“Charlotte... I finally get to see your face.” She spoke her words as someone enjoying each of them like a goblet of the finest wine. And if Charlotte’s voice rippled with power, Sombrala’s thundered with it, for I was not certain of this, but clouds seemed to shrink away as if in dread at her very words.
“You... know my name?” Charlotte’s voice lost much of its confidence, and her body tensed ever so as if to defend herself.
“I know much about you, Charlotte. Much that you don’t know of yourself.”
“I would know these things of you, Sombrala. That is one reason I have come.”
“Yes, yes of course. And what is the other, precious thing?”
“I come to ask you, that you spare my harpy tribe. They are at no fault. Whatever it is you seek me for, let them alone.”
“That is very noble of you, Charlotte. I rule my ever-growing dominion with as great a wisdom as any monarch, and there is no need for senseless violence. Your adopted people will be treated fairly, I assure you.” Her words were almost hypnotic even through the crystal watching sphere.
“Oh, Sombrala. Do you truly know who I am?” Something of a young girl shone through Charlotte’s voice. “Tell me, oh please tell me something of myself.”
This was not part of the plan. “Charlotte,” I muttered into the sphere in the room. “I hope you can hear me. Control your emotions.”
“Of course, Charlotte.” Sombrala smiled and I saw the fangs in her mouth, tall as knives in this spectral from of hers. “The truth is that you are like a child to me. All you wanted was to be like me, immortal, the apex of all life, a Sanguinar vampire. And I would have gladly given that immortal gift to you.”
“Then what… happened, Sombrala? Why did I wake up in this world, with no memory of my past, with no memory of you?”
“The answers I must give I guard close to my heart. I will gladly tell you, when no one else is watching.”
A chill went up my spine as I suddenly felt a dark presence, similar to that of Tiloshar within the room.
“Sombrala,” Charlotte began, “forgive me, it’s only that you are feared by our people and—”
“It is alright, child. I understand. Whoever it is that watches us, they must care for you. And naturally, they must think me fearsome, even cruel. Come to me, Charlotte. I will lower my shields for you, and make my domain ready welcome you. Come to me in the flesh and we will discuss your past.”
“As you say, Sombrala.” Charlotte nodded in assent. She clasped her hands together. “But I must ask, how can you assure me that no harm will come to me or my companions?”
Sombrala’s perfectly sculptured, shining lips went serious. “You wound me, Charlotte. You wound me.” Her eyes intensified into a stare and suddenly Sombrala’s spectral form began expanding. Her face became the size of a house, then the size of a tower, until her two feline eyes were gazing down at Charlotte like a queen gazing down at a mouse. “This is my assurance, Charlotte.” Her voice, though still the same relished sweetness, now boomed like thunder in clouds. “That I could easily devour you, even in this spectral form.” Charlotte began flying straight back, away from Sombrala in fright, but suddenly she was halted entirely. Runes began dancing around her ghost. She was in some kind of magical trap. “What good would your body be, if it were without your spirit?”
Sirucan aimed his spear at the scroll.
“Hold!” I shouted, and Abalo seemed to agree as he gripped the Alpha harpy’s arm.
We watched as Sombrala continued rippling the sky with her words. “Now, see my mercy, I will let your spirit return to your body. Do not think that for your people to hide is still an option, Charlotte. I know that they live somewhere in the burning pillars. It is only a matter of time before I find them. But you can spare them my wrath, Charlotte. You can save them.”
“Yes, tell me Sombrala.” Charlotte’s voice trembled as the arcane rings around her tightened.
“My servants tell me there were two travelers from Hourne who appeared here in Malfeon. They slew many of my creatures. When last seen, they were flying toward the burning pillars. Surely, then, they must have come to you. I want them brought to me.”
“I know not of any travelers—ungh!” Charlotte did not finish her thought as Sombrala squeezed the arcane rings around her ghost, sending jolts of sparking energy through her.
Sirucan lunged for the glowing scroll. “I’m bringing her back!” He stabbed it with his glowing spear then tore it from the blade with his bare hands until it dropped to the ground in tatters.
“She is still trapped!” Vixerai said as we all watched Charlotte writhing in her energy prison, still before Sombrala’s terrifying gaze.
“Those rings must bind her astral form despite severing the link of the scroll!” Abalo adjusted his spectacles out of nervous habit.
“Do not lie to me, Charlotte!” Sombrala’s voice tore through the red sky in the viewing orb. “You are protecting your thoughts from me somehow, perhaps that circlet. But no matter, I can still sense enough, your thoughts not clear, like blurry shadows. But even these I can read well enough to see you are hiding something, something about the travelers from Hourne. You must trust me, Charlotte. How are you to be my blood child if you do not trust me?”
“Forgive me! Forgive me, Sombrala!” Charlotte was pained by the writhing lightning of Sombrala’s bonds. “I will speak the truth now! I will!”
“Then speak!” Sombrala’s eyes simmered and the lightning sparking in the prison thinned until they were only strands.
“The two came to our hidden city, but fighting broke out. One of them was slain, fallen through the sky to the endless depths. The one who was the wolf warrior. The other, his companion, was taken prisoner. I will bring him to you. Take him as my sign of loyalty to you.”
Sombrala tilted her colossal head back ever so slightly without taking her sight off Charlotte. “Then bring this prisoner to me.” The rings around Charlotte loosened and they ceased their sparking. “I do not enjoy harming you, child, but you must be disciplined that you may sit and rule by my side someday. Oh, what a glory it will be, to be together once more.”
“Yes… Sombrala. Thank you for your guidance. I will learn in time.”
“You will. I will see to it, my precious child.” Sombrala’s form shrank until she was her true size once more. She flew forward effortlessly, her elaborate white and red dress swaying under the arcane energy that swirled around her. She reached with her long, powerful arm, and caressed Charlotte’s face, her long curved nails grazing the side of her head. Though both ghosts, they could somehow touch on another. “Go now, and come swiftly back to me.” She gave Charlotte a soft kiss on her forehead.
Charlotte’s spectral form instantly dematerialized. The orb that I was staring at in awe fell apart into nothingness, like a ball of glowing sand.
“Charlotte!” Sirucan shouted as Charlotte’s body now kicked violently on the daybed as if she were having a seizure. She gulped at air as if she had been drowning.
All in the room rushed to her aid. Her breathing was ragged, gasping, her eyes wide.
Abalo elbowed his way past Sirucan and knelt by Charlotte’s shuddering body. He felt her wrist.
“Her breath eases. Her vitality returns.”
Vixerai, Sirucan and I all glanced at one another, then back to Charlotte.
“Please,” she gasped out, her words labored, “don’t worry. I’m fine. She just sent me back into my body… quickly. I wasn’t prepared.”
Vixerai brought Charlotte a glass of water, which she sipped.
“That witch is more powerful than I even imagined,” Sirucan said.
Charlotte regained her composure. “At least she did not suspect our true plan.”
“You did well, Charlotte,” I said. “She caught you off guard, no doubt, when she demanded that you bring the two visitors from the human world to her.”
“Telling her you had perished was the closest thing I could think of
. In the fighting that broke out when you arrived, it would have been entirely possible. It was a good enough lie I suppose.”
“Perhaps it would have been better if it were true, for all was well before.” Sirucan glanced side-eyed at me.
“We had to face her eventually.” Charlotte stared out into space, in deep thought, it seemed. “What if she tells the truth? What if in my former life, whatever it was, I desired to be like her… to be turned into a vampire?”
“That could never be!” Sirucan shouted. “Why do you trust such a creature?”
“Why else would I have come to this world at the same time? Why else would she know my name? Surely we were connected in some way.”
“Perhaps it was true.” I spoke and all turned to me as if I had spoken foul words, all save for Charlotte. “It might explain why you have taken to learning magic so easily.”
“You know not what you speak of,” Sirucan snapped.
“Don’t I? Her name is Charlotte, a name common in the Midlands—a region of my home world. Her features, her eyes, her hair, her body, all seem like those of a Midlander.” I did not say why it was that I was so familiar with Midlander female body types, especially with Vixerai present. Charlotte was truly to my eyes just like those beautiful lasses who were quick with a smile, a joke, and much else to those they deemed brave, strong and good company. “No ordinary Midland girl would suddenly be able to master magics the way Charlotte has. She must have had unique potency as well as previous magical training, and it well could have been from Sombrala. Eternal life and power beyond mortals has its appeal. Perhaps you were to be Sombrala’s vampire child once she turned you. I even recall there was a shadowy figure next to you when you plunged into the portal, perhaps both of you were allied with one another against Tiloshar.”
“It would make sense that Charlotte was willing to be turned,” Abalo mused, “for as I have tutored her in magic I have seen how hungry she was for the knowledge, and how quickly she mastered it, surpassing me long ago. Sombrala would have taught her magic beforehand, to see her potential perhaps, or to prepare her to become not just a vampire, but a Sanguinar vampire. I understand it takes an exceptionally powerful magical essence to survive the transformation.”
Sirucan looked between me and Abalo. “I know Charlotte, I know her heart. She would not have been one of them, would not have wanted to be one of them.”
“What is true, I know not,” I admitted, “All I say is that it is possible that she was. But arguing about it will get us nowhere. Let us prepare to meet our vampire queen and settle the matter.”
“Rothan is right,” Charlotte said, a commanding power returning to her voice. She stood from the daybed and straightened her dress. “Whatever the truth, I must face it.”
“No, law sister,” Vixerai stepped forth, and took hold of Charlotte’s hand.
“All of you, prepare yourselves. We leave on the morrow.”
18
Swirling winds whipped around us as we stood on the surface of the hidden island. The torrent of fire that surrounded the island bathed everything in an orange light, gleaming off Sirucan’s helm and spear, off my ax blade and ebony armor. Vixerai looked spry, her eyes bright, a determined look on her face that would not have betrayed we were about to infiltrate a vampire queen’s lair. Charlotte was regal, a thick lock of her chestnut hair curling around her rosy cheek in the wind. She held a long staff, steadying herself.
“Abalo, have you procured a mount for our friend One Eye?” Charlotte said, her hair and dress flurrying about her.
“I did, Charlotte.” He took a bone carved whistle from a pouch at his belt and blew it. The high-pitched melody was nearly silent. Great mottled wings swept over us, drenching us in a shadow of a flying creature. I reared my head up to see that it was a griffon. Except this one was not like the one commanded by Platina, the winged panther. Instead, this one had the hind legs of a great lizard, as well as its tail. The upper half of its body was also more reptilian, so that it seemed like a young feathered dragon with resplendent bird wings. It landed among us and we stepped back some paces to give the large creature room. “One Eye, this here is Osoryx. He is as sure a mount as any that fly the red skies. He is saddled, trained, and a formidable flyer. A Vipogriff is what he is—the most cunning of all the griffon species.” One Eye observed the creature with pleased detachment. “Osoryx, greet your master for the time.”
The Vipogriff Osoryx squawked so loud it blew One Eye’s hair back.
“And one more thing,” Abalo said reaching for a large bag he had beside him. “Your modified Iron Cross.” He handed One Eye the transformed weapon, which was now a kind of metal chest the size of a thin loaf of bread. One Eye turned it in his grip, confused. “You see, there is a switch here.” Abalo flicked some kind of lever and the chest unfolded. “Then you flick these out like so.” Abalo loosed some kind of fastener and the crossbow’s prods unfolded and the weapon took its true shape, a one-handed crossbow.
One Eye eyed the weapon and practiced as Abalo showed him how to fold it back to its concealed form once more.
“You truly are a genius!” I said as I slapped Abalo on the back.
“Come, we have no time to spare.” Charlotte turned to Vixerai. “Vixerai, you said the White Tear’s arcane shields surround it half a league in every direction?”
“Yes, Charlotte.”
“Good. We’ll all fly together until we near the shields and hope that Sombrala holds her promise to open them. Then we split our party in two.”
“We should not fly together with you on the way to the White Tear,” I said. “There is too great a chance that some of Sombrala’s wyvern riders might spot us. If they do, and Sombrala finds out that I am among you as well as an escaped servant of hers, all our plans are for nothing.”
“I had not considered that risk. But then we would have to coordinate arriving at the same time, yet far apart.”
“We don’t have to fly together,” Vixerai said, “I lived in White Tear, I can tell when the shields are lowered. As long as I observe I will know the right time for Rothan and I to sneak through. Until then we can hide in one of the sky rocks that hover near White Tear.”
“Good.” Charlotte glanced at me, then the rest. “Then we will aim to reach The White Tear in half a day’s flight. You two, arrive a little before us. This way you will not have to hide for long, nor risk that we enter before you and the shields close behind us.”
We all agreed on the plan. Gaumoon’s large body twisted in the air as I summoned him, and Charlotte called on her ring’s enchantment and transformed to her harpy form.
“Sirucan,” I said, pausing before I mounted. I stretched out a hand to him. “For the sake of our quest, let us set aside any slights between us. Our victory could depend on it.”
“I know this, Fenrir.” He glanced down at my hand. “I know not the meaning of touching hands, but among my people, one’s word is enough.” He slipped on his helm, which was in the shape of an exquisitely wrought bird’s head, all slick, sharp metal with two large eye holes. “Whatever our disagreements, I am a warrior. And however begrudgingly, in this quest we are allies.”
He darted into the sky with such grace and power that for a moment I wished I too had wings on my back. Charlotte and Abalo dove into the red sky as well.
“Well, let us be off then, bird maiden.” I leapt onto Gaumoon.
“I’m hardly like a bird, you know!” Vixerai said as she swooped about me and my mount.
Flight. Soaring wings.Endless fiery sky.
The world of Malfeon was truly vast, its true nature incomprehensible to me. A herd of giant mantas swept up from a layer of clouds, wisps breaking all around them. We flew past a tower that rose up from the cloud barrier, its base plunging far below, which made the structure at least a dozen miles tall. As we went flying on, we passed many a sky island. As on Hourne, there were various types of earth these islands were made of. Some seemed hard as flint, others soft as rich farm
soil. Still others seemed rocky but with veins of shining metals rippling through them.
Vixerai guided our flight path so that we stayed away from any sentient beings, but she described to me various races of demon, several tribes of harpy, several species of creatures as small as insects or as large as whales. She described to me how their years were marked by what suns were in the sky, that the red sun and the green sun alternated in the sky, or sometimes both hung above, their lights clashing in a dazzling mix of red and green, or sometimes both vanished, leaving the sky a black so haunting it was as if the entire world of Malfeon were being consumed by an endless black pit. And she described how the suns themselves were like cities where beings of incomprehensible power lived, and that these were as gods unto this world.
All that I saw as we flew, the red sun glowing over us, the islands, the creatures, all these made Malfeon seem altogether dangerous, yet not all that different from my own world with its perils and beauties side by side, its capricious gods taking hand in the lives of mortals.
“We are nearing the White Tear,” Vixerai said as she flew just above my shoulder, her wings bathing me in their shadow. “Slow Gaumoon’s flight and let us dive.”
She swooped down and my great flying manta followed. We were swallowed by the thick clouds, white gossamer with a red tinge, as cotton used to soak up watery blood. We carried on this way, the clouds rippling all around us, hiding us from any watchers above.
“We are below The White Tear now.”
“How do you know?”
“I can sense its arcane shields. Come, take a look for yourself.” She flew upward, tugging at my arm. I pulled on my chain wrapped around Gaumoon’s maw. We ascended, carefully and at a shallow angle, like sharks slowly rising to the surface as they swam. We stopped ascending once we breached the surface of the cloud barrier just enough that our heads peered through its misty edge, yet our bodies and my mount remained flying slowly below. “Look,” Vixerai whispered.
I raised my eyes and saw that truly there was a great sky island above us, the very one I had seen in the crystal sphere back in the Hidden City. Now, we saw it from a different angle, with the red sun glowing above and casting all in red shadow. Unlike before, we could now see the White Tear’s jagged bottom, with various white stone structures built all around the island’s stone core. Many sky rocks drifted all about White Tear, like bees around their colony.
Wolf Blade: Chains of the Vampire Page 17
