by D. N. Leo
There was about two feet of ground outside the fence, so it wasn’t too hard for Alex and Blaise to walk along the fence line. They soon approached the tall stone wall of the temple from the back courtyard. It was just before dusk, and all the monks were inside.
Alex and Blaise climbed the wall then lowered themselves down from the roof onto a large beam that arched close to the domed ceiling. They crawled down the beam until they reached the shoulders of a ceiling-high statue.
Blaise grinned as he and Alex lowered themselves onto the massive shoulders of stone. “It’s nice to stand on a god’s shoulders, isn’t it?”
Alex chuckled. “This is only a minor god. Let’s find a more important one so we can ask for some favors.”
“Shhh,” said Blaise as he pointed to a lower beam in a far corner.
A small elf sat on the beam, gazing down at the temple floor where the monks were busy preparing the altar. When they finished, all but one of the monks left. The last young monk placed more fruit onto a plate and was about to leave when the elf jumped down and stood in front of him.
The elf was tiny. The top of its head only reached the waist of the monk. Still, the young monk was frightened by the sudden appearance of the magical creature. The elf’s lips didn’t move, but the monk appeared to be listening to something. Then the monk went down on his knees, crying.
“Don’t tell me it can use mind-speech!” Alex muttered.
Blaise shrugged. “Well, we didn’t hear anything, so either the creature is capable of cross-dimensional communication or it’s using mind-speech. But for your information, that creature is a Xiilok hybrid.”
The monk down below nodded. Then the creature reached its little hand up and tapped the monk’s shoulder. The monk bowed down then stood up and scurried outside the temple. The creature pulled out a glowing golden card the size of a man’s palm and pressed the surface of the card with its thumb.
“That’s cheap. But better than nothing,” Blaise said.
“What are you talking about?” Alex asked.
“Just wait here.”
Using his vampire speed, Blaise jumped down to the floor. Before the creature realized Blaise was charging at him, Blaise had ripped its throat off with his bare hands and buried his fangs into the thick red blood. He drained the blood quickly and then took the golden card from the creature’s pocket before letting its small body fall to the floor.
The body evaporated quickly and vanished without a trace.
Blaise came back to Alex.
“I didn’t think you were that hungry.”
Blaise shook his head. “I wasn’t. But I couldn’t help it. The hybrid’s blood is delicious, and this was a double deal.” He showed him the golden card. “That elf was a soul trader, and it was collecting the soul of that monk. It didn’t do it by force. The monk agreed to it. It must have had something on the monk to get that agreement from him.”
“So it marked the monk, and the monk will die when it collects the points. I know the thrill. But why are you taking his card?”
“The key selects those to whom it shows itself based on scores. There are many ways to score. Soul marks are what soul traders use. Unfortunately, vampires like us have no way to score, so I take scorecards from soul traders.”
“So the Aries key doesn’t care what a creature is as long as its score is high?”
Blaise nodded.
“Are other vampires doing the same thing? Stealing cards from the collectors?”
Blaise shrugged. “Maybe. But it’s irrelevant because Ciaran’s weapons are going to kill my opponents for me. So as far as vampire competition, I think I have the upper hand.”
“And what if a soul dealer has a higher score than you?”
“It’s possible, I suppose, but I’ll kill them off. And you guys want one of them, right?”
Alex nodded.
“Right, everything looks okay for today. Let’s get back.”
“So where exactly is the key?”
Blaise grinned. “We’re sitting on top of it. It’s under the floor of this temple.”
“Can I have a peek at the card?”
Blaise stood, grabbed the beam above, and swung his body up to the roof of the temple. “Nope,” he said.
Chapter 42
There were no supernatural creatures in the immediate area. Satisfied with her cautious scan of the snowfield, Madeline went to the edge of the rocky cliffs. She left her silver blood eudqi on. She wanted to be as alert as possible when she surveyed the cliffs.
She knew the general direction of the temple where the Aries key might be located, and she knew what route to take. But one could never be too careful. If they couldn’t cross the field to where Ciaran’s people could pick them up, then they would have to go around the edge of the mountain.
She looked down. It was a long way to the bottom, and she knew for certain that her supernatural skills didn’t include flying.
She couldn’t stay at the inn and wait for Ciaran to make arrangements with his network and his people. She figured she might as well make herself useful and survey the routes for attack and withdrawal. She’d use Blaise’s instructions, even though she really didn’t trust him.
In the back of her mind, she sensed signals coming from a small group of supernatural creatures. She darted behind a large rock to hide. A few minutes later, a group of tiny elves crept along the inside of the fence along the edge of the snowfield.
Madeline was sure they were from somewhere in the multiverse, but she couldn’t quite make sense of their language and thus didn’t know exactly where they were from.
Two large shadowy figures leaped over the fence from the other side. They seemed to be wearing long black robes and appeared to have a human shape. Judging by their speed and movements, she knew they were vampires. Each of them grabbed an elf.
Before the other elves could do anything, their throats were ripped open, and the blood was sucked out of them. The rest of the group ran into the middle of the field. It seemed that their fear of the vampires trumped their fear of what might happen in the middle of the snowfield.
But nothing happened to the elves save for their safety from the vampires. The two dark figures stood outside the fence, looking at the elves, but they didn’t approach. The remaining elves ran toward a far corner of the field and vanished down the small dark alleys leading to the village.
Madeline couldn’t see the vampires’ faces, but she knew they weren’t Blaise and Alex.
Before the vampires had a chance to leave, a woman charged across the field, grabbed one of them, pulled him over the fence, and slit his throat with a small silver dagger. She left that vampire to die and melt into a black puddle and then reached for the second one.
The second vampire dodged her grasp and hit her hand so hard she dropped the knife. The woman didn’t give up. She reached for the vampire again and pulled him over the fence. The vampire fell to the ground but then stood up. When he realized that nothing had happened to him,
he smirked and charged at the woman. The woman withdrew and was soon cornered against the stone wall.
Madeline drew her sword, charged over, and stabbed the vampire from behind. He roared and dropped to the ground, his body quickly turning into a puddle of blackness.
The woman pulled a small shovel from her pocket and darted over to dig through the melted vampire flesh.
“Don’t touch it with your bare hands,” she said as she dug. “Their flesh is toxic.” After a moment, she lifted a golden card with her trowel. She wiped off the viscous black substance and read the card.
“Damn it,” she muttered and headed to the remains of the other dead vampire. Again, she dug through the black mess, looking for a card.
Madeline picked up the card she’d left behind and saw a list of names. She didn’t recognize any of them.
The woman threw the card from the other vampire onto the snow.
“Didn’t find what you were looking for?” Madeline asked.
“Thank you for saving my ass. I was too sloppy with the second vamp. I’m Ziva.”
“Madeline. You’re a vampire hunter?”
Ziva chuckled. “No. I hunt soul traders. I don’t expect you to know what that means, but because you saved me, I want to make things clear between us—we’re not in competition.”
Madeline frowned. “So you hunt soul traders for sport?”
Ziva smiled. Madeline could sense she wasn’t quite an ordinary human, but she didn’t know if she’d just been changed or was from the multiverse. She tried to peek into Ziva’s mind, but her signal bounced.
That’s weird.
As far as Madeline knew, the only person’s mind she couldn’t read was Ciaran’s.
So what was Ziva?
“Why are you hunting soul traders? I know what they do.”
“It’s none of your business, Madeline. And the less you know, the better it is for you. My advice is to get out of here while you can. Something is going to happen in the next few days. Judging from your movements and the energy coming out of you, I know you aren’t exactly human. But whatever you are, I’m sure you haven’t seen this before.”
“Is it because the event has something to do with the Aries key, and it only occurs every few hundred years?”
Ziva frowned.
“Yes, I know something, too. And this might interest you—we’re looking for a soul trader. And just to get this straight, we’re not in competition. I’m not a soul trader hunter.”
“I don’t hunt them for sport.”
Madeline approached her. “Then why?”
Silence.
“All right,” said Madeline, “I’ll give you some info first. We’re looking for a particular soul trader to stop it from marking us in the future.”
“So you time traveled to get here?”
Madeline nodded. “We have resources and weapons. All we want is to identify and kill that particular soul trader. If you hunt them—for whatever reason—we can help you in exchange for information.”
Ziva contemplated what Madeline had just said. Then she nodded. “I need stronger weapons.”
“We can supply those.”
“All right, then it’s a deal.” Ziva sighed. “A soul trader marked my son. It traded the card before I killed it. I’m looking for the card with my son’s name on it. It could be with any creature, not just a soul trader. If whoever has the card claims the score, my son will die.”
“How do you know when they’ll claim it?”
“I don’t. I just know that my son is still alive, and that means they haven’t claimed it yet. But the Aries key will come up in the next few days. It’s the dream of many supernatural creatures to be accepted by the key, and those with the highest scores have a better chance.”
“Soul trading scores?”
Ziva nodded. “There are many ways. But that’s the most popular one.”
Madeline could see the tears gleaming in Ziva’s eyes and the look of a mother’s desperation.
“So you hope to find the card and erase your son’s name?”
Ziva shook her head. “It can’t be erased. But if I get the card, I can keep it safe. The score will never be claimed, and my son will live.”
Madeline nodded. She picked up the card that Ziva had dropped onto the snow. “If you don’t want these because your son’s name isn’t on them, can I keep them? They might be useful.”
Ziva shrugged. “Sure.”
As Madeline held one of the cards in her palm and focused on the text, she saw it move. She held the card more firmly in her hand and pushed some energy into it. It glowed, and the text started to scroll as if on a computer screen. She watched as the list of names grew longer and longer.
Ziva approached and saw the moving text. “Oh my god. I threw many cards away because I saw only the first part of the text.”
Madeline continued to move the list. Ziva concentrated on the moving text. A short while later, it stopped.
“My son’s not on this list,” said Ziva, “but I have more cards. I took them from some important creatures and didn’t throw them away. Would you mind helping me read those?”
Madeline nodded. “Sure. But first I need to get back to my people and let them know I’ll be with you for a while.”
“Of course.”
As they walked, Madeline asked Ziva, “Are you sure you can’t erase the name?”
“If there was a way, I would have done it.”
“You’re very brave going against the supernatural creatures on your own.”
Ziva chuckled. “I have help. A man from the multiverse gave me my son. He then gave me some sort of special energy to protect my son.”
“You’re saying someone from the multiverse got you pregnant and then gave you the energy so you could raise the child on your own? That sounds romantic and responsible to me!”
Ziva shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand. It’s what I wanted. Having a child with someone that special is enough for a lifetime.”
“What has this world become?” Madeline said and shook her head. “Where did the father come from?”
“Eudaiz.”
Chapter 43
“You ate an elf for dinner?”
Madeline heard what Ciaran said as she walked into the room. She intended to tell everyone about her meeting with Ziva and the discovery of the soul trading lists. She needed to get control over Ciaran’s access to the list because it contained information from dead people from the past. She didn’t know what would happen when he accessed that information, but her instincts were telling her nothing good would come of it.
“You make it sound so disgusting,” Blaise growled.
“Because it is. You shouldn’t kill magical creatures, let alone make them your dinner.”
“And you never killed a vamp before, Ciaran?” Blaise asked.
“Yes, but I did it in self-defense. And I didn’t eat them afterward.”
Alex threw his arms in the air. “Ciaran, we’re vampires. We need blood to live. I can go to a five-star restaurant and have a meal with dignity in my Vampire City. But I can’t do that here. We need to eat. And please don’t tell me you’re a vegetarian.”
“Humans are at the top of the food chain. But magical creatures aren’t in our food chain, Alex. We are here for a reason. There will be a battle, and there will be casualties. But I can’t condone you feeding on any creatures while we’re here.”
Alex raised his arms, seeking a truce. “All right, all right. We’ll manage our feeding habits. But that’s not the point of this conversation.”
Ciaran leaned back impatiently in his chair. “So what is your point?”
“The point is that the soul trader you’re looking for is likely to be a hybrid. It would be half vampire and half something else.”
Ciaran cocked an eyebrow. “It might be helpful to know what that something else is.”
“It’s not human. I mean, it’s not going to be in human shape,” Blaise said.
“Is that a fact or your speculation?” Ciaran asked.
“The latter. But it’s an educated guess. As a half vampire, the creature already has some sort of human form. Rather than keep its human form, it might be advantageous for it to shift into something else.”
Ciaran nodded. “So what do we need to know that’s pertinent to this operation?”
“It’s the list, isn’t it?” Madeline asked.
“Precisely,” Alex said. “Apparently vampires and other creatures who want to be taken by the Aries key need to have high scores in supernatural activities. Soul trading and marking are two of those activities.”
“Someone gave me these cards.” Madeline pulled out the cards she took from Ziva and showed them to Ciaran.” They’re from a couple of dead vampires.”
“Who gave them to you?” Blaise asked.
“That’s none of your concern, Blaise.”
“You can’t have them, Blaise, so stop drooling,” said Alex.
Ciaran looked at the cards. “So the vampires killed these people to score higher for the Aries key?”
Alex approached so quickly Madeline couldn’t stop him. He reached for the cards in Ciaran’s hands and pushed energy into them. The lists scrolled down.
Madeline rolled her eyes.
“It’s a long list, Ciaran,” Alex said. “And no, the vampires didn’t kill to score. The soul traders did, and the vampires stole the cards from them.”
Ciaran nodded.
“Hello?” a female voice said from the doorway.
Madeline didn’t need to turn around to know it was Ziva.
“I’m sorry to intrude. I followed Madeline here. I need her help.” As soon as she saw Alex and Blaise, she withdrew and unsheathed her small silver dagger.
“They’re friendly,” Madeline told her.
Ziva glanced at Ciaran.
Madeline continued. “And you can tell that he’s human.”
Ziva nodded. She hesitated briefly and then put her dagger away. “I’m Ziva.”
“That’s Ciaran, my husband. And Alex and Blaise. What do you need from me, Ziva?” Madeline didn’t know why she mentioned that Ciaran was her husband—she just felt like she needed to. She could tell Ciaran was uneasy at her introduction.
Ciaran nodded a greeting, and then his eyes landed on Ziva’s hands as she pulled out a stack of ten cards.
“Could you help me read these lists?” asked Ziva. “These are from high-caliber soul traders and vampires I killed. I didn’t see my son’s name on the cards, but I didn’t know then that there was more to the list.”
Ciaran approached. “Is there anything I can help with? Is there a way I can get a computer system to read the information for you?” He took a couple of the cards from Ziva’s hands.
Madeline took the cards from Ciaran. “Your computer won’t be able to help this time. You need to push some supernatural energy into them to get the text moving.” She turned toward Ziva. “I can help you. Let’s go to the study.”
“It might be more efficient if you tell us your son’s name. Then Madeline, Alex, and Blaise can go through the cards at the same time,” Ciaran said.