by Simon Archer
Blood flowed everywhere, painting the snow with its thick, oily texture. And the worst part was that it stank. It stank worse than rotten eggs in the summer heat. I gagged, trying to use my cloak to cover my face, but only managing to get the rancid blood all over my face. Blood had sprayed all over my cloak and boots. Perhaps slitting their throats hadn’t been the cleanest of options, but it had done the job. Plus, we had learned back in school that the only way to destroy a zombie was to decapitate it and burn its body.
Before I could reach into my pack to pull out some oil and matches, I began to feel like the trees were closing in on me. When I looked up, I realized that I was getting closed in on, but it was not by the tree line. Zombies, made from every species, stepped out from the shadows, closing in on the pile of bodies and me.
“Oh, for Constanta’s sake. Can I seriously not catch a single break?” I called to the skies. And that was when I realized that they weren’t just closing in on me from the ground.
No, some of them were flying. Of course, they were flying. They weren’t just humans like it had been before. Some were undead faeries with wings. Some were vicious-looking werewolves with foot-long fangs that foamed at the mouth and missing some body parts.
“Of course not,” I said, answering my own question.
The panic I had been feeling earlier returned and amplified a hundred times over, threatening to spill out as I saw the sheer number of zombies entering the clearing. There had to be hundreds, thousands, even. I didn’t stand a chance, and I knew then that I was going to die.
Then, a dark figure came torpedoing through the mass of zombies closing in on me from the mountainside. The moment I realized who it was, I jammed my dagger back into the holster and threw my hands up just in time for Rozmarin to barrel into me from above. And then, I was flying, wrapped in a pair of warm, strong arms. A cool wind whipped across my face, and for the first time, it made me feel exhilarated, free.
“You never seem to have trouble making friends with strangers, my lord,” Rozmarin said into my ear. I could hear the relief in it, the lingering fear.
“You are so lucky you bought me this dagger,” I said, the relief in my voice echoing her own.
I looked up at her face. Our eyes met for the first time since she left me alone, and I could still see the lingering fear in them. But I also saw something else. Something that looked a lot like she thought I was the only one who could take that fear away, forever.
“I should never have left you alone,” she said, just before she banked off to the right, and we settled onto a cliff-side that looked to be impossible to surmount without wings. Barren rock jutted out from the cliff face, which was where we landed. Rozmarin dropped me onto the ground first before doing a small sweep of the perimeter for any more signs of danger. When she landed, the relaxed set of her jaw told me that there was not any imminent danger.
“They were flying,” was the first thing that I said. Rozmarin put her hands on her hips and began to pace, her eyes tracking her own boots.
“This is impossible. The virus should only affect humans. Could it possibly have mutated into something that can affect supernaturals and humans alike, or is it a different virus?” Rozmarin was speaking out loud but never leaving any time for an answer. This was her way of processing a pressing situation quickly, something I had discovered over many nights of plotting and strategizing with her and the Queen’s council in her study.
I looked out over the cliff and tried to focus, fighting the haze of panic that still loomed in that back of my mind. The view was spectacular. Snowy woodland was all I saw below me and snow-tipped mountains in the distance. The sky was a dreary grey, and a low mist had settled into the lower lands, creating an even more eerie atmosphere. It did not help the anxiety I was already battling after my last encounter.
“Does it matter?” I asked, gesturing to the mountain.
“Of course it matters,” Rozmarin said, gruffly, raking her fingers through her hair. When I took a closer look at her face, she had a lost look in her eyes. A look that said, for once, she didn’t have a plan.
“What is it?” I asked, softly and rushed to her side, eager to soothe her worries. I may have just been in a potentially fatal situation, but Rozmarin, the Vampire Queen, looked like she was going to be sick.
Rozmarin breathed out roughly through her nose, a cloud of smoke forming below. “If it is a different virus, the cure may not work.”
I froze. She was right. I looked to Rozmarin, feeling a whole world of hopelessness stretch between us. If Sahar was trying to treat the old virus and this new or mutated virus was the source of our current problems, this cure may not work.
Or maybe it would.
Remember who you are, Light-Bearer. Remember why you are here.
Sahar’s words rang in the back of my mind, and I felt a sliver of pride, knowing that we would not go down without a fight. And we would fight, I knew because I knew Rozmarin and I knew myself.
“We have to follow through,” I said firmly. “We have to try.”
As I predicted, I didn’t have to convince her. She knew our odds were slim from the beginning, but she would go down fighting for her kingdom until her last breath, and I found myself right along there with her. If we stopped now, it all would have been for nothing. All the planning, the strategizing, the late-night meetings, and early morning alchemy tests. All for nothing.
In finishing our task, we could at least see it to the end and, who knew? Maybe fate would be on our side. Rozmarin nodded slowly, her eyes rising to meet mine, determination set in the sharp line of her jaw.
“Yes, let us finish what we have started.”
33
Christoff
Rozmarin flew us to a spot just outside of a cave beneath a whole forest of trees. It was not as close to the tip of the mountain as I thought it would be. It looked like any of the other caves we’d flown past, and trees protected the entrance, obstructing the view from above.
It was the perfect inconspicuous spot to stay hidden.
From above, it had looked like any other spot in the forest, but as I took in my surroundings, I noticed that many of the rocks and plants protruding from the ground were not rocks and plants at all. They were bones.
Human, animal, supernatural, you name it. Hundreds of them littered the ground, crunching beneath our boots. Snow covered most of them, but the larger skeletons, like that giant ogre rib cage next to a large rock, came up to my chest.
“What is this place?” I asked in a horrified whisper.
“The BloodDrake’s bone garden,” Rozmarin answered, her tone grim.
“What the hell kind of a--”
Before I could even finish my sentence, that familiar chilling shriek sounded from somewhere in the forest. Rozmarin and I both covered our ears and instinctually began to retreat into the cave, the pain in my eardrums almost too much to handle. I could feel the bones getting thicker beneath my feet, and the putrid smell of magic and death filled my nose. Then, an overwhelming sense of wrongness had me digging my heels in and reaching for Rozmarin’s arm.
“It’s a trap!” I tried to yell, but the wretched screeching drowned out my words. So, I mouthed it over and over again until she could understand, not letting her retreat any further. It’s a trap, it’s a trap, it’s a trap.
Finally, the screeching came to a halt, and we took a moment to let the ringing in our ears die down.
“We’re being herded,” I panted, as soon as I was able to speak.
“What?” Rozmarin asked a little too loudly as if her hearing hadn’t quite recovered yet. Considering how much pain I had been in from the high-pitched noise, I couldn’t imagine how loud it must have sounded to Rozmarin’s supernatural ears.
“He said, you are being herded,” a smooth, sultry, feminine voice said from the shadows. “Smart boy, you really ought to listen to him.”
When Rozmarin and I swung around to face the voice, a beautiful red-headed woman appeared from th
e depths of the cave. Bones crunched beneath her dirty bare feet, but everything above that was pristine beauty. The paleness of her skin stuck out starkly against the red and gold of her silk dress, and she was draped in fine jewelry, almost obnoxiously so. She wore a large necklace, the band lined with diamonds, and the giant red ruby that hung from it rested just above her cleavage that popped out in the low swoop of her neckline. Bangles and rings littered her arms and hands while giant, drooping diamond-and-ruby earrings hung from her ears.
She was the epitome of opulence. A dragon hoarding and protecting its treasure in its dark lair. Far from the blind, old, ugly hag I had been expecting.
Rozmarin stumbled back as she took in the creature before her, and trepidation filled me at the horrified look on her face. I had never seen her look this put-off. Ever.
“You,” she whispered, and it was a harsh, broken sound.
Wait, she knew who she was?
“My dear… I have heard much about you, Vampire Queen of Constanta. How I do regret leaving you for dead all those years ago,” the woman drawled, her tone genuinely regretful, though I knew it was for all the wrong reasons. “You had so much potential. I simply cannot believe I let you slip right through my fingers.” She held her heavily jeweled hands out in front of her as if there was physical sand slipping through her fingers.
It took only a moment for the words to click. Holy crap. This was the woman that murdered Rozmarin’s entire family and turned her into a vampire.
Rozmarin had recovered by now, and she pushed me behind her to shield me with her body. The fury in her eyes, in the stiff set of her shoulders, the tick in her jaw… she looked like a pissed off, cornered panther, ready to spring at any sudden movement.
“I will end you,” she threatened in a low, barely intelligible growl. Her shoulders shook with the effort not to pounce on the BloodDrake right away as the woman’s cackling laugh echoed off the walls of the cave like nails on a chalkboard. It wasn’t a far cry from the noise that those supernatural zombies had made.
“Oh, how I wish you knew just how many have proclaimed such things to me,” the woman responded, a cat-like gleam in her eye.
I rested a hand softly on Rozmarin’s arm and tugged. I didn’t say anything. I just used the tug as a gentle reminder to remember what we came for. As much as I knew she wanted to tear this woman… this thing… apart, we had a kingdom to save. Or at least try to save.
I knew she had to make a decision then. Would she risk dying and not retrieving the ingredient trying to avenge her family’s death, or would she be able to shove those emotions down enough to at least attempt to pull this off?
She answered my question in the next moment when her fists unfurled at her side, her shoulders relaxing slightly, and she stepped forward. Though I couldn’t see her face, I knew her gaze was steely as she met the BloodDrake’s eyes.
“I have come to make a bargain with the BloodDrake.” Her voice was empty, devoid of emotion. “Are you she who hoards and guards her treasure?”
The woman’s chin raised a fraction, and all humor fled from her eyes, replaced by only an empty void, so old, so ancient, that I could not even begin to fathom the depths of it.
“I am she.”
For a split second, so fast that I almost missed it, the woman’s pupils expanded, encompassing both of her eyes. Then, she blinked, her pupils receding to normal size. For the first time since she came into the light, the woman’s eyes flicked to me, and a tiny ghost of the smile lifted her blood-red lips.
“Have you brought me a human sacrifice for the bargain?” Her tongue slipped out to lick her lips slowly as she eyed me, hunger deep in those fathomless orbs. “I do enjoy a juicy male human every century or so. And this one has the looks of a warrior.”
Rozmarin pushed me further behind her, blocking her from my view or, more importantly, me from hers.
“No,” she replied firmly. “The human is to remain untouched. You will take another form of payment.”
The BloodDrake’s eyebrows hiked up, and she looked like she was going to argue but thought better of it. She eyed Rozmarin curiously.
“What will you offer me then, Vampire Queen?” she asked, the title on her lips filled with mockery.
“Whatever it will take for a vial of your blood,” Rozmarin responded simply, her voice unwavering. My head whipped down to look at the back of Rozmarin’s head in surprise. Was that the final ingredient? A vial of the BloodDrake’s blood?
The BloodDrake bared her teeth, and Rozmarin and I both took a step back. “I do not give my blood away so easily, Vampire Queen.” She seemed to ponder it for a moment before a cat-like smile curved her mouth. “You have taken a great risk coming here. Tell me why I should not kill you right where you stand and claim your crown. I do love to see my men and women grovel.”
My men and women. The term buzzed in my head like a nest of wasps. This woman was psychotic, but then again, she wasn’t truly just a woman. I had to remind myself that, beneath all that creamy skin, red hair, and jewels, she was an evil, ancient sorceress, and a monster who slaughtered Rozmarin’s family. Something registered then, something that had been bothering me, tapping insistently against the less conscious part of my brain.
“Wait, I thought vampires killed your family,” I said to Rozmarin, though I knew the BloodDrake could hear me.
“So did I,” was Rozmarin’s only response.
“And you both are not wrong. Technically, vampires did kill your family,” the BloodDrake said casually, the same way a sane person talks about what to have for breakfast. When Rozmarin glared at her in return, she only continued.
“Back in my… earlier days of life, I led a coven of them. Though I was not one of them, I was stronger and a brilliant leader, if I do say so myself. We pillaged villages and cities as we pleased. They could drink as much as they wanted, and I received the spoils of their victim’s riches. It was a win-win situation, really.”
A wistful smile settled across her face as she recalled those gruesome memories, and the BloodDrake reminded me just how sick she really was. Then, her smile faded, turning into a frown.
“But they were all slaughtered.” Her expression became thoughtful, then, as if she’d just thought of something she hadn’t considered before.
“Come to think of it, that was not long after we raided…” Her eyes drifted to Rozmarin’s face once more, and a terrible clarity settled in her eyes at the smirk she saw there.
Suddenly, I recalled when Rozmarin told me her own end of that story. How Rachel had helped her hunt down and destroy every single one of the monsters that had murdered her family and left her for dead. All except for one.
“You!” the BloodDrake spat, her features suddenly becoming much sharper, her eyes fighting to remain normal as the pupils flickered, threatening to encompass the whole thing. “You destroyed my coven.” New and grudging respect entered her gaze along with a bloodthirsty promise to avenge them.
Rozmarin shrugged, the smirk on her face, unmoving. “You destroyed my family.”
It hit me then that this was Rozmarin’s plan all along. If she could not bargain with the creature, she could just as well get a sample of its blood by killing it.
The woman hissed, and I heard the sound of bones snapping and cracking beneath her creamy flesh. It was a terrible, grotesque sight, watching the skin protrude but never break where her bones shifted and reformed. Suddenly, it wasn’t a woman standing before us. It was a massive, black, scaly creature with two heads, four clawed feet, and four wings. The flappy skin around its neck ruffled and flared, like a cobra. It had two slits for nostrils on each head, and suddenly, the cave felt much, much smaller. The only thing familiar about the creature was its eyes. The blackness of its pupils had encompassed the entirety of its eyeballs now.
Rozmarin’s wings were already out, stretching and flexing in anticipation, and she had pushed me further back behind her, away from the BloodDrake. We both instinctually reached for the we
apons at our hips and drew them, ready for a fight. My pulse raced faster and faster as we sized up our opponent. I knew that the success of this trip would be a longshot, but this creature was from the deepest, darkest corners of my nightmares. It was certainly up there with a horde of zombies.
Before I had time to recover and react, Rozmarin was on the beast, a tangle of steel, wings, and talons. I stood frozen, unable to move. In all my training within the Constantan army, I had never faced a creature like this. I had faced gargoyles thrice my size, flying winged soldiers, and wolves with fangs the length of my arm, but I had never faced a creature so… menacing. So ancient.
This wasn’t just any other day in training. This was a real opponent who really wanted to kill me. To kill Rozmarin. The adrenaline finally kicked in then, spurring me into action. The events around me slowed down, and I was able to keep up with Rozmarin and the creature’s lightning-fast movements.
In the air, Rozmarin dodged the creature's jaws, just barely. Her sword came up to swipe at the creature’s sensitive skin beneath its chin. Black blood spewed out of the wound, and the BloodDrake gave a furious shriek. I rushed forward while the creature seemed occupied by Rozmarin’s attacks, dagger in hand, and plunged it into the creature's leg. Or, at least tried to.
My blade bounced off its scales like armor, and I let out a frustrated noise. How were we supposed to defeat the creature if our weapons didn’t even harm it?
“Aim for the soft spots! The parts not covered in scales,” Rozmarin called as she dodged another blow mid-air.
I looked down, running on nothing but my instinct to survive and adrenaline, and saw the dull grey color of skin between its talons. Ah hell, it’s worth a shot, I thought, and I brought my dagger down as hard as I could between the monster's talons.
There was a sick, fleshy sound as black blood sprayed everywhere, and an ear-shattering screech filled the air. Before I could blink, I was flying backward until I hit and skidded along the ground, the wind knocked out of me. I heard a concerned cry from Rozmarin, but I was too busy trying to pull air into my lungs to look up. I rolled onto my hands and knees, mouth gaping open and lungs contracting, desperate for air. Finally, I coughed and sputtered, sucking in breath after sweet breath to fill my aching lungs.