In time, and not unexpectedly, given the sort of people involved and their lack of sanity and common sense, the whole thing had gone horribly wrong. Amanda had it on good authority that the relatively low population of vampires despite their durability was the result of a ridiculous ritual that had gone awry and sunk their ancestral homeland beneath the waves. They had been attempting to first manifest and then contain one of the boundless beings from the darkness between worlds. It was rather depressing to think of all of the history and knowledge that must have sunk with their homeland. Amanda had been born human, but she had been one of the first to be turned by one of the few survivors of the cataclysm. She had agreed because she had wanted something more from her life. She had also been afraid, perhaps, of her death and what it would mean to her family in a world that had so often treated them so poorly. She might have been better off finding a skilled necromancer instead. Unfortunately, that ship had long since sailed although she had met a good necromancer. She was a vampire now, and she always would be.
Ah, regrets. She had far too many.
In any case, the result of those ancient mishaps was that vampires had true forms – forms that reflected their origins in the emptiness between realms. The reason they could turn into mist was because vampires were no longer wholly material and solid in the way that people were. As a vampire grew older, they received access to more and more of the powers linked to their inhuman heritage. In Amanda’s case, as one of the oldest vampires in the world, her true form didn’t even remotely resemble anything human. No, it resembled nothing that had a right to exist in any sane and logical world.
As the earth around her buckled and tore, Amanda cast aside her humanity. In its place, something truly monstrous emerged: a vast, quivering tower of claws, eyes, and teeth which sprawled outward, a creeping, crawling, hungry madness which devoured everything it touched and filled the hall with an eerie, soundless hum which echoed more in the soul than in the ear. A dark and terrible shadow spilled out of her like blood from the throat of one of her victims, and it swallowed the light cast by all the torches and magical crystals. The darkness became something solid and material, a positive quality rather than the absence of light, and it flowed in and around the inhuman and unnameable abomination that she had become.
Through countless eyes, Amanda watched the demons flee. Oh, they had better run. Demons like these had hopes, dreams, and desires. They were almost human in that regard. But in this form, Amanda had none of those things. The only thing she knew – the only thing she could know – was the endless, eternal, and unstoppable hunger of the beyond.
About ten minutes later, Amanda reverted to her human form. She licked the blood off her lips and winced at the acrid taste. As an ancient vampire, demon blood would not harm her, but it was a far cry from the sweet, rich warmth of human blood. Still, it was nourishing in its own way, and beggars could not be choosers. She had managed to keep her hunger in check enough to spare Lord Darren – they would have to interrogate him later – but he’d passed out from a combination of terror and mind-breaking despair. The rat was also fine. It darted over to her and jumped onto her shoulder as she picked up Lord Darren and floated up toward the tunnel at the far end of the cave. The rat waved at her and squeaked.
“Oh?” Amanda had yet to work out how the rats could make themselves understood. It had to be some kind of magic. “Ah, yes.” She sighed and shook her head. “You are right.”
She glanced down at herself. It had been some time since she’d taken on her true form, so she had forgotten to remove her clothing. It wasn’t in tatters on the ground. It had been consumed along with the rest of the demons.
“It seems that I have ruined my clothing yet again. How unladylike.” The rat rummaged around for a second and produced a small, pink jacket. “I appreciate the gesture, but I am afraid that I am far too large for it.” She considered Lord Darren for a moment and then tugged off his cloak. He was wearing trousers and a tunic beneath it, so he wouldn’t be left exposed. She threw the cloak on and continued toward the tunnel. “We should move along. I do hope that the others have not run into any trouble they cannot handle.”
* * *
Katie was not particularly impressed about being dropped into a pit full of zombie scorpions. Not only did she dislike scorpions but she had also encountered pits like this before. In fact, the castle had several such pits since her master, despite his constant rambling about practicality, had decided that no castle was complete without at least a few pits full of zombie spiders and zombie scorpions. And the best thing about using zombie spiders and zombie scorpions was they didn’t have to worry about feeding the creepy-crawlies regularly. Personally, Katie had wanted a pit full of rabid zombie badgers, but her master had claimed she was being completely ridiculous. If they were going to add another pit, beside the pits full of creepy-crawlies and the pit full of zombie snakes, then he was determined to add a pit full of zombie mongooses. Maybe they could compromise. They could have a pit full of rabid zombie badger-mongooses.
Naturally, Katie had no intention of falling any further into the pit since the zombie scorpions were bound to be incredibly venomous. She drove her shadows into the walls around her to stop her fall and spread more shadows out beneath her to give her something to stand on. She would have simply flown out of the pit, but Old Man was there too. She was confident he could manage on his own, but she felt it would only be polite to help him. A shadow caught him, and she set him down beside her on the platform she’d made.
“You have my thanks, Little Miss.” Katie twitched at the nickname. She’d never get used to it. Hopefully, she would grow tall enough that he would have to stop using it. “I believe we triggered some kind of teleportation trap.”
“You mean Avraniel triggered some kind of teleportation trap.” Katie scowled. The elf had barged in without any caution whatsoever. “Can you get us back to where we were?”
Old Man shook his head. “I cannot teleport properly if I cannot see my destination, or if I do not know the layout of the area well. To attempt to teleport when neither of those conditions are met could be… unpleasant.”
“How unpleasant?”
“I believe there is a saying about making omelettes and breaking eggs.” Katie blanched, and Old Man continued, “We would be the eggs.”
“Oh.”
“It does appear that these people want to kill us. I recognise that species of scorpion. It is exceptionally venomous.”
“I thought as much. Where do you think the others are?” Katie fumbled around in her pockets and breathed a big sigh of relief when she found Rembrandt. The rat quickly scrambled up onto her shoulder and faded into invisibility. It was what he usually did until they had a better idea of what they were up against.
“They have most likely been scattered by the same trap that brought us here.”
Rembrandt poked her shoulder. “Rembrandt says he can sense the other rats. If they’re with the others, then we can find everyone by finding the other rats.”
“An excellent idea.”
“But we have to get out of this pit first.” Katie pointed up. “There are probably guards up there.” Right on cue, several confused and angry faces peered down into the pit. Katie heard someone mutter about finding a spear or a crossbow. “Shall we go say hello?”
Old Man’s lips curved up into a faint smile. “By all means. Shall I go first?”
“If you want.” Katie used her shadows to toss Old Man up toward the top of the pit. His sword came free with a steely hiss, and Katie followed him a second later, launching herself up out of the pit too. However, by the time she’d touched the ground – and it couldn’t have been more than several seconds – Old Man had already dealt with the guards. All but one of them was unconscious.
“As you can see,” Old Man said to the remaining guard. “I have been kind enough to spare your companions although I did not have to. I shall extend you the same courtesy if you provide us with information about
where we are, who else is here, and how we might either find our companions or return to the entrance to the tower.” He shrugged. “Or you could refuse, and I could separate your head from your shoulders. The choice, I believe, is up to you.” He inclined his head at Katie. “If it helps you make your decision, my young friend there is a necromancer. Death would not put an end to your suffering.”
Katie had to bite back a giggle. They both knew he wouldn’t do anything quite so horrible. To no one’s surprise, the guard blurted out everything he knew before Old Man rendered him unconscious with a stout whack to the head.
Old Man sliced open the door to the chamber. “Shall we go? It appears that we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Katie shuddered. The guard had babbled about this area being ruled by a necromancer who favoured reanimating things of a distinctly creepy and crawly nature. Why did she have to get stuck in a place like this? Hopefully, the others were having more luck than she was.
They soon found themselves in a large cavern – which was filled with giant zombie spiders. Almost as one, a dozen of the zombie arachnids, each bigger than a horse, turned toward them, their arachnid eyes gleaming menacingly in the twilight.
“Well,” Old Man said, rubbing his eyes to make sure that he wasn’t imagining things. “He certainly wasn’t lying about the giant zombie spiders although I have seen bigger.”
Katie made a face. “Why does it have to be spiders?” She crushed one under a huge hammer made of her shadows and then turned to slice the legs off another with a scythe made of inky darkness. A shadowy spear thudded into its head to finish it off. “Let’s hurry up and get out of here.” There was a strange clicking sound, and more zombie spiders, smaller ones and dozens upon dozens of them, flooded into the chamber. “Ah! More spiders!” She snarled. “I wish Avraniel was here. She could clear all of these things out in a heartbeat.”
Old Man looked distinctly amused as he seamlessly cut down zombie arachnid after zombie arachnid. He dodged several sprays of webbing and leapt into the air. He spun, and his sword swept out to cut down dozens of the zombie spiders in a single blow. “I’m surprised they bother you so much, considering some of the zombies you and Timmy have made.”
“Yes, but those didn’t involve spiders.” Katie refused to stay on the ground. She took to the air and beat her wings, sending volleys of shadowy arrows into the steadily growing horde of zombie spiders. This was awful. The sheer number of corpses – not to mention all of the muck and goo that had built up – meant that she wouldn’t be able to land again without finding herself at least knee deep in spider guts. On her shoulder, Rembrandt had set his sword aside in favour of needles, which were coated in explosives of some kind. Each needle struck a spider in the head and then exploded to deadly effect.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, zombie spiders stopped appearing. Katie made a face and flapped over the carnage. Old Man was knee deep in spider guts, but he didn’t look the least bit perturbed. If anything, he looked invigorated by all the exercise.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry you over all of this?” Katie asked.
Old Man chuckled. “I’m fine. I’ve dealt with worse. Besides, we should get moving. We still have to confront the ruler of this area before we can meet up with the others.”
They continued, wiping out infestation after infestation of zombie insects, zombie arachnids, and various other zombie creepy-crawlies. By the time they finally reached a large chamber that looked like the heart of a hive or a nest, Katie was ready to stab someone. In fact, she was sorely tempted to ask if she could borrow Old Man’s sword to stab whoever was responsible for this whole mess.
“You must be Katherine.”
Katie frowned as the ruler of this area, one of the Eternal Empire’s Lords of Magic, emerged from one of the nearby tunnels atop a giant zombie scorpion that was roughly the size of a house. She grimaced. Simply looking at it bugged her. But what bugged her even more was that this person knew her name. Her eyes narrowed. The chamber wasn’t well lit, but she recognised the feel of his magic. She’d met him several times in the past – at conferences for necromancers.
“I’m sure you’re wondering who I am,” the man said as some giant zombie beetles entered the chamber. Thick layers of metal armour had been added to bolster their natural defences. The same went for the giant zombie scorpion too. Katie’s brows furrowed. Dealing with these things might be tricky. Their armour was well made. “Allow me to introduce myself. It would be a shame if you died without knowing why.”
Katie stilled. Her master had warned her about people who blustered a lot. It was usually cover for something else – her master had certainly talked to buy himself time against more than one opponent – but people who stated they would kill her without much emotion were the ones he’d always warned her to be most careful of. The quiet ones, he’d explained, were often the most dangerous.
“Who are you?” Old Man stepped forward and put himself between her and the other necromancer as the other zombies formed a loose circle around them.
“My name is Jonathon Riven,” the necromancer replied. His eyes were a pale green that contrasted sharply with the darkness of his black hair. He appeared to be roughly the same age as her master. “My master was a necromancer in Everton, one of the best. His name was Ashton Riven.”
Katie froze. She knew that name. Her master had mentioned it once or twice –
“Your master’s master murdered him,” Jonathon said. “He murdered him because he could. That was the only reason he had. And when I tried to avenge him, he laughed in my face. He said he had no time to waste killing a pathetic boy who had served a pathetic man.” His power filled the chamber, and more zombies spilled in from the tunnels that lined the side of the chamber. “I was only a boy when I discovered my necromancy. My own family threw me onto the streets when they learned what I could do. I would have died there, hungry and alone, but my master found me. He loved me and raised me as his own son. But your master’s master took him from me. He took away the man who had saved me from a pit of loneliness and despair. He took away the first person to ever love me for whom I was. And for that, I could never forgive him.”
“He’s already dead,” Katie shouted. “He died before I became my master’s apprentice.”
“I know. But your master isn’t dead – and neither are you.” Jonathon chuckled bitterly. “He told my master that his ideals were flawed, that there was no room for softness or care amongst necromancers. Today, I finally get the chance to show everyone that my master’s ideals were right.”
“My master doesn’t believe the same things as his master,” Katie replied. “He’s like yours was. He took me in and –”
“Silence.” Jonathon shook his head. “I have no time for your lies. I’m going to kill you and show your master your body, so he can mourn the defeat of everything he believes in just before Lord Merton kills him.”
“But –”
“Little Miss,” Old Man whispered. “Don’t. You can’t reason with him. This isn’t about logic or truth. It is his heart that grieves, and the heart is not something that mere reason alone can change.” He sheathed his sword and took a stance she’d seen before. “Let me deal with him.”
“But…” Katie took a deep breath. Jonathon’s words had struck far too close to home. “Please… don’t kill him. He – he’s what I would be like if I had never met my master or if… if someone had taken him away. I don’t… I don’t know what we should do, but I don’t think we should kill him.”
“Your compassion speaks well of you.” Old Man glanced back at her and smiled warmly. “We will have to restrain him then. Can you handle the zombies?”
Katie wasn’t sure whether it was her emotions or the threat posed by all the zombies, but her magic felt stronger than ever. It was pulling at her control, begging to be set free and allowed to rampage. Already, the shadows around them were lengthening, only a hair’s breadth from taking on solidity and sub
stance. “I can.”
“Enough talk.” Jonathon’s voice was flat, dead. “Kill them.”
Old Man vanished, and Katie’s magic covered the world in darkness. When the shadows finally receded, there was nothing left of the zombies except tattered scraps of flesh. Old Man had Jonathon bound and gagged over his shoulder, and Rembrandt hopped over to knock him unconscious with a few pressure points.
“I could have turned out like him,” Katie whispered. Rembrandt leapt back onto her shoulder and patted her cheek. “Thank you, Rembrandt.” The rat offered a few more words of comfort. “Let’s keep moving. I hope the others are okay.”
Old Man put one hand on Katie’s shoulder. “We cannot choose everything in our life, Little Miss, but I do think that even if things had gone differently, you would still have chosen well. You are a better person than you think you are.”
Katie took a deep breath. Her shadows were still fighting against her control. Slowly, they settled again. “Thanks.”
Old Man’s chuckled. “You are most welcome although you would probably still be short. Your height, I am afraid, is not something you can choose.”
“Hey!”
* * *
Timmy was not pleased about being teleported around by some other person’s magic without being asked first. The sensation was not particularly unpleasant – it was like being dunked into an ice bath, but he’d endured far worse things over the years – but the outcome most certainly was. Once he’d regained his bearings, he found himself in the middle of a large, circular chamber devoid of any windows. The only light came from magical crystals set into the walls, floor, and ceiling, all of which were covered in elaborate runes and seals to ensure that no one could use any magic on the chamber itself. The same was true of the columns that lined the edges of the chamber and supported the ornate, vaulted ceiling high above him. Whoever had built this chamber had taken great pains to prevent anything in it from being used against them.
Two Necromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire (The Unconventional Heroes Series Book 3) Page 45