Blood and Fire
Chapter 9
Exile.

“I'm going tomorrow,” said Aidan, as he and Flame Song sat beside the fire. The children were all asleep, and they were enjoying the rare moment of quiet together.

“Going?” Flame looked at him, and Aidan could see fear behind the question. He wished that fear were unfounded, but he couldn't put it off any longer.

“Yes. Going to find the demon. I've waited more than a year, love. I can't keep putting it off forever. We can't spend the rest of our lives in fear, and it won't be long before the children want to leave the northlands.”

“I know.” Flame looked into the fire and sighed deeply. When she turned back to Aidan there were tears in her eyes. “I just wish... I wish I could come with you. I wish I could do it for you, even.”

“Oh Flame...” Aidan put his arm around her and held her close to his side. “Maybe it's selfish of me, but I'm glad you'll be out of harm's way this time, as much as it would comfort me to have you by my side. We can't both go though. The children...”

“I know,” she said again, a tear spilling down her cheek. “I just... if something happens to you...”

Aidan turned to her and brushed the tear away with gentle tenderness. “Don't cry. I’m not planning on dying, believe me. I intend to deal with this nuisance and come back and live a peaceful happily-ever-after with you.” He wrapped his own arms around her, and folded his wings around as well, encircling them both in soft white feathers. He stroked her hair gently as she blinked the tears out of her eyes. Then he kissed her, telling her without words that he loved her and he always would.

They were silent then as they spoke in a language of gentle kisses of soft caresses, reaffirming their love for each other. Aidan’s kisses moved down to her throat and his lips hovered over the spot at the base of her neck where her pulse pounded close to the surface. A shiver of pleasant anticipation went through Flame Song as Aidan drew his sharp eyeteeth gently, tantalizingly, across her skin. Then she gasped softly as he broke through to taste the salty-sweetness of her blood.

Aidan was enveloped in a rush of sensation. The taste of his wife’s blood was heady, intoxicating, but the taste alone was nothing compared to the feeling as the bond formed between them. Their hearts were linked in an intimate union, and each knew the true depth of the other’s love. There was sadness there, as they faced what might be a long separation, even a final separation, but mostly what passed between them was love, a reaffirmation of the mutual devotion that had grown between them through all they had faced. It had been strengthened by each hardship and trial, and now the feeling was so pure it was almost beyond bearing as it washed over them both.

At length Aidan pulled back, not wanting to take too much. He kissed away the thin trickle of blood that ran from the two little marks he’d made. Flame Song sighed and lay back, resting her head on the cushions that lay scattered in front of the fire. Aidan lay next to her, his arm resting across her stomach, his head tucked under her chin. He closed his eyes and let a deep, dreamless sleep steal over him.