Page 12 of Creatures of Chaos

“Depends on what?”

“If you believe the Ancients.”

The Ancients are a set of legends, stories if you will, that were passed down from generation to generation until they were written and compiled a couple thousand years ago. A singular story within the compiled Ancients is referred to as an Ancient. The stories that make up the Ancients range from cautionary tales to information on objects said to be imbued with magic beyond what we know today by the great Creator of all. Every so often something will be found, like a scroll or unearthed cave drawing, that somewhat validates one of the Ancients. Or at least validates that some portion of a particular Ancient is based on fact. There are lots of creatures who have faith that the Ancients, and the fabled Creator who weaved them, are true.

I am not one of those creatures.

Talon stares at me, drumming his fingers against the wood counter as he waits for my answer.

“Who’s to say if the stories are true or not?” I say, noncommittally.

Talon jerks his head, flipping a clump of hair that fell on his forehead back and drawing my eyes to his thick locks. A spark of attraction ignites in my gut, surprising me. I might prefer blonds, but there’s something about Talon I grudgingly find alluring. He’s a little taller than Becks, but not as broad. His arms highlighted in his black t-shirt are heavily muscled, and from the way his shirt fits I can tell his stomach is flat as well.

I have a habit of comparing every guy I meet to Becks. It’s admittedly a bad habit, but not one I’m working on breaking. But Talon’s bronze skin, wavy dark hair, and gray-blue eyes are just so different from Becks’ light features that his attractiveness takes me a little off guard.

“If you believe in the old legends, it’s an object of unparalleled power that was forged in the lakes of Hell and given by a demon to the first Vampire King to aid him in his bloody campaign to rule over all creatures.” Talon’s eyes darken and his voice takes on a serious undertone. “You see Shadow Striker wasn’t just a fancy-looking weapon. It was a dagger that gave its wielder unimaginable power.”

Okay, now he has my attention. A way for someone to gain power. Yeah, I’m here for that. I’m not particularly well-versed in the Ancients, but like most creatures I know some of them. This one, however, is new to me.

“Gave powers?” I prompt.

He nods. “The legend says that once activated, the wielder of Shadow Striker can take another creature’s power by drawing their blood with it.”

“It steals powers from murdered creatures?”

“I never said that you had to kill to take powers, just draw blood.”

“So it steals powers from the living?” That’s diabolical. A creature is nothing without their magic—I would know.

Talon shrugs. “It’s been debated whether the dagger steals the magic from creatures or just gives the wielder similar powers. But the Ancient about Shadow Striker says it made the first Vampire King the strongest creature that ever lived.”

“So he succeeded in ruling over all the creatures?”

“No.” Talon shakes his head and I get distracted by his dark strands again but snap out of it quickly.

Blond. You like blonds, Locklyn.

“During the final battle, the one that would have made him conqueror of all, he was betrayed.”

“By whom?” I lean forward. I may not believe the Ancients are true, but it’s a compelling story.

“His one true love.”

I suck in a small breath, conflicted a little because it’s obvious the Vampire King is the villain in the story, but to be betrayed by your one true love would be devastating.

“He fell in love with his best friend. They’d grown up together, trained together, and when he started his campaign for domination she was there fighting by his side.”

My heart tweaks because this part of the story reminds me of Becks and me. How could it not? We practically grew up together, would do anything for each other, and always have each other’s backs.

Talon continues, oblivious to my inner turmoil. “If the dagger is only used a handful of times there are no ill effects, but the Vampire King didn’t hold himself back and eventually the powers he acquired started to warp him into someone his love didn’t recognize. Some of the stories even say his quest started out as noble, that he wanted to free the oppressed, but at somepoint the dagger’s powers started to warp him until he no longer cared about anything but gaining more power, and he turned into something greedy and ugly.”

“Well, what did he expect accepting a gift from a demon?” I say with a shrug.

“The Vampire King was deceived by the demon and wasn’t told the dangers of wielding Shadow Striker. He knew the dagger came from evil origins, but he believed he could use it for good without falling prey to its lure.”

“Typical overconfident dude.” I roll my eyes.Males. Am I right?

Talon smiles, but the expression starts to flatline as he continues the story. “So the vampire’s one true love knew that the male she fell in love with was gone, even though he wasn’t technically dead. The one caveat of Shadow Striker was that if anyone willingly sacrificed themselves for the wielder, the power he or she had gathered would be stripped from them. She knew this loophole because he’d confided in her about it, and so she baited him into a fight. The dagger had so warped his judgment that he became enraged and fought her. She willingly stepped into the path of his blade, sacrificing herself so that he would be restored to his former self, which he was the moment the steel pierced her skin.”

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