by Elena May
“And what if there is no one?” the vampire called Maria asked. “Should we try to set the explosives, or should we return to report?”
“The moment the other vampires hear the explosion, we are all in danger,” said Ila. “I prefer us to be close together when that happens. I don’t want you to be singled out.”
“Got it,” said Anne. “No matter what we find, we return and report.” She winked at her leader and turned to walk towards the exit. Serhan and Maria followed.
“Be careful,” Ila whispered as the three vampires disappeared into the gloom.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Mists of Despair
Myra had barely slept last night, and while her excitement had kept her going until now, she was starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation. She pushed a heap of bones aside and sat on the ground. Sissi plopped down next to her. “Why do you think there are no guards?” she asked. “Do you think the Prince lied to us?”
Myra threw Sissi a sideways glance. Had Vlad managed to destroy the ridiculous pedestal Sissi had built for him? “We know nothing for sure.”
“Well, I do know one thing,” Lidia’s voice sounded from behind them. She stepped closer, cleared the ground next to Myra, and sat down. “Once this nightmare is over, I am going sunbathing.”
“Sunbathing?” Myra smiled. “I have no experience with sunlight, but I suspect that March at this latitude is not ideal.”
“Who cares? Any sun is better than none.” Lidia leaned in closer. “Do you want to hear a secret?”
“Why, yes, I’d love to hear a secret,” said Alex, who had approached them unheard, with Leo at his side. “May we join you, my ladies?”
Myra was about to invite them when she noticed the look on Lidia’s face, guarded and murderous. “I guess we can do nothing to stop you,” Lidia said through clenched teeth.
Leo gave her a sad smile as he and Alex sat down, not bothering to clear away the bones. “I know we’ve done nothing to gain your trust, but I hope to change that.”
Lidia pressed her lips together, saying nothing. Myra looked at Leo. “You are on the right track already, fighting alongside us. You wished to volunteer as scouts?”
The two vampires exchanged a glance. “Honestly, we wanted to stay with Anne,” Alex said. “She likes to go headfirst into danger.”
Leo snorted. “I’m afraid she will ignore Ila’s command and will try to destroy the Wizard if there are no guards around.”
Alex laughed. “Do you seriously believe she won’t try to destroy the Wizard even if there are guards around?”
Lidia was watching them through narrowed eyes, her gaze dark. “Are you trying to sell me on the idea that vamps are capable of caring for each other?”
Alex looked at her, his sad eyes fixing on the rough cotton scarf around her neck. Lidia glared at him and placed her hand over the spot where Vlad had bitten her. “I imagine our kind has caused you harm,” he said. “I understand your distrust, but I hope you’ll give us a chance to show you we are not all like the Prince.” Lidia removed her hand from her scarf, but her glare remained. Alex smiled. “And, yes, vampires can love as strongly as humans. Anne, Leo and I were all turned during the Nightfall, and we bonded over our shared experience.”
Leo cleared his throat. “So, do you want to make any bets on who is going to blow up the Wizard? Human or vampire?”
Myra met his eyes. “I bet on a human.”
“I bet on Anne before she returns,” said Alex. “I won’t be surprised if we hear an explosion soon.”
“She’s that good, then?” asked Lidia.
Alex laughed. “Good? I’d rather say reckless. But enough of our boring vampire tales. I believe you were about to share a secret before we rudely interrupted.”
Sissi stood up, and all eyes turned to her. She blushed. “I need to speak with Zack. I’ll catch up with you later.”
Myra followed her with her eyes, frowning. Sissi hadn’t said a word, and now she would leave before hearing Lidia’s secret?
But one look at Lidia showed that no one would be hearing any secrets anytime soon. She sat on the ground, her arms crossed, glaring at the vampires. “I share secrets with people I trust,” Lidia said. “And your meddling does little to prove you’re nothing like the Prince.”
Leo bit his lip and stood up, the bones he had been sitting on rattling as he moved. Alex held his gaze and followed suit. “My apologies,” Leo said. “We intruded uninvited. We will no longer bother you.”
The two vampires walked away, bones crunching underneath their feet, and Lidia rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re going to say, but I’m not giving them a chance.”
Myra laughed. “That’s not what I was going to say at all.” As much as she admired Leo and Alex, a change would not come overnight. “I was actually waiting for them to leave, so you’d finally share this secret of yours.”
Lidia looked around the cave. Humans and vampires sat or stood in small groups or on their own. “Well…” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I’ve been too embarrassed to share this with anyone. Last year, I was on a raid for supplies. As I searched an abandoned store, I came across a bathing suit.” She blushed. “You know how Zack always says we should only take what we need.”
“But you took it anyway,” Myra said, smiling. It sounded like something she would have done. For years she had thought she was the only one dissatisfied with the simplicity of their lives, the only one with dreams of something greater. But others had dreams as well, even if they were different.
Lidia smiled back. “I’ve seen pictures in magazines. People lounging on the beach always looked so happy. So at peace. I wanted to experience that. And when I took the bathing suit in my hands, I had this strange feeling that I’d live to see the sun come back. And now, it’s really happening.”
Myra felt her hands shaking and clasped them in her lap. It was indeed happening. Centuries from now, children would read in history books about the day the sun came back, and she would be one of the heroes to make it happen.
She was about to respond when something caught her eye. Zack. Talking to Thomas. Sissi had gone to talk to Zack not long ago, but she was nowhere in sight. So where was she?
Myra excused herself and walked in the direction Sissi had gone. She tried to step carefully, without breaking any bones along the way, but there was no way around it. She felt them, long and sharp, underneath her boots, and with every other step one snapped with a sad, desolate crunch.
She spotted Sissi standing alone in a dark corner with her face to the wall and her arms wrapped around her. Myra approached her and lightly touched her elbow. “What’s wrong?”
“They must hate me,” Sissi whispered, not looking away from the wall.
“Who?”
“Ila’s vampires. They have fought darkness even though it was in their nature to embrace it. What would they think of me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Myra. “They know nothing of your hidden thoughts.”
“So I must wear a mask once again?” Sissi snapped. “They tolerate me, but only because they have no idea who I am. I thought it would be different, but it’s even worse than when I was back with my companions.”
“You still want to be a vampire?” Myra said. “After everything?”
Sissi turned around to face her. “I have no idea what I want. I still think of him all the time. But it’s not him. It’s my character. He’s called Prince Vladimir, and he staged the Nightfall, but it’s not him.” She buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know if I still want to be a vampire, but… I don’t think I want to be human. And I don’t want to kill people.”
Myra gestured around the cave. “But you can be a vampire and not kill people. Just look at them all.”
Sissi frowned. “But none of them wants it. They would be humans again if they had the chance. I don’t belong anywhere, do I?” She turned her back at Myra.
Myra stared at Sissi’s back. “Of cou
rse you don’t belong anywhere. How many people do you actually know? But if we succeed, our world will become bigger. We’ll meet all humans from farms all around the world. Perhaps you’ll find a community where you feel at home.”
Sissi said nothing. Myra sighed and walked back to where she had left Lidia. “Sorry,” she said, sitting down in the place she had cleared of bones. “I just…” A commotion outside interrupted her, and she jumped to her feet, reaching for her crossbow. “What was that?”
Lidia took out a gun and stood up in one fluid motion. “Let’s find out.”
They rushed to the entrance but stopped in their tracks. Alex and Leo were talking over each other, firing question after question. Anne stood in front of them, laughing and trying to answer. Her bat was gone. Had it found another cave?
“Enough,” the pink-haired vampire cried, raising her palms up. “I need to report to Ila.”
Ila approached them in long strides. “Yes, that would be good. Where are the others?”
“Maria and Serhan are fine,” Anne said, turning away from her friends. “We got close to the Wizard. We spotted fourteen guards. Looks like the five normally at the peak are still at their posts. The four supposed to guard the Eastern Bridge and a few of the others are also up there for some reason.”
“Why would they leave their posts?” Nimah asked.
“They seemed to be celebrating something,” said Anne. “Maria and Serhan stayed to keep an eye on them.”
“A birthday party?” said Leo with a grin. “Or a turning day party—not sure what these human-eaters value more.”
“Anyway,” said Ila, “if they’re celebrating, they could be distracted.”
“I think they are,” said Anne. “We saw lots of drinks, and… and a few half-living humans, covered in bites. But they are fourteen vampires at full strength. We shouldn’t underestimate them.”
“And we won’t,” said Ila. “We will move up there with our full army. We will hike at the humans’ pace, so we stay together. What say you, General?”
“Sounds good to me,” Zack said.
Ila smiled, but her eyes were grim when she drew out her sword. “Let’s get this over with.”
Humans and vampires hiked through the thick, smoky mist, the vampires slowing down every now and then, letting their allies catch up. Gravel rolled underneath them, and their feet broke the white and red mushrooms, twisted in strange shapes. With every step they took, Myra’s trepidation melted away. The Wizard was right there. All they had to do was place the explosives and detonate them, and then they would write a new page in history.
Myra threw Lidia a sideways glance. “Any plans for tomorrow?”
Lidia grinned. “Besides sunbathing?”
“I’m not sure how long it will take for the weather to stabilize,” said Myra. “It may still be cloudy tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll catch whatever tan I—”
Myra froze, her heart sinking to her feet. One moment, the air ahead had been empty. Misty and cold, the frost clinging to her skin, but empty. And then, a dark projectile materialized as if from the mist itself, as if the smoky tendrils twisted together to weave an arrow, long and sharp. It moved as fast as a falling stone, as sudden as death. Yet she saw it all, its entire curved trajectory through the dark mists until it sank deep into Lidia’s chest.
Myra screamed, the stones scratching at her knees. When had she fallen to her knees? She held Lidia in her arms but had no memory of how she had reached this point. Cries for help tore her throat and lungs, leaving them raw.
Someone else was crying too, screams coming from all directions, all of it mixing into an ocean of tortured sounds. Myra could not tell one from the other. The air was cold and moist, but it burned her skin.
The sound of her name pierced her mind, over and over again. She pressed her lips together and ignored it. Once she looked up, she had to awake. She had to face reality. And she had the feeling reality was worse than this nightmare she was trapped in.
The cries came again, stubborn, unyielding. She looked up, meeting Leo’s anxious face. “She is dead,” he said. “I am sorry. We have to move.”
Myra shook her head in denial, only now noticing the scratch on Leo’s cheek that had not been there before. Reluctantly, she stood up and looked around.
Chaos. Screams came from every direction, along with the clanging of swords, fired bullets, arrows swishing through the air. Humans and vampires lay on the ground, their blood soaking through the stones. A terrible screech tore the skies, and Myra looked up at a flock of vultures circling above, their hideous heads pink and bald. A black raven joined them, cawing like death.
Dark bodies emerged from the mists—the attackers were coming from above, and from below, and from the sides. And they were many more than nine, or twenty-one, or any other number the Prince had mentioned.
They had known they were coming. And they had known where they would come from and when. Myra fell to her knees once again and retched. Andre lay in a pond of blood. Next to him was Estella, the spirited child who had just reached the age to become a Warrior. And over there lay Grandma Pia, their old teacher, who had retired from fighting long ago but had now volunteered to join them. Vampires knelt down, drinking the blood of the fallen. Somewhere far in the distance, Ila was calling for everyone to retreat.
“What is happening?” Myra choked, her question directed at no one at all, or at anyone willing to listen, or perhaps at the smoky mists that engulfed the living and the dead.
“I will tell you exactly what’s happening,” Ila spat, and only then Myra did notice that the vampire was not far away at all, but standing right next to her. “Vladimir betrayed us.”
Chapter Fifty-Six
Raven Wings
Large ravens emerged from the mists, black wings bleeding out of the fog itself. Myra watched as they landed on the slain, hideous beaks plucking at eyes and cheeks. Something grabbed her arm, strong and powerful, unyielding like iron. Pain shot through her bone—one more push and her arm would snap, like all those dry bones that had cracked under her feet in the cave. She pulled against the grip, but it tugged her in the opposite direction. Someone was talking, but she heard nothing beyond all the screaming, gunshots, clashes of swords, and the pounding of her own heart.
“Come!” She finally recognized Nimah’s voice. “We have to go!”
Myra followed down the hill, her mind numb. Could she trust Nimah? She had trusted Vlad, and he had betrayed her. Trust meant nothing. “Where are we going? The bridge…”
“We can’t get to the bridge.” Nimah pulled her arm, dragging her down. “The fighting there is the thickest. We need to find a safe hideout and wait for the fighters to spread out. Only then can we make for one of the bridges.”
Or Nimah could be leading her into a trap. Myra realized her crossbow was missing. When had she lost it? The last moments had become a blur. But she still had a knife and a gun at her belt, and she had to be ready in case Nimah betrayed her.
But why were they running? They had come to fight. They had been prepared. Only, they had never prepared for this. For Prince Vladimir’s forces attacking them at full strength and taking them by surprise. It was the end—the battle was lost before it had even begun.
So much for writing history. Once more, Myra was letting vampires drag her left and right, leaving her no room for her own choices. After countless mistakes, she had again allowed Vlad to manipulate her and turn her into a character in his own story. A story that ended with the destruction of all her friends and allies. Could she ever find a way to fight back?
Nimah shoved her down, and Myra fell hard on the stones, pain shooting through her torn knees. She watched in horror as an arrow flew right through the spot she had occupied a moment ago. Nimah turned around and swung her sword in a large, forceful arc. Myra stared, frozen, as a severed head, red-haired and blue-eyed, rolled next to her, like a ball in a children’s game. She jumped back to her feet and unsheathed her own knife.<
br />
Nimah resumed her run down the hill, letting Myra follow on her own. “We’re close to a large cave system. We can hide there. The battle won’t last long. It’s not a fight—it’s a massacre.”
Myra’s heart froze. Nimah had already given up? And now they would hide and wait the battle out, until all of her friends were slaughtered? Her legs grew numb as she followed, her eyes stinging. Vlad had done this. He had wanted her dead. Or maybe not her specifically, but he had wanted to destroy Ila and the Resistance with one stroke and had not cared if she got caught up in all this.
And Armida and Tristan? Surely they had known. And they had agreed to this? And she had thought they were… what? Friends? She had said as much to Sissi but had apparently not believed it herself—Vlad, Armida, and Tristan were not her friends and never could be.
Nimah halted, and Myra stopped in her tracks, gravel rolling down the hill beneath her feet. Yong stood there with two more vampires behind him, drawn swords in their hands. A raven rose from the battlefield, and for a moment it seemed as if his massive black wings emerged from the sides of Yong’s orange hair. Myra’s heart rose to her throat. Three against one. And even though Nimah was ancient and experienced, she had not fed on human blood in ages.
No. Myra’s fingers curled around her knife’s hilt. Not three against one. Three against two.
Suddenly, one of their attackers cried out and clutched at a long arrow stuck in his shoulder. And then there he was, tall, strong, and dangerous, with a bloodied sword in his right hand and a short dagger in his left, his bow lying at his feet.
“Get Myra to safety,” Leo said. “I’ll take care of them.”
Nimah grabbed Myra’s arm and hauled her down the hill. “Come.”
Myra pulled back. “We can’t leave him here. He can’t defeat them all!”