Aleron: Book One of Strigoi Series (Stringoi Series) (38 page)

“Your blood reign ended the moment you exacted your will upon Mynea.” I pulled him out of the wall and threw him into the ceiling, following him and then kicking him to the floor, where he landed facedown. I took a single step back and grabbed him by his hair. With a great call upon my immortal strength, I twisted his head swiftly until I could feel his spine break.

Satisfied that I could detect no heartbeat, I turned my attention to my fallen queen. It seemed my victory would be denied in that moment for I felt Vlad’s cloak grab my neck and sling me. My bones felt like broken glass as I hit the stone pillar, which crumbled as did I onto the floor.

When the dust cleared and my eyes focused, I found Vlad rising to his feet, his back to me. His cloak was still wrapped around my neck, and it lifted me up out of the rubble and brought me slowly to him. He turned around, his bones actively realigning themselves, the protruding neck bones disappearing and erasing the distortion within his face. He displayed both of us for all to see, a true testament to his will and might as king.

I dangled, suspended in air, as seconds passed that seemed like hours. His eyes reopened as air filled his lungs and his disgusting breath filled the air. No matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t break free of his cloak. His powerful will began to hinder my movements. I could feel it pushing against my every attempt to free myself.

“Your feeble bid to destroy me only fueled my thirst to end your existence.” He smiled as his own blood dried and dissolved before my eyes into his skin around his mouth.

His cloak released me, and I fell hard to the floor. My feet found the ground, allowing me to strike again. I wasted not a moment and flew into Vlad once more. This time he caught me and used my momentum against me. He swiftly turned the tide and allowed me to buffer his body. It felt as though time had slowed to a crawl as the wall gave slightly, welcoming my back and spine. Broken stones of all sizes littered the floor. I couldn’t help thinking that, if Vlad had been the originator of the force, the bones in my spine might have been fractured.

My thoughts at the time implied that Vlad was stronger. Though I had no idea of my true strength, I was convinced that his at least matched my own, and with centuries of knowledge of our power, he wielded more than I.

Vlad lifted me from the shattered barrier and thrust me across the room. The vampires standing there dispersed as I hit the floor. This time I didn’t capture my footing. My back was injured and my balance was off. However, my senses remained sharp and on alert. Before I was able to stand, I felt his hand around my neck. He pulled me up, and into the ceiling once more I flew.

He was powerful, his strength magnified by his living cloak. The ceiling gave, and gravity reclaimed me. I hit the ground showered by the
chunks of stone debris. Silence took over. I could no longer hear the other vampires chattering. The various heartbeats ceased to exist. My vision became blurred, and I couldn’t remember if I was standing or lying helplessly on the floor. Vlad wanted all to know I was no match for him as he again lifted me into the air and drew me in with his arms.

“You’re powerful for such a fledgling. However, ultimately you’re pathetic,” he scolded. “You’re unworthy of the life Mynea has given you.”

When he said “Mynea,” I remembered why I was there. Defeated and in his hands, I remembered the water and almost dying at the hands of my own ignorance and lust. I remembered waking in my mother’s arms and the way she gazed upon me.

My eyes opened, the blood from within feeding upon itself, drawing a strength like none other I’d ever possessed. The flames stood still, every eye upon me, my queen unresponsive on the floor, Vlad in absolute control. I opened my mouth and did what none other before me had ever done without his grace. I bit him.

I sank my powerful teeth into his neck and tore open his flesh. He tried to free himself, but the more he struggled, the deeper I bit. His blood rushed into me, and all was lost, save the two of us. The room and the rest of the world vanished. Upon a pure white background, we stood alone. I could hear the others, but I could no longer see them. I could feel them, and I knew they could see me, but as his blood flowed into my body, I saw nothing but him and me. I sucked and drew his essence into me. I took what he didn’t want me to have. I stole what he refused to give anyone. I stole his memories! Thieves, aren’t we all?

Within me I bore witness to his life, mortal and immortal alike. The visions came crashing into my mind like thousands of tiny explosions within my brain. I could scarcely make out what I saw, and yet a familiar sound filled my thoughts. It was a sound I’d come to recognize time and time again: the voice of the ancient one warning me. A shape appeared, his face coming into existence, coming into focus. And just before his features became distinguishable, Vlad had freed himself of my theft.

He had lost flesh and blood in the process as a chunk of his neck ripped out upon our separation. He fell back onto one knee as he caught his breath. I, on the other hand, fell to both knees, not out of defeat or
fatigue, but as an overwhelming feeling of power, too heavy for my legs to bear, overtook me. My arms propped my body up as my legs regained mastery. My breath was erratic.

Suddenly I heard his heartbeat from deep within. It was fast and desperate, while mine steadied. I stood straight, and my eyes rekindled their keenness. Sounds and voices came rushing back into my head, similar to the time long ago when I was just hours old and the melody of the forest was too much to control. Strength rushed back to me.

Vlad stumbled a bit as he stood and removed his hand to display the wound in his neck, which sputtered blood synchronized with every beat of his blackened heart. And his eyes changed yet again. They became even larger. His ears grew pointed, and the hair upon his head danced to a breeze that wasn’t there. His nails became black and long, his mouth no longer resembling a beastly human, not even that of a vampire. His mouth became more than ghastly. It became grotesque! Sharp teeth began to protrude from the top and bottom of his jaw. He was becoming … what, I didn’t care to know.

I took my newfound strength and charged him. Upon impact, the remaining statues shattered and pushed the others back. Satisfied in my attack, I stood firm and looked upon the damage I’d imposed, and to my surprise, he didn’t budge when my body fell against his. His feet were planted into the stone floor. They resembled a beast’s hind legs, his muscle tone distinctly different, his nose elongated. I thought of the hellion wolves.

He was the beast of Pandora’s living nightmares! He was the animal that man was most afraid of! His enormous hands instantly had me. This thing took back from me what I had stolen. It plunged its mouth into my collarbone. I could feel the teeth tearing at the muscle in my neck. I was unable to move; my will was completely dissolved. In an instant I recalled what Pandora had revealed to me. Could she have been correct? Was I not prepared for this challenge? These types of questions flooded my mind as I stepped closer and closer into the blinding light of mortality.

I continued to feel my life drain away. Weakness befell me, and as
I stepped closer into death’s abyss, he stopped. He dropped me to the floor next to Mynea.

I couldn’t move, but I could see. The monster held his chest and neck as if he were in terrible pain. His arm reached out, and a blue inferno enveloped one of the vampires. Yet the flame was short-lived and dissipated before it began to roar.

I looked at the recovering vampire and, to my surprise, standing in the stairway of the basement of this wretched place was Eliza. She was crushing the organs of the beast, similar to what Raya had done but more powerfully. Though it wasn’t enough to kill him, it was more than enough to stop him.

Eliza was accompanied by Sakina, who reached out for me and swiftly brought me to my feet. She began to lead me out, but I refused to leave without Mynea. Raya gathered Mynea and leapt for the door as all others focused on their king. And into the night we went, into the Carpathians, Eliza traveling close behind.

CHAPTER 33

akina moved swiftly without my aid, footsteps scantily brushing the earth, trees and scenery becoming a blur and indistinct. My eyes toyed with cognizance as they remained half closed. Flakes of snow fell upon my face, but only for a moment, for the speed of our travel tossed the tiny stowaways into the distance. Visions of the pond returned to me. I could see myself sinking toward the bottom, lifeless and without hope. It had been just over one hundred years since I felt human, and now I could think of nothing else.

I remembered my parents wasting away alone in al-Montaza. Visions of my sister and me frolicking as children, then Shani becoming a young lady and following in my mortal mother’s footsteps with the Christ in her head. Far removed from the land of the living and ostracized from the rest of the living dead, I toggled a fine line—a line between what was real and surreal, memories that may or may not have been my own. I had stolen so many, it was nearly impossible to distinguish whose I was
beholding. The one thing that remained without question was the gruesome pain that came rushing back to remind me of what had happened just moments before. It had been a skillful and powerful attack by the beast that mocked every forewarning I had received from Pandora as well as the ancient one.

The bite from the beast was spreading like a bonfire, from the wound to the rest of my body. The pain was unbearable! He had nearly drained me of all the blood I’d stolen from him as well as my own. I was certain this would be the end of me. I had clearly underestimated his power. I was warned, yet blind rage forced me into his hands. I had lost all self-control when my eyes found Mynea lying motionless on the floor.

Until that moment, I had thought that the love I possessed for her had been locked away within the confines of my heart and mind. I was there to destroy and avenge what was taken from me. My dreams led me to that wretched place, but it was the sight of her that fueled me. The rage took over. I no longer cared for myself, nor for any other vampire, save her. She was all that mattered. Despite the guise of our original intentions, I knew we hadn’t come for Sinaa. We had come for Mynea!

Raya held Mynea and traveled just behind Sakina and me. Though I was far too weak to feel her, I was able to see her through Raya’s thoughts. She was beaten, aged, almost lifeless. Her head dangled without purpose, jerking to and fro with every step, her gown nearly ripped off and bloodied, her hair disheveled, resembling a peasant rather than a queen.

We began to slow down just outside of the mountainous region, where Eliza retook the lead and ordered Raya and Sakina to continue south with Mynea. Sakina placed me on the ground and joined Raya. I could feel Eliza gathering me into her arms and placing her exposed wrist to my mouth. Her blood flowed, yet the wound continued as a cancer within me. Eliza’s blood did little to stop the infection She removed her wrist from my mouth and squeezed it directly over the torn flesh at my neck. This allowed the blood to drip directly onto my wound. Though it did little to slow the illness within, her blood began to numb the pain.
As soon as I began to feel strength returning, Eliza’s pace changed. She began moving to and fro as if avoiding something or someone.

Quiet your thoughts, Aleron
, she said to my mind.
We are not alone
.

Though my senses were dulled, I began to hear treacherous voices in my head.

You were unwise to come here with such a lowly brood. There’s no way to flee our mountains, for these are not your lands and there’s no home for you here. We will finish what the master evoked!

The silent chatter continued undifferentiated. I knew there were five of them taunting us. Raya and Sakina were far ahead with Mynea, Eliza and I in grave danger from skillful and unforgiving vampires whose footsteps gained ground with each passing second while my abilities suffered to near ineptness. I relied on Eliza for my very life.

Eliza abruptly halted, then dashed to the west. She then placed me into the hollow of a huge tree.