Chapter 44
Chapter
Forty-Four
Tristen
If we make it out of this room, Titus will kill me for putting Selene in the line of fire.
“It’s funny you think you have a choice, Tristen,” Elderan beams. That old, crusty prick snaps his fingers. A force slams into us, trapping us against the stone wall.
“I can’t move,” Selene whispers. The fear in her voice would break Titus’s heart.
I gulp down my apology for dragging her here. This is all my fault. I’m going to be the one to kill my brother’s heart.
Elderan steps closer. He looks like an over-cheery hugger ready to smother me.
“This is an honor. One I hope you will carry with pride. I like challenges; it makes time not feel like a void. I could have turned my back on your world, and let the new evil that has evolved here take over. It seemed cruel to watch another world fade into nothing. To watch more of my children die. So, I made a truce.”
“If you’re looking for a ‘thank you’, you’ll find no gratitude from me,” I sneer.
“You remind me of the others. So prideful until you hit rock bottom.” He sweeps his foot over the floor, and dust stirs. “This is bottom—well, shortly it will be. It’ll be interesting to see you stand, or stumble. I can offer my advice, but it’s up to you to follow it,” he shrugs.
“You said you wanted our survival!” Why can’t I feel my shadows?
“I do. I want you all to survive. This new world will be wild and feral at first, but everything can be tamed. My other children learned that the hard way. I had to allow them to watch their siblings fall so they would respect the lesser I created. Humbled men are willing to agree to peace, Tristen. Remember that. It’s good advice. ”
“Fuck you!” I spit.
“My time has come. When I return, you will either all be dead or thriving.”
“You’re a shitty mentor.” I don’t want his help! I won’t suffer through the absence of losing a parental figure again.
“A mentor is not a constant hand that holds you, Tristen. I will return eventually. If you follow my advice, I will grant you more. Make a new breed of warriors, keep the world safe, and use the runes to defeat the evil that seeks to devour you.
“I’m giving you the power of becoming a marker, Tristen. One day, you will understand how I feel and why I cannot be a constant shadow.”
“I’d rather be a fucker who shoves my sword up your ass!” I grind out.
“I’ve seen your soul. You want others to think it’s gray, murky.
It’s not. There is honor in you that years will sharpen.
You’re young, you have so many trials yet to come, but you have survived so much already.
You’ll endure this. Titus will be…” He glances at Selene.
I want to cut his eyes out of his body. “In a deep state soon. He has a lot on his plate. It’s time he had help. ”
What the fuck does that mean?
He waves his hand. My body moves like a doll until I’m lying on the floor. Dust clogs my nose. “I thought you swept the floors,” I taunt even as fear grips me like a vice.
Elderan flashes a crooked grin. “You’re the better person. I see that now.” He crouches down next to me.
When I look into his eyes, light shoots forth, like a star in the night sky cutting through darkness; it grips me. Makes me feel small and insignificant.
He continues, “I’ll explain how it works. I’m going to give you the power to make a stronger breed of vampires. You will bite them, drain them dry, and right before they pass over, you will feed them your blood.”
Bite a vampire?!
“The girl,” Selene whispers, grabbing Elderan’s attention. “Tristen, that small child with the Shade, Titus said she fed from a vampire.”
I press my tongue to my fangs. I don’t want them to vanish and appear as Titus described. Ladies love my fangs.
“Oh no, he’s not going to be like her, but fast thinking, Selene. Fast thinking will be what…” He snaps his mouth shut and pretends to cough. “Anyway, I am not making you what she is.”
“What is she?” Selene presses.
“She is… a creature born of anger, pain and jealousy. She is Nerina’s.”
“That girl is the monster Nerina made?” I question. My fingers tingle. I can’t hunt down children.
“Nerina made many creatures here that went awry, but yes she is the one that feeds off of magic. Evil has taken over her. That child is just a shell now. Perhaps she could have been something else if given a chance. Some wild dogs can be trained if someone were only to take the time to love them. Nerina’s creatures feed off magic.
I never said it had to be good magic. Consider that suggestion. ”
I grind my teeth. He speaks of innocent life like it’s a deck of cards he can shuffle around. “I’m not a shell you can have, Elderan!” I shout.
“There’s that pompous prick.” Elderan shakes his head. “So be it. Let’s focus on you.”
The blood drains from my face. “Never mind. Talk about the girl.” Why did I do that? Because I was scared and wanted answers. Now I have more questions.
“Oh no. This is a lesson. You wanted attention, now you will get it.”
“I wanted answers!”
“You’ll get them,” he applauds himself. “As I was saying, you will have the magic to change vampires, bite, feed to the point of death, then offer them your blood. They will change.”
I fight to move. I can’t. This is happening. I accept it and start asking questions. “Change how?”
He kneels and opens his palms. A small ball of bright white light appears. He hems and haws, looks at me like I’m a cauldron he’s going to cook a stew in. “I need warriors to look after the book, to look over the magic of these lands.
“Hmmm. Actually, let’s amend this.” Elderan shakes his hand like a pepper shaker. Crack! Spark! “You can change others, not just vampires. That’s more fair.” He moves his fingers, causing the magic to dance. “You can change anyone, so pick wisely. Pick those who can be warriors.
“Let’s add more, make this fun. We need to strengthen you and those you select. Your magic won’t run out. You won’t need blood to fuel it either. Yes, I like that.”
Change anyone! “Humans don’t have magic,” I blurt out.
“That’s right.” He shakes his hands, pushing his fingers into the light like dough. “Let’s change that. Give them magic, make all your new creatures equal.”
“This is madness,” Selene mutters in fear and awe.
“Madness gives way to hope,” he rebuts. “There is the problem of your hearts. Hmmm…” His face turns pensive. “Do I do as I did to them?” He claps suddenly, the magic in his palm sparks. “So be it. Only a handful of swords can kill you. Be careful, for they are in this world now.”
“What sword?”
He shakes his head with much disapproval. “I answered this when we first spoke.”
“The sword in the Vitalis,” I acknowledge, recalling the memory.
He raises an eyebrow. “Bravo. You catch on quickly. There is hope yet.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” I mumble.
“But you liked the other gifts, didn’t you? Don’t be selfish, don’t accept more magic, strength, and life without expecting a balance.”
“Don’t do this,” Selene stresses. “Please. This isn’t what my brother wanted.”
“Everett,” Elderan speaks with longing. “He wanted so many unselfish things. But he saw this. He knew what was coming, Selene. He warned you. We all have sacrifices. This shall be Tristen’s.”
He looks back at me. “Be careful who you sire. I know the guilt a parent carries. It humbles you. Start with Titus once he can manage it, then make others.” The magic floats off his palm and drifts toward me.
My chest keeps hitting the invisible grip he’s trapped me in, making each rapid inhale shorter.
“Stop!” Selene shouts in a wild fury. “Please stop!”
I want to fight, scream, and kick for my life. Instead, I push my shoulders down. “It’s okay, Selene.” I swallow down my fear and face death with unblinking eyes.
Elderan’s eyes glow with delight as his magic runs down my cheek, caressing it as a lover would.
It dances over my jaw, purrs down my neck, and then hums with glee once it hovers over my heart.
His magic pierces my chest, cracks a part of me.
It’s a powerful boot stomping on a snail’s shell. I’m defenseless, weak, brittle.
Selene, screaming my name, is the last thing I hear. Gods be damned, I had to die hearing her screaming again. I wish it were screams of pleasure rather than tortured cries.
Bellowing light eradicates my shadow magic, making it cry out, sizzle, fume, flare, and then break under the weight.
You fought hard, my friend. I am the one who failed you.
It whimpers. It’s still there, being forced to endure alongside me. Elderan’s magic stretches us out as one scrapes honey from the comb.
My heart stops, and then I feel nothing at all.
But I welcome it because if I survive, I know I’ll never feel this much peace again.