Walk Into The Light - Shadows of the Night 6

Chapter 42

Hey,

I hope your week was as good as mine! ;-) So Vladislav is still in the city, and he means business! Oh, and please listen to this week's song: DeVso Music - Descendent Of God (2012)!

Lara

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Chapter 42

There are wastelands in our minds, if we just dare to look long enough. Darkness stretches on and on, no matter where you turn or where you look. To survive in that darkness, to have the guts to look long enough into that abyss and live, that is the catch.

* * *

"You have always been an ardent follower of disrespect and defiance, Adorján." Vladislav did not pace or move, not a flicker of his eye, not a twitch in his fingers. All that moved was his black moustache when he spoke. The rest of him might as well have come out of a dark snapshot.

Of all the vampires in the square, he was the true archetype – the representative of what I had always feared most in vampires: the deadness and the utter disregard for everything that lived and breathed.

"Your actions and words at Red Night's Eve have not gone unnoticed in the vampiric community," Vladislav said. "Not only are you unfit to rule, you are a disgrace to me and my lineage. After all these years you not only publicly insulted me at the festivities, you killed one of my most faithful protégés. Whether the Vampire League or Dark Death find proof of your involvement or not, you will pay the price for that and offer an adequate compensation." His voice took on a darker note. "Tonight."

Alexander cocked his head, assuming the statesmanship he usually used for minor political adversaries.

"Speaking of the Vampire League and Dark Death, you are in my territory without my admission. If I remember correctly, you were removed last time we spoke."

Vladislav took a step forward. "I do not bow to the Vampire League or Dark Death, Adorján, you should know that. What I want is compensation. And you will give it to me. In the form of life-long servitude."

Alexander drifted into statuesque motionlessness, his face going into that blank state I knew so well by now.

"I would rather die."

"We will see about that," Vladislav said.

Then he was gone.

I thought it and shook my head. No, that wasn't right.

I gazed at the spot Vladislav had been in, opening myself to the power of the grave and the sharp, dark veil that permeated the city like a second skin. Vladislav wasn't gone. He was just old enough to move faster than even I, as a vampire, couldn't track.

There.

He appeared out of nowhere, right behind Alexander, and then Alexander too was gone. The wind hissed and whirred with motion, carrying traces of the fight with it. Blurs that bled into existence, fast motion and small cataclysms crashing.

Alexander was moving almost as fast as Vladislav. That much I could tell.

But Vladislav was his maker, how could he have even the slightest chance of beating him? Dammit, I couldn't just stand there, I had to do something.

Vladislav reappeared, rushing Alexander, who turned around, evading his fist by blurring into vamp speed. All of a sudden he was in front of Vladislav, plunging something into Vladislav's chest, retreating as fast as he'd appeared.

Gold flashed and Vladislav stilled.

No, not something. It was the golden file Alexander had stolen from me – a powerful magical artifact that was created by a fire witch. Its purpose? Kill truly old vampires. I stared at Vladislav, who was staring at Alexander motionlessly.

But it was all wrong! What was Alexander thinking? A magical artifact was nothing without someone to wield the magic!

Then Vladislav cocked his head, looked down, then looked up again, facing Alexander. "Ah. It is one of those. I remember them. Are you waiting for the weapon to ignite? It will not. I disposed of the witch that was conveniently hiding at the corner of the square before coming here. I guessed it was someone hired by you. There is no one to evoke the artifact for you, Adorján. No one to save you or your city."

Time seemed to slip from my hands because the next thing I knew was that he was standing in front of Alexander, hand wrapped around his neck.

"You will come back with me or I will destroy that city and everything in it that you hold dear," Vladislav said.

A vision rose inside my mind, Alexander, bowing in front of Vladislav, forced to his knees by unspeakable pain and torture; forced to go back to a monster he'd fought ever since he had been turned.

My fingers cramped and curled into a fist. I was not going to let that happen. I made my decision and accepted it with all its repercussions. Did it without quivering, but made peace with it.

There was a certain peacefulness and quiet in death and perhaps that was something one could only understand if one had faced it and stopped breathing at some point. Had indeed seen the world from another vantage point, looked up from the ground in the throes of death.

I picked up all mental images that had scattered in my mind, steeled myself and raced into the middle of the square, coming to a halt in front of Vladislav and Alexander.

"No." The word sounded more like a command than a plea.

Good.

Vladislav turned his head slowly, woodenly, like a puppet on strings. Alexander stared at me, his piercing look boring into me.

"I'll go instead of Alexander." The words came out, slowly and in full awareness of their weight and meaning.

"No, she does not," Alexander hissed. "She is not worth it." The last words spoken with a clipped iciness that left no room for debate or argument.

His eyes swerved to me and for a second the blank, hollow look he'd had before vanished and morphed into something else. He looked at me with fury and anger, as if I had just insulted him in the worst manner possible.

"Is she not?" Vladislav said. His eyes were on me, his power drilling into me, even more ominous and suffocating now that I was closer.