Heart Over Sword

Evanna's eyes fluttered open after hearing her name whispered sweetly into her ear. Cold hands were wrapped around her waist, her body relaxed into another's. Her heart skipped a beat. Arawn!? She turned her head to the side and her breath caught in her throat. She stared back into the bright red eyes of a handsome man, his black hair dishevelled and falling over his forehead. His sharp features were so defined, his skin as smooth as marble that she couldn't help but stare and forget about the position she was in. 

The devilishly handsome man with otherworldly red eyes chuckled at her blatant gawking. The princess recognised him, but she couldn't quite remember who he was or how she knew him. Her gaze lowered to his lips, where there was a bit of blood on the corner of his mouth. 

Evanna frowned and searched his eyes questionably. "Are you hurt?" She asked, forgetting that this stranger was holding her in his arms rather intimately as he leaned his back against a cave wall, his legs spread out, leaving space for her to sit in between them.

One corner of the man's lips curved up, and he replied in her mind, "I am not. But I am hungry. Will you help me?" His voice was like silk on the skin, very smooth. 

"Of course, but I don't have much to offer," She whispered back before glancing at her bag that held some of the berries she picked earlier that day. Her eyes then landed on her weapons; not only were her swords there but also all her daggers. Why were they so far away from her?

"You are all I need," He replied again in her mind, distracting her from her questioning thoughts, "Come closer."

Evanna tilted her head, wondering why she needed to get closer to him when he said he was hungry. Wait, was she in a dream? Who was this man!? She stopped, and her eyes widened. "Scarecrow," She gasped and tried to push off him. But his hands tightened around her waist.

"He is gone," The man said aloud, his voice just as beautiful as it was in her mind. "Come closer," He commanded, his voice deeper. The pitch of his voice seemed to make her automatically want to do anything he said.

Evanna obliged and slowly leaned in towards him, but her mind was running wild, and nothing was making sense. "Shh, you are safe, Evanna." The handsome man spoke again, soothing away any unease she was starting to feel.

That was right; she was safe with him. She was safe with…

"Killian," He whispered his name, his lips brushing against the skin on her neck. Evanna gasped at the coldness of his lips and the ticklish sensation; all her worries vanished even as she felt a sharp pain in her neck. It felt normal for Killian to be, well, whatever he was doing to her. She could hear him groan into her neck as he hugged her tightly. 

Evanna sighed at the pleasurable pain as her head started to flop back, her body becoming weaker. But just as her eyelids began to droop, Killian's features shimmered, and in a flash, the sight of him was of a decaying corpse. Evanna jolted back, freaking out by what she saw, but just as quickly as his features changed to that of a corpse, he returned to his smooth skin and luscious hair that fell past his shoulders.

"You are safe," His rich, silk-like voice whispered in her mind. She relaxed further in his arms as he continued to drink her blood. While she was getting weaker, Evanna couldn't help but feel the little itch at the back of her mind; it felt unsettling. But she didn't reveal how much that little nagging type feeling was affecting her and instead raised her hand to his long dark locks. Her fingers threaded through them, and again her vision showed Killian in a different light.

But this time, his skin looked much better, the hollowness of his cheeks filling out and the colour returning to his face. Then like before, his handsome features returned like what Evanna saw was a figment of her imagination. But as her mind began searching for answers, coming to the conclusion that this man had some type of mind control or magic he was using on her, darkness fell over her vision. 

Evanna slipped into a deep sleep after losing all of that blood. Killian stroked her hair back, licking his bloodied lips as he tilted his head to the side, staring at her remarkable features. He couldn't quite believe how lucky he was for her to drop atop his tombstone. Now with her blood in his system, the creature looked exactly how he did in the vision he planted in Evanna's mind. He raised one of his hands and stared at his smooth skin, smiling at how beautiful he was again.

However, his hunger knew no bounds, he was unsure of how long he was in that tomb for, but it had to at least be a couple of centuries. Throughout most of that time, he slept unless his powers picked up on something nearby. But anyone that knew the forest well stayed clear of the cave he was in. The most recent, though, was Evanna and her comrades.

Killian leaned back down to her neck and licked the two puncture wounds, healing the area before leaving a kiss. "Thin-era," He whispered against Evanna's neck as he smelled the delicious fragrance that was her before moving away and gently placing her head on the ground. He looked up at the space she fell from and jumped through the hole, glancing back down at the princess.

Evanna's lids fluttered open, and she instantly frowned at her surroundings. She was lying on a bed of leaves and staring up at a cave wall; the space she fell through that was above a stony tomb. She pushed herself off the ground and winced after feeling the throbbing pain in her ankle. Evanna forgot she twisted her ankle on her fall; she leaned her weight more on the other foot as she continued to stare at the hole, ignoring her injury. 

It was very suspicious that the weakest spot of the cave was above a tomb. The princess could see the rest of the cave was as sturdy as she expected. Her gaze wandered her surroundings, her eyesight much better now than it was morning, or was it daytime?  All Evanna knew was that she passed out in Killian's arms and now felt both refreshed from her sleep and a little weak, as though she was recovering from an illness and would need to rest if she did too much.

Evanna reached for her pocket watch then paused as her hand wrapped around the metal object. Where was Killian? Was last night real? She gulped and glanced at the lid of the tomb that was open. There was no name on it nor a body inside of it. 

"Good afternoon," A rich voice spoke from across the cave. Evanna looked in the direction of the man's voice, and standing there, she saw Killian; his clothing was of the most luxurious material, making him look like a prince or king. But why was he in a cave? 

"You were exhausted last night," Killian continued as he stepped towards her, yet keeping to the shadows and away from the weak sunlight shining through the hole of the cave.

"G-good afternoon," Evanna stuttered as she took a step back, wincing again at the pain in her ankle. Now that her mind was clear, and she could see Killian was not a figment of her imagination or a dream, she was quite disturbed. It was also very clear from the cold, tingling feeling of her sixth sense that he was dangerous. Her gaze lowered to her weapons by his feet; she bit the inside of her cheek as she tried to plan her next course of action. Evanna didn't know what he was but-

Killian chuckled and stepped towards her, "I was quite surprised when you landed in here, Evanna. The last time I spoke to you, your mind, your Malawai, was much stronger. I can see your powers have fully awakened, so what happened for you to have weakened yourself so?"

Evanna's mind went blank, and she stared at him curiously. He stepped closer to her, his hands behind his back as he waited for her answer. "Were you the one who tried to get me to come to you before?" She questioned instead.

"Why ask questions you already know the answer to? I easily controlled you last night, Evanna. Are you not curious how you were able to hold me off last time? If Scarecrow was aware that you were too weak to put a barrier up in your mind, he could have done the same thing but not left you alive." Killian walked towards her slowly as he continued to question her, his red eyes glowing as he stared at her intently.

Evanna arched her neck back as Killian now towered over her. Even though her body was chilled at him being so close to her, she had not stepped away. He had not killed her, and at the moment, that was enough for her to not make any moves. She stared back into his ruby gem-like eyes, and one word crossed her mind. 

"Malawai," She whispered and watched as the corner of Killian's lips curved up, making him look all the more handsome. "You know what my second gift is.."

At this, Killian's brows drew together. "Second gift?" He searched her eyes curiously. Evanna pursed her lips. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything. 

"What do you know of Malawai?" She asked instead. Killian stayed silent, assessing her for a while before finally answering.

"It is the gift of the mind. You seem to be able to protect yourself from a vampire's influence. From what I know of elven gifts, Malawai is extremely rare due to the skills that come with it. You may be able to do what the faceless do. The Queen of Lyvaria, if she is indeed still the queen, has such an ability," Killian finally replied. 

Evanna's brows rose at his explanation. Killian just provided her with so much information that she stepped back and leaned her back against the cave wall, placing her hand on her head as she stared at Killian's chest. "How do you know all this?" She whispered, her eyes slowly moving up to meet his deadly mesmerising gaze.

Another word stood out to her as she remembered what Killian had done to her the night before. 

Vampire.

"Because I have lived a long time, Evanna," He stated simply. "I am the last and only vampire."

Evanna stopped breathing; her eyes widened at what he said. But she released her breath; although her heart was pounding in her chest, she tried to stay calm. "Are you going to kill me?" She whispered calmly. She didn't know much about vampires; they became extinct centuries ago. 

Killian chuckled, closing the distance between them as he raised his hand to the side of her face. Evanna flinched as she stared back at him. "Why would I kill my saviour? My queen?" He lowered his voice as he moved closer to her neck.

"Q-queen!? Stop!" She pushed against his hard chest, failing to get him away from her. "Don't change me!"

Killian sunk his fangs into her skin and started drinking. Evanna flailed against him, but his hands gripped hers and held them against the cold wall behind her as he pulled away and grinned, "Why would I change you when you have abilities that will help me? And.." He leaned back to her neck, licking at the area her blood trickled down to her collarbone. Evanna shivered at the strange sensation. 

Killian pulled back again, his eyes filled with appreciation as he said, "You have the sweetest blood, but I expect nothing less for an elven-fae mixed breed."

"Fae?"