Chapter 16 The Hunt #3
“Yes, Legion. You are very lucky,” Siban said.
“I am the Childe of his Heart,” Legion told them, glancing over at him to see if he’d really meant it.
Ryder did not deny it, but instead simply nodded solemnly.
“It’ll be a good hunt,” Demos said, his eyes fixed on Ryder’s face.
He knew his Blood Brother was hurting for him. Demos would have done anything to take this burden from his shoulders. But that couldn’t be done. Only Ryder could put it down. Put Legion down.
Demos and Siban stepped back into the crowd.
Balthazar and Caemorn were the next to approach them.
Balthazar was wearing a dark blue suit with a sunny yellow shirt and tie.
It should not have worked, but it did. Caemorn was in his sleek all-black.
Caemorn flipped the soul gem with Roan in it between his fingers almost absently.
Legion moved closer to Ryder’s side. He was genuinely afraid of the two of them.
“Master?” Legion whined.
“It’s all right. We’re together now. They won’t hurt you,” Ryder promised.
“Master is strong and wise,” Legion muttered. “Better than them.”
Ryder didn’t agree, but he merely smiled his greeting at the other Immortals.
“Nice night for a hunt,” Balthazar said. “Though I cannot imagine going out in that muck.” He picked an invisible piece of lint from his suit coat. “I’m more of a city hunter myself.”
“We mustn’t let you muss that outfit,” Ryder responded dryly.
“It is quite nice, isn’t it?” Balthazar modeled it for him.
“Lovely. Only you could pull it off,” Ryder admitted.
“I don’t know, Ryder. I can see you in some animal prints.” Balthazar flashed him a rakish smile.
In his mind, Balthazar sent, If you need anything, Ryder, anything at all–
It’s all right. I truly am at peace with this. It’s for the best.
Yes, Seery told me what you intended.
She did? Then she knew before I did.
She always does, Balthazar laughed.
Ryder met Caemorn’s steady gaze. Of all of them, he knew Ryder’s pain.
It was a connection between them that had not been there before when they were Weryn and Kaly.
But it was there now. Something that bound them together as tight as blood.
He nodded at Caemorn. Caemorn nodded back.
There was nothing that needed to be said.
As Balthazar and Caemorn stepped back, Fiona came out to them. Sana remained in the crowd behind her, but she tracked Legion. Ryder knew that Fiona would have her own decision to make about Shaela. And he would be there for her when it was time. Fiona reached out and took Ryder’s hands in hers.
“Brother,” she said softly.
“Sister,” he greeted her.
“Let the moons guide you,” she said. “They will lead you true.”
He smiled and nodded at her. She squeezed his hands before stepping back. He knew that if he needed her, she would be there. He would never truly be alone. For Wyvern could go anywhere in an instant when needed.
And then it was Seeyr’s turn. Sophia Strange stood beside her, holding a wrap that she’d shrugged off of her bare shoulders.
Her eyes were still bound with a white, silk band.
Though she was blind, she came to him unerringly and her head moved between him and Legion as if she were gazing at both of them.
“So, Legion, you are finally going on your hunt with Weryn,” she said, her voice rich and warm.
Legion shifted from foot to foot. Their voice was slightly edged with a whine as they said, “Yes, as it should be.”
Clearly, Legion felt that she might challenge that notion. But Seeryr only nodded.
“Yes, as it has always been fated to be,” she said.
“I am the Childe of his Heart,” Legion pronounced again but less certainly.
“Yes, Legion. You are,” she said. Then she turned to Ryder and her smile was full of love. “Everything is as it should be, Weryn.”
“I am glad to hear it, Seeyr,” he answered.
She had just blessed when he intended to do. He bowed his head and she placed a hand on the top of it as if in benediction. Then she stepped back and the way was clear. Ryder turned to Legion with a smile.
“What form would you have me take tonight, Legion?” he asked.
Legion’s jaws opened in surprise and pleasure. They had not expected him to ask them that. “I have heard, Master, that you can shift into a fierymane.”
The fierymane was an Ever Dark creature made of flames and ash. It was a fearsome and frightening beast. Seeing one would cause even the most powerful Vampires to back away.
“And so it shall be,” Ryder said.
And he shifted.
Legion’s eyes reflected his flames. He stood over seven feet tall on four hooves. Flames scorched the earth beneath his feet. And when he tossed his head, fireballs flew off in every direction.
“Beautiful,” Legion moaned. “So beautiful, Master.”
Without another word, Ryder and Legion went out into the Ever Dark.
He allowed Legion to lead the way. His Childe sniffed the air and growled as he located the rabirah’s scent.
Legion was then barrelling towards it. Ryder kept slightly behind the massive, bulky form.
Every other creature kept out of their way, but the rabirah–slow and full after eating a nest of younglings–had remained. It was king of its domain.
Or so it thought.
Working with Legion was almost effortless.
It was as if they had fought beside one another for eons.
Ryder used the fireballs to goad the rabirah onto the path they wanted.
Legion would plow into the creature, ripping its flesh with their sharp claws.
Ryder would dart in to stop that barbed tail from hitting Legion.
Legion grabbed hold of that tail and ripped the barb off.
Blood spurted like a geyser. Legion bathed in it, letting out howls of pleasure, as the rabirah spasmed and fought.
Ryder got the creature onto its back and Legion went in with jaws wide to rip open the soft underbelly and feast on the rabirah’s still living organs.
The rabirah screamed as Legion pulled out its intestines and shoved some of them into their mouth.
Blood, offal, gore. It was everywhere. It coated Legion and the ground.
The rabirah wailed. Ryder watched. In this moment of utter conquest and happiness, Legion let out a howl and pumped a savage clawed fist into the air.
“We did it, Master! Our first hunt together!” Legion cried. “We shall kill more and more and more! Oh, we shall!”
There will only be one more death we shall experience together, Ryder thought as he shifted back into his humanoid form.
He didn’t let Legion know what was coming.
He made the moment swift. So swift that Legion’s soul likely didn’t even know that they no longer had a body.
Legion’s head was severed from their body.
Ryder held it in one hand. The massive form stood upright for a long time before it finally toppled over and blood poured out.
Ryder kept expecting Legion to shift into their human form too.
But they did not. They laid there in their Second Death, the monster that they had been in their Second Life.
Ryder breathed in and out. He tossed Legion’s head into the pile of the dead. He shifted part of himself to that of the fierymane again and he sent a stream of flame onto both corpses until they were engulfed in fire.
“Ryder?” Grayson’s voice came from behind him.
He turned and saw his beloved Ashyr running towards him. Fiona stood a few feet away, having brought the young man to him. Grayson threw himself into Ryder’s arms. Ryder embraced him.
“Oh, Ryder, I know why you didn’t want me at the gate,” Grayson murmured into his hair. “You gave Legion their final wish. But I know you’re hurting.”
“Not anymore,” Ryder said into Grayson’s hair. “It’s over. And you’re here.”
Grayson hugged him fiercely. “It’s over. And I will never leave you again.”