"Everything alright?" Freya asked. "For some reason, I couldn't listen in on you two."
"Yeah, everything is fine. More or less. He wants me to use the vial and ingest it. That way, I would be able to summon the spear he crafted from his own blood."
"Oh? If that's everything, why don't you try it out? But wait, there's the demon soul part, no?" she asked. I sighed again.
"Yeah. I have learned my lesson. There are forces far beyond me, so I'm not diving head-first into things I don't understand anymore. At least not until I'm more or less sure what I'm dealing with."
"Good, good. See, I was the one who helped extract the demon's soul. And I can tell you, it's a powerful one. His name is Eligos."
At the mention of his name, the pendant stirred, moving slightly from left to right.
"Do you think I can beat him?"
She shook her head sadly.
"No, not in this state. Eligos is ranked extremely high in the underworld. I'm still surprised we succeeded. But then again, Dracul had fully awakened and was a hundred times more powerful than you back then."
"This shit is useless then. Once I attain great power, I won't need a spear to help me conquer the world."
"Ivan!" Dracul's voice rumbled in my mind. "Don't disrespect Bethrezen!"
"You named it Bethrezen?" I asked curiously. Just how did he come up with that name?
"Boy, don't you dare go any further. Bethrezen was the Legion's god. You would do well to respect the spear and the name, or Eligos might use it against you instead of your enemies. Be warned."
I sighed, annoyed by all this nitpicking. It has a name, great. The name sounds as wicked as it supposedly looks, so what is there not to like about it? The single fact that I need to fight a demon over it.
"Very well, Lord Dracul. Bethrezen it is. Any chance you could ask him to let me take over? I could really use a good weapon right about now, and not in a couple of years when I awaken."
"Wait," Dracul said and went silent for a while. I looked around the room, only to have everyone focus their attention on me. No one spoke, but the one thing I noticed was Bruno sitting against the fireplace mantle trying to catch his breath.
"Speaking to my inner demons. Don't mind me," I said and focused on Dracul's presence again.
"The only way is for you to bind yourself to him, as in to bind your two souls together. He'll be able to feed on you and regain his power in turn for letting you use him."
"And what does that mean? When I die, I'll go to hell?"
"No, you cease to exist. He gets to eat your soul to restore his power."
I smirked.
"Bring it. Once I'm dead, I don't care anymore. How do we do this?"
"The same way as before. But he'll do the rest once you're in a dream state, more or less like when you talk to me for longer periods."
I nodded knowingly but then wasn't so sure anymore.
"What do you think, Freya?" I asked. She shrugged and sat down on a chair near the trunk, observing the pendant.
"The weapon is a game-changer, and enemies like that Captain would have been much easier to deal with, but right now, the risk is too great. I say wait until we visit Bran. Something tells me we'll be better off going there first."
I let out a deep sigh as I thought about the situation. Still, if a god told me to wait, I would do that. After all, it was too good to be true, but that didn't mean that it wouldn't be mine one day. Just in case, I picked it up and put it around my neck. It hummed and radiated enough heat for me to feel uncomfortable if I were to be a mere human, but not in this state.
"What else do you got in there, Cardinal?" I asked, kneeling beside the trunk. The elderly man got up slowly and knelt beside me, studying the contents.
"I already told you about the jewelry, no? Now, as for this ink and parchment, give me a moment to see what it says, please."
"No problem. I need a drink anyway," I said, turning to Harma. Her mother, seeing my expression, threw herself around the girl along with Marek who tried to shield her from me.
"No, Lord Ivan, please!" she pleaded. "Don't kill my child!"
"Huh? What do you mean by killing her? If I wanted to kill her, I'd have done so the day we met. I just need to have myself some fresh blood."
"Then take me!" she insisted.
"I'd have to drain you dead in comparison to what a gulp from her blood would do. Sit down and don't interfere, or my hospitality might come to an end."
What the hell was it with all these people undermining me? It was terrible enough that everyone thought they could get away with it, but if I did let them go so far, I might as well let everyone do as they pleased.
"Harma?" I asked, offering her my hand. She whispered something in her mother's ear, pushed Marek off her and took my hand.
"My Lord. Please, can we do it somewhere they can't see us?"
"Very well. Hold on," I replied and put my arm around her waist, then shot through the double doors and up to Tierney's tower. To my surprise, she was still there, still naked and ready for me.
"Ohh? You brought a guest?" Tierney chuckled. "Can I join in?"
"Only for a little bit. I need to restore my strength, but using ordinary, weak, and frail humans won't do that for me."
"I see. It's really true then? What happened at the keep?"
I nodded slowly and dropped Harma on a pile of furs, then sat next to her.
"Even worse than you can imagine. I barely made it out alive."
"What now? You do know he'll be coming for you then, no?"
I frowned and stopped only inches from Harma's neck. She'd gone stiff as if I'd already drained all life out of her.
"Why would he risk it?"
"If you destroyed the portal and made him look like a fool, it would only be natural. After all, Humans are easy to predict."
"Right, right. It would be a good thing to leave for Bran as soon as possible then. Speaking of which, Freya will be joining us."
"Oh?" Tierney asked. "How come?"
"Well," I started but couldn't come up with a good enough lie to pass, so I opted on a half-truth. "She made herself my consort. After all, she's insanely strong, and I could do little against her."
"So you let her bully you?"
"No, I didn't let her bully me, Tierney. You should know me better by now, but I can't exactly say how and what as of now. The moment I can, you'll be the first to know."
"Why not?" she snapped and sat upright, the furs rolling off her body. Harma gawked for a long moment before she turned her head to me.
"Because she's Chernobog!" I sat there for a moment, not quite sure how to go about what I just said. "You haven't heard anything from me. And you, Harma, if anyone finds out, I'll have your head on a spike."
"My Lord! I'd never!"
"Shh," I whispered, putting my hand on her neck before I sank my teeth in. "I know you never will because if you do, she'll do much worse things to your parents than Cosimo did to you."
She nodded and let out a soft groan as I started drinking her blood, little by little, savoring each drop. It didn't take long for her to drop into my arms and drift off into a long sleep. She'd get better in a day or two and after she has some food. At least we could provide enough of that at the estate.
"So, what now? And what's up with that pendant? It looks dangerous."
"And it is," I replied. "You didn't listen in on my conversation with Dracul and Freya?"
She shook her head.
"Didn't think it would bring any entertainment value. Was I wrong?"
"You sure were," I laughed and proceeded to tell her. She remained silent as I spoke, studying the thing before she reached out and touched it with a finger.
"Shit!" Tierney cursed as she pulled her hand back. "It burns like the sun!"
"Tell me about it. It's somewhat less painful for some reason while I'm wearing it, but whatever. If it's such a game-changer, I'm not leaving it lying around."
"I can imagine. And what di
d you say its name was? Bethrezen?"
I nodded.
"Yes, Bethrezen. Why?" I asked as I lowered Harma's body on the pile of furs.
"If I remember correctly, he was a sort of demon god a long time ago. We might need to go talk to Lilith to get more background on it if you like."
"Lilith?"
"The mother of all Demons. Something similar to your Freya."
"Right. I have my hands full dealing with only one goddess, I don't need a second one."
"Ugh," she scoffed, throwing a fox's pelt at me. "She's far more than you can even handle. But seriously, we go way back. Lilith helped me once when I was in a bad position."
"I see. And where do we find this Lilith?" I asked curiously.
"Hmm, this time of the year she should be somewhere North. She doesn't really like the heat, so she stays away from it."
"North of here?"
"No, north of the Vatacan. I doubt we'd find her in anything under a week. So better get Bran over with first, the Captain second and then we can see how everything stands."
"Exactly my thoughts," I said, pulling her closer and planting my lips on hers. She licked the few drops of blood I intentionally left behind. Soon it turned into a full-blown kiss and my hand between her legs. But I stopped myself. This wasn't fair to the other girls.
"Ugh, really? Do you like them that much to deny me a good fuck?"
I shrugged.
"I'm not going to answer that. You should know better. Anyway, how about we depart when the sun sets in a couple of hours? Can you be ready by then?"
"If I have to, yes. Let me send out a couple of messages to my subordinates to let them know I'm fine. They might get worried and do something stupid."
I snorted.
"Right. Why don't they come live with us? It's stupid to have them keep on raiding and pirating."
"If we get a bigger place one day, sure, but Zharevo is too small for all of us. But Bran, now that's something else."
"So that's the real reason then?"
Tierney chuckled.
"Maybe, maybe not. I was serious when I told you about the castle and the rest, but I wouldn't say no to taking Bran over for ourselves."
"Are there any bigger castles than Bran?"
"Hmm. To be honest, there's Rasnov. It's a couple of minutes flight from Bran to the North-East and is much bigger. We could use both? Say, one for ourselves, the 'nobility' and the other for our forces and my, no, our people."
"I see. Well, in this case, you're forgiven. You picked the smaller of the two castles first," I joked. She didn't seem to get it and frowned. "Never mind. Go do your preparations while I go check in on our guests before we leave," I added hurriedly and planted another kiss on her lips before I picked Harma up.
"See you soon," she purred as I stepped toward the door.
"When you're ready, come to the main hall. I'll be waiting."
"Oh? So you can show me off?"
I shrugged and put up a smile.
"If you didn't like it, you wouldn't do it," I replied and left her sitting on the furs. And boy was she a looker. I'd have to watch out with taking in women, or they might end me even before my enemies do, I thought as I jumped from the tower.
Chapter Fifteen
"By the lord! What have you done to my baby girl?" the mother cried as I handed Harma over to Marek. He remained quiet, knowing very well that I hadn't hurt her and that she was just drained, and asleep. But the mother wasn't so easily dismissed.
"She'll be better once she's gotten a good round of sleep and something to eat. I'll have Vera assign a cook to you four and take care of you. I'll need more blood when I'm back," I replied calmly.
"No, you won't! I'm not letting you touch my baby girl ever again!"
"Hush, woman! Do you want him to throw us out? Or worse, kill us?" Bruno asked. But he was very wrong. There were many things worse than death, far too many. And Harma had endured many of them for her family.
"I'll only tell you this once," I started. "Death isn't what you should be afraid of if you insult me. Just look at Harma's body, and you'll have your answer. And to add, no, that wasn't me. All of the wounds were caused by Cardinal Cosimo, the Guard Captain and the devil knows who else."
She remained quiet after my short, concise speech and embraced Harma even tighter. Mother. What did it even mean to have a mother? I never had one to know what motherly love meant. Not that it mattered in the end.
"Bruno, what about the scroll? Did you manage to figure anything out?" Freya asked. I hadn't noticed her lying next to the fireplace, even though she wasn't easy to overlook. The goddess really knew how to blend in with her surroundings.
"Lady Freya, yes. I have figured out what the scroll is supposed to do. See, there are thirteen major runes the Vatacan has succeeded in mass-producing, as well as enchanting them into clothing, armor, and weapons our-- umm, their soldiers use." Bruno glanced over at me as if searching for a sign. I wouldn't flip out over such a minor slip-up. The man had barely slept once in his new bed, so whatever. As long as he got the job done, I didn't care.
"Go on, Bruno," I said once he'd gone silent.
"Well, I think we could be able to come up with a version of our own given time and knowledge. They use light core crystals, while we would need the black version, the ones that power the portal."
"I see. Something like this?" I asked producing the light and dark crystals I hid away using my shadows at the keep. I'd totally forgotten about them until Bruno mentioned them just now.
"How--Where--No, never mind. I don't need to know. How many of them are there?"
"Thirteen dark and twenty light. I think that my shadows weren't capable of carrying more than that."
"My goodness gracious! You have no idea how much all of this stuff is worth to the Vatacan!"
"Money doesn't do us much good in this case, Cardinal," Freya said. "We can't fight them with money."
"No, I'm not speaking just about money, Lady Freya. Each one of these crystals can-- wait, let me put it in easier terms. One of these light core crystals can light up the entire estate during night-time for a year. Or connect them to wards empowering our defenses, or use them in transcribing these runes."
"So you could make use of them?" I asked.
He nodded his head frantically, almost happy to do so. Then he sighed and shook his head, his expression changing to worried and sad.
"Who would have thought that I'd be happy to work against-- my former colleagues and friends," he whispered. "But yes, my Lord, I can work with them. In fact, my wife Martina has specialized in the craft. She wasn't allowed to practice due to-- circumstances, but now she could be of immense help!"
"Good, Bruno. I'll leave it to you then. Please, I'll ask this only once. If you want to be safe and free, use the time while I'm gone to come up with something. Everyone needs to add to the combined war effort. If you do, I'll reward your family with a wing of the Rasnov or Bran castles, depending on the state they're in."
"You would do that?"
I shrugged.
"Why not? If you're happy, then you're family will be happy and willing to add their knowledge to the pool. In any case, please help identify what each of the jewelry does so we can distribute them accordingly."
"Yes, my lord. But-- what about Marek?" he asked, eyeing the young man. Now that he was healed up, and out of his clerical robes and weapons, he didn't look that much older than me.
"Do with him what you want, Cardinal. If he even looks our way awkwardly or does anything inappropriate, I'll feed on him when I'm back. However, if he does step up and can overcome our-- differences, then he'll have a place at the table."
"Thank you, Lord Ivan," Bruno said as he bowed deeply. I looked over at the table where he was poking at a piece of meat and was lost in conversation with Martina and Harma. Truth be told, every single able-bodied man or woman was more than needed. I nodded and turned to the staircase.
"Freya, do you want to join me upstairs w
ith the ladies, or will you stay here?"
"I'll keep an eye on them," she said openly. "You go rest or whatever it is you planned to do."
Up on the second floor, Katya, Vera, and Hana were in a heated debate. I stopped to listen in and was quite surprised at what they were discussing.
"I tell you; he's infatuated by power. Both Tierney and that Freya woman are much stronger than us. We need to do this if we want to keep our position!" Hana hissed. "If you don't care about being his, that's something else, but I do care about it!"
"What you're proposing is preposterous!" Katya retorted. "Ingesting souls isn't what I signed up for!"
"It would only be those loyalists, no one else. Besides, do you want to see him run off with those two?" Hana asked. Katya narrowed her eyes on Hana's and poked her chest with a finger.
"If we're that disposable, then even power won't mean anything! If he's over us already, nothing will change no matter how strong we become!" Katya hissed back.
"Sisters, please!" Vera cried out. "Don't argue! We have a decent life here, no? Why risk it? Why risk everything? And Hana, he promised to make time for you when he's back, didn't he? Has he ever lied to us?"
I could hear all three women sigh and sit down on chairs around the table.
"You're right. Who am I kidding? If he already has enough of us, then we'll just be discarded. It's better not to push him away, and instead we should focus on making his stay as good as possible whenever he's home," Hana said. I could feel the pain in her voice, but it was beyond me why she felt like that. Sure, it had been a few weeks since I was intimate with them, but life wasn't exactly fun and games right now.
I went back down a couple of steps and stomped on purpose so they could hear me approach. They looked up at me when I turned the corner and smiled. Their eyes were lit up with hope and longing, that much was clear.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I took a seat between them. "You look flustered."
"Nothing. We were just talking," Vera replied quickly. "It's been a wild last year, huh?" she asked sheepishly.
"It has. And all of what I've been doing was for your sake. Don't forget that. I've sacrificed a lot, and will even more in the process, so try to bear with me."
Lord of Shadows book 2: Bloodlines Page 11