Blood Oath

While hunting for blood, Alleania encounters someone who will change her life forever.

31.

Blood Oath

 

She was almost crazed with hunger, as she always was after being attacked.     They had been trying to kill her, but only had clubs and daggers, so she was not seriously injured.    Yet she now desperately needed blood, for a vampire must feed soon after being injured, in order to speed up the regeneration process.

But the smoky passageways were devoid of anything large enough to provide blood for her.  She flew around wildly, missing a turn that would have taken her back to Hor’olorbb in her desperation,.

Yet the passage was familiar to her after a few moments of confusion, and it led back toward the cavern where the great tree had stood.     The body of the Dragon still blocked the passage, yet she fluttered past.    Even in her intense hunger, the thought of drinking cold Dragon’s blood repulsed her.

Had she actually taken in air to breathe, she would have found the smoke too much for her to bear as she neared the Cavern.    At one time she had been as addicted as any of her sisters to the Dart’loxinchu.    Perhaps back then she would have had a much easier time.    

But as a vampire, she was not affected by the smoke.    Surprisingly, the actual cavern was not nearly as smoky as were the passages leading up to it, for there was now a wide hole in the ceiling from where the tree had earlier stood.   Much of it still burned and smoldered, but the upper part with the branches had collapsed in the Clearing of the Ages.   Now a slight breeze pushed the smoke of the burning tree down into the passages, away from the Cavern.

She looked around frantically for a source of blood, but of course she knew it would be empty.

Alleania was shocked to find a figure sitting alone, wrapped in a cloak, a short distance away from the fire, watching it burn.

She advanced upon him, but as she neared, she recognized the lone man.   It was Devin the Mage. 

Alleania assumed her Drow form and landed in front of him with a hungry hiss.   He too would now be a vampire, for she had bitten him, so he would be her minion.    Perhaps he was too weak from not feeding and could only sit in a lethargic state.

 

To her surprise, the wizard seemed very well and held in his lap a large tree branch with leaves that were a rich golden color.    It was a branch from the great tree, and to her wonderment, hanging from the branches were several red pieces of fruit.     Devin looked up at her with a slight grin as he finished eating a piece of the fruit.

“Hungry, Matron?”   He asked, and he plucked off a piece of fruit and tossed it to her.

“Fruit?”  She growled at him.

“Oh, it satisfies, Mistress Alleania.   I had little choice but to try it.   You see, I tried my original plan again, as a vampire, and the Dragon crushed my body.    So I went incorporeal.   But unlike you, I had no coffin, so I went back to the place where you bit me.   For a while I laid there, immobile, but the great tree was incinerated and the smoke from the burning tree did something unexpected.”

“It woke me from my recuperative slumber.    I was very weak, but I thought that if the tree’s smoke could heal me slightly, perhaps greater exposure would heal me more.    Alas, when I finally got here, I found it was not so.    By then I was too weak to walk anywhere, and I was famished for blood.”

“But I found several branches of the Great Tree in the rubble and coals in this cavern.    This one had attached to it what was probably the last of this year’s red fruit.   The Faesidhe eat it each year and it gives them healing and some restoration.”

“So I thought I’d try to eat one.   I didn’t imagine that it would help, but I was quite wrong.   Eat of the fruit, Alleania.   It is the very last fruit of the Faesidhe Tree, and while it is certainly not as powerful as the White Fruit, it does wonderful things, even to the undead.”

Alleania looked at him suspiciously, but he just continued to finish his piece of fruit.    Her hunger was raging, and, perhaps, it clouded her common sense but finally she simply bit into the apple-like fruit of the Faesidhe tree.

 

Though it had ripened two months before, she was amazed at how sweet and crisp the fruit was to the taste.   She had not eaten anything since awakening as a Vampire.    Food did a vampire no good, and often tasted terrible.   But the Faesidhe fruit was the most wonderful thing she had ever tasted.   Immediately her thoughts rushed back to the day of the Drow raid, where she had eaten the white fruit.

It tasted the same, and she consumed it like one who was famished.   Without asking Devin, she grabbed a second piece off the branch (leaving three more) and ate this piece just as quickly as the first.   Devin only watched her with a satisfied smile.

“Good, Alleania.”   He sighed, “Very good.”

“Mistress Alleania to you, Devin.”   She snarled, “You are my minion now.”

“No, you are quite mistaken, Matron.   I am nobody’s minion, and your power has been taken from you.”

“What are you talking about?” She grabbed him by the throat and pulled him to his feet.    She could feel a pulse beating rapidly in his neck.   But he should have no pulse!

“I see you are perplexed.   No need to be, dear lady, for your senses don’t deceive you.   I am quite alive.”

With a growl she bore her fangs and moved closer to bite him, yet as she leaned in, the world seemed to spin violently out of control.  

She felt herself sinking to the floor, as what felt like fire coursed through her body.     Her limbs went rigid as she fell, but Devin caught her and gently maneuvered her onto a soft pile of cool ash.   He laughed at her panic.

“You look terrified, Alleania.   I don’t blame you.   You think I poisoned you, don’t you?   Well, I did!    But only after I poisoned myself.”

“What’s… happening… to… me?”  She said as her body convulsed.

“It’s like death, but in reverse.    You are ‘dying’ as a vampire.   I wouldn’t have ever thought to try it, but apparently the red Faesidhe fruit can cure Vampirism!   Well, it did for me, and I think it will either heal you or destroy you.    Either way, you’ll certainly not be the same.”

“I… kill… you…wizard.”

“Shh, don’t waste your strength.   I only ate one piece of the fruit - at first- and it felt like I was being torn inside out shortly thereafter.   I’m not sure how two pieces eaten so quickly will affect you.”

“Hate… you…”

“No, you hate Devin, Alleania.   A remarkable thing happened since we last spoke.   I have been given nearly complete knowledge of who I was and what happened.   It is so I can tell you.”

“No… you… selfish…”

“Shh!   Just listen, please.   I’m obviously not Devin.   He died after a demon that he had magically bound was set loose -due to the presence of the Gem of the Oscinate- and the demon destroyed his mind.     Yesh let me take his body and return here, as a Drow.    Do you know how long it has been since I felt alive like this?   It is both awful and wonderful in a strangely limiting sort of way.”

“Who… who… are… you?”    The Drow matron was shaking violently now and she began sweating.    Her red eyes rolled up into her head, but he just kept talking calmly to her.

“My name is Drake, Alleania.    I now know why I was sent here and as my primary mission has been completed, I can focus on you for a while.”

“Drake…   who…”   Her voice was a whisper now.

“I was human once, Alleania.   Long ago, but this was before the Great Gathering.    I pursued magical power and was fascinated by the various planes of existence and other worlds.    I visited many of them and charted them in a scientific method.    I began to see that there were forces behind them, Alleania.    Creative forces.   They called themselves ‘The Sidhe’.”

“Sidhe… Faesidhe…”

“No, no, not the Faesidhe Elves.     But they were one of their creations.    In fact, the Elves were their most prized creation.   It is said that one of the most powerful of these Sidhe, Mórálach, demanded from his fellow Sidhe that all the Elves they created in all of the worlds and universes, be beautiful, especially the females.”

“Mora… Mora…”

“Mórálach - he was an arrogant, proud and somewhat evil Sidhe, who prized great beauty more than anything.    It is why all Elven and Half-Elven women are, at the very worst, pretty, and most often times, extraordinary in appearance.    It was so he could admire them and even lust after them.”

“…Why?...  what… happening…to me?”   Alleania was drenched in cold sweat as respiration was slowly restored to her.

“Well, he just found the female form addictive.   Who could blame him, really?   I had the same problem, though I was not as aggressive in pursuit of them as I have heard that he was. “

“What… happening…t-to m-m-me?”  Her teeth chattered.

“Don’t you know?   Something quite wonderful, I think.   You are having life restored to you again.    A real life.”

“I…I-I’m a.. v-v-vampire!”

“Not for long, dear lady.    Your fangs have already shortened into regular teeth and you are breathing and shaking with cold.    You are alive again, Alleania.”

“Impossible… I… d-died… years ago.”

“I’d say that has been reversed.”

“Not possible… p-p-please…so…c-cold.”  She began coughing as she shivered, as the effects of the smoky Underdark began to tickle her lungs.

Devin - no, it was Drake now- slid down beside her and wrapped his cloak around her.    

“There.  You will have to allow yourself some time to get used to living functions like temperature.   Cover your mouth and nose with the cloak, my dear, and you’ll be able to breathe better.”

“I’m…g-going to… k-kill you…when I… am s-s-stronger.”   She tried to sound threatening, but it came out pitiful and weak.   

“That will be quite a while, I’m afraid.   But I will probably be recalled by then.”

“Recalled?”

“Heaven, Alleania.    This was a special mission.   Even now I am not allowed to remember anything of the place except for my conversation with Yesh about coming here.”

“You’re c-crazy.”

“It is a very rare occurrence.”

“Why did y-you come here?”   She was not trembling as violently, but was so weak that she had no option but to rest her reeling head against his shoulder.

“I asked to come here to help you defeat the Dragon.    I doubted that anyone would be able to think of killing the beast from the inside.   It required a sacrifice, and I was willing to do that.    Amazingly, that Bugbear, Carn, was willing, too.”

“The D-Dragon is dead, Drake.   Why are y-you s-still here then?”

“Well, I promised Yesh that I would try to bring someone into faith in him before I left again.    So I selected you.”

“Don’t bother.   I d-don’t want anything more t-to do with you.”

“Sweetheart, you really don’t have any option right now.  You are too weak to fight me and if I hear you trying to cast a spell, I will simply cover your lovely mouth with my hand and your spell will fail.”

“I won’t f-forget this, Devin!”

“Drake, my dear.” He corrected, “The mind is Drake; the body is Devin’s.    He was a typical wizard, too.  He didn’t eat much, so his body is as skinny as a rail post.”

“Whoever you are, I hate you!”   Alleania was no longer chilled, but despite her hateful words, she remained curled up in his cloak.

“You are quick to hate, my dear.    Fear does that, you know.   You are afraid of me, and afraid of being alive after all these years of unlife.”

“You don’t know what I’m thinking, wizard!”

“No, not exactly, but I am a rather good judge of character.    I see a strong-willed woman who also battles insecurity.    It was easier to fight it when you were a vampire, wasn’t it?”

“I will show you how weak I am!”  She threatened, but she did not move from his shoulder.

“Alleania, I am not here to harm you in any way.  Devin’s body was just the most convenient way to come here.”

“Then leave again.”   She began coughing from the smoke and he gently patted her back and held the cloak over her face with his other hand.    Alleania yielded to his assistance and soon was slumped against his shoulder again, though she had stopped coughing.

“I will very likely leave soon, my dear.    But before I do, I want to encourage you to better yourself.    You have been given a second chance at life, dear lady.    The Underdark is going to be rather toxic for many years now.   Take your House to the surface.    Go to Westmark and rejoin your daughter and your sister.”

“They won’t want me there.”

“Nonsense!   They didn’t want a vampire there.   You are no longer a vampire now.    There are three pieces of red fruit remaining on this branch - give them to the two other vampires that are members of your House.   Then go to the surface.    Ollie would blossom there, Alleania.”

“We’d be outcasts.”

“Not in your daughter’s duchy.    Alleania, it is very likely that Eleazar and Aurei will form a kingdom.   Already there are refugees streaming into the duchy, fleeing from Torrin’s persecution.   Drow would be accepted there.    Your grandchildren are there, Alleania.”

The Drow matron opened her eyes weakly when he mentioned them.    He looked down at her, smiling gently.   She frowned up at him.

“They don’t want to know me, wizard.”

“Of course they do, sweetheart!    All of them long to know you!   They’ve just been scared of you because of your Vampirism.   Your sister misses you terribly!   Even Aurei daydreams of what it would have been like to have known you.    Alleania, believe it or not, they LOVE you!    They really do!    It broke Aurei’s heart to cast you out of Westmark.”

“How would you know this?!”  She snapped, but her eyes revealed fear that he spoke the truth.

“I am a Watcher, dear lady.   I’ve watched your story for many years.”

“Leave me alone, then!   Please!”

“What is scaring you, Alleania?”

“Nothing is scaring me!”   She replied, her voice so shrill that she sounded close to hysteria.

“Don’t be afraid, sweetheart!    You are a good person, Alleania.   A kind person.    That is a rare trait amongst most Drow, and you have drawn into your House those with the same feelings.    Don’t you see?    You are not far from faith in Yesh.”

“I’m a Drow!”

“So?   Your daughter is one of his most faithful Paladins.   Your sister is the senior Archbishop of all his people and will soon be completely restoring his church.    Your niece Sophia took Archmage Kinzer’s job as the head of the Watchers after Kinzer died.   Your family is highly favored in Yesh’s eyes, my dear!”

“But what could I do, Drake?”

“You could be the Matron that brought out of the Dark Elves out of the Underdark and restored them to their rightful place in the light of the surface world.”

Alleania lifted her head and stared at him for a long moment.

“You can’t be serious, wizard!”

“I am, dear lady!   I have been in Yesh’s presence for many years, and I know that he would greatly desire for you to come to know him.”

“Yesh wants to know me?”

“Certainly!   Alleania; why do you think he allowed Aurei to provide you with a jug of her blood to sustain you?   This is not what God usually allows his Paladins to do!   It was to sustain you and bring you closer to him.”

“Closer to Yesh?”

“Of course!    You have befriended the faithful of Yesh who were exiled to the Underdark and kept them safe.    You battled your need for fresh blood and then boldly sought aid to save your home and your people.    Alleania, you are so very close to having faith in Yesh!”

“I…I don’t know…it’s too much to think about… my head is swimming.”

“Alright, sweetheart, there is no hurry; think about it.”

“Why do you call me that?”

“Call you what?”

“Sweetheart.”

“I’m sorry, Alleania - it’s a habit I picked up in a world I was stranded in for nearly a year - this was years ago, before the Great Gathering.   The men in that world would often use familiar terms when speaking to women.   In other worlds, this was considered too familiar and rather rude.    When I am passionately pleading a cause, I tend to forget my manners.   Forgive me, Matron Mother.”

The Drow lady smiled slightly - the first time she had smiled at him since he had arrived, “Alright, Drake, your apology is accepted.   But don’t think that I am softening in my attitude toward you!    Yet I will consider what you have said to me.”

“Fair enough.    Are you feeling strong enough to stand?”

“I think so.    Thanks to you, now we both will have to walk back to Hor’olorbb instead of flying.    I must return to those waiting for me!   I had forgotten them in my need for blood!    They probably think I have perished or left them.”

“Well, let’s go find them.”   He offered his hand to her and she took it.  

“It will be an hour’s walk, I fear.” She told him as he pulled her to her feet.

“Oh, we’re not going to walk.”  Drake grinned, “We can’t teleport, but I have a very handy spell.”

He began to chant something in a language she had never heard and after a few minutes, a ghost-like white horse materialized in front of them.

“It’s called simply ‘Charger’.   This horse will bear both of us for about an hour before it dispels.    Best of all, it will travel at a real horse’s full gallop for the entire duration of this time.”

“I’ve never been on horseback.”   Alleania mumbled, looking uneasily at the horse.

“I’ll ride with you; let me help you mount and I’ll sit behind you.”

She wasn’t too happy with that set-up, but she felt so weak and unsteady that she agreed.    The arcane horse knelt down and she rather awkwardly slipped onto the animal’s back.    Drake gracefully slipped behind her after first plucking the remaining three red pieces of fruit from the branch and placing them in a pocket in his robes...

“He won’t let you fall, so do not worry.   I’ll steady you from behind, too.”

“I’ll be alright.”  She warned, very hesitant to have him touching her more than was necessary.

“Okay.    Well, hang on then.    Ya!”  At the command, the spectral horse stood up and sprang forward so suddenly that Alleania fell back against the wizard.   He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and in spite of herself, she found the warmth of his body wonderful.    She had not known the sensation for over a century and a half and her body tingled with delight from the feeling.

She smiled slightly; perhaps change wasn’t all bad…

Reviews

[Elina]

"...as she always was after she was injured..." Perhaps "...as she always was after being attacked..." ?
"...but had only clubs and daggers..." I believe this should be either "...only had clubs..." or "...had only had clubs..." I'm not sure which one you were going for, here.
"She flew around wildly, in her desperation, missing a turn that would have taken her back to Hor’olorbb." Perhaps change the order a bit "She flew around wildly, missing a turn that would have taken her back to Hor'olorbb in her desperation." ?
"She had once been as addicted as any of her sisters to the Dart’loxinchu." Not entirely sure how you were wanting this to read, but I think you may need a couple commas to aid in the flow of this sentence.
"...and it clouded her common sense perhaps..." It might sound a little better if you put "perhaps" toward the beginning of this, after "and."
"...where she and her sisters had eaten..." You'll want to switch the order so that "her sisters" comes before "she."
"...but he just kept calmly talking to her." Perhaps "...kept talking calmly..." instead. ?
"...that Bugbear, Carn, was willing too." You will want to add a comma before "too." The same goes for "He was a typical wizard too."
"Alleania was no longer chilling..." Did you, perhaps, mean "chilled?"
"...the Matron that brought out of the Underdark the Dark Elves..." It may sound better as "...the Matron that brought the Dark Elves out of the Underdark and..."
"He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly..." Maybe "He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist..." ?

[Eddie Davis]

Thanks, Elina.