“I don’t get it,” I replied, though deep down I understood. The reality was simply too much to bear at this point. I worried I might not have the strength to take it all in, to accept that unlike Tristan and me, Kalon had actually caught the Black Fever directly from Valaine, the very source of this curse. His Aeternae nature had worked against him somehow.
“We’re vampires,” Tristan said, staring at Kalon. “The Black Fever hasn’t managed to stick to us, though I don’t know why. Kalon is an Aeternae… and the Black Fever has been killing his kind for a long time.”
“You’re watered-down versions of the Aeternae,” Phantom interjected. “The Black Fever, being a curse aimed directly at them, doesn’t recognize you the same way it does those responsible for Unending’s suffering. Your genes are diluted, so the effects of the Black Fever are reduced.”
“Unless you’re exposed to it like I was earlier,” Tristan added. “I was certain I was going to die before the Time Master intervened.”
“But you’re healed now,” Phantom insisted. “Kalon isn’t. That’s your difference, right there. If held under control, the Black Fever wouldn’t kill you. Its only focus is on the Aeternae.”
“What do we do?” I asked, my eyes stinging.
Kalon gave me a weak smile. “We get me somewhere isolated, so others won’t get infected. The last thing I want is to get the Seniors sick,” he whispered.
I wanted to cry, but there was simply no time for it. My only option was to hold it all in and keep going until I could find a moment alone to let it all out. Time crouched in front of Kalon, pressing the scythe against his shoulder.
“I’ll put you to sleep and in a subtle form,” Time said. “It’ll slow down the curse’s progression, and it’ll keep you isolated from the living. You’ll be like one of us. Unseen, unfelt, but still here.”
“Amane and Amal have been working on a cure,” I murmured. “Maybe we can try something once we reach the western shore.”
“Don’t kid yourself, Esme.” Nightmare scoffed, gazing into the distant end of the tunnel, where the amber lights were starting to shrink and vanish as Sidyan, Soul, and Kelara teleported the people out of there. “It’s a curse. It’s not a disease. The best anyone can do is slow it down. Only the Unending knows how to stop it, and she’s not the easiest to get to.”
“Show some respect,” Dream reprimanded him. “Esme is obviously fond of this Aeternae, you tool.”
“I’m just being honest,” Nightmare grumbled.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around your kind,” Tristan retorted, giving Phantom a nod. She must’ve irked him with something at some point.
“It’s me. It’s my fault. I got him sick.” Valaine sobbed. Kalon tried to touch her, but Tristan pulled her back and took her in his arms, while Time whispered a spell, his scythe glowing against Kalon’s shoulder.
“Don’t blame yourself,” Kalon said. “The only ones responsible are the Darklings.”
“And Spirit Bender. Let’s not forget about that a-hole,” I muttered.
“He’s going to disappear now, but he’ll still be here with us,” Time assured me, and I gave him a faint nod.
Kalon touched my face, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “I’ll be back in a jiff,” he said, and I chuckled, knowing he’d definitely heard me earlier. He shimmered away, and Time lifted him off the ground. He threw him over his shoulder, then nodded at me.
“We’ll work something out. Let us leave quickly.” He sighed. “We must lose the Darklings.”
Valaine was a crying mess. My brother was still recovering from his near-death experience. Kalon was in a subtle form and unconscious, stricken with Black Fever. I had no idea what my condition was, except for the fact that I was still standing. Emotionally, I was crushed, but physically… I still had a few kicks left in me.
Time was right. We had to leave, and we had to be fast. Lumi and Sidyan needed to go after Derek, while the rest of us were tasked with finding a safe spot somewhere along the west coast for the people of Orvis to stay, and for our crew to regroup and draw up a new strategy. The Darklings had pulled one over on us, and we’d nearly lost everything.
My heart ached, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Kalon. Those few kicks I still had in me… I planned to use them until my last breath.
Sofia
We appeared out of thin air on the very edge of the continent.
I took a deep breath, welcoming the cool ocean breeze into my lungs. The tunnel’s damp closeness had been suffocating. This felt like freedom, and I was filled with newfound energy. Looking around, I tried to do a head count, but my mind was a mess. Picking up on my angst, Rose was quick to ask the others to check among themselves and make sure no one was missing. Some minutes later, I could breathe with greater ease. The Orvisians were all here, alive and well, as were the Seniors. Approximately four hundred present and accounted for. Ridan was okay and stood flanked by Amal and Amane. Rose and Caleb were with me, along with Thayen and the Visentis boys. Trev and the ghouls had stuck together for some reason, along with the Vision horses.
Nethissis and Seeley were accompanied by Rudolph, Lumi and Kailani, Hunter, Sidyan, Soul, and Kelara. Tristan also appeared, joined by Esme, Widow, Morning, Night, Valaine… and three Reapers I couldn’t immediately identify. There was something familiar about them, stemming solely from their appearance. Taeral had described them to me with a level of detail that made them almost recognizable.
“What just happened?” I asked, still catching my breath.
I’d seen the darkness of pure death and misery coming after us in the tunnel. I’d guessed it had something to do with Valaine, but we’d all been too busy running for our lives to communicate, let alone take a moment to investigate. Now that we were topside, I needed answers. Everything had happened so fast, my mind struggled to catch up as I pulled Thayen closer to my side, determined not to let anything bad happen to him.
“A number of unpleasant things,” Soul said, looking rather annoyed. “Valaine let off some steam, though she had no intention of doing such a thing.”
“That explains the darkness we’ve all been fleeing,” Mira said softly, giving Valaine a concerned look. “You seem better now.”
“I am, thanks to them.” Valaine gave the three new Reapers a friendly nod. “They figured out a way to contain these… episodes.”
“And who are you, exactly?” Mira asked the strange Reapers.
“The Time Master, Dream, and Nightmare,” Soul said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Our siblings. The last of the First Ten.”
Time gave us a quick rundown of what happened in the tunnel with Valaine, though he didn’t provide very many details about how he was able to absorb her devastating darkness. We now knew Taeral had pushed Death into sending Time, Dream, and Nightmare our way, and we had a better understanding of the danger posed by Spirit’s legacy. We were also told he’d stayed behind to keep Death company in the absence of the First Tenners. Lumi, Kailani, and Nethissis were particularly fascinated by the basic elements of death magic—the words, the sub-words, and the sounds.
Lumi was quick to make the connection between death magic and the Word. Time confirmed that the two forms of magic were primordial and at the source of every other power in existence, including the jinn and witches from the Supernatural Dimension, and the Druids and Lamias from the In-Between.
“We’re pretty much screwed then,” Kailani concluded. “The possibilities are endless, given the number of words and sub-words in combination with sounds, so we can’t pinpoint exactly what formulas the Spirit Bender used for the Unending’s seals. We need the higher-ups among the Darklings to tell us. Or Unending herself, provided Tristan gets to her again.”
“Provided I also get Unending to remember,” Tristan said. “It’s complicated.”
“Where’s Kalon?” Ansel asked, his brow furrowing as he looked up at Esme. She shuddered, her eyes glistening as she tried to keep herself together. Just s
eeing her like this felt like a kick in the gut.
“He’s ill,” Esme replied. “The Reapers are keeping him in a deep sleep and subtle form to prevent him from infecting other Aeternae. We were too close to the darkness when it hit. Tristan and I are vampires, and we seem to have a better recovery rate. Kalon wasn’t as lucky.”
“No!” Tudyk gasped, horror gripping him and his brothers. “Not Kalon…”
“I’m sorry,” Esme said. “I tried to get him away from it, but we both fell under its influence. He pulled me back, then I pulled him back… I was weak. Not fast enough.”
“I’m the one who should be sorry,” Valaine interjected. “It’s my fault.”
Tristan shook his head. “No. We’ve been over this already. Spirit is the one to blame, along with his Darklings. This is all on them, and you’ve done the best you could with what you had.”
Ansel held his brothers close, his lower lip trembling as he glanced at the Reapers. “Can we see him?” he asked, but Time shook his head slowly.
“It’s not a good idea,” he replied. “Not now, anyway. If we release Unending, we can save your brother and anyone else affected by the curse. Unfortunately, we cannot resurrect those who’ve already died because of the Black Fever, but I’m hoping Kalon will survive long enough. His deep sleep and subtle form are slowing down the curse’s progression. Making him visible to you has risks.”
Ansel lowered his gaze. He was clearly disappointed, but he understood the situation. Thayen sighed, his hand nestled in mine. I gave the boy a faint smile, hoping it might help reassure him that we were all going to be okay. I wasn’t certain of it myself, but hope had yet to abandon me.
“Valaine’s crises will go differently from now on,” Time said. “We’ve got it under control.”
“How?” I asked.
“That’s for us to know,” Time replied dryly. “The solution was provided by Death herself. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Well, at least we finally know why Death hasn’t done more to help in our fight against the Darklings,” Lumi grumbled, pursing her lips.
Kailani scoffed. “She gave Spirit way too much death magic information, and he learned to use it against her. Are we sure there’s nothing we can do to get ahead of an already destroyed Reaper?”
“Even if you were to try out unlimited possible formulas of death magic, we cannot provide you with the actual words, sub-words, and sounds needed, anyway,” Time said, shaking his head. “It’s bad enough Spirit got them. The last thing we need is for the living to learn this stuff, too.”
“Normally, I’d be offended by your statement, but in this case I actually get it,” Lumi said. Pausing for a moment, she looked around, and I was tempted to follow her gaze. “Sidyan and I need to leave right now. Derek is expecting us. What will the rest of you do?”
I started to answer, but Tristan had a suggestion. “We can go to Roano. It’s somewhere near here,” he replied, staring somewhere to the north. “I recognize this coastline.”
“From my trance, yes,” Valaine murmured.
Mira and Kemi looked at each other, then back at Valaine. “Do you remember Roano?”
“I do now,” Valaine replied, growing more emotional. “I remember you, too.”
“What is she talking about?” I asked.
“One of Unending’s reincarnations was Mira and Kemi’s daughter, Eliana,” Tristan said.
“Oh wow,” I breathed. The pain they must’ve felt upon losing her. No wonder they were so restless and on the verge of tears.
“I’m not her,” Valaine managed.
“I know.” Mira sighed. “But she’s a part of you. A part of the Unending.”
“Roano is a few miles north of here,” Kemi interjected, trying to focus on the mission ahead. “It’s an abandoned city. It’s been empty since we were last here. One of the dead places, as we called them—much like Astoria and a few others—where the Black Fever and the Darklings did so much damage that no one wished to live there anymore.”
“It’ll serve as a sanctuary,” Kailani said. “The Reapers and I will put up defenses, along with a cloaking shield. Hopefully the Darklings will have lost our trace from where we were teleported.”
“Mom!” Rose almost screamed, staring at me with big, round eyes. Her hood cast a shadow over her face, but her astonishment was still easy to read.
“What?” I asked, slightly confused.
“You’re not covered,” she croaked. “It’s daylight!”
For a moment, I froze, panic clutching my throat. Looking down, however, I quickly realized that everything was okay. I didn’t feel any different. In the rush to get out of the tunnel before the darkness destroyed us, I’d forgotten to pull up my own hood prior to teleportation. I’d been standing in the hazy daylight for several minutes now, and it had no effect on me whatsoever.
Excitement and relief took over, filling me to the brim with a warm and fuzzy feeling as I understood what was happening. The day-walking cure had worked. Amane and Amal were still quiet and gawking at me, and I finally saw why—they must’ve been stunned the moment we’d arrived here, unable to utter a single word.
I laughed, spinning around with my arms stretched out as I welcomed the filtered sunlight’s embrace. Once this fresh hell was over, I’d go back to The Shade. I’d step onto Sun Beach, and I’d feel the full blast of summer on my skin without burning up.
“It works. It friggin’ works!” Rose said, restless and giddy.
Caleb grinned. “Amal, Amane, you two are amazing. It’s time to expand the test group. Hook Rose and me up, will ya?”
“As soon as we settle in Roano, we’ll prepare more doses,” Amal said with a glance at me, unable to stop herself from smiling. “We’ll strengthen the formula as well, so the cure can act faster. Now that we know it’s working properly, we can intensify the treatment.”
I couldn’t help myself. I took the Faulty twins in my arms, hugging them both with all the love and gratitude I could muster. Enough time had passed since I’d gotten a dose, and it seemed to have worked beautifully. It had bonded with my genes, and all I needed were a few more shots to make sure the process was permanent and irreversible. My heart swelled with pure, unadulterated joy, but it was short-lived.
Damn… every good moment we’d had on Visio had a crappy expiration date. I turned to Lumi and Sidyan. “Please bring my Derek back to me,” I said.
They both nodded, and Sidyan took Lumi’s hand, his scythe lighting up white. A split second later, they were gone, and the rest of us turned our attention to reaching Roano. We’d survived the Darklings’ attack. I was pretty sure we’d lost them somewhere beneath the Nightmare Forest when the Reapers teleported us out of there. We’d made the day-walking cure happen, and we’d kept Thayen and the Visentis boys safe. It didn’t feel like a clear triumph, but at the end of the day, it was a victory.
The war had yet to be decided, but this battle had been won.
Shortly after Lumi and Sidyan’s departure, the Reapers took us to Roano. There wasn’t much left of the old city except dusty foundations, wall fragments, and four decrepit towers at the north, south, east, and westernmost points. The ocean raged against the rocky shoreline beneath, waves crashing and foaming over the jagged dark gray stones. Toward the mainland, I could see the outskirts of the Nightmare Forest, its trees tall and crooked and gnarly beneath the emerald canopy. Behind us, a cobbled road snaked along the coast to vanish behind a cluster of vertical slabs of white marble. Silence reigned supreme. The memory of the horrors this place had seen still lingered, deeply embedded in every inch that remained standing.
Roano must’ve been a beautiful city in its day. The ghost of it had retained some of its original elegance, and the towers sulked against the hazy, reddish sky, as though waiting for someone to climb them again after two million years.
“The Darklings committed a massacre here,” Tristan said. “Valaine and I saw it.”
Kalla and Arya led their respectiv
e people through the city, helping them find shelter and assisting with the settlement as best they could, while Trev guided the horses to a naturally formed pond somewhere on the lower east side near the fractured defense wall. Seeley left Rudolph in charge of the ghouls, and the creatures ran off, eager to hunt in the nearby Nightmare Forest.
“You had a vision in the tunnel?” I kept my voice low. “What exactly did you see?”
“The Seniors were framed that day,” Valaine said. “Mira and Kemi and their people were trying to save me, but the Master of Darkness at the time —a Visentis by the name of Endymion—got to me first. Well, I got to him, actually. I sacrificed myself, thinking it was the only way to save the Aeternae.”
“Eliana was always stubborn.” Mira sighed. “Kemi and I did our best to protect her once we realized who she truly was. Our mistake was that we didn’t tell her the whole truth from the very beginning. Endymion poured poison in her ear, and in the end, she believed him. We were too late.”
“By the time we got to her, Endymion had already killed Eliana,” Kemi added, his voice low, his every word cutting through me like a hot knife. Few understood his and Mira’s pain like I did. I’d lost Ben twice now, and I would never forget the agony of his death. The emptiness it had left behind.
“The Lord Supreme had sent us to Roano because it had been overrun with Darklings. They’d become brazen back then,” Mira said. “Eliana had come with us because we dared not leave her back home on her own—not after we’d intercepted several messages addressed to her and signed by one of the Whips, who’d beckoned her to meet with the Master.”
“It was all a ploy,” Kemi replied. “Many people died here because of the Black Fever, and the Darklings slaughtered the rest of the survivors, making it look like we were responsible. We were deemed too violent and bloodthirsty and stood accused of causing too much collateral damage in our fight to eradicate the Darklings. We took many of their people down in that melee, but the odds were stacked against us.”
A Shade of Vampire 84: A Memory of Time Page 9
