A Shade of Vampire 83: A Bender of Spirit

by Forrest, Bella

  He bit into the side of my neck, his fangs pricking my skin. I sucked in a breath, reveling in the delicious pain as he drew a small drop of blood. He raised his head, his lips crimson, and I welcomed another kiss. This time, I got a taste of myself, and the sensation sent me spiraling.

  “And I am yours,” Kalon replied as he tilted his head to the side, allowing me to do the same to him. “I give you my blood along with my heart, just like you give me yours.”

  It felt like an oath of sorts—one I was more than happy to take. I licked the throbbing vein before I sank my fangs into it. He hissed, his muscles hardening as I drank from the very essence of Kalon’s life. The puncture wounds healed almost instantly, and I got a taste of my soulmate. His blood had an extraordinary effect on me.

  I felt as though I were coming apart at the seams, weightlessly wandering among the clouds as he trailed kisses down my neck. As Kalon proceeded to worship every part of my skin with his lips, I threw my head back and savored what I knew would come next.

  He held me tighter and tighter as we moved in perfect unison, our hearts frantically galloping in the same direction. Making love to Kalon was like melting into the great universe itself—I lost my form, I lost my mind, I lost everything that had anchored me to reality before this moment. We fueled each other’s frenzy, our rhythm reaching new highs until my breath left me.

  “I love you forever, Esme,” he grunted in my ear as he reached for the peak of ecstasy. My words had left me, so I kissed him instead, hoping my lips might convey what my brain no longer could.

  We were one, our souls and flesh naked. I could no longer imagine an existence without him. A single night without him. A single damn breath without him.

  Basking in the afterglow of our union, I let a deep sigh out as we sank into the bed. The sky didn’t seem that far away anymore. We could reach it with remarkable ease whenever we were together. We didn’t even need wings to get there.

  As morning crept around the bedroom, the pink light slipping between the drapes, I smiled and rested my head on Kalon’s chest, knowing that whatever came next we could handle it—as long as we stayed like this, together.

  Kalon didn’t rush me out of bed after dawn. He snuck out and prepared a small breakfast on the terrace table. A pitcher of fresh blood from the kitchen’s icebox, two crystal glasses, and a bouquet of pink and red blossoms awaited me. I couldn’t help but giggle as I stepped out onto the wooden platform, the polished planks squeaking ever so slightly beneath my feet.

  I’d wrapped myself in a fluffy white bathrobe, while Kalon had settled for a pair of linen pants he’d fished out of a dresser. His bare chest and radiant smile were infinitely better than anything else in this world—especially at this hour. “Good morning,” he said, pulling up a chair.

  “What feast have you prepared for us?” I asked, looking at the pitcher.

  “I think they stock the fridge every morning,” Kalon said with a shrug. “This wasn’t in the icebox last night.”

  “Wow. I didn’t even hear anyone come in.”

  Kalon smirked as I took my seat, and he poured me a glass. “Babe, I think they just didn’t want to disturb us. Not sure if you remember, but we were both quite busy last night.”

  “That’s right.” I laughed and threw my head back. He took advantage of the movement and stole a kiss before filling his own glass with Rimian blood. I recognized the taste now. I could tell the difference between the life essence of a Nalorean and that of a Rimian. While I would’ve preferred animal blood for ethical reasons, I didn’t fuss over this breakfast. We’d need all our strength and energy for the next few days.

  Kalon sat down next to me and pulled my chair closer. We clinked glasses, then drained them, only now realizing how hungry we were. His eyes widened as he poured us both a refill. “We might’ve burned one too many calories upstairs.”

  My cheeks flushed pink. “I have no regrets.”

  “Me neither,” Kalon replied, lovingly glancing my way. His gaze darkened as reality came back, rearing its ugly head from behind the rolling hills. “Do you think the Seniors will join us?”

  “Mira and Kemi definitely will,” I said. My entire body felt relaxed and refreshed, as if I’d spent the entire night in a sensory deprivation chamber, my soul and mind completely cleansed. It was amazing to me to fully realize the effect Kalon had on me. And this was just the beginning.

  “I know, but what about the others?” Kalon asked. “Do you think only two Seniors will be enough? The Darklings’ reach is wider than I’d thought. Their powers, too. Dieffen proves it.”

  “We can’t force them, Kalon. We can only hope they’ll see the sense in what we’re trying to accomplish. I think they want to join us. They have to be tired of being trapped here on this island. Maybe they’ll want to take over Visio, reshape the empire into something better.”

  Kalon’s eyes lit up. “I never considered that. Toppling the current ruler would certainly pave the way for a better Aeternae society. Especially if we set Unending free, and she takes our immortality away. The whole empire will plunge into chaos, but if the Seniors take over, they could bring this world back to a better time.”

  “Exactly. They can grow old and die, leaving behind a true legacy that isn’t directly tied to the Unending’s suffering.”

  “We actually discussed this,” Mira said, surprising us both. She stood in the terrace doorway wearing a pale blue silk dress. I wondered how long she’d been there, and how much she’d overheard. I felt my cheeks beginning to flush again. She smiled politely. “It’s an avenue Kemi and I have been exploring since last night.”

  Kemi showed up by her side, dressed in a silk tunic that matched her dress. “As long as we get to experience life passing and eventually death, I have no qualms about assuming leadership over Visio. You don’t strike me as the ruling type, Kalon. No offense.”

  “None taken.” Kalon chuckled. “Esme and I have our own plans for life after Visio.”

  “And your brothers?” Mira asked.

  “They can come with us, or they can stay here. I’ll come back to visit, of course, but I don’t see myself bound to this place,” Kalon replied.

  “What conclusion have you reached?” I asked, looking hopefully at Mira. “Will the others join you?”

  Mira and Kemi exchanged knowing glances. She offered a faint nod. “Not all of them. Not yet, anyway.”

  “Why don’t you two change and meet us outside?” Kemi said. “The Seniors are waiting in the plaza. I think you’ll want to hear what they have to say for yourselves.”

  I wasn’t sure if I was feeling encouraged or worried by this response. Frankly, I’d expected the Seniors to jump at this opportunity, regardless of what I’d told Kalon. Why would anyone want to live on this island forever, unable to leave or even die?

  Maybe not all the Seniors were ready to die, so they didn’t want to participate in the mission that might eventually see their immortality stripped from them. Or maybe some of them were afraid, content with what they had here. One person’s concept of freedom and happiness varied from another’s, and it seemed to be the same with the Seniors.

  Even so, we needed their support. I was more than thankful for Mira and Kemi, but we needed much more than just the two of them in order to mount a successful campaign against the Darklings. For all the excitement and energy I’d felt upon first arriving here, I was now deflating like a beach ball forgotten under a searing sun.

  Esme

  The plaza was surprisingly full. All two thousand Seniors seemed to be present. I kept the silk hood over my head, since the daylight was strong despite the reddish haze. Kalon stayed close as Mira introduced us to the gathered crowd.

  “Friends. Brothers and sisters,” she said. “Esme and Kalon have come to help us. They’re free agents and potential allies, as I’ve already told you. They are leaving today, and Kemi and I will be going with them. The Darklings have had their way for too long. Things need to change. That much we ca
n all agree on.”

  The response was a mixture of nods and murmurs. Kemi stepped forward, joining Mira in addressing the crowd. “You can choose to stay here, and no one will hold it against you. I know change can be difficult to accept. But sooner or later, we will bring Visio back to its former state. Immortality should not have been our path, and yet we chose it. Now, however, things are changing. We’ve lived for so long at the expense of a captured Reaper. It is not fair, and it is not natural. Mira and I already made this argument during our council meeting last night.”

  “We will respect your decisions, whatever they may be,” Mira continued. “But we need to know—which of you will join us? Speak now.”

  Here goes nothing, I thought to myself. Silence settled across the plaza as the Seniors looked at one another. I caught glances brimming with determination, but I also saw indecision and fear. We weren’t going to get them all off this island, that much was clear.

  This was a beautiful place they’d built, and it had been their home for a long time. Many had adapted well to living here. Their homes, their gardens, their daily routines were all they’d known. In that sense, I considered them selfish, but I dared not confront them. It would be their choice, and I’d have to respect it. Allies could not be gained by force.

  One by one, approximately two hundred Seniors broke from the crowd. One of them, a red-haired Aeternae woman with emerald-green eyes, raised her chin proudly.

  “We’re coming with you,” she said. “I’m Arya, and I speak for this group. We’ve gone over all possible options throughout the night, and we’re in agreement. Fighting the Darklings is our only way forward.”

  “Thank you, Arya Vaziri,” Mira replied. “Your allegiance honors us deeply.”

  “The rest of us will hold back,” an Aeternae man said from among those in the remaining crowd. “There is no clear consensus among our groups as yet.”

  “What do you mean, Geralt?” Kemi asked, his brow furrowed.

  “I, for one, would like to join you, but my sister, my wife, my closest friends here… they’re not convinced this will end well for us,” Geralt said. “I cannot, in good conscience, leave them here if the Darklings decide to retaliate over whatever you people will do. We must keep that possibility in mind.”

  “You know, you could all come with us, and no one would be here if the Darklings decide to do that,” I replied. “We have another shuttle. I can organize transport off this island for everybody.”

  Geralt shook his head. “It’s not just about that. This is our home. I understand why so many of our people don’t want to leave. But if you succeed against the Darklings, at least we’ll have this as a refuge. A place to eventually die.”

  “Today all our lives are going to change,” Kalon interjected, his tone sharp and firm. A muscle twitched in his jaw. He didn’t like what he was hearing. “With or without you, we will rise up against the Darklings. We will prevail, or we will go down fighting. I can’t understand why you’re so willing to do nothing, so happy to sit here in your false paradise while the rest of your people make history.”

  “We’ve got millions of years of history already made,” Geralt replied bluntly. “We’re tired. We’ve seen it all. The rise, the fall of a kingdom. Culture. War. Famine. Prosperity. Love. Hate. There’s nothing left in this universe to surprise us.”

  “You’re tired!” Kalon exclaimed, unable to hide his contempt.

  I put a hand on his shoulder, but Kemi was the first to address his dismay. “Do not hold it against them, Kalon. They’ve lived for much longer than you have. They should’ve been dead ages ago, yet they’re forced to keep living. You don’t understand what that will do to an Aeternae’s psyche. I do, and I am fortunate to still have this much energy left. Don’t judge them too harshly. We’re better off with a couple hundred willing fighters than two thousand jaded ones.”

  Geralt nodded in agreement. “Should we change our minds, should we decide to join the fight—rest assured, we’ll reach out. I know enough mazir to send Mira or Kemi a message from here.”

  With a heavy heart, I had no choice but to accept their answer and be thankful we had Arya’s group joining us. It was certainly better than nothing, given our dire circumstances.

  “Thank you,” I said to Geralt, then turned to Arya. “And thank you, as well. We can use all the help we can get.”

  Mira sighed. “Take us to the shuttle, Esme. I’ve had enough of this island to last me countless lifetimes.”

  The Seniors bid each other farewell with long hugs and ardent kisses. Words of love and kindness were passed around and hopes of a better future were shared. They weren’t sure they’d see each other again, especially if things were to go sideways with the Darklings. I understood why they were so fond of each other—they’d been forced to live here together for millions of years. The Seniors were a community in every sense of the word, a nation unto themselves.

  Kalon and I guided the two hundred Seniors—along with Arya, Mira, and Kemi—back to our shuttle. There was plenty of room to hold them all. We could’ve fit more, if only more had said yes. But at least we had these new allies to work with, and we weren’t returning to our group empty-handed. Or dead. Things could have gone a lot worse.

  I turned the systems on, waiting for the control panel to light up. Holograms of the surrounding geography appeared on the windshield, glowing orange as they gave us our position and everything else within a fifty-mile radius. We could even see the Darkling vessels anchored in the distance—incandescent dots pulsating across the ocean.

  “This is a beautiful craft,” Mira said, settling in the chair closest to me. “I suppose it has some weapons available, too?”

  “It has stealth capabilities, deep scanners, defensive shields, its own biotech system, which allows us to live here for as long as possible should we ever get stranded in outer space,” I replied. “And yes, it’s got weapons, too.”

  “What kind of weapons?” Mira asked.

  I recognized a devilish glimmer in her eyes. As I kickstarted the shuttle’s take-off protocol, and the latches closed, I began to wonder whether she had something specific in mind. “What kind of weapons would you like?” I replied.

  “The kind that might obliterate those Darkling outposts,” she said, giving me a dry smile.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked. “If we do this, it’ll warn the Darklings. It’ll put the Seniors we left behind in jeopardy. They might not be able to sneak out if they decide to join us. I certainly won’t be able to fly the shuttle back there, even with its invisible cloaking.”

  “You have Reapers and a dragon,” Mira replied. “There’s more than one way to get the Seniors out of there if needed. We can destroy the force field, too, with the Reapers’ help. It’s death magic. And rest assured, they won’t kill our people. They like us suffering in isolation too much.”

  “It’s okay,” Kemi added. “We do need to send a message to the Darklings. They need to know we’re not so easy to destroy, physically or mentally.”

  Nodding slowly, I steered the shuttle away from the island and across the deep blue ocean. Heading back toward the mainland, I could see the vessels stationed above water. Large ships with black-and-white flags mounted on poles—they weren’t even hiding anymore. The Darklings were proudly displaying their affiliation.

  Kalon took the copilot’s chair, and I passed the steering controls over to him. “I need you to keep her steady,” I said to him. “Can you do that?”

  “Yes. The controls are similar to our airships,” he replied. “I learned to fly those centuries ago. I think I can handle this.”

  “Low altitude, please,” I said, flicking on several weapon controls. “Mira would like us to obliterate some Darklings, and I would be more than happy to oblige.”

  I didn’t want us to take more than one shot at this. The shuttle was invisible again, but the Darklings had tampered with the cloaking shield before. One round of pulverizer ammunition would have t
o do against the five ships ahead. If we were to come back in order to finish them all, we’d run the risk of them releasing a pulse to reveal us, and I didn’t want to fly a visible shuttle across the ocean and the mainland all the way back to Orvis.

  “You ready?” I asked Kalon.

  “Holding her low and steady,” he replied, hands firmly gripping the flight controls. He seemed confident, and that pumped me full of adrenaline as I set the crosshairs at the middle of the vessel cluster.

  Switching to weapons control, I now had full range of motion over the Gatling-type pulverizer weapons on both sides of the shuttle. They moved in tandem, allowing me to fire them both at the same target.

  “Enjoy the show,” I muttered, knowing that Mira and the others had their gazes fixed on the windshield as they were given a full view of the Darkling ships.

  We were getting closer now, and the enemy couldn’t see us. This was the easiest win I’d ever get, but I was happy to take it, especially after the near ass-whooping our troops had suffered back in Dieffen.

  Pressing hard on the fire controls with both thumbs, I grunted as the pulverizer pellets were shot at high speed and an even higher rate. I must’ve released over five hundred rounds in under a minute. They struck various parts of all five Darkling ships, exploding in puffs of blue-and-white smoke.

  The effect was immediate. Everything they touched simply disappeared in a cloud of shimmering gray ashes. The ships fell apart, large chunks of disjointed metal sinking into the water, but I kept firing until there was nothing left.

  For Valaine, for my brother, for Sofia and Derek, for poor Nethissis, for Lumi, for Amal and Amane, for all our friends and allies who’d suffered at the hands of Darklings, I emptied two whole massive clips into those ships. All that remained were grayish particles dissolving into the ocean. None of the Darklings survived. I’d just seen them disappear into nothingness, their souls left to wander across the ocean until a Reaper would be kind enough to take care of them.