The Immortal | Prequel Story |

Chapter 13 ~ All Four Fortresses

Iérti had no idea where Mallen went, nor did he care. He was hardly aware of his own actions, too driven by bloodlust. He drank until he finally reached a stopping point where he passed out like a drunkard.

When Iérti came to, he saw Mallen crouched beside him. His horse was near him, kicking up dust. Iérti had always liked that horse: a chestnut brown with a black mane and tail. Mallen named her Iulia, which means youthful. Iérti's horse was named Codruț, which is derived from the Romanian word for forest.

Mallen's face was concerned, lined with sadness, but when he saw Iérti was awake, he seemed to return to his usual self, putting on an air of superiority to hide how he felt. "Look at you," Mallen said quietly, his voice taunting. "Drunk with blood."

Iérti immediately got up, realizing he was outside the North fortress. Dead humans were around him; they were either drained or killed immediately out of spite or anger after having tasted garlic in their blood.

Iérti reeled back in shock as all sense started to come back to him. "Did I....?" he asked, barely able to form the words that scared him.

Mallen raised his head high, his mouth arched in irony. "This was all you, Iérti. You drank and killed every human around you. And this wasn't the only fortress you've been through."

Horrified, Iérti touched his own cheek as he surveyed the damage he'd done, the sight sickening him. He saw a little girl lying dead with bite marks on her neck, her dress smeared with blood. knelt by her side in an instant, gasping when he recognized her as the little girl who gave him water back when he was human, the same little girl from the North fortress.

Iérti started crying heavily, repeatedly apologizing to her even though it was too late. Mallen quietly mourned with him, hiding his emotions behind a mask of indifference. The sight of the little girl reminded him of Olivia. He regretted what he had done, just like regretted what he had done.

Incongruously, it was the first time Mallen and Iérti had ever killed children. Mallen never once killed a child until he killed Olivia, and Iérti never thought to harm a child until he thoughtlessly drained the little girl from the North fortress.

After a while, Iérti's head still bent over the little girl as he kept sobbing, Iérti asked, "How many fortresses?"

"Four," Mallen replied impassively, indicating all four main fortresses of the lands, the ones each of the generals had come from.

Iérti's head came up in alarm. All four fortresses. That means....

Immediately Iérti ran, his fast vampiric speed taking him across many distances. Where it would take a human over a month to reach another fortress, it took a vampire only a matter of days. Mallen watched him, his own emotions run amok. Mallen hesitated before he decided to run after Iérti.

When finally reached the East fortress, Iérti shouted, "No!" at the sight of the rubble, the broken fortress where every wall had been knocked down. None of them remained standing. Fire burned at some of the tents and houses, though most of it had already burned down. The air smelled vaguely of drenched garlic, combined with the scent of spilled blood and subdued smoke from the fires.

Iérti ran from one place to the other, anxious to find his family. Mallen stood quietly, watching the damage he'd done start to take its toll on Iérti. He followed where he went, a sense of dread and nervousness overtaking him as Iérti finally found where Katlyn and Olivia were.

Mallen's own heart lurched at the sight of holding his dead wife in his arms. Mallen quickly backed out of the tent doorway, moving far away before Iérti could see him. He swore in every language he knew, kicking at a random stack of firewood, unable to hold back his own tears. He couldn't take it anymore and vanished into the forest, deeply remorseful.

would kill him the moment he discovered Katlyn's and Olivia's killer. It was a secret Mallen intended to take to his grave. Mallen was thankful nobody had seen the horrible event. He was filled with regret, longing to go back in time and keep Iérti's family alive, but the damage was done. It was too late.

Both men mourned, one openly and the other privately. The awakening of the sun on the horizon warned them dawn was coming and they had to hide before the sun came up. Iérti wanted to just stay there in the tent, numb with the loss of his family, but he had the sense to bury them before the sun came out and he was forced to seek shelter in the caves, too far away from the castle.

Neither Iérti nor Mallen slept, worn out from crying and experiencing their own emotional anguish. When night came, Iérti approached the grave he had set up for Katlyn and Olivia. He stood barely noticing the smell of the other dead bodies around him, shocked and traumatized by his family's deaths. He sensed Mallen near, but he was too deep in his own grief to barely notice his presence.

Iérti didn't stray from the grave for the entire night. He marked it with Olivia's favorite flowers and a boulder where he had scratched out their names. In addition, he had taken the time to bury the little girl from the North fortress right beside his daughter.

Iérti stood unmoving, as still as a statue for ten nights, only leaving when the sun forced him to. Tears kept running down his face as he cried endlessly, heartbroken.

More nights passed before Iérti finally walked away from the grave, his face solemn. He passed by Mallen without even glancing at him. Numb with grief, Iérti felt nothing but heartbreak and remorse, not knowing Mallen felt the same. Worst of all, Iérti truly believed he was the one who had killed Katlyn and Olivia in his blood-driven feeding frenzy.

I've become worse than Mallen. I killed my own family and a helpless little girl without realizing it. I don't deserve to be human anymore. Not after this.

As his thirst began to overtake him again from prolonged time without feeding, Iérti's eyes turned red as he finally accepted that he was a vampire forever.

And just like that, Iérti lost his humanity the moment he believed he was no longer worthy of human compassion after what he had done.