by Emily Inskip
She struggled to stay still, every bone in her body wanted to run to him, to take him and flee. But she forced herself to focus, to stay calm even as fear thrummed through her. This was all a dangerous game. She needed to play it right, or risk losing it all. Whatever response Fassar wanted to get from her, she sure as hell wouldn’t give it to him.
“Thank you for finding him for me,” she said, trying to hide the quiver in her voice. “Saves me the hassle.”
“Please, Amara. Can we just get to the matter at hand? I find all this talking rather tedious,” Fassar said with a thin smile as he fixed the cufflinks of his jacket.
Amara cocked her head to one side. “Is that so? Well, I’m happy to oblige you in the alterative. Like I said, I am only just getting started.”
She felt for her dagger secured around her thigh. Perhaps metal made by man would be useless against the Valkrane but it still gave her confidence. Especially as the magic from the Bloodmoon seemed to be acting rather shy.
“Now, now. There’s no need for violence,” Fassar drawled as he gently placed a hand on Fenn’s shoulder. Even from across the clearing, Amara saw her brother tense beneath his touch.
But Fassar moved faster than she could anticipate. Fenn’s scream ripped through the forest, slicing through her like a tainted blade. Blackbirds from the surrounding trees fled from their perch, squawking as they flapped furiously into the crimson skies above.
“I’m joking, of course. There’s always a need for violence,” Fassar smirked.
Fenn panted as he clutched his shoulder. It hung from its socket, dislocated at an angle that made Amara nauseous.
She couldn’t stop her legs trembling with fury. Just one look at Fassar’s smug face was enough to make her snarl.
“Tell me what you want,” Amara hissed. She was done playing games. “Now.”
The hooded bodies amongst the treeline edged forwards, as though closing a protective circle around their master. The briefest flicker of concern flashed behind Fassar’s eyes but he blinked and it was gone. Amara questioned whether it had been there at all.
“Isn’t it obvious, Amara,” he said. “I want you.”
Her mouth went dry at the words. She would never be his. Never again.
“And why is that?” she asked, attempting to master her calm. “I didn’t realise I was important enough for you to go to all this trouble. It’s quite the compliment.”
She caught Elias shifting uncomfortably beside his father, although his hood was still pulled down too low for her to see his face beneath.
“Well at first, I wanted you because you made things interesting, and by the Gods does eternal life get boring after a while. But now you’ve survived the Bloodmoon, well that makes you even more interesting to me. I can’t wait to examine you, to understand what it’s done to your body’s chemistry. The power it must possess . . .”
“That power, may I remind you, is still very much within me,” Amara interrupted, flicking a dagger into her palm. “So, please do think carefully before you do something you’ll regret.”
He paused, quirking a dark brow. “You’d defy me? Even if that meant risking the life of your beloved brother?”
She twirled the blade around her fingers, watching the steel catch in the crimson light. “You keep giving me so many options. When will you start to realise that I will always want both.”
She was Amara Vanderlore: vampire, orphan, criminal . . . survivor. She didn’t need to choose between one thing or the other. Life or death. Day or night. Friends or enemies. They were all the same. She of all people should know where the line blurs.
“Elias,” Fassar commanded, snapping his fingers. “Please demonstrate to our dearest Amara that she can’t, in fact, have both.”
There was an uneasy shift as Fassar reached into his jacket pocket and slowly withdrew a firebirch stake. It was curved in the shape of a sickle, the tanned wood engraved with swirls and symbols Amara didn’t recognise.
He handed it to Elias with a grim smirk that made every part of her recoil.
“It’s time Fenn Vanderlore got what he deserves. Hopefully he won’t scream as much as his wife did.”
Elias stepped forward like a smudge of darkness. On his knees, Fenn began to writhe against his restraints, but with his arm limp and hanging, he was powerless as Elias grasped his chin from behind and tilted his head back. Slowly, he dragged the stake down from Fenn’s clavicle, across his chest until it was hovering just over his heart.
No. No. Amara started forwards just as two strong arms came up around her. On instinct, she twisted, jamming her dagger right into the soft tissue of the man’s throat. He yelped and let go, falling back into the shadows. But soon more and more of the Valkrane were around her, seizing her arms. Amara managed to take down another two men but there were too many. They each took a hold of her, their strength unmatched. She felt a large pair of hands squeeze around her neck, gripping her steady. It was hopeless. She was swarmed.
“Let me go,” she choked out.
“Even with the Bloodmoon’s power, you are just as useless as you’ve always been,” Fassar said, savouring the poison of the words on his lips. “Now that everyone’s paying attention, time to finish it, Elias.”
Her stomach lurched. She was going to vomit.
Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t look away, the Valkrane’s hands like a clamp around her throat. Through the crimson darkness, Fenn had stopped struggling, his chest rising and falling in a steady pattern. He was preparing himself for death, as all good soldiers were taught to do.
No. Not like this. She couldn’t lose him. Not when he was all she had left.
She braced herself for the pain. For the agony of loss, the feeling that someone had carved her insides out and left her but a hollow shell. With his head tilted back like it was, she couldn’t even meet his eye. Oh, how she wished to meet his eye.
But Elias hesitated. She could have sworn she saw his shoulders tremble. Then she recognised him. The man who had come to her every night and healed her wounds. His soft smile and gentle words. The man she believed could do no harm. Was he still in there? Or had another few hundred years alongside Fassar ripped that goodness from him?
“Get on with it, boy,” Fassar hissed. But Elias still didn’t move, his gaze trained on the stake within his grip. Then he turned his attention to Amara, his hood slipping slightly.
Amara swallowed, blinking what she saw. His jade eye, the one she had gouged out was gone, replaced by a dark leather patch that stretched across his head, leaving only his hazel one to stare at her. She’d done that to him. Taken the one source of light from his face. And now only sadness lit his eye as he gazed at her across the clearing. Silence stretched between them, his hand still hovering over her brother’s heart.
“Enough,” Fassar snapped, forcing Elias away with a firm smack to the side of his head. He snatched the firebirch from his son’s hand, before driving it towards Fenn.
“NO!”
A blast of crimson flames burst from her lips. Fire-laced screams. They shot towards Fassar and the surrounding Valkrane like a blot of lighting, setting fire to the grass and shrubs beneath them. Fassar lunged, dropping to the ground as the blaze hurtled past. The rest of the Valkrane, however, weren’t so lucky. The scarlet light collided with them, like the force of a thousand waterfalls. On impact, their chests burst open with flames. Strangled screams filled the forest as they crumbled to their knees, disintegrating into nothing more than ash, swept away by the breeze. The surrounding trees ignited, crown fires dancing amongst the leaves, sending some spiralling to the ground.
The hands around her neck and arms loosened before they let go completely as the Valkrane began to flee, running in terror of the power that escaped her mouth.
Amara gasped and the flames shut off. She stumbled forwards, the fiery power still roiling in her veins. The Bloodmoon. It pulsed in the sky above, swelling larger than she’d ever seen it. Her chest heaved as she bent forwar
d, nausea rolling through her.
Across the clearing, Fassar staggered to his feet, his face covered in ash. Elias was crouched low beside Fenn. His face was so pale as he stared in shock and wonder at Amara. Was that a smile she could make out?
Panting, Amara tried to leash the energy churning within her. She clenched her fists, before turning her attention to Fassar. She needed to focus, because right now, she had the upper hand. And she wouldn’t let that go for a second.
“I’m sorry I’m always so useless,” she said, mastering her breaths before marching towards him.
She didn’t understand this power, nor did she want to. But she let the fire lead the way, its heat licking her mind. Amara reached out a hand and delicate tendrils of flames shot from her fingertips, barrelling towards Fassar.
He dodged them, barely.
She couldn’t help but grin. This magic business was easier than she thought. Again, she threw out her hand and another flash of power bolted towards him. This time, it grazed past his arm, setting his jacket alight. He hissed, frantically patting it down.
Amara smirked. “You’re a dead man.”
“I—” But his voice cut off as Fenn pressed the firebirch stake against his chest.
How had he even managed . . .
Elias backed away, dropping Fenn’s restraints to the floor. Amara blinked in shock, was it possible that his shred of goodness had held true?
“She’s right,” Fenn growled through gritted teeth.
“Fenn,” Amara warned, taking a step towards him. Being this close to the most powerful vampire in the continent and one of the only weapons capable of killing a creature of the night was not a good combination. Fenn was already weak from the beating he had taken, the hours of torture he had no doubt had to endure whilst being captured by the Valkrane.
“Fenn,” she repeated again, slowly reaching out a hand to touch his arm.
“Stay back, Amara.” He shrugged her off. “This ends now.”
Fassar’s scream shattered through the forest as Fenn forced the stake downwards through his chest.
It all happened so fast. One moment, her brother was beside her. The next, he was thrown backwards across the clearing. Amara whirled, just as a dark wolf leapt out of the treeline and onto Fenn, forcing him to ground. The snapping of jaws was closely followed by her brother’s yells as he struggled with the animal. No, not animal. Monster.
Its fangs were twice the size of its kind, like the daggers that hung around her waist. Ebony horns curled from its temples, its wrinkled skin scarred and mottled brown, sparsely covered by tufts of sinewy hair.
Amara rushed towards him, but her path was interrupted by another snarling hound that prowled from the shadows. Then, behind that, creatures which looked like humans that had been stretched out and dried until their skin was shedding away. Amara flinched backwards as they advanced, their elongated legs wavering as they moved. She found it hard to look at their faces. A mess of bloodied flesh, no feature left recognisable, scraped away until it was nothing more than mangled skin and stumps of rotten teeth.
As soon as the moon’s energy is within you, you’ll attract every magic-possessing being in this world.
Well, it looked like whatever beings Fassar had summoned were deciding to join the party.
Nadia. She needed to get to Nadia. Amara quickly took in her surroundings. She had no idea where anyone had gone. Fassar and Elias were nowhere to be seen. The Valkrane’s location wasn’t certain either. She couldn’t even begin to sense them above the chaos and stench of the monsters that closed in around her. Holy shit, there were monsters around her.
In seconds, she threw her arms out and streams of power burnt through the forest. Her chest heaved as she spun, just in time to blast away one of the wolves that lunged towards her. It crumpled to the ground, its ashes already beginning to drift into the air.
It only took one glance to the left to know that Fenn was alright. His face was splattered in blood as he hauled himself to his feet. His shirt had been torn into ribbons and his shoulder looked swollen and bruised, but he was alright. He was standing.
His eyes widened. “Amara, look out!” he yelled, but it was too late.
A slender, mangled arm hooked around her neck. Jagged nails dug into her skin, making her hiss in pain. Gurgling moans filled her ears as the faceless creature brought its head down towards her. She tried to think above the revolting sounds and reek of rotten flesh. She tried not to think at all as she reached her hand up and placed her palm flat against the torn skin of its face. Amara barely had time to register the moist squelch between her fingers before she sent out a blaze of searing flames. The creature let out a dying shriek before sliding to the ground with a hiss as it hit the damp grass.
As soon as she was released, Amara was running again. She hurtled through the swarms of monsters, blasting them back until even the ground beneath her feet was thick with ash. More and more spawned from the shadows, but she weaved between them, slicing them down like blades of grass. It was a lethal dance, and only she knew the steps.
Relief filled her as she spotted Nadia still lying across the grass. But before she could reach her, a ravenous wolf lunged from the bushes. Another flick of her wrist had it yelping in pain, singed fur stuffing up her nostrils as it fell.
She was beside Nadia in an instant, cradling her head in her lap.
A cough. “Amara?”
Her eyes cracked open slightly, squinting against the red light of the moon.
Amara couldn’t help the smile that flooded her face. “Thank the Gods you’re okay.”
Nadia took a shaky breath, her nose now crusted with dried blood. “Did it work? What . . . tell me what’s happened?”
“I—”
Out of the shadows, a faceless monster appeared. It reached for them, black saliva dribbling from the corner of its wrecked mouth. But Amara flung her hand out in one easy stroke, blasting it away with crimson fire. Nadia gaped as she watched it fly across the clearing before collapsing in a heap of scorched bones.
“Long story,” Amara said quickly.
She cast a gaze over her shoulder as Fenn approached, limping, the blood of what had to be a dozen beasts streaked across his face.
“We need to leave,” he said, “now.”
“But the Valkrane—”
He shook his head. “No, absolutely not. This has gotten too far. We need to leave this castle before more of these monsters keep coming.”
Amara wanted to reply, but instead, she just yelled, “Duck!”
Fenn dropped low as Amara sent out a wave of her power. It collided instantly with the beast that had been but inches behind her brother.
He panted, watching the creature burn to the ground before turning his attention back to Amara.
“A weapon would be nice,” Fenn said, noticing the range of daggers sheathed around her waist.
Amara only rolled her eyes before slipping one free and tossing it towards him. Fenn caught it easily without even looking. In seconds, he jammed the blade into the head of one of the faceless beings, black blood spurting into the air.
“We leave now,” he grunted as he wiped the dagger clean on his thigh.
“I’m afraid you’re not going anywhere,” Fassar’s low voice purred as he stepped out of the shadows, followed by the rest of the Valkrane, their faces a grim portrait splattered in blood. Amara scanned them all, but Elias was still nowhere to be seen amongst the horde of black capes and fanged smiles.
In that moment, every beast in the clearing froze and turned towards Fassar.
“This is your doing?” Amara spat as she looked up at him, still holding Nadia tight.
“I summoned them, yes,” he gave her a saccharine grin. “But it wasn’t entirely my own doing, I’ll admit. It is the witches that hold the power in this world. When they die, that energy can’t be destroyed, only transferred. Usually, it is channelled back to nature, the core of this realm. But I found a way to intercept that power an
d transfer it into me. It took a while, but I finally did it.”
Amara thought back to all the evenings he had spent down in the cellar of the Valkrane mansion, the screams of witches that had haunted the corridors as he picked their bodies apart to find the secret to their magic.
He smiled again, and suddenly all of the beasts were turning towards her, their eyes black coals burning through the red haze of the Bloodmoon.
“I see you’ve brought a gift for me.” Fassar slowly ran his tongue along the top row of his teeth, catching it on his sizable pair of fangs. His predator’s gaze settled upon Nadia, still weak and shivering in Amara’s arms.
“You’re not touching her,” she warned.
Even though Fenn didn’t know the witch that had become one of her dearest friends, he still braced himself for a fight. Anyone who was close to Amara, was close to him. And they would defend her until their dying breath. Amara just wished it had been the same for his wife, Tanya, back on the northern battlefields, before this had all begun. Guilt panged through her. She hadn’t been there for Fenn through his grief. They needed to survive this night. Just so she could have the chance to make it up to him.
“I think you’ll find I will,” Fassar replied smoothly, flexing his fingers as he fixed the button of his jacket. Then, without even having to voice the command, the monsters began to advance.
It was slow and careful at first, their legs moving as though they were wading through cement. They were taking their time, playing with their prey. Amara used to do the same with her own.
Fenn adjusted his stance, blade already positioned to kill. Amara held out a hand. It was only then that she realised it was beginning to shake. The more she used this power, the more it was taking its toll. It was an effort to keep her arm steady as she rallied the last of her energy and blasted it across the clearing. Except no flames came. She gritted her teeth, brows pinched together as she focused on drawing up the power. But only a spark of light appeared before guttering on her fingertips. No. No this can’t be right. She tried again and again, yet nothing appeared.