Page 55 of The Vampire King's War

BLOOD BROTHERS

Caemorn jolted out of his meditation at the top of the Spire. The throne might be gone, and, truthfully, he didn’t think of this room as being his anymore. It had been in many ways a gilded cage. But he found himself able to concentrate here best. All the souls were down below and far away out in the forests.

But now he cursed coming here as he jumped to his feet. Daemon had ordered it. But if he had been with Balthazar this wouldn’t have happened. Had the Vampire King known that Balthazar would be jumped by Kaly?

Or had he expected more of Eyros? Or more of me? I was distracting him. And now...

Caemorn shook his head. This was no time for blame or recriminations. He went to the balcony and stared in the direction he knew Balthazar to be. There was just an endless vista of rolling forests. The tops of the trees had an almost velvety look under the twin moons. The urge to jump down and run to the Eyros Vampire had him grasping the stone railing. But he stopped himself.

Not enough time. I cannot even take a moment to look for a Wyvern Vampire here that’s been to the Well of All Souls. Damnit!

He had to think like a Kaly--think like Kaly--and act from where he was. He had been marking where the other forms of his Sire were--some in the Ever Dark cities, every seeming Bloodline--and also, surprisingly, on Earth as well. All of the Vampires that Kaly had taken over though were old and, therefore, powerful. But they all had the Kaly stink on them and seemed twisted in some way. It was like a form of corruption. It fascinated Caemorn on some level as all things dark and deep did, but it also repelled him too. He knew now that he could always identify it.

Of course!

He closed his eyes and concentrated on Kaly’s nearest bodies: Moira and Artemis. In moments, he felt where they were. Silver lines connected him to them. But he couldn’t remove Kaly from those bodies. Besides, even if he could, while he was attacking one of them, the other would be alerted and hurt Balthazar anyways.

I need to overwhelm them both at the same time.

With the Well of All Souls gone, there were few roaming spirits in the vicinity. But not enough to have any effect on Kaly. His Master would easily dispatch them. This was not a solution. So what? What could he do? Caemorn grimaced as he felt the clock ticking down on Balthazar.

If not spirits then the dead… there must be dead things here… ah!

He found something. Something formidable in the darkest part of a deadfall. A body of a creature he had never seen before. It was massive, likely standing over twenty-feet tall in life. Its face was elongated rather like a horse’s and there were antlers on its head that stretched upwards three feet. It had long shaggy hair that surrounded the face like a mane. The body had once been covered in dark short fur. But now the fur was patchy in places and the raw skin was exposed. Insects fed greedily on its insides. The flesh pulsed in places where new life fed on old life.

Perfect. I shall have to bring this back for my collection.

Caemorn whispered the words of summoning. The creature had died either lying down or had simply collapsed into the deadfall. The massive rotting limbs stirred. There was a low moan as the creature put its two gigantic clawed hands on the ground before it and pushed itself upright. Dead tree limbs snapped. Branches caught between its antlers. It struggled to its feet and swayed. Sweat broke out on Caemorn’s forehead. He had never summoned from so far away.

Distance is not real. My mind is infinite,he repeated a mantra that, ironically, Artemis had taught him.

A few deep breaths and he took a firmer hold on the creature. He allowed his consciousness to merge with the beast’s body. A blue-white light filled the empty eye sockets where maggots squirmed. Caemorn could now see with its eyes.

He brought one of the clawed hands up to his face. Much of the flesh had fallen off but the bone beneath was sound. This creature could do damage. Caemorn had it begin to stride towards where Balthazar and Kaly fought. The creature’s head was above the tops of the trees so he could see the clearing around where the Well of All Souls had been.

Balthazar was on his back. Moira’s teeth were at his throat. But more than that. She was feeding on his soul. She couldn’t pull it out. But she was draining him. Balthazar pushed her off. She staggered backwards and almost immediately her hands were at her temples as if a massive headache were coming upon her. Caemorn imagined Balthazar tried to grab her mind at that moment.

But then Artemis was on top of the Eyros Vampire. Artemis was pounding his fists into Balthazar’s face and upper torso. Moira’s hands dropped from her temples and she dashed forward, arms stretched wide, fingers curled into claws. At the same time Balthazar must have caught Artemis’ mind for, suddenly, Artemis rolled off of Balthazar and tackled Moira. She went down heavily onto her back, letting out a scream of surprise and pain as Kaly proceeded to pound her like he had been pounding Balthazar.

Balthazar sat up shakily. His face was pale as milk. His eyes were glassy and dazed looking. His clothes were a mess. There was blood at his collar and blood oozing out of his nose. Caemorn could almost feel the Eyros Vampire’s vague annoyance at being dirty while his mind spun sickly from being drained.

Balthazar turned his attention back to the other Vampires. He likely was going to take over Moira’s mind again yet somehow she managed to oil out from beneath Artemis. She kicked Artemis in the face and the Kaly Vampire’s head snapped back. He hung there, looking almost suspended on wires, before he collapsed like a fallen tree. Balthazar let out a sharp cry as their mind link must have been severed. Artemis lay there, unmoving, and clearly heavily injured in the grass.

Before Balthazar could clear his head enough to take over her mind, Moira was on top of him again, worrying at his throat and draining his life force. Balthazar flailed beneath her. But Balthazar’s movements were not as strong as before. They were growing weaker.

Time to step in.

Everyone had been so focused on each other, they hadn’t noticed the lumbering monster that was approaching at a good clip. Caemorn had the monster shove through the trees that ringed the clearing. It left deep imprints in the grass as it stormed towards the two Vampires. Moira looked up, but only at the last moment.

Her mouth was wet with blood. It looked black in the moonlight. The whites of her eyes showed as he had the monster reach down and pluck her off of Balthazar’s weakly struggling form. She hissed and spat at him. Caemorn felt Kaly trying to take control of the monster’s body from him.

“You’re no match for me, fledgling!” Kaly cried in Moira’s voice. She sounded drunk on Balthazar’s blood and life force.

Really? Let’s see about that. You cannot use your gifts if you are not conscious.

Caemorn had the monster bash her on the side of the head. She went limp in the creature’s massive hand. Like Artemis, she, too, was unconscious.

Balthazar was sitting up again, but unsteadily. One hand was at his throat. Blood trickled between his fingers as he was not healing quickly. Yet almost immediately Caemorn felt the probe of his mind powers. And despite his evident weakness, Balthazar blasted him. Caemorn was almost thrown out of the creature’s mind.

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