The Holtur Curse (The Holtur Trilogy Book 2)

by Cameron Wayne Smith

  “Pffft!” Ivan spat. “And have our enemy give you all their attention? I think not! Glacious will be upon us soon enough and I don’t have much living left to do. Might as well enjoy it!”

  “Glad to see you haven’t changed!” Rigst laughed, then asked, “Sorbguamis?”

  “Big, dirty, black beetles from the Kuka. A bunch of them came to Holtur chasing grabion.” Sonja nodded to the two large wyverns that had dropped off Ivan and the armour. “These two tried to help us out. Turned out the sorbguamis go complete kuhvi-shit crazy when cooked.” Sonja slid one leg into a pair of greaves made from the sorbguamis remains.

  “And your brother turned their remains into armour?” Rigst asked, then looked to Savra. “I told you that Kallum was worth protecting!”

  Sonja flinched at that. “You protected my brother?”

  Rigst pulled his lips back, and wrinkled his face, forming a guilty looking smirk. Sonja folded her arms, and he just looked away. Apparently these creatures had protected Kallum at some point. Why did this annoy her?

  She grabbed her chest piece, obviously hers for a couple of reasons. Firstly, due to a curvaceous chest. Secondly, as there was a green gem encrusted in the armour between those curves. The dull, green stone was out of place on the almost exclusively black armour.

  Rigst returned his gaze as Sonja squirmed into the armour, his eyes fixing on the gem. “I see Kallum found a good use for the anyshine,” he said. “May it bring you luck.”

  Sonja placed her hand on the stone for a moment, holding back a laugh. She was unsure why her brother had put the gem there, but she highly doubted it would be for luck!

  “So…” Volk said, toying with the armour as he geared up himself. “Where exactly is this Eternity Grail?”

  The sound of a mountain erupting with explosions outside of the valley, followed by a plume of flame that lit up the sky, offered more than an obvious hint.

  “Shit!” Savra swore. “We must get back immediately!”

  “Do not engage!” Velatoria said. “I don’t want anyone consumed by those flames if they can avoid it.”

  “What?” Savra asked, angered. “What about the rest of the house?”

  “These slayers will fight on our behalf,” Velatoria said, gesturing to three slayers. They now looked like humanoid insects rather than warriors. “If you think you can stop the Aesterus-blessed, that is?”

  “Oh, we’ll stop him,” Sonja said, “and we’ll finish off the last of that foul brotherhood. I’m not taking the wyverns though, they’ve been through enough for one sun.”

  The two other slayers turned to Sonja, no doubt with muddled expressions hidden beneath their helms.

  “Savra, have your team fly them back to House Aepherius,” Velatoria said. “You can fight, just don’t engage the Aesterus-blessed. Only the slayers are equipped to deal with him. I love you, Savra, and I don’t want you to be a pile of ash next time I see you.”

  “Yes, Velatoria,” Savra bowed her head. The two other female vampires and the other male positioned themselves behind the slayers.

  “Please, spread the word to the house,” Velatoria added. “Keep our family safe.”

  Savra nodded once more to the little girl who was in command. She then turned to the slayers and nodded again. Sonja felt the bloodsucker behind her wrap his arms into a tight embrace. The next thing she knew, she was airborne.

  The slit in the armour didn’t allow the best field of vision, but glancing down she could see the ground shrink away from her. The air flowed silently around her armour, and if she closed her eyes, she could swear she was standing still. Looking to either side of her, she witnessed Volk and Ivan ascending out of the valley. The moon had difficulty lighting up the flight-enabling creatures, but Sonja knew they merely appeared as a mess of dark wisps when in flight.

  Traversing the sky in this vampire’s grip felt much different than it did with Rigst. Perhaps it was all psychological, given their history, but Rigst’s body up against hers in flight felt empowering. This creature felt controlling, gripping too tight, as if to prove its strength and superiority.

  They weaved in and out of snow-capped, mountainous spires, swiftly approaching a building in the distance. The closer they flew to their destination, the colder the air that crept through Sonja’s visor. The building almost looked like a sanctuary—similar to those used by worshippers of Ralumina—jutting out from a mountain’s cliff. It was two stories tall with three spire-like pillars sticking out from the roof. A pair of old, rickety suspension bridges swayed in the breeze from the entrance; whether they were practical or simply for show, Sonja could not tell.

  Another explosion released a blast of fire—and shattered stained-glass—out into the cold air from above the entrance. Shadow-things burst from the hole, attempting to escape, only to be caught by blazing missiles that far out-sped them. The shadows materialised into humanoid figures as they caught ablaze. Screeches left their wretched mouths as they began to fall into bottomless canyons that carved through the mountains.

  Sonja felt a heavy thud as she hit the ground feet first. She sunk into the powdery snow a moment before stumbling and recovering from her air-legs. Volk and Ivan landed beside her, and the shadowy beings glided onwards to their keep. Before they managed to advance, Rigst materialised before them.

  “The three of you probably have a lot of questions,” Rigst said. “After this is all over, I will answer everything.”

  “So you fucking should!” Ivan exclaimed.

  A smirk crept along Rigst’s face. “I can still fight, and will cover you from any of those brothers. Now move!”

  Rigst coalesced into a blur of shadows that shot towards the building. The three slayers chased closely behind. Human screams—along with screeches from the vampires—pulsed from the building. The sound of steel against steel, and the smell of fire and blood, became stronger as they made their way to the main entrance. An unhinged door no longer kept the snow outside, instead it was now fuel to a fire.

  Two men—brothers of that once large army—reached for their throats, flailing about, gasping as they flew backwards from the main entrance. They rose over the chasm, a shadowy vampire lifting them with little effort. It released its grip, and both men fell into the abyss, screaming.

  That shadow formed into a man who walked along the snow—his boots barely pressing into it—towards Sonja. He had long, silvery hair, a narrow but chiselled face, and piercing red eyes. He wore heavy looking armour—black as the sorbguamis gear—with a crimson overcoat lined with a gold trimming. His appearance was somewhat regal, for a bloodsucker.

  The vampire strode towards the slayers with purpose, unsheathing his blade and preparing to swing.

  “No!” Rigst called out, returning to his man-like form. “They are with me!”

  The silver-haired one glared at Rigst for a moment while sheathing his blade. “The grail has been compromised,” he said, then changed into a blur of shadowy smoke that drifted back into the building.

  “Shit!” Rigst swore, melting into a shadow as he followed.

  “They got it in the end?” Volk said, a hint anger to his voice. “Did we fail?”

  “It’s not over yet!” Sonja roared, rushing into the building.

  Inside, the building appeared as one high roofed room—the second level was more a balcony that went around the entire perimeter—with doorways leading off to other rooms. Sonja had assumed most of the brothers had fallen to the shroud—and in truth the majority probably did die that moon—but, if Crispin and Caede were still alive, they were still a force to be reckoned with. In each corner, staircases leading to an under-level, were overflowing with more of the brothers. Vampires bit, slashed, and flew off with the men that swarmed up from the depths. Neither Caede nor Crispin were in sight. Had they fallen already?

  “Who needs to die?” Ivan asked as one of the brothers charged at them.

  Sonja unsheathed her claymore and swung it in a horizontal arc. Falling to the groun
d, the man was now two half men that painted the white tiled floor with his bloody insides. “All of them!” she roared.

  Both Volk and Ivan looked at her reluctantly for a moment. Neither of them had seen Sonja show such aggression towards fellow man. The moment she charged towards their enemy, however, they surged alongside her. There was no hesitation.

  Both slayers flanking Sonja unsheathed their weapons. Volk’s tungsten blades burst with the flame of his blessing, sealing flesh as they tore through their victims. Ivan leapt and swirled, moving his steel swords like a rigid, aggressive dance; no movement was wasted, each strike cleaved or impaled through vital organs or arteries. Sonja must have appeared clunky in comparison, swinging her single, large weapon around in wide arcs, collecting up to three victims per swipe.

  Once more, Sonja become frustrated with how easily men could be slaughtered. This time, however, she felt no guilt. The Brothers of Eternity had hit Holtur harder than any monster or horror she had faced during her career as a slayer; their eradication was more than justified.

  The three slayers carved through brothers from one end of the room to the other. On occasion, one or two of the bastards would drive their weapon towards a blind spot. The moment Sonja had noticed them, Rigst—or another vampire warrior—would wrap themselves around the man. The brother would go limp, dropping their weapon shortly after the vampire’s jaw latched onto their neck. After sucking enough blood to kill its victim, the leech would return to its shadow form, allowing its prey to collapse to the ground and generously lubricate the floor with its remaining claret.

  Sonja had lost count of the number of men she had slaughtered, and there seemed to be no end of the numbers emerging from the lower level. How much room was there beneath what she could see? Every time she Watched a vampire suck another man of life, she felt a distancing of her humanity. Was allying with these creatures—even to defeat the Brothers of Eternity—truly the right thing to do? Sonja was here to finish off Caede and Crispin and make the brothers fall apart, not feed a horde of horrors.

  “Out!” Sonja commanded to her two slayers.

  A pair of confirming nods came from the two insect-armoured warriors. It didn’t mean the killing was over, they were on the far side from the entrance and would have to clear through swathes of brothers to get there.

  Hacking and slashing back to the entrance, Sonja still couldn’t feel remorse for the bastards she tore to shreds. She didn’t care if they had parents, lovers, or children that would miss them; the Brothers of Eternity showed nothing but blood to the people of Holtur. Blood is what she would offer them in return.

  The crisp, cold air outside tasted fresh after the hot stench of blood within. Screams erupted from the mountainside. Men were being herded into groups, bound and gagged with rope and wood—like boars caught on a hunt—by the vampires outside. Those who resisted were effortlessly thrown down the chasm to die a swift death. House Aepherius had the humans under control—maybe a little too under control.

  “Where are Caede and Crispin?” Sonja bellowed at the silver-haired vampire that approached her before.

  He licked his lips and gazed upon Sonja. After taking a few steps towards her, Rigst appeared.

  “Not her, these three helped us,” Rigst said.

  “Very well,” the silver-haired man said. “Might be an idea to keep her away from our new stock. She kills them too fast.”

  Rigst nodded, then grabbed Sonja’s shoulder and dragged her to a clearing away from the other vampires. “They must have fallen already,” he said. “It seems we had over-estimated the man. I’m sorry to have brought you into all this.”

  Sonja looked back at the entrance of the building. It appeared as though an endless stream of brothers were exiting, only to be disposed of or bound by the vampires. Still, she doubted Crispin and Caede would have been eliminated so easily.

  “Your people—you leeches—will eat the Brothers of Eternity?” Sonja asked.

  “It might be hard to comprehend,” Rigst said, “but House Aepherius is home to humans as well as vampires. People who willingly offer themselves to sustain us. I’m not sure if the Brothers of Eternity would have slaughtered them or not. If they did, we will need a new source of sustenance.”

  “People sacrifice themselves to you?” Volk asked, incredulous. “I find that hard to believe!”

  “No, we don’t kill them.” Rigst sighed. “We drink their blood, yes, but only enough so we both may live.”

  “Who the fuck, in their right mind, would offer such a thing!” Ivan roared. “Why?”

  “You’d be surprised,” Rigst said. “House Aepherius adheres to strict protocol. The people here are treated as equals of House Aepherius—greater really. Whatever they desire, they are given.”

  Sonja shook her head in disbelief, then the three slayers glanced at each other through their eye-slits. There was one question they all wanted to know, and Sonja was the one who had to ask it. “Why did you become one of them?” she asked. “How?”

  “I was sick—”

  “We know that,” Volk interrupted.

  “Really sick,” Rigst added. “On my last scouting run I helped out some miners up at Modryklo Mountain.” Rigst pointed to the gem encased in Sonja’s chest piece. “Where I acquired that. A creature up there released some form of explosive gas into my lungs. It burnt so bad after, and only got worse with every sun. Professor Formidor told me about House Aepherius and the Moonwatch. He said he could organise for me to join them—there’s healing properties in vampire blood you see. It would extend my life while allowing my final years to support Holtur’s Moonwatch.”

  “So you left us?” Sonja asked.

  “I would be dead already if I hadn’t,” Rigst said, then sighed. “The pain is gone and I’m better now. I still serve Holtur, just in a different way, with the Moonwatch.”

  “The Moonwatch is kuhvi shit!” Ivan laughed. “There’s rarely an attack during the moons.”

  “Like I said before, when there is an attack through the moons, it is because the Moonwatch has faltered,” Rigst said. “Removing the Moonwatch would be like removing the slayers from Holtur.”

  “Really?” Volk asked.

  Rigst nodded.

  Sonja folded her arms. “But how did you become one of them?”

  “As I said before, House Aepherius has strict protocols, and that extends to the transformation of man to vampire. Fifty vampires is the maximum number to be housed at Aepherius, and that number lowers depending on the thralls—”

  “Thralls?” Sonja asked.

  “Human residents.” Rigst cleared his throat. “I was racing to the grave faster than expected, there was an opening for another turning, and they knew of my fighting prowess. I was chosen to join them.”

  “You were chosen to become a monster?” Sonja asked, appreciating the helm that hid the tears welling in her eyes.

  “My only other choice was death,” Rigst said grimly. “It’s all well and good to be moralistic in your life choices, but trust me, it’s not that easy when you are nearing death’s door.”

  “I don’t know what I’d do…” Volk said.

  “I would have done the same,” Ivan said. “Fuck death! And fuck Glacious! If there was a way to erase my mark, I would do it in a heartbeat!”

  Sonja sighed. “I thought we—I—had you back.”

  “I don’t regret my decision,” Rigst said firmly. “I may no longer fight by your side at the north gate, but I do watch out for you, all of you.”

  Sonja nodded, doing her best not to sound sad as she sniffed back tears. “I know, thanks Rider.”

  “Thanks for your help this moon,” Rigst said. “You don’t need to worry about the Brothers of Eternity any longer.”

  “What about the Eternity Grail?” Volk asked.

  “Yeah, for whatever reason, the Brothers of Eternity claimed it was their goal to obtain that relic,” Sonja said. “And old Silver over there said it had been compromised?”

&n
bsp; “Don’t worry about that,” Rigst said. “It probably fell into the chasm or something. We’ll search for it once House Aepherius is secured.” Three shadowy figures appeared behind Rigst, then transformed into the humanoid forms of the vampires that flew them up from Moongate. “We’ll escort you back to your flame wyverns…” Rigst allowed a smirk and a minor chuckle to escape his lips. “Not a steed I thought I’d see you riding, Sonja!”

  “Riding wyverns, slaughtering men, helping leeches.” Sonja shook her head. “How times have changed.”

  “We help each other,” Rigst said as the three vampires embraced the slayers. “Return to Holtur and stay safe, Sonja. Also, the three of you should keep knowledge of our existence a secret.”

  “Or else?” Ivan asked.

  “Just don’t, Ivan,” Rigst said. “You know we won’t harm you, your mark means you’re off limits. Honestly, we don’t want to hurt any of you. And think for a moment, an uprising of Holtur civilians against House Aepherius wouldn’t do either of us any favours. You know what the masses would do if they discovered the home of the leech.”

  “They’d seek vengeance,” Sonja confirmed. “Knowledge of the vampires stays between us, understood?” Plenty of other slayers had seen the creatures. Hopefully they haven’t told anyone and she’d be able to keep a lid on all this.

  “Yes, Captain,” Volk and Ivan both said in unison.

  “Good,” Rigst said as the vampires tightened their grips on the slayers, transformed into shadows, then took to the sky. “And thank you.”

  Chapter 21: Cursed Blessing

  Sonja glanced down at the sorbguamis armour she had worn during the confrontation against the Brothers of Eternity. It was scratched, dented, roughed up far more than she had expected, and covered in dried blood. It sat neatly in the corner of her bedroom, and—despite stinking of death—remained right there as she prepared for a good moon of rest. She would return it to the Bristrunstium for repair next sun.