The Road to Magic (Book 1 of the Way of the Demon Series) (32 page)

Outpost answered at once: ‘Energy levels of emergency storage have been fully restored. The deconservation of the main energo-crystal feeder is completed and its charging has begun. At the present moment, the main crystal has been charged up to three percent. I request that the charging continue.’

With a sigh, Oleg pulled out the topaz.

‘I only have this left. By the way, you couldn’t tell me what it is exactly, could you?’

The spirit of the tower let out a sigh of admiration.

‘We are fortunate, my Sovereign. This is a small portable energo-crystal, a very rare and highly prized talisman. And most importantly –it is full of energy!’

This time the haze glimmered for more than a quarter of an hour. When it finally dissipated, Oleg discovered to his amazement the same topaz lying on the stone altar just as it had before, though admittedly, considerably smaller in size. Previously the size of a walnut, it was now no larger than a pea.

‘The main crystal has been charged to thirty-seven percent,’ Outpost reported without waiting to be asked. ‘I did my best to download the energy as carefully as possible from the crystal so as not to damage it, and I didn’t take all of it. It might come in handy for you, Sovereign.’

‘Well done,’ Oleg praised him, hanging the crystal around his neck. ‘Maybe you can tell me how to use it, too?’

‘It can accumulate the energy naturally scattered from the aura of the one carrying it and liberate that energy according to its master’s wishes,’ Outpost answered obligingly. ‘Its previous master, most likely an air magician, must have gathered energy for a long time to charge this crystal so strongly.’

‘OK, we’ll get to grips with the crystal later. Now it’s time to deal with the she-vampire. I hope that now you’ve got enough strength to help me in the battle?’

‘Yes, ample. By the way, you can check for yourself.’ The guiding light sphere, almost imperceptible against the bright lighting, bounced over to the lead stone.

‘So it’s true,’ Oleg thought out loud. ‘There’s nothing better than studying the field of battle in advance.’

Going over to the crystal, he immersed himself in studying the second underground tier. The she-vampire was in the former commander’s quarters. Or more precisely, the bedroom. The room had been carefully tidied, in marked contrast to the disarray which reigned in the other parts of the tower and gave it a rather wild impression. In places where it was impossible to hide the ravages of time using simple means, thin layers of mist could be seen – that was precisely how the magical eye perceived a vampire’s illusion. A lavishly arranged coffin stood in one corner with a black band tied around it lengthways. The black band was decorated with little ribbons. The lid had been moved to one side and Oleg could assure himself that its previous inhabitant was no longer there.

The she-vampire herself was not far away. The Supreme Vampire which had struck such terror into the hearts of those living at Bel castle and kidnapped the young duke turned out to be a small, graceful, black-haired girl with very white skin and nice curves who looked about twenty-five. Flying in the face of tradition, which demanded Vampires should sleep in coffins, she was lying comfortably spread-eagled on the large, soft bed, evidently a left-over from the previous tenant’s bedroom. The kidnapped duke could be seen next to her. Judging from the satisfied smile on his lips, he was not overly suffering from his captivity. If anything, quite the opposite. Studying the situation – the couple lying on the bed were dressed like Adam and Eve – and the tenderness with which the dreamy-eyed, sixteen-year-old Kolin Bel embraced his kidnapper, any attempt to free him from this she-vampire would be met with the strongest opposition from the “hapless victim”.

When he’d seen this picture, Oleg fell to thinking. He’d been contracted to drag the prey from the hands of an evil and capricious Vampire, and not a happy lover from the bed of his beloved woman. Oleg was on the point of calmly turning away and leaving the tower, without disturbing the couple, when Kolin decided to change his position. As a result, his head bent forwards slightly and Oleg could see his neck…and the two deep little wounds on the young duke’s main artery.

The Duchess had not been lying. The lad was indeed in need of saving. Even if it had to be done against his will.

Oleg took out the map of the traps on the second underground level. There were no snares in the bedroom itself.

‘Commander Tara categorically refused to have any military spells in her rooms. She was convinced she was strong enough to deal with any problem which might arise in her boudoir,’ Outpost prompted obligingly.

‘Then maybe we should call her and let her deal with this,’ Oleg suggested jokingly. Outpost, however, took his suggestion absolutely seriously.

‘I wouldn’t recommend it. She was, of course, a rather powerful magician, but it’s unlikely that her spirit would be able to hold out against a Supreme Vampire. What’s more, many Vampires have necromantic talents. In that case, there is a risk the spirit might be re-commandeered and Tara, alive or dead, is still my commander.’

‘OK, you’ve convinced me, I won’t invoke her. But what shall we do? Are you completely powerless to help?’

‘Why no, Knight. Take a look at this. All you need to do is to lure her into the corridor and lead her in between these two panels. I have a potent decelerator there. I can guarantee that the bonds it generates are well able to hold a Supreme Vampire temporarily.’

‘Well, then, that’s how we’ll go about it. Do you have a shortcut to the second level?’

‘Madame Commander’s private lift has already been activated. Please step this way.’

Oleg tore himself away from the leading crystal. In the left corner of the spell room a smallish square on the floor was shining weakly and was, to all appearances, the lift.

As he made his way towards it, Oleg thought carefully about which of his two swords he should take with him. On the one hand, his own silver-plated, two-handed sword had a fair amount of battle experience, was convenient and thanks to its long blade, gave him a considerable advantage in terms of distance. Furthermore, and most importantly, Oleg had already got used to it, had learnt to sense the sword and that was hugely significant and could often save a warrior’s life.

On the other hand, the sword of the light magician, or the blade of Spiritual Fire as the tower’s Artificial Intelligence called it, possessed magical properties which, undoubtedly, would be come in very handy against an Undead immune to ordinary arms. Plus it was much lighter than his two-handed one, and its smaller size meant that he could wield it more freely in the tight corridors. Having weighed all this up, Oleg unfastened the scabbard with his two-handed sword from his back and laid it on the floor near the lift.

‘There’s no point in loading myself with an unnecessary weapon before a heavy battle,’ he decided. ‘And besides, it’s unlikely that anyone will be able to steal it.’ Then Oleg demonized fully and cast a semblance over himself making him appear as himself, only in human form. That would allow him to utilize all the advantages of his demon form, but without the danger of casual witnesses, in this case, the young duke. As for the Unclean, confronting a mere human she would always tend to react carelessly, thereby giving him another advantage.

When all these preparations were complete, Oleg admired the flaming blade of his sword once more and stepped onto the shining square on the floor.

‘Lift activated,’ Outpost’s whisper of warning rustled in his ears, and Oleg found himself on the second underground level. Straight down the corridor he could see the door into the rooms which had once been the quarters of the tower’s commander, and were now the lair of a Supreme Vampire.

With a sigh, Oleg gripped his sword more comfortably, drew his darkh with his left hand, intending to use it like a dagger, and thus prepared, set off in the direction of the commander’s chambers.

***

Vereene couldn’t sleep. Usually she liked to nap during the day if possible. But this time sleep slipped away. She would either fall into short spells of oblivion saturated with nightmares and with much more terrifying memories, or would wake up once more in bed, in the embrace of young Duke Bel. It felt as though a stranger’s glance was boring into her back, full of danger and menace.

For the century and a half of her existence, first as a simple Vampire (and they were not simple Vampires) and then as a Supreme Vampire, Vereene had grown accustomed to paying heed to such phenomena. Perhaps, that is what had enabled her to live such a long life and even survive the fall of the Dark Citadel, whose magicians endowed her with new capacities.

The last time she had sensed something similar was just before the Hunters attacked her lair. Then she had initially ignored the warning of her subconscious, and had been cruelly punished for it. The Hunters had slaughtered the Young Ones, exploiting the wakeless day-sleep of Vampires. Flying into a frenzied rage, she had taken revenge on the Hunters for the death of her slaves, many of whom she had created herself. Nevertheless, revenge, even the keenest revenge, was incapable of returning the dead. Having begun to reconstruct her lair, Vereene decided not to let the same mistake happen again and not to create ordinary vampires. No, now her subjects, her children, would only be Supreme ones, the pinnacle of the necromantic skills of the Dark Citadel. It wouldn’t be as easy to slaughter them as it had been last time. And what if it took much more time and energy to create one Supreme than it did to create as many as thirty simple vampires? She had plenty of time and it wasn’t difficult to renew her energy, the human settlement was right nearby…

The Vampiress looked tenderly at her first
chosen
one. Strange though it might seem, after all the years since the fall of the Dark Citadel, this was the first time she had made up her mind to create something in her own image. Maybe he had himself played no small part in her decision. The young duke had noticed her when, sated, she had been dancing in the moonlight. When she stopped dancing, Kolin had come up and talked to her.

Despite her age, somewhere deep down in her soul Vereene had always remained that twenty-five year old girl she had been when she had been
converted
. She had been impressed by the youth’s courage and unconcealed admiration, and she had been so impressed that when Kolin, or to be more precise, now simply Koly, had spoken of seeing each other, she had agreed. At first she had been astounded at her lack of judgement and at the desperate courage of the young duke. And it was only on their third meeting, when Kolin had warned her that she should be more careful in the evenings since there was a lair of vampires not far from the village, that she realized that he did not suspect her true nature. But by then that no longer mattered to her.

Kolin took her for an enchantress, a fairy, an elfin girl who had come to him by chance. He adored her, genuinely admiring her dances in the moon’s rays, her shining eyes and other things which were completely natural to a Supreme Vampire. She didn’t disappoint him. It was amazing how easily a Vampire’s charms could match the descriptions of the enchantment of elves found in fairytales and legends if he wanted them to.

And then there was the hunt, decreed by Kolin’s mother, the Duchess Katina Bel, and the ashes of Vereene’s foster children lying in the coffins which had burned from within. Helpless during their day sleep, they had not even managed to defend themselves! Vereene remembered well the pain and rage which had taken hold of her then.

She had destroyed the Hunters and she was about to pay a “courtesy call” to the Duchess when the idea came to her; she could avenge herself much more gracefully and cruelly while also allowing her to keep Kolin by her side for ever, as he had now become an important part of her “life”. If she had killed Katina Bel, the head of one of the most prestigious aristocratic families in the Empire, she would have had to flee the Empire at once – the Emperor would never have forgiven such a deed and would have hired the best magicians to kill her. And Kolin would hardly have wanted to love the woman who had killed his mother.

Though it seemed strange, it was precisely that line of reasoning which proved decisive. Instead of the night time attack she had planned on the Duchess’s residence, Vereene went down a different path. At their next tryst, she informed her young beloved that it was time for her to leave and they would not be able to see each other again, after which she inquired: would he like to go with her and become just like her?

The young Duke didn’t hesitate. By that time his infatuation with her had reached such a level that he would have plucked the moon from the heavens for her, and now this … To become a wonderful, fairytale being and to be by the side of his beloved for ever – she got the duke’s agreement in an instant.

A few problems arouse in the initial stages of their relationship when Vereene was no longer able to conceal her true nature. However, the young duke quickly came to terms with his lot, although he did become exceedingly sad and thoughtful.

To dispel this sorrow, Vereene decided to try and share her bed with him. Since the days when she had been a simple Vampire she had well understood that there is no greater pleasure for creatures of the night than the taste of the blood of their next victim, so this step was merely a matter of simple compassion. However, to her surprise, she liked it! As it turned out, many of the limitations of simple Undead don’t apply to the Supreme. Now she was angry with herself for not having made up her mind to do this long ago thus depriving herself of such pleasure for so many years. But everything was still ahead of her…

Kolin was happy, too. Vereene only regretted that this
conversion
was gradually sapping away his strength, but that was quite normal and she hoped, once he became a Supreme Vampire, he would regain his abilities once again. Her day sleep had become shorter because of that, too – most of the time she was engaged in other, far more pleasurable, activities.

Waking from yet another nightmare, Vereene decided to check the safety of her residence. The warning charms on the entrance to that floor were buzzing with a peaceful hum – no-one had crossed the invisible line she had drawn. Usually that was enough to reassure her (it was almost impossible to cheat the warning charms of a Supreme Vampire, the head of the Dark Citadel had told her, but now her subconsciousness fixed on the word “almost”). ‘The gods look after those who look after themselves’, the Vampiress thought, flowing over the floor as thick fog so as not to disturb Kolin. With a slight effort of will, a vetangur formed in her hands. It was the magical weapon of the Supreme Vampires inseparably woven into their nature by the best spell-makers of the Dark Citadel. This time Vereene lent it the form of a straight, light, one-handed sword which she had learned to use in the days when she served the Dark Empire. And so naked, armed with the black sword in her hand, Vereene glided to the door. All of a sudden, it burst open by itself. There was a stranger standing on the threshold! Without thinking she whacked the impudent magician (for who else could this stranger be who had invisibly penetrated all her protective charms and was armed with a sword of the soul?) with her vetangur, aiming for his neck. No magician, not even the most potent, could survive with a lopped off head! For a second Vereene rejoiced - the Hunter would clearly not be quick enough to block her blow with his weapon and it was impossible to stop a vetangur with magic. ‘It will be my swiftest victory in a duel with a magician’ was the thought that flashed through her head.