A Shade of Vampire 79: A Game of Death

by Forrest, Bella

  “Okay, I’m stumped,” Phantom said once we met back on the path.

  “I didn’t see any kind of knowledge repository here. Not a single monument. A book. A scroll… Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Widow replied.

  “It’s not that beautiful, then,” Soul said. “I guess I was wrong. Whaddya know.”

  “But the constellation on Martez… it was pretty accurate. It pointed us here,” I said, crossing my arms. “If the Night Bringer isn’t here, what’s going on? What is wrong with them?”

  Phantom let a deep sigh out. “We can ask.”

  Even when we revealed ourselves, the people didn’t react. It was as if we didn’t exist. The weird was getting weirder with every second that went by. If I’d been any of them, I’d have jumped out of my skin right now, given the four black-eyed weirdos suddenly standing in the middle of the path.

  “We’re looking for the Night Bringer,” Phantom called out. “Have any of you seen him?”

  “Way to get right to the point,” Widow mumbled.

  “Would you have preferred some tea and chitchat beforehand?” Phantom shot back.

  It had been blunt, yes, but also strangely effective. Suddenly, they had all stopped, slowly turning around to face us without saying a word. My skin crawled. None of this felt right, and I failed to see a connection to the Night Bringer.

  It got even stranger when they all spoke in unison, like the collective mind of a hive come to life. “Welcome, brothers and sisters. It has been a while. One of you I don’t even know.”

  “What the…” My voice disappeared.

  Soul, Phantom, and Widow were equally perplexed.

  “I have missed you,” the people said. “How is Mother?”

  It hit me then that we were dealing with a First Tenner. But which one? I looked at Phantom. “Who the hell is this? And how are they doing it?”

  “Oh, dear,” Widow grumbled, as if realizing something.

  “Care to share with the rest of the class?” I replied dryly.

  “You’re looking for my brother. So am I,” the bloodshot-eyed people said, none of them moving so much as an inch. They were merely devices through which the ancient Reaper spoke, and that didn’t answer any of the numerous questions currently swarming through my head.

  “Morning Star?” Widow asked, raising his voice. “Is that you?!”

  “Why, yes, dear brother. You look well. I see you are free again,” the people replied.

  “Someone completed the Thieron challenge,” Soul said, visibly intrigued. “Where you at, sis? What the heck are you doing here?”

  “I’m feeding on the days,” the people responded. “I’m in a bit of a predicament, and this has been my only solution so as not to lose my sanity.”

  “Forgive me, Morning, but I’m a little confused,” Phantom replied. “You are the day. You’re the sunshine. The brightness. The morning to every night. How are you feeding on the days, as you said… and why?”

  “Oh, it’s a long story,” the people answered. One of them dropped. I rushed to his side, only to find that he wasn’t breathing anymore. My insides squirmed. Yeah, there was something horribly wrong here. The poor guy had died from literal exhaustion. He was so skinny and pale, I could almost see right through him.

  “Guys, he’s dead,” I said, my voice barely audible.

  “Right. My mistake. They keep dying off, I’m afraid,” the other people replied. “I’ve switched off the night here. There is only day, and I feed on the sunlight. If I let the night come over, it hurts everywhere…”

  “Holy crap,” I managed.

  Phantom frowned. “What happened to you, Morning? You’re hurting these people. You’re killing them. How long have you been here?”

  “Ages… I think. Or maybe just weeks. I don’t know, I’ve lost track of time. All I know is that I walked into a trap, carefully laid out for the likes of me,” the people replied. The dead guy’s soul emerged from his body, and I felt the obligation of reaping him. Before I could even take out my scythe, however, he froze and disintegrated into millions of tiny flakes of light, swept off by the wind. “I can still reap, if that’s what you’re thinking, young Reaper,” the Morning Star said through the people, as if having read my thoughts.

  I understood then that not only could she communicate through them, she could experience everything through them. Every sense, every emotion… she had access to it all. “You feel their suffering, don’t you?” I asked.

  “Yes. But I don’t have a choice. He did this to me.”

  “Who?” Soul replied.

  “Spirit. He lured me here. Trapped me. Laughed in my face, saying I would never see my brother again. I still believe he did something to the Night Bringer, too,” the Morning Star replied.

  Her response felt like a kick in the knees. I’d thought we’d gotten past the Spirit Bender. Clearly, that wasn’t the case. Death wasn’t the only one he’d messed with. If the Morning Star was right, the Night Bringer was stuck in some kind of shady predicament, as well. “How did Spirit trap you here?” I murmured, moving away from the body.

  “He knows things that none of us should know,” Morning said. “Things that I doubt even Death would’ve had the courage to tell him about. I don’t know why he did what he did, but I’ve been stuck here forever, and it hurts so much. If I don’t keep them awake, I’m in agony. At least, this way, I don’t suffer that much.”

  “Is it a curse?” Phantom asked.

  “Maybe. I don’t know.”

  “Where are you?” Soul replied.

  “I don’t know that, either. I’m not sure I’m anywhere anymore.”

  “Jeez, this is getting more and more complicated.” I sighed, closing my eyes as I reached out to Death. I could feel her inside my head, and I gave her access to all my thoughts and senses, hoping she might understand this situation better than the rest of us.

  “Hold on, Morning. Kelara here is talking to Death,” Soul said.

  Suddenly, all eyes were on me, and I felt little and naked and absolutely defenseless.

  “Tell her I miss her,” the Morning Star murmured through her people.

  “What do you make of this?” I asked, my voice low.

  “It’s odd,” Death replied. “She’s there, and yet she’s nowhere. It’s an ancient seal, but I never taught anyone about it. Especially not Spirit. That would’ve been stupid.”

  “Oh right, because you only taught him enough to play with until he figured out how to put those thousand seals on you,” I retorted, unabashed in my sarcasm. “He obviously picked up some extra knowledge from you somehow.”

  “That’s impossible. It’s not like Spirit could’ve reached into my head and picked something out.”

  “It looks like that’s what he did,” I mumbled.

  “Find the source,” Death said. “She’s there somewhere. Once you do, reach out to me, and I will teach you how to break the seal. It’s an awful spell, but it’s not that difficult to break, unlike everything he’s put on me.”

  The more she spoke, the more I wondered about her judgment in general. Then again, I had no right to question her. The Spirit Bender had deceived absolutely everyone. Including me. Taking a deep breath, I looked around.

  “Where do we even begin the search?” I asked Death.

  “Morning will have to help you, my dear. Even though she might not know it anymore, she’s the only one who can tell you where she is. Comb the entire planet, if you have to, but find her.”

  And just like that, the connection went dead. No mention of Rudolph. No additional details. Just shut up and do your job, Kelara. I was actually dismayed by all this. Not that surprising that Spirit had ended up turning against her. Now you’re just being mean and bitter.

  “We need to find the Morning Star,” I said to the group. “Her physical form is here somewhere. Once we do, Death will help us release her.”

  “Ah. You make it sound so easy.” Soul chuckled.

  “I would like to be
free again, please,” Morning said. “I sincerely do not enjoy tiring people to death. The pain… it’s too much.”

  I hadn’t expected to end up in a situation like this, especially since both Seeley and Rudolph, not to mention Rudolph’s crew, were missing in action. My concern for them and my frustrations regarding Visio were clouding my judgment. I hadn’t even taken a moment to consider this incredible achievement.

  We’d actually found one of the missing First Tenners. Well, sort of, anyway.

  The Morning Star could help us get to the Night Bringer and maybe even the Unending, eventually. First, however, we had to find her Reaper form. With no additional help from Death, Soul, Widow, Phantom, and we had our work cut out for us.

  This was a big planet, with lots of nooks and crannies to sift through.

  Damn you, Spirit Bender. I hope you’re suffering, even in nonexistence.

  Esme

  The darkness was sweet and quiet.

  Sometimes, voices emerged. Kalon, telling me to wake up. Tristan, promising me that everything would be okay. Amal, asking Amane to give her a new dressing for my wound. I’d been injured somehow, but the memory of it was so fuzzy, so far from my reach, that I couldn’t even be bothered to try to get to it.

  “Esme, please. Come on, sis.” Tristan’s voice came through again, almost surprising me. I’d been so well rested, so deeply relaxed in this sensory deprivation, that I’d almost forgotten who I was and what I was meant to do.

  My brother was calling out to me.

  What had happened?

  “I need you,” Tristan said. “I need you back.”

  My eyes peeled open, and I took a deep breath. The light was soft and orange, from wall sconces and a nearby candelabra, most likely. I heard my brother gasp, though I couldn’t quite make out what I was seeing yet.

  “Esme.”

  “Tristan,” I managed, my throat dry as a desert.

  “Here, drink this,” he said, and I felt his hand cupping the back of my neck as he helped me to a drink of fresh blood. The warm liquid trickled into my stomach and reinvigorated every cell in my body. Clarity returned—or at least as much of it as possible, given my near-death experience.

  “Tristan… It was Zoltan,” I whispered, finally seeing my brother’s face. “He killed Nethissis. I don’t… I don’t know how, but he got to her. He said she was in the… Oh, hell, how did he put it?”

  “Take it easy, Esme,” Tristan replied. “You’re just coming to.”

  “No, I have to say this before it slips away from me. My mind’s a mess,” I said, grasping at broken fragments of memories. “He said she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Nethissis must’ve been down in the dungeons, then,” Tristan concluded.

  I looked around, noticing that the rest of our team wasn’t here. “Where are the others?”

  “Amal and Amane are visiting the quarantine area with Petra. They’ve got twelve sick Aeternae, now. Derek and Sofia are with Corbin and Valaine, preparing a search operation to catch Zoltan.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “GASP is in an uproar. They’ve offered their assistance, but the interdiction on the number of GASP operators on Visio still stands. Acheron and Danika won’t budge. Hell, they’re even more determined now to resolve this without outside interference. They’re boiling.”

  “Oh… Okay. Well, I kind of saw that one coming, to be honest. What about the basement?” I asked, remembering venturing down there. I’d followed Trev. Invisible, until Zoltan had revealed me. That schmuck.

  “It’s empty. Wiped clean. There wasn’t anything there. Just empty cells and discarded chains. They found a tunnel leading far away from the city, but the Darklings must’ve sealed it off. No one could get through. The collapse was at least a mile long,” Tristan explained.

  I remembered the scythe, and my blood ran cold. I gripped my brother’s arm, feeling my eyes widen with pure horror. “Tristan… He had a scythe. Zoltan had a Reaper scythe. He knew how to use it, too.”

  “We figured that much based on your leg wound.”

  I glanced down, noticing the layer of bandages strapped around my thigh. The pain pulsated from beneath, spreading through my leg. It was tolerable, but not at all pleasant. “You gave me vampire blood, right?”

  He nodded. “It didn’t work. You’ll have to heal slower than usual, I’m afraid. Kalon insisted earlier this morning that we try with Aeternae blood, as well. Namely his, with Petra’s permission. Amal obliged, but it failed.”

  Kalon. Yes. He’d… “He saved me. He found us down there, and he saved us.”

  I couldn’t remember much, other than him killing the Darklings who’d pinned me against the wall. Everything else was still faded into that sweet darkness I’d just left behind. I’d find the missing pieces, eventually. For the time being, however, I was just happy to be alive.

  “I know. Trev has gone into hiding, for now,” Tristan said. “Kalon should be coming around soon. He’s been stopping by every other hour. I doubt he’s gotten any sleep since last night.”

  “What time is it?” I asked, trying to get up. My shoulder and side stung, forcing me to lie back down before I made myself suffer. “Ouch…”

  “You need to rest,” he said. “It’s only noon. You’ll need another day or two before you can move around. Give it time, Esme. This is no ordinary wound. It’s not even letting your other injuries heal faster.”

  “That bastard,” I hissed, my mind going back to Zoltan’s cold grin. “Did anyone know what he was doing down there? Did you catch any Darklings?”

  “No, only the five dead ones,” he replied. Five. I counted in my head, trying to dig through what I could remember. The two who’d fought Trev, the ginger, and the two who’d gotten me against the wall. I’d injured the ginger severely, but I didn’t think I’d killed her. Maybe she’d tried to come after Kalon. Either way, they were dead. Useless leads.

  “Do we know who they are?”

  Tristan shook his head again. “The gold guards are investigating.”

  “Mind you, two of them were Darklings,” I said.

  “Yeah… Thing is, some of the soldiers haven’t reported for duty this morning. Something tells me that two are the very Darklings you’re referring to.”

  “They’ve all gone into hiding, then,” I said.

  “Corbin is organizing one hell of a search party.” Kalon’s voice came through, nearly startling Tristan. None of us had heard him come in, so he offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure whether you were awake or not, so I didn’t want to make any noise.”

  Tristan got up from the side of my makeshift bed, giving me a quick wink. “I’ll see you in a bit, okay? I’m gonna go fetch you some fresh blood from the kitchen.”

  I wanted him to stay, since more questions were popping into my head. But Kalon was just as qualified to answer them—or at least most of them. Besides, my heart was already singing at the mere sight of him. I’d earned a moment alone with him.

  As soon as Tristan left, Kalon took his seat beside me, taking my hand in his. The touch alone was enough to send electric signals through my arm, reviving parts of me I’d thought dormant or numb.

  “It’s good to see you awake,” he said. “For a moment, I thought you weren’t coming back.”

  I gave a short chuckle. “I’m like a cockroach. Not even an apocalypse will kill me.”

  Kalon smiled, even though he clearly didn’t get the joke. How could he, if he’d never been to Earth? Nevertheless, he was a gorgeous sight for my very sore eyes.

  “We’ll find him,” he told me. “Zoltan. We’ll find him.”

  “They’ve all gone into hiding. I doubt they’ll be easy to track down,” I said. “I’m worried about their capabilities. That was a Reaper scythe he used on me.”

  He nodded slowly. “I know. Your team has told me about Reapers and their weapons. I admit, I am worried, too. But you at least understand what you’re dealing with here. I trust your judgment, goi
ng forward.”

  “I have no idea how we’re going to do this.” I sighed. “What about the Lord and Lady Supreme? What are their thoughts on this?”

  Kalon almost smiled. “They’re in shock. They’re appalled. They’re speechless. I have never seen them like this before. It’s humiliating to them, to have had Darklings roaming freely beneath the palace. They had no idea.”

  “Do you believe them?”

  I wanted to see Kalon’s reaction where the two were concerned. Something nagged me about this, but I had to give Danika and Acheron the benefit of the doubt. That underground maze was extremely well hidden and protected. From what I remembered, it wasn’t easy to come upon.

  Kalon offered me a shrug. “You can talk to them yourself when you’re better,” he said, caressing my face. I melted a little, welcoming his touch. My skin tingled with delight, and I felt more alive than five minutes ago, which counted for a lot, given the road ahead. “You can listen to their heartbeats and maybe detect deception, like you usually do. I, for one, believe them. They’ve barely left their chambers since last night. I smell some execution orders coming soon. They’ll be out for blood.”

  “Sure, but who can they punish, if the Darklings are gone?” I asked.

  “I guess we’ll see. They’ll probably start with the captured Red Threads as known associates of the Darklings. For now, they’re focused on damage control. Petra has been charged with nominating a new chief councilor, and they’ve also given Corbin the right to call a state of emergency. That will allow for mass raids and home searches.”

  “Have you heard from Trev yet?”

  “No. It’s not safe for him right now. I’ll wait, though. These things take time, much like your recovery,” Kalon said, his hand cupping my face. “Next time, you can loop me in when you’re about to do something crazy. I might’ve been able to prevent this leg injury of yours, had we gone together.”