A Shade of Vampire 86: A Break of Seals

by Forrest, Bella

  “Oh, please!” Unending snapped. “Had it not been for Spirit’s intervention and seals, we would’ve been fine. They would’ve been fine.”

  Death offered a sad half-smile. “How do you know, my darling? I wasn’t aware of Spirit’s agenda at the time, but looking back now, even you can admit that he would’ve come to you, anyway. He would’ve sealed you, and he would’ve turned the Aeternae against you. It was his endgame from the very beginning.”

  I had to give Death credit. She was right. Spirit had been on a mission to make Death suffer by any means possible for a long time. Five million years ago, he was still sowing the seeds of discord, scheming with Brendel of the Hermessi, locking his First Tenner siblings under seals to keep them from interfering much later down the road.

  Even Unending didn’t have a comeback for this. Deep down, she knew Death had made a valid point. That didn’t mean she was ready to concede. No. She was just getting started. “Truth be told, I regretted my decision,” Unending said. “I had a long time to think about it, to look at things from different perspectives, while I was locked under those blasted seals. Up until the moment I was pushed into the rebirth cycle and my memories were suffocated by new ones as an Aeternae, I was fully aware of what I had done.”

  “See?” Death replied, clinging to the idea that she was winning this argument. For a cosmic force, she was surprisingly childish.

  “That doesn’t make what you did any better,” Unending shot back. “It’s not my fault you made me the way I am. And for what it’s worth, I put conditions into the gift I gave to Erethiel and the Aeternae. I had it under control. You had Erethiel killed because you couldn’t stand not being the center of attention. Admit it.”

  “Be careful with your choice of words, Unending. I’m not one of the First Ten. Mind yourself,” Death said, her voice dropping by about a thousand degrees.

  “What more are you going to do to me that hasn’t been done already? For millions of years, I’ve suffered. Imprisoned, forgotten, cursed, and belittled. The only thing you can do is destroy me, but that’ll just mean the ultimate freedom for me. I’ll be rid of you. And besides, we both know you don’t have it in you.”

  “Don’t mock my love for you,” Death hissed. “The only reason you’re still topside is because you were my first. I think of you as my child…”

  “You don’t hurt the ones you love,” Unending replied.

  It felt like a good time to intervene, so I raised my hand, politely demanding their attention. They both looked at me, visibly irritated by my intervention, but I pressed forward. “What Unending is trying to say here is that an apology will not kill you. All you have to do is say you’re sorry. You can’t change what happened. You shouldn’t, anyway, since it would destabilize the entire universe. But the least you could do is acknowledge your… daughter’s pain and tell her you’re sorry. Maybe you don’t mean it; I don’t care. She needs to hear it. It’s the decent thing to do.”

  For a moment, I worried I might get smacked into oblivion. To my relief, Death allowed herself a deep breath before turning to face Unending. “The young prince is right. I owe you an apology. I probably would do it all over again if I were to go back in time, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for the pain I caused you. In a certain sense, I, too, am responsible for what happened on Visio.”

  “But you would do it all over again.” Unending scoffed. “Geez, you can’t even let me have this one thing. This one basic thing!”

  “Take it or leave it. That’s all you get,” Death retorted, crossing her arms. “Now set me free. I need to see the Spirit Bender myself.”

  Unending gave me a sideways glance so brief that I barely registered it. I had a feeling her mind was cooking something up, but I didn’t dare say a word. We had too much riding on this, and I couldn’t let anything get in the way of ending what the Spirit Bender had started on Visio.

  “All right. I’ll take it. But you and I will have another talk later, after this is over,” she told Death. “I’m not done with you, Mother.”

  “I trust we’ll reach an understanding eventually.”

  “Taeral, take a few steps back,” Unending said. “For your own safety.”

  I didn’t wait to be told twice. Moving away from the two of them, I prepared myself for what came next, as Unending took a few minutes to analyze the remaining runes. Death didn’t look happy. “I know you made this spell,” she said. “I hope you’re proud. Had it not been for the Thousand Seals, Spirit wouldn’t have had a way to bind me.”

  Unending chuckled. “He would’ve found something else. He had his own knowledge. Maybe it would’ve taken more of an effort on his part, but he would’ve locked you away, one way or another. And yes, I am absolutely proud. This is a work of art,” she replied, admiring the runes on Death’s arms. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen these symbols. I never used this spell myself, but it’s nice to see it on someone. Especially on you.”

  “You’ve been nothing but trouble.”

  “Look who’s talking,” Unending said. “You’ve been leading these poor people on, withholding precious information, letting them reach Visio without a full understanding of what awaited them there—”

  “I didn’t know anything myself, other than my suspicion regarding your presence on Visio!” Death retorted, genuinely offended.

  “Okay, and after you learned about the Spirit Bender and his soul shards, after you told Taeral to bring Thieron to Visio and assist the others—why did you tell him to hold back until the Spirit Bender was resurrected? Why did you keep my brothers and sisters in the dark, too? Why complicate everything?”

  Death shrugged. “Perhaps I wasn’t clear with Taeral when I changed his directives. Looking back now, actually… I realize I’ve kept the end game to myself… I want to be the one to terminate Spirit this time. I am the only one who can clean up the mess you’ve made on Visio. You may be powerful and resourceful, but you do not have my reach.”

  It felt odd to hear this coming from her, but it also matched Unending’s arguments from earlier—not to mention our own suspicions when Corbin was still in the Nightmare Forest holding Kelara captive. Looking back now, I could totally sympathize with the Soul Crusher. He had every reason to be furious with Death.

  “Yeah, figured that much,” Unending muttered. Her hand rammed through Death’s chest, and I lost my breath. Death herself was stunned, her eyes wide as she gawked at Unending. “This is going to hurt. I hope it hurts.”

  Without hesitation, she pulled her hand back, leaving a black hole in the center of Death’s chest. Her maker cried out in agony, her scream rippling across the fabric of the universe and of everything it encompassed. I could feel it, deep in the pit of my stomach, but I accepted it. Death deserved an inkling of suffering, at least, for all the things she’d done.

  Turning the fist over, Unending revealed an obsidian stone with three white points etched into its surface. Death froze and swallowed her pain, unable to take her eyes off the stone, while the black hole in her chest closed up, and the runes began to dissolve and disappear from her skin.

  Nothing else happened. Nothing epic or spectacular. I’d have expected more, but as it turned out, the Thousand Seals were a sneaky little tool, specifically designed to blindside a cosmic force like Death. Unending had obviously put a lot of thought into its creation.

  As soon as the hole vanished, Death wheezed and took a deep breath. “By the universe… what the hell is that?!” she croaked. The chain around her ankle shattered, turning to black powder and settling over the ice.

  “Spirit slipped this inside you when he sealed you,” Unending said, slipping the stone into a hidden pocket of her dress. “I’m going to keep this for another occasion.”

  “How did he do that?” Death asked, confused. “Surely I would have felt it.”

  “It expanded from a much smaller piece,” Unending explained. “It would’ve been only a couple of millimeters long and wide when it was first i
mplanted. I’m guessing you two had a scuffle before he activated the Thousand Seals?”

  “Yes. It was a short encounter, but… yes.”

  “It happened sometime during that, for sure. Once it was in, either through a cut or your ear or your nose, it was set,” Unending said. Death looked troubled as she brought a hand up to her nose. She must’ve remembered the precise moment. “All Spirit had to do was activate it with a chant of words and sub-words of my own making.”

  Death reached out a hand. “Give it to me. That thing must be destroyed.”

  “Relax, it cannot be used again. I said it would be for another occasion just to piss you off.” Unending chuckled. “Say thank you. You’re free.”

  “Indeed,” Death replied, checking her arms and bare feet. “I feel much better. Thank you.”

  “See? A little civility never killed anyone,” Unending said.

  This was it. The moment we’d been waiting for so long. A lot of hard work had gone into breaking some of those seals. A lot of terrible moments could have been avoided if only Death had been free. But this was better than nothing, and my heart couldn’t help but swell, becoming too large for my ribcage as I gave Thieron back to Death.

  As soon as her fingers wrapped around its sculpted handle, the weapon came to life. Time resumed its flow, and the sound of shattering ice withered into the background as a sea of pure and blinding white light swallowed us all. I melted into it, smiling, knowing that salvation was finally upon us. Aledras continued spinning through space. The sun kept shining.

  And Death was ready to do what she was desperately needed to do.

  Tristan

  With Spirit momentarily trapped inside the red glowing circle that the Reapers had put together, I dared hope we might live to see the end of our collective nightmare after all. The Trakkians stood back, bitter looks on their faces. The dragons and the rest of our GASP fleet held their positions, both around Roano and inside, keeping our original center out of the reach of any Trakkian who might be foolish enough to try something.

  Spirit looked my way, his galaxy eyes reduced to cold slits. “Killing you is pretty much all I have left to give me comfort,” he said, then smiled at Thayen. “But I’ll need to rip your little heart out first. I feel like I’m at a disadvantage here, fellas.”

  “Nah, you’re right where you’re supposed to be,” the Soul Crusher replied, positioned inside the circle with Widow, Time, and Night. Their scythes were out, blades glistening with anticipation. “It’s an equal ground here, which means you’ll have to face us as you are.”

  “If I’m not mistaken, this means you’re limited, too,” Spirit said, a confident smirk testing the corners of his mouth. The other Reapers had stayed back, ready to jump in if needed. They had faith in their siblings, but they also understood how dangerous a cornered Spirit could be. Once they were in, they would be unable to leave until the circle was broken.

  “That may be so, but it’s okay. We don’t need much to take you down,” Widow shot back.

  Thayen gave me a worried glance. He couldn’t speak, but I knew what he wanted, so I said it for him. “We have to get out of this circle.” I hooked my arm around his chest and tried to crawl us both away to safety. However, as soon as I reached the glowing red line and tried to cross it, a firm pulse knocked us both back. It made my body hurt even more. “Damn it…”

  Dream crouched before us on the other side of the circle. “Yeah, sorry about that. It’s the downside of this spell that Soul and Phantom cooked up,” she said quietly. “Those who set foot inside cannot leave until the circle is broken by the one who cast it.”

  “What, so we’re still stuck in here with that maniac?!” I croaked.

  Phantom sighed. “We devised the spell to make sure the enemy doesn’t just walk out of it. That meant putting in conditions for ourselves, too. It’s our final move…”

  “Don’t worry, Tristan. You won’t live for much longer, anyway.” Spirit chuckled, staring at his brothers. Time, Soul, Night, and Widow were already taking their first steps toward him, their tall frames casting shadows over the ground.

  “I am pretty damn tired of your threats. If you want to kill me, just come on over and do it. Otherwise, your words are just a waste of air,” I shouted. I meant every word I’d just said. I’d had enough of his sneers and malicious retorts, his promises to tear out my heart. The more miserable and helpless he was, the more crap came out of his mouth. It was pathetic.

  “Yeah, maybe don’t push him,” Phantom replied. “He talks and talks and talks, but when he starts doing what he said he would, it just ends in tears and blood.”

  I wanted to respond, but I was suddenly distracted by Spirit standing beside me, scythe mere inches from my face. Normally, I would’ve regretted having provoked him, but under these circumstances, I wasn’t sure it mattered anymore. “You won’t even let me vent, huh?” he said, gritting his teeth. “I find it therapeutic, given my predicament, but hey, it’s fine. I’ll just kill you and get it over with.”

  Before he could even raise his scythe, Widow appeared from behind and yanked him back. Spirit vanished, leaving his brother briefly confused, but Time was quick to anticipate where Spirit would appear next. Working in tandem with Night, they chased him around inside the circle, trying to get close enough to cut him with their scythes. At the same time, they had to be careful with his blade. His ability was contained by the circle spell, but he could still have tricks up his sleeves—including words and sub-words the others didn’t know.

  Derek and Sofia moved closer to my side, as did Esme and Kalon. I wanted to say it was good to see them again, but as long as the Spirit Bender was still upright and determined to kill Thayen and me, I wasn’t finding much joy in the moment. I wondered what Unending was up to and whether she was already with Death, breaking the rest of those wretched seals.

  “Where’s Taeral?” Esme asked me. I kept my eyes on Spirit, hoping he wouldn’t get close to us again.

  “He vanished,” I told her. “I don’t know where he went or what happened. He just disappeared, then Kelara appeared out of nowhere and saved our asses.”

  “Whoa. Wait, that’s not right—she’s supposed to be inside Soul’s interdimensional pocket!” Phantom exclaimed, alarmed and confused.

  “I don’t know how to explain what happened,” I replied, wincing from the persistent pain in my ribs and shoulders. I couldn’t even feel my face anymore, but at least my right eye was slightly more functional.

  Spirit dodged an attack from Widow, laughing maniacally as he disappeared once more. Whenever he left my sight, I got nervous, knowing he was angling toward us. And toward Thayen, in particular.

  “Well, where is she now?” Phantom asked. “She didn’t fall through with you.”

  “The circle caught her on the outside,” I said. “Atop a snowy mountain, though I’m not sure where, exactly.”

  “Crap,” Dream mumbled, giving Phantom a worried frown. “Don’t let Soul hear that. It’ll throw him off his game.”

  Phantom tried to reach Taeral telepathically, but she ended up cursing under her breath. “He’s not answering.”

  “Think about it this way,” Dream replied. “He’s got Thieron, and Unending is likely working to set Death free. Maybe he was pulled back to Aledras, with or without his consent.”

  “Good grief, this is a horrible mess we’ve gotten ourselves into,” I said, shaking my head slowly. A second later, I was dragged upward and thrown to the side. Esme screamed. I landed with a crippling thud, my face pressed against the dirt. Pain pulsated through me, wave after wave of burning tremors that made it hard for me to move.

  I caught a glimpse of Spirit ramming his hand through Thayen’s chest.

  “No…” I managed, breathlessly.

  The others cried out, begging him to stop. Widow and Soul tried to jump him, but Spirit slashed at them with his scythe, forcing them to stand back. Time was lying on his side, convulsing and struggling to move. Something h
ad happened seconds before Spirit had reached us again.

  Thayen was stunned, his eyes big and round. Esme looked horrified, covering her mouth with both hands. Sofia had fallen to her knees and was trying to reach out to Thayen, only to be thrown back by the circle spell. Derek held her close. The horror set in.

  “No…” Spirit mumbled, suddenly frozen as he stared at Thayen. “No, what is this?”

  He withdrew his hand. It was clean. The absence of blood made us all watch as Spirit ripped Thayen’s tunic open. There wasn’t a wound, either. Widow attempted another attack with his massive scythe, but Time held him back, a half-smile settling on his lips.

  “Wait,” he told Soul. “Look…”

  Spirit tried to tear Thayen’s heart out again, but his hand just went through without any effect. It looked as though he’d just dipped into a blob of kinetic sand. No matter how many times he attempted to remove the shard, Spirit failed. Something was off here, but in a shockingly good way.

  “What is going on here?!” Spirit cried out, exasperated by the constant deluge of failures. Thayen was equally stunned but clearly relieved. The poor boy had broken into a sweat, crystalline drops blooming across his pale cheeks and forehead.

  Phantom chuckled, standing up on the other side of the glowing red line. “I think Unending left you with a parting gift before she headed for Aledras.”

  “Huh?” Spirit breathed, unable to recover his composure.

  “Don’t you recognize the Unkillable charm, you idiot?” the Night Bringer replied. “It’s been a long time since I last saw it, but it’s still a beautiful work of death magic.”

  Spirit scoffed. “It’s temporary. It’ll wear off.”

  “So will you,” Widow retorted, then bolted in his direction.

  Once again, Spirit was locked in a fierce battle with Widow and Night. Their scythes clashed, sparks jumping and dancing in the air. The metal rang and screeched whenever the blades met, making me tremble. But the worst was yet to come, as the Time Master managed to stand up—only, he didn’t look like himself anymore. He seemed to be in pain, his galaxy eyes darkened by misery.