by Aiden James
My mind had begun to clear, and the questions lined up.
“Ah, Txema, we have serious things to discuss,” he said, his brow furrowed for a moment as if disappointed in what I asked. The playful glint in his eyes said otherwise. “Do you really need for me to spell out how you and I got here?”
He brought out the light gray pouch and casually tossed it at my feet.
“There’s a change of clothes for you in there. The people you’ll be staying with until the birth of your child are flexible with some Western customs, but not when it comes to attire.”
I was about to say something smartass, but old man/dinosaur jokes kind of lose their humor when you are talking to someone that is actually hundreds of years old. Also, truthfully, I was still kind of in shock by the whole affair.
“That thing was you wasn’t it?”
I almost choked on the words.
“Yes, it was me,” he said. He wore an even bigger look of pride, as if what he’d accomplished was indeed a feat of wonder and deserved praise for its sheer brilliance. “First time ever as a pterodactyl, and I’m especially pleased that what I remembered one to look like turned out fairly accurate!”
“Does that mean you are like the others back there at the palace—the ones that like to eat young mothers in front of their children?”
“I must admit that keeping you safe from harm is wearisome employment,” he said, for the moment ignoring my question, yet showing no sign he took offense to it. “For weeks, Xuanxang and I have slept lightly during the day while we waited and listened.”
“Listened to what, for Christ’s sake?” I responded angrily. “Do you mean ‘listened while that poor woman was slaughtered,’ and perhaps others like her? How many orphans does Xuanxang need to run Huangtian Dadi’s palace?”
“I don’t care for the sacrifice of the innocent any more than you do, Txema.”
The glint in his eyes disappeared, and he regarded me evenly. But unlike other experiences I’ve had with angered vampires, he remained calm. In fact, the only time I had seen Kazikli enraged was in France, when he chided Gustav in public for not taking enough steps to protect the European nation of vampires from Ralu’s rapid advances.
“You should know that Gustav, Xuanxang, and I had formed an alliance to make sure you were never harmed by the growing insurgence among the Order of the Dragon,” he continued. “Those vampires are not many, and most have already defected to Ralu. The two dozen residing in Huangtian Dadi’s realm, unfortunately, do have their Emperor’s support, which Xuanxang shared with me after the Christmas Eve incident. Gustav wanted to keep you at Xu Zheng Palace despite my desire to move you immediately to a safer location. My king, however, did agree to keep a watchful eye on you and your continual whereabouts as did Xuanxang. Xuanxang has risked his life since being your guardian is in direct insubordination against the Emperor’s stated demand for neutrality.”
“So, let me get this straight,” I said, sitting up stiffly on my bench. “Gustav arranged for all of us―including me and all of the surviving vampires from the attack on Racco’s castle―to reside with this Huangtian Dadi jerk, who really doesn’t give a rat’s ass what happens to any of us? I mean, think about it. All he cares about is not offending a small group of evil vampires that have basically set up free child slavery for him. And, as far as Gustav is concerned? Well that fucker has always given me the creeps. He’ll never get his teeth into me or my little girl’s neck, ever! He can fucking dry up and start looking like his brother, Ralu, for all I care!”
I was furious, and if I hadn’t finished what I wanted to say right then, I’m sure I would’ve started shrieking at Kazikli. Meanwhile, he regarded me calmly, and with more compassion than he had even a moment ago when I first became aggressive.
“I understand your hostility toward Huangtian Dadi, truly I do, Txema,” he said. “He can be far worse than what you can imagine. I’m speaking from experience that runs well over two thousand years. He is as powerful as Gustav, and perhaps even older. If Huangtian Dadi decided he no longer needed commerce with us for any reason, he could single-handedly destroy us all. So, young lady, be careful of what you say about him. The oldest vampires have abilities the rest of us can only envy. You’ve already experienced that with Ralu, from what Chanson told me. Now understand that Huangtian Dadi has more power than Ralu could dream of having, unless one’s growing army counts for anything. If that’s the case, then things are becoming equal quickly. Hence, the need to be extra nice to your Chinese host, should you ever see him again.”
Kazikli didn’t have to go into detail about Ralu’s dealings with me to get his point across. The memories of being repeatedly taunted and murdered in the dreamlike visions were still fresh. When I was foolish enough to think about them during the daytime while my protectors slept, I sometimes felt as if Ralu had found me again, and was already lurking in the palace shadows. Even now as Kazikli and I silently studied each other, a smooth breeze moved through the trees around us, causing us both to look around cautiously.
“Like I said, be careful of the words you speak when dealing with any of the oldest vampires, Txema. Remember that always.”
“Okay,” I said, and then imitated something I used to see my mother’s youngest sister do when she stepped on someone’s toes in the family. “I’m so sorry Huangtian Dadi, and Gustav, I didn’t mean to offend you. Oh, and be sure to give my love to Ralu, as well!”
“Txema!”
Kazikli eyed me seriously, although a glint of amusement was back in those beautiful blue peepers again.
“All right, I’ll quit,” I said, and moved on down the growing list of questions I had for this particular immortal. “So, you said the pterodactyl was something you just came up with to transform yourself into. I take it that you’ve been doing this for a while. How did that happen, and can the others like Chanson do it, too?”
“Yes, I have been doing such tricks for a long time, actually longer than I’ve been a vampire,” he said. The air around us had grown colder, and he seemed to notice. He smiled impishly and waved his hand over the fire pit while whispering a quick incantation that I only caught a few syllables from. The partially burnt logs and remaining coals from previous fires sprung to life. “Long ago, I had reached the pinnacle of success as a magician in Xerxes’ court.”
“The King Xerxes of the Persians?” I said, with only slight disbelief in my tone. Having seen and experienced what I had the past two months, and especially since arriving in China, had at least softened some cynicism.
“Yes, the very same,” he said. “If I had carried less ambition, perhaps I would’ve died long before Alexander brought his ten year campaign against my homeland, and ended the reign of glory I had known so well a century earlier.”
He seemed to grow sad as he reminisced, and I started to tell him that he didn’t need to delve into painful memories. But, he raised his hand to stop me.
“Truly, it’s okay. I’ve long since healed from my human regrets,” he said. “Back then, any alchemist worth his salt could shape shift, and I could do that easily for as long as I can remember, long before I was orphaned and taken to Persia as a Greek slave. Once I was accepted for my talents, we used to hold contests in Xerxes’ court, and the biggest challenge was to try and become something so minuscule that the naked eye could not see it. It is the most amazing thing, Txema, when you consider that we humans and once humans, seem to be the middle of universe when it comes to scale, if nothing else. You would be most surprised at the other direction the universe travels. Not everything is part of the ever-expanding energy movement beyond our planet. It’s as unending and magical in the other direction.”
“What, sort of like reverse infinity?”
“Yes, I guess that’s an excellent term for this phenomena,” he said, nodding thoughtfully before going on. “To become a magician for the great King Xerxes, one had to master both directions of the energy flux. It’s the only way a magician could effectively clo
ak the king’s assassins. It also enabled us to be effective spies for his Highness, either invisible or disguised as a domestic pet, like a bird, dog, or cat.”
“It sounds really cool; I don’t suppose you can teach someone like me to do some of that?” I saw endless possibilities, and not all bad. It could actually provide the means for me to return to America with my baby to visit my family, friends, and Peter, and then return to wherever our latest hideout was without anyone being the wiser for it.
“I’m not sure if that’s possible, yet,” he said, offering me a wry smile. “I believe you have the talent and most other spiritual qualities. My main concern is your level of control and maturity. Having the ability to perform such magical spells also means knowing exactly when to employ them and when to hold back. It sounds easier than it is, especially if you must allow someone you deeply care about to perish for the greater good.”
He grew quiet for a moment and peered through the banyan leaves.
“This is a volatile period, Txema, and it is not just that you should be completely unprepared, obviously there are times when even a second is too long to wait for aid. I will think upon this… but for now, it appears the sun is moving below the mountains to our west. Once dusk arrives, I’ll need to bring you to Suddhodana and his village. They already know we’re coming, since Xuanxang convinced them to take you in.”
Hearing about Xuanxang’s connection to them made me wary. “Are these more vampires, then?”
“Only Suddhodana is a vampire, and he was turned by Xuanxang long ago,” he said. “Most of the village’s population are males, with only a few females for the men selected to propagate.”
“That sounds really old fashioned,” I said, thinking maybe we should continue on until we found a more suitable place to stay. “Isn’t Kathmandu in Nepal? I’ll bet there’s a hotel there that would be safe.”
“Have you already forgotten what happened to your friends in Tennessee?” Kazikli’s tone became stern again. “Ralu is gaining support for his cause throughout the world. I assure you that at least one vampire sympathetic to Ralu is waiting in Kathmandu. This is the case in any city large enough to be called one. You’ll be safest right here.”
“So, it’s true that vampires exist everywhere, huh?”
Not a question asked from a hopeful perspective. I felt so surrounded by enemies, and yet I’m quite sure this is the way it’s always been for me. The difference is that when I’d get a creepy feeling back in high school, as if someone were watching me from a nearby rooftop or in the taller trees back in Richmond, I assumed it was some odd paranoia brought on by too much partying and too little sleep or just a straight up perv creeper. I never in a million years considered it to be a vampire―or vampires―watching and lusting after my unique blood.
But, this is my reality. No matter where I go―or where my child and I try to hide―we will be hunted. Always. Like a pair of filet mignons trying to tiptoe past a pack of ravenous Dobermans.
“It’s not only vampires,” he said, after deliberating in silence while these kinds of thoughts raced through my head. “There are many different kinds of immortals. Some fit in easily with society to where no one would ever suspect they are different in any way. Others, including dozens of different breeds, could never blend in with mankind even if they tried. Many of these have been forced underground, and only come up for… sustenance every few centuries. That’s why folklore changes from time to time, and things like trolls, fairies, and goblins disappeared from literature and reported sightings for hundreds of years. But such creatures have recently risen again.”
“I…” I wasn’t sure what to say. “So you are saying the Three Billy Goats Gruff are real?”
“Why don’t you ask me one last real question, and then I think you should rest a while. I might turn into a seagull and see if I can catch some fish for supper, and afterward it’s on to the village.” He laughed.
“How about three questions, and I swear that will be it,” I said. “Just three, and then I’ll be more than happy to shut the hell up for the rest of the night.”
“Okay… as long as it’s only three.”
“Why are you protected from the sunlight when you shape shift?”
This question had been gnawing at me since my first encounter with the dragon vampire, and seeing Xuanxang and now Kazikli both smoking in their human form the curiosity was as likely to kill me a vampire at this point.
“Good question—really it is.” His wry smile grew wide enough for me to notice his double fangs. That was another question for another day, since I wanted to hear his take on something more pressing for me personally. “I learned early on in my vampire life that as long as I shifted into a creature that was comfortable in daylight, I would be too. The imitation of life is far closer than it is in our human form. I am not sure why. I have a theory but it is esoteric and boring. Suffice to say it involves humanity’s soul versus the more primal nature of the beast. I do so miss Martin Luther. He could be something of a loudmouthed firebrand, but he was a great thinker on the nature of the soul. Anyway, when I am a beast my heart beats; I must breathe. I have to admit, there are times I shift for those simple pleasures lost to so many of my kind.”
“Luckily for me your body is warm as well,” I added. “Or I think I would have frozen to death on our flight from Dadi’s palace.”
“Indeed. At the very least I should have been forced to seek shelter sooner and the trip would have taken far longer. The main drawback to shifting is that I’m always famished when I switch back to vampire form. So, it’s critical for me to eat something when in the altered state.”
“It must’ve been very difficult not to take a bite out of me on the way here,” I said playfully.
“Yes, it was,” he said, evenly. A rush of tingles surged up and down my spine. “But I knew it would be, so I fed on one of the kitchen staff members this morning.” My face must have reflected my horror. “Don’t worry, Txema, I took only enough blood to get by.” “What is your next question, then?” He gently prodded, when I stared into the blaze in the fire pit. I felt a lot less flippant as I pictured him eating his fill, knowing he’d need it to save my sorry ass.
“Okay. You mentioned that you were once an alchemist, right? Did you ever come across Racco and his brother? Chanson said they were also over two-thousand years old.”
“What an interesting question, Txema,” he said, with a strange tone in his voice. There was an unasked question there, as well as the kind of admiration a teacher has when a student asks an unexpected question oblique to the subject at hand. He grew silent, as if collecting his thoughts. He opened his mouth once as if he were going to answer me, but then closed it again.
“Well?”
“Let me respond to that first with another question.”
“That’s not fair―” I started to complain, but he held up his finger, calling for silence.
“Do you honestly think a human being can stumble upon the exact alchemical recipe for immortality in a single human lifetime?” he said. “Assuming sixty to eighty years perhaps of which, what do you think, maybe forty to fifty of that if the researcher is exceptional really can be devoted to such an endeavor?”
I nodded.
“Well, here’s the short version of a long answer to your question,” he continued. “After I was turned into a vampire, during Xerxes’ return from the Battle of Thermopylae, I was quite despondent. I wanted to continue my growth as an alchemist and master magician. But, the miracles performed by a human alchemist are far more glorious and appreciated among the mortal nations of the world, and not so much among immortals. That meant I needed someone to take my place.”
“And the brothers St. Germaine were whom you chose for this?”
“Yes,” he said. “And without going too far into detail, I found two orphaned brothers left to die by Alexander’s army in a pillaged town near Persepolis. Since the original names I gave them are not easy to pronounce and remember, we�
��ll stick with who they are now. Comte was the more gifted wizard between them, as Racco has always been more interested in the finer things that life has to offer. I made sure they lacked for nothing in terms of luxury and comfort, and as my dedicated researchers into man-made immortality, they were considered very wealthy within Greek/Persian society.
“They had a huge head start on their peers by means of my own research conducted nightly over the course of the previous century. It still took them nearly twenty years of painstaking experiments―some with disastrous results―until they made the most monumental achievement in the history of mankind.”
“And, how long ago was that?” I was trying to get the full picture of this in my mind.
“Less than a decade after Alexander’s death. Somewhere around twenty-three hundred years ago, mankind had the secret to true eternal life. At least life on Earth, which as any immortal will tell you can be terribly lonely at times,” said Kazikli. It looked as if he might pause to reminisce some more, but glanced at the darkening sky and pushed onward. “My lads… lost the recipe, I am sorry to say. So, like all of us who can’t experience the magic of normal eating, sleeping, and even really loving anything beyond what we crave and need, these two are alone for eternity. Through my vanity, I condemned them much in the same way as we have been condemned. No one else can join them.”
“That’s so sad,” I said. My heart again was pulled to thoughts of Racco. My body ached to feel his skilled touch again. I felt bad for him, to be alone in that way, even more than the vampires were. They had the shared experiences of their hunger and their transformation. I couldn’t always understand them, but at least they had their own kind to provide some kind of cold comfort. “I never imagined they were schooled by a vampire. You’re sort of their dad, huh?”
