by Rosie Scott
“Vampire!” The drunken screech spurred us all into action. Despite the threat of the intimidating creature nearby, many gazes still turned to me.
“A creature of the undead,” one woman rambled, pointing at me. “You summoned it, necromancer!”
“I summoned nothing!” I shouted back, preparing life protections with my free hand as I sidestepped toward the road, trying to get out of being surrounded. I nodded toward the vampire as it set its sights on another dwarf and tilted its head like a bird watching prey. “That is the true threat! Work with me to defeat it!”
The dwarves were overwhelmed, panicked, and confused. The vampire, however, was simply hungry. It lurched forward, hobbling unsteadily on spindly legs and whipping out its arms at the closest man. The dwarf clumsily swiped his blade at the creature as it grabbed his face with one hand. It twisted his head to the side abruptly, and the man went limp with the snap of his spine. Still holding the body upright, the vampire bit into the man's exposed neck. The creature's slender throat expanded. With the harsh noise of masses of siphoning liquid, it drained the man's blood and internal fluids in mere seconds. A once hardy body visibly shriveled before my eyes, turning into a husk of skin and bones. Newly refreshed with life force, the vampire shook with a frenzy, adding the second dwarf's power to its own body.
Undead. The dwarf's description of the creature stuck out like a warning. Normally, I couldn't leech from the dead. But if this creature solely subsisted on stolen life force to survive, perhaps I could defeat it by stealing it back.
Shing!
My internal strategies were pushed to the side as multiple dwarves attacked me. The life magic protecting me flickered as four different weapons hacked away at its strength.
“What are you doing?” I hissed, summoning death magic in my free hand. I didn't want to rely on my scythe until I had the extra power of a leeching high. “Let's work together to defeat it, or else we will all die here.”
“Kill the summoner, defeat the summon,” one woman spat back, slashing at my shield once more.
“Gods,” I breathed with disappointment and perplexity, “you are all idiots.”
I'd given enough warnings and pleas. I stretched my arm out to the woman's chest, and the crackling of her life force hissed and popped off the nearby rock. As I drained her life, the vampire finished doing the same with a third victim across the newly raging campfire. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on me. The vampire and I were alike in many respects, for not only did we defeat foes similarly, but like leeching highs strengthened me, the creature grew more powerful with each body it drained. Its body filled out and strengthened, and its motions became more determined and quick. I hadn't just offered the dwarves mercy to keep from killing them; I also needed their help to defeat the vampire. I didn't want to be the only one left standing to face it.
As soon as the woman fell dead before me, I thrust a different necromantic spell to my feet. Four dwarven corpses picked themselves off of cold stone, and I started regenerating from another unfortunate volunteer.
The surrounding mountainside flashed with orange light when a dwarf kicked through the campfire's embers at the vampire as it drained yet another victim of its fluids. The embers spewed over the creature's right wing and flashed with light past its eyes, and it screeched in agony and stumbled back, dropping a half-drained corpse at its feet. In a pattern like blood splatter over its wing, gray flesh sizzled and degraded into ash.
“It's too strong!” one screeched across the camp, reloading a dwarven crossbow and hesitating a second to aim for the vampire's eye as it recovered from the light. “It's drained too much! Fire can't yet destroy it; we need to spill its blood!”
A dwarf fell dead from my leeching, but I didn't yet target another. My shield desperately needed regenerated. I summoned life magic in my free hand, but my defensive measures were too late. With a clatter of weapons and a collection of grunts, the surrounding dwarves weakened my guard until it shattered to nothing. It offered enough resistance to slow thrusts and swings, but two hits came through regardless. I blocked one with a quick raise of my scythe, but the other sliced through the side of my neck like an afterthought. A yelp of pain escaped my lips on a voice I didn't recognize due to its desperate panic. Rushing blood ran over my neck and shoulder like a sticky waterfall, filling the air with a metallic stench. The sudden fear of my head toppling off my neck consumed me, and I scrambled backwards while refreshing my shield.
Am I dead? My left hand clasped over my wound, trying to stop the bleeding and explore its damage all at once. Two fingers slipped past broken flesh and into the warm embrace of split muscle, and a rush of lightheadedness left me swaying.
Not yet. But I will be in minutes if I don't turn this around.
The move would have decapitated me if I hadn't had the shield. Despite its weakness, it broke the swing's momentum. My neck spurted blood from a half-inch wound across its left exterior; it would kill me quickly if left unmended. I hoped to the gods life magic would be enough to save me.
With one hand clasped over my wound and the other holding the scythe, the dwarves' pursuit forced me to the defensive. Over their shorter statures, however, two hollow black eyes zoned in hungrily on the gushing blood staining my clothes and the trail it left over the stone. My heart skipped a beat as the vampire slapped its nearest combatant to the side and hobbled past the campfire to me.
Focused on attacking me, the dwarves didn't notice the vampire's approach. Using this to my advantage, I gave them no warning. I blocked hits with my scythe and refreshed my shield once as the creature finally towered over the heads of the foes before me. Two corpse-colored hands grabbed the heads of two dwarves, throwing them to the sides to get to me. Their bodies knocked over the others beside them, and the inebriated men and women toppled to the ground in messy piles of confusion and gear.
My nostrils flared with indecision and fear as the vampire faced me alone. I reached out to its chest with summoned death magic. A black funnel connected us, and it darkened further as the crackling of life force echoed into the night.
My theory about stealing life force from vampires was right. I could kill it.
The vampire lurched an arm out to grab my neck, but my shield rejected the forceful move. Its head tilted in confusion. The transparent white magic of my protection reflected from its hollow gaze as it studied my defenses. An intense feeling of horror settled in me as I realized this creature possessed the highest form of strength: wit.
Still leeching from the vampire with my left hand, I swung my scythe toward its arm from the side. The tip of the blade tore through the leather of its nearby folded wing, but when the scythe hit the arm, the cut wasn't nearly as deep as I wanted it to be since I didn't yet have a high. Nonetheless, I pulled my weapon back with a grunt, taking great pride in the blood spilling from cold flesh.
The lightheadedness came back to me, this time from blood loss. I couldn't wait any longer to heal the wound. I summoned healing energy in my left hand and clasped it over my injury. The life magic glowed in the vampire's eyes for a split second before it thrust both arms at my shield in a sudden burst of anger.
Its immense strength knocked me off my feet and threw me back. Swirling snow and rock filled my vision, and only the splattering of my blood met my ears before I landed. Desperate for survival, I left my scythe on the rock beside me to keep both hands open for magic. I resumed healing with one and refreshed my weakened shield with another.
Perhaps the vampire meant to break through my defenses with its hit, but now that I was far from it, the dwarves had its attention. The corpses I'd raised had been defeated, so I recruited them once more. The ensuing chaos of sparring dwarves, corpses, and the creature finally gave me enough time to focus on my wound. As I healed it, I watched the battle and studied the vampire's movements. It bled freely from its wounds, and the blood never seemed to clot. Perhaps if I spilled enough of its stolen blood with my scythe, it would dry up enough to easi
ly burn.
A wave of relief washed over me as my neck wound closed. I hadn't had enough healer's training to know whether the magic itself could correctly connect severed veins, nerves, and flesh. When I felt healthy enough to stand and grab my scythe again, however, I sensed nothing amiss other than a faint throbbing as my body reminded me it'd been hurt at all.
Six corpses now fought for me against the vampire and the living, and the panic of the miners was palpable in the air. I rushed to the aid of my minions when one was defeated easily from a simple swipe of the vampire's. I re-raised the corpse before protecting it and the others with shields. One dwarf noticed my strategy, and a flash of distaste crossed her features before she attacked. I stole the energy from her soul through a funnel, and she fell at my feet. Another dwarf screamed with battle lust and rushed me, but a protective minion hobbled forth, swinging a hatchet at its former friend's throat. The blade split flesh easily but lodged itself in the man's spinal cord. His eyelids twitched rapidly with neurological damage. The body fell abruptly, and the corpse let go of its weapon when it proved too difficult to retrieve. The zombie bounded away, all too happy to re-enter the battle with only its fists, but I mentally directed it to come back to my side. I held down the recent casualty's skull with the thick sole of a boot and grabbed the hatchet handle, jerking multiple times until the spine released the blade with a crack. As newly uninhibited blood gushed from the wound, I held out the weapon handle-first to the zombie.
“Here,” I breathed.
The corpse grabbed the weapon happily, and an excessively moist gurgle escaped its cooling lips as if in gratitude. A warm feeling of camaraderie settled in my chest from the exchange. I followed the zombie as it engaged a dwarf in melee, leeching from its contenders to protect it as it once protected me.
Five, I thought as the fifth dwarf fell from my leeching alone. It was time to test the necromantic book's theory about the average leeching high requiring the life force of six men. Only two living dwarves were left. I was determined to steal their power before the vampire could. As worried as I was over how such power would affect me, I desperately needed it if I would stand a chance against the creature.
Just moments after leeching again, my senses sharpened. The dwarf fatigued, her movements becoming slow and clumsy. In direct contrast, my second leeching high suddenly triggered. It lit my brain aflame with excitement and emboldened the strength in my limbs. A hoarse cry burst through my lips and shattered through the air until the vampire hesitated from fighting and tilted its head with curiosity at my enthusiasm. Unlike my first high, I didn't lose control. I only felt...powerful. And good.
Really good.
The vampire lifted out its arm and dropped its most recent meal. Dark intelligent eyes found mine as it shook with a regenerative seizure. Somehow, it seemed to understand how alike we were. It knew I would be its greatest match tonight.
I released necromantic tendrils over the stone, and all seventeen miners were mine to command. The corpses swarmed the creature as I gripped my scythe with both hands, finally having enough strength to use it well. My eyes traveled down the curved blade as if I gazed sensually at a lover, and I trembled pleasurably with the anticipation of using it.
I raised one eyebrow at my remaining foe and taunted, “Let's get this party started.”
Thirteen
The vampire released a shrill cry into the night air as if in mockery of my earlier scream of power. Unwilling to miss an opportunity, I swung the scythe toward its left arm, determined to deepen the wound I'd started earlier. The scythe whistled charmingly in its arc, ending its song with the moist splitting of flesh and the cracking of bone. Blood splattered over my face due to my proximity to the wound, but I only spit when I tasted its metallic spice and focused on my hopeful victim. The blade hadn't cracked through the limb, so with a grunt, I kicked the vampire's chest, holding it steady with a thick boot as I violently tugged the scythe toward me repeatedly in a move to mutilate its arm once and for all. My hands tingled with the reverberations of the blade ripping through tendon and sliding by broken bone, and a tingle of pleasure traveled up my spine from being intimately acquainted with such viscera. The creature's forearm twitched with nerve damage. Before I could separate it, the vampire grabbed the boot with which I held it still, and I tumbled off balance before it threw me back at the mercy of my own leg.
Air whistled through my lips as I landed in a heap farther down the road, and my lungs protested the stolen breaths as I searched for my foe. The vampire's left forearm dangled loosely near its elbow, spraying so much blood over the stone that the cool tones of the surroundings bowed to red's majesty. It clearly wished to hunt me down, but the dwarven corpses swarmed it. Those without shields posed no threat, but the vampire seemed particularly annoyed with the corpses to whom I'd given protections. It couldn't injure them directly, so it dealt with them like it did with me by throwing them, shields and all, out of its immediate vicinity.
I stood to return to battle, but the vampire decided on a new tactic. Its wings whipped out to either side with the slap of leather, throwing multiple corpses back with such force they dispelled. It ascended into the air as my minions swarmed beneath it, hopping up while swinging weapons futilely. The vampire disappeared into the night sky, and it was my turn to be irritable.
Don't you dare leave now, I taunted internally, scanning the skies. My minions hobbled past me like they chased the creature, so I trusted their direction. The magic animating them clearly sensed what I couldn't.
Splat! Just feet before my minions, the ashen arm I'd mutilated fell to the stone after the final sliver of flesh tore and released its grip. Long fingers curled up in an eerie reflex as the stump end leaked blood. I headed over to the arm, kicking it into the nearby campfire. The overpowering stench of sulfur expelled from the limb as it burst into dark ash.
WHOOSH. WHOOSH. WHOOSH. WHOOSH.
I tried following the noise, and I finally spotted the creature. In the night sky ahead, sections of twinkling stars blacked out as the vampire swooped in from the heavens.
A curse escaped my lips as my foe was suddenly before me, its remaining arm out for my throat, fingers grasping. Its hand rammed into my shield, and an angry shriek pierced the skies before it flew back up into the darkness.
I huffed with dry amusement. Although the vampire had intelligence, it couldn't reason like a man. It had thought that by changing its own position, it could break through my guard to get to me.
Blood fell from the heavens like rain in the vampire's path as it circled the campsite a few times, calculating and planning in its own way. My minions trailed it, humorously hobbling around in ceaseless circles.
I simply stood back, waiting for the vampire's next attack. I couldn't reach it in the skies, so I goaded it to make its next move by remaining alone and vulnerable and spewing insults at it in my head.
Finally, it acted in a way I hadn't foreseen. It landed amid my eager corpses and grabbed one as if to feed. This dwarf had died from leeching alone, so she wasn't drained of her fluids. The vampire tugged it close, biting the corpse's face. One fang easily shattered the thin temple bone as the other sunk into an eye socket, rupturing the organ within. The vampire held the corpse so tight as it harvested its fluids that the skull collapsed as the brain inside shriveled rapidly. The body fell to the stone seconds later in much worse condition than before.
As the vampire shook with another seizure, I took advantage of the distraction and targeted its wing. The curved blade clashed into the flesh covering its metacarpal bone, but despite shedding blood, the wing didn't break. Its flimsy and movable nature ensured it caved to the hit's pressure rather than putting up the resistance necessary to snap bone. I grimaced at my novice mistake and mentally directed my closest minions to grab the wing and hold it in place. When they complied, I pulled the scythe back with a grunt of effort and brought it down over the limb.
Crrk! With it held taut, the metacarpal bone snapped. I rea
ched out to grab the edge of the wing with my left hand as I tore my scythe through the break with the other. Leathery gray flesh ripped apart like parchment. This time when the vampire swatted me away like a pesky fly, my firm grip on its wing ensured I took a piece of it with me. The creature's shrill screams of annoyance and agony pierced the night as I picked myself up off the rock again, a section of mutilated wing in one hand. I carried it over to the campfire as the vampire fought off my minions, and we glared at one another as I tossed the limb to its demise like a non-verbal threat. The resulting cloud of ash rose from the embers as the creature defeated two of my minions. I sent death magic through the area to rebuild my small army. The fallen corpses rose, but the energy required for the spell depleted my leeching high. A sudden onslaught of agonizing soreness assaulted my overworked arms, and the weight of my scythe felt like an undue burden. The weapon hung heavily from my grip as I summoned death magic in my free hand, desperate to regain my strength.
I leeched from the vampire relentlessly, only hesitating to refresh my protection when I needed to. The sudden ecstasy of a new high excited my brain in dozens of static flashes, and the battle fatigue left my limbs like it'd been just a facade.
At ten feet in height, the vampire proved too tall to decapitate. But disabling it one limb at a time wore it down and removed much of the threat it posed, and it now bled freely from dozens of cuts made by my minions. Nonetheless, it didn't fall. While the vampire sucked the life out of multiple people in a matter of minutes earlier, it proved to take much longer to die. So much blood escaped its wounds that my boots splashed through puddles, and as I formed a plan to take it down once and for all, I continually leeched enough energy from it to kill many men. Its power was immense.
I backed toward the campfire, and the black funnel stretching from the vampire's chest to my hand lengthened until it dispelled once my distance was too far. The vampire refused to follow me. It wanted me dead, and my minions parted between us when I directed them to, leaving me tantalizingly vulnerable. However, the creature's black eyes reflected the orange glow of the fire whenever it dared to glance up. Connecting puzzle pieces in my head, I realized that while fire was particularly deadly to vampires, they also avoided looking at its light.
