“What the…” Hunter was understandably astonished. This wasn’t the first time that death and Word magic had intersected, but never before had we accomplished such a powerful synergy. I went with the flow, letting the Word guide me as I whispered the spell all over again, the light in our shield intensifying against the onslaught of death bomb shockwaves.
My muscles stiffened, but I had confidence in us. We were holding strong. The only problem was that this was probably just the beginning, and we needed to do something before the Levantes siblings launched other attacks. There was only so much that Nightmare, Widow, and I could resist together, even with our magic combined.
“Okay, screw this,” Ridan snarled, getting up and giving his backpack and pulverizer weapon to Amane. “If the sand ain’t friendly, maybe the skies will be.” He stepped out of the protective shield and went full dragon, shredded pieces of his clothes fluttering away into the night sky.
Much to our enemy’s misfortune, he remained invisible in his dragon form. The explosions stopped with one last ripple, too far away and too faint to hurt us. Nightmare and Widow glanced up at Ridan, who lowered his giant black head and bared his enormous fangs.
“Piggyback ride?” Nightmare giggled like a little boy in a candy shop.
We all climbed onto Ridan’s back. Adrenaline coursed through me, but I took deep and measured breaths, knowing that our battle was only just beginning. The Levantes siblings weren’t going down without a fight. Fortunately, a fight was exactly what we’d come to deliver.
Ridan flapped his wings, causing strings of sand to swirl up in the air from the powerful currents. He took off, and we held on tight to the hard black scales on his back. Within minutes, we were circling above the oasis, and only then did I spot them. The Levantes Whips, hidden atop one of the palm trees, were surveying the area with what looked like the Aeternae’s version of binoculars. They had taken a particular interest in the area affected by the explosions, but they couldn’t see us.
“Ridan, give them a little bit of fire before we land,” I said.
One of the Levantes siblings must’ve heard my voice, because he looked up with an alarmed expression. It was too late, though. All he saw was a column of fire headed straight for him and his brother.
Nightmare and Widow teleported us to the ground—specifically, on the edge of the water—while Ridan circled the oasis one more time before landing. “Morfuris,” I said, already running toward Silla and Marios. The two had been engulfed by flames and had fallen from the palm tree, desperately rolling through the sand in a bid to put out the fire.
Hunter and Amane revealed themselves, as did Nightmare and Widow. Within seconds, Marios and Silla had been destroyed by pulverizer weapons, leaving behind nothing but silvery ashes and the Spirit Bender’s soul shards. Clearly, Stravian technology couldn’t destroy the damn things, either.
“Whew, that was effective,” I said, watching as Amane collected the shards and hid them inside her satchel. She gave me a broad smile.
“Progress, I’d say.”
Ridan landed with a heavy thud, showing himself but remaining in his dragon form, his claws digging into the blue sand. “Did you get them?” he hissed, and Amane nodded.
“Good, now give them back,” a strange voice said as an Aeternae male emerged from behind the hut. I quickly measured him from head to toe, going over all Derek’s detailed descriptions of the Darkling Whips. It didn’t take long to put a name to his long and sharp face.
“Fennel Ferris,” I said. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Running errands for Danika, obviously,” he replied dryly. Ridan growled, the scales on his thick neck dancing as he shuddered, his jaw dropping to release more of his dragon fire. It didn’t seem to impress Fennel, who simply took out a smoke bauble.
By the time Nightmare got to him, it was too late. It had already broken, a black wisp dissolving into the air. The Reaper gripped Fennel by the throat, nearly crushing his larynx. “That was by far your biggest mistake!”
The Whip snickered, his gaze wandering back to Amane too often for my comfort. “On the contrary, it was the smartest move on the board,” he said. “It’s about to get really ugly for you.”
Tension grew hard inside me, turning my blood and muscles to stone as I realized what was going to happen next. We only had seconds, at best, to get out of here with the shards we’d already collected. But then something that Fennel said triggered an alarm in the back of my head.
“Wait, you asked for the soul shards back. I thought Danika had to be the one to extract them in order for the resurrection of Spirit to work,” I breathed, gawking at him.
“Don’t you think we would’ve quit the moment you people killed Petra?” Fennel replied, annoyingly confident and downright defiant. The more he spoke, the more worried I became.
“How do you know about that?” I asked.
“That’s for me to know and for you to find out,” Fennel shot back. “Point is, you’re better off surrendering those shards and running along if you wish to survive. No matter what you do, we are going to win.”
Had Danika lied about having to be the one to complete the resurrection ritual, since she’d been the one to start it? Or was that more of a tradition than a requirement of the spell? She wasn’t around to answer, and by the stars, I didn’t want her to be. But that left me with another, equally horrifying question.
If Danika wasn’t the one who was coming for us thanks to that smoke bauble, who was?
Esme
Vision horses weren’t the only creatures waiting for us outside the city, but it took me a few minutes to notice the others as we rode along the ocean coast. Two ghouls had left Roano to guard us, and Trev welcomed their support. During our tunnel escape, he’d become attached to these damned creatures, and they seemed to have grown fond of him, too.
I named them Stan and Ollie, since they were no longer capable of communicating their names, and we didn’t have any sentries on our crew to facilitate a dialogue. The ghouls kept to their subtle form for most of the journey, helping us steer clear of the more frequently traveled or populated areas.
As we reached the main road leading through the imperial city, Trev and I consumed invisibility pellets, feeding a couple to our horses, as well. The ghouls led us away from gold guards stationed along the coast, occasionally creating distractions to keep them from sniffing us out. I had to admit, Stan and Ollie were exquisitely dedicated to their mission, determined to get us to our destination safely.
Once we left the imperial city behind, I allowed myself a deep breath as I looked out to the ocean. Its dark blue waters rumbled, breaking into foaming waves against the rocky shore. A storm gathered in the distance, with black clouds and shocks of lightning, but I doubted it would reach the continent, as it seemed to be moving north rather than east.
“This feels nice,” Trev said after a while. We’d made ourselves and the horses visible by uttering “Morfuris” while touching them. This had been done purely for the horses’ comfort, since invisibility was not a state they were normally accustomed to, but we kept our gray hoods on and continued to follow the ghouls’ guidance whenever they sensed other people.
The region we were crossing was mostly orchards and small villages, with rolling hills and tall grass pastures where various domesticated animals grazed. I’d learned most of them were cattle-like creatures raised exclusively by the Rimians and the Naloreans for their milk. They were huge compared to Earth’s cows and bison, with massive swirling horns and pale-green-and-white coats.
“What feels nice, exactly?” I asked. Ahead, Stan and Ollie were sniffing the road in their subtle forms. I couldn’t see them, but I spotted the air ripples here and there.
“Being on the road again,” Trev replied. “I used to love road trips, especially as a teenager, when Petra took her sons out to their summer estates. Kalon always had me come along. Moore wasn’t even born, back then.”
To our right, the ocean s
welled, each wave crashing and splashing onto jagged black-and-gray stones. To our left, a wide field stretched out where herds roamed freely. Farther beyond, I could see the copper leaves of an orchard preparing for the cold season, shedding its crowns in anticipation of the wintery days ahead. Life seemed to keep going on here as if nothing had happened. As if this whole world was exactly as it should be, and not built on the back of the Unending.
“Did you ever suspect that Petra might be a Darkling?” I asked, very aware of her contribution to the overall damage that had already been done—not only to the Unending, but also to the Rimians and the Naloreans, collateral damage of the Aeternae’s war against death.
“Growing up, you mean? No. The Petra we’ve been dealing with since her discovery is not the Petra I knew. I suppose she really was an excellent actress if she could keep up false appearances for so long. Or maybe I was just blind and refused to see the truth even when it was right in front of me.”
“Hey, I didn’t see it coming either. Not until that night at the mansion,” I said. “She played us all. Though she did the worst number on her sons.”
Trev scoffed. “Kalon knew, but he never told me about it. I understand why. He was deeply conflicted at the time.”
“You’ve forgiven him, then?”
“He was always innocent and trying to do the right thing. I had nothing to forgive.”
“The Darklings killed Luna Visentis,” I reminded him.
Trev gave me a sullen look. “And not a day goes by that I don’t miss her.” He was telling the truth. I could see his grief, alive and burning brightly in his eyes. “Looking back now, I can see why anyone might have suspected her of being the Unending. Luna had long black hair and almost black eyes. Her dark side, you know, the Aeternae feral side… it was quite the sight to behold. She could be scary and intense, though she rarely showed it.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Because Luna and I were in love, remember? She told me everything,” Trev said. “And I filled in some of the gaps during my attempts to infiltrate the Darklings shortly after Kalon turned me. At first, I’d been convinced that her death had something to do with the Black Fever. I quickly understood that it didn’t make sense, since there wasn’t even an outbreak at the time. Later, I learned that Luna had begun investigating some nobles from the imperial palace, suspected of affiliations with Darklings. In hindsight, I can see all the factors converging and ultimately leading to her last breath. She’d made certain people uncomfortable, so they had to kill her.”
“Kalon suffered tremendously after she died, didn’t he?”
Trev nodded slowly. The road split ahead. The main branch continued at a higher altitude, while a side path descended along a shell-covered beach. We followed the latter, since it kept us out of sight. The ghouls stayed close as we left the main road. There were a few Rimian kids playing by the water, but they didn’t mind us, and we had nothing to fear from them. It was the Aeternae we were steering clear of.
“Kalon was determined to take the Darklings down. Back in Orvis, he told me about the conversations he’d had with his mother regarding Luna’s death. Apparently, Petra had been just as distraught at hearing the news of Luna’s death. She hadn’t sanctioned it. Now, knowing Danika had the imperial city under her control as Whip, I guess I can consider her responsible. She’s almost certainly the one who gave the order. Luna was poking around. Her resemblance to the Unending might’ve played a part, but their motive was the cover-up.”
I smiled. “That’s why you agreed to come with me when Time asked.”
“Yeah. If I get a chance to avenge Luna’s death, I’ll take it.”
The beach spanned only a few miles before the road went back up and crossed the main one. After briefly checking the map, we decided to stick to it. The smaller path would eventually lead us closer to Danika’s secret villa farther south.
“What was Luna like?” I asked. “As a person, I mean. As an Aeternae.”
Trev couldn’t help but smile as he remembered her. “I was a Rimian when we fell in love. Our relationship wasn’t condoned in any way, yet she couldn’t stay away. Neither could I. She wasn’t a fan of drinking blood from others, though she did it to avoid the stigma that came with being an Aeternae who only consumed animal blood.”
“Did she ever drink from you?”
“I offered once, but she said no. Her strength of character was truly out of this world. Luna was kind and noble. She didn’t believe in this indentured service my people were forced into. Unfortunately, there were few among her peers who shared such beliefs, so she kept mostly to herself. She came across as shy, though she never lacked suitors. Luna was highly intelligent and beautiful.”
“She hunted Darklings, right?”
He nodded. “Unlike other ladies of the high court, she never shied away from wearing armor or riding a Vision horse. Or going deep into the city’s slums to track someone she suspected of associating with Darklings. I think that was her undoing. Her fearlessness.”
“She underestimated the reach of the Darklings among the Aeternae elite. She certainly wasn’t the only one,” I said.
“No, but she paid the highest price.”
“I’m sorry, Trev. I truly am.”
He gave me a weak smile. “You know, at one point, I worried Kalon might’ve been one of them. Years before Luna died, that is. The secret he had to keep about his mother—it made him act suspiciously sometimes.”
“What would you have done if he’d turned out to be one of them?” I asked.
Trev’s gaze darkened. “It’s something I don’t even want to consider. Kalon has always been like a brother to me. One of the few Aeternae who never looked at me as a food source.”
“He never fed on you, either?”
“Nope. The rest of the Visentis family had no qualms about drinking my blood, but Kalon did. And Luna. They saw me as more than that. I suppose it’s why I’m so fond of them.”
We nudged our horses and sped down the secondary road as it led us through a sprawling dark forest. The battered path was smooth enough to allow a brief race, and our Vision horses ran like the wind. Emerald green, golden brown and ruby red flashed past us, the wind brushing through my hair as we bolted through the woods. Sunlight couldn’t breach through this part of the forest, so I’d allowed myself to ride with my hood and mask off.
Beyond the woods, a plain unfolded in shades of rich green and pale yellow. The last of the grains had been harvested across several swaths of land, and I could see ox-like animals pulling loaded carts away from the field and up the narrow village roads, where large circular granaries with red roofs rose above the houses.
“These are all Nalorean villages,” Trev said as we made our way across the green side of the field. “Silver guards come here every week to collect the blood of the people and to drop off their payment in precious coins. They’re all used to it. They’re all used to dying before their natural time because of the blood they give. It’s not okay, and the Aeternae know it, but their comfort comes first.”
“If we’re successful, the Aeternae empire will eventually fall,” I replied.
He offered a bitter half-smile. “And it’ll take the Rimians and the Naloreans at least a few generations to forget that they ever had to live like this. You know, my people belong in the reddish sands of Rimia. The scorching sun and the caverns, the deserts and the coral valleys. And the Naloreans, they need their frost and snow, their white mountains and frozen lakes. None of this is natural for our kind. While I appreciate the more temperate climate of Visio, I miss the dry heat of Rimia.”
“How much do you remember about it? When were you brought to Visio?” I asked.
At the other end of the field, a new road awaited, snaking around a hill. Beyond it, we knew of a residential area owned mostly by Aeternae. That was how they kept their Rimian and Nalorean subjects under control and prevented any whisper of rebellion. Wherever there were blood sources living together
, there would always be a village or town filled with Aeternae. That way, the subjects knew that the empire was always watching.
“I was six or seven, I think,” Trev said. “Old enough to never forget the blinding sun or the heat. The canyons and the volcanic lakes. Rimia is a beautiful place, you know. Where the rivers flow, it’s green and bursting with flowers. There’s an oasis in every desert, with hot springs and enormous palm trees. And I mean enormous. We carve our homes into the dead ones.”
“Whoa… That sounds amazing.”
I tried to imagine Rimia as Trev described it. I could see why his species had darker skin and coarse, curly hair. They’d adapted to a hostile climate with higher temperatures. In contrast, Visio was simply warm and perhaps a little too humid. “If we make it out of this alive, I’ll gladly bring you and Kalon there and show you all the best parts.”
“He’s never been to Rimia?”
Trev shook his head. He was about to say something else when the ghouls returned, tumbling down the road as they switched to their visible forms. I always felt shivers running down my spine whenever I looked at them. It wasn’t their fault—they simply couldn’t reduce the creep factor that came with their appearance. Stan and Ollie hissed and whispered unintelligible words, but Trev and I didn’t need to understand what they were saying. The meaning was clear enough.
We guided our horses off the road and settled in the shadow of a solitary patch of trees. They’d wait here for our return, since we couldn’t risk taking them any farther without getting exposed.
“Beyond this hill, we’ll find Pavia,” Trev said, taking out his map and spreading it over a thick tree trunk. I followed his finger along the drawn roads until I recognized our location. “Here, see?”
“Yeah. And on the western edge, we’ll find Danika’s villa,” I added, using my own finger to show him what Thayen had indicated back in Roano. “Right… here.”
“The horses will be safe here. The trees’ shade protects them,” Trev said, leaving whatever he could behind, in satchels strapped to the Visions’ saddles. He kept the weapons, the healing magic, and all the other swamp witch magic paraphernalia we’d brought along for this trip.
A Shade of Vampire 85: A Shard of Soul Page 12