand over the star piece, Kavi! she shrieked. We've got to get Neeva without handing it over!

Kavi wasn't sure that would be happening. While he was intellectually strong, his body was weak. He'd never been one for working out or playing sports, and though he hiked quite regularly with Neeva he wouldn't even call his leg muscles strong.

Tell me what to do, then, he demanded. Tell me what I can do that doesn't end with Neeva dead.

We fight back.

Kavi was about to ask if she hadn't just heard all his inner monologue when he realized what she meant. Even if fighting back meant that he would die, they had to do it. As long as he could insure that Neeva could escape, he could try to hold Kole off. Neeva could take the star piece back to Adhbhar.

Kavi nodded. He had no idea what he was heading into, having only been to Deilig a few times on business, but he would go in as prepared as possible. Somehow Neeva would make it. Neeva had to.

***

An unspecified amount of time later Kavi arrived at the Deilig estate. On the way he and Ribbon had discussed going in calm so that Kole thought he was playing along, and then try to surprise him with an attack. It was their only hope. So when he finally arrived, all Kavi did was knock, his heart threatening to beat right out of his chest.

Kole knew Kavi would show up in a timely manner, so that's why he wasn't at all surprised to see him being led into his large and intricate dining hall. It was almost a pity that the poor boy's fiance was actually already dead. Almost.

He sat at the end of the table, in front of three large windows that went from the floor to the ceiling, and yet, the room still seemed so dim.

"Ah Mr. Samples," he said, with a smile across his lips. "So good of you to finally join me." He motioned to the multiple chairs before him. "Please, take a seat."

Kavi thought if he tried to sit he might throw up all over Kole's fancy table. "Where is she?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady. He didn't feel like sitting around and playing games. The goal was to see that Neeva was okay and then attack. The less amount of time ambling around before that happened, the better.

"Where is it?" Kole asked immediately. He wasn't going to give Kavi any hints toward the status of his fiance. All he needed to do was to get the starpiece, and then send the little boy on his merry way.

Kavi wasn't about to hand over the star piece unless he saw that Neeva was in one piece, either. Though Kole was an overloridian, since Kavi was holding the star piece he knew he would be almost as strong. He just had to play his cards right. He just had to buy Neeva some time.

"You're not getting anything until I see Neeva." He sounded braver than he felt.

Kole laughed at the boys stupid bravery. Very, very stupid. "Please sit," he said, with a final chuckle. "We have a lot to discuss."

"I want you to understand," Kole began, before waiting to see if Kavi was going to sit or not. "You will not be seeing a single strand of hair from your fiance, until I have that startpiece in my hands." He locked eyes with Kavi, with a very serious, dark look on his face.

Kavi paused. This man was clearly a psychopath. He had kidnapped Neeva. Would he actually kill her? The moment he realized yes, yes Kole would kill Neeva, he made a decision.

He reached a hand into his bag and grabbed the star piece, never taking his eyes off Kole. "Is this what you wanted?" Kavi asked, gripping the brown rock tightly. But he didn't wait for an answer.

The large dining hall they were in had intricate tables with surfaces made of inky black soapstone. His hand holding the star piece, Kavi felt braver than he had since he first read the letter. In less than a second every single table top and counter top had risen into the air and was cracking, creating jagged pieces that shot directly at Kole.

Kavi didn't wait to see if they made contact or if Kole had blocked them in time. He turned on his heel and sprinted out of the hall.

"NEEVA!" A few pieces of the soapstone followed him in case he would need a weapon in his search for his fiancee. He knew there were guards.

Although he was taken off guard, Kole was able to react quickly. Without lifting a finger, a thick black shadow rose before him, and shielded his body from the attack. However, when the shadow disappeared, a thin sliver of blood appeared on his cheek. Not quick enough.

Kole growled.

"That was a very bad mistake boy," he said under his breath.

Disappointed and irate that he had to get up and fight, he calmly stood from where he was sitting. "Gods dammit," he muttered, while taking a look around at his dining room. "Ruined, all of my lovely furniture, ruined."

Kole sniffed and cracked his neck, before balling his hands into fists. In a matter of seconds, a large shadow appeared from behind him, a slit in the shadow formed into a wide, curling grin, with a set of razor sharp teeth, and two tendrils from either side snaked their way out, taking shape into two arms, with claws as sharp as knives.

"Shall we?" he asked his sinister shadow, although it could not reply.

In tandem, the two figures made haste, and followed the fleeing boy down the hallway.

Kavi, thankfully, was unaware of what was going on in the dining hall behind him. All he knew was that he needed to find and rescue Neeva before it was too late. There was no way Kole was going to let either of them live now. He needed to find her and help her escape before Kole found either of them.

Stop screaming, Ribbon yelled in Kavi's ear.

She was right. Kavi needed to be quiet, silent, stealthy. But holy fuck was this estate huge. Arizona's was built into the side of a freaking mountain and it still wasn't this big. Neeva could be anywhere.

Kavi ran as quietly as he could, dodging room to room, looking for anything that could be holding the love of his life. All he needed was a sign, anything.

Ekavi was able to slip away from Kole, but not for long. However big his estate was, Kole obviously knew his home inside and out. Although it could take some time to find the boy, Kole and his shadow would be able to catch up. Ekavi would never be able to find what he was searching for, the girl was dead.

For Kole, navigating the dark halls of his estate was easy. Normal clio could barely see their own hands in front of their faces, Kole could see as if the sun had decided to make his estate its home.

He silently navigated the halls, the shadow creature slithering closely behind him. He stopped suddenly when he heard soft footfalls a short distance away and around a corner.

Kole waited until Ekavi turned and ran into him. His wicked smile matched the one the shadow creature wore on its face and he uttered one word. "Boo."

Completely surrounded in darkness, Kavi had a hard time finding his way around. The lack of light also attributed to him running face first into Kole, himself. Fuck.

Kole only uttered one sinister word as he looked at Kavi, who had fallen to the floor: Boo. It had the desired effect; a shiver colder than ice raced down Kavi's spine.

"Where is she? Why are you doing this?" Ekavi demanded, surprisingly succeeding in keeping his voice steady. He had finally realized running was futile--it was impossible to escape from this man when he could see in perfect darkness.

"What a stupid question," Kole replied. "Why do you think?"

Without missing a beat, Kole drew his fist back and punched Ekavi in the face. The boy fell and Kole sent his shadow monster upon the one on the floor, to mercilessly beat him. When Kole decided that Ekavi had had enough, he called his monster back. He leaned over Ekavi and got close to his face.

"Give me the star piece," he hissed. "Or she dies."

Kavi could barely see. Blood was dripping into the only eye that seemed to be working properly and he thought his nose might be broken. Breathing hurt.

He was right. Kole would never let him leave alive. He took a deep breath, feeling like a hundred knives were diving into his chest, ripping him apart. Broken ribs.

"Fuck you," he spat, blood sputtering from his mouth. Forgive me, Kavi thought furiously to Neeva, wishing more than anything she could hear him. He would die, and Kole would take the star piece. He could only hope that Kole would let Neeva live, perhaps to return to Adhbhar and tell Arizona what they had lost. But Kavi knew that he would die here. If he could rewind the clock he wouldn't have brought the star piece at all, but it was too late. All he could hope now was that Neeva would somehow live.

Little did Ekavi know, that Kole was planning on letting him live. He couldn't let Ekavi leave without a little parting gift Kole had been hanging onto for him.

"Wrong answer," he replied, before adding another punch to Ekavi's face. Kole was tired of playing around now, this was getting boring. "Give me this," he growled. "You worthless piece of shit." He reached down and grabbed the bag that Ekavi had been carrying the starpiece inside of. He stuffed his hand deep inside of confines of the bag until he finally felt what he was looking for.

Tossing the bag aside, Kole held the starpiece out in front of his face. It was such an ordinary piece of stone, and yet it held so much power that Kole could already feel it surging throughout his body. He decided to practice his new found treasure, and was able to form a small spherical stone from the dark granite floors of his castle. He began to laugh maniacally.

"Do you see my power boy!?" He roared. "Soon I will have total control of Amelia!" He continued to laugh and didn't quiet down until he snapped his fingers and suddenly the hallways were illuminated, as if the entire time the castle had just been under a curtain of shadows, finally opened to let sunlight in.

"Ugh," he groaned in disgust. "You got blood all over my floor!" Kole reached into his pocket then, and pulled something small from it. "Here," he said while tossing it to the floor, close to Ekavi's face. "Neeva wanted me to leave you a parting gift."

Kole turned casually on his heel, and began whistling an unknown cheery tune. Lying next to Ekavi's face, was Neeva's severed finger, the lovely engagement ring still wrapped around her tiny extremity.

"You better warn your sister!" Kole called without turning back. "I will be paying her a visit soon!" He continued to whistle his jaunty tune, before disappearing into another room or hallway.

The light that suddenly filled the hall blinded Kavi even more than he already was, so when Kole asked if he could see his power the honest answer was no. That didn't stop the feeling of dread, however. It was over. Adhbhar was Kole's. Kavi could only hope that Kole's thirst for power outweighed his hatred over the eilemaiden, and that he would want to use the star piece instead of destroy it.

He was too far gone to take in everything that Kole was saying. His eyes were going in and out of focus when he heard something clatter to the floor next to his ear. A cheery tune echoed down the hall as Kole miraculously left him alone, soaking in a pool of his own blood. Kavi wasn't sure how long it took before the throbbing in his body receded enough that he was able to turn his head to see whatever Kole had dropped.

Suddenly every bit of pain he'd felt came rushing back a thousandfold. Lying on the floor, surrounded in his blood, was a pale slender finger with a ring he would recognize anywhere. The jewels glistened, drops of red marring the brilliant colors.

His screaming sobs echoed down the hallway until he blacked out.