King of Dust

Chapter 36

The battlefield fell quiet. Buildings continued to burn, and I heaved a sigh, wiping sweat from my brow and dropping Reckoning. Urien stumbled to me, battered and bloodied. He picked Reckoning up off the ground and put it back in his tattoo. I gasped to regain my breath as he clapped me on my shoulder, saying, "Good work, vampire."

"Urien! Darius! Help!" Astrid cried from across the square.

The two of us turned to find Astrid kneeling over Yra's fallen body. Tears streamed down her face and the two of us wobbled over as best as we could. Liliya kept her distance but stayed present, watching the events unfold. Yra lay completely still on the ground. I could not hear his heart beating, as subtle and soft as it was even in undeath, and I was sure he was gone.

"I-I tried to bring him b-back to life, but I-I—" Astrid sobbed. Her tears rolled down her cheeks in globs, dripping onto the cobblestone and darkening it where they fell. I knelt next to her and put a hand on Yra's chest but felt nothing.

A great guilt overwhelmed my heart. Yra had come along on this folly journey because he missed me, missed what we had together. I got him killed. I choked up and my chest trembled. Tears came to my eyes, and I muttered, "This is all my fault."

"He fought valiantly," Liliya said. "As did you. I'm surprised at you, Darius. I didn't think you'd care."

"Of course I care. I've always cared. I just let my grief and the past get in the way of what really mattered, which is moving forward, and now it's cost me a friend."

"I am partially to blame, too." Urien's bird landed on his shoulder and he tossed his tattered cloak to the ground. His horns glimmered in the firelight, his silhouette black against the blaze. "I had no idea Lazar was connected to the witches. My associates and I went toe to toe with him before, back when he was still living with the burgomaster and his family."

"So, he's not your brother?" I asked Liliya.

"No, he is." Liliya sheathed her sword and used her capelet to wipe soot from her face. "Unfortunately. He grew up in a different household. I was adopted by a curate, he, the burgomaster of Nessden. The burgomaster brought him into his home, but Lazar had always been troubled, touched by a demonic nature. I didn't know much about Nessden, but the tales of Lazar's brutality travelled far."

"It seems the witches turned the power within him to the maximum and unleashed him on Starkovia," Urien muttered, his eyes on the cobblestone. "We should have killed him before."

"No, it makes sense," I said. "I was so stupid."

"What do you mean?"

"The witches wanted someone like Theo, a dark prince, the true King of Starkovia. It had been Theo's thirst for territory that first brought Starkovia to ruin, and I had not done anything to stop it. When my vampirism did not do what they wished, get them the souls they desired, the witches called upon another."

Urien nodded in understanding and looked back to where Lazar lay. "You don't think..."

"We have no way to know, but... he's dead now. If my brother's soul was inside him, I've killed him twice." I pursed my lips. My crushed amulet lay on the ground nearby, and I took Yra's hand. "We had a good time together. I dragged Yra into this mess, turned him into a vampire. There's no way I can make up for it."

"Oh, my gods!" someone stammered behind us. "Are you all right?"

I turned to see the burgomaster scrambling his way towards us in his long robes, panic on his face and his son in tow. As soon as his son saw a dead body, he rushed to Yra's side, spell book in hand to see what he could do. Urien nodded to the burgomaster and pulled his hood from his face. "Burgomaster. Good to see you're all right. Your wife is safe, and we've sent her to the edge of town with the rest of the villagers."