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Two Weeks Ago

“Master, what is this?” asked Sallow, distantly. She didn’t want to know. Aratali had returned to the crypt with a pair of teenagers. Both were in the deep stupor of endless counting. They huddled against the cold, stone wall, occasionally looking at their fingers for insight into their hypnotic toil.

“The Master provides,” said Aratali, posing, flexing. “Drink and be well.” Had he really dressed for war only to abduct a couple of blood sacks? He wore chainmail, blackened in the spirit forge, and the tabard and cloak of his fallen creator. Some fools saw the draconic heraldry and mistook Aratali for one of the First rather than the most prolific agent of regicide in history. She didn’t need this shit from him, wasn’t impressed by his station, and didn’t want his gifts. Sallow had her own means of finding blood. There were animals that would do, or she’d occasionally stumble across someone who deserved it. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had a chance to find either in a few days, and the children looked delectable. Aratali knew.

Her brother Ero drew a knife and knelt in front of the male. When there wasn’t a reaction, he pushed the blade against the child’s throat. “They’re pretty far gone, huh?” She wished he would knock it off. Her brother resisted the influence of vampirism as best he could, but he had been in the grip of evil even before his undeath. She’d watch him take fights too far. Take fights over nothing. How long could this go on?

“I appreciate the gift, Master, but I am not a baby bird. I can find my own food,” said Sallow.

“Nonsense, I made you, and it is my duty to nourish you and lead you down the right path, as any father would,” said Aratali. “What’s the matter? I’ve even clouded their minds to keep them from the anguish of their many losses. Am I not merciful?”

Sallow’s stomach turned, and she raised her nose in disgust. This was nothing compared to the atrocities Aratali was famous for, but she didn’t want to be a part of any new ones. “I’m not hungry,” but her fangs grew, and the Master laughed at her.

“Eat.” His eyes glowed with the damned red light, and the tone of his voice became menacing. “My gift will not be rejected. You will eat, or I will make you.” Oh, she didn’t want to kill these children. If she drank even a dram, the blood frenzy might take her. Aratali was scum. He acted like some sort of godling, proud of his powers as if he had earned them, but she knew the truth; he was a parasite. If only she could kill him, but she didn’t stand a chance. He was many times stronger than her, wearing magical armor, and as her creator, he had a kind of mental power over her that she could not resist. But that wasn’t enough for Aratali. He wanted her humanity broken.

“Drink, now,” he commanded. The cold-blooded edge to his voice chilled her. If he had to command her with magic, his wrath would be horrible. He would do terrible things…maybe bury her six feet deep in maddening aloneness. Maybe force her to give the sun a fingertip. Maybe worse.

She couldn’t even meet his eyes.

“Sister,” said Ero, pleadingly.

So, she killed the children, like a coward. But once she got started, her conscience shut up, silenced by the beast in her head. Bathing in blood was fun. The vampirism reveled in it. But in her mind’s eye, it was Aratali she slaughtered, and one day, she would.

***

The Great Oak had been abandoned by the fey since the tear into the negative material world had opened. Easy it was for them to pack up and leave. Fairies wore and discarded worlds like so much clothing. Here sat their rubbish. A dark void filled the wide split of the Great Oak’s trunk, shrouding a portal into a pocket universe. She squinted, trying to make out the details hidden in the supernatural shadow, but the material world’s ghostly light that only dead eyes could see did not penetrate the tree’s opening.

Sallow marched Shalis the Archmage into the tree’s hollow. Still under her hypnotic command, he followed as he was told.

The total darkness parted, revealing a starry sky through cracks in a canopy of broad leaves. Sallow sighed with relief; neither the negative nor positive energy planes touched this universe in a tree, and so gone was their damn light. She hadn’t seen a night sky unclouded by ghostlight in years; she had almost forgotten how beautiful stars were. Could she stay here? Was this real, or just an illusion the fairies had made? Maybe this wasn’t so much a pocket universe as a different one? Whatever. It was great.

She wandered through the cave-dark sea of black trees until she found a glade. Large mushrooms surrounded a blanket of wildflowers. The din of chirping insects was brilliant. Though she didn’t have the mystical senses of a wizard, her undeath gave her a sensitivity to unnatural and magical energy. Her skin prickled with the charge in the air. Perhaps this place had been special to the fairies. If she had found the glade in life, it would have been special to her too.

“Mage,” she said, “does this place improve your power?” Hopefully it did, because the stronger he was, the faster he could finish the task she had planned for him. Aratali had expected the mage delivered straight away, and disappointing him was a dangerous game.

“It does. I can easily harness the ambient magic of this place,” said Shalis.

“Good.” She placed a silver ring in his hands. It had belonged to her mother and carried an awakened spirit. Its power should be easy for him to access, increasing his magical reserves beyond what the glade alone could provide. “You will enchant this ring so that a master vampire’s mental abilities can’t reach anywhere close to its barer, but you are not to benefit from this effect or put the ring on your own hand.”

“I will need my book to—”

Sallow dropped his spellbook at his feet, along with a small bag of gems, fragrant herbs, and a vial containing a dram of quintessence. “Anything else?” The hobbit had provided her with what she thought Shalis would need. Hopefully, she hadn’t been mistaken.

“That should do.”

“Get to work.”

Shalis sat on an old stump, reading passages from his book and conjuring sparkling light around his scepter. Motes of glowing dust fell on the ring, filling it with magic. Sallow had thought Shalis finished three times, but the work of enchanting rings was more involved than she had understood. The way he kept going round and round the same words and motions made her suspicious. Was he resisting her domination? Could he find the will to sabotage his work? Aratali could be hunting them, right now. “Hurry up,” she cursed, but the archmage stayed focused on his task and didn’t react.

Her brother had taken the form of mist and hidden on sanctified ground where a priest had unwittingly invited him. Hopefully, it was enough to hide from the master while Shalis worked.

A whistling howl filled her head, doubling her over in pain. Aratali’s magic was unmistakable. Irresistible. She took a knee and tried to collect herself, despite the noise. His technique could drive someone insane. How many strong-willed beings had he broken—she would do almost anything to get him to shut up.

What have you done with the wizard, Sallow? Aratali’s thoughts invaded her mind, replacing the whistle. He must be close to contact her. He might have even entered the fairy realm. Where are you hiding? The wizard is mine, but we can work this out. The whistling came back as soon as he finished talking. Her anger burned as her nails bit into her palms.

Sallow opened her mouth to moan in pain but managed to keep herself silent and hidden. Saliva poured from her nose and mouth while tears ran down her face. She gripped the cold ground, smashing the dirt in her hands. This wasn’t even going to be the worst of it. He was going to punish her. Show yourself, his voice rattled her with fear. It was hard to feel strong with him shouting in her mind.

A rough hand grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her to her feet. She’d almost started begging right then, but even in her pain, pride stopped her. At least she had that.

Shalis slipped the ring on her finger. “My work is finished.”

The noise stopped. Aratali’s voice disappeared. His power had filled her with anxiety since she had been turned, but the profane connection between them snapped like a cord. Her body shook with the reverberations of the loosed energy, leaving a calm and airy feeling in her mind and body. A cold, hollow darkness filled her like the umbra in the tree. Empty. Alone. Liberated. The strength of her own magic pulsed like warm blood. The ring worked! If Shalis had had the willpower to slip it on, she’d be dead now. He’d have broken her magic and freed himself. Did he know what he’d given up? The hobbit would love to hear about this!

“Archmage, quickly, cast all of your protective magic on me so I can flee an enemy who sees through mind affecting spells and illusions.” While there were a few types of magic that could scare or torment the undead, she doubted the wizard could cast those spells at a moment’s notice. Better to let him do his best work, whatever that was.

“As you wish.” Shalis made the hand sign commanding the abjuration of the spiritual world, and an oval shield of shimmering light appeared in the air before her. It moved with her, humming with power. Shalis took a breath, then chanted another spell. His fingers made a triangle—the sign of the alchemist. Change and transformation. A wind swept under her, and the world slowed. She felt fast, and her hands moved with a quickness that was almost disorienting. Having a wizard was great! She should have gotten one a long time ago.

Silently as an owl, Aratali dropped in front of her in the form of a giant, vampire bat. She recoiled with a start as he changed into a man, drew his sword, and slashed at her neck in one motion. She leaned back with supernatural quickness and would have easily dodged the blow had the barrier spell not jumped in the way. Ha. She ran for the portal as he shouted curses after her, but he had no hope of keeping up, thanks to Shalis’ enchantment.

Brother, I am coming, she thought, hoping Ero could hear her. She was a vampire after all, so why couldn’t he, other than that the temple ground was so far away?

Sallow?

I’m coming! Did Aratali find you or hurt you?

No…I’m waiting for you sister. Waiting with open arms.

Those weren’t Ero’s words. They sounded more like Aratali’s. A flash of fear made her throat tight as if she were holding her still breath. Aratali had gotten to Ero. He was dominated completely, the same as Shalis had been by her. She’d have to put faith in her mother’s ring, and hope its magic was enough.

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