Tower of Ancients

by Jaeger Mitchells

  She nodded and turned around. I lifted her up and carried her after she was ready, laying her thin frame on the grass. My hand swiped across Calina’s face and cleaned her of any loose strands of hair before I brought my wrist up and slashed it with my long nails. A gush of blood rushed out as I squeezed down on the artery. She coughed and barely managed to hold it in.

  Calina stopped struggling and gulped the blood down hungrily. Her body suddenly went into shock and she started shaking, twisting, and contorting. Good, it had begun so quickly. Now all I had to do was keep watch over her for the next twelve hours.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  It was a strange thing to witness the process that happened to me all those years ago. Lefrand didn’t keep watch over us back then, no, he pumped us full of blood and left us out to die in the rain and scorching heat. Many failed, but I was one of the few lucky slaves who managed to turn. Slave. What an ugly word, that’s what I was back then.

  I sighed and traced my finger along her cheek and chin. She stirred awake as I knew she would. After all, the process had already finished for a while now. Still, I wanted to look at her and enjoy her company for a while longer if nothing else.

  Calina’s eyes fluttered open and she darted upward, launching herself headfirst into the water. She wasn’t used to the power and speed she gained after becoming a Hybrid, and in comparison to what I was, you couldn’t even call it real power. It was something between a Vampire and a Human, but much closer to the latter.

  I got up and helped her out of the stream as she flailed around with her arms and hit herself against a sharp piece of rock. Calina cried out just as I caught her.

  “Fuck! What the hell did you do to me?” she cursed. “I thought I was to become a Hybrid!”

  “You have become one. What you haven’t done yet, though, is get used to your powers. Come, sit with me. I want to show you something.”

  I picked her up and carried her over to where we were moments ago, then sat down with her still in my arms.

  “I can sit on my own, thank you,” she murmured and shuffled off my lap.

  “It would be an awkward thing if you couldn’t,” I laughed, wanting to tease her a little bit. She did some interesting things before I turned her, and now she was acting all embarrassed.

  “Stop teasing me!”

  “Sure, but first give me your hand,” I replied, taking the hand she just bruised. I turned it around slightly so we could both see it well enough and waited. She looked up at me as if I was about to bite down on the line of blood, but I just waited for it to start.

  “Shit! It’s healing itself so quickly?” she laughed. “Is that normal?”

  “Haven’t you ever seen Slayer’s wounds when he got back from battle? They heal even faster than yours.”

  “I have but—you know. I thought it would be different for me.”

  “Sure, it’s different for every Hybrid,” I mused. “Except that it’s not. You’re all the same until you manage to turn into a real Vampire.”

  Calina let out a deep sigh before she pulled her hair back and tied it into a pony-tail. It looked good on her, much more so than her loose haircut from earlier.

  “What now? You train me to be a killer? Or do we go back to the camp?”

  “We go back to the camp where you will train with the three. They’re more than skilled and strong enough to teach you a couple of things.”

  She remained silent for a long, uncomfortable moment as if trying to come up with a way to stay with me for a while longer. I was sure by the way she bit her lower lip and looked away.

  “Alright. I’ll do my best to improve as much until you’re back,” she finally said. I knew she would, but I had to give her some room and time to come up with it herself rather than pushing it on her.

  “Good. Now we better get dressed. I need to go find Harlan and the sisters for the bombs they’ve been making.”

  She got up without a reply, but I could see her tense up at the Elves’ mention. Women. There was enough of me to go around, so what was it with the jealousy?

  “Thank you, Raziel. I won’t forget what you did for me today. Never, even if you forget about—.”

  “Shh, don’t even go there,” I whispered, pulling her in close and kissing her forehead. “Once you’ve become—what I am, you’ll think differently. Being Human screws with your emotions much more than with mine. I wish I was different sometimes, and some will even call me a bastard I ‘forgot’ about—you know. What they don’t understand is that this is what we are.”

  She cuddled up closer to me, her body temperature not even close to what it was last night. It served only to remind me how everything was fleeting, even with us Vampires. Shit, all this was making me emotional and that was something I couldn’t afford.

  I pushed her away gently and turned to my clothes and now polished armor. Sitting around for half a day was nothing short of boring and wasteful, so at least I used the time to polish it to a high gleam and make myself presentable.

  Calina hurriedly dressed and helped me don every part, all in silence. Whatever, I had much greater worries than think how she might feel. I needed to get the hell out of here and find the Trolls.

  Slayer stomped around, a big frown planted on his face as we arrived at the camp. He sent me a spiteful glance, but quickly turned away and deflated. Sure, I could understand his displeasure, but I didn’t give a shit about it. Calina ran up to him and they walked off into the distance, whispering intently.

  I turned around to check on the camp’s progress and was impressed by what they had accomplished over the last twelve hours. This was looking more and more like a village than a camp. Most of the wooden houses and buildings were built on at least two floors, some even three.

  Half of the sewage system, if I was to call it like that, was already in place from what I could see. I walked over to one of the ditches and grinned. They had been using clay infused with ice magic to create a thin, slippery layer that was automatically moving the waste in the direction it needed. Damn, Helena really was brilliant. However, if she was to leave, then everything would fall apart. We needed that damn magical crystal transported here as soon as possible so she wasn’t burdened with wasting her magic on it.

  “What do you think?” a familiar voice asked. It was Helena, the architect of this greatness. I turned around, flashing her a grin as I nodded.

  “You’re nothing short of brilliant.”

  “Hah! I knew he would flatter me! See? He thinks better of me than you, sis!” she laughed. Sylvana didn’t rise to the occasion as she carried a basket in her arms.

  “Whatever. It’s not like you’re a total waste of air, sis,” she shot back once they stopped right in front of me. “Did you enjoy fucking that Human?”

  “I didn’t—what the hell is that kind of question?”

  “A normal one. Did you enjoy doing her?” Sylvana asked again. I sighed.

  “No, I didn’t do her. Sure, she used her hands and stuff, but that’s about it. I did that only to teach her and her brother a lesson. There was no other reason.”

  “Oh, shit! You didn’t just say that!” Helena laughed as she pointed her finger towards my back. I closed my eyes, knowing what I’d find there. Still, I had to turn around. Calina stood there with her mouth wide open and a shocked expression on her face. She closed her mouth and turned around, rushing off to where I’d left her and Slayer earlier.

  “What an asshole,” Sylvana muttered. “At least you know how I felt when that witch showed up.”

  “Fucking hell! Can you women stop fucking with me and let me do my job?” I hissed.

  “And what job is that?” Helena smirked.

  “Keeping you all alive!”

  A couple of bystanders and people working nearby looked to see what was up, but they quickly went back to what they were doing.

  “These are the things you wanted us to make with that crazy woman Anya,” Sylvana said, offering me the basket. Her voice was as neut
ral as it could possibly be.

  The small, teardrop-shaped crystals filled with liquid fire were a sight to behold. Every one of them was wrapped in something translucent that wasn’t allowing any friction between them. I wanted to ask what it was, but I remained silent regarding the matter not seeing it important in the least.

  “Thanks. How many of them are there?” I asked without counting.

  “Fifteen,” Helena replied. “We used all the magic we had to create them, so we’ll be heading off to the mine and absorb some of the crystal’s power or we won’t be of any use to anyone here.”

  “Thanks, again. I’m going to need every edge I can against these unknown enemies.”

  “Yeah, good luck with that,” Sylvana said, sounding more uninterested than not. Helena pinched her arm and pulled her along.

  “Good luck, Lord Raziel. Come back safe, alright?” Helena added as they ran off.

  I sighed again and looked down at the basket. Damn, these bombs really were a majestic creation. Now if they only worked when they were supposed to, I’d love the sisters to death. Next up was Harlan. I started to walk toward the smithy but stopped and turned around. Sylvana stood there, glaring daggers at me.

  “You come back safe or I’ll resurrect you as a lich!” With that, she turned back around and stormed off. I let out a small chuckle and resumed on my way to visit Harlan next as I carried the basket, making sure the vials didn’t break. He looked at me funnily when I arrived but didn’t comment on it. Instead, he smirked and ran off.

  “Wait up, Lord Raziel, I’ll be right with you!” came his voice from behind a row of closets and shelves and whatnot. A couple of minutes later he came running carrying a similar kind of basket with a number of glass vials that were too murky to even see what could be inside.

  “What the hell are those things?” I asked, not quite sure if he was fucking with me or not.

  “The things you asked for. Go ahead and try one out if you want. We did so earlier in the quarry. It blasted a piece of rock into a thousand pieces!” he laughed, definitely proud of his newest creation.

  “I’ll trust you on your word, Harlan. I’m not quite in the mood for anything right now.”

  His face turned somber as he leaned in, placing his hand over his mouth as he mumbled.

  “Women again?”

  I couldn’t help but let out a groan. How could I get angry at the man who has been serving me for such a long time?

  “Yeah, you can say that,” I whispered back as I took the second basket under my free arm. “More about that next time. For now, how about you make use of those Razorback parts and—just do whatever you can.”

  “Sure, sure! You just come back alive! Oh, and bring me some samples!”

  “Will do, Harlan. See you again in a couple of days.”

  “Sure thing my Lord, take care!”

  The only thing that now remained was to go see Rennes and her brother. Everything was prepared and I was ready to leave so I was dearly hoping he was ready as well. Once I arrived there, I was glad to see he hadn’t been slacking off. Two horses stood neatly bound to a tree next to Rennes’ place. One of them was mine, the other only slightly lighter in color, more a dark gray than black.

  “Lord Raziel,” Rohan said with a slight bow. His arm seemed healed as there was no bandage to be seen. His naked chest reminded me of myself just before I became what I was now. I liked to show off my muscles back then, thinking the girls would like it. What an idiot I was.

  “Can you leave right away?”

  “I sure can. Give me a few minutes to change my clothes and I’m all ready to go. Maybe you can chat Rennes up until I’m done?” he smirked. Nasty little shit. Even he had the gall to call me out on the woman factor.

  “Where is she?”

  “Behind the house preparing something for the trip.”

  I walked around the house only to find her in a state of half undress. She was trying some new leather armored vest on but her large breasts struggled against it. I pulled down at the leathery thing and fixed it I place for her.

  “My Lord,” she chuckled. “I didn’t know you can be so rough with the ladies.”

  “Cut it out, please. I’ve had enough of women for the day. And for the next week as well.”

  “See, that’s because they don’t know how to appreciate you. Let them be and use me instead. After all, who better to rule these fine people than the two lead figures?”

  “Lead figures, huh? How about I return alive first, then we can talk about—stuff like that. For now, I’m neither in the mood or got the time.”

  “I prepared some food and drink,” she said, changing the topic abruptly. “You won’t need much but I figured a flask of my blood would do you good. The second holds my best alcohol, so you better enjoy it.”

  “How thoughtful of you, Rennes. Who blooded you?”

  “I did myself. Rohan helped slightly. Speaking of him, keep the annoying shit safe, please. He’s all the family I got left.”

  I nodded as we started moving back toward the front of her house. Rohan already stood there saddling his horse. He looked as ready as any man I ever met who was about to face his executioner. I helped myself onto my own horse as Rennes hugged her brother, holding him tight.

  “I’ll bring him back safe, don’t worry.”

  Rennes helped me with the rein and baskets. I placed the bombs in the side pockets of my saddle and nodded. She nodded in reply and rubbed my stallion’s flank. The horse whinnied slightly and started moving, reading my mind, and the situation perfectly.

  “Take care, Raziel. You have people waiting for you to return home to,” she called after us. She was right, but it made me look so weak in the bystanders’ eyes, or at least that’s what I assumed. I’d have to talk with her about the way she spoke when around me.

  “I’ll make sure to punish the bastards who killed him,” was all I could say. All these sappy, emotional goodbyes or send-offs were too much for me. I preferred for it to be low-key, but we could make it an exception this time. After all, I had many more civilians and troops waiting for my safe return than I had weeks or months ago. Now, however, it was time to push that aside and ride out.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  There was no way to pick up the pace until we were a mile out. Rohan kept to himself and remained quiet as he rode a couple of steps ahead of me. His horse wasn’t as fast as mine, so I was contemplating on letting him use mine while I ran, but I was afraid of him detonating the bombs accidentally so I gave up on that idea. A day more or less didn’t matter much.

  Three miles out, we finally reached a small clearing which led into a valley. From there on all, I could see was grassland and herds of animals. Most of them I recognized except for a few, but they all looked decently docile. One of the creatures, in fact, wasn’t docile. It was the damned Basilisk.

  The monstrous snake-like beast rose from the ground amidst a thick herd and swallowed five horse-sized animals. Now that pissed me off. The agreement was to provide it with Human meat and in turn, he would leave everything else alone. Heh, the damn slippery bastard.

  I spurred my horse on and grinned like a madman as we approached it. For some reason, it didn’t seem to notice us, at least not until I was in shouting range. It was just then that it start to move around and looked like it was about to disappear underground.

  “Hey! Stop right there, you maggot!” I yelled, using my strong vocal power. It stopped and remained motionless for a long moment, then it turned to face me and slithered out of the ground. Rohan veered off, his horse probably out of its mind, but mine wasn’t. It stayed right on the path.

  “It’s quite strange to see any of your kind out here in my domain,” it started as I got off my horse and walked up to it.

  “Your domain? Don’t you think you’ve misinterpreted something?”

  “Right, it’s your domain, Vampire.”

  The Basilisk’s voice was rough and felt strained. Even more surprising was that
it showed no emotions or anything that could pass for an emotion be it either anger, surprise, hatred, or even happiness.

  “You bet your slippery ass it is! Now, tell me! Why are you eating our cattle? We had a deal where you got a couple of Humans per month and that was it.”

  It let out a low snort of sorts but remained motionless otherwise.

  “I’m hungry! What do you expect me to do? The meatless bastards you fed me have long gone evaporated from my insides.”

  “So how long can five of those—things last?”

  “A month.”

  “Well, aren’t you full of shit? I think it’s better to get rid of you and save ourselves the future trouble. Maybe even use your meat for—.”

  “Wait, wait! I wasn’t finished yet! There were unforeseen circumstances. I shed my skin two days ago and had to undergo a change on the inside.”

  I thought long and hard for a second as something seemed off.

  “Wait, weren’t you supposed to be digging those ditches and the tunnel right now?”

  It looked away as if ashamed.

  “I finished part of it and got hungry. Dimas said I can go eat as long as I’d be back within the next few hours.”

  “He did, huh? Then tell Dimas that I said you’re not allowed to feed until I’m back! What’s more, I could even use you myself, but the other front is more important. You’re lucky this time.”

  “Huh? What do you mean? What do you need me for?”

  “Oh, nothing special. The two of us,” I said nodding over at Rohan, “Are going out to kill a group of Trolls. You’ve familiarized yourself with them already if I’m not mistaken.”

  The Basilisk tensed up before it turned to face me, a wicked grin on what passed for its face.

  “I’ve been wanting to have a rematch for a long time now. Any chance I could tag along after all?”

  “How much work do you have left?”

  “I don’t know. I just need to finish the tunnel I think.”