by Krista Rose
“Because unless I know where the pain is, I can’t treat him. If I don’t treat him and he can’t feel it, he could make it worse. It’s why healers don’t give patients painkillers until after they know what’s wrong. Otherwise they’re treating the symptoms and not the source.”
I made a face, but pushed the pain back into Tanner’s ankle. His eyes widened as he gasped.
“Now, where is the pain?” Grandfather asked gently, dismissing me as he pressed on the ankle.
Brannyn sidled up beside me. “You can take pain?”
I swallowed. “Yes.”
“You’ve been doing it to us, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
He stared at me for a long moment. “Thank you.”
I blinked.
“I don’t think you should tell Kryssa, though. Not yet.” He sighed, staring at Tanner. “Seems like there’s always something else, isn’t there? More secrets, more darkness. There’s never any time for us to just be.”
“Still thinking of Mejares?” I murmured.
He shrugged. “If it has less of whatever these things are with the creepy glowing eyes, then yes. I’m still thinking about Mejares.”
I watched as Grandfather began to carefully bind up Tanner’s ankle with a length of cloth. “Maybe. I’d miss my shop, though.”
His brows rose with surprise. “You’d come with me?”
“Of course.” I slanted a look at him through my lashes. “Unlike you, I still haven’t seen a dragon.”
He chuckled and hugged me around the shoulders. “I’ll do one better. I’ll make sure you ride one.”
I smiled, and then bit my lip as I looked back at Tanner. Heartbreak seeped from his skin, threatening to drown me. It wasn’t fair that he had to suffer, his love shattered by the monster Felice had become.
No one deserves this.
KRYSSA
26 Emberes 578A.F.
I thought of Vitric.
I did not mean to, did not want to, but he crept into my thoughts anyway. My dreams were haunted by his face; though the Crone continued to twist and manipulate them, it did not ease my longing. I thought of his sea-colored eyes, of how they had matched the sky when he looked at me. What color did they turn now when he thought of me?
I wondered if he was still in Desperation, or if he had left to see the world as he always dreamed. Did he know yet of the deaths of my father and the Crone? Did he blame me for them? Did he understand why I had left?
I remembered his kiss, the sweet taste of his lips, and wept in the dark while the others slept.
It was awful, this heartbreak, and I begged the Gods to let it fade. I hoped he hated me, because I did not want him to suffer as I did. Let him hate me, I prayed. Let him find someone who can make him happy. Let him forget me.
But I could not forget him.
The maelstrom of emotions that surrounded me did not help. Brannyn’s grief over Marla subsided at last into weary sadness, while Tanner masked his heartbreak with self-mockery and bitterness. I understood the ache inside them, the anguish they both felt, and, not for the first time, wished that I had Lanya’s gift to ease it. I envied Elias and Eloise, who circled each other in a gentle dance, just as Vitric had once done with me, though I was happy for them because they were both my friends.
I thought at times that my emotions might strangle me.
Elias and I grew close as he taught me the basics of swordplay. I was merely competent, but he praised me as if I were a master, until I all but glowed with pride. We would cool off after in the tavern, drinking watered wine and talking until late into the night. He poured out his feelings to me about Eloise, admitting at last that he had loved her since they were children, and pleading with me to tell him that she loved him back. I did, but I could not convince him of it, and spent frustrated hours listening to him fret.
I finally resorted one night to getting him drunk, feeding him whiskey until he fell asleep on the bar, and called Brannyn to help him home.
The next day Eloise came to me, asking the same question.
The library was a small, one-roomed building behind the bathhouse, filled with shelves stacked to the ceilings. Books and scrolls and parchments were crammed into every crevice with no semblance of organization, though Sennett, Eloise’s aging father, could lay his hands on anything he was looking for in a matter of minutes. But his eyesight was failing, and so I had been tasked with establishing order in the chaos.
I didn’t mind it. The library was always quiet, since Sennett spent much of his time dozing behind his desk, and I was left in peace. I worked slowly, searching each of the books for references to the monster that had attacked Kylee; he never noticed.
Eloise found me frowning over a tome, filled with strange symbols I couldn’t read and pictures that made little sense. “Good book?”
I rolled my eyes. “Riveting.”
She smiled. “I didn’t realize you were interested in the mating habits of unicorns.”
“The-” I dropped the book in disgust, and made a face. “Why would anyone study that?”
She shrugged. “To learn, I guess.” Her expression turned pensive. “Kryssa, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” I picked up another book.
“Have you ever been in love?”
Vitric. My heart tightened for a moment as his eyes swam before my vision. Then I blinked, and he was gone.
I took a shaky breath. “Elias?”
She nodded, and sank down miserably to the floor beside me. “I just can’t stop thinking about him. He makes me happy, but it scares me. When he looks at me-” She broke off, biting her lip. “I just don’t know if he likes me back.”
“He does.”
“But how do you know?”
I sighed. Somehow, I had become trapped between the two, both of them asking me questions when they should have been talking to each other. “Because I do.”
“That’s not a good answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.” I picked up another book at random, flipping through the pages. I was not really looking at it, I just wanted something to distract me from the awkwardness of our conversation.
“Kryssa-”
My hand froze on a picture, and whatever else she might have said was lost as all the blood drained from my head. It was a poor sketch, but I could see what it was meant to represent: a black, cloaked form, bent over the body of some helpless soul. White holes stared up at me where its eyes should have been.
“Kryssa? Are you alright?”
I swallowed, pulling my eyes from the picture to the page beside it, and swore when I found it was written in a strange, flowing language I didn’t understand.
Eloise leaned over my shoulder to look at it. “Moret’ethla?” She made a face at me. “Why do you want to read about that?”
I gaped at her. “You can read this?”
“Well, yeah.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s only Y’ken’ohl. Much easier than Dwarven runes. All the best poetry is written in it.”
I pushed the book at her. “What does it say?”
“Why?” She peered at my face, her brows drawing together. “Does this have something to do with Felice?”
I blinked. “Elias told you about that?”
“Of course. He’s really upset his cousin is-” Her eyes widened. “Is this what she is?”
“I don’t know what ‘this’ is yet.”
“Moret’ethla.” She snatched the book from me, her eyes alight with excitement. “Vampyres.”
“Vampyres?” I repeated, incredulous.
“Yes.” She pointed to the page. “Here, listen to this. ‘Those who wish to gain immortality may beseech the Corrupted Ones’ -that would be the Elder Gods- ‘and for the sacrifices of soul and innocence gain everlasting life, though it is cursed and filled with a gnawing hunger for flesh. There is an abyss within them, forcing them to seek out the souls of others and feast upon them, clawing it from them while they are still alive.’”
“Well, that explains Farius.”
“And old man Herrill. ‘Their eyes shine with white light, evidence of their missing souls, and are the only sign of them in the darkness where they hide. Their skin smells of putrefaction, their bodies rotting from within.’”
“Why would anyone ever want to become one of these things?”
“Power, mostly.” She shrugged, looking up. “Vampyres are able to use all the forbidden spells of the Elder Gods without the nasty side effects. You know, no soul. They have no understandable emotions, which appeals to trauma victims. They’re ten times stronger that humans, and faster. And it’s still the only known way to become immortal.”
“Still doesn’t seem worth it.”
“No, it doesn’t. And it gets worse. ‘After a number of years, the loss of their soul causes the creatures to go mad, though it takes longer for those who retain their own bodies or who use as a vessel those in the prime of youth.’ ”
“That explains why the Crone wanted Kylee,” I mused.
“What?”
“Nothing. Continue.”
“‘They are afraid of both sunlight and moonlight, lurking in the shadows until both are gone, though they show no fear of fire unless it is burning them.’”
I counted on my fingers. “It matches. All of the attacks occurred on the dark of the moon.”
Her head shot up. “What do you mean, all?”
“Um…”
“There’s been more,” she answered herself. “More attacks. Because of course there has been. Felice only became a Vampyre a month ago. So who killed Baedon? How many are in the nest?”
“Nest?” I could feel the blood drain from my face. “Nest?”
She looked back at the book. “Right here, ‘They live in nests, hidden in dark places, and as many as fifteen can be found to live in it at one time. Where one Vampyre is, there is certain to be more.’”
“Fifteen?” I choked, my stomach knotting. “Fifteen of these things? These- these Vampyres?”
“I doubt there’s that many. The Guard wouldn’t be able to hide that many attacks.”
I shivered. “Is there anything else?”
“Just one more line. ‘The only remnant of their humanity seems to be an obsession with the Corrupted One Phenos’ -another Elder God- ‘who it is said created the first Vampyre from an Elder One.’”
“Elder One?”
“A Twisted One. A being from the First Race that the Elder Gods created. They turned evil when their Gods did. The Great Warriors were supposed to have killed them all off.”
“One of those will probably show up next,” I muttered, scowling.
“Let’s hope not. Vampyres are bad enough.”
I shook my head. “So Felice..?” I let the question hang.
“She was still new to it, not completely in control of her powers.”
“You think she’s dead?”
She blinked. “You don’t?”
“I don’t know.” I bit my lip until I tasted blood. “But I don’t think you should go out at night anymore. Not alone.”
“I-” She caught herself, and blushed. “Um…”
I raised a brow. “You’re going to stay with Elias, aren’t you?”
“He– he offered, after- after Felice. I thought-” Her gaze dropped as she fidgeted with the pages of the book. “I thought he wanted- and I wasn’t-”
I rolled my eyes, taking the book from her and closing it. I felt dirty, unclean from touching it. “Come on. I need a bath, and I think you and I need to have a talk.”
“About what?” she asked as I helped her to her feet.
“The mysteries of men and women.”
LANYA
27 Emberes 578A.F.
I woke to a throbbing head and the sounds of an argument.
“It’s mine, Kylee! Let go!”
“It’s too small for you, stupid!”
“I’m not stupid! You’re a thief!”
“I’m not a thief! It’s too small for you!”
I climbed from my bed, muttering darkly to myself, and stalked into the hall. Kylee and Alyxen were struggling over a tunic, glaring at each other as they yelled insults.
“Thief!”
“Idiot!”
“Pie-brain!”
“Enough!” I raised my voice to be heard over them, and held out my hand when they turned to stare at me. “Give me the tunic.”
Kylee’s chin jerked up. “Or what?”
My head was aching. I was tired and irritable and in no mood to argue. I narrowed my eyes, and yanked her emotions.
She collapsed to the floor, laughing uncontrollably, clutching her stomach as she curled into a helpless ball. I lifted my gaze to Alyxen.
He dropped the tunic and raised his hands. “Take it.”
I snatched it off the floor, and turned to stomp into the kitchen.
“Uh, Lanya?”
I scowled at him. “What?”
He pointed hesitantly at Kylee. She was gasping for breath between giggles, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched her stomach.
I rolled my eyes and pushed her hilarity back down. Her laughter subsided as she relaxed, hiccupping, and I stormed into the kitchen.
Kryssa sat, staring out the window, an unopened book on the table in front of her. I glared at her as I poured myself a cup of tea. “Why didn’t you stop that?”
“Hmm?” She glanced toward me, her eyes slowly focusing. “What, dear heart?”
“The argument?” I pointed down the hall with the tunic. “Why didn’t you stop it?”
“There was an argument?”
I gave up. “Never mind.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“It’s Starsday, remember?”
“Oh. Right.” She raised a brow. “Are you alright? You look tired.”
“Hamar had me up half the night redoing the ledgers. The man could not add two plus ten if he had an extra set of thumbs.” I sat next to her with a sigh. “What about you? I didn’t see you when I came home last night.”
“I was with Eloise. We had to talk about some things.”
I frowned, sensing the faint dread lurking around the edges of her shields. “What’s wrong?”
She made a face at me. “I’ve told you to stop doing that.”
“And I told you I wasn’t going to. So, what is it? What’s wrong?”
She glanced down at the book, and her dread increased.
I swallowed, suddenly understanding. “You’ve found out what it was. The thing that attacked Kylee. What Felice turned into.”
She sighed. “Yes.”
“Well, what is it? What did you find out?”
“I’d rather tell everyone at once.”
I sat back. Get in here. Now.
Alyxen and Kylee stuck their heads into the room, sensed my mood, and quietly took seats at the table. Kylee, I noticed, sat as far from me as possible. Reyce appeared next, and Brannyn trailed behind him, bleary-eyed and exhausted.
“What’s going on?” he managed, yawning widely.
I went to fetch him a cup of tea. “Kryssa found out what Felice is.”
Kylee tensed.
“Oh?” Brannyn took the cup from me gratefully, and leaned against the wall to drink it. “What is she?”
“She’s a Vampyre.” Kryssa took a deep breath. “And there’s more of them.”
Kylee’s emotions spiked, and I glanced at her, confused. I could understand her fear, but why did she feel guilty?
“We knew there were more of them when Baedon was killed,” Brannyn said with a frown. “What’s did you called them again- Vampyre? Felice only became one a month ago. So something else killed Baedon.” His brows drew together. “How many of them are there?”
“Up to fifteen.”
“Holy mother of-” Alyxen caught himself. “There can’t really be that many, can there? I mean, they would have killed everyone in Fallor by now, right?”
“I don
’t think there’s fifteen. But I do think there’s more than one, or even two, living in the nest.”
“Nest? What do you mean-”
“Kylee, what do you think about all this?” I asked, curious about the increase in guilt radiating from her.
Her head jerked up as if on a string, her eyes wide. “What? Oh. Um- yes. The moret’ethla. Makes sense that there is more of them, right? I mean, with Baedon’s death and all.” She blinked when we merely stared at her. “What?
Kryssa leaned forward, her eyes intense. “I never called them moret’ethla. I called them Vampyres. Where did you hear that name?”
She froze, staring at Kryssa helplessly.
“You knew.” She stood slowly, and leaned over the table, her eyes burning as she glared at Kylee. “Four months of searching through every damn book and scroll in Fallor. Four months of your brother going out on patrol, terrified and not knowing what he might face in the dark. Four months, Kylee, and you knew what it was the whole damn time?”
She flinched. “I- I didn’t know it was a Vampyre. Vanderys always calls them moret’ethla. He says-”
“WHO THE HELL IS VANDERYS?!”
The rest of us stared, frightened by Kryssa’s sudden rage. Kylee shrank back in her chair. “He- he’s a Cedrani. An Elf. He’s hunting them.”
“And you’ve been helping him,” I murmured, her odd behavior for the last few months finally explained. “You’re looking for the nest.”
She gulped, her eyes locked on Kryssa. “Yes.”
“What in the name of thirteen hells convinced you that was a good idea?” Kryssa demanded. “Do you even know how dangerous these things are? What was your plan if you found them?”
“I’m not helpless.” Though she was still pale, she managed to scowl. She lifted her hand, revealing a strange ring chained to her wrist. I wondered why I had never noticed it. “I have lightning.”
“Seriously, Kylee, you expect us to believe-”
Lightning arced between her fingers, sparking and crackling.
We gaped.
“I’m not helpless,” she repeated, closing her hand over the ball of lightning. “I met Vanderys the day after the moret’ethla- the Vampyre- attacked me, and he asked for my help. I can’t let them kill anyone else. I didn’t know Felice would become one, but by then…” She shrugged.
