Chapter 108: Half-Breed

Book 3, Chapter 7 - Half-Breed

Jack continued to cry, confused by what was happening. His sister was attacking his mother. “Stop! Stop fighting,” he mumbled through sniffles and gasps. Karine dropped his mother and stormed out.

“Take them into captivity!” she hissed.

The man in white nodded, rising to his feet.

Jack scrambled over to his mother. “Ma! Ma, what's happening?”

Sarah coughed, thin lines of blood rolling down her smooth neck where Karine's nails had pierced. “Shush, Jack. It's ok,” she managed, her voice hoarse. “It's just a misunderstanding, I promise.”

Sarah wrapped one arm around him, turning around to face the man in white. Jack trembled, knees weak. He glared at the man through foggy eyes —the man in turn staring at his mother's neck. Sarah slowly backed away towards the cooking fire, dragging Jack backwards with her as the man marched towards them. The flames crackled, fat from the roasting leg of lamb dripping down. The sound echoed in Jack's ears. The man before them bared his fangs. Jack swallowed, images of a bear's jaws flashing before his eyes.

His mother suddenly stepped in between him and the man, a twisted dagger in her hand. His father's dagger. She pricked her finger with it. The entire blade turned a bright scarlet at the taste of blood. “Stay away,” she said, hands shaking. “Call Karine back. This is a misunderstand—”

Sarah collapsed to the ground, unmoving. Jack hadn't seen it. The movements were too quick to follow. The man in white was standing mere inches away from her. “Ma!” he cried, falling upon her unconscious form. Her eyelids were shut. “Ma! Wake up! Ma!”

Something cold wrapped around the back of Jack's neck. His fingers found his father's dagger. He flailed his arms, slashing at air as he was picked off the floor. He tried kicking back at his captor but his legs were too short to even reach the man. “Let go! Let me go!” he wailed, eyelids clenched shut. “Karine! Karine, help! He's attacking ma!”

No one came.

The man grabbed Sarah with his other hand, lifting her up without any struggle. He carried the two outside. “Let go!” Jack continued. The warmth of his home got farther and farther. Harsh northern winds touched his wet face. Amidst the chaos, what hurt most was his growling stomach, the aroma of roasting lamb left behind. Taken away from such a strong scent, his mind fed on another craving, filling his belly with imagination. With the taste of his mother's blood.

The man in white shoved the both of them into an empty crate by the house. Jack gasped as he suffered bruises and scrapes. He looked up, barely catching a glimpse of moonlight touching his captor's fangs before the crate lid was shut.

Sarah groaned, eyes opening. “Ma!” Jack cried, touching her cheeks. Even in the dark, he could make out the features of his mother clearly. Could see the folds of a grimace on her face —she was in pain. He heard her teeth grinding. She was also frustrated.

“Drayca…” she muttered.

“Ma… What they said. Is da really dead?”

Sarah shifted, trying to sit upright. The crate began to move and she fell back, head striking wood. A pain filled moan escaped from her mouth. “Listen Jackrin,” she began, voice weak. “This dagger. It belonged to your father. If you ever find yourself in trouble, cut yourself with it. Let the weapon taste your blood and then plunge it into your own heart. It will save you one day. For now, just trust me. Mother will get you out. Karine is just upset. She'll come around. Even if she doesn't like me, she loves you after all.”

“But what about da?”

Sarah stayed silent.

“What about da?” he persisted.

“I don't know,” she whispered. “Flames forbid he's actually gone."

Jack cried harder. He could hear the resignation within her heart as its beats slowed and softened. Her chest ached just as his. He could tell.

It was a long while before the crate stopped moving. The top was taken off. A dark haired man looked inside. Sarah took the dagger from Jack, standing up with shaky legs. He could see the red spots on her arms and calves. Bruises that would turn black and blue with due time. Jack stood up beside her. They were surrounded by more warriors in long white coats. And it was cold. Very cold. There was snow everywhere. He shivered, clutching the edges of Sarah's dress, only now realizing she still had an apron full of flour hanging around her neck.

“Where are we?” Sarah demanded, pointing the dagger at the closest man. “As your king's wife, you are compelled to answer me!” Jack could hear the cracks in her voice. False confidence masking fear.

The dark haired man leapt towards her with frightening speed. He gripped her arm and twisted it until the dagger fell out of her hands. He then grabbed Sarah by the throat and threw her to the snow.

“Ma!” Jack cried. The man sneered towards him and swung a pale fist at Jack's face. The impact caused him to fall out of the crate. His head was spinning and blood gushed from his nose.

“Take them to the dungeons. Queen Malkieri wanted them alive,” someone said.

Jack's vision was hazy. He felt something pick him up and carry him off. The world twisted. His sense of balance was thrown off. Everything faded to black. When he came to, he found himself in a dark and dirty room with only one exit. The exit was shut with iron bars. His mother lay beside him. She was asleep. Her face and arms had gathered more bruises. Dried tears and blood had crusted upon her cheeks.

Wherever they were, it was still past dusk. Jack's senses were still enhanced. Though, he wasn't certain if a full day had already passed.

His stomach rumbled again. His mouth was dry. He groaned, pushing himself to his feet and swallowing back the sting of an arid throat. Jack glanced at his mother again. There were bite marks on her neck.

The Vampires had imprisoned them. And they'd fed off his mother.

He grit his teeth. He opened his mouth and sucked in air to scream. The smell of sweet human blood filled him instead. His craving gaze lingered still upon Sarah's neck. No scream came out.

Unable to hold himself back, Jack took a bite. Sweet nectar caressed his tongue. Her eyes snapped open and she pushed him away while backing up to the wall. She clutched the wound on her neck. Her eyes were full of fear.

“Ma?” he asked, finally in full control of himself now that he'd ingested some vital nutrients.

“Jack? Oh Jack, I'm so sorry. The dagger? Where is the dagger?”

“I think they took it,” he replied. Sarah's horrified expression grew even worse. She shuffled towards him and hugged him tight with one arm, the other hand clutching her neck still.

“I'm sorry,” she repeated again and again, wetting his shirt with her tears.

Jack leaned his head back against a wall, listening to the only two ticking heartbeats within the cell as time flowed. Sarah had fallen asleep again while embracing him. He tried to stay still so as to not awaken her. Her warm arms were comforting, and they allowed the barest of smiles to spread on his face.

Father is strong. He'll come for us. These are his people. Jack was assured that he and his mother would be out in no time. Everything was a mistake. Just a big mistake. Drayca wasn't really gone. Karine would forgive it all. He could go back to playing in the woods with her. To hiding behind her leg to avoid his mother's scolding.

The sound of clacking heels echoed down the hall of the dungeons. A woman with flowing blonde hair stopped before the cell, face twisted. Disgust oozed out of her glare. Jack squirmed back. This wasn't the Karine he remembered. This wasn't his sister. She'd never been this upset before. Not at him.

Only once had Jack seen Karine this upset. And even then, it had been for a split second. He recalled the same look of hatred after she'd kicked the bear to save him. Why was she using that expression on him now? He pressed his back against mother's bosom and wrapped his arms around his knees, legs trembling.

Sarah was nudged awake at the same time. She looked at the woman standing outside of the cell. “Karine? Doll, is that you?”

“Silence, wretch! Do not utter the name of royalty so casually.”

Sarah blinked. “Doll, what's going on? Where is Drayca? He's not really—”

“I told you to stay silent! Filthy murderers. You kill my father and then you ask where he is? How dare you? We should have never trusted humans. You're nothing but backstabbers and liars. They're here now. Those pathetic human villagers. All of them at the base of the mountain, trekking up with knives and pitchforks. They think they're so mighty for having slain my dear father. Think they're strong enough to pose a threat. I'm going to go and slaughter them while you and that filthy half-breed rot in this cell.”

“Karine, no. This is some kind of a mistake. Wait. My Drayca is truly dead? Where? How?”

“HOW? You still have the gall to ask me that? You sold him out, didn't you? Bewitched him. Manipulated him into believing your kind could be trusted. What for? So you and your bastard could rule over us? You think because he has my father's blood in him that we would accept him as our own? As our king? Only the Tortured Throne could match such treachery!”

Jack could hear his mother's panicked heartbeats. His eyes started to fog again. Why was Karine accusing his mother of such things? Why was she yelling? Where was his father?

“My Queen,” a Vampire guardsman said. He knelt before Karine, briefly glancing inside the cell with eyes full of contempt, long white coat touching the dirty floor. “We can't get out. The humans. They've erected a barrier of sorts around the mountains. The entirety of them. We're… Frankly, it seems we've been locked within the Kal'Kar. For an indefinite period of time.”

Karine turned to the guard. “Locked? What do you mean? How? What kind of Artifact exists that can do that?”

“Your majesty, about that… The wall is entirely red and full of runes. Our scholars believe it to be some form of Chronary. Though they can't confirm it. Our libraries contain no texts of the ancient magic.”

Karine suddenly burst out in laughter. She gripped the iron bars of the cell and shot a venomous glare towards the Jackrin and his mother. The bars bent slightly. “They know you're here. How cute. They think we'll let you go if they lock us up. No matter. My people are not so weak. Vampires are not weak. We have superior strength. Superior blood. We will endure. It doesn't matter if we can't get human blood. We will endure within these mountains no matter how many years it takes. Magic isn't eternal. When this barrier comes down, the world of humans will fall. Our ancestors were naïve in letting you're kind be. In the meantime, I'll take pleasure in hearing your pitiful screams, stepmother. ” Karine turned to the guard again. “Have them whipped every day. Feed them scraps.”

“Karine! Karine wait,” Sarah called out in vain. “Karine, this is a misunderstanding. I would never do anything to hurt Drayca or Jack. Karine. At least take your brother with you. He's one of you. He's…” she began sobbing. “I fed you from myself,” she whispered. “Tried loving you as my own daughter. But you continued to hate me. At least take Jackrin with you.”

“Ha! A half-breed is one of us? Don't make us laugh you Flaming whore,” the guardsman said. He had a whip at his belt. He unlocked the cell and stepped inside. “The penalty for regicide is execution. But you two won't get off that easily.”

Jack's mother held him tight. “No!” she cried, her voice piercing through his eardrums. His own wails filled the cell. He continued to quake. He finally began coming to terms with their situation.

The guardsman raised the whip. Jack broke out of his mother's grip and turned to shield her from the attack. He cried out as he was struck from behind. He gave his mother a weak smile. She tried hugging him again but the whip struck her arm next. She fell back, clutching the spot where she had been struck. Tears streamed down her face. I'm sorry she mouthed.

***

Karine stormed away from the dungeons. Her heels clacked against the stone floor with each step. Her father's oldest friends and strongest soldiers awaited her outside of the dungeons. They were waiting there with a sanguine spear known as the Antithesis. An inherited weapon of the Kal'Kar monarch. The spear and twisted dagger —Revenant's Fang— alike were both inherited weapons. Drayca had entrusted the dagger to his human wife and she had betrayed him.

The small band of Vampire warriors followed her as she exited the Obsidian City and sprinted down the Kal'Kar Mountains. Karine wanted to see the barrier with her own two eyes. The barrier that supposedly held her and her people prisoner within the mountains. She didn't believe it to be Chronary. Chronary should have been gone for thousands of years. The Flame Bearers could have had records, but even those should have been destroyed during their deposing.

Flame Bearers… Human beings given the right to rule over man by the Creator. They'd become corrupt and were thus deposed. Even they had betrayed their one purpose. Humans were simply dark creatures.

Karine thought she could shatter whatever barrier her subjects spoke of. Antithesis lorded over all Artifacts in a contest of strength, for it had the ability of canceling any Artifact born magic. It can't be Chronary .

The humans would suffer for their betrayal. Drayca had trusted them. Not once. But twice. Karine's mother had been taken from her by humans when she was just a child. Her father had been struck with grief. He was angered at the humans but he dared not attack them. He dared not dishonor the ancient alliance. The alliance that had been made with the Flame Bearers. They had fought together once and had wished for the coexistence of both races. Not long after, Drayca fell in love with Sarah Winters.

Just over a decade. That's how long peace had lasted within the village. That's how long the humans had been waiting and conspiring for. Words spoke of some group known as the Astral Union that had aided the village folk at the base of the mountain range. They were a supposed legion that went around hunting darkspawn.

Darkspawn . Karine exhaled through clenched teeth. If being different meant being darkspawn, then the Vampires had rights to claiming the same for humans. Humans were the real darkspawn.

A fleeting dream was what all of Drayca's ambitions turned out to be. He had believed everything. Had even managed to convince others that the Flame Bearers had never been corrupted but instead were deceived. How he'd come to such a conclusion, Karine did not know. What she knew was that he was dead now. And his dreams and knowledge had died with him. It was the humans that had betrayed first. Karine would not allow the ancient wish to become a reality. Not after what had just transpired. Humans were not trustworthy.

She and her company arrived at the base of the mountains. A transparent red wall barred their path. It stretched as far the eyes could see. There were no others on the opposite side of the wall. But there were hundreds of footsteps embedded in the snow. The humans had been there. Their sickening yet luscious scent still lingered in the wind. Karine ran at the wall and channeled all of her fury into her fist. She swung at the wall as hard as she could. A barrier made by humans should be as weak as them. Her fist crashed into the red wall with a deafening sound similar to that of heavy thunder in a dark storm.

Nothing happened.

The barrier stood. The skin on Karine's knuckles tore away, causing them to sting. She dropped her spear and furiously beat at the wall. Her subordinates did the same. Each strike brought about the sound of thunder. Her eardrums began to ring. She smiled wickedly.

“A valiant effort!” she cried. The others stopped beating on the barrier. Karine picked up her sanguine spear and thrust it towards the wall. She was confident. She had no doubts that the spear would dispel whatever vile magic the humans had used. The weapon struck its target and there was a brilliant flash of red light that burst from the point of impact. Karine was blown back several feet, sinking into the snow. She couldn't believe her eyes. The wall still stood. Her company stared in shock. They turned to her, as if wondering if she simply hadn't struck hard enough.

Various markings appeared on the glowing red barrier. “That's not possible,” Karine breathed. Was it truly Chronary? She got back on her feet. She lashed out at the wall with Antithesis. And then again. And again. And again. Each time there was a flash of light and she was blown away. Each time the same runes appeared before disappearing shortly after.

Karine's head ached. She tightened her grip, realizing the end goal. The Vampires were imprisoned. They had been locked within the Kal'kar Mountains. They would be forced to limit their consumption of blood and would need to feed off of the animals within the mountains. It would sustain them for a time, but human blood was vital. Without it, even if it took a few decades, the Vampires would succumb and die.

Karine screamed. She struck the wall many more times, eventually falling to her knees before it. Defeated, she and her company returned to the Obsidian City. Illusterra's three moons shone brightly in the night sky. Two full and a half. It would have been a beautiful night if it weren't for the situation she was put in. We will endure. No matter how many years.

The barrier couldn't last forever. Chronary was the Language of Sacrifice. Lives had to have been given to erect the barrier. And lives were no doubt being spent to maintain it. A barrier encompassing hundreds of miles meant a sacrifice of an equal number by its creator somewhere in the world. There was no way it would last forever. A constant sacrifice wasn't humane. Even the humans themselves would…

Humane? Was betrayal humane? Why was she believing humans had any morality?

Karine marched into the black palace and did not stop until she was in her own room. She slammed the door shut. Half of her was trying to calm herself down whilst the other half searched for an outlet to expend her pent up rage. The latter half was winning the battle. She stuffed her face in a pillow and screamed.

Her ears picked up the sounds of another's screams. Something high pitched and coming from far, far below the palace. She stood still and focused her hearing and heard the cries again. It came from the dungeons. The cries of Sarah Winters. And the whimpering of her half-breed whelp. To think she'd thought of him as adorable…

The image of him pouting surfaced within her mind. Karine looked across her four poster bed and at the window to her room, seeing a piece of Jackrin within her own reflection. She remembered his cries as he hugged her leg. He was adorable. And innocent.

No! She shook her head. She convinced herself that the pitiful screams of her stepmother and half-brother were music to her ears. That the pain inflicted upon them was well deserved. But something inside her felt sorrow. Something caused a terrible ache in her chest. Karine suppressed that pain. Suppressed it and burned it with the hot coals of anger still glowing within her.

She lay down on her bed, staring at the dark of her ceiling. The entire palace was crafted out of black marble. The walls in her room were also black. The frame of her bed as well as her two wardrobes and bedside table were made out of a deep mahogany wood.

Revenant's Fang was left on her bedside table. The other Artifact heirloom of the Malkieri family. Sarah had it with her when the guards had captured her. The weapon could drain its victims of their blood. But there was another power that it held. Something Karine hadn't been told about.

Sarah was aware of the weapon's secret. Karine was sure of it. It was reported that Sarah had pricked herself with the dagger before pointing it at her captors. She'd planned to use it in some way but the weapon had been taken from her before she'd had the chance.

Karine examined every aspect of the dagger. She turned the blade this way and that. Then she examined the silver hilt. She couldn't glean any information from it. She pricked her own arm with the weapon. The blade turned red as it tasted blood. She examined it again. Thought maybe hidden words would appear. But nothing happened. She sighed, rolling over and burying her face within the sheets. They were cold.

Why had her father divulged the secret of the dagger with Sarah and not her? What was it about her that Drayca hadn't trusted? Karine's eyes watered. She would never know the answer to that question. Both her parents were gone, leaving the burden of leadership with her. She was alone and without family.

Karine screamed again, temper growing alongside feelings of jealousy. She thought to go down to the dungeons. To question Sarah and ask what it was about the dagger that she knew.

The more Karine thought, the dumber the idea seemed. She knew that if she went down to the dungeons now, she wouldn't be able stop herself from killing the two prisoners. She didn't want them to die. Not yet. That would be too easy. They needed to suffer. They needed to feel the pain and hatred of all Vampires. Death was a luxury. A luxury that Sarah and Jackrin could not afford. A luxury that they would never deserve.

Another soul piercing cry came from the dungeons.

Karine didn't want them to die.