"Anna, you've been doing very well in the sense of shrinking down the effect of the 'Death Wish'. However Augustus and I were discussing last night that you may also need to know how to use the curse as a weapon. This is not something either one of us want you to use as a first or second option when in battle, but you may need it if you are in absolute danger, and you have no other method to protect you." Astoria's voice does not hold its usual kindness, but rather a caution that was rarely present with the beautiful vampire. Alas there is also a deep fear within Augustus eyes, and I realized that today was a day of many firsts for all of us.
Astoria binds Augustus to the chair, with thick pieces of rope so that he cannot fall from the seat. I know that this is going to hurt him more so than all of the other lessons combined, because now I am to purposely use the weapon on the victim, rather than trying to lesson their pain. Astoria nods at me to begin, and so I obey her order.
I gently tap into the energy that swarms within me, a dark power that rushes through my veins. I tug at it gently, not wanting to pull too much power and have another 'out-lash'. I focus my mind on the man sitting before me as I look deeply into his eyes. There is such fear within them that it terrifies me, I cannot bring myself to harm him, but I know that I must, that if I do not attempt to try then I have failed before I have even begun. I search for a memory within me, one that brings hatred to the forefront of my mind whenever I think of it. With this memory playing within my mind, I can feel my blood boiling, my skin heating up with my anger. I look at Augustus before me but instead of seeing him, I envision my father sitting before me, fear within his eyes, his body trembling from the overwhelming fear that I am stirring within him.
The ball of dark energy is at its height, and looking deeply within my victims eyes, I release it from myself, and aim it at him. There is a blood curdling scream the very moment the dark energy touches Augustus. In the corner of my eye I see Astoria flinch though this tiny detail is filtered away for later. Before where I tried to tone down my power I could not see inside my victims mind, I could not see what my power made them see. However, now that I am focusing my power on one person, I am able to see within Augustus mind. I relive his worst memory within him, the night of two vampire deaths in an open space that I knew to be no other than the no-man's land.
The plains are dark, as there is little illumination coming from the quarter moon. I had been called to come here tonight with my young daughter, my wife unaware of my doings. Little Sage - my eight year old daughter - clings tightly onto my hand.
"Daddy I'm scared," She breathes. There is nothing that I can say to comfort her, as I know that there is no going back once we've crossed the line tonight. I cannot lie to her, even if it is to tell her that everything is going to be alright. Her small body trembles from the gushing icy wind. I can see three figures become outlined in the moonlight as we approach them. I send Sage to go and hide in the woods. She runs off toward the trees, seeking coverage.
I approach the group. Phillip and Sinistra are on their knees, their hands and feet bound tightly by rope, there mouths gagged so they cannot say a word. I look down upon them, there is a violent fear in Sinistra's eyes and there is acceptance in Phillips. Just looking at Phillip's defeated look, I know that he has no hope of going home with his wife to his son Victor.
"What do you want Novak? Why the Menédez Family? They have never done you wrong! So why them?" I ask my voice harsh. I could not mess around with Novak, his stolen dark magic an undeniable force that could not be reckoned with. His black eyes - filled with so much hatred - turned to me, a small glint of the moonlight peeping back out from a could, illuminates the three claw marks that marks the entire right side of his face.
His lips twist into a scowl as he says "You do not understand Augustus; you could never understand." He turns away from me, and with the power of his mind he lifts Phillip to his feet, like he was making a puppet come to life by playing with its strings. He then pulls Sinistra to her feet as well, they hover in the air, and the dark magic that Novak uses to control them is evident as it shimmers all around them.
"Menédez, you are going to bear witness to your wife's death, and your oath brother will bear witness to your death. Your deaths are the only justice that I can attain, for the crimes that you have done against me and my son." His words are sharp and filled with loathing for Phillip. His eyes turn to Sinistra, they soften slightly as they gaze upon the woman, but it doesn't stop him from making her bleed. Her blood flowed freely from everywhere, there is so much blood that you cannot see where the blood began to flow. I could see Phillips fangs bared at the scent of his wife's blood, and I could feel my own fangs slide free.
"You were meant to be my wife Sinistra. You have left Christian, your son, to grow up without a mother for six years! You could have come back, and we would have both forgiven you for leaving us. Your son cries for you every night, asks why his mother doesn't love him or want him. What that boy grows up to be will be because you deserted him." Novak turns his eyes from her to me, I can feel his dark magic touching me, seeping into my mind.
"Vampire, you thirst for blood. Here it is before you. I command you to feed off of the woman, drink until your insatiable thirst has been quenched. Drink until there is no more to be drunk!" His words are nothing but a whisper in my mind, but his command is clear, being under his control from the dark magic that he uses, I cannot deny the man or his commandment. My attention moves from Novak - my commander - and to the woman who bleeds freely, her blood is mine to take, her blood is for me alone. Her body lowers until her neck is free for me to bite on. Her blood is intoxicating, like drinking in heaven. The woman groans loudly in my grasp, and I drink even deeper from her. I can hear a man screaming in the background, begging me to stop, but I cannot as I have been ordered to consume all of her blood. She is weak within my hands and I can feel her struggles quieting down until she no longer moves within my hands, until there is no blood left to consume. I drop her body and scuffle away from it as the dark magic releases me. Oh God, what have I done? I wipe my chin free of blood, and spit out whatever remains in my mouth.
There is a dark cackling that rumbles like the sound of thunder. I look up and see that Novak is laughing at Sinistra's death. Belatedly, I notice that Sage has come out of her hiding place and that this is what Novak is cackling about, instead of Sinistra's death.
"Little girl, you have come to watch the show? Perhaps you would like to take part in it?" Novak asks, his voice deeply intoxicating.
"Run Sage!" I scream to my daughter, but she cannot and I notice that she is already entranced in Novak's dark magic.
"Yes Sir, I would like to take part." Her voice is airy, so unlike what it is normally that I know that I've already lost her under his spell.
"Then come closer Child, so that I may look upon your beautiful face," Novak sneers, his eyes burning with his dark magic. Sage runs toward Novak, and as she stops at his feet, he caresses her beautiful face. "Child you wish to be apart of the show, and so I shall command you, take this dagger, and put it through your Kings heart." I can see the dark magic seeping into her, shimmering around her body as Novak begins to control her. Novak, with a flick of his wrists, makes a black dagger appear, and hands it over to Sage.
"Please Novak, don't make her do this. She's just a child!" I beg of the man towering above me, he kicks me in the stomach to make me shut up, and I watch silently as Sage approaches Phillip, dagger in hand. However Phillip isn't watching my daughter, instead his eyes are seeking out mine.
"I forgive you Augustus, you and your daughter. Please as Victor's godfather, take care of him. Bring him up as I would have. Be the father that he'll need you to be." These are Phillips last words as my daughter plunges the dagger into his heart. Sage is released from Novak's spell as Phillip drops dead at her feet. There is a blood curdling scream echoing from her lips at the sight of the fallen king.
I move as quickly as I can to be by my baby girl's side, so that I ca
n wrap her up in my protective arms.
"Augustus you will release the girl at once." I have no choice to obey him; I cannot allow him to touch my little girl with his dark magic again. "You will never forget this night, or what power I posses. However you will forget the Child, you will return home and never leave it again in search for the girl. It will be as if she never existed in the first place. Do you understand?" Novak's voice is hypnotic and I can feel his dark magic rearranging things inside of my head. I know that there is something that I am forgetting, but I cannot remember what. I walk away from the scene of my Kings and Queen's deaths, and from the screams of a little girl.
I pull out of Augustus' head, my curse ceasing in its attack. Augustus' is sitting in his chair, his body completely covered in sweat, his skin swallow and green. He looks like he is going to be sick. He hangs slightly forward in his chair, his light spray of hair hanging in his eyes. I can feel myself bleeding, though it isn't as bad as it use to be.
Although Augustus looks ill, there is such sorrow in his eyes when he looks up at me. Belatedly, I realize that there are blood tears leaking from his eyes, staining his pale skin red. "He made me forget her." This was all that he said as he continued to grieve quietly.
"What is he talking about Anna? What did you see?" Astoria pleads; her eyes are filled with concern for her husband.
"I bared witness to his worst memory, his most painful memory. The night of not only Victor's parents’ deaths at the hands of Novak, but the night that Sage disappeared," I say, I can hear my own grief in my words. Not just for the couple sitting with me, but for Victor also. There is so much loss that night at the hands of Christian's father, a mad man.
"NO!" I believed the cry came from Astoria, but it is too gruff to be her voice. The voice itself stirs something within me, and when I look up I see who it truly belongs to; Victor. There are tears in his own eyes, leaving red stains down his cheeks.
"Victor, I'm so sorry." I breathe, I try to capture his attention, but he refuses to look at me. Instead he only stares at Augustus in horror, as if he had never seen the man before.
"You let me believe that my parents' deaths were because of my curse. Instead it was Novak, the Skin-walker king! I can't believe that you would do that to me." Victor's voice is harsh, and holds accusation in his voice, and I can understand where he is coming from. The man whom he trusted his entire life, the man whom Victor allowed to bring him up had lied to him, about the very thing he had wanted to know all of his life. Of course I also understood Augustus' and Astoria's pain, to have lost their only child the same night that they lost two of their closets friends.
I get up from my chair and make my way toward Victor. I know what he needs right now, and as I stand before him my arms wrap around his waist. My arms barely reach all around him, and I lay my head on his chest. He looks down at me for a moment; I can feel his eyes upon me. After a moment his arms wrap around me as well, and he relaxes into the hug.
"Victor, I am sorry for what happened to you, but it isn't right to take your anger out on Augustus. He's only done what your father asked of him. I know that he's done the best that he can. If you should be angry with anyone it should be me, I was the one who brought the memory back," I say softly stepping back so I can look into his eyes. I can see his confusion, I can see how unsure he is in what he must do, whether to push me away, and blame me for what had happened, or to simply let it go. I believe the latter is the best option for his sanity, as the man who really did this to him is not present or perhaps not even alive.
"Your right Anna, can you give me a minuet alone with my Godparents?" Victor asks, he releases me when I nod my consent. I leave him with his Godparents so that they can grieve. It is so unreal to have Victor home, safe and alive! I'm glad to have him back, but what consequences will this cause. It was never part of his plan for me to learn how to fight, or how to use a sword, or how to use the curse as a weapon. It was never part of his plan for me to meet Sadar, or for my parents to come here and become our prisoners. It was never part of his plan, and perhaps it will never be part of his plan. However it is part of my plan, and I wouldn't change that for anything. The scariest thing to think about is Kayden's feelings and Victor's reaction to them. I cannot bear to think of what kind of consequences this will bring about. I cannot bear to think of what will happen now. However, with Victor's return I know that the war is only approaching faster than ever, only time will tell how much time we have left together.
Chapter 21 – Discretion of the Heart
Anna's P.O.V
Kayden and Shade are fighting in the stables, and for a moment I watch the two boys. Seeing as my training session with Augustus and Astoria is over, I figured I would come here and do some more training. I knew that these boys would be here, always training, and who could blame them, there was something approaching fast, and everyone could assume that it was the war. I could feel the vibe of it passing throughout my body, electrifying every single cell within me. The war is coming and we all have to be prepared for it.
The sounds of swords clashing, or rather should I say that the sound having stopped brought my attention back to the boys. Shade had his sword hovering inches away from Kayden's heart. Kayden's eyes however are on me, there is a half-smile formed on his lips. He drops his sword and pulls away from Shade, striding quickly over to me. He lifts me up in his arms and spins me around. Alas at Kayden's actions I realize that they do not know of his return.
I cannot bring myself to tell them of Victor's return, if they knew they would go hunting him down to celebrate his return. However, right now Victor needs time alone with his Godparents, and I had no right to take that away from him. I relax into Kayden's hug, I even return it. I would do anything to keep both of these boys here at this very moment. Kayden reluctantly lets me go after a minuet.
"So who's up for a fight?" I ask, going over to the weapons wall to bring down Sinistra's - now my - sword. The boys are grinning now, Shade has lifted his sword into a fighting position, and Kayden has retrieved his from the spot where he had dropped it. Kayden allows Shade to go first, seeing at how fast he jumped at the chance to continue fighting.
"Alright little girl, are you ready to rumble?" Shade says, his voice is in a singsong tone, his chanting is most likely to make me lose my head, but I ignore it, waiting for his first move. He is distracted as he dances around chanting nonsense at me. I realize that this is the perfect time to strike, now that his concentration is no longer on my sword completely. I slip my knee under his, pushing up hard to knock him off his feet. I move quickly from out underneath him, so I do not get squashed, and as Shade falls down onto his rear I hover my sword above his heart.
Shade is laughing, his eyes are sparkling with his merriment, and he is smiling, nay grinning up at me. "That's our girl, you're no longer feeble! It's fantastic being able to fight you." I look up to find where Kayden is, instead I see Victor standing at the entrance to the stables. His usually pale skin is blanched. I knew that he wouldn't be happy about me learning how to fight, but I didn't realize how it truly would affect him. I pause frozen in horror of Victor's reaction; Kayden and Shade see me freeze. Shade knocks away my sword, and knocks me off of my feet. I don't bother trying to stop him, and I just sit on the ground my legs stretched out and on my rear. I simply stare at Victor in fear of his reaction. The two boys turn around to see their friend and King at the entrance, and they move to rush up to him.
Victor holds up his hands to stop them, his face still blanched in horror at what his friends had done. "Did you truly believe that I would be okay with you training Anna to fight! I thought that you two knew me better than that." Kayden and Shade look shocked at Victor's reaction.
Kayden speaks up though, his hands held up as he slowly approaches Victor, almost as if he's approaching a frightened animal. "Victor, Anna asked me for lessons. She wanted to be able to defend herself and we both know that this is important, she is our only chance." I watch the exchange still sittin
g on my rear upon the soft hay that covers the stone floor. Victor seems to return to his normal pallor as he listens to Kayden's words. I get up to my feet and slowly approach Victor as well.
"It's true, I did ask Kayden to teach me, and I am grateful for his help. I know why you chose me, why you placed your soul within me. I do not hate you for it, but my training with the sword is necessary now. You must realize this," I say gently trying to soothe the man that I love. Victor's eyes move from Kayden to me, his eyes are soft, his eye ducts becoming red from his tears.
"Anna, I regret having put you through this. You shouldn't have to train to protect yourself, I should be able to protect you," Victor says brokenly, his tears spilling over.
I shush him, "Victor there will be a time where you will have a chance to protect me, but there will also be a time when you will not be able to do so." My words are solemn and I enclose Victor in my arms. He rests his chin upon my head and wraps me up in his embrace. I can feel eyes upon my back and I know that it is Kayden watching this private moment, longing to be the one to hold me.
Victor releases me from the embrace enough for both of us to face Kayden and Shade. Shade's face is impassive, and I've learnt that he only holds this face when he doesn't want to show his emotions, or what he is thinking. Kayden is trying to smile, but because it is forced it is stiff and looks unnatural on his face. However Victor doesn't seem to notice the other two men's reaction and smiles broadly to his two closest friends as he wipes away the blood tears that he has shed.
"I hate to state the obvious boys but I have returned! Tonight we will feast in honour of my arrival, and we will enjoy the night before we bunker down in preparation of the war which is drawing ever near." These are Victor's words to his two closest friends, his obliviousness obvious to all of us present.
The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) Page 22
