A Shade of Vampire 75: A Blade of Thieron

by Forrest, Bella

  “Finding the right one is still a needle-in-a-slightly-smaller-haystack situation,” Eva replied.

  I took her hand in mine, squeezing gently. “You heard Raphael, right? We’ve got this.”

  And I meant it. This had been a difficult and emotional rollercoaster ride for us, and it would only get worse. We’d managed to move past the bitterness, the unspoken and unpopular opinions, the fears and concerns about one another and about our ability to overcome this challenge. We’d accepted one another for who we were, not what we could physically do.

  Instead of tearing us apart, the Soul Crusher had inadvertently brought us closer together. We could see past our differences and accept each other exactly as we were. I realized that, until recently, we’d more or less thought of one another as crew members and good friends, but we were still bogged down by our abilities. This time, however, we’d been reduced to an even playing field, where only our wits and characters could save us.

  Looking at the crew now, I couldn’t help but hold on to my satisfied grin. We weren’t out of this room yet, but our friendship had grown stronger… and our fears were accepted as parts of us, integral cogs in the machine that would eventually push us ahead. We couldn’t go back. We couldn’t cancel this Hermessi apocalypse, either.

  The only way for us was forward. Ever forward.

  Raphael

  The sense of urgency never left me, but the Soul Crusher’s tricks and gimmicks had done a bang-up job of keeping us distracted. The truth serum had worn off, and we were still debating which of the marked levers to pull—those we’d identified by sound as linked to a mechanism. Whether said mechanism would let us out of this room or try to kill us was a matter of luck, at this point.

  We’d made progress with ourselves and our team dynamic, but I worried it wouldn’t be enough to help us survive the challenge. The anticipation of what might come next was taking its toll on our frayed nerves. I’d always felt invincible. And since my genetic design had made me so difficult to kill, I’d stared every potentially deadly scenario straight in the face, fearless and without hesitation. But that perk had been taken away, thanks to the Soul Crusher’s magic… and my enthusiasm had dwindled. I was more than eager to keep moving, but I couldn’t ignore my own fears. Not anymore.

  “I should pull the next lever,” Amelia said, her voice trembling. “Come on, we’ve been at this for long enough.”

  “If more toxic gas is released, we’ll be in a heap of trouble,” Eira replied. “Your blood heals, but not as fast as the potions or the volcanic lake water.”

  “Then we keep the doses for those of us who actually need them,” Lumi declared. “Taeral, Eira, and I will not use any. Since we can’t be killed, we’ll survive whatever the Soul Crusher throws at us. That way, there will be more for the rest of the crew.”

  “Okay. Here goes nothing,” Amelia said, and pulled one of the levers. A split second later, a hatch opened beneath her, and she dropped into the hole with a bloodcurdling scream.

  “Amelia!” I gasped, and reached down to try and catch her.

  We all heard the heavy thump at the bottom, followed by Amelia’s cries of pain. The crew gathered around the square-shaped hole. My heart skipped multiple beats. The worst of my fears had come true.

  “Amelia!” I shouted, but I could barely see anything. My voice bounced off the shaft’s walls, echoing frantically. I tried to think of a way to get down there. “Amelia, are you okay?”

  “No!” she bawled. “I broke my friggin’ legs!”

  “Holy crap,” Herakles breathed, downright horrified. “How deep is this thing?”

  “Are they open or internal fractures?” Lumi asked Amelia.

  “I… I don’t know, it hurts like a mother—”

  “Babe, hold on, I’m coming to get you,” I said. I’d have to slip down, since the shaft was too narrow for me to use my wings. They were a part of my physiognomy, so the Soul Crusher couldn’t take them away—nevertheless, they were useless in this instance, since there was no room for me to fly down there. “How the hell do we do this?”

  “Hold on,” Varga replied and took out a small flashlight. He always carried one with him, a reflex since his early days of training with GASP. He switched it on and pointed it down the hole.

  My stomach tightened at the sight of Amelia at the bottom, her calves bent at unnatural angles and tears streaming down her cheeks. “That’s a hundred-foot drop,” Varga said, giving me a blank stare. “We’ll need rope.”

  “I’ve got it,” Eva replied and pulled out all the rope she’d put into her backpack. She tied a knot at the end, thick enough for Amelia to use in order to anchor that part of the rope around her waist. We’d done this in training many times. She let the rope fall into the shaft, but it wasn’t enough. “It’s too short. Did anyone else pack rope?”

  Eira nodded. They pulled Eva’s back and tied it tightly to Eira’s, then tried again, but it still wasn’t long enough. I cursed under my breath, while Varga kept a light on Amelia at all times.

  “I’m coming, babe, almost there,” I shouted.

  She shook her head, gawking at her knees—I could tell they were swollen beneath the leather fabric, even from this distance. It scared the crap out of me, because her vampire nature would’ve muted the pain by now. “It’s not healing. I can feel it… throbbing and burning,” she managed.

  “What the hell?” Taeral croaked. “I thought the Soul Crusher couldn’t take her healing ability away.”

  “I lied,” the Soul Crusher replied. He didn’t sound amused, but rather apologetic. It wasn’t enough to stop me from formulating a bloody revenge plan against him, once he got out of Zetos—because there was no way we’d let him do this puzzle nonsense to anyone else, ever again.

  “You son of a—”

  “I had to!” He cut me off. “Otherwise, you would’ve taken twice as long to press another lever. You’ve all become so accustomed to your powers that you no longer do proper assessments of the risks you take. You just jump in all gung-ho, because hey, what the heck, you can heal, you can fly, you can teleport and whatever! I need you all to understand something here. These puzzles, as much as I love them and as much as I enjoy messing with you people, are meant to evaluate your worthiness of touching Zetos. Superiority doesn’t come from your genes. It comes from your ability to overcome obstacles. So, stop wasting time and use your heads. Otherwise you’re all screwed.”

  “Oh, you are definitely screwed when we get out of here,” I muttered, and shifted my focus to Eva and Eira. “Give me the knotted end of the rope. I’m going down there.”

  “Even with you, it’s still about ten feet short,” Eva replied.

  “I’ll manage. Just hold on to it,” I said.

  Taeral watched me, concern drawing shadows between his eyebrows as I tied the rope around my waist and positioned myself on the edge of the shaft, my back at the hole. Eva, Herakles, and Varga managed the other end, holding it firmly as I began my descent.

  “Hang in there, Amelia. I’m coming down now!” I shouted.

  They let the rope loose, one or two feet at a time, allowing me to ease into the shaft. It wasn’t more than five feet wide, and its walls were annoyingly smooth. My boots had trouble and frequently slipped, until I pushed my back into the wall and kept my legs propped against the opposite wall.

  “Keep it steady,” Taeral instructed Eva, Herakles, and Varga, while he watched me carefully.

  Glancing down, I could see Amelia clearly. Lumi had taken over the flashlight duty. I continued the descent, constantly keeping myself stiff between walls during the few seconds of rest. The entire process was working my leg muscles into overtime, but I still had a long way to go.

  “How are you holding up, Amelia?” I asked her, looking to keep a conversation going and to help her stay focused.

  “I’m currently planning ways to make the Soul Crusher pay for all this,” she replied, panting as she tried to keep herself calm. I had to give this girl c
redit: even with the unbearable pain, she still managed to stay focused. I’d fallen in love with the right one, for sure. I just needed to rise to her level. “Also, waiting for someone to get me the hell out of this damn hole before I scream my head off!”

  “I know, I know. I’m coming, babe. Almost there,” I said, carefully moving deeper down the shaft. There had to be more to what the Soul Crusher had done to reduce our powers and abilities. I’d been designed to be virtually indestructible, and yet I could barely recognize myself. Climbing down a rope should’ve been a lot easier than this, but I didn’t want to voice any of these concerns. Everyone in the crew suffered from stress and anxiety, already, and they didn’t need me piling on top. Maybe the Soul Crusher had anticipated I’d be more of a handful than the others. Maybe he’d done something to me—something I was unable to identify, but definitely slowing my physical systems down. Either way, I couldn’t let it hold me back from getting Amelia out of this hole.

  My palms were sweating, making it increasingly difficult for me to maintain a good grip on the wall. This, in turn, forced even more pressure into my leg muscles, and my knees were aching. I had peak physical training, but this was an incredibly uncomfortable position to work with.

  I reached the end of my rope, and there were still more than ten feet between Amelia and me. She was quick to notice, her eyes puffy and red. “Dammit.”

  “Not done yet. Wait,” I said, and looked up. “I need something long. A stick, anything of the sort! Amelia can grip it, so I can pull her up!” I shouted.

  “Can’t you just get off the rope, grab her, and jump back up on it?” Herakles asked.

  “No, genius, because (a) her damn legs are broken, and she’s not as light as a feather,” I snarled and paused to look down at Amelia. “Sorry, babe.” I glanced back up at Herakles. “And (b), it’s a narrow space, and it’s insanely complicated. Just throw me something. Oh, wait, I know. Give me Eirexis!”

  They all paused. The silence was annoying, to say the least.

  “Come on! It’s not gonna break!” I added, rolling my eyes. “It’s long enough for me to do the job right and get Amelia up with minimal effort.”

  “Just make sure you catch it,” Taeral replied.

  I could barely see them from this angle, as the light flooded the shaft’s top frame. But I heard Eirexis come down, its ends hitting the walls along the way. I caught it and held one end, using my other hand to wipe the sweat from my face. The rope dug into my hip muscles. Soon enough, it would cause burns.

  “Here, babe, grab this,” I said, balancing myself on the rope. Angling my legs upward, I managed to reach down. Eirexis was only five feet away from her. I felt myself slip and quickly spread my legs, both feet pressing against the walls in order to keep me in this position.

  She exhaled sharply. “I’ll have to get up.”

  “Go easy. Use your arms, your elbows. Get into the corner, first. Take advantage of that angle,” I replied. Amelia nodded slowly, bracing herself for what was bound to feel like agony.

  She grunted as she managed to pull herself up, putting a bit of weight onto her broken legs, too.

  “Okay, good, good, now reach out,” I added, straining to bring Eirexis as close to her as possible.

  With one fast breath, she hopped and cried out, but she caught it. First with one hand, then with both.

  “That’s it! That’s it, baby!” I encouraged her, my heart swelling at the thought of holding her again. I gripped Eirexis tightly as she locked both hands on its other end. Inhaling deeply, I pulled Eirexis up, now significantly heavier with Amelia hanging from it.

  My arm muscles burned. My position and the tight rope messing with my blood circulation were definitely making the whole endeavor much more difficult than it should’ve been. But it was worth it. Moments later, I had Amelia in my arms, along with Eirexis.

  “Okay, pull us up!” I shouted. “Now!”

  She wrapped her arms around my neck, Eirexis poking out from between us. “I owe you a lot for this,” she murmured in my ear.

  “You owe me nothing. You’d do the same for me, and then some,” I replied. “I’m just glad I have you back, Amelia.”

  “You know I’m crazy in love with you, right?” she asked, both of us feeling the tug as the crew joined forces to pull us back up the stone shaft.

  “Is that the truth serum? I thought it wore off.” I chuckled, doing my best to make light of a horrific situation. She laughed lightly and kissed me, the softness of her lips reminding me of why all this was worth it.

  “No, it’s just me, broken legs and open heart and all.”

  “You’ll be okay,” I said, tightening my hold on her. “We’ve still got some healing potions.”

  “I’ll need a lot for this,” she murmured, giving me a sad look.

  By the time we reached the top, Lumi had already taken the cap off one of the remaining vials, with four more waiting to be used for this. Amelia pointed at the one in her hand as I helped her settle into a sitting position. “Just the one, Lumi,” she said. “You’ll need the rest for later.”

  “Honey, with those fractures, you won’t heal fast enough,” Lumi replied.

  Amelia sighed and handed Eirexis over to Taeral. The moment he touched it, its symbols lit up white, and we all heard the cracking from Amelia’s legs. She grimaced from what had to be some kind of pain but didn’t let go of Eirexis, even as Taeral tugged it.

  “Wait,” she said, staring at her legs. “Guys. I think… I think my bones are fusing back together.”

  “How?” Taeral asked, but quickly got his answer when Amelia pulled her hand back from Eirexis, and it stopped glowing. “Oh. Oh!”

  He handed it back to her, without holding the other end. It didn’t do anything. The rest of us were astonished by what we were witnessing. Personally, I was relieved by this discovery and couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “Taeral, I think it only works if you touch it, too,” I said.

  Taeral nodded and resumed the physical connection to Eirexis and Amelia. She laughed as her legs regained their healthy, natural form. Inside, the bones had healed in full. “This is new… and fantastic!” she exclaimed.

  My head felt light. Not just because of what we’d now learned that Eirexis could do, but also because of Amelia’s earlier confession. I’d been so busy holding her and trying to make her feel better that I hadn’t fully grasped the meaning of what she’d said to me.

  Sliding down on my knees, I took her in my arms again and held her tight, as Taeral and the rest of the crew were left marveling at Eirexis. I could hear them talking about it, but I was too busy relishing this sensation of Amelia snugly fitting in my embrace. “I love you, too,” I whispered. “Still figuring out what it all means, but… I do. I love you.”

  She was about to say something, her gaze soft on me, when Herakles interrupted us. “That’s sweet and all, but we really need to talk about this Eirexis business. Did anyone know it could do this?”

  “Obviously not, otherwise I would’ve used it sooner,” Taeral shot back.

  “It has to be Eirexis’s own ability, separate from Thieron as a whole,” Lumi said. “It’ll come in handy later.”

  “But why does it only work in Taeral’s hand?” Riza asked. “Yamani’s scythe worked for Amelia, too.”

  “It’s not a regular scythe. And Tae here isn’t a regular fae-jinni hybrid,” Lumi replied, smiling. “He’s a future Reaper. I suppose it has something to do with it.”

  With that knowledge, my mind seemed to relax a little. Taeral could use it to heal us, going forward, even after we ran out of swamp witch potions. It made our challenge with the levers far easier, and it probably pissed the Soul Crusher off—he’d been quiet. He had to be fuming.

  I helped Amelia up, and she giggled enthusiastically as she stood on her own two legs. “This is so cool,” she said.

  “Eirexis is a gamechanger,” Taeral replied.

  Oh, it was more than that. It was a lifesaver. Suddenly
, this room filled with levers and deadly traps didn’t feel as intimidating or impossible to get out of. We could still finish this, I thought, taking Amelia’s hand into mine.

  And I still had a shot at a future in which she and I could further explore this beautiful thing between us. All was yet to be lost.

  Taeral

  It felt nice to be on the winning side, for once. Granted, we’d yet to secure victory, and my father would’ve berated me for thinking like this, but I couldn’t help it. With all the short ends of the stick we’d gotten until now, having Eirexis on our side was most fortuitous.

  “Guess your puzzle dream is over,” I shouted, hoping the Soul Crusher was watching and foaming at the mouth with pure rage. I wanted him to feel twice as much misery as what he’d inflicted upon us.

  At the same time, I couldn’t truly hate him. Not with every fiber of my being, anyway. Technically speaking, he was just doing his job as the protector of Zetos. Rules had been put in place, their power spanning millions of years, unbreakable by cosmic default. The Reapers of Thieron were acting on their principles and functions, and so were we.

  In the end, I’d felt the same about the Widow Maker, and he’d turned into an ally. We shared the same desires. We wanted Thieron back in Death’s hands, her powers full and aimed at the Hermessi. I also had to accept that these ancient Reapers were different not just from us, but probably from other Reapers, too. They’d been locked away for so long… sanity was a luxury, in their case.

  “Okay, I think I know what we can do next,” Lumi said. “We pull all the marked levers. One right after the other, two at once, even. Go all out.”

  “If we get hurt in the process, Eirexis will heal us,” I replied.

  “I couldn’t take that away from you, unfortunately. You’ve already claimed it,” the Soul Crusher grumbled, making me grin. “But you should still be careful. The traps aren’t the same. Some might still surprise you.”