Legends of Marithia: Book 3 - Talonsphere (6 page)

BOOK: Legends of Marithia: Book 3 - Talonsphere
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She drew a deep breath. “Zhendurians, we have returned to you. You may come out now.”

Silence.

Just as Tusdar was about to say something, feet shuffled throughout the city. Vampires opened windows and leapt to the ground, came out of barrels, and slid out from behind walls. Their numbers were far smaller than he had expected, but as they sheathed their swords and lifted their black helmets off their heads, Tusdar found that he was happy to see them. It was like a father returning to his family.

They nodded to him and grouped before them, silently joining the guards to bow at Mestal’s feet.

She raised a hand. “Please, there is no need for formalities, but I am touched. I will formulate a plan for all Zendurians. We suffered a horrid defeat, and our people were murdered at the hands of
mortals
.”

The scowls from the crowd were answer enough. Tusdar wondered why they were not speaking or asking any questions. He guessed that there was far more to vampire politics than met the eye. They were quiet, but their thoughts would be another matter. Tusdar wondered if they were close to a revolt. After all, the deaths were a result of Shindar’s orders.

Tusdar read disappointment, anger, and hopelessness in their expressions.

“I am all that remains of the old blood. I swear by the bosom of Hecate, our one true mother, that I will save us from extinction,” Mestal said.

The vampires nodded with the first genuine smiles that night, and made way as Mestal gripped Tusdar’s hand and led him toward her home.

 

 

Tusdar ran his fingers through Mestal’s smooth hair as she rested her head in his lap. The silk bedspread wrapped around their skin provided little comfort. Tusdar sipped his steaming cup of blood to break their long silence. She had been deep in thought, following her speech. Tusdar wondered if she had finally relaxed enough to properly grieve. Tears didn’t fall, but the silence was deafening.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” he said.

Mestal scrunched her brow as she spoke. “This isn’t how I imagined inheriting the responsibilities of Zhendur. You said in Greenhaven that our leaving would be for a better purpose. We’ve come back to nothing. In the battlefield, we could’ve made a difference. At least we would have died for something, instead of being here for nothing.”

Tusdar exhaled, wondering if her earlier speech was from her heart, or to keep her people from abandoning Zhendur and Shindar’s rule. He imagined that wouldn’t go well.

“Die for a lost battle? I understand how you feel, but I never make promises that I can’t keep.”

Mestal sat up and faced him, her eyes searching deep into his. “This is your time then. What’s your plan? What will we do now?”

“Give me a moment to think things over.”

Mestal grimaced and poured herself a glass of blood. “Did you see their faces? They knew that we’d be defeated and see us as deserting cowards.”

Of course I knew that
, he thought.

“Who cares what they think?”

Mestal smashed her glass into the ground so hard that glass shards flew upward, piercing his skin.  He watched as his skin stitched itself back together.

Mestal grimaced. “I do!
I
care! My father would have been stronger than this. You are my chosen, and it’s time to prove yourself. We need to win back the hearts of our people.”

The barbs of her words tore through him, as did the fury in her eyes. Her chest heaved with each furious breath. Did she mean that he had to win her heart? He hoped that he had done enough to prove that. Tusdar stood and gritted his teeth. “I
am
worthy of being your chosen, and I will prove it, if I haven’t already. I love you. You know that.”

Mestal bit her lip and sat back down on her bed. She rubbed her face before turning to him. He saw the dark tears building in her eyes, but appreciated her restraint. There was nothing worse than seeing the only person he cared about turn on him. The thought was uncomfortable to swallow and twisted his gut.

“Tusdar. I know that you care for me, but those are just words of promises. They mean nothing to our people. We need actions and we need them now. I am the only remaining full-blooded vampire. The responsibility for all vampires falls on our shoulders now.”

Tusdar held her hand and his face hardened. “I know. This must be the hardest time for you to face, but I am here for you and I’m not going anywhere.”

Her smile warmed him. “Tusdar, and I love you too. I just have to be strong.
We
have to be strong.”

“We are. What does that mean, to be the last of your kind?”

Mestal stood to retrieve a new glass and poured herself a replacement.

“You didn’t get a chance to study our books. Let me make this simple for you. We were created by the goddess, Hecate. My ancestors fled to Marithia and started a new life here, after our kind was hunted down. I am a descendant of them, not a
turned
vampire.”

“You make me sound pathetic.”

“Don’t be so sensitive. Not everyone can create pure vampires, but we can all turn humans. For a pure one to create a child, it can only be with another pure blood, or with someone who is alive.”

The gravity of her words weighted on his shoulders. He pulled out a knife and began to cut into his skin to remove the glass. The sharp pain distracted him from his bruised emotions. He didn’t know why he cared so much about this.

“I never thought of that. We can’t have children?”

Mestal drew a deep breath before drinking and wiping her mouth on her sleeve. “Sadly, no. Let’s worry about all that after the war. This is not a good world for children.”

“It pains me to know that your entire family’s gone. I am so sorry.”

“Thank you, Tusdar.”

“I meant it. You spoke of pure blooded vampires. They also live forever, right? When do they stop growing?”

“Yes, we live forever once we’re fully grown. As history has proven, that’s no guarantee of seeing out an eternal life. Look, Tusdar, I appreciate all the questions, but this isn’t the time. Let’s leave this until later, and I promise to give you more answers.”

She sat beside him and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t worry so much about everything. You might make me want to punch you sometimes, but I am always yours.”

Tusdar nodded, smiled, and then headed to their door. “Alright then. There is no more time for waiting. I need an audience with our queen.”

I am already on the way to see you
, Kassina said.

It dawned on him that she would have heard everything they had said and put a hand on his tattoo. Suddenly, being connected to Shindar and Kassina didn’t seem so appealing.

He ripped the door open and ran to the portal; Mestal trailed close behind him. The few inhabitants, less than twenty, were already aligned in a row, facing the portal.

The four hollow rings of the portal to the underworld were already spinning. A red orb of light flickered in its centre, before bursting open to fill the space in the smallest circle with a watery surface. Each circle locked into place with a sound of a sheathed sword.

He remembered the first time this happened and how Kassina made him murder his best friend. In his blackening heart, he was still angry at her for torturing him and making him slay Aidan. But thinking back, he only felt a bloodlust to kill again.

What’s happening to me?
he thought.

Kassina stepped through the portal in her dark suit of armour; symbols of blood enchantments were scribbled on its metallic surface. Her hair was braided tightly behind her head with golden threads winding around like a net. Kassina’s dark chestnut hair was a contrast to her pale face and burgundy lipstick. Two swords poked upward from her shoulders; loose strands of their leather bindings draped over her back. An array of daggers ran down the plates on her outer thighs.

Her words were spoken in a snarl. “Well, this isn’t the welcome I was expecting.”

Mestal and Tusdar dropped to their knees and bowed at her feet. “Please forgive us,” Tusdar said, “All hail the queen!”

The vampires echoed, “All hail the queen!”

Stepping aside from the portal, she pointed toward its glowing surface and smirked as marching and rattling of chains were heard.

“You lack numbers. That is something we have plenty of. As you must always remember. Whatever you need, our lord will provide.”

The first slave stepped through the portal. His wild hair covered his face and his many scars shone in the glow of Zhendur’s moon-like ambience. The slave looked like a startled rabbit and stared at the underground city. Tusdar watched him as if the man was a lamb to a slaughter.

Kassina booted the slave’s back and snarled. “Keep moving to the training grounds ahead of you!”

More slaves were brought through. Skeleton warriors arrived at intervals. Their deep guttural voices clicked and growled.

“Not that I am unappreciative, my queen, but these are not soldiers,” Tusdar said.

Kassina’s face hardened as she turned toward the portal. “Oh, but they
will
be.”

Two tall warriors followed through, dressed in complete vampiric armour marked with white stripes. Their dark helmets covered their faces, but their confident movements were intimidating as they turned their heads to survey their new surroundings.

“Captains Faowind and Aidan!” Kassina said, nodding toward Tusdar’s position. “See that our prisoners are fully trained in combat, once they have been turned. You are soldiers of Zhendur now and are under the command of General Tusdar. Consider his orders as my own.”

They marched to his position and brought fists to their left shoulders. “General! We are yours to command.”

Tusdar paled and froze. How could this be? He remembered his sword cut through bone and flesh as he plunged it through Aidan’s chest. Confusion clouded his thoughts.

If that wasn’t Aidan I killed, then who was it?

Tusdar realised he hadn’t said anything for too long. He nodded and turned to the Zhendurians. “You all heard. Once they’re in the battlegrounds, turn them all. I want no deaths; or I will have your heads. We have an army to build!”

The vampires stood and nodded eagerly. “Yes, General Tusdar.”

He approached the captains and focused on their masks. They reached up and slid them off their heads to rest by their sides. Faowind’s elven ears poked through his hair. Both of them stared into the distance. They were so still that they could have been standing corpses.

“Aidan?” Tusdar said, staring into his cold eyes.

“General?” Aidan’s voice was devoid of emotion.

After what seemed like an eternity, he turned to the queen of the underworld. She held the key to unlocking the answers.

“Captains, you have your orders,” Tusdar said, approaching Kassina.

She jerked her head and stepped away from the portal. “Enjoy your promotion, but never disappoint me. Come with me now and wipe off that look. When Marithians die, they are reanimated in the underworld. Our lord’s power takes care of that. They were brilliant fighters, and cost many warriors’ lives to contain them. Now that they’ve been prepared and cleansed, they work tirelessly for our cause.”

Tusdar and Mestal followed her to a building with ornate markings of skulls along its walls. It was as large as Jade Inn, back when he used to drink in Marithia and search robbery targets. Two vampire statues stood proudly outside its large front doors. He ran his hands on the surface of the statues, staring into their faces.

“My ancestors,” Mestal said.

Kassina pushed the doors open and moved to a round rosewood table. She took a seat and nodded toward them. “Sit.”

He was unsure of where the best place was for him, but it was a round table, so he surely couldn’t choose wrong. Before he had much time to think about whom he may offend, Mestal chose a seat across from Kassina, and Tusdar sat beside her.

Kassina leant back and swung her long legs to land on top of the table, crossing them at the ankle. “General Tusdar, you wanted an audience with me and now you have it. What do you want?”

His mouth gaped wide and he scrunched his brow. He had a plan to discuss, but his thoughts clouded at being questioned so swiftly. He certainly appreciated that her inquiries were no longer accompanied by torture.

BOOK: Legends of Marithia: Book 3 - Talonsphere
11.28Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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