Page 9 of Magic & Secrets
“What if the Vampyres find me?”
Kneeling in front of her, I stroked her wet cheek. “They won’t be alive long enough for that to happen. You were very brave outside on the road. Right now, I need you to be brave again.”
The child revealed the unbreakable grit of so many humans. She lifted her chin and nodded at my instructions. I offered her a smile before leaving her to lock the door behind me.
Outside, a sword-wielding Mina launched herself onto the bunker’s roofline, where several Vampyres were nearly through a barricade. The creatures moved in sync toward my sister.
Mina stood very still, allowing them to focus their bloodlust on her. I felt her struggling to control her magic. The Gathering had chosen to force too much power into a single person to avoid our kind outgrowing their control.
Despite her struggle, Mina moved with sheer grace when the Chauve Vampyres lunged at her. She drew from the ancient one’s magic. Solme Divige’s spicy scent filled the air. Mina anticipated the Chauve Vampyres every move, dodging their claws and drawing blood with her swords.
On the road, Enya lured the Vampyres away from the bunker.
Before I could aid my sisters, a strange beast jumped down from a rooftop and landed right behind me. The creature might have once been a standard Chauve Vampyre. Magic had twisted its body into a larger, more animalistic form. Standing six feet tall on its back feet, it hunched over and dragged its front claws against the dirt. The thing’s long teeth spouted from blackened gums and tattered remnants of clothing hung from its frame.
Dodging its massive claw, I stabbed at the creature. The thing was wild with hunger, slobbering in anticipation of the meal before it.
Its claw seized hold of my cloak, dragging me toward itself for a bloody embrace. The creature’s massive mouth opened, ready to swallow my head whole.
Unable to tear free, I dropped my sword and replaced it with a smaller blade better for close-contact encounters. The tip of the dagger met resistance against the beast’s thick, scaly skin.
Sliding out of its grip, I aimed my blade at its right eye. The steel disappeared into the cavity. The creature howled in pain and staggered away from me, its clawed hands fighting to remove the blade.
I flipped backward, retrieving my sword. Back on my feet, I swung hard for the thing’s neck and drove through the bone. The beast staggered, moaning deeply and drawing the attention of the other Chauve Vampyres.
The creature tumbled to the ground, struggling to live despite its head dangling by a broken neck. I removed my blade from its eye, wiped it on its tattered clothes, and slid it into my sheath.
The remaining Chauve Vampyres rushed at me, angered over the death of this particular monster.
My sisters dropped next to me, creating a united front against the foul attackers. The magic of Solme Divige heated the early morning air. Fears vanishing, I became one with my bevy and the ancient god whose magic burned through my veins.
The Chauve Vampyres swarmed us, lost in their rage and bloodlust. Fierce and unyielding, Mina, Enya, and I fought in perfect coordination. Inevitable as a storm, our blades flashed in the failing moonlight.
My training felt like an afterthought. I was more than the Citadel’s weapon. Solme Divige was my true master, and these Chauve Vampyres were mere playthings to a creature of her immense power.
Emerald Outpost’s single road was soon awash in the carnage of the fallen Chauve Vampyre coterie. Mina finished the last one by lopping off its head.
Standing over our vanquished foe brought me little solace. The lives this Chauve Vampyre coterie stole were gone forever. A melancholy washed over me at the thought of the many who had met grisly fates at the hands of these monsters.
“They took the Bane Shifters’ hearts,” Enya said as she stood next to the bodies of the Chauve Vampyres’ servants. “Why?”
Mina and I looked at the sack filled with three oversized hearts. Their odor held a distinctly spicy scent. My gaze met Mina’s and then Enya’s. We understood what the smell meant.
Ancient magic had been used to create the Bane Shifters. Whispers of such scenarios were common. The Bane Shifters’ gifts were clearly supernatural despite the Murade’s official declaration of their kind never using magic.
Nearby, the human settlers began to stir in the bunker. The door opened, and several of them exited with their weapons drawn.
“Who are you?” asked a man.
A woman stepped around them. “Where’s Rebekka? I saw one of you take her.”
“She’s at the house down the road in a locked room,” I told the woman. “I will show you in a moment. Does your kind know how to dispose of these bodies? They need to be burned before predators are drawn by their scent.”
“We know how to deal with magic folk,” insisted a snarling human male.
“Jackob, be wary,” said another man and lifted his hand in front of the angry male. “These warriors came to our aid.”
I could tell Jackob suffered from an unsated bloodlust. He’d hidden behind his barricades while wanting to battle the enemy. Now, he only had us to fight.
