Book One Chapter Twenty Four: A Fatal Mistake

Nick makes a fatal mistake.

Chapter Twenty Four A Fatal Mistake: The figures had spotted my friends and I. Great. The figures ran towards my friends and I. The moonlight glinted off their eyes, I saw the color. Deep crimson.

“In the name of god, run for it Nick!” yelled Federov.

I saw that my friends had already started running away from the vampires that now pursued us.

“On it!” I yelled.

As I ran after my friends, the littler branches that hung down from the forest canopy lashed at my face. The three vampires are hot on our heels. I dared to look over my shoulder. There were two males and a female. The female was in the back with the two men on either side of her front.

"That is the wanted boy!" Said one of the males.

"Yes, those noblewomen will pay a hefty price for his capture." Said the other male.

When I looked back to my friends, who were in front of me, I saw that they had stopped. Running.

“It is a dead end!” shouted Federov.

“I guess we’ll have to take our chances with the vampires, then.” I said reluctantly.

“Go, help the others up the wall of rock; I will buy us some time.” Said Federov.

I looked back to my friends. They seemed to be scaling the wall alright. I looked back to Federov. Courage filled my heart.

“Then I can double that time.” I said Federov.

We stood before our opponents. They arrived at us in almost no time at all.

“If you stand down, we will consider not killing you.” Said the male on the left.

“What is it you want, anyhow?” asked Federov.

“We have come for something we know you have; The Subspace Corruptor.” Said the second man.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, confused.

“Perhaps this will jog your memory.” One of the male vampires said.

He then gave me a powerful slug upside my head. There was thunder in my ears. I felt myself hit the ground.

“Have you seen this before?” Asked the female vampire angrily.

I heard paper wrinkling. I sensed Federov tense up.

“No.” He said slowly.

I then heard something whizzing through the air. Then one of the vampires grunted in pain, then hit the ground. That told me Serena had made it up the wall. My hope started to rise. I heard shots from a gun and that told me that Anna-Maria was up, too. I felt wind slashing at my face. I could tell that I was moving at incredible speed! Then I was being pulled upwards. I felt very disoriented. I was put on the ground once again.

“Fenton, fetch him some water.” Said Serena, still firing arrows.

“I have a water bottle, do not worry.” Fenton told Serena.

In a second my head was being held up. Cool water passed through my lips. When I tasted the water, some of my strength returned to me. I sat up but Fenton eased me down. Fenton pulled some herbs from a nearby bush. He put them on my head where I was hit. I shot him a questioning look.

“This will seal the wound faster. There are herbs just like this on Ectoclis.” He explained.

“Do not let them reach the top!” Cried Federov.

I looked over at him and saw that the vampires were almost at the top of the rock, which is where I was right now. The sensation of moving at incredible speed and being pulled upwards was probably the feeling of Federov carrying me and running me to the wall, and my friends hoisting me up on top of it.

“Fenton, let me help them!” I shouted.

Fenton tied off the herbs with a piece of twine.

"Go! Go!" Fenton shouted.

I grabbed my sword, Sangiria from my belt and ran to the edge. I swung my sword to scare the vampires away, but they didn’t even flinch. After a second, the vampires dropped down to the bottom of the rock wall. They didn’t come up anymore. I heard a rumbling sound. I looked over the edge and saw that they were ripping out the smaller rocks at the bottom of the wall. The rumbling noise I heard was simple to identify; the wall was going to come down if those vampires kept at it.

“Serena! Anna-Maria! Keep the vampires off of the wall! They are going to tear the whole thing down!” I yelled in fear.

“I am already doing it!” Serena yelled, firing her bow down over the edge.

“I will get on it!” Yelled Anna-Maria.

In a few seconds, I heard Anna-Maria’s gunshots rip through the air.

I did not hear any cries of pain from the vampires below.

“I cannot get a clear shot! I cannot hit them!” I heard Anna-Maria yell.

“Neither can I!” Yelled Serena.

I heard the rumbling sound’s intensity increase! After a few more seconds, the wall came down with us on top of it! The rocks fell to the ground with a crash.

I struggled to stay on top of the falling rocks to avoid being crushed. Once the rocks settled and everything stopped moving, I heard a voice.

“Now. Have any of you seen this before?” Asked the female vampire.

She held up the paper that I assumed she showed to Federov. It was an octagonal pyramid. It was black with glowing purple markings on each of its eight faces.

“No! I have not seen that! I told you already!” Yelled Federov.

“I do not believe you!” The woman yelled.

“I have not seen it either! What is it?” I asked the woman, fear was starting to set in.

“I have not seen that strange object either.” Serena said.

“Neither have I.” Fenton said.

“I have not seen that object in my life! Now let us go!” Anna-Maria said.

The vampire woman looked over my friends and I. There was a moment of silence.

The vampire woman then grabbed the closest one of us to her: Serena. She pulled her close and brushed aside her hair, exposing her neck.

“No!” I shouted, realizing what the vampire was about to do.

“Nick! Help me! I do not want to die!” Serena yelled in panic.

Worry overtook me. I looked to the vampire who had Serena.

“Please, let her go. We can talk something out, I am sure.” I said slowly.

“A negotiation? I am all ears.” The vampire woman told us.

“Do you really want to do this?” Asked one of the male vampires that was with the female.

“I do not think this is smart.” Commented the other male vampire.

“Now, now. Let us hear what the mortal has to say.” The woman said.

When all three of the hostile vampires had their eyes on me, I gulped and spoke.

“Listen, I have not seen the object that is on the piece of paper. I swear, I have not. I would not be keeping it from you if you have my friend. I am telling the truth, I have never seen that object before in my life. What else do you want from us?” I asked the three vampires.

“This girl does look delicious. Shall we just take her and go?” Asked one of the male vampires.

Upon hearing this, Serena began to cry softly in the female vampire’s arms.

“No! No, please! What else do you want?” I asked the vampires.

“Well, if you do not have the object that we showed you, and you do not want us to kill this young woman, pay us five hundred thousand Sienta and we will release this young woman back to you and you will never see us again.” The woman said.

Fear set in. My friends from Ectoclis and I did not have any Sienta, but Federov and Anna-Maria could have Sienta. I decided to ask.

“Federov, Anna-Maria, you don’t happen to have any Sienta, do you?” I asked them.

“I have no money.” Anna-Maria confessed.

“I have two hundred Sienta. Will you take that instead?” Federov asked the three vampires.

The woman pondered this for a moment.

“I am dearly sorry, but we would not take that instead.” The woman said.

With that, the vampire woman pulled her lips back to reveal fangs. Small, slender, razor sharp fangs. She threw her head back, preparing to kill Serena.

“No! Wait!” I called to the woman, worry and fear made my voice shaky and unsteady.

I was too late. The woman brought her head down at frightening speed. I heard a wet crunch as the vampire woman’s fangs pierced Serena’s neck. Serena screamed in agony. I watched in horror as blood streamed out of Serena’s neck, the blood being drawn out of her body by the vampire woman. Serena’s screams reached an intensity so high and loud that her voice broke. I saw the vampire woman close her eyes. I regarded her with disgust and hatred. She was killing my friend and enjoying sucking the life out of her! Serena’s screams went silent after another second. I saw that Serena’s eyes were glassy and unfocused.

After a few more seconds, the vampire woman dropped Serena’s lifeless, limp body to the ground. Serena was dead. I watched Serena’s body hit the ground, a little bit of blood still streamed from the two red wounds that the vampire left on her neck. I saw the two fresh fang marks on her neck, as well as the outline of the lower teeth, indicating that the woman bit her very hard. I also saw the other bite marks that were scattered on Serena’s neck. Sadness filled me. Serena was actually dead. I looked up from Serena's body to see the vampire that killed Serena was gone. They all were.

“Fenton! Do something!” I shouted in sadness.

He sprinted over and pressed his ear to her chest. A ghost of sadness descended upon his face. It wasn’t long before that ghost turned into the real thing.

“She is dead.” He remarked in a solemn tone.

“Serena is dead.” He repeated.

In a second, sunlight breached the canopy of trees and warmed my arm. That must be why the vampires fled from us. A heavy sense of guilt and grief overcome me. It was my fault she had died. I was so wrapped up in finding Kai that I didn’t consider the safety of my friends. Thanks to me, we lost one of those friends.

“I… I’m sorry.” I said.

Tears started streaming down my face. I began sobbing.

“I…” I stammered. I just couldn’t force the words past the lump in my throat.

We all stood there with our heads hung.

“What have I done…?” I asked aloud.

“What have I done…?” I asked again.

“Even in the short time that I knew her, I can honestly say that Serena was an outstanding girl.” Remarked Federov.

“I won’t just leave her here. She deserves better." I said to the others.

Before anyone could question me, I took off running. I eventually came across a small circle of trees were a patch of golden light shines through and tinted everything lighter. I went back to Serena and carried her limp, cold body over to it. I set her down propped up against a tree. I picked some wildflowers from a nearby bush. I set them in her hair and all around her. I clasped her hands in her lap. I then cut down a thick tree branch with my sword and carved it into a rectangle. I then carved these words:

Here lies Serena.

An outstanding archer and an incredible girl.

Serena will be remembered in our hearts.

Both alive and dead.

I then dug a hole in the earth next to Serena with the pickaxe that I still had from the cave that we were stuck in when we first arrived here on Artemis. It didn't take long. When I was finished, I set the wood that I had carved on the ground, reached out with my two fingers, and closed Serena’s eyes. I then placed her into the hole, and covered it up with the dirt that I had unearthed. She will never be forgotten. I then kneeled in front of the dirt that she was buried under, and placed the wood that I had carved above where her head was, this created a makeshift headstone.

"I am sorry. I am sorry that I risked your life. I am sorry that you have lost your life." I whispered to the open air, praying that Serena’s spirit would hear my words and know that I am sorry. Even more tears flooded down my cheeks.

I turned around and my friends were standing behind me.

“That was beautiful Nick.” Said Federov.

“We have to go. Out of this forest.” I said.

I started walking in the direction that we were walking in before; following the drag marks. The others did not object and we took off. It took a while before we broke through the thick wall of trees and we saw a little fishing village that was built into the bank of a flowing river.

“This place…” murmured Federov.

“This is the port village of Shan Long.” Federov said.

“Hemlon is overlooking it.” He added.

“Hemlon? Where?” I asked, snapping out of my haze of sadness.

“Over there.” Federov pointed to a massive chunk of floating land in the sky. We passed it by a few kilometers. Wonder filled me. A floating city! It was real after all!

“Why are we headed away from it?” I asked.

Federov gestured to the other side of the river that Shan Long was built into.

“Because, my uncle, Genyek has ideas as to how to build a flying machine, personally I think he is crazy, but it could work. However, we must first go to the mainland where his house is located.” Federov explained.

I looked at him.

“Mainland, you mean this is an island?” I asked.

“You bet.” Federov replied.

“Wait, before we go to your uncle’s house, should we not find an inn and rest?” Asked Anna-Maria.

“Yes, I like that idea.” Fenton said.

“I do as well.” I said.

“Very well, I think that it would be wise to rest before starting our journey. After all, we were outside all night long.” Federov said.

We walked down to Shan Long. We saw a small variety of buildings. We saw a weapon shop, an armor shop, houses and a few docks. We walked through the village of Shan Long. We saw a few people entering and exiting shops. I looked towards the mainland that was on the other side of the river, and I saw a few elderly men sitting on some docks that ran off of the village and out over top of the water. The elderly men were fishing, talking and laughing. At last, we saw an inn.

We entered the inn. I looked around. There were tables, a bar counter, stools at the bar and a variety of drinks on top of the counter. There was a window every few feet on the wall that let in light. The whole inn was pretty small.

“Greetings, weary travelers! How many rooms would you like?” Asked the innkeeper, an elderly man with sharp blue eyes, a faded crimson blazer, long gray hair and an inquiring gaze.

“We would like four rooms.” Federov answered.

“Yes, very good. That will be twelve Sienta.” The innkeeper said.

Federov nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two coins that were the size of my fist. Each of the coins must be worth six Sienta.

“Thank you for your business! Your rooms are here on the first floor. Enjoy your stay.” The innkeeper told us.

“Thank you.” I said, heading up the stairs after Federov, Anna-Maria and Fenton.

We then went to our rooms. I entered my room and layed down on the bed. The room was simple, consisting of only a bathroom and a bedroom. That was fine with me, I just wanted to sleep. I layed back in bed and let my eyelids droop.

***

I woke up to the sound of knocking on my door.

“Nick! You overslept, we are all ready to leave!” I heard Federov say.

I snapped awake.

“Right! Sorry!” I called.

I got out of bed and ran to the door.

I joined my friends and followed them out of the inn.

“Good luck on your travels!” The innkeeper called after us.

“Thank you!” I called back.

I followed my friends as we walked down to the docks. We arrived at the rickety wooden platform over the water and we saw an elderly man with short, dull gray hair and a slender build, brown eyes and a hunch in his back sitting in a long wooden canoe. On the floor of the long wooden canoe, there were small barrels and small wooden crates.

“Excuse us, but could you possibly give us a ride to the mainland?” Fenton asked the old man.

“Oh, sure thing, youngsters! I am transporting some cargo to the mainland anyhow, it would not be any trouble. Hop in, I will give you a ride.” The old man said with a kind smile.

He stepped aside and let us in the boat. We all stepped in.

“Thank you.” Federov said to the old man.

“No worries.” The old man replied.

The boat heaved forward with a lurch. The boat was driven forward by the old man, but instead of a paddle, he used a stick that was about ten feet long. It was only about an inch in diameter but it reached the bottom of the river and the old man pushed us along. I was knocked off my feet by the boat’s sudden lurch and I crashed into some barrels.

“Are you alright?” The old man asked.

“Yes, I am fine, thank you.” I said.

I heard something hit the floor next to me, it was a black object that looked like an octagonal pyramid. On each side face there were markings that glowed purple. I grabbed it and quickly concealed it. Was this the thing those vampires were looking for, and had killed Serena over? It looked like it! I decided it was best to hide it until we reached the mainland. The boat ride was short and uneventful. We eventually reached a port city much like Shan Long at the other side of the river. It was small as well and houses a few shops, an inn, and some houses. My friends and I stepped out of the boat.

“Thank you for the ride.” I told the old man who took us here.

“No worries! You youngsters have fun now!” The old man said gleefully.

The old man then started unloading his cargo from the canoe. I pulled the object that I had taken from the boat from my clothes and showed it to the group.

“I found it in a barrel when I fell.” I explained.

“What is it?” Asked Anna-Maria.

“Is it some kind of… device?” Federov gaped at it, then gasped.

“That was what the vampire showed me on the paper! That is the object that she killed Serena over!” Federov exclaimed.

“If vampires are trying to find this thing, then Saja is sure to follow. We must not let anyone know that we have this.” I said.

“We should go to my uncle. He can help us get to Hemlon. After that, I have to feed. I would normally feed when night comes but, last night I couldn’t. I will go tonight.” Said Federov.

Hearing Federov saying that he would feed tonight made me think of something: It was day time! How was Federov not dying in the sunlight?

“Federov? How are you not dying in the sunlight right now?” I asked, shocked that I was only coming to this realization now.

“Oh, yes. I probably should have told you all before, I have a special talent, as some vampires do. My talent is being immune to the negative effects that sunlight has on vampires.” Federov explained.

I sighed, satisfied that I had answered that shocking question.

“Alright then, lucky for you I suppose. We should continue on to your uncle’s house now.” I said.

We walked down a trail and through some more forest terrain. We came across a cabin after a few minutes of walking. Federov opened the door.

“Uncle!” He shouted.

“I have returned!” He called.

Not long after he called, a short, stubby man with grey hair and a grey beard with bright blue eyes and a jump in his step stumbled down the stairs.

“Well, well, well.” He said in a German accent, making the Ws sound like Vs.

“Federov my boy! It has been so long, we must celebrate!” The man said.

Federov turned to us.

“Friends, this is my uncle, Genyek.” Federov said to us.

Genyek eyed Federov up and down.

“You still carry around that old .45, eh?”

Federov nodded.

“Well, it keeps her close, you know?” Federov said.

Keeps her close? I thought. It must have been his mother's.

“We have come to you for some help. We need a flying... machine. And I recall you saying something about it when I was little." Federov told his uncle.

 Yes, I see. I could help you out. I have had some ideas, but I could not test them because of all the vampires.” Said Genyek.

I saw Federov get uneasy and shaky. I looked to Federov. There was something on his mind.

“Uncle… I… am one of them.” Federov said.

He bowed his head in shame.

“What? Impossible! How long?” he looked at his uncle for a minute.

“Thirty years.” He said quietly.

“You mean the one that killed my brother and sister, turned you? Why haven’t you told me before? We could have sorted this out!” His uncle yelled. 

“I am sorry uncle.” Federov said again.

***

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think :)