Authors: Kailin Gow
Aunt Sophie and King Waltham let out a battle cry as they attacked the vampires from behind, charging into them and taking advantage of the shock to
kill
with silvered swords. Aunt Sophie cut down a line of vampires in front of her in a single swooping run along it, before looking down at them as they
fell
and burned.
“These aren’t Palisor vampires,” she said as she moved closer to Briony. “The gate has opened?”
Briony
killed
a vampire of her own and nodded. She could imagine how Aunt Sophie would feel about that. More than any of them, she seemed to have the Hugtandalfer instincts to protect the gate, so if it had opened, she had failed. Though, judging by the way Aunt Sophie lashed out at the surrounding vampires, she was determined to make up for it.
For a moment, Aunt Sophie paused, looking around the crowd of attacking vampires, and Briony saw her eyes lock onto one of their number in particular. Pietre. But then, it was always Pietre for Aunt Sophie, wasn’t it?
Aunt Sophie charged forward, her blade clashing against the one that had stabbed into Kevin.
Briony did her best to keep up, determined to keep the rest of the vampires off her great-aunt while she finally,
finally
dealt with Wicked’s master vampire. A growl from beside her told Briony that Kevin had fol
lowed
too.
“Sophie,” Pietre said, and for once his voice didn’t hold that habitua
lly
mocking note of his, “you’re as young as the day we first met.” He parried another attack, and then reached out to try to touch Aunt Sophie, but she stepped back. “You look just like you did when we
fell
in love, my darling.”
“I. Am. Not. Your. Darling!” Each word was punctuated by a fresh slash from Aunt Sophie’s sword.
Pietre parried them
a
ll.
“You taught me to do this. Remember, Sophie?”
Kevin started forward towards the vampire, but Briony held him back, pointing him towards another group of the creatures. This was something Aunt Sophie needed to do alone.
“No,” the newly young Hugtandalfer woman said, shaking her head. “You can’t be here. Not after everything I’ve been through to keep your kind out.
“How did you even get through?”
“You’re angry with me, Sophie?” Pietre asked,
still
just parrying. Aunt Sophie was intent on her attack now, to such an extent that Briony had to step around her, knocking away a vampire who would have struck her from the side otherwise.
“Of course I’m angry with you. You’ve
killed
hundreds of people. You
killed
my husband.”
“He didn’t deserve you!” Pietre got himself back under control, stepping out of the way of a thrust.
“You’re angry with me? I should be furious with you. You’ve been holding out on me, Sophie. You knew about Palisor, and how I wanted to come here so badly, but you never let me get near.”
Briony staked the vampire who had attacked Aunt Sophie. In the meantime, her great aunt sent a furious combination of thrusts Pietre’s way.
“You just wanted to destroy Palisor and then Wicked,” Sophie said. “You just wanted what you always wanted. Power.”
“Not for power,” Pietre insisted, locking swords with Aunt Sophie so that she could not strike him. “For us! How could I become the man you wanted me to be without Palisor? How could I be anything other than a monster? How could I be the real me?”
“I found out who the real Pietre was years ago,”
Sophie said. “It was never about us, Pietre. Just you. Always just you. You
killed
Pete, you
killed
my niece and her husband, but not before you had turned them. You turned George, kept Wicked in terror of you. You did that, Pietre. Just you.
You
’ll
never be the man I want.”
She shoved Pietre back then, aiming a thrust at his heart, but Pietre spun aside, dropping his sword as he trapped Aunt Sophie’s sword arm and grabbed her hair, wrenching her neck tight. Briony, engaged as she was trying to fight off the surrounding vampires, couldn’t do anything but watch as Pietre
pu
lled
Aunt Sophie’s neck taut, his mouth heading for it.
It touched her neck in a delicate kiss.
“I have done some rea
lly
bad things, Sophie,” Pietre said, “but what I have done, I have done as a vampire. Because I was a vampire. The darkness was too much for me. Yet here… here I can be more. I need the light of Palisor, the peace. That’s why I wanted to get here so badly. I would do anything for it.”
“You think that a trip to Palisor is enough?” Aunt Sophie demanded, shoving Pietre back.
Pietre nodded. “I have heard that vampires here lose their need for blood. With that comes control.”
“You mean you
still
haven’t figured out how to
control
you
r bloodlust after
all
these years?” That voice came from the door, traveling to where Briony stood, Kevin beside her, fighting back the vampires as best she could. It was the one voice she hadn’t thought to hear in this place. Not in a mi
llion
years. But there he was.
Fallon
.
Even Kevin looked happy to see him there, while Aunt Sophie actua
lly
smiled. It seemed that Briony’s great aunt had taken a liking to the young vampire, though Briony found herself hoping that it wasn’t the same kind of liking that she had apparently taken to Vigor. Then Briony saw the look in
Fallon
’s eyes and reprimanded herself for that hint of jealousy.
Love for her shone in
Fallon
’s eyes, clear even over the rest of the battle. Though there didn’t actua
lly
seem to be much of a battle left. Few vampires remained now.
Fallon
nearly flew over to Briony in his haste to get to her, to hold her in his arms. Briony could hardly wait either. But a strong figure moved between them, blocking the potential reunion. Briony looked up and saw King Waltham, her father, standing with sword in hand.
“You’re not going anywhere near my daughter, vampire.”
“Father,” Briony hadn’t
called
him that before, and the word made King Waltham look around. “It’s
all
right.”
Fallon
nodded. “I’m from Wicked, sir, and I love Briony. I mean her no harm. I came looking for her. She and I are together.”
King Waltham looked skeptica
lly
from Briony to
Fallon
and back again. “Together?”
“Romantica
lly
, Father.”
A booming laugh sounded around them then, while the sound of sarcastic applause cut through it, coming from above the three of them. Briony looked up, just in time for Marcus to flip down from the ceiling, landing before them, a sword in each hand.
“A hugtandalf and a vampire in love with one another? That’s one of the most ludicrous things I have ever heard. You might as
well
have the wolf
falling
in love with the sheep.”
Briony slipped around King Waltham, putting a hand on
Fallon
’s shoulder. “Whether you believe it or not, our kind can live with and love your kind, Marcus.”
The leader of Palisor’s vampires laughed again. “That probably explains why the ones from your world are so weak. I thought it was just their age, but this foolishness is like a disease.
Still,
at least they are plentiful enough.
All
the ones you have
killed
here, and I can simply acquire more for when I want to wreak havoc in this world and in yours.”
King Waltham stepped forward, pushing Briony back and raising his sword. “You
will
not have the chance, vampire.”
“Oh, I think I
wi
ll.
” Marcus raised his own blade, and they clashed.
Even in those first seconds, Briony saw what a great swordsman her father must have been in his youth. As good as Vigor, if not better. King Waltham moved with the uncanny grace of the Hugtandalfer folk, and the sword seemed like a simple extension of his arm. He made movements so
small
that they hardly made sense to Briony, but she got the impression that each one was a tiny adjustment designed to gain some advantage over his foe.
Yet Marcus was almost as skil
led,
even if his talents with the sword had a rougher edge to them, born of fighting for survival for so long. He was stronger, too. Age had not weakened Marcus. It had simply made him more deadly. He met King Waltham’s attacks with his own, fighting in deadly silence as he tested the Hugtandalfer ruler’s defenses.
It took almost a minute before he found a way through, slicing a line of blood along King Waltham’s arm. Briony gasped, and steeled herself to jump in, but Aunt Sophie stopped her.
“Distracting him, even while trying to help, could be fatal for your father. We must wait, Briony.”
Briony wanted to argue, but even Vigor stood by, and he knew more about swordsmanship than any of them. King Waltham appeared to recover for a moment, subjecting Marcus to a furious barrage of attacks that forced the vampire to do nothing but defend. For a moment, she thought that he might even break through. Yet slowly, surely it became clear what was happening. Marcus was wearing her father down.
As fast as Briony could think it, Marcus lashed out, slicing low, to King Waltham’s leg, so that the aged Hugtandalfer had to
fall
to his knees.
“Now hand over the scepter,” Marcus demanded.
“I do not have it,” King Waltham said. “So you see, you have lost, vampire.”
“I think not. It
will
be easy enough to find. Now…” Without another word, Marcus drove his sword through the King.
Vigor leapt at him, forcing Marcus back through sheer fury. The ancient vampire laughed, and let himself be herded towards the side of the room Archer had knocked open. When he reached the very edge, he laughed once more, and leapt out into space.
Briony didn’t care, she was too busy kneeling by her father, trying to heal him as she had Kevin. King Waltham shook his head, whispering up.
“It is too late, and I am too old, Briony. Saving me would take more strength than you have. I am just glad I could be here to help you.” Briony had to kneel then, so that he could whisper into her ear. “I wish I had time to spend with you, so that I could see you learn what you’re capable of, child. You
will
have to learn that from Vigor and Sophie, instead, now. That dragon of yours
will
help, too. But know this. The scepter is safe, for now, but you
will
have to keep it that way.”
“I don’t care about that,” Briony said.
“You should. You must. You must promise me you
will
keep it safe. Promise me.”
Briony hesitated, but then nodded. “I promise. How do I even find it, though?”
King Waltham smiled. “You
will
find it. It
will
begin
calling
you, if you are the true heir of Palisor, and you
will
know where it is.”
“You can’t die,” Briony said, trying not to cry. “I just found you. I only just found out what I am.”
King Waltham looked past her, and Briony got the feeling that he wasn’t looking at anything she would be able to see. “You are the daughter of kings and queens. Heir of my blood. Rule Palisor wisely. It
will
protect both of our worlds. Always know, daughter, that I loved your mother dearly, and I love you and Vigor.”
With that, the ancient king closed his eyes, gave a last gasp, and died in Briony’s arms.
With the King’s death, came silence. Nobody in the room spoke. Even the vampires in the room have felt the thunder that rumbled through the entire castle, shaking the stone
walls
and floors with anger.
The King of Palisor had died, and the land felt his death, trembled and wept with it. As if to show the depth of anguish Palisor felt, a fresh wave of rain poured down to the ground
falling
freely like tears.
Nobody seemed to have the right words. Kevin moved to Briony, taking her gently into his arms and drawing her away from King Waltham while Briony cried. This hurt more than she had thought it would. She had barely known her biological father, yet somehow, that made it worse, not better.
If
it was bad for her though, it was worse for Vigor. The norma
lly
expressionless young Hugtandalfer took his father’s body up in his arms, cradling it like a child, grief clear in every line of his face. He wouldn’t look at any of them directly.
“I’m too late, then.” Briony looked up to see the King’s brother, Leytham, entering the room. Vigor looked up too, and for a moment, there was more anger in his features than grief.
“Yes, you’re too late. If you had been here-”
Leytham nodded. “I would have fought that battle for him. I was not. It’s not me you’re angry with though, is it my prince?”
“I was fighting Marcus. I could have taken him. I should have fought instead of my father, and I didn’t. I didn’t.” Vigor looked away again. To Briony’s surprise, Aunt Sophie moved over to him to lay a gentle hand on his shoulder. Vigor tensed as she did it, but seemed to relax as he saw who it was.
“I have lost a brother today,” Leytham said, and then sighed. “Such a stupid word, lost. It makes it sound like I have mislaid him somewhere. Let us say it as it is. My brother is dead.” He shook his head. “And even that is not the worst of it, because there is no time to grieve. Whoever holds the scepter holds the key to Palisor and the mortal world both, and the vampires
will
take it if they can.”
Right then, Briony didn’t care. She was too busy just holding onto Kevin. Even as she did that, though, she looked over his shoulder at
Fallon
. The young vampire was staring straight back at her, his eyes unwavering. There shouldn’t be the urge to hold him at a time like that, yet there it was, deep in the heart of Briony. She wanted to go to him and hold him as tightly as she held Kevin. Wanted his arms around her too. She could see that
Fallon
wanted it as much as she did.
Yet Briony knew that they couldn’t. Not in Palisor. Not now. She was Hugtandalfer, and he was vampire, and after this, the two could never be at peace. The vampires had
killed
the Hugtandalfer’s only king, a much beloved king and their Champion.
Going into his arms would have caused much more pain.
Briony looked past
Fallon
then, to where Fletcher and Archer stood on the broken edge of the room, perched like two high divers on the high stones of the castle. They spread their arms and leapt almost simultaneously. A second later, two huge, reptilian forms rose on the wind, powering away into the distance with furious wing beats. Briony moved closer to the edge, watching them, and some flicker of movement below drew her eye downwards.
Marcus. Marcus was fo
llowing
them.
“Where are they going?” Kevin asked. It took Briony a moment to realize that he was asking her.
“After the scepter,” Briony said, knowing that it was true as she said it, though she wasn’t sure how. “Father… the King… said that the dragons would know where it is.”
Kevin dropped his voice to a whisper. “Do
you
know where it is, Briony?”
Briony was going to shake her head, but she paused. She knew. She didn’t know how she knew, but in that moment, she knew. There was only one place it could be, so Briony nodded instead.
“Kevin, we have to get back to Wicked before Marcus and his vampires do.”
Kevin raised an eyebrow. “It’s there?”
“It is,” Briony said. “I’m sure of it.”
*****
Wicked Woods continues in
Sight