by Adam Thomas
“Don’t go far,” the chief inspector said. “I’ll have more questions for you later.”
“Can’t wait,” Wiggins said, and then they were gone in a flash of magic.
“I want to go check on Halla and Imral,” Shonasir said. “If Rosamund has been keeping tabs on us, then she might know about them. I’ll meet up with you tomorrow.” They conjured a storm and flew off into the city.
Nar watched them go, whistling in awe as they vanished into the darkness. “You are the strangest people I’ve ever met.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Emric said.
Rhys had been brooding over his sword following the battle the night before, but he woke refreshed and made everyone breakfast in Ronin Nar’s tiny kitchen. After eating Rhys’s omelets, which contained some rather suspect mushrooms, the whole party met up at a park in the Emerald Spire. Shonasir had brought Imral, and the pair entered the green space hand in hand.
“All right,” Shonasir said to Emric. “What did you mean by currently aligning interests?”
Sorvek burped ostentatiously. “He meant that Rosamund doesn’t want to be killed by Apranashar just as much as we don’t want to be killed by Apranashar. At least that’s what I thought he meant. I’m still pretty drunk.”
“Close,” Emric said, and he scooted out of range of Sorvek’s breath. “It all comes down to the kaerest. Why did Apranashar take yours? Why did Rosamund take mine? They must have more power than we realize.”
“It is odd, isn’t it?” Shonasir said. “Apranashar didn’t take anything else from us, not our other magical items, not even the ironwood seed.”
“They took our blood,” Sorvek said between hiccups. “Just saying.”
Shonasir ignored the inebriated warlock. “So what would an elder vampire want with all five kaerest?”
Imral sucked in a quick breath. “I think I know.”
Shonasir squeezed their hand and looked at them fondly. “Go on.”
“I’ve been around several dying elves in my work as a caretaker. Every one of them is overjoyed to be returning to Karanathan. You’ve seen yourselves how content Halla is to contemplate such a return. But an elven vampire? They’re already dead and not in the way that releases the soul to the plane of deep magic.”
Sorvek’s glassy eyes quickly clarified, and he sobered just longer enough to ask, “Are you saying Apranashar wants to go to Karanathan?”
“It makes sense, doesn’t it? Karest means ‘magic bridge.’ What if the amulets – the whole set – give them the power to make it there?”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” Rhys asked. “It would rid our world of a vampire.”
“Would it be a bad thing?” Sorvek said, his voice rising and his body swaying as he stood up. “Karanathan is the sublime plane of magic, the home of the Archfey themselves! We couldn’t allow a vampire to pollute such a place!”
“Easy there, you might pull something,” Shonasir said, pulling Sorvek back to the grass, then turning to Rhys. “Karanathan is the place where elven spirits go to be reborn. If Apranashar went there bodily, I can’t fathom what kind of evil they might unleash or how they could taint souls readying a return to our world.”
“It’s tragic in a way,” Imral said. “By becoming a vampire, Apranashar lost the ability to return to Karanathan. No one knows the circumstances of their turning. I can’t imagine anyone desiring to become a vampire.”
“Serafina did,” Emric said to himself.
Shonasir stroked the back of Imral’s hand and said, “This is why you are such a good caretaker. You have such empathy, even for evil elder vampires.”
“So we’re agreed that Apranashar can’t have all five kaerest,” Rhys said. “What about Rosamund?”
Emric rubbed his hands together. “As I said last night, I propose we alter our alliance. Let’s see if Rosamund wants to help us rid the world of her sire.”
Everyone looked around at everyone else. When no one objected to Emric’s suggestion, he drew a small sigil in the air and spoke aloud, “Rosamund, we regret our actions of last evening and would like to partner with you to take down Apranashar. Let’s meet to discuss.”
A moment later, Emric heard Rosamund’s silky voice in his mind. “You’ve got a lot of nerve to contact me after what you did.” A few seconds passed. Emric bit his lip, waited, then listened to Rosamund say, “Fine. Sundown. The Debutante in the Diamond Spire. Bring the officer.”
Emric nodded along as Rosamund talked. He was about to relay it to his friends when her voice spoke once more. “And you owe me a damn mansion.”
The Debutante, a high society restaurant on the water a block our two from the Kindred Society, was full of well-heeled Festival revelers from the upper echelon of the Thousand Spires elite. The B-Team had cleaned up as well as they could, but even dressed in newly purchased finery, they stuck out like weeds in a manicured flower bed. The maître d’ sniffed at their appearance and was about to tell them to clear off when the vampires arrived.
Unlike the B-Team, Rosamund and Serafina knew how to dress the part. Their clothes were the latest styles, obviously purchased that day to replace their wardrobes that were now ash and soot. Miss Steele whispered in the maître d’s ear, and he suddenly stood ramrod straight. “Right away, your ladyship.”
He turned on his heel and walked stiffly to a private dining room on the second floor. “I will ring when we are ready for service,” Rosamund said. “Until then, we are not to be disturbed.”
The maître d’ bowed and shuffled backwards from the room. When they were alone Rosamund stood behind a chair, pointedly not moving it, until Ronin Nar came and pulled it out for her. She sat down with Serafina beside her. The B-Team and Nar sat on the other side of the long dining table.
“Let’s dispense with the pleasantries,” Rosamund said. “You have inserted yourselves into our lives and have been nothing but trouble since. Yesterday you nearly killed my love, and you burned down my house. Why should I ever deign to help you?”
“We’re not asking you to help us,” Emric said. “We are proposing that we help you.”
“I could simply charm you all right now, and then you would be more than helpful to me.”
“But do you really want to expend the energy to keep so many strong-willed people under your thrall? Wouldn’t you rather us partner with you willingly?”
Rosamund thought of the night by the sea when she revealed her vampiric nature to Serafina. She had never longed for anything more than for someone to accept her for who she was. And Serafina had. But these mercenaries? She couldn’t care less about them. Still, the dwarf had a point. Despite her threat, she had never charmed more than one person at a time.
“Let’s say I am open to partnership. What is your plan?”
“Apranashar wants us to bring you to them alive...or whatever you are that isn’t completely dead. They want to make an example of you for some reason.”
Rosamund smiled wickedly. “My sire did not take kindly to my letter, then. And I thought the enticement of the kaerest might have been enough.”
“So Apranashar does desire to return to Karanathan?” Shonasir asked.
“That was my gamble,” Rosamund said, then turned back to Emric. “I can’t just walk with you into the Dasost Forest.”
“General Axehaft told us that a stake through the heart will incapacitate a vampire. Could we rig something to make it look like we staked you?”
“How is old Grem? He nearly got me back in my pirating days. But that was back when I was young and foolish. He’d have no chance now.”
“He’s retired from vampire hunting,” Emric said. “What do you say about acting like you’ve been staked?”
“It’s actually not a bad plan. But how do I know you won’t stake me for real when I’m p
retending to be unconscious?”
“You’ll just have to trust us.”
“That’s not good enough.”
A heavy silence fell about the dining room. Ronin Nar shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Sorvek drummed on the table. Rhys tried to ignore the whispered cajoling from his sword, which somehow knew there were two vampires close by whose blood it coveted.
At length, Serafina broke the impasse, saying, “The children.”
“Pardon?” Shonasir said.
“The children at the Emerald Orphanage. It would be a shame if something were to happen to them, especially after all they went through under the influence of that hag.”
“You’re not suggesting –”
“I will speak plainly. Rosamund returns to me whole and sound or I slaughter every child in that house. Any questions?”
“That is absolutely horrible. How could you threaten the lives of children?”
“I’m a vampire now,” Serafina said. “And I barely had a conscience before. You really think I care about the lives of a few orphans? Besides, you have nothing to worry about if Rosamund stays safe.”
“And what if Apranashar kills us all?”
“Then you won’t be around when I pay the orphanage a call.”
Rosamund gripped Serafina’s arm. “Now, now, my love. Your dedication to my preservation is touching, but if we all die, I think you could spare the children.”
Serafina slumped back in her chair. “Very well.”
Rosamund said, “Serafina has provided the stick. Now I shall provide the carrot.” She pulled the white karest from beneath her dress. “I return this to you as a show of good faith.”
She dangled the amulet before Emric, who snatched it from her grasp. “Thank you,” he said.
“I wish I had taken one of the others, honestly. White does not show up well against my skin. Too bad there wasn’t a red one.”
“We can discuss your taste in jewelry when this is over,” Sorvek said.
“I dare to dream that we will never discuss anything with each other ever again, once this is over.”
Rosamund turned to Ronin Nar. “Chief Inspector, you now know what Serafina and I are. If you breathe a word of our nature to anyone, you will regret it. Do I make myself clear?”
Nar tried to stare her down, but he could not match her force of personality. After a short internal struggle, he looked away and said, “Yes, your ladyship.”
“Serafina is the noble here, not me, even if I was one, once upon a time. But money and charisma can obtain most things, and I have both. I daresay it would be unproductive for you to challenge me, Mr. Nar.”
“As you say, Miss Steele.”
“I’m glad we see eye to eye.” Rosamund turned away from the table. “And finally, to the invisible person lurking in the corner. I can hear you breathing. Show yourself and I might decide not to kill you.”
Wiggins Fapplestamp dropped his spell, though he was still disguised as the nondescript halfling. Rosamund smiled beckoningly at him. “You and your lovely friend are coming with us.”
thirty-four
Apranashar’s Lair
It was the evening of the fifth day since the B-Team’s deal with Apranashar. They had spent the previous night on the water, sailing across the Verinon Par, and then they had lain low during the day for Rosamund’s sake. Thankfully, Rosamund knew where Apranashar’s lair was located, and now she led them across the northern edge of the forest, where it blanketed the foothills of the Eastern Mountains.
“You don’t think she is planning on double-crossing us, do you?” Shonasir whispered to Rhys, Emric, and Sorvek. They had slowed until they were at the back of the hiking party, hopefully far enough from Rosamund’s keen hearing.
“If she wanted to kill us she could have done it in Thousand Spires,” Sorvek said.
“I’m not so sure. She’s protective of her image in the city. A mission gone wrong in the forest seems more her style. Or else she’s not strong enough to defeat us all and needs her sire’s help.”
“But we know her sire wants to kill her. Why come with us at all?” Sorvek asked.
“I think she’s on the level,” Emric said.
Shonasir nudged Emric in the shoulder. “Of course you do.”
“The question is what do we do with Rosamund if we are able to take care of Apranashar?” Rhys asked.
“We can’t lay a finger on her without risking the orphans,” Shonasir said.
“Not true. I took the precaution of calling in some of my people. Padraig Duna’s family is made up of orphans, and he doesn’t take kindly to threats to his own. If Serafina makes a move, those children will be whisked away.”
“So we could be the double-crossers,” Sorvek said.
“Triple-crossers actually,” Emric corrected.
“Let’s keep our options open,” Rhys said. “If there’s an opportune moment, take it.”
Just then all four of them heard a scratchy voice speaking in their minds over the hag’s nail earrings. “Hourly check to see if you are nearby. Please respond if so.”
“It’s Alurel,” Shonasir whispered. “We’re here. On our way to the lair with Rosamund and two others. Where are you?”
“Thank goodness you’re coming.” Alurel’s voice grew stronger as they drew closer to her position. “I’ve been calling out every hour for the last day. If we don’t do something soon, Apranashar is going to make good on their threat.”
“We know. That’s why we’re here.”
“I can’t believe you captured Rosamund.”
“‘Captured’ isn’t how I would put it. ‘Tenuous alliance’ is better.”
“Whatever it is, let’s get this over with.” Alurel’s voice dropped lower, and they had to strain to hear her. “I’ve been tracking that elven thrall Hadasana. If they don’t know you’re here yet, they will soon.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
Shonasir hurried up to the front of the line. “Rosamund, it’s time. Apranashar’s lookouts –”
“I know,” Rosamund said. “One has already seen us. We’ll have to take them out.”
“Where are they?”
“In the trees ahead and a bit to the left.”
Shonasir’s eagle eyes raked the canopy until they caught a glimpse of a partially concealed foot standing on a branch. “I see them,” they said, as they whipped the bowstring from their neck, materialized their bow, and fired an arrow all in one smooth motion.
Hadasana fell from the branch, the arrow lodged in the flesh above their knee. Before they could stand, Rhys drove Tyrevane through their chest, pinning them to the ground as their life quickly ebbed away.
Yes, yes, more blood! I am nearly satiated. Give me the vampire!
Rhys wrenched Tyrevane from Hadasana’s lifeless body and watched in horror as the elf’s blood, which was splattered across the blade, trickled of its own accord to the blood channel and disappeared.
“What will happen when you are satiated?” Rhys asked under his breath.
I will break free of this steel prison, and I will reward your service.
“Are you with us, Rhys?” The voice belonged to Alurel, but Rhys couldn’t see her. Red mist swirled before his eyes, but as the voice receded to a low thrum in the back of his mind, the mist evaporated. There was his friend, the half-elven druid, standing before him, her hands held out, fingers splayed, like one might do when approaching a wounded wild animal.
“I’m all right,” Rhys said, but he kept the sword in his hand.
Alurel slowly put her hands down, but she did not take her eyes off her friend.
A quick round of introductions were made, and then Rosamund said, “The lair is up ahead. This elf was probably positioned here to poison and incapacitate anyone who came close.”
“Th
at’s what happened last time,” Sorvek said.
“I am going to pretend to be unconscious,” Rosamund said. “Use my cloak to make a stretcher with some fallen branches. The illusionist will make it look like I was staked. But remember, I am listening to everything you say. If even the stray thought of going back on our deal flits through your idle minds, I will tear your throats out.”
“Good talk,” Alurel said. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Ah, yes, fear disguised as bravado,” Rosamund said. “How pedestrian.”
The vampire turned her back on Alurel and lay down on the makeshift stretcher. “See you all inside.”
Wiggins waved his hand over Rosamund’s torso, and a wooden stake like the broken end of a spear materialized, protruding from her chest.
“Convincing,” Syne said. “Good job.”
“That’s the only thing I plan to do during this fight besides turn invisible and hide,” Wiggins said. “Just to let you all know.”
“We understand,” Shonasir said. “We’re sorry you got caught up in all this.”
The five members of the B-Team, Syne, and Wiggins all looked around and nodded to each other. “We can do this,” Emric said. “Just try to keep each other alive.”
The entrance to Apranashar’s lair looked like an opening to an ordinary shallow cave. But the leaves and dirt of the foyer gave way to a chamber that would have been at home in the Diamond Spire if not for the irregular stone walls and close ceiling of the cavern. A large throw rug covered the floor and a series of paintings hung on the walls, landscapes all, impressionistic and moonlit.
A voice rang out from nowhere, “Welcome to my home. Please remain in the parlor. Someone will be along shortly.”
Rhys tightened his grip on Tyrevane. “Who said that?”
Wiggins shook his head. “It was a spell. We triggered it when we crossed into this room.”
“Fantastic,” Sorvek deadpanned. “So this vampire is a spellcaster.”
“A pretty good one, too, I’d wager,” Wiggins said. “They’ve had a thousand years of practice.”