Veritas

Chapter 61

Starting from his head, so he wouldn't have time to scream, Aislinn burnt every piece of the vampire down to ash. Once she saw the last piece of him crumble to the ground, she let out a huff of relief and then rubbed her eyes. While uncertain what it was, she felt like something was happening in her eyes when she used her powers. She wondered idly if it was similar to how the former King's eyes flickered golden in her dream; but, just filed it away as something to be cautious of when using her power.

Looking down the curved tunnel she was in, she strained her ears for any sound of the other vampire returning. When she was satisfied that the coast was clear, she was hit by everything she'd been holding back. At first, she became lightheaded, causing her to stumble and lean against the wall. Carefully, she slid down the wall into a squat and let herself cry for a moment. While she had confidence in her plan at the time, she realized when she was pressed up against the wall by the vampire that she was only new to using her powers and there was a real possibility they could have failed her. Her anger had kept her fear at bay in the moment; but, now that it had subsided enough, the realization of what could have happened was horrifying to her.

Still, she was a woman on a mission, and couldn't allow herself long to dwell on what she'd just gone through. She let herself cry and feel the fear she'd been suppressing; but, after about five minutes she got to her feet. Wiping her tear-soaked cheeks with the back of her hands, she turned back to the room with the cages and marched towards it with a new plan formulating in her head.

Back in the dimly lit room, she saw Darius was still unconscious in his cage. Pulling up her feelings of anger once more, she was able to channel the fire to her hands while grabbing the bars of his cage. With time, some trial and error, and ears constantly straining for sounds of an incoming vampire, Aislinn worked away on forging herself some weapons from the silver bars. Stakes were easiest, since it was just making sure that the sections of bar she melted down were pointed. She attempted a knife; but, it wasn't particularly impressive. Still, having some form of weapon on her side other than her magic made her feel better. Whether it was the magic, the stale air in the tunnels, a lack of food, dehydration or a combination of them all, she was already feeling exhausted.

After the weapons were finished, she took the key from the door to her cage and tried it in the other door. Thankfully, it worked! Even though the bars had all been melted to some degree, she didn't want to try to pull Darius through them if there was a perfectly functioning door available. Next, she walked to Darius and wrinkled her nose at the stench of burnt flesh. Examining the man, she could see he'd been moving about in his unconscious state, likely trying to escape the pain of the silver. He had blistered and bubbled flesh in some spots; but, others where he'd been laying for a long time were much more damaged. The skin and tissue had melted away and muscle was exposed in some spots.

Deciding that she needed to get him out of the cage before the damage became even worse, she grabbed one of his arms and slung it around her shoulders, then hoisted him up. As she did, a large chunk of skin came off and remained stuck to the floor, causing her to make a face. Unfortunately, Darius had a much louder reaction. He flailed around violently and let out a roar of pain, nearly causing Aislinn to drop him back to the ground. Since he was still unconscious, though, Aislinn managed to outlast his outburst and slowly dragged him from the cage with only a few new bruises on her body.

Once free from the silver, though, she realized she had nothing but the filthy dirt floor to lay him on. They were both naked, and she'd burnt the vampire's clothes along with him in her rage. Chewing her bottom lip anxiously, she looked around the room for anything she could use to help. After a preliminary look turned up nothing useful, though, she decided the ground was still better than silver and eased him into a sitting position against the wall furthest from the cages. Exhausted, she sat beside him and used her tired body and the wall to keep him sitting.

"Come on, your majesty" she muttered, saying his title with attitude. "Only one of us can shift here, and I think we're going to need that to get out of this mess" she finished, not sure why she was talking to him when he was unconscious.

She shook her head at herself and closed her eyes, with Darius' head on her shoulder she leaned her cheek against his head as a pillow. Willing herself not to fall asleep, she intermittently would pinch the skin on her thigh to avoid dozing off. Before long, though, her hand was drooping out of her lap, and she was on the cusp of sleep when a sound startled her awake.

Footsteps approaching rapidly.

Shit!

Sluggishly, she got to her feet and went to arm herself. The vampire was moving fast, and would be upon them in seconds, so she ran to the door. If she could somehow get the element of surprise and stab him, she'd be okay.

Within seconds of that thought, the vampire from before poked his head in the room. Aislinn was pressed against the wall, her scent mostly overwhelmed by the silver, so she took her chance. Moving as fast as her tired body let her, she plunged forward with one of her silver stakes, aiming to hit the vampire anywhere.

Instead, she heard a short yell where the vampire had been, and then he was gone. She'd outstretched her hand and threw her entire weight into her lunge forward, so with no vampire to stop her, she toppled face-first towards the ground with a yell of her own. Just as she was about to hit the ground, though, a freezing cold hand caught her by the arm to stop her fall.