Bereft: Demise

65 | Of Home and Hell

The hour was growing late. The sun, already veiled behind the ubiquitous clouds, was fleeing for the horizon and the world's warmth was absconding with it. Every breath escaped our lungs in hazy gusts of white steam.

Darius took half a dozen steps from his brother's corpse before his stride wavered and he fell to one knee. 

"Darius?" I asked, confused—then I saw the blood still dribbling between his fingers from the wound in his chest. The drops hit the dirt with a ponderous sound, then froze in place as Darius devoured what warmth remained to fuel his restoration. I winced as my skin cooled to the point of pain.

He grunted in response and swatted my hand from his arm. "I just need to rest," the Sin grated through bared teeth. He bowed his head and shut his black eyes—then surged to his feet. Darius managed to careen forward several more yards before he slumped against the rock outcrop the vampire had tried to bash my skull against minutes prior.

The resulting wound still stung, and the threat of more vampires lurking about kept me upright despite my own exhaustion pulling upon my awareness. I moved fitfully from foot to foot as Darius sat with his back to the outcrop and his chin upon his chest.

"Just need to rest," he repeated on an exhale, head lolling on the stone to fix me with a pointed glare. "Don't...wander...."

With that, the Sin of Pride lost consciousness.

Swearing with alarm, I rushed to his side and knelt on the wet earth. One side of his face sported a heinous bruise that flowed from his hairline, over his jaw, and disappeared into the ripped collar of his shirt. Paling, I tore the hole in the shirt over his most grievous wound wider though I was terrified by the thought of what I might find.

The sigh of relief leaving my lips sounded like a sob when I saw the injury was healing. The raw, bruised edges were swelling into one another, sealing the hole Sethan had gouged through his flesh and bones. Wrath's liminal magic had broken with his death. Pride's breathing was steady and deep, though he was ignorant to my presence and my nervous patting against his cheek.

King's breath, what a place for a nap.

I glanced about the stony lip where the outcrop protruded from the mountain's side. The spot wasn't exposed, but it wasn't a shelter, either. If any vampires followed the scent of blood, they could easily come upon us.

Looking into the trees shivering with the weight of the evening's snow, I wondered if any vampires remained and if their mind's hand been freed by Sethan's death. Had the Call been muted? Or were they yet trapped by the hypnotism rendered by their late night father?

My eyes landed upon the trail of rumpled grasses and pine needles leading down the sharp incline on the opposing side of the outcrop. There were tufts of fur trapped in the rocks.

Lionel.

The Druid hadn't returned, nor could I hear any sounds above the gentle sway of the breeze in the treetops. I didn't want to leave Darius here on his own, but there was little else I could do for the Sin. I couldn't lift him. He weighed more than he looked, and I could hardly support my own weight at the moment—but Lionel could be hurt, or outmatched by the remaining vampires.

Gritting my teeth, I scooted to the edge of the precipice and peered below. The slope was steep, but not impassable. The girth of Lionel's body had torn a trail through the underbrush, breaking thin trees off at the roots. With my feet planted in the disturbed mud, I slid down the incline on my backside, grasping whenever a sudden drop sent a jolt through my spine. I stopped when I started to pass body parts and the mud assumed a distinct red hue.

The Druid lay in the thrushes, gnawing on one of the vampires' skulls. 

Approaching the Druid was more unnerving than I wanted to admit. He was twice my size and had a humanoid head clamped between his jaws. As a cat, he was demure, adorable, and presumably harmless—but as a tiger, he was terrifying. I couldn't tell what he was thinking when he turned those amber eyes on me and stopped stripping meat from the vampire's bones.