Chapter 40

Alina

“What’s going on? What is she chanting?” Erick yelled at Kendrick, the howling winds making it near impossible to listen to anything.
“It’s the transfusion spell!” There was urgency in Kendrick’s voice as he turned to face me. “Alina, your transformation isn’t complete yet. Do you know about anything that connects you to Tuhin? Something that Tuhin or Aaron had given you?”
“The necklace!” Erick and I said in unison.
“Aaron said only Tuhin can remove it from me. I tried to, but it electrocuted my hand,” I yelled at Erick as the chanting got nearer and nearer.
“I think I can get it off,” Erick replied then unsheathed a huge sword with a blade completely made of ice. “Hold up the strings.”
I did as he told but removed my hand as soon as sparks began to dance on the surface of the pendant. “I can’t. I’m scared Erick.”
“It’s okay. I’m right here.” Erick reassured me. Very carefully, he placed the tip of the blade on my chest and slid it under the string without moving it. “Brace yourself!”
Electricity zapped through my body at that instant, causing me to scream in pain. The next instant, it was gone. I opened my eyes to look at my chest. The necklace was no longer there. It now laid on the floor, its glow becoming muted and lifeless. Erick crushed it using the ice blade, and it broke into tiny shards of dull crystals.
“That pendant was connecting you to Tuhin. Now, Isel can’t complete the transfusion unless she has your blood.” Kendrick explained. The chanting stopped all of a sudden, followed by an angry roar.
“We need to get out of here before it collapses,” Emiel yelled as yet another wall crumbled to dust.
We made use of those crumbling walls and dived through one to enter another hallway. Emiel guided us through the maze of hallways, and Kendrick helped him run. “Shouldn’t he be healed by now?” I asked Erick out loud since we couldn’t use our mental bond.
“Burns take a lot longer to heal,” Emiel interjected. “My burns are internal. Isel most probably got a good few organs.”
“Good few organs! Can you even walk?” It was the first time Erick had shown any signs of compassion for his brother. It startled me, and Emiel looked just as surprised. He paused to look back at Erick before answering.
“Yes, I’ll be fine,” Emiel said then made a sudden right turn towards a dimly lit narrow passage. My vision seemed to have become a lot better because I could see every nook and corner inside the passage vividly. The world wasn’t black anymore. It was just a darker shade of blue.
“Form a single line. We need to get through this passage. Emiel, stay with Alina. I’ll take the lead and—”
“No, Erick.” Emiel cut of Erick midsentence. “You stay with Alina. She needs you. I’ll take the lead. Besides, I know the temple better than you do.”
“Okay.” Erick agreed and came to stand behind me with his sword drawn in case someone decided to follow us.
Emiel entered the passage first, then Kendrick, I, and Erick followed close behind. The passage was narrow enough to be claustrophobic. There was hardly any space for me. I had no idea how three hulking men were passing through this. Apparently, the route was also relatively unused, for there were cobwebs hanging in front of my face with every step I took. They just kept coming no matter how many times Kendrick or Emiel brushed them off.
I saw Emiel become alert as soon as he sensed a change in the air current around us. We were nearing the exit.
The other side of the passage had a trap door. Emiel held up a hand to indicate us to stop moving. I felt Erick tense up behind me while Kendrick got ready to strike. Emiel activated his full vampire speed and crashed into the door. The impact knocked it off itshinges, and the door fell to the ground with a thud. Then a gust of that revolting smell rushed inside again to throw us off balance.
“We’re outside the temple,” Emiel yelled over the roaring winds. “Be careful when you step out.”
I didn’t understand what Emiel was warning us about until I stepped outside the passage with Erick on my heels. The first thing I saw was a cracked rib attached to a skeletal head, a decaying hand torn from someone’s torso, and a few detached skulls lying on the ground in front of us. The wind was blowing away the lighter body parts, but the heavier ones stayed on the ground. The sight was just nauseating.
Erick tugged me to his chest to shield my eyes from the sight. It was the first time I noticed that his shirt was cold and wet. He must’ve been freezing in them.
“What on Earth are these things?” Erick asked Emiel, a low.
“Vampires,” Emiel answered. “Tuhin regains energy by feeding on vampire hearts. He absorbs their powers into him.”
“That’d explain all the disappearance reports we’d been getting for the past four years.” It was Kendrick who spoke.
“Disappearances?”
“Yes,” Erick told me. “Several vampires have disappeared over the past four years. It’s normal for some vampires to relocate when they’ve stayed in one place for over five to ten years, but they always leave us their new location so we never lose track of our people. However, for the past few years, hundreds have disappeared without a trace. Now I know where they’ve gone.” Erick motioned his hand at the corpses.
“We need to get out of here,” Emiel spoke, his voice holding the fear of the nine-year-old boy whose mind had been invaded over and over again for the fulfilment of such selfish deeds. His mind had been raped several times.
I wanted to assure him that everything will be alright, that no one will ever hurt him again, but I knew I’d only be giving him false hope. Wait until this is over, I promised myself. He’d have to wait for the peace he deserves till this battle is over.
“There they are!”
Someone shouted behind us. An instant later, we were surrounded by vampires on all sides.

Erick

“Alina, get behind me.” I pushed her to my back and held up the sword in front of me, ready to defend her with my life.
There were at least ten vampires around us and probably more on their way, but I doubted they would reach more than twenty. Recruiting any more mercenaries would be considered building an army, and our spies would’ve caught on to such unrest. Moreover, the vampire population doesn’t have that many mercenaries to spare.
I looked towards Kendrick and gave him a nod. The next instant, two vampires nearest to him dropped to the ground as electric sparks zapped through their body. Emiel took the opportunity to grab a dagger from a fallen vampire and cut their heads right off their bodies before they had a chance to rise again. The battle was on.
I took down three vampires that tried to attack me before someone came up from behind and slashed a sword down my back. Not giving my brain enough time to register the pain, I turned around and beheaded him.
“Erick!”
I turned again as soon as Alina warned me, but Emiel was already beheading the vampire in question. “Five more joined in,” Emiel yelled. “But I think that’s all they have.”
“Let’s get them!” I said before falling to my knees, blood pouring out of my eyes and ears.
“Erick! Emiel!” I heard Kendrick’s faint yell as my eardrums regenerated. I turned around to where Alina was standing near the exit of the passage and found Isel standing behind her, a dagger held to her throat.
“How dare you interfere with the transfusion?” Isel screamed. “The Ancient will not stand such incompetence!”
“Your incompetence, you mean?” I told her, finally able to stand up.
“You’re Erick Stayton, aren’t you?” Isel gave me a sly smile. “Since the Ancient will soon take over the Royal Family, what need is there for you to stay alive? Why don’t I take care of you right now?”
“Erick!” Alina and Emiel screamed at the same time.
Before I knew what was happening, someone pushed me to the ground.A spray of blood hit my body and face an instant later. Then I watched Emiel hit the ground in front of me, a sword plunged right where his heart was. Aaron stood a few feet away with his hands lifted.
“Emiel!”Alina struggled to break free from Isel, but she was too weak.
Taking the advantage of Isel’s momentary distraction, I shoot the Arctic Blade in her direction. Using telekinesis to lock on to the target, it hit her right between her eyes and pierced her skull. Aaron cried out a second later and attacked Kendrick with another blade while the remaining seven mercenaries came after me. Isel fell to the ground, leaving Alina unharmed. Another thing that happened along with the other chaotic events of that day was that the cloud that blocked my mating link to Alina disappeared suddenly, indicating that it was Isel’s magic that was keeping the bond locked all along.
Erick, can you hear me?
Yes, the blockage is gone. Isel’s death must have unlocked it. I told her. Alina, get the Arctic Blade from Isel’s body. Strike if anyone comes at you. I’ll use my telekinesis if I have to, but it’s not as strong as my teleportation abilities.
On it!

Alina

I knelt down and pulled the Arctic Blade out of Isel’s skull with much difficulty. If there was one thing I had learned after setting foot in Erick’s world, it was the fact that getting out swords or stakes from someone’s body was one hell of a difficult job.
I finally took out the blade from Isel’s head just as the winds got stronger and engulfed me in a black vortex. I looked up, and there he was, right at the centre of it.
Erick, Tuhin’s in here with me!
Get out of there!
I can’t! The winds were too strong. I was already pinned against the temple walls.
However, as I looked up at Tuhin inside the whirling current of air, an idea formed in my mind. It was the only option we had right now, and I was the only one who could do it. I couldn’t exit the vortex, and Erick couldn’t enter it without being shredded to pieces. My hair whipped around in every direction, even cutting my face at some point. The wind was too powerful, and it threatened to throw me off balance at every turn, but this was my only chance. I couldn’t let this opportunity slip away no matter how tired I felt or how little strength I had left.
Erick, lift me up! I can get to him, this is our only chance!
I called out to Erick through our mating bond. I knew he’d hear me even through the vortex. He had to.
My telekinetic powers aren’t that strong, Alina, he answered back, but I knew he was not someone to give up that easily.
Try! Please! I called out again, holding the sword close to my chest so that the wind doesn’t blow it away.
The wind continued to swirl around me like a tornado. It rose up into the sky to form a ball around Tuhin, but it was black and filled with the stench of rot and death. I would get only one precise strike before it was all over. I didn’t have enough time.
I was about to call out to Erick again to levitate me when I felt my feet lift off the ground.
You did it Erick! He was lifting me up and taking all my weight. However, I was only a few inches above ground, and the wind was too strong to keep me steady. I landed back roughly on my feet a second later. The whirlwind was probably interfering with Erick’s telekinesis.
“Come on!” I gritted out. I was holding the sword in my hand now, readying myself for the strike. Come on, Erick. Try once more! You can do it!
I’m trying, was his strained reply.
Once again, my feet hovered above the ground. The turbulent winds threatened to throw me off balance, but I held on with teeth gritting focus and was able to steady myself. Erick was able to levitate me a metre above the ground.
But I felt myself drop once again, this time slowly. No! I couldn’t fall, not now. I had to get to Tuhin. I had to end him once and for all.
Suddenly, I found myself rising once again, higher this time and with considerable speed. Yes! Keep going!
Knowing that Erick must be using every last drop of energy he had left, I concentrated on the vortex of air at the centre where the putrid air was sheltering Tuhin, and raised my sword above my head.
The next few incidents happened in a blink of an eye.
I was heading directly towards the air shield at incredible speed. I tilted my hand back to increase the impact of the sword and brought it down with all my strength. Striking cleanly through the shield, the sword cut Tuhin in half from the tip of his head down to the middle of his abdomen and got stuck in his guts. Black blood splattered all over my face and body, and the smell was enough to make me heave again. The ice sword began to glow with a blinding light as the winds died down, vanishing from sight within seconds and leaving the air clean of its rotten stench. Torn body parts of the fallen vampires came raining down to the ground. Then Tuhin’s red eyes began to flicker until they were no more than two black holes void of any colour or life. He fell.
“NOOOOO!”
Aaron’s shout rang out in the silence, reverberating against the walls of the ancient temple. It was over now. The blade had done its work.
Tuhin fell to the earth with a loud crash and the sword still embedded in his torn abdomen. The ground turned black and rotten where his malicious blood fell. Then he began to dessicate faster than anything I’ve seen in my life. The meat of his skin dried up until only a skeleton remained. The bones then crumbled into smaller pieces and kept crumbling until all that was left of him was dust.
The blade’s glow faded slowly as it now lay on the grass. Through the receding glow, I could see the sword getting smaller and smaller in size until there was nothing but water left on the ground. That water spread on the dead earth, cleansing the corruption created by Tuhin’s blood and left the ground clean of any death or decay. Even the vampire bodies that had been scattered all around the meadow now suffered the same fate as that of Tuhin’s corpse. The dead mercenaries however, stayed the way they were.
Then I began to fall.
“Erick!” I screamed at the top of my voice as the ground came nearer. Just when I was about to touch the ground, I felt myself float again before being placed gently on terra firma.
“Why did you let me fall?” I asked when Erick came towards me and engulfed me in his arms.
“I didn’t help you levitate either. It was all you, Alina. You have the power to levitate things,” he told me. “You’re very close to completing your transition, or you’ve already completed it. I can’t tell which one yet.”
“How’s Emiel?” I asked, watching Kendrick shield him as he cut off the head of yet another vampire.
“Not good, we need to get him to a healer and quick,” Erick spoke, but my eyes were behind him, looking directly at Aaron as he raised his sword and charged at Erick from behind.
“Watch out!” I yelled and pushed Erick out of the way with whatever strength I had... and felt the blade pierce my chest.
A stab of pain gushed to my head and then... nothing. I lost my balance and went tumbling to the ground, feeling nothing at all. There was no pain or panic. I felt nothing but numbness. My senses gave out one by one, first, my hearing, and finally my sight. But right before my eyes closed of their own accord, I watched Erick rip Aaron’s heart out of his chest with his bare hands and crush it in his palm.
Then there was only darkness.