The Immortal | Prequel Story |

Chapter 30 ~ Out of Commission

Blaise froze when they reached Iérti's settlement, horrified by the sight of Tavaly and his vampire allies feeding on the people. Ardai and Arison's eyes widened in shock, but they kept running. Krystyna halted near Blaise, gasping when she saw several people already lying dead, drained entirely.

"We gotta stop this," Krystyna murmured, hitching up her skirts as she proceeded to race forward, her long blonde hair lying out behind her.

Blaise hesitated, grimacing at the sight of violence. He was the most peaceful vampire in the land and he did not like any sort of violence. Even when needing to feed on a person, Blaise was very gentle and cautious to cause as much minimal pain as possible; he was the only vampire who apologized to those he fed on. As a result, his sense of control was much higher than most other vampires who gave in to their craving for blood.

Blaise was about to turn back and alert the others when he noticed a woman screaming for help as a vampire advanced on her. Blaise saw a flask of garlic oil and was over there in a flash, careful to keep his fingers from touching the oil. He uncorked it and flung it at the vampire, making him cry out in pain. Blaise immediately grabbed the woman, taking her to a safe place several distances away. He set her down, saying in a soft soothing tone, "Don't worry, you're safe now." He went to help other humans, using similar methods to fight the vampires trying to feed on them.

Ardai and Arison were in full force, using every muscle and strength to fight Tavaly's vampires. Krystyna focused on getting the children to a safe place, urging people to take cover and arm themselves with garlic and blackthorn. Blaise kept throwing garlic oil, accidentally getting some on himself. "Great, I just decommissioned myself," he murmured as he doubled over in pain, laying helplessly on the ground.

A blanket threw itself at Blaise, wrapping him in a burrito. He felt arms lift him up and realized it was Iérti. He wrapped Blaise in a blanket to prevent the garlic oil from hurting him and was now carrying him to safety. He placed him amongst frightened humans huddled underneath a basement, pushing the tent covers to hide them from view.

"Stay here," Iérti ordered. He pushed a burlap sack full of peppermint leaves over to the people, saying, "Put these peppermint leaves all over you. They will help mask your scent so enemy vampires won't get to you. I'll come back to let you know when it is safe to come out. I am appalled this is happening."

"It's Tavaly, isn't it?" Blaise asked, wincing in pain.

Iérti tossed a small bundle of thick bandages at him. "These bandages should help remove the garlic oil from you." He turned to the people, who looked back at him in either caution, fear, or gratitude. "I'll find the people responsible for this attack. I have no doubt it's Tavaly and the vampire traditionalists. Stay here until dawn. I'll be back as soon as possible." He turned himself into bats, flying out of the tent covers and into the night sky.

Iérti's bats scoured the area for any sign of Tavaly. He grabbed wooden stakes and threw them at enemy vampires, killing them as they were feeding. Humans fell to the ground, pushing dead vampires away from them. Several of Iérti's vampire allies came over to help them, either pressing bandages to their wounds or taking them to a safe place.

A flock of crows and doves emerged from the forest, coming up to meet Iérti's bats. They swooped down and turned back into their true forms, Mallen and Írásom appearing face to face with Iérti. "Tavaly is nowhere to be seen," said Mallen, his hair tied back with a ribbon. "I searched everywhere."

"As did I," said Írásom, dressed in navy blue.

Iérti let out a heavy sigh. "He's gotta be here somewhere. We need to kill him if we're to end this."