The Vampire's Heart (20 page)

“
I’m sorry to have to ask this of you sir, but we must. We need to know what happened here. Why is everyone hiding?”

Again the man says nothing, either too scared or too stubborn to talk. I step in to give him a little painful incentive; I will loosen his jaw. As I kneel Summer holds out a hand to keep me at bay. Her eyes narrow as I look up at her and my attention is snapped back to the man as he screams.

The man is thrashing about on the floor. His limbs are bending and cracking, contorting into horrible shapes, impossible to achieve for anybody with unbroken bone inside. I stare back up at Summer, who has a look of concentration pressed onto her wet face. She blinks a few times and looks up at me. The smithy stops screaming any just lays there, on the ground, twitching and moaning.

“
Did you do that?” I ask, a little surprised.

“…
Yes,” Summer says, somewhat out of breath. Her breathlessness would indicate that she’d done much more that just used a little magic.

“
How? Was that magic? Are you a witch?” I ask, dreading that this might turn into something like the Witch debacle.

“
No sugar, it’s an innate power only I possess. I can move things just by thinking about it,” Summer tells me.

This is just like Kellum, and Witch to an extent.

“
Does everyone I travel with have special powers?” I ask of the world.

“
What?” Summer asks, a sense of urgency in her voice.

“
I said: Does-” I begin to repeat, before she cuts me off.

“
I know what you said. Why did you say it?”

“
My last companion, Kellum, could see the future. He told me that I would meet you.”

“
When did you last see him?” She asks, standing and moving close to me.

The smith on the floor finally stops his twitching and moaning; lying still in the mud now. I feel his soul escape.

“
Just outside of Midiar, about a half-season before I met you. I’m sorry, but what has Kellum got to do with anything?” I ask. No doubt there will be more things that confuse me now.

“
Let’s just say that he’s an old friend of mine. He and I go back a long way.”

“
Look, Summer, you’re going to have to-” It is a scream of rage which interrupts me now.

The scream fills the air, carried by a hundred voices. I look around and my eyes are drawn up to the sky; dark clouds bubble and roil overhead, increasing in volume far too quickly to be natural. My eyes are everywhere, trying to figure out what is happening. The cloud blots out the faint filtered sunlight from above, casting a false night about us.

The sounds of running feet, branches snapping, and brush and scrub being crushed underfoot, combine to create a cacophony of noise, all overlaid by the screams of rage coming from the trees.

Whatever is happening, it is coming from the direction of the forest, and as such, pretty much all around us. The first of them bursts through the tree line, quickly followed by a few dozen more. They surround us completely.

But the demon inside me gives us an advantage. It lets me know what they are. It was obvious really, I should have figured it out earlier.

I know why the people of Tomam hide, and now I know why they are so scared.

Summer and I are surrounded by vampires.

The Twelfth Chapter

- Holste -

20 days until the birth of a god

The 13
^th
day of Spring-Fall, 1538

Thirty-three men are stood in formation before me, in three lines of eleven. All are stood to attention. Penk is stood just behind and to the left of me. My second is also at rigid attention. I have gathered my men to explain the situation we are in.

“
Stand at ease.”

As one, the formation moves their left feet out so that they are a shoulders width apart, their hands, once held tightly down by their sides, slide around to be held clasped at their backs. The formation relaxes, and I continue. While they are still Fathers within the church of Calcia, they are now soldiers too. We may be religious, but we’re still a military unit.

“
I have brought you here today to give you some news,” I tell them, pacing up and down before the ranks. “I am to grade you all on your work and abilities. The fifteen men with the lowest score will be taken from us. Those men will enter a combat arena along with another forty-five men. Of all of those me that go in, only fifteen will emerge. The rest will be lost.”

Some of the faces watching betray awkward feelings, while others remain blank and impassive.

“
As you may well be wondering, the other forty-five men will come from other wings within the new Legion. Yes, we are not the entirety; we are merely a quarter. We are strong, and I have every confidence that all of our men that go in will come out. We are the best and most efficient of the four wings. One day, when our long training is complete, we will be part of the most prestigious force on Gatheck. We, my friends and brothers, will be the Raven Legion!”

With that revelation, the formation in front of me does not even flinch. No eyes seek others to exchange excited glances. We are well disciplined. We will all make it through. Calcia watches over us. That is something I should say; a though that should be spoken.

“
Calcia watches over us. I know this, and I am confident that we will succeed. If you have any questions, please inform your team Leader, who will pass them on. I will answer them if I can. Formation, fall out!”

Leather boots stamp down and my men flood through the door at the side of the room, heading toward the mess; obviously going to talk about what they’ve just heard. I turn to Penk.

“
So now you know. There is one other thing. It is not only my scores that count; Legion has been scoring people himself. It will be the average of the two values that determines who goes in.”

“
By Calcia’s tears, doesn’t all that seem a bit harsh? Why do they have to fight each other?”

“
Isn’t that obvious? When we fight the strongest come out alive,” I tell him. That’s much more like the church of Calcia should be; harsh. We don’t need the ‘fairness and understanding’ bent that has become popular in recent centuries.

“
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?”

I incline my head.

“
I’m not sure I like that ethos,” Penk says, scratching his head.

Golthor-Penk was a good choice to replace Iniar; maybe I will not have to replace him with someone of stronger character at all. He knows of my affinity for the older ways, yet he still openly expresses his personal opinions.

“
You don’t have to, Golthor. It may not be nice but it is a fact of nature.”

He raises his eyebrows at me, leaving me with no response. He does seem mighty calm for saying that he’ll be in there too. Shit. I’d better do some backtracking, and a little damage control.

“
Oh, I forgot to say, there’ll be an extra eight men in there too.”

“
Why does that worry me?” asks Penk, as he smiles awkwardly and brow furrows.

“
The main squad’s leader and his second in command from every wing will be in there also. Penk, you and I will be fighting for our lives soon enough. I’m sorry.”

I can see it in his eyes. I’ve never seen Penk this worried before. But I know that when the time comes he’ll be a rock, unshakable in his belief. It’s the way he is, but until then, he’ll be a wreck.

- Muzbeth -

“
What is this?” I bellow at the thirty or so vampires that surround Summer and I. They all brandish weapons and I can sense a bloodlust about them. They are so close to attacking us.

A solitary vampire steps forward, he is dressed in a long coat, similar to Kellum’s, but less extravagant and a little shorter. He is barefoot, though his feet are caked in mud. There are several scars on the dead man’s head. The coat is pulled tightly around his slender frame, and buttoned up the front. In his hands he clutches a long curved blade, which is covered in streaks of blood and mud. His is the only blade of the group, as the others carry nothing more than crude cudgels. He addresses me with confidence.

“
State your business in Tomam.”

I scowl at this sudden and new threat.

“
Who the fuck do you think you are?” I ask, advancing upon whom I assume is their leader.

In agitation his grip tightens on the sword handle, turning his already pale skin bone white.

“
Answer our questions or we will kill you right here, right now,” he says through his tightly gritted teeth. His canines are much larger than they should be, just like mine and Kellum’s. He switches his grip on the weapon.

“
I am Lys-Karalis, so just try it, and then we’ll see how far you get!”

At that little piece of news the entire group encircling us visibly wilts and their leader takes a comforting step away from me, and one step closer to his allies. Now I will ask my questions.

“
Now, what are you doing here? What is your purpose?”

“
We, my Lys-Karalis, are bleeding this city dry. I apologise for our confrontation.”

Now his confidence is gone, he looks at my feet rather than looking at me in the eye.

“
Why are you doing this?” I ask, but instantly wish I hadn’t. It makes me look like I actually care about the humans here.

“
It is what we wanted to do. We have banded together so that we can claim Gatheck as our own. We have had no contact with the Lys-Karalis for some seasons now. All we wanted was to take our place as the dominant species of Gatheck.”

Did they think for one moment that they could dominate their Lys-Karalis, let alone me? How stupid of them. They are even more foolish for taking my word alone that I‘m a Lys-Karalis. They are bloody fools. They should be more careful.

“
How long have you been here?” I ask.

“
Just coming up to a half-season,” he says as his head drops a little further.

“
If you have been here so long, why is this place not burned to the ground?”

“
We planned on taking this city my ‘Karalis; we were killing off its inhabitants so that we could take it for our own.”

“
And what will you eat once all of the ‘civilians’ are dead?” Summer asks. Her point is a valid one. A murmur passes through the vampires, and it takes an instant for me to figure out that they are objecting to Summer.

The vampire with the scarred head wrinkles his nose and once again speaks through his gritted teeth. I can tell he wants to say or do something, but he schools himself.

“
I am sorry my ‘Karalis, we have failed you. My name is Sczeran, and I, and those that follow me, are yours to command as you see fit.”

“
It is good to find that you know your place. I am the Lys-Karalis Muzbeth, and I will lead you to victory over this city!”

***

“
Niman, left! Zinne, centre! Haydra, right! Orren, up! Take three with you each. Search every building. I want everyone else searching the perimeter, encircle this sodden shit-hole of a city. Any living that approaches should be herded in, and any that try to escape should be killed. You all understand. Go! Sczeran, to me.”

Far less than an hour has passed since the vampires revealed themselves to us, but they seem to be happy enough to go along with my plans for this place. The only one among them that I am worried about is Sczeran. He has ideas above his post, I think.

With the orders now given, the pack of vampires assembled in front of me splits, twelve into the city, four above it, and the rest to the trees around this once great city. Sczeran lopes up to me, eyes down, face glum. He bows to me. Somehow it seems as though it is a sarcastic bow; almost as if he does not really wish to recognise my authority.

“
Sczeran, my mistress is here also.”

“
She is alive, my ‘Karalis. The dead never kneel before the living,” he informs me. I catch him shoot a glance at her, before his gaze returns to the ground.

“
You do,” I tell him. “Kneel.”

“
My ‘Karalis?”

“
Exactly. I am your ‘Karalis. She is therefore your Queen. Kneel. Now.”

And with that he drops to one knee, head down, both hands on the higher knee, in front of Summer. Her arm snakes its way around my waist, and she plants a kiss upon my cheek.

“
Get up Sczeran.”

“
My ‘Karalis. What do you wish of me?”

“
Summer and I are going to the blacksmith’s house; it is already empty. You are to make sure none disturb us. We shall leave this place at wanemoon. Make sure none of the city folk are living when we do. In fact, you should have them turned. We need to bolster our numbers.”

“
We are abandoning everything we have worked for here? Why?” Sczeran asks, indignantly, his eyes coming up to meet mine once more.

I stare him back down, needing to say nothing.

“
Very good my ‘Karalis, though I see no reason for me to stand guard outside the smithy. None shall disturb you.”