by Emma Glass
A stern older woman in an ancient, withered cloak.
A partly naked old man, dressed like a witch doctor.
A young maiden with wide eyes and angel hair.
A tattooed woman, pierced all over by small bones.
And others still. It was the strangest group of people he had ever seen. He glanced up and could see that even his father didn’t know what to make of this. The band stepped onto solid ground, followed by a few knights and a pair of curious warriors.
The man released his grip on the beautiful woman and took his father’s bewildered hand. “Sorry. I’m not usually a fan of entrances, but, well… that was a pretty good one, wasn’t it?” He cast a quick look back as the ship creaked; another plank dropped into the water. “Ah, yes. I will send my finest to have your dock rebuilt. As an apology.”
“Lord Craven! Why are you…? How did you…?”
“The chrysm network is down. We’ve come to address the situation with, well… the everything, really. You’ve seen the skies.”
The boy looked up at the man. “Who are you?”
His father straightened. “This is the lord of Stonehold.”
“Forgotten me already?” Sinking to his knee again, the man ruffled Killen’s hair. “Elliott. My name is Elliott.”
The boy smiled. He didn’t understand; that was fine.
“We have no time to waste here, Elliott.” The woman with the angel hair and the wide eyes spoke in a voice that sounded like a melodic song. “Where are we? Can we find horses here?”
Killen’s father cleared his throat. “My Lord. If I may…”
Elliott rose to his feet. “Go on.”
“I have horses in the stables nearby. Not the fastest. But plenty reliable. They will take you where you want to go.” He gazed up. “Are you really here to stop the red skies?”
“Our destination is the Far Reaches. The worst of this is coming out from Seven Portals. If we can get there today… we have a chance at stopping this. But without functioning chrysm, it’s been a bit of a trip. I expect that won’t change anytime soon. But we’re all capable riders.”
“How many horses do you need, my Lord?”
“How many do you have?”
“I have eleven. The twelfth went sick a month back.”
“We’ll make it work. And food, if you have any spare. Or if you can direct us to the nearest settlement, that could make up the difference. But don’t starve yourselves.”
“Of… course. My Lord. May I ask…”
“You may. But be quick about it.”
“Who are your… friends? Should I be worried?”
The man chuckled. As the boy watched, Elliott placed his hand on his father’s shoulder. “What is your name?”
“Phillion, my Lord.”
“Well, Phillion. Clearly, you know who I am,” the man smiled. “But I would like you to meet a few of my friends: Lords Chandra Song, Ooktuk Krum, Eyes-Like-Fire, Valentine Vasiliev, Svetlana Lovrić… we are the vampire lords.”
“The surviving vampire lords,” a bitter voice added.
“Ah yes. I’d be remiss if I didn’t introduce my younger sister, Nikki Craven…” A fierce looking woman with long, shining blonde hair stepped aside, crossing her arms.
With a smile, he drew the beautiful woman close.
“And this… this is Clara Blackwell.”
“My gods,” his father held his breath. “The human.”
“In the flesh,” the woman smiled shyly, before turning down to grin at the boy. “And did you say your name is… Killen?”
The boy nodded, even more shy than her.
“We can’t stay for long, Killen… but it’s great to meet you. I am so sorry about the bridge. You were so brave! Your father must have raised you well.”
The boy’s father beamed. “I try.”
“Elliott,” the sing-song one said. “The horses…”
“Right. We have a long day of travel ahead of us. As I said, I will need directions to the nearest settlement—“
“I can find it,” his sister noted dryly.
“—and a map of this area, so that I can send the appropriate carpenters over when we are done. And to return the horses, of course. I have no intent to rob you of your livelihood, but I didn’t consider it particularly wise to carry a sack of gold…”
“I did.” His sister did a thing where her eyes rolled.
“Oh? Hand that over, then. We’ll still fix everything.”
His father let out a brief sigh of relief.
The boy thought he knew why. It wasn’t very polite to ask somebody important if they would return your things, even if those things were important.
As the boy walked with his father, leading the vampire lords towards their house in the woods, he snuck a peak at the human. He couldn’t help it. She was so pretty. When they finally had their horses packed and ready to go, the human planted a quick kiss on his forehead and wished him well.
For many years, the boy would never forget that particular kindness, or the feeling of hope it left behind.
Chapter 9
Nikki
Seeing as the crimson light bled the hours together, it was only at a guess that we arrived by nightfall—our natural rhythms torn apart in ambiguous time.
Personally, I think I disliked it the most. It felt wrong to have no grasp on how long we’d ridden, with no sun over the horizon to judge the passage of the endless hours. The others either adapted well, or they remained silent on the otherwise troubling matter. At least my brother left his prized little vassal at the castle. I’ve got enough to worry about without her little morality complex mucking everything up…
Much like the others, I kept my complaints to myself.
The whisper in my head, however, did not.
I don’t like this, Nikki.
I know. I inwardly sighed. Can’t say that I’m excited about this entire affair either.
We should have stayed in the castle.
And miss hanging out with these guys? Are you nuts?
Yes. And you hate almost all of them.
Not all of them. Some of them are… acceptable. I guess.
Name one who you can actually stand.
My brother, for one…
We can agree to disagree there.
Totally counts.
Fine. Choose another.
I glanced at the rest of my traveling party. Though I did not have much in common with the vampire lords, even if, for at least a few days, I’d technically joined their ranks. It was a conflict of personality, really.
I like Eyes-Like-Fire. She knows how to have a good time.
That’s… actually a good point.
You see? They’re not all that bad.
Fine. Name another.
Nope! Already gave you two.
You’re the worst. Can we feed yet?
Be quiet. We’ll have something to eat soon.
That’s not the kind of feeding I need.
I tried to ignore that. I did my best to keep the insanity in my head satisfied with bloodlust, but the past few years had changed things for me. Sad to say, I wasn’t so focused on ripping apart everything that crossed my path as much. And something about that human blood I’d drank—
That boy’s handsome smile filled my mind again.
NOT THAT BLOOD, I snapped in my head. NOT HIS. THE OTHER BLOOD. THE BLOOD THAT TURNED OFF MY MAGIC. THAT BLOOD…
Why are you screaming at me?
I’m not screaming at you.
It sounded like you were.
I shook my head bitterly. Ever since drinking the blood that Clara nabbed from the… what was that called again?
Blood bank.
Right. Thank you.
Yes, the ‘blood bank’. Ever since I had drank that stuff, the madness in my head seemed to be starving. With our strange group resting their horses, I snatched up a few weapons and stalked my way back into the forest to hunt something. Anything.
And I found
something worth spilling blood.
I waited above in the trees for almost an hour, patiently watching as the beast chewed on its very own prey. The redcap, amusingly, resembled a tiny old graying vampire in a dark red hat, but I knew better. It made for a funny look—but there was very little to laugh at concerning redcaps. These things were stone-cold murderers; some of the most vicious little imps in the hold. Once upon a time they were restricted to the Isle of Obsidian—but enough of the little buggers made it to the mainland for me to gladly fulfill the odd extermination contract for them.
I picked this one because its own little hunt had left it injured. It was lethargic and satiated… and stupid. When it finally left its little nook, satisfied, I descended.
The thrill was in the hunt, not the kill.
While my insanity raged inside my head, eager to taste the sweet, delicious nectar of death, I stalked the wounded Redcap near the river. If you knew where to look, and I did, the tiny trickle of blood was obvious. Though it was a fast and dexterous little creature, it had only a finite amount of blood in its body. My madness reached a fever pitch.
There it was. Half-hiding in the water, behind reeds. It was even stupider than I thought. Infections were abound in murky river water like this, and bleeding into the reeds was just begging a predator to drag it under the water.
Killing it, at this point, would nearly be a mercy.
The creature shivered, glaring at me. The river washed part of the fresh blood from its face, but it was still fat with the earlier kill. It glared at me with beady little eyes; I saw how it gave hard little breaths, painfully clutching its side.
My insanity roared. It needed this.
And I felt… nothing.
There was nothing to be gained from this. This killing served me no purpose. Yes, it fed a starving, sadistic voice in my head; but for the first time since my first kill—one of the most important people in my life—I felt no satisfaction or glee in this act.
I stared at that creature as it stared back at me.
Something passed between us, I think. Slowly rising up from behind the reeds, the redcap warily drifted forwards. It held its side and limped; its little eyes winced as it made the laboured walk over. All the while, I watched it without pity or sadism in my expression.
My insanity revolted in my mind. It demanded this.
But as the creature stopped before me, studying me as if it were entranced, I knelt down, reached out my hand…
I gripped it around the throat…
And I snarled: “Novo.”
* * *
From a distance, the chrysm storm looked terrifying. At a much closer inspection, the storm was anything but—we weren’t even aware we had passed into it at first. It was only when we sat down to break bread that Chandra Song noticed the leaves.
She pointed to a branch in sight. “Huh. Look at that.”
The rest of us glanced over. I saw nothing unusual.
Svetlana Lovrić frowned, pulling out her nose from one of the ‘binders’ Clara brought back. Obviously displeased at any distraction to her research, she reluctantly held her spot in the pages with a long finger.
“What is it, Lord Song? Did you see something?”
Chandra tilted her head. “Don’t any of you?” Her eyes turned back to the thick branch, hanging down low nearby on the next tree over. “Does that not look funny to anyone else? Or am I merely seeing things?”
“The leaves.” Elliott narrowed his eyes.
I could see it now. And now that I could, I saw it on all the leaves of every tree. Standing up from my rudimentary meal, I scanned the woods. It’s happening everywhere.
Svetlana lowered her book. “My word. I do see it…”
Before anyone else got any bright ideas, I unsheathed a dagger and ran up the trunk of that tree. Slipping onto the branch, I carefully tread, one foot lined up before the other, towards the leafy edge of the branch. I held my precarious balance with abated breath, waiting for the flowing branch to finally settle down before I swiped with the dagger in a reverse grip.
Freshly freed, a fistful of leaves sailed fell away. They whirled in the light breeze, resisting the call of gravity. But instead of falling down, the severed leaves drifted further up into the air.
I sheathed my dagger and dropped back down.
Valentine’s hunk of bread fell from her fingers.
“Magic?” Eyes-Like-Fire rose from her meal and wiped her lips on the back of her wrist. “Is it magic doing this?”
“No magic that I’m aware of,” I replied calmly.
“Nor I,” Elliott nodded. “We must be close. The force of the Calamity’s gateway is interfering with the Far Reaches. I’m afraid to consider the long-term effects… I don’t think we should waste anymore time getting to the citadel.”
I looked over at Clara Blackwell, seated with her bowl. Seeing how those leaves mesmerized her, I shuddered.
* * *
We trotted up on our horses. My own steed did not care to be around the others and that suited me just fine, as I felt nothing of kinship or camaraderie with them either. I moodily kept us to the edge of the traveling party instead, under the guise of defending against hostility in the trees.
There was nothing to worry about here and I knew it—the world stood eerily quiet. The burning light startled the confused wildlife. Even the usual predators and tricksters I might have expected to see remained concealed, skulking fearfully in the shadows. The Will-o-the-wisps, nowhere to be seen, didn’t bother to lead us astray into the woods. As we traversed creeks and rivers, the riverside never stirred.
The entire realm held its breath… or shifted itself aside to let us pass through unimpeded. I wasn’t sure if I liked that possibility. I’d never seen the wilds like this.
When we finally came up to a familiar old and decrepit looking bridge, Elliott paused. I wondered how deeply he had considered the implications of what he had to do now.
He turned his horse around to face the others.
“The secret to accessing Seven Portals is a guarded one. It is hidden in the Far Reaches of Stoneholds by a powerful series of barriers and magic. You can walk straight across the entire academy without realizing it is here… but as you take the right entrance, the way is properly revealed. I am guiding you all straight to the front gates of the undisputed authority of magic in my hold, and—”
“We do not ignore your willingness to share a secret as valuable as this one,” Svetlana noted stiffly. “I believe I can speak for the rest of the council when I say we do not treat this voluntary unveiling lightly, Lord Craven.”
Svetlana gave a pointed glance to Valentine Vasiliev.
“Good,” my brother replied calmly. Though he did not have to, he caught my gaze, awaiting approval.
Bored, I nodded.
Elliott reached back to Clara in a showing of closeness. The human hugged him tighter, and he tugged the reins.
My steed followed quickly after. I did not care to study which order the others pursued. Our steeds broke through the barrier, galloping into the darkness; the sounds of their clopping hooves reverberated off the walls of the tunnel of stone now surrounding us…
We raced out the opposite side. But our horses rapidly came to a stop as our party stared forwards. Everyone was caught off-guard by the commanding sight in front.
I turned to Wilhelm. “So. Got any jokes, funny one?”
The entranced guard shivered. “I’m fresh out.”
“Either of you?” I summed up his two friends, each one on a horse apiece. The broad-built, tall one merely glanced my way; the young, female guard was clearly awestruck.
“Nothing? Really?” I smirked.
She barely looked at me. “Jokes are more of Wilhelm’s, uh, what is the word…? Viktor?”
The broad one coughed. “Jurisdiction.”
“Right. Wilhelm’s… juris… um…”
“Jurisdiction,” he repeated.
“…Place.”
“Well,” I snorted, looking over at Elliott. “Even he’s out of material. We might be in trouble now.”
Elliott didn’t break his gaze. “You don’t say…”
Leaning forwards atop my horse, an elbow propped up against the lip of the saddle, I took in all the overwhelming sight of the countryside and the sky above. Out the corner of my eye, I watched how Clara gazed quietly at the scene.
This was all so much worse than we imagined.
Chapter 10
Elliott
I had expected fire in the skies here.
But not this. Never this.
No stars or moon lit our way. They were all gone; and along with them, the chrysm scorch had left the skies. The entire world above sat black as sin, devoid of light, all of it hovering above silently and fearfully like…
“Absence…” Clara spoke dreamily.
“What was that?” Valentine glared over.
“Everything is gone,” she clarified distantly. “We are in the eye of the storm. There is no chrysm here, no magic, no stars. There’s only a complete and utter… nothingness.”
The vampire lords looked our way in various shades of concern and intrigue. Nikki narrowed her eyes.
It was strange. Despite the utter lack of celestial bodies or colours in the sky, a dim light still existed here. It wasn’t enough to let us see much colour. Whatever happened to the light—filtered by the broken magic of the shield above—the resulting effect left a stunning and horrifying vision across the clear horizon.
“It looks like Clara’s world,” my sister noted.
“Hmm?” I turned her way.
“The lights of the sprawling city below blotted out the stars. It looked a lot like this… but we still had the moon, at least…”
“Sounds terrible,” Chandra shuddered.
“It was a boring sky. This one’s boring too.”
She tugged her reins, galloping her steed onwards. The two of them were ready to leave the rest of us in their dust, but it stirred me from my newfound terror.
