The Vampire's Heart

by Breaker, Cochin

  Meth is kneeling a few feet to my left, I would kneel also, but I’m keeping up appearances, pretending not to pray. I can do it standing up, it matters not to Calcia whether I kneel or stand as long as I believe and worship.

  After we are done here it will be back up the Peninsula Archipelago and across the Heartland to the Heart itself, one of the remnants of the war we so keenly remember.

  But enough of ancient war and our travel plan. Pray, Satch, pray, it’s what you’re here to do.

  - Lys-Karalis -

  I stand there for what feels like a mid-hour, though it must only be a few instants. I struggle to take my eyes from the man that lies crumpled on the floor. There is a pain in my chest, not physical, but the pain of realisation. I’m a murderer now. What life is there for me? Should I have stayed inside my coffin and let the world pass me by?

  In silence, partly from shock at from what I’ve just done without even thinking, I leave the house and start to head what I think is north, running away from the church.

  I have no idea how to find Elyse, but I know that I must. I do not know if I should though. I shouldn’t have killed that man, but I did. And it was easy.

  I leave the town I once knew quickly, and it is a further few moments before I reach the town’s new boundaries. I run all the way to avoid any more encounters which could turn to violence.

  ***

  Day turns into a cold dark night and I actually find my bearing to be accurate by the North Point, the brightest blue spark in the sky.

  I come to thinking about how this could have possibly happened to me. I’ve walked in the daylight, so being a vampire is out of the question, as are all kinds of demon-host, the Sircless on my chest tipped me off to that. If I had been possessed by something, the Sircless would have bound the demon and I never would have awoken. The full moon in the sky above makes it clear that I am no werewolf.

  I just don’t understand. Maybe when I first awoke down there I was alive. I can’t remember breathing, but I can’t remember not breathing either. Is it possible that I came back to life, only to die trying to free myself? Am I some sort of zombie? Is this all the effect of a voudou curse?

  I left the road where it turned to Yavert, a village on the opposite side of the island, and travelled overland, heading north through the grassy meadows and the shallow hills.

  I will continue my travels quickly, though not by the trails used commonly by people. I’m going to be heading along the jagged coastline, across the rough coastal crags. I’ll take to the shallow valleys to the distant north of Khorale, my home town, and I will walk in the half-frozen winding streamlets. I’m going to do all I can to avoid more people. I fear what I might do to them.

  I will not stop my journey for any reason. I do not have any hunger, and nor do I tire. I lack the desire to relieve myself. I lack everything that once made me human.

  The time passes as I travel, blurring into one long nightmare of twisted thoughts about what I had done to that poor man.

  95 days until the birth of a god

  The 14th day of Winter-Fall, 1537

  The light of morning came as I travelled, but I barely noticed the difference until highsun stuck. I’ve been so consumed with finding Elyse that I can do naught but think of our reunion.

  I have come to the northern coast of the isle of Sacrem, one of the larger islets in the Cracked Lands, better known as the Peninsula Archipelago. The Cracked Lands were severed from the mainland by the long dead god Rahcvah, whose fury at The Dirigir Oak for taking his dead had caused him to smash the land and make it ‘cracked’.

  I stand on the beach, pondering my course for about a mid-hour. An odd sensation passes over me. I look around and realise that the sensation is paired with the approach of a man. He is walking the beach, scanning the sand with his eyes. This could be a problem. Maybe if I explain my predicament he will lend me his aid. Or I could just kill him. Maybe I’d have to kill him, I mean.

  Instinctively I know that the woman I hunt has left this place, but only recently. I trust my instincts. I have to get off this island.

  The man looks up and sees me. I smile at him. He looks worried.

  The Second Chapter

  - Lys-Karalis -

  95 days until the birth of a god

  The 14th day of Winter-Fall, 1537

  I’m stood looking out over the open water. I’m still amazed and worried by everything, especially at how much energy I have. At one point on my journey I tried running for as long as I could. I soon realised that I could run forever without tiring.

  As the waves break at my feet, slowly drawing my down into the wet sand, I realise that I’ve never actually left Sacrem before, though I have heard many tales about the fertile lands of Gatheck. It is supposedly a land of riches and plentiful provisions. Not that food or money matter to me anymore. I only care for getting to Elyse. I consider taking one of the small rowing boats used by the fishermen, but the way the man had reacted to me, coupled with the terrifying desire I had to simply destroy him, makes my decision for me and I decide to swim. How far can the next island really be?

  As I enter the waters, I expect their icy chill to bite down to my bones, but they are not cold, despite the winter. That said, the sun has broken through the thick cloud, allowing is rays to fall full on the ground. The snow upon the grassland next to the beach is starting to melt now.

  The water reaches my chest and I realise that I‘m not floating. I keep going though, knowing that I don’t need to breathe. As my head dips below the surface I notice how deafening the crash of waves is so far out.

  The further I go, the heavier I get, until I eventually end up moving at a snail’s pace. I try running but that just surrounds me with flourishes of bubbles, and does nothing to increase my speed. It gets much darker as well, down here.

  ***

  I’ve forgotten how long I’ve been down here amongst the darkness. I can see fairly well, but everything is wavy and hazy because of the murky water. I’ve not seen a single fish yet, which makes me wonder where the fishers go to catch their hauls.

  Suddenly something catches my attention. There is a new, strange taste in the water. It is a bitter, coppery twang. I try to follow the taste, but I’m not sure where it is exactly coming from because my nose mouth and lungs are full of water, and the more I try to find it, the more I whip the water up into a frenzy of bubbles and seabed detritus. Soon I can’t see and the taste is becoming unbearable, I need to find that thing. It calls to me. Even my desire to be with Elyse is overwhelmed.

  My senses flare as I realise a presence is approaching from behind me. It’s the same feeling I felt on the beach when I met the man. Something touches my leg, so I look down through the darkness, raising a fist to strike at the thing, whatever it is.

  When the bubbles have cleared I see a man kneeling at my feet, looking at me. He points back they way I came, or at least I think it is that direction. I presume he wants me to go with him. I try to tell him that I have to find Elyse, but the taste in the water is stopping me thinking right. Also, being underwater means I can’t make any sounds.

  Something jars inside my head. Gods! He’s underwater!

  I reach down and lift him to his feet to take a closer look at him. He’s probably in his mid-twenties, and his long dark hair smoothly cascades out in the water. His face is odd too; gaunt and dark, with teeth that look weird. Maybe it’s just the water making him look like that though.

  The man smiles at me, and it is an honest smile. I know it is. I don’t know how I know it is, but I just do.

  I release him and begin to walk in the direction he had pointed out, but he grabs my arm and points down. He slowly falls to his knees and then onto all fours. Digging his hands and feet into the seabed, he propels himself along the sandy floor at a far greater rate than I’d been travelling. He turns to look at me and I drop into the same position.

  I follow him, and to begin with I fall back often, but as it becomes brighter and easie
r to move, I manage to keep pace with the man fairly well.

  94 days until the birth of a god

  The 15th day of Winter-Fall, 1537

  We beach on Sacrem at night. As we stumble out of the water I try talking to this other man, but I only bring up water. I try again and I feel something inside my chest tear. It doesn’t hurt, but it is an uncomfortable feeling.

  The man wanders up the beach and finds a large boulder; there are many that dot the rocky beaches of Sacrem, and I presume, the rest of the Cracked Isles. He lies on top of it and opens his mouth, letting the water trickle out. He changes position and more water flows out from his mouth and nose. He does this for a short time and I watch with a little confusion. Then he gets up, looks at me, and smiles that same honest and toothy smile again.

  “My name is Kellum-Herbst, and I would like to help you.”

  He speaks with a strange accent, and I can tell that he is not from the lands of the Archipelago, but I’ve never heard an accent like that. Only the gods must know where he’s from. The travellers that came through the village sometimes had strange ways of speaking, but they never spoke like he does, and they always passed through quickly, always heading to worship at The Dirigir Oak on the furthest island, Far Isle.

  “Gyogk?” Again I try to speak and water sputters out.

  My voice has changed. Even to my ears it sounds disturbing. Or perhaps that is just me? Or perhaps it’s the water in me?

  “Lie on the rock as I did. That will drain the water from your lungs. Please allow me to talk to you as you… erm, empty yourself.”

  I do as he says and clamber upon the rock and begin to copy his positions from earlier. Water begins to trickle out of my mouth; it feels like there are hundreds of tiny snakes slipping up my throat. Kellum-Herbst starts to talk again as I look to the sky and its many blue sparks.

  “As I said, my name is Kellum, and I am dead. There is no doubt about that. You are dead too.”

  I cough and water spurts out of my mouth. I think I had already figured out that I was dead, but hearing someone say it aloud...

  “We are vampires, you and I. But you are so much more than just a vampire. You are a Lys-Karalis! You will rule over the vampire nation as a mighty leader.”

  I am just staring at him, my eyes wide in disbelief. I’d guessed I wasn’t human or alive anymore, but a vampire? I’ve walked in the daylight. Unless all the stories about vampires aren’t right? And what is a Lys-Karalis exactly?

  I realise that I don’t want to hurt him like I did with the man on the beach and the man in my house. Kellum keeps explaining.

  “But more importantly to you, I know how you can find Elyse, your soul mate.”

  “What? How? Tell me!” That new deep voice of mine, like red-hot gravel being crushed, asks the questions.

  Hopping down off the rock, I take a good look at this ‘Kellum’. The moon is bright and only just waning and my apparently vampiric eyes can see perfectly well. Kellum is a handsome man, dressed finely in a long blue coat with bronze buttons sewn to the front. He wears black trousers and knee high leather boots, though the thonging that ties them extends further up his leg. He has long dark hair, wet from our stroll in the sea, which is tied at the nape of his neck. His face has a manly chiselled bone structure and his eyes are an inky blue colour. The most noticeable thing about him is his mouth, or rather, his smile. When he grins you can tell that his teeth should not fit his mouth. But that is only because his canine teeth are elongated. I tongue my own teeth and find this to be true in me as well.

  “I warn you now, that you are not going to like it. The process will involve a huge amount of sacrifice.”

  “I don’t care! I need to see her!” I blurt out. My heart should be racing, but I am dead, and my chest almost echoes of stillness.

  “Very well, my ‘Karalis.”

  “Hold on, what is this Lys-Karalis thing?”

  “Roughly translated, it means ‘Light-King’. I’ll explain more later. This is what you must know now, and what you must do. Elyse will one day reincarnate. She’ll come back from the dead, though not in the way that you or I have: she will be born again, her soul reissued.”

  “What’s happened to her?” I ask desperately, worry filling my still heart.

  “Nothing. She will continue to live out her current life as a mortal human. If you continue as you are doing now, the two of you will never meet. So you must change. Though, when you do meet, it will be a very long time from now, and in order to find her when that time comes you will first have to attain notoriety.”

  “How do you mean? What’s ‘notoriety’? And why will I have to wait for so long?”

  “Notoriety is a, err, disreputable reputation. You must become a being of evil, a devourer of souls and a drinker of the blood of humans. You must live up to your name as a Lys-Karalis. That is what I mean by notoriety.”

  Evil? My mind reels and blurts out more questions.

  “What? You want me to be evil? How can you possibly even know this, and why do I have to be evil? This just doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I’m sorry. Let me explain. I should have informed you of my ‘gift’ straight away.”

  “Gift? What is it?” Now I’m getting really confused.

  “Please, let me speak, my Lord.”

  I hold my tongue and nod for him to continue relating this strange and slightly unbelievable story.

  “In my life I was a fortune-teller of sorts, but that was many, many years ago. One night, whilst travelling to our next destination - I was part of a nomadic band - our caravan got attacked by a pack of vicious vampires, hungry for blood. I tried to barter for my life with them, so they took the offer and gave me my un-life. That is not what I had wanted at all. Fortunately for me, I retained my ability to see the future. I have consulted many vampires since my turning and have never heard of any other vampire with any kind of prophetic talent. It puts me in very good grace with the Lys-Karalis…”

  “There are other Lys-Karalis?” For some reason I had assumed that I was the only one. I had felt superior. But it seems I am just one of a higher race, provided he speaks the truth.

  “Yes, our leader is Liesl, and there are five others, aside from you. They are Luc, Callic, Alleil, Morren, and Revner.”

  Then why do they call us Lys-Karalis? Surely there can only be one Light-King? There’s yet another thing that doesn’t make sense. I’ve had a lot of that since I got out of my deathbed. The vampire keeps talking.

  “There are only a few ways to become a Lys-Karalis. Usually a human is turned and the resulting vampire is a Lys-Karalis. Nobody knows how or why, but that is the way it is. The only other way to become a Lys-Karalis is by defeating one in a fair battle. What makes a fair battle is decided by the other Lys-Karalis. You see, because a Lys-Karalis is far more powerful than a regular vampire, the Lys-Karalis usually gets handicapped. So if a vampire were to defeat one of the ‘Karalis, they would change places, the title and the powers it invokes would be passed to the victor.”

  I struggle to understand all of that.

  “So what happens to the old Lys-Karalis?”

  “Ah, he, or she, though we have yet to actually have a Lys-Kralice, will become a regular vampire, with all the susceptibilities that come with vampirism.”

  “Susceptibilities?”

  “They all stem for one thing… three beings… The gods that prescribe to the ‘One True God’ ethos: Calcia, Jehovah, and Rahcvah. That is why we die in sunlight.”

  “What? Why? Why sunlight?” I ask, glancing up at the night sky. The dawn light has not yet arrived in the eastern sky, meaning that morning must still be at least a mid-hour off. My eyes return to Kellum’s handsome face, locking onto his own.

  “The sun is said to be the Eye of Calcia. She is supposed to be watching her Gatheck, and looking after its people. So when she sees one of us, a vampire, she sends us back to Hell.”

  “But I’ve been in the sunlight.”

  “
Lys-Karalis are immune to the sun’s powers because they are hidden from Calcia’s sight. You are all protected by ancient pacts and deals… I’d tell you more about them, but I honestly don’t know any more, I’m afraid. I can only see what will come, not what has passed.”

  “I want to know why I have to become evil.”

  This really doesn’t make sense. How does someone become evil? Is it even possible? What if you have to be born evil? Or can you learn it? Is there some dark magic spell out there? That would not surprise me. People would kill for that kind of power, the ability to make someone commit dark and terrible crimes. Imagine if I could do that. I could rule absolute.

  “Ah, that is the tricky bit. Due to the somewhat variable nature of the future, I cannot say, all I have seen, and I have seen much, is that if you continue to search for her you will never find her. You’ll either die trying or you’ll miss her completely and she’ll live a happy life without you, a natural life. You must become evil to lose yourself, to become one with what you are, to embrace your nature. Then and only then will you be reunited with the one you love.”

  I just wish I could understand this. It sort of makes sense, but it sort of doesn’t at the same time. And where are all these thoughts of dominating coming from?

  “How do I know if I can trust you? For all I know you could be trying to trick me somehow.”

  “My ‘Karalis, I offer myself to your service, as I would any Lys-Karalis, but let me prove my words are true. I will answer your other question and then I will affirm your lineage. Is that okay?”

  “Fine.”