Eternal Reign (Age of Vampires Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  I shook my head, wondering how I could have forgotten to help collect the firewood then turned back to the entrance. As I approached the ward again, I half turned away from it, the urge to stay inside gripping me fiercely. Stay inside, it’s safer. The thought flitted through my mind but it was like hearing someone else speak. I didn’t want to stay inside.

  I clenched my jaw and crossed the threshold despite the rising urge to stay in the cave. My steps felt like they were made through quicksand as I crossed the ward and glared at it, suddenly sure it was the reason the strange thoughts had planted themselves in my mind.

  I broke free of the weird hold it had on me and quickly started gathering firewood.

  As I filled my arms I noticed the man-mountain watching me and stood to glare at him. “Is something wrong?” I challenged when he didn’t drop his gaze. The evening light illuminated the rich bronze colour of his skin and lit a fire in his golden eyes. I realised I was staring and blinked a few times to break the connection between us.

  “Why didn’t you stay in the cave where it’s safe?” he asked slowly and I stiffened as I realised the voice in my mind had felt like his somehow.

  “Was that some kind of trick?” I asked. “To try and make me stay in there? I don’t want you messing about in my head.”

  “I only wanted to keep you safe,” he murmured. “Forgive the intrusion to your thoughts. The ward was just to encourage you to stay within the protection of our shelter. I’m surprised you were aware of its effect on you and even more surprised that you were able to overcome it.”

  I scowled at him for a moment. It almost sounded like he was suggesting he’d used magic.

  “You’re a sorcerer?” I asked. Images from my dad’s stories filled my mind of children going to magic schools and wise old men who wandered the woods. He didn’t look like either and I was pretty sure none had ever really existed anyway.

  “Any such men died out before my time. Which is a very long time ago indeed. I only used the power of the wards and it has many limitations.” He stepped forward and took the small stack of firewood from my arms, adding it to his own much more impressive heap. Without another word, he turned away and carried it into the cave.

  I glanced about at the darkening woodland and wondered if any more animal spies were watching me. I hugged my arms tight around my body and jogged after him. As I crossed the ward again, I felt its power welcoming me in. I didn’t want to like it but I did.

  “I’m Callie,” I said as I moved to take a seat beside my companion who was starting to build the fire. The silence stretched uncomfortably and I let out a huff of irritation. “This is the part where you give me your name,” I prompted.

  “A man’s name holds a lot of power.” He finished building the fire and began striking two flints together to light it.

  I scowled at him and started coming up with names for him in my head. If he didn’t want to give me his name then I’d give him one myself. Like Asshole or He-who-doesn’t-talk or Arrogant-jerk or Phillip....

  The fire bloomed to life and he leant back to watch it. “Magnar Elioson, first of the Blessed Crusaders. It means warrior of the sun. I was my clan’s Earl before I slept.” He pushed a hand through his long hair and sighed like the weight of the world lay on his shoulders.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked in confusion.

  “I’m a slayer, perhaps the last of my kind. It was our job to protect mortals from the wrath of the vampires. They should have been wiped from this world nine hundred years ago but something went wrong. I was betrayed.”

  “You... betrayed? What do you mean nine hundred years ago?” Instead of his answer helping me it only seemed to present me with more questions.

  “That is a very long story.” His gaze lingered on the growing flames and I wondered if he planned on telling it to me or not. “A long, long time ago the leader of the Clan of Prophecies foresaw the downfall of those monsters. She saw me leading the Slayer’s Crusade against them and bringing down the Belvederes once and for all.”

  “Sorry, who?” I didn’t like interrupting him but he’d already lost me. I had no idea who the Belvederes were or what they had to do with the vampires.

  Magnar turned to look at me and I could tell he was more than a little surprised by my ignorance.

  “That is the name the original vampires gave themselves when they crossed the sea to this land. They are the ones who started all of this over a thousand years ago. Do they go by another name now?” he asked.

  “I’ve never heard of them but I don’t really know much about what goes on outside of the Realm. The vampires never bothered to tell us about the way things are run.” I shrugged apologetically.

  Dad had always said the vampires kept us ignorant on purpose because the less we knew about them, the less likely it would be for us to find a way to rise up against them. Humanity’s greatest weakness was ignorance. But the cure to ignorance was knowledge and if he knew something I didn’t then I wanted to hear it. All of it.

  “I suppose they wouldn’t want you to know how they came to power,” Magnar said thoughtfully. “But my people have always known that bringing down the Belvederes would be the key to the downfall of the entire vile species. We hunted them to the ends of the earth until they were forced to separate and hide from us like the worms they are. No matter how hard we searched, we couldn’t locate any of them. But then the prophecy came to light.

  They were going to be together, gathered in the same place for the first time in a century. I was supposed to lead the Slayers’ Crusade against them with my brother beside me. Our victory was written in the runes.

  The only issue was that it wasn’t going to happen for a hundred years and there was only one way that I could be there to fulfil my destiny. While the rest of the clans prepared for the battle and raised the next generations ready to fight for the freedom the world deserved, I was to be shielded from the ravages of time so that I could lead them. My brother and I were put into a rune sleep for one hundred years so that we could wake ready to lead the crusade and bring them to their knees.”

  “A rune sleep?” I wasn’t sure if anything that he was saying made sense. It sounded like he was claiming to be a thousand years old and though I knew the vampires were immortal I had never heard of a human man sharing that gift.

  “Yes. My mother was of the Clan of Dreams whose people had power over sleep. Among their gifts was the ability to trap someone in their dreams, locking them in place with a rune much like those I carved outside this cave. Such runes lose their power over time but my mother was powerful enough to be able to choose the exact moment when their effects would run out. If she chose to lock someone in a dream for an hour or a month or a year then they would stay there with no way to free themselves unless she released them.”

  “And they wouldn’t age during that time? Or die of thirst?” I asked with a frown. Even if I believed what he was saying then it was hard to imagine how someone could survive in such a state.

  “That part took a little help from a goddess.”

  I opened my mouth to deny the existence of any such being. My dad had told us all about the old religions and I knew people in the Realm who still prayed to God daily but I’d never believed in anything like that. What kind of god would just sit by and watch all of the horrendous things that were happening to his followers? I hesitated long enough for Magnar to catch the gist of my thoughts.

  “Don’t worry, cursing or denying the gods’ existence in my presence won’t offend me. I curse them daily. They do not offer mortals much beyond pain and suffering for their own amusement. But the goddess Idun has helped the slayers many times over the centuries because she shares our hatred of the vampires.”

  “Why?” I blurted, unable to help myself.

  “Because they are immortal and that gift should never have been given to them. She is the goddess of eternal youth and no one but her should have been able to bestow such a thing. It has left her rather bit
ter.”

  “So if she didn’t make them immortal then who did? And can’t she just undo it if she’s so unhappy about it? What’s the point of being the goddess of immortality if you can’t take it away from those who don’t deserve it?” I demanded.

  “Feel free to ask her if she ever deigns to speak with you. The gods seem to be a lot better at making messes than they are at fixing them. Or perhaps it just amuses them to watch us as we struggle to deal with what they’ve set in motion. Who knows?”

  The idea of gods and goddesses laughing at the destruction which had befallen the world set my blood boiling and I ground my teeth angrily as I tried to turn my mind from the idea. Dad had told me that people who believed in religion always did so blindly anyway. So Magnar’s story about a goddess helping him could be nothing more than a fantasy he’d convinced himself of. Although if that was the case then I wasn’t sure how to explain his time-hopping abilities and something in my gut told me he wasn't lying about that. He really was a thousand years old.

  “What went wrong then? You said your mother knew exactly how to set the runes so that you could sleep for a hundred years. Did she screw it up somehow?”

  “She would never have made such a mistake. This must have been caused by someone else. Someone who betrayed us all,” he growled darkly.

  “And that’s why the vampires are still around but the slayers aren’t?” I asked.

  He nodded sadly. “A thousand years has passed and I have woken to a world ruled by those I despise and void of my kin.” He shifted slightly, his gaze never wavering from the building flames and I felt his sorrow like a physical force. Despite all of the new questions his story presented, I knew in my gut that he was telling the truth.

  I had no idea what to say in response to such pain. My family had been taken from me but I still had hope. There was a chance, no matter how small, that I might be able to get them back. Magnar was completely alone.

  My eyes flickered open and I found clouds above me beyond the grate of a metal cage. The sky was grey and oppressive, no sliver of sunlight, not a crack, not a gleam.

  The bump and jostle of my body informed me I was in another vehicle. I tried to sit upright, but a strap across my stomach held me down. I lifted my head high enough to find others bundled in beside me like sardines.

  I craned my neck to get a view beyond the cage and my heart slammed into my throat at the sight unfolding around me.

  We were crossing a bridge over a gleaming river, its rusted metal struts rising high on either side of us. Ahead, was a city. It had to be. It was too large to be a town and the buildings were frighteningly tall. In the distance, I could just make out what appeared to be the bombed ruins of the city's suburbs. A demolished bridge poked out of the water, the broken remnants of the structure twisted and bent. Whatever had remained of this part of the city had clearly been rebuilt.

  The truck slowed to a halt and I quickly dropped back down, pretending to be unconscious like the others. My heart strummed a frantic tune as I peeked through my eyelashes, spotting a couple of vampires with large swords investigating the truck bed.

  I remained still as they gave the order for our driver to continue and we sped off of the bridge, passing through an iron gate that thunked shut behind us.

  The gleaming glass of towering skyscrapers leered down at me, reaching so far toward the sky it made me dizzy.

  This place was beautiful and untarnished, just like the vampires themselves. And the further we travelled, the more glitz and glamour shone down at me. Whoever lived behind these sparkling walls held the fates of humans in their palms. And one tight squeeze would crush us all.

  We arrived at an enormous brick wall that stretched above me twenty feet. It was painted white and looked newly built. I tried to lift my head to see more, but guards filed around the truck again, checking it over.

  I kept my eyes closed until we started moving then caught a glimpse of an iron gate as we headed through the wall. The scent of freshly cut grass and the rush of a thousand wind-blown leaves snatched my senses.

  A fan of branches stretched above me as we passed along a smooth road, winding through the forest. I could hardly believe the sprawling sight of coloured leaves, turning brown and deep gold as they prepared to fall. I'd seen the woodland on the edge of the Realm do it a hundred times. Their leaves dying and falling before returning the next summer. The winter seemed to be arriving a little later here – wherever here was. But the trees near the Realm were long-dead, their colour drained from the world.

  I lifted my head, desperate to see more, but only trees and a mosaic of golden leaves on the ground stared back at me.

  I lurched as the truck hit a bump and someone groaned beside me. Glancing down, I found a golden-haired girl sleeping soundly at my side. As my eyes trailed across the others, I realised they were all female. Something told me that was no coincidence, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why.

  When the truck eventually stopped, I caught sight of a tower between the trees. A flag stood atop it with red and white stripes. One corner held a blue rectangle speckled with white stars.

  As uniformed vampires surrounded the truck once more, I returned to feigning sleep, not wanting to be drugged again...or worse.

  Hands near my stomach made me stiffen as someone knelt either side of me. I refused to tremble as he unbuckled me. The shift of bodies told of other guards climbing into the truck and I was soon hauled into a vampire's arms, carried over his shoulder as he descended from the vehicle with light grace.

  As he silently walked along, I dared to open my eyes once more, trying to get a look at where I was being taken. Frustratingly, my hair veiled my view and lifting a hand to move it would have alerted the vampire to my wakeful state.

  A shadow fell over me as we entered a building and a moment later I was dumped on a vaguely damp floor. Without warning, water cascaded over me in a torrent and I yelled in surprise. I heard the other girls rousing and quickly sprang upright. My heart rate spiked as I found myself in a metallic room with drains at our feet. I counted fourteen other girls standing beneath the shower that was raining down from the ceiling.

  Warm, luscious water ran over me. It took me a few moments to register the incredible feel of it. I'd never felt anything so good.

  Before us stood three vampires, all male and staring at us with impassive expressions as they clutched their black robes away from the water. One of them spoke, lifting his chin, his eyes two murky pools of green.

  “Wash. Use the soap provided. Remove your clothes and dump them in the bin.” He pointed to a metal container on one side of the room.

  The girls started stripping and picking up the bars of soap left in a pile at the back of the shower.

  I turned my back on the vampires, pulling off my sodden clothes. Being naked sent a ripple of vulnerability through me, but I tried not to let the pounding of my heart overwhelm me as I picked up a bar of soap and started scrubbing. The scent of honey filled my nose as the soap lathered. It almost smelt good enough to eat.

  The blonde from the truck stood beside me, her olive skin growing brighter as she washed the filth from her body.

  “Hey,” I whispered, but before she could answer one of the guards barked, “No talking!” and the blonde turned away from me.

  I ground my teeth as I gathered up my clothes, moving to the bin and dumping them in it.

  One of the vampires approached me and I didn't miss the way his eyes slid down my body. There was no lust in his gaze, just curiosity. He stepped past me, close enough to brush my arm and I recoiled on instinct.

  He pressed his hand to a panel beside a metal door, unlocking it. It swung open, revealing a circular glass chamber and the white room which lay beyond it.

  “In,” he snipped at me and I skirted around him, clutching my hands over my chest as I made my way inside.

  The glass doors slid closed behind me, locking me inside the tiny space.

  “Hands up, hair too,”
the guard commanded.

  I did as he said, gathering my hair above my head, my brows knitting sharply together.

  One breath, two. Then a bright blue beam of light illuminated the floor at my feet, moving up over my skin. I gasped at the strange sensation which made every hair on my body tingle. As the light travelled further up, I spotted my leg hairs collecting at my feet. My pubic hairs swiftly followed, then my armpits.

  I lifted my chin with an inhale of alarm, but the beam evaporated before it reached my neck. Releasing a shaky breath, I gazed down at the sheen of my skin where the hair had been removed.

  What the hell..?

  Water spurted out of holes at my feet, washing it all away. The second the water stopped, a whoosh of hot air turned the chamber into a whirlwind. I spluttered against the ferocity of it, covering my face from the blazing wind that pummelled every inch of me.