Demon Chord - A MaxTul Supernatural Thriller

Chapter 30 - Confined

Chapter Thirty

Confined

Lark laid her hand lightly on the book and stroked it lovingly with her fingertips.

"Laird became the de facto leader of the Cadre after the deaths of his father and twin brother in the war with the Druden demons; Laird was also critically injured. As you know, Druden's forge their weapons with toxins so anyone who is unlucky enough to survive their injuries will endure a lifetime of never healing wounds. His injuries put an end to Laird's life as a slayer, but he didn't mind – he was always more of a scholar at heart than a warrior, especially since his slightly older twin Loren was being groomed for leadership. Over the years, he exceled at battle strategy and as a result became slightly obsessed with the history of the Cadre and their adversaries – specifically the Wamphyri. One evening as he was gathering books and manuscripts for research, he found this book tucked into a forgotten corner in the back room of the Cadre archives. The book was ancient, far older than any other text in the library, that fact alone piqued his interest, so he brought it back to his room and over the course of a few days, he read it cover to cover - what he learned changed his view of the Wamphyri forever." Lark paused to let that thought sink in for a few seconds and then continued.

"The book contained a detailed history of the relationship between the slayers of the Cadre and the Wamphyri nation. Laird was surprised to learn the Cadre and the Wamphyri have not always been enemies, but that we once fought on the same side against other supernatural forces that preyed on humans. Together they rid this realm of goblins, ghouls, and various demon hordes. They lived in harmony for many centuries – they were friends and allies, and even more importantly they were joined by fate with the covenant of twin flames."

"What's twin flames?" questioned Max, as Tul shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Lark winked at the young slayer and answered, "We will circle back around to that later."

"Over the centuries the bond between the two allies began to deteriorate. It wasn't very clear if there were one cause or many – but it appears that it was a gradual eroding due to jealousy and pettiness, which eventually led to bitterness, hatred, and finally war. It seems that both sides chose to forget our original history and it probably would have stayed that way if not for a chance meeting between a sidelined slayer and a wayward Wamphyri thrall".

Lark's tale was interrupted by a coughing fit from Laird, she and Kazu both jumped up to take care of him. Stroking his forehead gently, Lark replied, "this has been a big day for him, and the excitement might have been too much."

Kazu offered to take Laird to his room so that he could rest, so Lark kissed him gently on the top of the head and bade him a good sleep.

As she settled back into her chair, Max asked, "How is he?"

"He's dying" answered Lark, "he has a terminal illness and only has days - if not hours left."

"Can't you do something?" questioned Max, distressed at the thought of his leader dying.

"Like what?" countered Lark.

"I don't know" sighed Max, "anything.... something....it just seems...sad...."

"It is inevitable," said Lark.

"Says the immortal" scoffed Max with a voice filled with resentment.

Tul saw his mother's eyes darken with anger and he readied himself to jump to Max's defense if she decided to act, but it was not necessary as he saw her eyes soften once again before she answered the insult calmly, "It may seem harsh and unfeeling to you, but this " as she waved a hand between herself and Max, "is most likely exactly the type of misunderstanding that led to the division between your people and mine centuries ago. I am heartbroken over losing Laird, more than you can imagine." She paused before continuing, "I think this might be a good time to tell you about twin flames and the grim future of both the Cadre and the Wamphyri unless we reconcile."

Before she could elaborate further, she stood up abruptly and asked Tul, "Do you hear that?"

"I do" answered Tul just as a single bullet shattered the large window and he saw a large hole open up in Lark's chest just below her collar bone, fracturing the bone before exiting out her back just below the shoulder blade before knocking her back against the wall.

Gasping in pain, she narrowed her eyes, "Angel magic."

Realizing what she was saying, Max ran to her side, kneeling beside her, he asked, "The Cadre?"

Instead of answering him, she looked at Saint and instructed, "Get Laird out of here. I don't care where you take him, just take him away."

Nodding his acknowledgment, he stepped into the shadows.

Returning her attention to Max, she grasped his hand and asked, "when did the Cadre introduce angel magic to their bullets?"

"I didn't know they had" he answered, "but it's been rumored for a long time that they were working on it."

"Where's Kazu?" questioned Tul as he knelt on the other side of his mother and inspected her wound - as he feared, he saw that it wasn't healing.

"Here" answered the thrall as she bounded down the stairs, "Saint took Laird into the void, so he is safe." Seeing the wound in Lark's shoulder, she hissed, "what the hell did that?" as she rolled up her sleeve.

"Angel magic" replied Max as he moved to the side to allow Kazu to kneel next to Lark, he managed to look away just as Lark's fangs descended and she bit into Kazu's wrist, and asked Tul, "Why do you think they stopped shooting?"

"They know they have us trapped in here. That first bullet was just to show us what they had. Now it's a waiting game."

"Maybe I can talk to them" offered Max.

"No!" answered Lark sharply and when Max automatically turned to look at her, he saw that her eyes were glazed silver; he retched violently and began to tremble ever so slightly as the memory of his sister and her Wamphyri lover's silver eyes barraged his psyche.

"What's wrong with him?" whispered Kazu as Max rose quickly and walked into the kitchen area and began opening cabinets looking for a glass for water.

"Bad memories" offered Tul, before he leaned in to inspect his mother's wound, it still wasn't healing, and she was obviously in a lot of pain - she would need more blood. Nodding at Kazu, he rose to join Max in the kitchen as Kazu raised her arm back to Lark's lips.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay - I got my 2nd Covid shot last week and it sidelined me with a three day migraine.  I should be back to my regular writing schedule this week.  I hope you are still enjoying the story.