"Rise!" I growled and shot up into the sky, flying twenty feet above the battlefield. As one, their dead started rising and turning on their former fellow companions.
The duplicates were created by someone far more sinister than I was, that much I was sure of. What worried me most was the fact that someone at the Vatacan's top was able to make everyone turn a blind eye to this travesty. I'd have to busy myself with it once I had the time.
Recognizing the attack, the soldiers fighting for me retreated as they witnessed the dead rise. The first time they'd been spooked beyond reason, but this time they knew what to expect.
With each dead cleric, another soldier was transformed into a lifeless corpse willing to do my bidding, and no matter how hard they fought, they wouldn't die. The flesh hung in strips from their bodies, blood and guts seeped from deep gashes and wounds. Limbs were strewn all over the blood-soaked soil as they kept going.
The brute cleric swept his maces in an arc hitting heads and necks, but the dead were too many and kept coming at him like a plague. Their numbers kept growing with every additional kill.
"Hold the line!" the cleric barked as he caved the skull in from another of his fallen comrades. The tips of two spears found his sides at the same time, along with a sword that struck his right leg.
"Hold!" I ordered. The awakened dead made a ring around him and kept on pushing their living brethren back toward the forest.
"It's here," Dracul spoke in my mind. Just then, a tip of the sun rose beyond the mountain to the east. An annoying feeling crawled up my skin as if an itch I couldn't get rid of.
"Hana! Have the Werewolves take him into the keep. I'll finish them off before the sun is out."
"Yes, my lord," she replied. I could see her give the order to Boris, who faced the cleric with a wide grin. Launching off the muddy soil, the Werewolf charged the wounded man. His meaty paw connected to the cleric's face with a meaty thud knocking him out clean. Two pairs of hairy claws grabbed him from either side and dragged him off inside the keep.
"Flood them," I ordered to the re-awakened. Every single one jumped a still-living soldier and tackled them to the ground. Some were torn to shreds in seconds, while others were hammered to pieces. Most, however, succeeded pinning the soldiers to the ground beneath their bodies. A massive sinkhole appeared on the battlefield slowly devouring everything in a hundred feet radius devouring anything in its wake.
"They don't taste good," Dracul's voice echoed in my head.
"If you don't like it, then spit them back out," I replied.
"Whatever. I still need more, just so you know."
I couldn't help but smirk. The ancient Vampyre was too direct for me to get angry at him and his ways. Still, there was one last thing I needed to do before all of this was over.
"Now it's your turn, little girl," I said, projecting my mind into the cleric's. She lost it then and there, turned her horse north into the forest and spurred it on.
"I'll be long gone before night falls over this land," she snapped. "And if you do find me, I won't be alone."
"Good, little girl. Tell them Dracul will be paying them a visit tonight."
Chapter Two
"How many managed to escape?" I asked once everything had settled down some. The dead had been fed to Dracul, and the land around the estate was left soaked in fresh blood. Selene sure knew how to make use of the blood, setting up magical traps and curses all around Zharevo. It was a shimmering barrier against anyone or anything powerful enough to trigger them.
The witches, under Katya's guidance, had put up safety wards a mile out that would warn us of any large-scale movement which meant more than ten people in a group. Their magic wasn't strong enough to kill anything stronger than an ordinary human, but it didn't need to be. I had soldiers for that purpose.
"A score? Mostly monks and bannermen. And the army leader," Hana replied as she poured fresh blood down her throat. "You should have been there earlier! We lost seven men and three women. Luckily for you that none of our Supernaturals died."
"You think I care about numbers, Hana? I've got much more important things to worry about. Did you fail to notice that the attackers were either autonomous suits of armor or duplicates of each other?"
Her right eye twitched slightly, which gave me the answer to my question. She had failed to do so, at least to an extent I guessed. But Hana wasn't alone in it. None of them seemed to have guessed.
"It's not fair to demand from us the same amount of power or knowledge you possess. After all, we aren't candidates, and neither have we awakened to something so much more," Katya shot back. "It was almost as if you wanted to see if we could hold out on our own."
"Katya, please, sit with me," I said, motioning for her to come over. "I thought you knew better without me having to explain myself, no?"
She looked away, her face flushed crimson, and not from the blood of our enemies. With a deep sigh, she got up and sat next to me, placing her head against my right arm. Her blue dress was stained with caked blood and mud, her hair disheveled and dirty.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. I picked her up and placed her over my legs, knees leaning against the insides of my seat. She tilted her forehead against mine and sighed.
"My lord, I've prepared a bath for you and the ladies," Vera said as she walked up to us. "And may I add that it's quite rude to do that kind of thing in front of the-- other ladies."
I sighed and planted my lips on Katya's, taking in her cold breath and part of her soul. After all, she was a telepath who projected herself with everything she did.
"Very well. Selene, Boris? Anything else?"
"I want to hunt them down. The ones that escaped," Boris growled as he sat opposite me on a rather large chair that was made specifically for him. It was two times the size of my own lavish seat, but I didn't think much of it.
"You can do so, but I need them back alive. The woman I mean. They've turned out to be rather problematic this time around with all the duplicates, the living armor and the like." I went quiet for a moment, brooding over what I just said. "What if we could do the same? My shadows can give new life to the dead for a short while, but not indefinitely."
"Sure, I can bring you their heads. I mean for her to be brought back intact or something. If she ends up missing some parts of her body, it won't be my fault, you know."
"Go prepare for the hunt," I replied with a smirk. "Try hard enough, and their bodies will be whole. They'll be able to speak as well once you're back, Boris. And take Selene with you, just in case."
The Arc Lich sat there with her legs crossed, her long pale hair dangling over her chest. Strangely, all she wore was a set of armor made from bones of dead enemies, of which some had been rather strong. I counted myself lucky when Boris brought her here with a couple of Shifters under her control, but now I wasn't so sure anymore. She seemed far too loyal to my liking.
"Yes, my lord. I'll make sure Boris doesn't do anything stupid again. We won't need anything but my personal guard, just in case."
I nodded in agreement and looked back down at Katya. Boris got up abruptly, sending his chair stumbling backward with a low growl. He snapped his body around and waltzed through the main double doors, almost breaking them as he did.
"Good riddance," Katya whispered after both Boris and Selene were gone. "They give me the creeps, no matter how strong they are and how loyal they seem."
"No need to. Boris is here mostly because of me, so if I'm loyal, he'll be too," Hana said. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you try to please us equally, my lord? We wouldn't want anyone to think you prefer the witch over the rest, no?"
Katya scoffed and shot a tiny icicle her way. It exploded right in Hana's face, showering her with snowflakes.
"Mwah!" Katya said, blowing Hana a kiss.
"You cheat! Whatever, I'm tired and dirty. You two care to join me or what?" Hana asked as she got up, almost tearing the clothes off her body. It landed in a heap where a maid stood. The young woman gat
hered the clothing quickly and put them in a basket, then stood at attention again.
It might have bothered me in a previous life, but not in this one. The servants on the estate, as well as anyone directly working for us, were handsomely compensated. At least in comparison to the owner before me, Count Dvorak. There were more of them now, and everyone had less to do at a higher wage. Everyone was clothed and fed, had a roof over their head, and was safe.
Katya got off my lap and helped me undo my clothes. Within moments, I stood there naked as she handed the clothing to the maid. Her own followed seconds later before the three of us made our way into the bathing area accompanied by Vera. The girls giggled, splashing each other with hot water. I wasn't as much in the mood but didn't like the dirt and muck all over me.
Vera seated herself behind me and started cleaning my back, arms, and neck. I could hear her voice as if through some fog, but I'd quickly became lost in my own thoughts. Today's main topic was to find out how to do what the Vatacan did; creating duplicates.
Even if Boris found the woman that escaped last night, it didn't mean that we'd be any closer to figuring anything out. No, we needed someone on the inside.
"Katya, I need you to watch over Marya and contact her when she's alone. We need to find out what the Vatacan is up to. They stand for the good and all that's holy in this world, not for duplication and reanimation. What if someone is backing them?"
"Way ahead of you. I've been checking in on her ever since the battle ended, but there's always someone around her. She seems to be spending most of her time in the library."
"Good, good," I murmured, leaning back into Vera. Her hands moved down my shoulders and chest, scrubbing me clean. When she reached between my legs, I stopped her. First, I needed to take care of business, then pleasure. "Not now, Vera," I whispered and kissed her on the cheek. "Though I won't stop you from doing my legs."
"Sure thing, my lord," she smirked and stepped into the water. I could feel the two glaring at me, but whatever. It wasn't like they didn't know what they were getting into.
"Took you long enough," Dracul said as I drifted off into my subconscious. "We aren't facing an ordinary foe, Ivan. You need to tread carefully." He sat on a throne made from the skulls of other supernaturals clad in black armor.
"I understand. There isn't much I know about it yet, but I hope that will change soon. Do you have any idea who, or what might be backing the Vatacan?"
Dracul's image shrugged and shifted uncomfortably on the pile of bones.
"I don't think they're strong enough to take you, and even if they are, you're wanted alive for whatever the reason may be."
"And what makes you so sure?"
"None of the attempts were aimed straight at you. They're using third rate clergy to thin the herd, as in your soldiers. If they wanted you dead, they would send a hundred clerics, not footsoldiers or living armor."
I sighed, annoyed by the truth behind his words. "Or that's how I see the situation," he said.
"Do you remember the man I dreamt off? The one in the skull throne room just like you're sitting on now?" I asked after a long moment of silence. He nodded slowly.
"The Nosferatu, yes. What about him?"
"Could he still be alive?" I asked.
"Being the first of my kind, I can't know for certain. However, everything is possible when it comes to mighty entities. Even if he wasn't, his soul might be lingering somewhere waiting to be found. Why? What's it to you?"
I shrugged and sat down on an imaginary throne that appeared out of nowhere.
"What if I have to fight him? What if there is more to him than you would care for me to believe?"
"I've beaten him once; I'll beat him again. What's with all the questions?" Dracul snapped.
"You've forgotten it's me this time, not you. You're just a part of me. I can't tap into your full potential unless I awaken, and yet you refuse to tell me how. But no matter. When your own life is on the line, you'll tell me then, or you'll at least save the day, no?"
Dracul snorted and waved me off as if I was a fly on the wall. However, his expression darkened. He couldn't hide everything from me, no matter how hard he tried.
"I will not as it's forbidden. If I tell you, the power will dissipate into the world and will be free for anyone to take who might stumble upon it."
"Just as you keep saying all this time. In any case, I'll tackle the monster if he does show up. Speaking of tackling, how are we coming along with unlocking more of your powers?"
"Quite a while to go. You still need a couple of thousand sacrifices until you unlock something new. How about you start working more on your own skills and prowess? You need to depend less on me when you have no idea if someone will take them away from you."
"Whatever, old man. Give me something to go by. I need a lead. Sitting in that room and talking to you, or focusing my power into nothing isn't really that appealing."
"Hmm," he replied, tapping his upper lip with his index finger. It was almost black, as were his teeth, but the pale skin never ceased to amaze me that something could be so white and worn.
"Hmm?"
"Oh, be quiet! You have no respect for your betters, even less for your elders!"
Annoyed, I bared my fangs at him.
"What the hell does that have anything to do with my situation?"
"Nothing!" he snapped. "But I'm quite old, you see? And my memories are a jumbled mess. Don't you think I'd have volunteered any information I might have found?"
Dracul was right again, and it bothered me to no end. I remained quiet this time, determined to show him I was able to wait patiently. Then I cursed and sighed. All these idiotic things he made me do were slowly wearing me down.
"Do you think there could be a third power interested in getting rid of me? Other than the Vatacan and the crazed supernaturals?"
"Do you have any idea how many powers were involved in the power struggle back then when they were hunting me? Back when I just ascended? At least twenty that I knew off. Anyway, this is becoming tiresome. You should know by now that I can't maintain this type of conversation for too long. Now that I've grown hungry, you owe me food," Dracul sneered before disappearing from my mind.
"Right, as if I got nothing better to do than run around feeding you," I whispered and opened my eyes. Katya and Hana were still sitting opposite me in the water, while Vera was already gone.
"Twenty hours," Hana said before I could even ask her anything. "Did you learn anything new from him?"
I shook my head staring up at the ceiling, seeing right through it as if it weren't even there. Shadows, my only real friends that would never disappoint me, were on guard duty. Shadows and the deep darkness above. They sure were quite the pair along with their lover the moon.
A familiar presence made itself known atop the roof. Someone I had yearned for a long time ago. Someone I wanted to embrace and make love to, then punish for torturing and leaving me in such a state. But there she was, in an arm's reach.
But I didn't care anymore, not in the way I had all the years before. It was her mistress, the wretched creature who'd wronged me that I hated, not the young moth-woman. I still had no idea who or what she was for all it mattered.
I reached an arm out for her, or rather a layer of shadow and caressed her. She didn't run, and she didn't fight. No, she let me take her prisoner. Now I just needed to figure out what she was up to. Again.
Chapter Three
"Freya," I whispered appearing beside her from behind the darkness. She turned from a small, black fiery-eyed moth into a delicate young woman. She still looked the same as all those years back.
"Ivan," she whispered in response and put her arms around me. Her large black eyes burned with two fiery embers for pupils that seemed to light up the darkness. Was it fear? Or maybe lust? She had been a hard one to read back then, and apparently still was.
"What are you doing here? I thought you and your mistress never wanted to see me again?"
/> Freya shrugged and let go of me, then swirled in a circle around me as the darkness swallowed her whole and spit her out again.
"Things have changed. She became afraid and surrounded herself with powerful Vampyres, Witches, and other Supernatural creatures. The Countess isn't as strong as you though, so you have nothing to worry about. And all of her private servants are weaker than her, so she will never pose a real threat to you. But don't you think it would be a smart thing to do and nip a problem right in the bud?"
I reached for her, but she evaded deftly. I reached again, only to have my hand go right through her body and the black mist she covered herself with.
"Stop playing games, Freya. I'm not the young boy I used to be back then. I' m-- me now. I'm the descendant of the one and only Dracul, the one who gave birth to darkness."
"Hah! What insolence. Sure, he used to be strong at his prime, but nothing compared to the one and only ruler over darkness, goddess Chernobog!"
"And where is that one and only ruler over the dark?" I asked. Freya shrugged.
"You'll meet her if time allows. In any case, aren't you curious as to why I'm here?" she asked. Just like before, she swirled around me, disappearing and reappearing in the thick, black fog of hers.
"Spare me the games!" I snapped, angry at what she was going for. I wasn't the same Ivan from back then, and I wouldn't be so easily aroused or played with. Not anymore.
"You sure didn't mind me playing games with you when Tierney was getting her fill," she snickered but quickly put up her hands up in defense. "Sorry. Now, how about I tell you what the countess plan had been all along? I'm not sure you're ready to hear it though. Remember, what has been seen can never be unseen. Or in this case, heard."
"I don't care either way. I can squeeze it from her half-dead body, or you can tell me right here and now," I growled.
Lord of Shadows book 2: Bloodlines Page 2
