Bacorium Legacy (9 page)

With his left hand, Luca began to press his fingernail into his palm. His right hand tightened its grip on his sword, and he was ready to move in a second if the vampire should. A moment's hesitation was all a vampire needed to kill a human.

“I guess its a good thing for me that I'm a fitful sleeper, eh?” Luca asked with a smirk.

The vampire shrugged. “It will make no difference in the end. Some of my kind like to make prey of their meals, to amuse themselves. I always preferred merciful kills. But being discovered will not spare you and or keep me from turning the girl.”

And then the vampire sprang forth with the speed of sound, closing the distance between the two within a second. He swung his sword, aiming to take off the thing's head. But the vampire had sharper reflexes than his own - she easily sidestepped his attack, and was standing before him a second later.

Luca felt himself being lifted off his feet, the vampire's grip around his neck like a steel brace. He felt like his head was about to pop off. He could feel the vampire's fingers digging into his flesh. It burned. The vampire then opened her mouth, displaying those long fangs, and prepared to sink them into his neck.

Luca flicked his wrist before the vampire's eyes, spraying her face with a few drops of crimson blood. The vampire's red eyes went wide, and she dropped him involuntarily, lightly touching the blood on her face. The vampire couldn't help but to taste his blood on her fingertips. She was dazed for the moment, not having expected such a thing.

He used these precious seconds to roll back and rise. With his left hand, which bled freely from the self-inflicted wound, he summoned and released a considerable amount of his mana in the vampire's face.

Light filled the street.

The vampire blinked, trying to restore her disabled vision. Unaffected by his own magick, Luca charged and drove his sword through the vampire's chest, where its heart should have been.

This did not kill the vampire. But he knew it would not. There were only two things that can kill a vampire: decapitation and fire. What he did was push the vampire forward, up against the wall of the inn. His sword, protruding from the other side of the vampire's chest, went through the wall of the building, pinning the creature in place.

The creature hissed, and struggled to free herself like the trapped animal she was. Her vision had not yet fully returned, so she swung her arms with abandon, not sure where her target was standing.

Luca let go of his sword. The vampire was stuck - she wasn't going anywhere. He took a step back, and coughed. A few deep breaths later, he felt the lightness in his head fading.

The vampire blinked, her vision returning. Her former haughtiness was gone - she looked like a frightened girl. She looked to Luca, pleading with him with wide, red eyes.

“Please don't do this...”

Luca glared at the thing. His throat hurt too much to speak, but he felt little desire to communicate with the monster anyway. A moment ago, the vampire would have drained Luca's blood, turning him into a withered husk, and then gone into the inn to turn Emila into a soulless thing like herself. And yet, she thought that batting her eyelashes and pleading for her life would save her. There was no mercy in Luca's gaze.

His hands returned to the hilt of his sword.

“Please, don't! I know your-!”

Before she could finish, Luca drew the sword free, and spun in a single movement. The blade sliced through the vampire's neck. The bloodless corpse collapsed.

Luca let out a heavy sigh, and sheathed his sword once more. There was a crumpling sound as the headless body of the vampire dried and shrivelled into dust before his eyes.

He turned to find Emila standing at the entrance of the inn, her eyes wide.

“Luca, what just happened?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. Instead, a sharp pain shot through his throat. He took a step forward and stumbled, a wave of dizziness rushing to his head.

Emila rushed to him, and pulled his arm over her shoulder to keep him from falling.

“Careful,” she said gently. “Come back inside, I'll heal you.”

She saw the scattered bodies of the goblins in the snow, but said nothing.

<> <> <>

Luca's small, child fingers were wrapped around the blade in his hand. A single drop of blood fell from the tip of the dagger as he held it up and looked at the silver blade. Not red human blood, but the green ichor of a monster.

Luca looked down at the small creature he had killed. A jakalope, an almost harmless monster found in most part of Bacoria. It had put up little struggle, only trying to get away from him, until it had realised it could not flee from the small corner of the cave Luca had cornered it in. Only then had it hissed and tried to bite as he drew near.

The young boy felt sick to the stomach. He'd felt so sorry for the poor creature as he had drove the dagger into its small body. The first stroke hadn't killed it, so it had suffered for a few seconds until Luca could muster up the guts to stab it again.

He hadn't wanted to go in the first place. He didn't like to see anything suffer, especially not cute little creatures like jakalopes. But his father had told him, that if he did not bring back one, then he would not eat that night. And he was hungry and worn-out from the long day of travel. He knew that if he went to bed that night without something in his belly, then travel the next day would be unbearable.

Luca picked up the dead jakalope by its antlers and carried it back with him through the forest to the small camp his father had set up. Lodin watched him as he emerged, and a proud smile appeared on the man's bearded face.

“Well done. Now, you can eat.”

Luca looked down at the small fire at his father's feet. There was no meal there.

“Father, I don't understand. There's nothing here to eat.”

Lodin leaned in towards Luca, and placed a hand upon his son's shoulder.

“My boy, where do you think the meat we eat comes from?” Lodin asked his son. “Why would I go out hunting every evening, if there was nothing to gain from killing the beasts I come across?”

Lodin took the dead jakalope from his son's hands. “This creature was killed by a superior being. Now, its flesh will sustain you.” Luca then felt his stomach turning as his father skinned it.

As his father placed the jakalope upon a spit and held it over the fire, Luca sat beside him, pale-faced at what his father had said. He had never hesitated to eat the meals his father had prepared for him, even when he saw the dead and bloody bodies Lodin had dragged back with him. He had simply never given it that much thought. But now that he himself had killed, he felt a different feeling.

Lodin spoke to him as he turned the jakalope over the flames.

“You are old enough now. From now on, you can join me in my hunts.”

Luca stared down at the fire despondently.

“When we die - do monsters eat us?” he asked quietly.

His father turned to him, and shook his head.

“When a human dies, they are retaken by the spiritual realm. Nothing is left behind. That is our payment to the Old Ones for using magick, the gift they gave us. Monsters have no souls, and they have no mana to give when they die. The flesh they leave behind is their gift.”

Luca sighed. Lodin took note of this. “You are unhappy to hear this?”

Luca nodded, and replied hesitantly.

“I suppose - I would not feel so bad about slaying and eating another creature if I knew that it could do the same to me.”

“Ah,” Lodin said, scratching his beard. “Yes, there is always a feeling of guilt. But that will fade in time. You will see.”

Lodin took the jakalope out of the fire, now cooked down to red meat. After turning it over to confirm it was done, he handed the spit to his son.

“Here. It is your first kill, so you may enjoy it yourself.”

Enjoy it? Luca had his doubts. His stomach growled, so he would eat the jakalope, but he doubted he would enjoy it. The guilt of seeing the poor creature cower in terror continued to plague him.

How could his father make him do this? How could his father think he could enjoy hurting an innocent creature?

Luca knew he would never enjoy taking another life.

<> <> <>

Emila took Luca back inside the inn, and had him lay upon the sofa. She gathered her mana, and her hands glowed with pale blue energy. There was no point in objecting, as he needed the healing, so he said nothing. Not that he could have anyway; the vampire's attempt at crushing his throat had rendered him temporarily mute.

In a few minutes, the pain in his neck faded away. The vampire's grip had been so powerful that it had left red marks in the shape of hands upon his throat.

Once Emila's job was finished, he sat up. He still felt lightheaded and his arms and legs seemed heavier than usual. He didn't know why - he hadn't felt so exhausted before fighting the vampire. Still, his wounds were treated well.

“Thank you,” he said to her.

Emila nodded and smiled, but there was concern in her eyes. She glanced at the door they had come through. The darkness outside told no tales.

“That was - a vampire, wasn't it?” she asked slowly.

Luca nodded. Emila frowned, needing to know more, but unsure what to say.

“Did you - well, how did you know it was out there?”

“I didn't,” he replied. “I simply woke in the middle of the night and decided to relieve some stress. That was the goblins. It was by chance that I realised the vampire was there.”

Emila met his gaze for a moment, her eyes wide. Apparently, that was not what she had expected to hear.

“Are you saying...?”

“If I had not woken and gone outside to kill those goblins, that vampire would have walked in the inn and killed us both,” he told her in a voice devoid of emotion.

Luca thought of the vampire's words, and how she had spoken of Emila. Her tone of voice had been obsessive. Lustful. She had wanted to turn Emila into a creature like herself, and do unspeakable things to her. He decided that he would be considerate enough not to tell her that part. She looked uncomfortable enough already.

Emila fidgeted nervously in her seat. “Then I guess you've payed me back,” she said. “You know, for saving your life.”

“Not quite. I'm still in your debt. You've saved me twice. First, when you healed me the first time. Secondly, when you stopped me from running. So I still owe you once over.”

“I see,” she said quietly. “Um, so the vampire is dead, then?”

“As dead as a vampire can be.”

Emila rubbed her eyes. “Then we're safe.”

“No, we're not.”

Emila looked over at him. His face had grown grim.

“What do you mean?”

“Vampires live in groups,” he told her. “When the vampire I killed fails to return to the den, the others will come out to find out what happened to her. This town is likely her usual haunt, so they'll know to look here. We have to leave as soon as possible, or we'll be annihilated.”

It was only common sense that they could not survive such an attack. He had exhausted himself fighting a single vampire - it would have killed him to fight more than three.

Emila, upon hearing this, grew pale.

“We have to leave...” she said nervously. “Okay, then. I'll go pack my things. Do you need help?”

Luca rose as best he could, testing his balance. While he felt far more tired than he should, gathering his few possessions would not be a problem.

“I'll be fine.”

He raised his hand, and noticed that the wound he had inflicted upon himself was still open, and a few drops of blood had fallen to the inn's floor. Emila noticed this.

“Oh! I forgot about that. Here...”

Before he could send her away, she took his hand in her own. He felt her mana flowing through her into himself, and when she let him go, the wound was closed.

“Thank you.”

Emila nodded and smiled warmly, her previous anxiety gone.

“Of course. Let's get our things together and get out of here, shall we?”

Luca's hand tingled just slightly from the contact as he followed Emila upstairs. It had nothing to do with the healing.

<> <> <>

Ten minutes later, Forga was a vague shape disappearing behind the horizon. The moon had finally emerged from behind the clouds, casting its silver light upon the path before the two travellers.

Luca and Emila walked abreast, at as steady a pace as he could manage in his weakened state. Haste was a concern, but be knew that at least for the moment, they were safe. If such a large group of vampires as he expected were to appear, then they would know some time before they actually reached them.

He noticed that Emila had finally donned some footwear. She wore a simple pair of sandals, not exactly the ideal choice for travel, but he figured she probably didn't have much to choose from. Still, boots like his would have been better.

Emila paid close attention to him as they walked, likely half-expecting him to fall over. While he had regained a degree of his strength after Emila had healed him, he was still nowhere near his peak, nor would he be until he had rest. After thinking about his weariness, he decided it seemed to be mana exhaustion - the fatigue that one came under when they used too much magick. But Luca had only used a small amount of mana earlier, when he created the flash that had blinded the vampire. So while he didn't understand why his mana felt so drained, he knew that he couldn't use any more magick, or he could risk death.

The path they followed was cut through a forest, travelled enough to be free of nature's many obstacles, but still esoteric enough that the trees lining the sides were thick and concealing. This was something Luca took note of, and he listened intently for any rustling that may indicate a monster's presence. The darkness was still heavy, even with the moon's aid, and it was at the darkest parts of the night that the foul beasts emerged to hunt. Humans hunted in the day, monsters hunted at night. That was how it had always been in Bacoria, and how it likely would always be.