Page 3 of The Vampire King's War

“Don’t let anything happen to him, Caemorn,” Balthazar warned.

“Even if it is good?” Caemorn lifted an eyebrow.

“No more bickering. I know you two enjoy it, but we’ve got work to do.” Christian then started walking towards the well without him.

Caemorn and Balthazar shared a look before Caemorn found himself hurrying after the young man.

As soon as they were ten feet from Balthazar and Fiona, the stream of ghosts ran all around them, skating between their legs. The well was twenty feet in diameter and stood three feet tall. The stones like all the massive buildings in the Ever Dark were made of strange white stones. He had tried to examine them to see if there were any markings upon them, but the flow of ghosts was simply too thick. He wondered now if he could bring either Fiona or Balthazar near the well later. Their presence repelled the ghosts so they might clear a path.

Perhaps Daemon would come here with me and we could investigate together.

Caemorn immediately pushed that thought down as he felt Balthazar’s smirk in his direction. Besides, his investigations of the well were secondary for right now. He glanced over at his companion.

Christian’s gaze was mostly locked on the well, but he occasionally looked up at the ruined arches of stone above them as if trying to reconstruct what this place had once been. Caemorn believed that the structure had been constructed around the well. The stone was different. The well appeared as if it had grown more than built. As if it had bloomed out of the very earth. He guessed though that it, too, had been built around something else. He imagined what it would have been like to set these stones with all of the souls passing by. He was already growing numb even though as a Vampire he was immune to the cold.

Christian picked up one foot and winced. “My skin feels like it’s being frozen!”

“The spirits draw energy from us to manifest themselves physically,” Caemorn explained. People--even if they had been Vampires--had, undoubtedly, died creating the well.

Did they build it so that they could simply worship it or harness its power in some way?

“The werewolf ghosts were quite physical,” Christian remarked dryly.

Caemorn chuckled. “Yes, indeed they were. They drew energy from the cottage. The place of death is powerful. But these spirits did not die here. They are drawn here. Forced to come.”

“Forced to choose?” Christian asked.

“Or perhaps their fate is chosen for them. Perhaps there is a reason for them being here. Things that they can only learn on this plane as opposed to whatever is beyond.” Caemorn pressed his lips together. “You will be able to learn what that is, Christian. What is beyond this place.”

Christian rubbed his hands over his arms, chilled. “First things first. The Harrows.”

Caemorn nodded. “As I said, all spirits are drawn here. The power of a Kaly Vampire keeps them from completing this journey. But still, there is a connection between the spirits and this place. If you focus, I believe you will be able to find those threads and--”

“Follow them back to where the Harrows are!” Christian cried, his face lighting up with understanding.

“Indeed.” Caemorn nodded in approval. “You understand these things instinctively. Just like a Kaly Vampire would.”

“I don’t know about that.” Christian scrubbed the back of his neck.

It was Caemorn’s turn to put a hand on Christian’s shoulder. “You are the Speaker to the Dead. Not one has been seen for over a thousand years. Even in Vampire terms, what you are is rare and precious. That means you are special in and of yourself, Christian.”

“I do not believe in inherent worth. Or perhaps, I believe that everyone has some, but circumstances fill in the rest,” Christian answered a little stiffly.

“If that were the case then why is Elgar not the Speaker to the Dead? With the devotion he shows to Eyros’ skull, he could be mistaken for a Kaly Vampire,” Caemorn pointed out.

Christian smiled for a brief moment, but it died. “There’s another side to this coin, Caemorn. If something specifically about me made me the Speaker to the Dead what is it? It’s not any great wisdom or religiosity. In fact, I’ve always been a skeptic. The Scully to Julian’s Mulder.”

Caemorn frowned at the last reference, but he understood the overall gist of what the young man was saying. “You fear something is wrong with you.”

Christian paused and then nodded. “But I also thought that I was responsible for David’s actions. I think it is in my nature to blame myself.”

“Do not look for faults in yourself, Christian. Look for… genius.” Caemorn smiled.

Christian shook his head. “I can see how you got so far ahead.”

“And why people call him arrogant!” Balthazar called out.

“Quiet!” Caemorn shot a repressive look back at the Eyros Vampire. “Christian needs silence for this. If you are capable of it, Balthazar.”

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