Shades of Grey

VIKKA— AUGUST 1844

The door led to an enormous cavern. Judging by the echoes of distant dripping liquid, the walls were made of stone bricks and cold iron support columns. I could just make out bits of malicious light from scattered torches that hung ominously on each column and numerous pits of fire that sat in long, precariously placed rows around the cavern on the floor. I gulped as I felt the lambent orange flames dancing just beyond reach of my damaged eyes.

“Vei muri în noaptea aceasta!”

The familiar phrase was followed by a decisively cold cackle that echoed through the endless cavern, reverberating off of the unseen walls in a manner that seemed to embody the devilish flickering of the fires.

“Where are you?” I said in an unwavering voice. “Show yourself, coward!”

The answer came from someone perched on one of the stone beams on the domed ceiling: a dark, cold laugh that echoed throughout the cavern. At long last, I had found the Vanguard.

“I’ve been expecting you,” Evan said as he released his hold on the beam and fell with unearthly grace to the stone floor, landing softly on his feet. My breath caught in my throat as I sensed him standing before me: the real Evan was here in the room with me. Finally, after so long…

“Then you must know why I’m here,” I said in a cold voice, my mind returning to what I had set out to do.

“Of course, young revenger of blood,” he replied in a listless voice as he strode forward confidently. “You are here to—”

He then stopped walking and I could almost hear the intrigued amusement slide across his face. There was a sudden rushing sound as he flew forward with unearthly speed, locking one of his cold hands around my neck and forcing me against the wall, studying my appearance.

“This is not exactly the traditional garb of a Creature Hunter,” he hissed as he ran the fingers of his opposite hand up the collar of my black coat and settled at the base of my new mask. I felt him scutinise the painted eyes of the mask and before I could protest, he had ripped it away to reveal my scarred, disfigured face.

He released me, unable to contain his laughter.

“A blind Hunter? And she still dares to challenge a Vanguard?!”

His cackles echoed sharply throughout the chamber.

“You killed my parents and nearly destroyed my friends: I would challenge you if all of my limbs were missing,” I said strongly.

“Yes,” Evan sneered. “But I think you know as well as I do that I will win, what with the odds so far stacked against you.”

“Did David not beat Goliath?” I countered.

“Yes, but David could see.”

Evan began to laugh again, his guffaws echoing in the vast stone chamber.

“Very well,” I said loudly, pulling my collapsible spear from the compartment on my boot. I snapped it out and swung it around me, feeling the intricacies of the weapon, making it an extension of myself, just as Lord Daryn had taught me. I ended my brief dance by pointing the end of the spear at Evan’s cold, silent heart.

“Tell me why,” I commanded.

There was a beat of silence before he scoffed in amusement.

“Why what?”

I brought the spear across his chest, listening to the distinct ripping of his shirt and the sounds of the blade running over his iron hard skin. It sounded like running a blade over a great, immovable boulder.

“You know what!” I hissed, holding the spear to his throat. “Why is there a bounty on my head? Why are you after me?”

I felt him grasp the end of the spear and crush the blade in his steely hands.

“The crimes are not yours,” Evan sneered. “You are to pay for the sins of your mother.”

I jammed the end of my blade-less spear into his side and forced him around into the outer wall of the cavern.

“YOU LIE!”

“Why would I lie about this? It is ancient history!” he said listlessly as he easily pushed away my spear and strode towards me, forcing me backwards to one of the massive pits of fire behind me. I felt the flames lick dangerously around my feet.

“Your mother struck a deal with the Vanguards and she failed to hold up her end of the bargain.”

“What bargain?” I snapped. “Why would she sink so low as to strike a deal with the likes of you?”

Evan just scoffed, eager to divulge the story.

“Early in her career, your mother awoke an army of ancient Vikings called the Draugr in an attempt to gain their help in eradicating a particularly nasty pride of banshees. After they destroyed three villages and burned down miles of forest, however, she and her Maisling quickly realised that the reckless Draugr were more than they could handle. Then they came across a pack of roaming Vanguards.”

My breath caught in my chest, which unfortunately left me vulnerable to Evan’s next attack. In a flash of movement, he brought his impenetrable foot into my gut and sent me flying over the fire pit in front of us and through one of the many support pillars. I crashed into the ground in a pile of concrete and steel.

“Ah, fighting a true Vanguard is different than battling one in a magical simulation, isn’t it?”

Taking advantage of his brief air of arrogant triumph, I grabbed his foot and twisted it to the right, allowing me a few precious seconds to stand and recover my balance. I listened to the rotations of Evan’s body as he turned twice horizontally in the air and then landed squarely on his feet, lifting his upper body and turning to me with the legendary poise of a vampire.

“What were the conditions of my mother’s bargain?” I asked, drawing my Flamesword as I heard Evan slowly draw his Longsword. He laughed and brought the sword down through the air towards me with a singular swish. I easily blocked him.

“In exchange for our help in defeating the Draugr, we demanded both that Vanguards be removed from the List of Dangerous Creatures, and the life of her first born child.”

Evan then grabbed me and made a flying leap into the rafters, shoving me deep into the high concrete wall and rattling the foundations of the subterranean cavern.

“Her firstborn?!” I whispered in shock.

“Yes. Your mother assumed she would never marry or have children, so she found these terms acceptable.”

I angrily kicked him in the chest and broke his hold on me. I heard the wind rush past his body as he backflipped gracefully through the air and landed softly on the ground below. I pulled myself out of the deep Grey-shaped fissure left from the force of Evan’s attack and jumped to the ground near him.

“That’s why she was so sad when I was born…she knew you would come…”

“Yes.” Evan then grabbed my hand and in a flash, he had contorted it so that I held my Flamesword to my own throat, trapped under his impermeable grip as the cavern shook from the battle between Forma and the demon several levels above us.

“She knew and still she refused to surrender you,” Evan sneered. “That was when the Creature world united.”

My mouth fell open.

“There were multiple attacks?!” I choked.

“Oh yes, rumours of you flew through the Creature world in no time at all. Wizards, witches and vampires united the Creature forces in Europe and immediately, a massive manhunt began. It lasted for eight years, your parents skilfully concealing you and relocating you after each attack. Many Creature assassins tried but they all failed.”

“That was why you came to the house…you came for me…” I concluded.

“Precisely,” Evan replied with a nearly audible slimy grin. “I was appointed by the most powerful leaders in the Creature world to destroy the offspring of the infamous Willania Drake.”

He then dragged my Flamesword across my neck creating a fairly deep gash before easily throwing me into yet another support column, which crumbled to the floor on impact.

“Then why didn’t you? You are powerful enough and there were plenty of Vanguards to help you: why did you murder my parents and let me live?”

“Oh I got so very, very close to you,” he said, gripping my neck. “Don’t you remember?!”

At that minute, a surge of sharp energy flew from Evan’s arm into my neck and up to my head as he attempted to reawaken my buried memories. I cried out as the jolt of burning pain shot to my eyes and several images raced through my mind.

The sight of my father transforming into his Dragon form and lunging for Evan in the form of a frighteningly large bat.

The sounds of the battle as Evan overpowered both of my parents, draining their blood and setting fire to the house.

The sight of Evan kicking down the door of the flaming nursery and striding towards me.

My governess, Annie, defending me as much as she could before transforming into a large werewolf and crouching over me defensively.

A wounded bat flying out of the nursery and casting one last glance in my direction.

The dark, rainy woods I had raced through for days before the Hamadryads found me and took me to the school where Lady Sivara had taken my memories and allowed me to grow up without the weight of such trauma hanging over me…allowing me to start again…

“Oh my God!” I exclaimed as I returned to the underground cavern. Evan released me to the floor, satisfied. “Annie was my mother’s Maisling!”

“Yes and she was quite a pain. She managed to weaken me to the point where I did not have the strength to kill you. Instead, I destroyed her so that you would not have anyone left to protect you. However,” he scoffed “low and behold you should find your way to that accursed school where that fool, Rasna, recognised you instantly as the demon spawn of the Hunter and Dragon and ordered your memories removed.”

“Why did you not seek me out then? Why did you let me grow?” I asked, right before a large part of the far side of the cavern collapsed as Forma threw the demon into the distant wall.

I could hear the irritated frown split Evan’s face.

“Because no Creature can enter that damn school. The Elf Council made sure of that when the school was first built. After you left school, however, the attempts began again. Chief Sirva was the first to fail.”

I froze.

“Chief Sirva knew?!”

“Of course he did, Simon and the Letum knew as well. Prince Lanark managed to lure you into the bowels of Cronamia by kidnapping the queen, but he failed to kill you. Even the damn Treptiks knew of the damned hybrid spawn of the hunter and Dragon, but it was no surprise when they did not succeed. They were never very bright…”

I stood breathlessly in a state of immobilising shock.

“Natara…?” I choked in a shocked whisper.

“Of course. She, Verrilius and even the inanimate Malehvarei were present when I was given the task of destroying you the first time. They then worked together to orchestrate a plan that would ultimately lead to your demise.”

“You mean…?!” I shouted in shock.

“That is right; everything you have faced since leaving school has been one elaborate plot to destroy you.”

I gaped in dumbfounded fury.

“Everyone knew…” I whispered in disgrace, running my hand over my scars and through my hair. “They all tried…”

Evan chuckled boldly.

“And now everyone will know who finally succeeded!”