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Finally, I see two vampires enter a tent. When the flap closes, a whiff of Marvik is in the wind. He’s in that tent, I’d place money on it. I start making my way to the tent, when a long line suddenly is pulled in front of me, a chain gang of prisoners being pulled to a large tent across the camp. The prisoners look like humans and elves, and they are in terrible condition. Too thin, with bite scars all up and down their bodies. They are all dressed in rags and walk with their heads hanging, no life in their eyes. These must be the blood slaves I heard the two scouts talking about. A cloaked vampire holds the end of their chain in one hand and a whip in the other, dragging them along. They slowly enter the tent and as the last one enters, I hear some cries and whimpers in the air. Someone must be feeding on them.Poor souls. Where did they come from and how did they fall into the clutches of these vampires?
I fight a shudder and start slowly, carefully sneaking across the encampment, heading to the tent to find Marvik.
Chapter 21
Marvik
Iwake with a start, jerking upright, the back of my head pounding. I am pulled backward, wrenching my shoulder and I realize that I am bound to a stake in the ground. Pulling experimentally, I hear, rather than see, the manacles that are holding my arms behind my body. My legs are free, but the length of chain that holds me is so short that I couldn’t stand up if I tried. Looking around, I see I am in some sort of supply tent, large enough that one can safely assume that it is for a war party. It’s dark, the sun obviously having set a while ago, and there’s barely a moon to speak of outside, making it even harder to see details. I let my eyes adjust and make out some shapes. My eyes flick over shadowy crates and barrels, only to land on an open crate closest to me that is filled with chains and manacles. What the fuck?
My mind is whirling, wondering what in the Nether is going on, when two familiar cloaked figures enter the tent.
“I told you he was awake,” says one in a raspy, whispery sort of voice. “The breathing changed.”
“So you did. I need to feed so that my senses sharpen again. I used too much energy in the fight against him.”
The first one hisses, a strange sound of agreement, and they both walk closer before crouching down in front of me. A hand reaches out, grasping my hair and yanking back painfully so that I am forced to look up into the second figure’s hooded face. It’s so dark that all I make out is the shape of his chin and a hint of nose.
My captor laughs quietly and cocks his head. “Look how he struggles to see. Blind as a worm. With senses so weak, it’s no wonder that Lord Grazrath says they are meant to be our playthings.”
I pick up the name and file it away. I don’t know that I’ll be able to get away from my captors, but I have my soldier’s training above all else and one of the first things one learns about being captured by an enemy is to listen and catalog intelligence. These vampires follow the demon of pain and misery? Or someone named after him. I suppose that makes sense, that a power-hungry vampire would take him as a namesake. I remember the old tales, about the stories of the God War and how the Barakrini were supposedly in league with the demons. Grazrath was supposed to have been the creator of the vampires, their first liege lord, the one that gave the thirst for blood. But it has been a long time since then, and I have never heard of them worshiping or following anyone named Grazrath in recent years. Could something have happened and they are falling back into their ancient, brutal ways?
“Yes,” agrees the other vampire. “The Lord of Pain and Misery is wise. He will be pleased with such a healthy offering when we return. If he were here, he would want first feeding rights to take strength from such a skilled warrior.”
My hair is yanked painfully again, my attention brought back to the vampire in front of me. “Yes, Lord Grazrath would want first feeding rights, but he’s not here right now. He’s in Evernight andI’mthe one conducting this interrogation.”
Wait. What? TheactualLord Grazrath is inthisplane? At the Barakrini capital? Not in the Nether? What is happening in the world that an archdemon is roaming free? And with a vampire army in the bargain? It is like the old, dire stories come to life.
With my head swirling with questions and before I can react, my head is jerked to the side and a sharp pain is in my neck. I cry out in shock. The vampire is feeding from me, I realize, the pain of his bite descending into sudden euphoria. He sucks, two greedy deep gulps, but I can’t bring myself to mind. When he pulls back, the euphoria lingers in me, like sweetweed smoke, even as a small excess of blood trickles down my neck.
I am dizzy and confused, when the vampire snarls, his voicesounding a touch deeper than it did a moment ago, “Now, human, tell me, who are you and why is a warrior of your caliber wandering into Barakrin?”
“I’m Marvik,” I say easily, the truth spilling from my lips before I can stop it. “I was searching for amethysts at the base of the mountain.”
As soon as I have said these words, somewhere on the edges of my consciousness, I am horrified. Is there some sort of effect of a vampire’s bite that makes you their thrall, unable to tell them lies or refuse to answer?
The vampire is quiet for a moment. Then he says, “Amethysts at the base of the mountain? So it is mere coincidence that you happened to be but yards from our base camp on the eve of our invasion?”
“Invasion?” I hear myself asking, my speech slurring a little, all my internal thoughts bleeding out through my mouth. “Barakrin has always been a peaceful kingdom. Why are they invading Adrik?”
The two chuckle darkly at my inebriated sounding question. “We used to have a weak leader, but our new Lord now is taking us to new heights. But we don’t need to answer your questions, human; you’ll answer ours. Why were you in the woods?”
Again, I feel the truth welling up inside me, but this time, I fight it. This truth would compromise Dura and no matter what they’ve done to me, I will not betray her like that. “I’m a hermit,” I lie, the words hard to get out. Some instinct in me screams in outrage, wanting desperately to please our captors, the one who bit me in particular. But the more I fight the instinct the weaker it gets, like an echo of a feeling that doesn’t belong to me. “I live alone in these woods,” I continue. I notice as I lie my words get clearer and so purposefully slur the last two words, not wanting the vampire to suspect that I am resisting his thrall.
The vampire holding me by the hair stares into my eyes, as if searching for whether I am telling the truth or not. “And so you arealone? No one will miss you if you don’t return or go looking for you?” he interrogates again, more forcefully.
That instinct to please comes back to forefront, but I ignore it, focusing on Dura and protecting her. “No one,” I slur out.
“It must truly have been a trick of fate, then,” the second vampire to my side says. “If he’s truly alone, then there’s no reason to worry. We need to report to the prince right away that the invasion can still take place. The Adrikians and the orcs must suspect nothing.”
“Maybe,” replies my interrogator. “Or maybe he’s lying. What would a warrior that can fight like him be doing as a hermit in the woods?”
“I deserted during the last war,” I lie, this time more easily. Whatever was affecting me is wearing off. “I couldn’t stand to lift my sword for a king like Yorian anymore.”
“See?” says the second vampire. “It’s a fluke. Our intelligence says that there are only a few soldiers at Grimblton, not a lot of trained warriors like this one. They’ll fall easily to our forces and then we’ll harvest the whole town as blood slaves and bring them back to the capital before the kingdom could possibly know what hit them. Then the second wave will be with freshly blood-filled vampires against humans and orcs. Taking the kingdom for Grazrath should be easy.”
“Silence,” hisses the vampire in front of me. “You give too much away in front of an enemy. Mind your words more closely, Orpheus.”
Orpheus scoffs. “He’s not an enemy, Caius, he’s our prisoner and there’s no escape for him. Besides, you’re being too suspicious. No human could lie to a vampire while experiencing the afterglow of a feeding.”
