Emerald Keep

by Edmund Hughes

  Not that he had known him. But that he currently knew him.

  Mira grabbed Jack’s elbow again, and he was aware of what she was trying to tell him. No, he wouldn’t let himself fall into the trap Volandar had just set. He wouldn’t ask any further questions, or even let himself seem curious.

  Not yet.

  CHAPTER 14

  “You waste our time with these threats, Jade Fang,” said Mira. “I expect you to change to a more amenable tone if you truly expect an alliance from us.”

  Volandar let out a low, growling chuckle.

  “Of course,” he said. “My apologies. Where in the Underlord’s name are my manners? Please, allow me to invite you into my home. We shall eat, drink, and discuss this further in good, mutual company.”

  Volandar clapped his hands together twice. From the darkness of the keep’s entrance, half a dozen slouching, emaciated figures appeared. They wore simple clothing, and most were barefoot but not dirty. If anything, they were better groomed than most of the members of the Jade Circle.

  They were thralls. Jack only needed a single glance at their sunken eyes and soulless expressions to understand that. Most of them were thin and bony, as though the sustenance was being sucked out of them to such a degree as to decay and stunt their growth.

  Was this the natural end stage for a thrall? Was this what would happen to Ryoko, and maybe even Katie, if the anti-enthrallment potions ever stopped working?

  The potions. Jack tensed slightly as he realized that Volandar had sent the thralls past them, down to the car, to fetch their luggage. It was a polite gesture, but it was also a chance for Volandar to search through their things, if he decided to. And if he found those potions, it might be enough to trigger the breadth of his scrutiny. But there was nothing that Jack could do, at least not without making the situation worse.

  “Thank you,” said Mira.

  “I would speak more with you in private, Lady Mira, if you would allow it,” said Volandar. “My daughter Vyara can show your companion to his room, in the meantime.”

  Mira hesitated, shooting a glance over at Jack. He wasn’t sure what she was asking of him, but he gave a small nod, and she exhaled.

  “Yes, of course,” said Mira. “Jack. I’ll meet up with you again later.”

  She reached over and pulled him into a quick embrace, quietly speaking a few more words intended just for him.

  “Use your Blood Sight to contact me if anything happens,” she whispered. “I’ll do the same.”

  Jack gave her body a squeeze in response. Then, Mira pulled back from him and fell in step with Volandar, heading ahead of the rest of the group and into the keep. Jack made sure Katie was still nearby and then looked around for the female vampire Volandar had said was his daughter.

  She was behind him. Directly behind him, in fact. Sniffing his hair.

  Jack flinched away in surprise when he noticed her, trying to keep the disgust he felt from showing on his face.

  “Smells…” she whispered. “Like soap. Very clean.”

  “Uh, right,” said Jack. “You must be Vyara.”

  Vyara didn’t say anything.

  Jack hadn’t noticed when he’d first seen her before, but her eyes were huge. They were too big for her face and protruded slightly further than they should have from their sockets. They were brown, unlike most of the other vampires in the Jade Circle that Jack had seen, but bloodshot and striped with red.

  “I will show you to your room,” said Vyara. She spoke at them, but not to them, as though the words were a reminder for herself, alone.

  Jack looked over at Katie as they walked after Vyara. The thralls carrying their luggage followed at the back of their group, but most of the other vampires of the Jade Circle had disappeared now that their new guests had been welcomed into the keep. Katie drew nearer to him as they passed through the keep’s shadowed entrance, and Jack felt his heart pounding faster.

  He shouldn’t have anything to be afraid of, he reminded himself. He was a vampire, too. It wasn’t as though they could drink his blood or enthrall him. As long as he kept Katie close…

  The keep seemed only slightly more hospitable from the inside than the impression the exterior had given off. There were torches hanging from holders along the hallway’s wall, but set at distances from each other that left broad, shadowed gaps in between sections of illumination.

  The air was cold and humid, with a coppery scent to it that Jack hated himself for recognizing. Mold grew on the walls in places, and he spotted a section of it where five parallel, clawing lines hinted at someone having been recently dragged through the area by force.

  Vyara slowed as they reached an intersection. Jack did his best to ignore the blackened stain around the rusted metal grate in the center of the floor ahead of them.

  “This way,” she muttered, in a singsong voice.

  Jack and Katie kept pace with her as she led them down a path to the right. A scream echoed from one of the other paths they could have taken, immediately followed by a bubbling, sinister laugh. Katie took hold of his arm and squeezed it almost tight enough to hurt, and Jack was glad that she did.

  “Here we are,” said Vyara, stopping outside a wooden door. “Your room…”

  She opened the door for them. The room on the other side was lit by a small oil lamp perched on a large rock in the corner that apparently passed for a table. There was a bed, though it barely looked large enough for two people. Blessedly, the sheets were clean, though the blanket on top looked to be spun from rough wool.

  Katie hugged her shoulders as she made her way inside. The thralls hurried past Jack to deposit their luggage by the bed, hunching and keeping their heads low as though they were afraid of being seen.

  As Jack started to step into the room, Vyara moved to block his way. She reached out with her hands, cupping his cheeks, pinching his nose, and then forcing a finger into his mouth. Jack flinched back, spitting as his revulsion reacted to the invasive gesture.

  “I have questions,” whispered Vyara. “And you… have answers.”

  “You have a lack of respect for other people’s personal space,” said Jack.

  “Perhaps…” whispered Vyara.

  Jack furrowed his brow and looked past the tiny girl. Katie seemed to be amused by the interaction, and she slowly shook her head, smiling.

  “Will you…” muttered Vyara. “Ahahaha… Will you be my… experiment?”

  “No,” said Jack. “Absolutely not.”

  “Very well.” Vyara leaned her head from side to side, popping her neck. “The feast shall begin shortly. My father’s thralls will bring wash water… for you.”

  She slipped past Jack, disappearing into the hallway’s darkness after just a few steps. He let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and shuddered.

  “There’s something wrong with that girl,” said Jack.

  “There’s something wrong with this place,” said Katie. “Really fucking wrong.”

  “I agree,” said Jack.

  “How long is this going to take?” asked Katie. “I don’t want to stay here for a moment longer than I have to.”

  “I guess that depends on Mira,” said Jack. “And on us. But complaining won’t make it go any faster.”

  “Shut up,” said Katie. “I know you’ve just been dying to say I told you so, but it’s really neither the time nor the place.”

  “I’m actually glad that you’re here, in Ryoko’s place,” said Jack. “Just judging from what we’ve seen so far… I don’t think this would be her cup of tea.”

  “Oh, but you think it’s just fine for me?” Katie scowled at him, and Jack couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “Let’s just keep moving forward,” he said. “They’re throwing a feast for us. That doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “You think they’ll actually be feeding us food for humans?” asked Katie. “It’s probably going to be raw meat. And cups of blood.”

  “I doubt that’ll be
the case,” said Jack, though he felt a little unsure.

  A knock came at the door. Jack opened it, and a disheveled woman hurried past him into the room, carrying a bucket of steaming water. She placed it down next to their bed and left without a word.

  They washed their hands and waited, neither of them saying much. As far as Jack could tell, the Emerald Keep didn’t have any electricity, and though he was tempted to waste time on his phone, he felt a little anxious about whether he might need to put the battery power to better uses later on. Namely, getting in touch with Pierce to coordinate his plan.

  After ten minutes, there was another knock on the door. Jack opened it to find Mira and Volandar, along with Aiden and two other thralls.

  “Jack,” said Mira. “Volandar has requested that we join him for dinner. Does that sound amenable to you?”

  “Of course,” said Jack, nodding slowly. He started to follow them out of the room, as did Katie. Mira cleared her throat as they entered the hallway.

  “I’m afraid thralls eat a separate meal,” said Mira. “Aiden can keep Katherine company in your absence.”

  Jack hesitated, noticing the nervous expression on Katie’s face.

  “Alright,” he said. “Katie, either wait here or stay with Aiden until I get back.”

  She nodded slowly, still looking uncomfortable. Jack hated having to split off from her, but they didn’t have a choice if the two of them were to keep playing their roles.

  “You look thirsty, boy,” said Volandar. “And your thrall… You must give her plenty of time to recover between feedings. She has a very nice figure.”

  “Uh, thanks,” said Jack. They’d started down the hallway, but a glance over his shoulder at the entrance to his room told him that Katie had still been in earshot for the comment.

  “Volandar and I were discussing your situation,” said Mira. “Namely, Lestaron Island, and how it could potentially serve us, if given the right amount of attention.”

  Jack felt his heart start to beat a little faster. He didn’t want his sleepy little island to have anything to do with whatever deal Volandar was interested in making. The fact that Mira had spoken to Volandar about it in the first place felt like a minor betrayal. He was about to make an attempt at changing the subject when a new vampire stepped out into the intersection ahead of them and saved him the time.

  Volandar and Mira continued past the new arrival, but the vampire moved to place himself directly in front of Jack. He had dark skin and dreadlocks but still managed to look pale, almost grey.

  “Are you strong?” asked the vampire.

  Jack wasn’t sure how to answer the question.

  He didn’t get a chance to. The vampire slammed his face forward, headbutting him before he could get a word out, their foreheads connecting with a loud, painful crack.

  CHAPTER 15

  The force of the blow was enough to knock Jack several paces backward, and he felt blood trickling from a fresh cut on the edge of his scalp, along his hairline. He reacted without thinking, shooting his hand out to the side and channeling his blood essence to summon his Spectral Sword.

  The other vampire hesitated in the middle of pressing forward, his eyes lingering on the dark, ethereal blade in Jack’s hand. The vampire fell back a pace, then launched forward, apparently intending to rely on his dexterity to find a way past the weapon.

  Jack was ready for him. He’d spent enough time browsing Kendo tutorials online to understand the value of a sword against an unarmed opponent. Instead of attempting a slash or strike in the relatively narrow hallway and giving the vampire a chance to sneak past his guard, he brought his blade in close to him, snapping out with the base of the hilt.

  He caught the vampire in the cheek with the strike, but it wasn’t enough to kill his opponent’s momentum. The vampire’s shoulder slammed into Jack’s chest, almost knocking him off his feet. He panicked, spinning and slashing, managing to land a shallow cut on the vampire’s wrist.

  The vampire let out a snarl and whipped his entire arm downward. Jack readied his sword to block the strike and then watched, dumbfounded, as the blade shattered into a puff of ethereal red energy as his opponent’s blow carried through it.

  He managed to react quickly enough to keep from being overwhelmed by the loss of his weapon, however. As the vampire surged forward, Jack struck out with a punch, slamming a blow into his opponent’s temple.

  He followed it up by conjuring a Spectral Hand tendril and wrapping it around the vampire’s ankle. A single, hard pull tripped him neatly, and Jack conjured his Spectral Sword a second time as he prepared to dispatch his fallen opponent.

  “Enough!” snapped Volandar. “Babish. This is our guest. You overstep your bounds.”

  The vampire on the ground snarled and bared his fangs at Jack, snapping at him like an anxious hound.

  “He fights with no honor,” hissed the vampire. “He is weak.”

  “Is that so?” Jack pressed the tip of his Spectral Sword against the vampire’s neck. He felt a smile creeping onto his face. His entire body was pounding with excitement, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was tempted by the prospect of slicing open his enemy’s neck, just to make a point.

  “Jack.” Mira moved to his side, setting her hand over the one in which he held the sword. “The fight is over. We’re here to make friends, remember?”

  Jack took a slow breath, forcing back his own dark desire to follow the violence to its inevitable conclusion.

  “Right,” he said. “Of course.”

  He closed his hand, letting his Spectral Sword dematerialize. Volandar helped Babish, the other vampire, to his feet. For a couple of tense seconds, it still felt as though the fight might continue, but this time with Mira and Volandar being pulled into the fray.

  “Smell that?” Volandar made a show of sniffing the air. “I instructed my chefs to cook their finest tonight. It seems as though they took my command to heart.”

  “I smell something else,” said Babish. “I smell fear.”

  Volandar frowned and let out a sigh.

  “I’m going to have to insist that you take some time to cool down, Babish,” he said. “Thralls.”

  Several emaciated thralls appeared from the shadows and took Babish by the arms. Jack thought for a second that the vampire might overwhelm them and make a scene, but he followed along as they led him in another direction down the hall. He ran a hand over the spot where Babish’s head had collided with his, only to find that it was still bleeding.

  “Now,” said Volandar. “Where were we?”

  The Emerald Keep’s dining hall was a large, open space with high ceilings and ample illumination, compared to the rest of the stone structure’s interior. There were four long wooden tables that reminded Jack a little of a school cafeteria, if not for the dark stains that littered their surfaces.

  A circular, polished stone slab stood apart from the rest in the center of the room, and that was where Volandar led them over to. Numerous red candles were scattered across it, giving it a wavering ambience and a slight waxy smell.

  Jack took a seat next to Mira and watched as Volandar slowly found his own spot across from them both. He flashed a wolfish smile and tapped his fingers against the stone, letting the silence grow oppressive before he finally spoke.

  “He’s quite insane,” said Volandar. “Babish. It’s tragic, really.”

  Jack felt Mira’s hand settle on his knee and give a small, reassuring squeeze. She seemed nervous, maybe even more than he was.

  “There’s a thin line between insane and berserk,” said Jack.

  “Very true,” said Volandar. “In Babish’s case, it stems from his early years. He was part of a rich, ruling family in his home country. Fell for a vampire and was given the Embrace by her, much to his surprise. The classic story. I’m sure you’re familiar with it, are you not?”

  As Volandar spoke, more vampires began to enter the dining hall, all of them taking seats at the outer wooden tables. A co
uple of thralls arrived and began serving food off wheeled carts. Jack was half expecting Katie’s earlier doubts to be prophetic, but the food looked good. Better than good, even.

  He felt his mouth start to water as one of the thralls loaded his plate with a roasted chicken breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, several fresh biscuits, and green bean salad. A goblet of deep red wine was also placed in front of him. Jack began eating immediately, trying to stay focused on the situation in between delicious bites of chicken and potatoes.

  “Babish,” said Volandar, continuing from where he’d left off. “Was not the kind of person who could just become a vampire. His family was superstitious, but they also harbored a great love for him. What do you think happened next, Jack?”

  Jack glanced up at Volandar from over his plate.

  “Well, they obviously didn’t kill him,” he said. “Judging from the way he was acting before… Did they try to help him and end up getting hurt? Or killed?”

  “Good guess, but no,” said Volandar. “Oh, they did help him, alright. The help they gave to Babish involved locking him inside their private dungeon and, well, basically ignoring the problem. Ignoring it for years. They knew he was a vampire, and they still managed to sate his need for blood essence, on occasion. But poor Babish basically spent a decade in the clutches of his bloodthirst. As a feral vampire, no less.”

  Volandar hadn’t touched his own food, and he steepled his fingers as he watched Jack and Mira, as though expecting them to take something away from the tale.

  “If a tragic backstory was all it took to inspire empathy, half the conflicts in the world would never have come to be,” said Mira. “It is as sad as it is irrelevant.”

  “Oh?” Volandar let out a small chuckle. “I don’t empathize with Babish. I pity him. Perhaps there is a lesson for the two of you to learn from him. You are here in your time of need, after all.”

  Mira almost didn’t react in a visible way. Jack knew her well enough to pick up on a slight tension in the set of her shoulders, and the way she leaned a little closer into him. He didn’t like that Volandar was starting to view their circumstances as desperate, even if it was partially true.