Chapter 115 : Ally in Crimson Creek

*Xander*

Fire. It was everywhere. And out of the fire currently ripping through one of the many small,abandoned villages we'd passed on our way to Crimson Creek, Oliver was sprinting toward us, hismouth opened wide as he sucked in his breath.

A wall of flames rushed toward us, barreling through the dry, dead winter grass like a book ofmatches on the outskirts of the village. Whatever vampires had been hiding from the sun within thehalf-dozen buildings would be no match for the absolute hell Oliver had just unleashed.

“You're on fire,” John said, waving a casual hand at Oliver, who was indeed on fire.

Oliver dropped to the ground, rolling across the grass until the flames that had been licking up hispant legs sent a trail of acrid smoke toward the sky.

This wasn't the first time Oliver had caught himself on fire today, and it likely wouldn't be the last.We were only an hour outside of Crimson Creek at this point, and we had burned six villages andtwo larger towns down to the foundation since the sun came up this morning.

It was unfortunate. I hated it. But, it had to be done. If we killed every hive hiding out along thehighway, well, our warriors back in Breles might stand a chance of holding onto the city for onemore night, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

But daylight was fading into an overcast afternoon. In a few hours, it would be dark enough for afresh round of vampire warriors to make their way through the portal and into this realm. They werefast, and a journey that had taken us nearly ten hours on foot would take them half the time.

Oliver jumped to his feet, turning around to survey the damage he'd inflicted on the village.Screeching cut through the air, then faded into the crackling flames and splintering buildings as thefire ate away at the village and everything that had been taking shelter within the walls.

Oliver clapped his hands together, a wild look in his eyes. I'd underestimated him. He was thescrappiest son of a b***h I'd ever met in my life.

He'd also been able to snap his fingers and create a flame, just like that.

“Nothing more than a party trick,” he'd shrugged the first time he'd done it.

We'd all been stunned, but hadn't had an opportunity to say anything about it before Oliver wasskipping toward the first village, burning it to the ground within minutes.

"Something is wrong with this family,” Colton breathed.

“Probably,” I said beneath my breath before turning to face our three comrades who were still intheir wolf forms.

We moved on to the final two villages along the highway, letting Oliver do his worst. I'd grownaccustomed to the painful screeching of the dying vampires over the course of the day, and by thetime we reached the final stop along our journey, I barely heard them at all as I instead gazed outtoward the horizon, where Crimson Creek was just a glimmer in the low lying sun.

I had no idea what we'd replace there. I prayed to whatever gods were listening, or at least watching forthe sake of entertainment, that our friends had been spared.

We'd need them. All of them.

Because we were going into the portal to finish this.

Crimson Creek was nothing more than a black space against the rolling, barren gray hills. Blood rootcovered everything—every building, every sidewalk, every window and roof. The train station hadblackened, oily vines growing up the sides of its awning. It had been the first time I'd seen bloodroot grow like vines instead of the dry, moss-like substance that was chalky and ashen. Purpleflowers were budding along the vines; some of them bloomed enough to see the blood red petalsinside.

I commanded my men to not touch anything as we walked through the village. Oliver was walkingahead of us like he owned the place, kicking a path through the blood root. I realized he'd just beenhere, after all. He'd spent nearly a month in Crimson Creek while Lena and I were in the vampirerealm. He'd come through the portal that glimmered on the horizon as we turned out of the villageand walked along the dirt road leading to Gideon's property.

Gideon's house was covered in blood root. The black infection seemed to suffocate the house,closing it off from the outside world completely. I exhaled in annoyance as Oliver kicked open thefront door, yelling out for Alma, announcing he was “home.”

But I broke into a run, weapons drawn, as a struggle ensued inside. The wolves stayed back,guarding the front door as John, Colton, and I stepped inside. Oliver was flat on his back, his fistraised to protect his face as Gideon delivered blow after blow to Oliver's torso.

"Gideon," I rasped, my eyes widening as he looked up at me. “It's us-Xander, and Oliver.”

Gideon's dark eyes were unreadable, unseeing. He blinked several times, bringing his arm up toshield his eyes from the sunlight pouring in through the open front door.

“Shut it!" I hissed at John, who bristled but did as I commanded. Gideon immediately relaxed, thenswayed, his body thudding to the ground.

Oliver rolled over, tucking his knees into his chest as he spit blood onto the floorboards. I rushedtoward Gideon but stopped short of him as the man, a descendent of those few lower vampireswho had been lucky enough to escape their realm of nightmares and slavery to settle here inCrimson Creek, bared his elongated teeth and hissed at me.

“It's me!" I said hoarsely, dropping to my knees in front of him.

"You have a f*****g death wish, Xander,” Gideon growled, his eyes darting to my warriors who werestanding shellshocked at the front door, weapons drawn. “What the hell are you doing here?"“Closing the portal, you piece of s**t! You cracked my tooth!" Oliver spit more blood onto theground before reaching up to cup his jaw, which was already turning a rich shade of purple.Gideon leaned his back against the wall, huffing a choked laugh as he narrowed his eyes at Oliver."Where is your family?" I asked, and Gideon's eyes darkened as he met my gaze.

“Gone. I don't know where. I'd rather not know what happened to them," he bit out, running histongue along his teeth. I swallowed back the unease prickling over my skin and glanced over myshoulder at my warriors before turning back to Gideon.

“We came here to make sure you were okay"

“How else would I be?" he replied dryly, crossing his ankles.

I sucked on my lower lip before squatting in front of him, leaning forward to look into his face.“You look like hell-"

“Well, I've been through hell. I'm living it. Every night more and more of them come through thatportal. Do you know what they are? What they used to be? They used to be like me-lower vampires,the so-called children of the Night Realm created by the God of Night so his sons and daughterscould have playthings.”

"What makes them... all gray and ugly?" Oliver asked painfully, propping himself up in a seatposition.

“Being fed on by the king, or each other, over decades, maybe even centuries for some of the olderones. Nothing but death, that's what they are. Death Walkers is what our kind calls them. Andthere's an endless supply of them, trust me. Whatever you plan to do, it won't be enough. You canclose that portal but they'll open more, and more, and more. They'll do so until their world runs outof their precious bloodstones.”

"Well, we have to do something, because we're going to lose this entire continent to them unlesswe stop this now-right now, preferably.” Oliver wiped a trail of blood from his nostrils andstraightened his legs out in front of him.

"A few lower vampires came through the portal when it opened. When it stayed open, that is. War isbrewing on the other side. The kings of the lower vampires had banded together. I don't know ifthey ever acted on their plans. That was months ago.”

"King Costas of Brune,” I said, more to myself than to anyone in the room. Gideon's eyes flicked tomine. “I met him and Queen Kiern, I also met their son.”

"Zeke?" Gideon asked, then smiled, shaking his head.

“You know them?"

“I know of them. I've never been to that realm. I was born here; my parents were born here... Wedon't live as long as those bastards in the Night Realm-longer days here, slower hours, you know.Sometimes lower vampires would get their hands on a bloodstone and open a break in the realmand end up here, and tell us everything they knew. The last time that happened was a few decadesago, and we heard all about the missing prince of Brune."

“Well, he's not missing anymore,” Oliver cut in.

Gideon gave him a dirty look, then turned back to me.

"King Costas offered me aid," I said. “Can I trust him?"

“I wouldn't trust a vampire, and I am one,” he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “But what doyou have to lose at this point?"

“Nothing,” I breathed, and it was the truth.

One of the wolves called out to me through the mind-link, alerting me that it was now nearingsunset. I rose to my full height and offered my hand to Gideon. He took it, his grip weak and legstrembling a bit as he stood. He looked frail and exhausted. He noticed my concern, and exhaleddeeply, nostrils flaring.

“I've been hiding out since Alma and my brothers went to scout for food. Last I heard, they'd runinto Ben. Ben had been coming here with Bethany every once in a while, but I haven't seen any ofthem in over three weeks. I've just been... sitting here.”

“You're hungry?" said John behind me, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

None of my men really understood the vampires, especially the lower ones. I hadn't had time toexplain their eating habits.

Gideon glared. I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, looking down at Gideon.“We're going to go in. I need you to come with us."

"Why? You realize what's on the other side, right? An entire army of vampires waiting for nightfall inyour realm.”

“Then we go in after the army passes through Crimson Creek and travel through to the daylighthours of the Night Realm," I offered, and Gideon at least considered this.

"Why me?"

“Because you're the only vampire I trust,” I said honestly, a quiet plea in my voice.

“This is your realm as much as it is mine," Oliver added, his voice dropping its usual wry tone, “Fightfor it, for your home."

Gideon ran his tongue over his dry lips, considering.

Finally, after what felt like several minutes of silent reflection, he nodded his head and pointed tothe blood root covering the walls and floor. “Cover yourself in it-all of you, every inch so they can'tpick up your scent. We have roughly four hours until the army passes through. We have to stayhidden.”

Tip: You can use left, right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.Tap the middle of the screen to reveal Reading Options.

If you replace any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report