Blood Feast: A Fantasy Romance

40 Nights After Winter Solstice

FOLLOWING SMOKE

Lio smelled soil and decay. Was he in a tomb?

He opened his eyes. Magefire glared on his vision. He took a wary step back from the brazier that revealed where he was.

The flames shone on the stone door. The runes carved into the portal seemed like bottomless shadows.

He was somewhere worse than a tomb. He must be in Miranda’s mind.

A soft, familiar hand took his. “No, my Grace. Your first duel with her is over, and your next is yet to come. This is my mind.”

His breath of relief disturbed the dead air. He turned to Cassia. She stood beside him holding her dagger, her tattered ambassador cords at her neck where her pendant should have hung.

“This is a shared dream,” he realized. “Our Grace Union has blended our day terrors.”

“I’m so glad we’re together here.”

“So am I.”

She squeezed his hand. “Does this vision feel different to you? It’s as if we’re more in control of our thoughts and actions.”

Lio nodded. “A lucid dream.”

Cassia turned to look behind them, and he saw her shiver. The first door lay in ruins. Blood had dried on the floor at its threshold. He could smell that it was her blood. He put an arm around her and pulled her closer.

A cracking sound made them spin to face the second door again.

“No!” Cassia cried.

Fractures appeared in the surface of the stone. The thin cracks spread before their eyes.

Lio felt no hint of the Collector’s presence here. “How is he breaking it?”

She moved in front of him. “We have to stop it.”

“How?” he asked.

“Help me cast,” she said.

He wrapped one arm around her and held his wrist to her mouth. She sank her fangs into him, and as she swallowed his blood, her magic rose to life. She sliced open both her hands and squeezed her blood onto the ground. Her power swept out of her, through his veins and the soles of his feet into the ground below. Her essence seemed to soak the walls and the stone overhead.

Blood ran through the cracks in the door, gleaming red in the firelight. Their blood. It traced each rune and filled every fissure until it dripped down the surface of the door. But no matter how much blood they shed, more cracks split open.

“No!” she shouted again.

The embers in the braziers collapsed into ashes, and the fire went out. All that remained was the scent of death.

Cassia wasn’t sure howmuch longer she and Lio could withstand their recurring day terrors. The deeper they traveled into wartorn territory, the worse their shared dreams became. A fortnight of troubling visions had worn her down and sent Lio spiraling into dark thoughts.

Their hunt for Miranda had proved fruitless so far, fraying everyone’s morale even further. Her trail was vivid to Cassia, a whiff of violence on an arcane wind, a vengeful footstep imprinted on the land. It always felt as if she was just ahead, and yet the Black Roses had seen neither hide nor hair of her.

Tonight they tracked her through an orchard in Segetia. The four of them levitated between the trees with rain slicing at their cloaks while Knight splashed along the rutted trail below. They had met no one so far except raiding parties of Lucis’s soldiers, each with a war mage and many with liegehounds, bent on flushing out Hesperines.

Cassia started to shove her tousled hair back under her hood, then realized there was still blood on her hand from the last skirmish. She shuddered.

“I’m sorry I missed that.” Lio hovered nearer, and his cleaning spell banished the mortal’s blood from her hand. “How is your arm?”

“It was only a small singe. The soreness has faded.”

Despite her reassurances, Lio’s aura was still full of anger. “I would give anything to step to Miranda right now. Thorns, I’d settle for Tendo flying us to her like baggage if it meant I didn’t have to watch another war mage hurl a fireball at my Grace.”

Mak laughed. “I doubt our favorite vulture would agree to that.”

“I do not need help flying now.” Cassia spun in the air and gave Lio a smile she hoped he would find comforting.

Knight bounded through a patch of mud, and Lyros floated aside to avoid the spray. “I know this is frustrating, but we must keep to our search strategy. Being methodical is our best chance of finding Miranda.”

“It’s begun to feel useless,” Cassia confessed.

Lyros shook his head. “We’ll do the same thing tonight that we’ve done every night. Follow Miranda’s trail as far as we can until dawn, then return to the tower to Slumber. And tomorrow, we’ll step back to where we left off tracking her and pick up her trail again.”

If Lyros drilled them on their strategies one more time, Cassia thought her mind would melt. If Mak and Lio were equally weary of it, though, no one protested. They knew Lyros was being protective and that he drove no one madder than himself. The farther they went into danger, the more he seemed to need to control every little decision they made.

“Our strategy is good,” Mak said. “If we could step to her, we wouldn’t have been here to take care those raiding parties. There aren’t any other Hesperines this far out to stop them from pillaging everything in their path. We all know what they do to any people who can’t defend themselves. Especially women.”

Lio grimaced. “You’re right. At least we can do a little for the war effort on our way and keep a few innocent people safe.”

They emerged from the trees to find a small cluster of homes, which must belong to those who tended the orchards. The settlement appeared undamaged, but deserted.

Lio’s power flashed among the cottages. “No one here. These families must have evacuated already.”

Cassia stroked Knight’s back as he sniffed heavy tracks left behind by horses and boots. It looked like the Knights of Andragathos had been through here, gathering up the villagers. “Let us pray they made it to safety with one of Flavian’s lords. I fear not everyone will reach a fortress before Lucis’s forces find them.”

Mak shook his head. “These raiders are like strikes of lightning. No rhyme or reason to their ambushes. It must be hard for Benedict to organize the evacuations.”

Cassia tried to shut out the fear and sadness that still drifted out of the abandoned homes. “It’s as if the whole domain is under siege. An entire population can’t survive locked inside Segetia’s castles all winter…or longer.”

“I know.” Lio touched her back. “I wish we had news from the front lines, too.”

She nodded. As usual, he knew what she was thinking. “I wonder how Solia and the Charge are faring. It’s hard to tell from here.”

So far, Miranda’s trail had gone around the main warfront, avoiding the territory where the bulk of Lucis’s army was clashing with Solia’s forces.

“We can’t draw any conclusions,” Lyros agreed, “but I don’t like what we’ve seen.”

“Neither do I,” Cassia said. “Too many raiding parties have already infiltrated Segetia’s defenses.”

Lyros picked up a doll lying on the path. The door to the nearest home hung open. He set the toy inside the house and shut the door. “There is no honor or courage in this war. Instead of facing his equals in battle, Lucis is bent on slaughtering those powerless to fight back. The world has never seen a war quite like this.”

“Or perhaps we have,” Lio said quietly, “but all memory of it was buried with the last civilization the Old Masters’ game destroyed.”

Cassia shivered, thinking of the last raiding party they had killed. Lucis’s soldiers and the Order of Anthros’s mages had died as pawns. The gauntlet of violence and death was taking its toll on her, night by night.

She knew this was part of her calling as an immortal. It was one of the oldest promises the Hesperines had made to Tenebra in the Equinox Oath. Criminals who hurt honest people were fair game for Hesperines errant. When Tenebran law failed, immortals enacted Orthros’s justice.

She did not know how that promise coexisted with the guarantees of peace she cherished from the treaty. Every time another mortal fell before her power, she tried to understand. But she found no answers in the hollow eyes of the men who had no more future, no more hope that they might one day transform into their better selves.

Lyros unrolled their map, pulling her out of her thoughts. “We’re nearing the area where the knights were headed with the refugees we helped across the river.”

Cassia ran her finger south of the River Silvistra. “The defenses here will be better. Segetia’s strength lies in their alliances and trade agreements. All across this region, there’s a swath of fortresses that belong to Flavian’s most loyal lords.”

“I remember reading about those,” Lio said. “For centuries, they’ve been the main line of defense against invasions from the south. They’ve held out through countless wars.”

“Here’s Castra Augusta.” Cassia pointed to the fortress. “That’s the stronghold of a Knight Commander in Ben’s order, where he said they were taking the Mederi villagers.”

“Good,” said Lyros. “We can hope that raiding party from earlier tonight will be the last one we meet for awhile.”

“But that also means there might be Chargers near,” Mak reminded them. “If Rudhira has been able to spare any Hesperines errant to fight in Segetia, they’re sure to be protecting the fortresses where the refugees are.”

Lyros nodded. “Let’s be on our guard.”

Lio looked to Cassia. “Where to next?”

The Lustra was pulling her toward the fields past the village. The farmland felt too open and exposed. But she squared her shoulders. “This way.”

They swept over the fallow fields of Tenebra’s bread basket. It seemed dead now, with animals in their burrows for the winter and the humans gone. Would any of the farmers make it back in time to sow their fields in spring? Would Lucis’s armies leave them any fields to return to, or would they come home to find their livelihood trampled by armies? Cassia feared there was famine in the future for Solia’s kingdom.

It was midnight when they scented fire. There was no cover to be had, so they gathered close under veil spells. Knight paced restlessly, and Cassia could hear his heart beating faster.

Mak scanned the horizon, where a column of smoke rose. “That seems like something worse than another skirmish between the knights and a raiding party.”

“Miranda’s trail leads right toward the fire,” Cassia said.

Lio’s magic stretched out from him. His dread crept over their Grace Union before he spoke. “I don’t sense any minds. Whatever happened out there…I don’t know if anyone survived.”

A weight settled in Cassia’s belly. “We have to find out.”

Mak nodded, his aura grim.

“No one drop any veils until we’re sure what we’re dealing with,” Lyros said.

They drew their weapons and moved into their defensive formation. This time, the smoke was the guidance they followed across the fields.

When Cassia smelled the bodies, she nearly gagged. She put a hand to her mouth, swallowing hard. This was different from any of their battles so far. There was more death here. So much more.

The source of the smoke came into sight ahead. They all came to a halt as shock reverberated through their Blood Union.

A castle stood battered and scorched before them. Fire magic had made short work of the outer palisade and left its fresh timbers snapping with hot sap. The old stones of the inner wall had succumbed, and the Charge’s wards were long gone, too. Smoke swirled up from the keep.

Through the odor of burnt flesh, Cassia comprehended what she was seeing. Bodies lay amid the broken remnants of tents. She glimpsed dark hair and white hair, rough homespuns and fine surcoats.

This was Castra Augusta, the fortress where Ben and his knights had brought the villagers for safety.

Lio held his magictaut, striving to catch any hint of a living mind. He could feel nothing but the memories of suffering that flooded the Blood Union.

He withdrew into his bond with Cassia and focused on shielding her. That was one thing he could do, besides stand here helpless in the face of destruction they were too late to prevent.

“An army did this.” Mak sounded numb.

Lyros dragged a hand over his face. “Let’s spread out and listen for heartbeats. We may be able to detect survivors the enemy missed.”

Cassia didn’t open her mouth, but she nodded.

You can come with me. Lio made the offer privately so as not to wound her pride in front of the warriors.

Her throat worked as she swallowed again. No. If there’s anyone left to save, every moment counts. I’ll search on my own so we can cover more ground.

None of them were safe fighting alone, but Lio knew she was right. At least she had Knight with her. Fighting his Grace instincts, he let her out of arm’s reach and forced himself in a different direction.

He levitated over the mortals’ remains. His magic seemed blind in the face of their terror and despair. He stopped breathing and listened. But the bodies were lifeless.

They had come from all over Patria and Segetia to find safety here, only for their last Sanctuary to fall.

Lio felt as if he were seeing into the forgotten past and the inevitable future. Was this what the beginning of the end looked like each time the Old Masters prepared to destroy the world again?

All these lives, wasted for the game. Their loved ones would grieve out their mortal years, while the necromancers continued their schemes, untouched.

Lio didn’t know the names of the fallen. He didn’t have room in his chest for all their pain. But he tried to memorize their faces as he searched. He had to do something for them, if only remember them for as much of eternity as he and Cassia survived.

Have you found anyone? she asked.

No. Have you?

Only more fallen knights.

Is Ben…?

I don’t know. I haven’t found him yet. That means there’s hope.

When Lio checked the next body, recognition jolted him. He would never forget how this young woman had smiled at him after he had soothed her fears with his thelemancy. Rudhira had helped her grandmother up from a fall.

Now the girl’s expression was blank of either joy or fear. She lay across the elder woman’s body, the young trying to shield the old, love trying to defy fate.

Lio searched through familiar faces now. He reached into every person with his magic, sending his own mind into their emptiness again and again.

Goddess, let even one be alive.

When he found two gray heads bent together, he sank to his knees on the ground. The elderly couple who had loved Miranda lay in each other’s arms with matching wounds. The same sword had run them both through.

Cassia wrapped him in their Union. Who is it?

I found the villagers from Mederi.

Oh, Lio. I’m so sorry.

We tried so hard to save them.

She had no answer for that. Neither did he. But they had each other. Grace Union was the cord of life that pulled him to his feet and gave him the strength to forge ahead.

When he found the little girl’s goat with its throat cut, he dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. I can’t find the children. I don’t see them anywhere.

We’ll keep looking, Cassia promised.

He took the goat in his arms and laid it next to the girl’s parents. Then he got up again and kept putting one foot in front of the other.

Splinters dug into Cassia’shands, but she pressed on into the ruins of the keep. With her Hesperine strength, she shoved more scorched beams out of her way.

“Baat!” she commanded Knight again.

He whined and scratched at the rubble in the demolished doorway.

“No, darling. You may not come in here with me. This mess is no place for a big dog.”

She feared he would hurt himself or get trapped. But her Hesperine agility let her shimmy safely under fallen pillars and levitate over broken stones.

The residue of war magic was everywhere, acrid to her arcane senses. This was the work of an enchanted siege engine. She knew what the chances were of finding anyone alive. Not a soul had lived through the siege of Castra Roborra.

But they’d had no Hesperines to protect them. There had been Chargers here at the refugee camp, just like at Patria, which had held out for months against the Order of Anthros’s trebuchets. Surely the Hesperines had managed to survive, to save someone.

An arcane glimmer caught her attention. She pushed her awareness deeper into the ruins.

Did you find something? Lio asked.

I don’t know…

She navigated around a pile of fallen stones and nearly tripped over another body trapped in the collapse. A Knight of Andragathos she didn’t know. She turned away from the sight and tried to focus on the gleam of magic she’d felt.

There. Yes, thank the Goddess. That was a trace of Hesperine magic.

She crept further into the keep, coughing in the ash she stirred. At last the rubble opened up to a clear space, a cocoon of safety inside the devastation. Stones had piled up around it in a perfect sphere.

She could still feel the imprint of the shadow wards that had held the collapse at bay. But there was no Hesperine to be seen.

She drew a shallow breath and tasted light. That radiance filled her lungs and veins, a shout of triumph and a final cry of despair. She put a hand to her chest, her fingers twisting in the front of her robe over her heart.

Cassia, what is it?

She let her tears fall. One of our people died here.

Complete silence fell over the Blood Union between her and Lio, Mak and Lyros. They stopped together, holding a moment of eternity for this Hesperine who should have had forever.

Who?Lio pleaded.

She knelt and dug her fingers into the soil, reaching for the weary Lustra. Could it give her a sign of what had happened here?

A vision ghosted through her mind. A Hesperine with a lean warrior’s build and shoulder-length black hair. She knew him.

She held his image in her thoughts. It was Azad.

No! Lio’s sorrow overflowed their Union.

The shared a memory of the last time they had seen Azad. He had danced the night away at their avowal celebration with Neana, his Grace.

One of their own had been martyred here. Azad had been a Ritual tributary of Blood Komnena. Apollon’s Gift had flowed in his and Neana’s veins, as surely as in Lio and Cassia’s.

Through the Lustra, she saw Azad standing alone at the heart of the keep. Fire and stone rained down while his wards held back the destruction. But every ball of magefire the trebuchets hurled at him brought new lines of strain to his face and wore at his protective spells.

Another flaming stone shattered against his magic, and burning fragments sprayed his ward. One ember made the smallest breach in his spell.

The next gout of flame washed over his defenses. The fire found that vulnerable point and ate at it.

No, no, no,Cassia chanted in her mind as the fate already written played out in her mind’s eye. Lio watched with her, sharing the horror in her every thought.

Fire spilled through the breach in the ward, and Anthros’s element engulfed Azad. His once-immortal body returned to the Goddess in a blinding flare of white.

Cassia blinked hard, as if she could clear that flash of light from her sight and her soul. On her hands and knees, she began to search the ground around her.

A few pebbles broke free and skittered down over her head.

She slowed down and searched more carefully, relying on all her Hesperine ability to move lightly through the space.

Finally, she found what she was looking for. She lifted her precious find with reverent hands.

She shook with the effort to hold in her angry sobs. She tried to brush the dirt off the thin golden braid she held. All that remained of the fallen Hesperine errant was his beloved’s hair.