“I’m the best you’ve got, and only the Whip can say otherwise,” Zoltan said sharply.
The Whip. That had to be their superior. Was the Whip at the top of the pyramid, or was that just another title? How many leadership positions were there among the Darklings? They’d had millions of years to develop and consolidate their organizational structure. We’d been foolish from the very beginning to think the Scholars were the final authority.
Rudolph moved us around, hiding behind different rocks and stumps, unseen by the Darklings as he sniffed the ground, likely catching the scents of his former teammates. I did as Seeley had instructed me, never staying in one place for too long. The loose rocks were helpful, since I could hide like Rudolph. I only needed to hear the bastards.
“Rest assured, I will address this with the Whip as soon as we meet her,” Veliko replied.
Her. The Whip was a female Aeternae. The question of who she was became my primary focus as I analyzed Veliko’s and Zoltan’s body language. They were both tense, but they conversed as politely as possible, considering the amount of hate they harbored for each other.
Looking back over my shoulder, I could see Seeley, Sidyan, Lumi, and Maya standing on the side of the coastal road, watching me. They were only visible to me. The atmosphere was thick and heavy, the rain continuing its persistent downpour—but the tension was undeniable. All the Darklings were angry and stressed. Many likely shared Veliko’s sentiments, though they didn’t voice their opinions. Others seemed to dislike him, but again, they said nothing.
Ghouls growled from the woods. The black guards were bringing them back, and the creatures tugged at their chains. Their crooked mouths were smeared with fresh blood. I froze on the spot while Rudolph hissed at them in their peculiar language. Their expressions shifted at the sight of me, but they didn’t react. Whatever Rudolph had “said,” it seemed to have done the trick. The ghouls knew not to engage me in any way.
Hell, a whole minute passed, and they weren’t even looking at me anymore. They dug their noses into the grass as the black guards brought them back to the temporary camp. Zoltan watched them with grim interest. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
One of the black guards huffed nervously as he yanked on the chain, forcing the ghoul in his charge to catch up with him. “They’re not eating much,” the guy said. “They keep sniffing around, growling, looking left and right and front and back, but they don’t seem to have much appetite.”
“We got them close to a herd of deer,” another guard said. “A couple of them went after the animals and came back with carcasses, but the others didn’t seem interested.”
Zoltan muttered a curse. “They’re not eating. You all know what that means.”
“The source of the Black Fever is close by,” Veliko replied, his brow furrowed as he glanced around, probably hoping it was all just a bad dream.
My instincts flared. Valaine was close—closer than ever—and she seemed to have a certain amount of influence over the ghouls. At least, that was what Zoltan was saying, though I had a hard time finding the connection between the Black Fever and the ghouls. It made me wonder how much of their belief system was rooted in reality, and how much was just bogus superstition.
I couldn’t exactly ask Zoltan to explain the connection between the ghouls’ loss of appetite and Valaine’s proximity. All I could do was listen and pay attention. My skin crawled as I watched the ghouls huddle together, clearly uncomfortable, as they were forced to sit in the pouring rain. Rudolph stared at them, his gaze occasionally darting back to Veliko and Zoltan—these two scared him, so he kept a reasonable distance.
“We’ll have to get moving,” Zoltan said. “If she’s this close, it’s only a matter of time before she finds us.”
“Why don’t we stand our ground and fight, then?” Veliko replied. “If we kill her now, we’ll be heroes!”
“There are too many of them.” Zoltan sighed. “Too many of our own kind we risk killing. That’s not how we do things. If a few Aeternae get killed during our missions, it’s collateral damage we can accept. But they have at least three thousand gold guards and Crimson soldiers with them, and you’ve seen how powerful Valaine can be. Killing her now would mean killing her defenders, as well. All three thousand of them. The Whip will not accept such damage, not when we’re trying to save the Aeternae. Use your brain, Veliko.”
“We can make them understand why she must die!” the ambitious lieutenant retorted. “This is as close as we will ever get to her, considering our current circumstances. Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“I said no!” Zoltan shouted. “We keep moving. We lose them. We find our way back to the Whip. That’s all. That is our protocol, and we will follow it!”
Before Veliko could respond, several pellets fell from the sky. Each one burst into a puff of blue smoke and ashes upon hitting the ground. Confusion was quick to set in.
“What the…” Zoltan’s voice faded, as hundreds of pellets fell.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
They all exploded, causing the blinding blue smoke to expand, swallowing the entire formation of dazed Darklings and ghouls. The creatures snarled and bawled, covering their big black eyes. The Darklings struggled to stand upright as they coughed and wheezed.
I recognized this attack technique. There wouldn’t be any more pellets coming. Those were as much as Tristan would’ve been able to fit into his bag before replenishing his resources from the shuttle.
“Rudolph, get back!” I shouted.
Gold guards roared as they descended upon the site. Their armor glimmered through the thick blue smoke. They moved like shimmering shadows, hacking and slashing. Blood sprayed outward, thousands of droplets passing through me to glaze the grass at my feet. The rain would wash it all away.
I heard Valaine shouting orders. Turning around, I saw her and Tristan atop their Vision horses, joining their soldiers in this unexpected attack. They had planned this well—the Darklings had obviously not seen them coming. I couldn’t see Seeley and my crew, but I had to move back to the road as fast as possible. Things were about to get extra nasty.
This was it. The reckoning had finally reached Zoltan and his people.
Tristan
When the ghouls had come out of the woods with their handlers, we’d seen some of the creatures looking our way. It was barely noticeable to most, but to me it was a sign that we would not be able to take the Darklings by surprise again. This was our only shot to attack, and we had to take it.
Valaine had reluctantly agreed, hoping her father would catch up with the rest of the troops before much longer. The soldiers we had with us were enough to intimidate and carry out a good offensive, especially after I’d used all my blue smoke pellets. They were small enough to fit inside a single leather pouch, yet they’d been potent enough to daze the dozens of Darklings we’d caught resting away from the coastal road.
My heart raced as we rode our horses into the mushroom cloud of cobalt-blue smoke. We heard the Darklings screaming and the ghouls screeching—we’d sent the gold guards in first to neutralize as many of them as possible. My only hope was that the ghoul training I’d given them would be enough for many of our people to survive.
I jumped off my horse, stopping at the edge of the skirmish. My gaze darted across the swollen mass of blue smoke and limbs and black armor and snarling ghouls, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. I had to give the gold guards credit—they barely understood the danger of these undead creatures, yet they dove right into the middle of it all.
“Get ready! They’ll start scattering soon!” I shouted at Valaine.
She slipped off her Vision and joined me, her claws and fangs out. Her eyes blackened as she unleashed the darker side within, black veins swelling across her temples. “I… Make sure you bring me back if I lose my way,” she hissed, delving deeper into her most feral self.
I nodded and watched her go. Seconds later, I joined her inside the blue smoke. It was
finally beginning to dissipate, revealing a most horrendous sight. Gold guards were gruesomely decapitated, their lifeless bodies sinking into the bloodied grass. The ghouls were all visible—I had a feeling it had something to do with the iron collars around their necks—and their Darkling handlers struggled to pull them back while the black-armored guards defended their cluster.
The soldiers we still had standing were putting up quite the fight, slashing with their claws and darting through the thinning smoke as they sought to take down as many of the hostiles as possible.
I spotted Zoltan. He was limping away from the brawl when one of his own men grabbed him by the shoulder and tossed him backward, closer to us. I set my sights on him and went straight for a live capture.
“Veliko, you traitorous son of a bitch!” Zoltan cried out from where he’d fallen on his back in the wet grass.
The Darkling snickered as he motioned for the ghoul handlers to follow him. They moved back by another thirty yards or so, and Veliko snapped some of the creatures’ chains with his scythe. Our theories had been correct, then. The Darklings definitely had more than a few Reaper blades and plenty of death magic knowledge—further evidenced by the presence of so many ghouls in their possession.
The remaining Darklings were joined by the dozen ghouls that Veliko had just let loose. The creatures were now able to disappear, and I had to rely on my instincts and understanding of how they moved while in their subtle form to defend myself and the other gold guards from their snapping jaws.
Valaine howled as she bolted through the bloodied crowd. She went straight for a cluster of Darklings. The ghouls yelped and jumped back, suddenly still and visible, terrified of Valaine.
The Darklings were on their own again. I reached Zoltan just as he was about to get up. He swung his scythe out in a bid to cut me, but I’d already learned his techniques from Esme. I caught his wrist and wrung it until every single bone broke. Zoltan howled from the pain, dropping the scythe.
I caught the blade under my boot and pushed it aside, making sure he couldn’t reach it. Zoltan tried to fight me, but he wasn’t fast enough, not after I’d just shattered his wrist. I only needed a couple of moves to tackle him, both of us sinking into the mud forming from the constant rain. I wound up on top of Zoltan, yanking his hands back and slapping on a pair of steel cuffs.
“I got him!” I shouted victoriously. “I finally got him!”
Valaine hissed as she cut down another Darkling. There were plenty of bodies gathering at her feet, while the ghouls dared not approach her. Instead, they scrambled backward, whispering among themselves. Some tried to get back to Veliko and the other Darklings, who were now engaged in some kind of group spell.
We only had about ten soldiers standing. Not enough to take these people down, but I couldn’t let them get away, either.
“Valaine, we need to stop them!” I called out, hoping she heard me.
The rain intensified as Veliko’s lips moved. He drew symbols into the wet earth around his feet, and the other Darklings soon joined his chant. The ghouls in their possession shivered and growled, and Veliko took hold of two of their chains, pulling the creatures closer.
Valaine was tackled by two Darklings, but she tore them apart and cast them aside. I couldn’t leave Zoltan. The steel cuffs were worthless if I didn’t hold the monster down. I found the poison capsule in his pocket and tossed it away.
The air rippled around Veliko’s group. The chains he held on to lit up white, as did the ghouls attached to them. It seemed to cause the creatures great pain—they snarled and wailed, clutching their deformed heads with their bare hands. Something was happening, and I doubted it would end well for us.
Chills ran down my spine, goosebumps pricking my skin as the air became supercharged with the strangest kind of energy. Danger loomed all around, and I wasn’t sure what we could do next. The Darklings who’d been left out of the main group were still fighting what remained of our gold guards. Their scythes gave them a dangerous advantage, and I watched helplessly as they cut two of the soldiers down.
Black mist gathered around Valaine, her feral form intensifying as she stalked across the tall grass toward Veliko and the Darklings. The freed ghouls kept their distance. The others whimpered as she approached the huddle.
“Now, brave men! We kill the Black Fever today!” Veliko shouted, and my heart jumped into my throat. The look in his eyes as he watched Valaine approach scared me.
“He’s going to kill her, that fool,” Zoltan spat. “This is such a bloody mess!”
“Valaine, get back!” I yelled, but she didn’t hear me.
The two ghouls in Veliko’s chains glowed an even brighter white as the Darklings continued their chants. The power swelled among them. Thunder rumbled somewhere above. The wind grew sharper and lashed at my face.
I moved to get off Zoltan, intending to pull Valaine back before it was too late. Whatever the Darklings were up to, it was aimed at her. The surviving gold guards tried to get away from their opponents. They, too, sought to protect Valaine, but there wasn’t much we could do. The entire congregation of Darklings hummed unnaturally loudly.
“We’ll be heroes!” Veliko laughed, throwing his head back.
The two ghouls dissolved into white sparks that vanished inside each of the Darklings. Their collective mass glowed, translucent ripples spreading outward as though a stone had been thrown across a lake.
Valaine stilled, breathing heavily. I tried to reach her, but it was too late.
A blinding white light erupted from the Darklings, and it almost swallowed her before a familiar figure dashed through my field of vision and tackled her. As they fell, a shimmering gold shield enveloped them.
I ducked, the white light expanding, eager to consume. I held my breath, listening only to the sound of raindrops all around me. A grunt. A slashing sound. Someone’s entrails hitting the ground. The body following with a thump.
Something growled dangerously close to my face. I kept my eyes shut, praying to all the entities of the universe to help me live through this moment, for there was so much I hadn’t yet accomplished. I prayed that Valaine would survive, too. That familiar figure had certainly taken her out of the death spell’s most devastating path, but I wasn’t sure it had been enough.
“Let go of me, you filthy piece of… Argh!” Zoltan screamed behind me, and I recognized a ghoul’s snarl in his vicinity, along with the sound of bones crunching.
I finally dared to open my eyes, first looking back to find Zoltan in the grass, a ghoul pressing his head down with one foot while he bit into his leg. The Darkling Scholar cried out, but the ghoul refused to let go. A smile twitched at my lips, until I remembered Valaine.
Glancing ahead, I exhaled sharply. The light had faded, and Veliko and his entire cluster had vanished without a trace. The ghouls they’d left behind were gathered in one spot, desperately holding on to one another as they looked toward Valaine in fear.
She was okay, albeit somewhat confused. She was back to her normal self, her skin smooth and her black eyes clear. Lumi helped her up, and Valaine gave her a soft smile. Lumi, of all people…
“What… What just happened? What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to figure out whether I was dreaming or this was actually happening. It had to be real, though. Valaine looked as shocked as I felt, perhaps even more confused, since she’d never met Lumi before.
But she was alive, and that was what mattered most to me. We’d lost each other in the middle of that scuffle, and the Darklings had obviously had some pretty destructive protocols in place. At least we’d caught Zoltan. This fight had not been for nothing.
“Ah, kiddo… I wish I’d had a better choice,” Lumi mumbled, staring at me.
What did that mean? How had she gotten to Visio in the first place? Gosh, there were so many questions piling up already, I worried I’d lose my mind by the following nightfall if she didn’t give me some answers, and soon.
Tristan
&nbs
p; They were gone. The entire cluster of ghouls and Darklings led by Veliko were gone. They’d vanished into thin air, using that complex spell they’d all been chanting—death magic that had likely destroyed two of their ghouls. The creatures left behind were scared and whimpering. They huddled together, staring at Valaine.
“Are you okay?” Lumi asked.
Valaine nodded slowly, looking around. Only a couple of Darklings were left alive, along with eight of our gold guards. I’d hoped for better numbers at the end of this fight, but alas… the Darklings had proved that strength in numbers alone wasn’t enough to secure a victory. The element of surprise had helped, though. And we had Zoltan.
“Rudolph, get off him,” Lumi instructed the ghoul. Why did that name sound familiar? I’d heard it before, but I wasn’t sure when or where. “And fetch me his scythe. You know its owner still needs it. He’s not going anywhere anymore.”
“What… What happened, exactly?” Valaine asked.
“Veliko is what happened. That treacherous little turd. He wanted everything, but he accomplished almost nothing with that idiotic stunt he just tried to pull,” Zoltan snapped, his ego tattered. Rudolph growled as he got off the Aeternae, baring his fangs in a menacing sneer as he collected the scythe off the ground. “You’re just as bad,” Zoltan hissed at the creature.
“You two know each other?” I replied, fascinated by the exchange.
Zoltan scoffed but refused to answer. Lumi shook her head in dismay. “Zoltan knows Rudolph very well. He made him,” the witch said.
“Wait, what?” I blurted, shaking my head in disbelief. Was this some kind of twisted nightmare? What the heck was going on here? Obviously, Valaine and I were missing a lot of information, and apparently Lumi knew more than she was telling us.
“Zoltan and the Darklings have been capturing Reapers and forcing them to turn into ghouls,” Lumi replied. “We don’t know how the process works, exactly, but Rudolph is just one of their latest victims. He used to be Caia’s Reaper, as well as Vesta’s guardian, back in the sanctuary on Calliope, if you remember.”
A Shade of Vampire 81: A Bringer of Night Page 7