I stepped forward this time, even though I was unarmed and nowhere nearly as strong as Lord Taranas. “If you kill my father, I’ll kill you, no matter what realm you’re hiding in. Do you understand?”
“Ah, there it is,” said Lord Taranas, licking his lips. “The blood lust, the anger, the desire to kill those who threaten your loved ones … yes, you’re already very vampiric. I cannot wait to see how much your vampire side eats away at your human half and what, exactly, you’ll be like once your frail human spirit gives way to the hunger which controls all vampires.”
I couldn’t stand Lord Taranas’ smug face anymore. Without thinking, I jumped over the Vampire Sword and landed in front of Lord Taranas. With a yell, I slashed at his face with my claws, but then Lord Taranas disappeared, causing my claws to hit nothing but empty air.
“I see you forgot that this is all just in your mind,” said Lord Taranas’ voice, which seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. “You couldn’t have harmed me even if I hadn’t disappeared. But good show nonetheless.”
“Show yourself, you ugly monster,” I said, rotating on the spot to try to find him. “Why don’t you fight me like a man? Are you afraid of a little girl like me?”
“I fear nothing,” said Lord Taranas. “It is you who fear. You fear that I will carry out my threat if you don’t do what I say, but you should really fear what will happen if I don’t carry out my threat.”
“What?” I said. “What the heck does that mean?”
“You’ll see sooner or later,” said Lord Taranas. “For now, I’m going to give you one week. If I do not hear back from you in a week’s time, I will assume you have rejected my offer and have chosen to oppose me.”
“How can I possibly contact you?” I said. “It’s not like I have your phone number, you know.”
“Simply go to sleep and dream,” said Lord Taranas. “We are connected, you and I, in ways that you cannot possibly imagine. Anyway, it is time for me to say good bye, Tara. Remember: One week.”
With that, I felt Lord Taranas’ presence leave. I stood all alone in front of the Vampire Sword before the floor gave out underneath me and I fell without warning, screaming all the while.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Tara!” said a familiar masculine voice above me. “Tara, wake up. Please wake up.”
My eyes snapped open. I was lying on the mat in Lucius’ training room, staring up at the stone ceiling and Lucius’ face that was still too handsome for his own good. He was looking down at me with a mixture of worry and concern in his eyes, which should have made me feel happy and warm inside, but I was still too distracted by the dream or vision or whatever it was I had to think about how attractive Lucius was.
“Lucius?” I said, my voice groggy and slow. “What … what happened? How long have I been out?”
“A few minutes,” said Lucius, who sounded relieved that I was okay. “We were about to begin our second round of fighting when you suddenly lost consciousness. Luckily, I caught you before you cracked your head open on the floor, but you were out cold for a while there. I even thought you might have been dead, like perhaps your vampire side and sorcerer side killed each other during their struggle for dominance over your body.”
I put a hand on my chest, which was tight for some reason. “Can that happen to half-vampires? Can our vampire and sorcerer halves really fight each other?”
“I don’t know,” said Lucius. “The legends say that half-vampires are conflicted beings, but I’ve always assumed that that was because they didn’t fit in either the vampire or sorcerer world. I don’t know of any legend, at least, that speaks of a half-vampire dying in that way.”
“Then why did you tell me that?” I said in annoyance.
Lucius smiled in a mischievous way. “Just because I’m a vampire doesn’t mean I don’t know how to crack a joke or have a little fun.”
I punched Lucius’ arm. “Shut up.”
Lucius pulled back, but he was still smiling. “Lighten up, Tara. Being a soulless creature of the night destined for eternal damnation doesn’t mean that we can’t have a little fun.”
Scowling, I sat up and rubbed my neck in the spots where I had been bitten the day before. “Maybe I’m not in the mood to lighten up.”
“What happened?” said Lucius. “People don’t just randomly lose consciousness like that, you know.”
I hesitated and thought about what to say. I trusted Lucius. Maybe Dad didn’t, but I thought that Lucius was a decent guy, his vampire nature notwithstanding. He was already risking a lot just by having me here. He deserved to know what was going on just as much as anyone else, maybe even more given how he had been helping me from the very start.
On the other hand, I still didn’t know what to make of my meeting with Lord Taranas myself. Mostly, I found the idea that Lord Taranas has such direct and personal connection with my mind horrible, because it meant that my thoughts and dreams weren’t nearly as private as I thought. If Lord Taranas could speak to me through my mind from a distance, what was to stop him from taking control of me and forcing me to do his bidding against his will anytime he wanted?
But I decided to worry about that later. Right now, Lucius needed to know what I had experienced. Besides, he might be able to help me understand it better, given all of his years of experience being a vampire and all.
So I told Lucius an abridged version of the dream. Oddly, I had no problem recalling any of the details of the dream whatsoever, which was weird because I usually forgot the details of my dreams within minutes of waking up. Then again, it was more of a vision than a dream, which helped explain why I remembered it so well.
When I finished my story, Lucius steepled the tips of his fingers together, looking at the mat with a thinking expression on his face. He looked deeply troubled by this report, but not surprised, oddly enough.
“This sword,” said Lucius, looking up at me again, “Lord Taranas called it the Vampire Sword, yes?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding. “He said it was the most powerful weapon ever created by vampires, but he didn’t say what it could do. Have you heard of it?”
Lucius grimaced. “You could say that. All vampires know of the Vampire Sword, though few have ever seen it due to the fact that it’s been banished from Earth for ages, in a place where neither human nor vampire can reach.”
“What’s its story?” I said. “Who created it?”
“It was created by the Vampire Lord Nizara over ten thousand years ago,” said Lucius. “Nizara was the first Vampire Lord, who created the Vampire Sword in order to assert his rule over the vampires at the time. But then a rival Vampire Lord stole it and used its power to create a vampire civil war, which nearly wrecked the vampire community beyond repair. Nizara’s side eventually won, however, but Nizara took the Vampire Sword and banished it into another realm in order to ensure that its powers would never be used again.”
“And has its power ever been used again?” I said.
“No,” said Lucius, shaking his head. “There have been a few close calls throughout history—including one twenty-four years ago—but no one has ever been able to gain access to the Vampire Sword’s realm. And that is as it should be. Such a weapon should not be in the hands of any creature, human, vampire, or otherwise. And the fact that Lord Taranas wants it is … troubling, to say the least, though it confirms what the Council has long suspected about his true intentions.”
“Right,” I said. I rubbed my head. “But I don’t understand how Taranas—”
“Lord Taranas,” Lucius corrected.
I looked at Lucius in confusion. “What?”
“Vampire Lords are always referred to with their title before their name,” said Lucius. “Thus, he is Lord Taranas, never just Taranas. Lower vampires, such as myself, do not need to be called by any special titles, however.”
“Why do you care so much about what I call him?” I said. “You don’t like him any more than I do, do you?”
“It
has nothing to do with my opinion of Lord Taranas,” said Lucius, “which, by the way, is quite low. I’m simply informing you about the proper way to address a Vampire Lord in vampire society. All Vampire Lords are given a certain amount of respect due to their position in the Hierarchy. It’s simple politeness.”
“Uh, right,” I said, though I still didn’t think that now was the time for worrying about politeness. “Well, anyway, I don’t understand how Lord Taranas entered my mind from so far away. Is he really just that powerful?”
Lucius shook his head. “While some Vampire Lords are strong enough to cast their mind across time and space, in truth, it is probably just your relation to Lord Taranas that allowed him to speak to you in that way.”
“My relation to him?” I said. “You don’t mean like family relation, do you? Because I’m pretty sure I don’t have any vampire relatives.”
“That’s not what I mean,” said Lucius. “You see, whenever a vampire converts a human, that human is considered part of that vampire’s Horde, whether or not they actually join it. Because conversion is how vampires reproduce, by being bitten by one of Lord Taranas’ vampires, you are now ‘related’ to him.”
“And what power does that give him over me?”
“Not as much as it could have,” said Lucius. “Because you were bitten by one of Lord Taranas’ Bloodseekers, rather than Lord Taranas himself, his control over you is very weak. That’s probably why he was unable to simply force you to come to his location.”
I sighed in relief. “Whew. I was worried that he might be able to control my mind or something.”
“On the other hand, it is plain that he can still mentally communicate with you,” said Lucius. “He may even be able to manipulate your emotions to make you more likely to do what he wants you to do. All Vampire Lords have that kind of power over their Horde.”
I put my hand over my mouth. “How do I know he isn’t doing that to me right now?”
“You don’t,” said Lucius. “And neither do I, for that matter. On the bright side, this has made us aware of a particular area in your training that we will need to address. If Lord Taranas hadn’t chosen to speak to you like this, we might never have been aware of it, which would have left a huge blind spot in your training.”
“I guess so,” I said. “But it still makes me feel … violated, like how I did when I was first bitten. Only this is even worse, because I can’t just take Dad’s gun and shoot Lord Taranas with a silver bullet.”
“But you can learn to block his mental intrusions,” said Lucius. “But it is definitely not an easy thing to do. It’s easier to learn how to fight in the physical world than in the mental world, but it’s obvious I will need to train you in both in order to properly protect you.”
“Okay,” I said, though without much enthusiasm. “Are we going to restart our training now?”
Lucius stood up. “Not now. I need to get you back home so we can tell Richard about this. He will be interested to hear what you learned about Lord Taranas. He may give us a unique view of it, given his experience as a sorcerer and vampire hunter.”
“We’re going back already?” I said. “But we’ve only done one lesson.”
“True, but this information is too important to keep to ourselves for long,” said Lucius. “Perhaps we can resume our training later or maybe tomorrow. Plus, I need to update my report to the Council with the information you’ve given me. I’m sure the Council will be quite interested to know that Lord Taranas is after the Vampire Sword.”
“Are you going to tell them where you learned that?” I said. “What if they ask for your sources?”
“Don’t worry,” said Lucius with a wink. “I’ve already got a story to give them, should any of them ask me where I learned it. Not that I expect them to, however. We already suspected that Lord Taranas is trying to overthrow the Council. It makes sense that he would try to get the Vampire Sword, because he could easily overthrow the Council if he got his hands on that weapon.”
“What about me?” I said. “He still didn’t tell me why he had me converted. He just wanted me to join him for some reason.”
“Probably because you are unique,” said Lucius. “And potentially powerful, as half-vampires have the potential to be even stronger than vampires or sorcerers. I can understand why a power-hungry Vampire Lord would want you.”
“But I’m so weak right now,” I said. “I’ve never even used a spell.”
“Note I said potentially powerful,” said Lucius. He frowned. “Still, even with all that potential, I fail to see how a single half-vampire would be helpful in taking over the world. The Vampire Sword by itself is more than enough to pose a threat to both the Vampire Council and the Sorcerer Parliament. Why he would need anything more than that, I can’t say.”
I wished I could answer that question, but at the same time, I didn’t, because I was afraid of what the answer would be.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Lucius and I returned to Dad’s house fairly quickly. Luckily, we didn’t see any of those creepy Strangers on our trip through the Shadow Way this time, though I had this feeling of being watched no matter where we went, as if someone was following us. Given how Lucius seemed more or less at ease, I decided it was just my nerves from my encounter with Timmy getting the best of me.
In any case, I breathed a sigh of relief as soon as we crossed the threshold into the spare room of Dad’s house, which was as dark as it had been when I’d left it, though the blinds on the windows were slightly brightened by the rays of the sun outside.
“Here we are,” said Lucius, letting go of my hand and stepping back. “You can tell Richard about your dream. I need to go back to Castle Wings to report what we’ve learned to the Chief and to the Council.”
“When will we resume our training?” I said.
“Tomorrow,” said Lucius, “unless the Council decides to send me somewhere in response to this information, but if anything happens, I’ll let you know so we can reschedule.”
I nodded. “Okay. See you later, then.”
Lucius nodded in return, but then paused and said, “Wait. I’ve got a couple of gifts for you. Here.”
Lucius pulled two bottles of monkey blood out of his jacket and handed them to me. “Your last drink should last you until tonight, but I want to make sure you have a couple of bottles on hand for emergencies anyway. It’s the best way to keep your thirst under control.”
I took the bottles and looked down at them. “Thanks. They look delicious.”
“No problem,” said Lucius. “Perhaps tomorrow, after our training, I’ll introduce you to my merchant. That way, you will be able to buy some yourself whenever you want, rather than relying on me to get some for you all the time.”
With that, Lucius stepped backwards into the shadows. Soon he was gone completely and I stood alone in the spare room, staring at the spot where he had vanished. I half considered running after him in the Shadow Way, because I still wanted to be with him, but that would mean risking getting lost in the Shadow Way, or even worse, ending up in the hands of Timmy or another Stranger. Lucius would be okay, I knew, but I wasn’t sure how well I would be while he was away. At least he gave me two bottles of monkey blood, which meant I wouldn’t have to worry about losing control of my blood thirst and harming someone.
In any case, I needed to go and see if Dad was home. I put the bottles down on the desk and walked over to the door and was just about to open it when I heard voices on the other side talking. I paused, my hand frozen on the doorknob, but unfortunately I couldn’t make out what the voices were saying due to the door being in the way. I recognized Dad’s gruff tone, but the other voice—though unmistakably male and younger than his—was unfamiliar to me.
Carefully, I cracked open the door just wide enough to peer through the gap and listen. I couldn’t see much aside from the hallway outside, but I could hear the voices better, which sounded like they were coming from the living room.
“�
�� I insist on seeing her,” said the younger male voice, which sounded irritated and annoyed. “It’s what the Parliament sent me to do as soon as they learned about the vampire attack in your church.”
The Parliament? Given how this guy didn’t have an English accent, I realized that he must have been talking about the Sorcerer Parliament. Had the Parliament somehow learned about the vampire attack and sent someone to investigate it?
“I told you, Tara is still resting from the attack,” said Dad. He sounded less annoyed than the younger guy, but no less firm than he usually did. “She suffered some rather severe claw injuries and broke her collarbone. I cast a sleep spell on her to make sure she got the rest she needed and I don’t want to interrupt her body’s natural healing process.”
“The Parliament won’t accept that excuse, Mr. Lee, and you know it,” said the younger guy. “Some of the witnesses I spoke to claimed that the vampire had bit her in the neck, which means that Tara is at risk of becoming a vampire.”
“Most of the witnesses in the church were running around like chickens with their heads cut off,” said Dad. “I doubt most of them saw what they thought they saw. The vampire just pounced on her, but I managed to shoot it before it could sink its teeth into her neck. She’s still human.”
“Are you sure?” said the younger guy. “You know that vampires can spread their infection in other ways, yes? The neck is the preferred entry way for their infection, but—”
“Yes, I am well aware that vampires can spread their filth through other parts of the body,” said Dad, more than a hint of irritation in his voice now. “Trust me, I’ve forgotten more about vampires than you know. And I know that Tara wasn’t bitten or transformed.”
The Vampire Sword (Vampire Sorceress Book 1) Page 8