Sirucan shook his head. “None but in legend.”
Vixerai glanced at me. “I heard Sombrala talking once. She said there were Sanguinar vampires here in Malfeon thousands of years ago. But they were driven out by the Lords of the Green Sun and the Red Sun. They drove them to other worlds, she said, for they were becoming too powerful and a threat to their rule.”
“And now?”
“Yes, tell us,” Sirucan sneered, “Tell us, since you are her servant.”
“Enough!” I leered at Sirucan, who only scowled back.
“The lords of the two suns battle amongst each other.” Charlotte answered calmly. “They have not directly involved themselves in the affairs of the Floating Isles for many years. It is said they even recognize Sombrala’s rule here, for she is only one Sanguinar and not an entire clan as they used to be.” Charlotte walked closer to us. “Vixerai, you lived among Sombrala. Surely you must know something, of where she came from, why she came here to Malfeon, what she seeks. It must be she that knows where to find this gem that my fellow human seeks.”
“I… I … do not know much. It’s true that her servants whisper that she came from Hourne. Through a portal of some kind. But, why? Some said she came here to conquer Malfeon, some say she was banished here, others say this is her original homeland. She hardly ever spoke to me during the time I lived in her sky island, and I spoke to her even less. You do not understand. I was not her servant. I was a slave, a plaything.”
“You willingly made yourself her slave, her plaything!” Sirucan shouted.
Vixerai’s voice trembled. “Why, brother? Why can you not see that I did not wish to go with her, but did it thinking I would save my people, our family, you.”
I held Vixerai’s shoulders as she trembled with emotion, then I pulled her close to me and held her in my protection. We all turned to Sirucan, looking at him like the angry fool he was. Even Charlotte seemed to realize Vixerai spoke true.
“I believe you, Vixerai,” Charlotte said, “and I don’t believe you are a traitor, or a monster.”
Abalo, the old harpy, came flying back into the heart chamber. “I have it, Master Sirucan!” He swooped to Sirucan who pressed the large thick waxy leaf to his chest. The leaf began wilting, then turned from the dark green of rainforests to blood red. Finally, it shriveled completely and fell away but left Sirucan’s chest whole again.
“Charlotte… if you truly feel this way,” Sirucan said, his shoulders having lost the proud arch to them, “then perhaps I should not feel such anger.”
I stepped between him and Vixerai. “It is hatred you feel. And for no reason. You only bring it as a blight to you and your people.” I returned to my human form. “We still have the matter of the gem. What do we know of Sombrala? Could she have been the one to take Tiloshar’s gem? And why does Tiloshar remember your face, Charlotte? You must have come through Tiloshar’s portal, just as Sombrala must have.”
“I do not know why she remembers my face. But I must ask you, what is this Tiloshar to you? Why do you risk your life to serve her?” Charlotte asked, and Vixerai turned to me as well, as if she had asked the question herself. “It seems you should know more about someone you have traveled to another world for.”
“I did not volunteer.” I scratched the side of my face. “I was captured by some soldiers… that is a long story that you would not understand. I was given to Tiloshar to have my mind drained and stored into a gem, then I was to be handed back to these same soldiers. However, Tiloshar… took a liking to me, and she agreed to not hand me back to these soldiers but to instead give me my freedom. She would also give my friend his freedom.” I glanced over at One Eye who stood more silently patient than a gargoyle. “This is the task she gave to me, in exchange for both our lives: to recover her gem, which she believed to be stolen by you. I believed it too, though now I know not what to believe.”
“If both Sombrala and I came from Hourne, and one of us took this other vampire queen’s mind gem, then it must have been Sombrala.”
“She must still possess it,” I grumbled. “Perhaps you are some pawn caught in their feud.”
“There is only one place we can both find what we seek.” Charlotte adjusted the glove on her hand. “You want to find this gem, and I to find… who I am, where I came from, why I am here in a foreign world.”
“Charlotte,” Sirucan yelled, “you can’t mean … that you’re going to the White Tear!”
“I must, love, I must.” She wrapped her arms around him and touched her lips to his as she looked up into his eyes. “You and I have both known that someday we must find out why she and I both came to this world near the same time, perhaps the very same day for all we know.”
“We haven’t the strength, Charlotte! Even if we gathered those remaining tribes willing to side with us, we could not face Sombrala and her forces, not when they are safe behind her sky fortress.”
I gestured toward Sirucan. “I have fielded men in open battle when we were greatly outnumbered. I do not fear this Sombrala.”
“That may have been on your world, wolf man, but this is different. Her fortress is impregnable. She herself is vastly powerful magic wielder, and she has thousands of warriors at her command.”
“Of what are you, afraid?”
“You’re calling me a coward?”
“Enough, you two,” Charlotte said, and stepped between us.
Vixerai’s soft voice broke through the anger in the air. “We don’t have to go to war with her. Why should we do that at all? I lived in her fortress, I know the different ways inside. We could sneak our way in and look for this gem.”
“That is wise counsel, Vixerai.” I gazed down at her and she smiled.
“That will only give you what you want, but it will not give me any answers,” Charlotte said. “And it would not only be for me. If we know Sombrala’s origin and her purpose, perhaps we can find a way to defeat her and free the harpy tribes once more.”
“You mistake my purpose here, Charlotte. I have nothing against you nor the harpy people, but my sole purpose in this world is to retrieve they gem and return to my world. I thought you were necessary for that, but now I see that perhaps I was mistaken.”
“Rothan…” Vixerai looked at me with hurt in her eyes.
“I only speak the truth, Vixerai. I did not come for you or anyone, but for myself and my friend, One Eye, who I owe a life debt to.”
She cast her eyes down. “But we saved each other’s lives… we coupled... I thought…”
I cursed myself, but I could not help but feel a tug on my heart. I cupped her shoulders gently in my palms. “Without you I would not have lived—you speak true. I came here for myself, but that does not mean that I do not care for you... and your kin.” I ground my teeth as I said that, looking at Sirucan. “So I will do what I can to help them as well. But make haste, all of you. I do not have much time. Think of something, some way that we can get answers from her and find the gem as well.”
“There may be a way that seeking answers to my past will help you find the gem as well.” Charlotte paced, her eyes roaming.
“Tell me what you muse. What cunning strategy are you planning?”
“What if we… talked to her?” Charlotte said hesitantly.
“Talk to her? That’s your plan?” My eyes quirked.
“What do you mean, talk to her?” Sirucan said. “She is a vampire queen, Charlotte. She has been looking for a human for years now; that can only mean she has been looking for you! And Vixerai, along with all the dead and tortured, can speak to what she does to those she is looking for!”
“Don’t you think… that the curiosity will get to her? Surely she will have questions herself. Why am I coming forward now? How have I been hiding from her? Rothan, you can come with me. She will be even more curious about a visitor from another world, the very world she came from, no doubt. Surely she will be curious as to why it is we two would stand before her, what I seek from her by coming forward
. Perhaps I can gleam something from her, distract her at the same time, while Vixerai searches for Rothan’s gem.”
“And then what?” Sirucan was unconvinced. “You just bow and leave by the front door?”
“Then we escape, if we have to.”
“Escape? Charlotte, she has slain countless warriors who stood against her, countless magic wielders, demon lords, elementals, wyverns: she dominates them all.”
“Am I not formidable?” Charlotte pressed her hands to her waist. “Abalo, did you not say I had become a great magic wielder in my own right?”
“I did, Charlotte.”
“And Vixerai, Rothan, his one eyed companion, they are formidable as well are they not?”
“Perhaps, but…” Sirucan looked at me with a grudging disgust.
“And you, where is the great Sirucan of the Rainbow Wings? The fearless harpy warrior who has defied and escaped Sombrala’s grasp for years?”
“You speak too valiantly for a mage, Charlotte,” Sirucan said. “Very well. If this is the only way, then I will come and face our fate together.”
“There is one more thing,” Vixerai interrupted shyly. “There is a chamber within Sombrala’s fortress, that glows strangely sometimes. She guards it more than any other spot on White Tear. No one, not even her closest servants, are allowed inside. Some of the servants say even she fears it, for she keeps something there that could destroy her. Perhaps… we could find both.” Her eyes met mine, then went to Charlotte’s. “The gem Rothan seeks and a weapon that could destroy her.”
I felt my breath quicken. “If what you say is true, then this quest has become less of a death wish. Tiloshar also keeps many magical artifacts, so perhaps Sombrala keeps one of untold power. But let us not deny that it is still a game of chance, as all battles are. Let us put the dice in our favor, however small odds that still might be. Abalo, you said you forged these arcane metal doors?”
“I did.” Abalo nodded.
“Good. Forge some crossbow bolts for my friend’s weapon.” I reached over to One Eye and he handed me the Iron Cross, which I handed to Abalo.
“A marvel,” he said as he stared at the artificed weapon.
“Charlotte, you say you are a potent magic wielder, prepare yourself. I imagine that Sombrala will have powers rivaling those of the one who sent me, as they are both vampire queens. Prepare yourself especially against magic that can overpower your mind and gain hold of it, for it seems Sanguinars have a talent in such magics. Find a way to request an audience with her without giving away the location of this hidden city. Sirucan, prepare whatever weapons you have.”
“I will do more than that. I will summon the greatest warriors among the hidden tribes. They will come as a small but mighty force to guard us.”
“No. If we go with only a handful of us, she will see us accepting that we are entirely at her mercy. She will suspect less that we plot against her.”
“Who are you to command me?”
“Other than surviving countless wars and duels to the death, I am the only one here who has survived being among a Sanguinar vampire, and more so, winning her to my favor.”
“Sirucan, please,” Charlotte said, “the time for bickering is over. He makes a valid point. We have no hope to match Sombrala should she decide to unleash her full strength on us. It is best that we give her no reason to be overly suspicious, and so preserve the element of surprise.”
“Charlotte, you, Sirucan and our few companions will arrive at Sombrala’s island fortress, declaring that you are there seeking her favor and asking her only to spare the lives of your harpy tribe, and if she is so gracious, to tell you anything that might help you remember your past. You present yourselves as envoys who seek to recognize her rule of the Floating Isles. You even present her with a gift: a traveler from Hourne, the human world. Unknown to her, during this distraction, Vixerai and I will be roaming among the shadows of her fortress, seeking the mind gem as well as this weapon that is claimed to have power to destroy her.”
“But you are to be the traveler from Hourne that we are presenting to her, how can you be hiding with Vixerai?”
“There is another traveler from Hourne that you will present to Sombrala.”
“Who?”
I gazed back to One Eye. “My old friend will be a perfect guest. He will not say anything foolish that will give away your motives, for he hardly speaks at all. And should Sombrala probe his mind, there will not be much there for her to discover either.”
“I suppose if you can see this quest through, you truly are fearless.” Charlotte gazed up at me. Sirucan seemed annoyed, more than he usually was.
“We all have things to prepare. Charlotte, are there any quarters that One Eye, Vixerai, and myself can rest in?”
“Yes, of course.” She gazed down at the ring on her clenched fist. It glowed for a brief moment and just as before a thread of light went sizzling along her body, transforming it as it went, except this time it began at her feet, turning them from small dainty woman feet to clawed, bird-like talons. As it rose, she donned the elongated limbs of a harpy as well as her wings and metal bustier and half armor.
“You’ll have to tell me how you learned to do that,” I said.
“Yes, of course, we have much to discuss besides. Give me some time to begin preparations then come to my study.”
We left Sirucan sulking and Abalo tinkering with One Eye’s crossbow while the rest of us followed Charlotte’s lead down the tunnel we had arrived from.
16
Our chambers were small but ornate. Everything had been carved from the very stone of the island and was inlaid with a mosaic pattern. I sat to eat with Vixerai, as apparently it was the way among harpies to eat on seated on a slightly raised cushion of a sort that was made of thick leaves curled into a spongy wreath. It nearly resembled a nest, and this made sense since it was the custom of harpies after all. A harpy servant brought us a meal, served upon bowls that seemed like coconut husks. The food was cooked mushroom and moss soup. My human side recoiled at the thought of eating it, and my beast side nearly wretched, but both were pleasantly surprised once I actually ate it. “This is not all that different than steak with asparagus,” I remarked as I wolfed down a third, a fourth, and then a fifth portion, frightening the poor servant harpy with how much I could eat. Vixerai hardly touched her food. “Being here among your people weighs on you, doesn’t it?”
She looked up from circling her wooden utensil in her food. “It’s just that I want to be a part of them once again, but I don’t know if that’ll ever be. They see me and they think I’m different. And perhaps I am. Perhaps they are right that Sombrala really did change me. All those years living on the White Tear under her rule.”
“I am different from other men too. Other men, as you might have heard, do not turn into wolf men.”
“I suspected they didn’t.”
“So those who know this about me, or who actually see me in my Fenrir form, see me as different as well. But perhaps I have it much better. I can always change back into a normal man and be among them once more.” I gulped down a goblet of wine—even here there was wine, and I would wager that in any world, whether a heaven or a hellscape it would still be true. I stared at Vixerai, at her small nose and her lips touched by a hint of iridescent violet. “Come here,” I said and felt a subtle smile on my face. She looked at me in confusion for a moment. “Come,” I waved.
With a single brush of her wings she floated up above the table. With another gentle brush she guided herself back down next to me. I ran my hand through her hair, then traced the contours of her horns. They were segmented, like those of a ram, but smoother, their texture slightly reflective, almost as if they had been oiled. “If your brother and the rest cannot see how valiant and wise you are, then they are not worthy of your valor or your wisdom.”
“And you?” She slid her arms around my neck. “What are you worthy to receive from me?”
“Apparently, I am only
worthy to be a feast for you.” My chest shook as I chuckled at my own jape.
“Oh, yes. You are so much more delicious than this mushroom they tried to serve me!” She giggled as she pressed her lips to mine. Some jovial mood overtook her as she barraged me with small kisses, nearly a bird’s pecks they were. She held my lips to hers for a long moment then, and her small hands held my jaw in place as I felt strength flowing up from my loins through my mouth and into hers. I squeezed her slim thighs as she wrapped them around me. I pulled her bustier off, and she finished unclasping her one piece garment. I fondled her firm breasts, and cupped one near entirely within my mouth, wriggling her pointy nipple with my tongue.
“Oh, you’re supposed to be my meal!” She squealed in delight.
“Here, you will need all the strength you can get.” I did not bother taking off her undergarment but merely slid it aside from her sex. I brought her back down onto me, and felt my cock engulfed by her wet, ribbed inner folds once again.
When we finished, it was she rather than I who was weary. No doubt she had been drained much by everything in the last days—I did not know how long she had been pursued by Sombrala’s wyvern riders. And though she took strength from me, perhaps this could not replace sleep, just as food could not replace it for humans. I left her dozing in our chamber’s bed, a round nest-like bed made of some kind of fluffed cotton, and walked to the chamber’s bony door.
The tunnels’ glowing veins made it a pleasant walk—and I was glad for a moment that I did not have to destroy the heart of this sky island at the stalemate earlier. For when they were not trying to murder me, harpies seemed altogether pleasant. Feathered wings darted away from me in the distance.
“Wait, you need not fear me!” The harpy stopped in mid-air, her tan wings flapping. “I am Rothan.”
“You are the wolf man from Hourne.” The harpy clad in a brown tunic was one of the servant girls who I had seen drifting about.
“I am only a man now. You see?” I glanced down at my body, my hands extended to show her I did not have fangs, claws, or fur. “I know I must have frightened you all earlier. It was unfortunate, but now I am an ally to your tribe.” Her eyes roamed as she seemed unsure what to say. “I search for Abalo. Tell me where I can find him.”
Wolf Blade: Chains of the Vampire Page 15
