Chapter 2 Missing
MISSING
“We really have to take care of them,” Balthazar let out a rather hysterical sounding laugh as they all watched hundreds of glowing beings land on the ground with rumbling thuds all over Nightvallen. He turned to Caemorn. “We can take care of them, can’t we?”
“What are they?” Ryder asked as he took in the glowing figures that looked all too physical despite having supposedly been released from soul gems.
“Ecthrois,” Caemorn answered.
“Why do they seem,” Balthazar waggled his fingers towards one of them, “real?”
“Souls are real,” Caemorn answered.
“No, that’s not what I meant! They’re bulky, monstrous things.” Balthazar shivered.
The creatures’ bodies were heavy and piled with muscle.
They stood over eight feet tall though they slightly hunched over like gorillas as they walked on their knuckles and clawed feet.
Some of them had extra heads, though these extras were all malformed in some way and many of them sprouted halfway down one of the four massive arms. One of them threw those arms back and let out a massive roar before it took off down the street.
“He means they seem like they have material form,” Ryder translated the Eyros Vampire’s hints.
“Yes! Exactly! It’s like you read my mind, Ryder. And, Caemorn, you can read my thoughts but pretended not to this time!” Balthazar said. “You knew what I meant! You did not need Ryder’s interpretation.”
“I did not pretend. For one who can delve into every mind and control those minds, you should be more precise in your verbiage,” Caemorn said.
Balthazar narrowed his eyes at Caemorn. “You want me to use my words more precisely?”
“Master is most voluble in his use of words,” Elgar said.
“Yes, exactly! I am! Very–very voluble!” Balthazar claimed.
“Voluble does not mean precise. It only means you talk a lot, which I would agree with,” Caemorn said.
“You only care about precision when you feel out of control! And I warrant that all these monsters on the loose are causing you to feel that way,” Balthazar sniffed.
Caemorn’s lips writhed back from his teeth. “It is the waste of power that offends me.”
“You’re worried about the waste of power?
” Balthazar began, but at Caemorn’s wintery look, he held up his hands as if in defeat.
“All right, all right! I see your point. The waste of power is shameful. Utterly shameful. Let’s hope it doesn’t lead to the waste of lives.
But yes, the waste of power is the most important thing. ”
“That and the reporters filming it,” Elgar offered.
“Oh, Elgar, you are being so helpful this evening.” Balthazar squeezed the top of his nose.
“But you are quite right again. Especially if those creatures beat someone to death, preferably a reporter with one of those cameras. You’re going to have to Whisper a hell of a lot.
And we’re going to have to destroy quite a bit of evidence. ”
“Can the Ecthrois be physically attacked?” Ryder asked.
A nod from Caemorn. “They are beings that can switch between material and immaterial states. Unlike us, their bodies and souls are one.”
“So any Vampire can go up against them then. That’s good,” Ryder said. “Demos! Siban! Come to me!”
The two Weryn loped over to his side. All three of them were naked, which all the other Vampires were studiously ignoring.
Daemon had a habit of walking around naked as well and making people look away or look towards him.
But though Vampires were jaded about a lot of things, many of them had come from times where the naked human form was shameful and desiring it in any way more so.
Caemorn was much older than Balthazar and didn’t have those hangups, though maybe a Kaly Vampire simply wouldn’t.
He didn’t look away when they were naked, but Ryder thought that had more to do with Caemorn’s clinical nature about bodies over all.
They were like clothing. They could be cast off.
And Caemorn could touch the souls beneath those bodies. He looked away from nothing.
“Ryder!” Demos breathed. “Those bloody Zradum are dead!”
“If only they were bloody,” Siban said with their lips writhing back from their teeth as they rubbed their hands on their thighs. “The goop inside of them feels and tastes like rancid puss.”
“That’s quite a description, Siban.” Balthazar looked slightly green.
“I stopped biting into them after the first one,” Siban answered with a faint gag. “But I’m still coated with them.”
They wiped their hands together as if to get off the rancid puss. Ryder was actually in agreement with that
“Baths for everyone after we face off against our next enemy,” Ryder said as he swept a hand towards an Ecthrois. “Come, let us–”
But Caemorn put an arm up to stop Ryder and the others from leaving. “While Demos and Siban can go, you need to stay, Ryder.”
Demos bared his teeth. “If my brother wishes to go–”
“It’s okay, Demos. He’s… our friend,” Ryder said.
Demos’ eyes narrowed. “He shouldn’t restrain you–”
“He always has a reason for everything he does. It’s all right.” Ryder looked at Caemorn. “Why don’t you want me to go after them? Don’t we need to deal with those things before there’s a death? If there hasn’t been one already?” Ryder grimaced at that. “It needs to be all Vampires on deck!”
Before Caemorn could answer, another Vampire approached.
“How can we assist you, Kaly?” a flaxen-haired, female Vampire appeared out of the darkness; her hands filled with soul gems. “I know that you can bring all of the Ecthrois back on your own, but if we can help in any small way, we are at your beck and call.”
“Yes, Lisette, you can assist,” Caemorn answered.
Ryder was surprised–though he wasn’t sure why–that the Kaly Vampires addressed Caemorn by his Immortal name purely.
Maybe it was because none of the other Immortals did.
Eyros was Balthazar. Wyvern was Fiona. Ashyr was Grayson, though he wondered if Grayson would not drop his human name at the first opportunity, but he answered to Grayson easily.
And I am Ryder. For now. Though the others will call me Weryn at times. But this is different. There is no doubt who Caemorn is to them. He is no one else but Kaly. Even if he has changed.
“Do you need more gems? We can get you more,” Lisette offered Caemorn. “These creatures stand no chance against you.”
Caemorn was staring off at where the bounding creature had been.
He swept around to face Lisette. His coat flared out behind him.
Caemorn was an arresting figure at times, filled with command, and an icy beauty that could not be denied.
He seemed like a being of the moon and the stars, but harder like silver-kissed steel. He embodied that at this moment.
“No, I will not be the one dealing with them. You and the other Kaly must,” Caemorn instructed.
Faint confused lines appeared on her brow, but she bowed and said, “Of course, Kaly. Whatever you command. I will–”
“It is a distraction, Lisette. All of this is a distraction from whatever is happening in the Kaly Palace, which only I and the other Immortals can address,” Caemorn interrupted her and answered the question that she hadn’t dared ask and Ryder was wanting an answer on.
“I realize I would be the best one to retrieve all of Ecthrois. But that would play into our enemy’s hands.
So I need you and the others to do your best to deal with them.
Some will undoubtedly have to be killed, but capture as many as you can. ”
Lisette blinked. “Y-yes, Kaly, you are wise as in all things.”
She bowed again. Caemorn stared at her in silence for a beat.
“And you are highly intelligent, Lisette. I would hear your thoughts on matters rather than simple obedience,” Caemorn said.
Faint blooms appeared on Lisette’s pale cheeks. “I–I am honored you think so. I am happy to offer anything that could be of use.”
The Kaly were notoriously known for one-upping each other.
They strove to be better and more powerful than their brethren.
They rarely worked together. And in those unusual situations where they did, betrayal was often involved.
Before it was revealed who he truly was, Caemorn had played many of those games and won them all.
He had not been popular among the other Kaly as gifted Vampires often were not.
But now he was seen differently and he was seeing things differently, too.
Or so it seemed to Ryder if he was asking Lisette for her thoughts.
Like Balthazar and perhaps himself too, Caemorn kept a distance between himself and his Bloodline.
Only Fiona seemed to have found connection there.
So Ryder guessed that asking Lisette this was a big deal.
Kaly would never have asked for input from others of his Bloodline, Weryn whispered in his mind. This cannot be Kaly.
It is. New and improved. Changed. Like we all are.
“Use my regard as you will to up your rank with the others. But I would have you speak your mind to me regardless of how others respond to it,” Caemorn said.
“Now gather as many of the Kaly as you can. Ask Wyvern and Ashyr Vampires to transport you throughout the city. Have Helm Vampires hide you until you can spring into action. Request Eyros and Siryn Vampires to lure them to you. Killing the Ecthrois would be a waste. I want as many captured as possible. But if it is a choice between one of our human guests being injured or an Ecthrois captured, you are to always save the humans.”
“I understand, Kaly. These humans are under our protection. It would be a loss of face if they should be harmed,” Lisette answered.
“The Weryn will protect you,” Ryder added with a nod at Demos and Siban. “They’ll give you the time you need to capture as many of the Ecthrois as possible.”
“We will make it so,” Demos grunted.
“It shall be as Weryn commands.” Siban bowed their head.
“Let it be known that the Kaly who traps the most Ecthrois will be given a grand soul gem by me,” Caemorn told her.