Vampyre: Desire Immortal

Chapter 41

The Long Night

Let us leave the past behind.

The present is bad enough.

*****

"We will sleep on this ledge and make our way to the entrance of the caves tomorrow," said Perdix.

Xhahari spread a coarse blanket against the edge of the small hollow in the rocks.

"Do you think it will rain?" he asked.

"The clouds bank high. They are heavy with moisture. I think the chances are good we will get good and drenched tonight."

"Then, let we will eat and settle in for a long night."

"A long night, indeed," said Perdix.

Xhahari chewed the hard dried bread. It did little to kill the hunger pangs that clawed the lining of his stomach.

"Tell me more," said the youth.

"More?"

"You have witnessed so many things in your life, Master. The lessons you have learned will benefit me. I need to hear more of your stories. Tell me more. Please."

*****

The blanket spell to hide Megara until danger passed had worked better than Perdix could have imagined. All the omens revealed this truth. But he loathed the gratitude the Queen now thought she owed him.

"I am honored, Your Majesty," Perdix said. "But I do not feel it is my place to sit on the bench with the King and Your Highness. I would feel like a hog sitting between the holy seraphs."

"Nonsense," said the Queen. "I am forever in your debt. You have answered my call so many times. The King is indebted to you, as well. He desires your presence during the great festival. It is the least we can do for you."

"I am your humble servant," Perdix said, bowing his head and returning to his chamber.

The whole day had been an ordeal, but somehow Perdix had gotten through it. When he returned to his workbench that night, it was with a sigh of relief that he busied himself with his latest experiment.

He was deep in a trancelike state when the sound of a woman's scream shattered his concentration and completely destroyed the spell he was in the middle of completing.

*****

The campfire crackled. Perdix was lost in the story he was reciting to Xhahari. He took a long drink from the water pouch and continued.

"When I ran down the hallway, I bumped into Dyryke," said Perdix. "It was the middle of the night. I couldn't figure out why he would be haunting those corridors at that ungodly hour. He had a strange look on his face. Little did I know, Xhahari, the I was walking into a hornet's nest."

"But why was the Queen murdered? No one has ever been able to give me a reason that makes good sense."

"You are wise beyond your years, young man. The Ichor came for the Queen, but Dyryke killed her before the demon could make her one of Evil's clan."

"And the Ichor made him one of them because of that?"

"I believe so," said Perdix.

"Then, Dyryke is a hero," Xhahari said.

"Far from it," the alchemist said. "Dyryke was the reason the Ichor ended up in the Queen's chamber in the first place."