With blood and pain the debt is paid
So now to kill this one charade
By death it births a thousand spawn
That snare yet more unwilling pawns
Blackhole
It was not the place of an Evanescence to contemplate our beginnings as a species. We were not to know who we were, what our ancestors were like, what they did, who they killed. Our origins were meaningless. Our purpose was to serve the vampires without question, as our father commanded.
I was not favored by our father, though several of my kin would disagree. They made it no secret that they were jealous that he chose me for direct service to him, that he would often speak to me personally. I wondered how they would react if I told them that the reason Father chose me as a servant was to make me suffer. It was unheard of for an Evanescence to be little more than a partner or pet to his or her vampire owner. To call a vampire master ‘friend’ was laughable at the very least. Friendship. Love. Such emotions were to be sneered at and the owner of them ostracized. I was loyal to my vampire master. Officially, he was my master and it was my duty to obey him and lay down my life for him if need be. Unofficially, I was his companion. His trusted friend. I would do anything for him. I would die for him, not because I was his servant, but because I loved him as one friend loves another. Father knew I would be chosen for him. Father had great plans for this vampire. Not only the vampire, but his human lover; a woman so pure and compassionate it was unnatural.
I cared deeply for them both, but by the orders of my father, I betrayed them. The human woman Mercedes had forgiven me, though she did not know of my role in her kidnapping. She did not know it was I who helped provoke Tarasque, king of the dragons, into visiting the human world and stealing her away from her home. But the most painful thought of all was that even if she were well aware of my true role in what was to come, and that I would continue to play it no matter what, she would still forgive me. She would look at me with those soft, angel eyes and embrace me with her unending love.
Shadow, however, would not forgive me. Mercedes had mellowed him somewhat, but whatever compassion he possessed was reserved for her. In any sense, he was not the forgiving type. He lived by honor and betrayal was one of the few things he would never be able to bear. I had betrayed both him and the one he loved so deeply. There would be no forgiveness from him. Only rage, pain, and death.
I only hoped Father would not aid me when that day came.
But for the moment, I was distracted from my inevitable fate. My kin moved restlessly around me, whispered their thoughts to one another in a mental link that could be felt by every single one of us. Every so often, I touched that link and listened to what they were saying.
We will feast on the great beasts flying above us.
I hear them growl about the palace. They think to frighten our masters.
It is they who will be frightened. Once our masters set us free.
Yes. Once our masters set us free, we would devour the battalion of dragon warriors that King Tarasque had so foolishly sent to kill the vampires. Well, perhaps he would not be entirely disappointed. It was by Father’s will that ten thousand vampires would die in the battle. Father always did covet sacrifices and the human ancestors of the first vampires more than fulfilled those desires. Thousands of years later, a huge sacrifice was long overdue.
We did not have to wait long for our masters to call us. Ten new voices entered the mental link and each one said the exact same thing.
“Kill them all.”
***
Leyan
The vampires were incredibly arrogant, and it was the only reason I took some form of joy in slaughtering them. I had already known they were pathetic before King Tarasque gave the order to eliminate them, but surely they at least had weapons? Surely they would fight for their lives? Surely they wouldn’t flee like cowards?
I was wrong on all three counts. They had no weapons, they refused to fight, and all they did was flee like cowards. Perhaps I should not be too disgusted. After all, nothing in existence was more terrifying or dangerous than a dragon in his or her true form. One dragon alone could reduce this miniscule civilization to ash with only a few blasts of concentrated fire. The only reason why we did not was because we still wanted the treasure these creatures possessed, and we would get it.
Two-hundred hands in the air, I circled around the so-called royal palace. What a plain structure. True, the black surface could not have been more polished, but other than a few designs carved into it, there was nothing else. No precious metals or stones, nothing! Did they not possess great treasure, or did they guard it as jealously as the dragons did?
My questions would be answered soon enough. I landed beside the palace. It barely came up to the middle of my front right leg. My comrade Kel landed beside me and examined the structure.
I looked at him and the scales on my face began to move slightly. Because our natural voices were so powerful and we did not want to risk damaging our treasure before it was protectively spelled, our ancestors developed this form of communication eons ago. Dragons had some control over the scales that made us all but invincible. In moving mine, I spoke to my fellow dragon warrior.
“Shall we knock it over and sift through the remains?”
“We don’t know if their treasure is buried deep underground,” Kel said. “We need to know for certain or we risk destroying it.”
I huffed. Patience was not one of my virtues, and this so-called war King Tarasque ordered us to wage proved to be little more than mindless slaughter so far.
“These vampires better have some magnificent treasure.” My scales clashed to together, portraying my anger and frustration.
“Our comrades are doing a magnificent job in wiping these pathetic creatures out,” Kel commented. “Perhaps we should shape-shift into our human forms and investigate the royal palace.”
“We could also interrogate the royal family about the whereabouts of their treasure and if there are traps guarding it,” I added. “Very well. Let’s shift.”
Despite being in such pitifully tiny forms, we retained all of our powers. In one punch, I opened the tall doors to the royal palace and quickly discovered that for however mundane the outside was, the royals clearly wasted no expense in decorating the inside.
“Reasonably impressive,” Kel commented. Both of our eyes took in the alien sculpture, jewels, and draperies that adorned the rooms. “But something tells me this isn’t all they have.”
“No, it isn’t,” I said eagerly. Maybe this would be worthwhile after all. “First we find the royal family. They’ll tell us where the real hordes are.”
Kel nodded. He raised his fist to another set of doors but stopped when an unusual hissing sound emitted from behind them.
“A creature guard,” I said with a smirk. “Reliable. If the vampires thought they were to be invaded by ogres.”
Kel laughed and shook his head. He raised his fist again, but the doors burst open from the other side and out poured a sea of black. Both Kel and I were devoured instantly.
***
Radella
We were safe from the inside, though every few seconds I heard the faint echoes of crashes and death screams from the outside. Our people were being slaughtered by the spawn of the demon, Quetzalcoatl. Lord Chaos demanded these deaths in order to test our faith in him. But the slaughter would last for only less than a minute longer. My maker had just ordered that our Evanescence armies were to be unleashed upon the dragons.
“Dear daughter.”
I looked up. My maker’s dark, obsidian adorned hand was the only part of him that was not wreathed in darkness. He sat on a throne in the middle of his nine fellow true royals.
“Yes, my lord,” I said.
“Come to me.”
I obeyed and knelt on my knees in front of my maker.
“What do you wish of me?”
His hand stretched out to me. In it was a Chaos wand.
&nbs
p; “In this wand lies the key to our victory. Harijan Shadow managed to record the frequency of one of the demon lizard’s portals.”
My eyes went wide. While I knew it was not wise to underestimate Harijans who were trained in the arts of the vampire warrior, I never thought one could have enough ingenuity to find the remnants of a dragon’s portal. Then again, this particular Harijan was blessed by Lord Chaos himself.
“Once the Evanescence have cleansed our home of the demon lizards, you will take this wand to our top technicians. They will create the portal that will enable us to travel to the demon lizard’s home. We will then search for the blessed one who was stolen from us.”
The blessed one. The human named Mercedes Strand. The one who had avenged the death of a priest. The one Lord Chaos himself commanded Harijan Shadow to protect.
“Forgive me, my lord, but Lord Chaos demanded Harijan Shadow alone must protect her.”
“Correct. He alone must protect her. But we will retrieve her.”
“As you wish. Once the portal is complete, will we launch a full assault?”
“We will not attack until the safety of the blessed one is assured. But once it is…” The dark hand clenched into a fist, enabling the scant light to reflect ominously off the obsidian rings. “…they will all pay.”
“We can see some of them pay right now,” a rather high female voice uttered from the third throne to the right. “Activate the viewscreens. I wish to watch our armies devour these pitiful blasphemers.”
“Princess Ariadna,” my maker said.
A flush crept up Ariadna’s dark face. It was common for a member of the true royal family to give orders to their progeny only. My maker was not Ariadna’s. Her maker remained still and silent on his throne.
Despite her anger, Ariadna obeyed. Once the viewscreens were activated, we were all treated to an incredibly satisfying sight. Though the streets were paved with blood and mangled corpses, they were not visible thanks to the flood of Evanescence rushing through the streets. Quite a few of the dragons were still in their serpent forms and did not bother to revert back to their normal shape in order to fight.
What arrogance, I thought with great contempt. They would stand a much better chance as the monstrous lizards that they truly are. They have no idea what the Evanescence are capable of. They truly do believe that they will achieve a great victory.
How wrong they were.
Before the serpents could even think to call upon their magic, they were bitten by several Evanescence. My fangs burst from my gums in glee, knowing what was happening.
“Look at their eyes,” King Yuan whispered. His normally serene face was alight was cruelty and delight. “Look how confused they are. They wonder why they cannot feed their arrogance with their beloved magic.”
“Perhaps they will live long enough to discover why,” Ariadna trilled. “Then again, if they were stupid enough to think they could overthrow the mighty vampire race, I wouldn’t count on it.”
I said nothing. Words were not necessary. Everyone present knew that the Evanescence possessed a toxic bite to those who possessed magic. In large quantities it killed, but even in small quantities, the victim would experience an almost instant dampening effect on their magic. One of the reasons vampires were able to control such creatures was because we possessed an immunity thanks to our inability to do magic. We didn’t need magic. We had our superior strength, speed, and intelligence. And as Yuan had just said, magic did little more than bloat arrogance to dangerous levels.
And now yours shall starve to death, I thought.
The snakes were devoured quickly. Ariadna turned up the volume without being asked. Despite our superior hearing, we all wanted the lizard’s death screams to ring throughout the entire palace.
“Shall we activate the laser cannons now?” the high female voice inquired. “The flying lizards are bound to release their flame. If they do, they could damage the city.”
“True,” my maker said. “Very well. But only go for their wings since that is where their scales are weakest. As they fall, the Evanescence will consume them. I want all of these blasphemous lizards to suffer the exact same fate as their brothers and sisters.”
***
Brandon
If Morgan gripped my arm any tighter, she could rip it clean from the socket merely by twitching. But huddled in a crowded underground shelter with my fellow Outcasts and watching our home and people be destroyed for the past few hours, I couldn’t bring myself to care. And when the royal family unleashed their vast armies of Evanescence upon the invaders, I would have gladly offered my life to Lord Chaos in gratitude, let alone my arm.
“We’re going to win, love,” Morgan exclaimed. “Lord Chaos was merciful. We’re going to win!”
Morgan continued to cheer loudly along with my fellow Outcasts. I was content to remain silent as endless prayers soundlessly escaped my lips. The dragons were powerful, but they were no match for the Evanescence. If I were capable of a purely rational thought at the moment, I would have wondered how we could have enslaved such a powerful species. A species that could easily defeat enemies that were more powerful than the vampires could ever hope to be. But I didn’t care. Our home would be safe, and we would not be members of an endangered species thanks to the Evanescence.
My fellows grew silent when the viewscreen changed direction. We were now looking at five gargantuan dragons flying so high in the sky, they merely looked large. Out of nowhere, a rain of powerful red beams erupted and connected with the dragon’s wings. They roared and sent fire, wind, and electricity down below, but this attack ceased when they started falling. Their roars were pained, but their pain was nothing compared to their terror. They fell and fell, and their roars grew to ear-splitting shrieks of desperation. When they were barely one-hundred feet above the ground, the Evanescence seemed to take flight as they jumped to meet them.
“Five corpses that size hitting the city could damage it beyond repair,” Morgan whispered.
Within seconds, the five dragons appeared to have all turned black.
“Not if you divide five into a few hundred million,” I said dryly.
Cheers and shouts of triumph erupted around me. I still didn’t join them.
“What’s wrong with you?” Morgan demanded. “Do you have any idea what’s happening?”
“Of course I do!” I snapped. Morgan blinked at my tone and I sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m just…” I shook my head. “You and I barely made it to safety. When I left Shadow, he was on his way to the royal palace.”
“Well, communications should be back online soon enough,” Morgan said. “It won’t take long for the Evanescence to finish cleaning up. You can give him a call and reassure yourself.”
“If for some reason he didn’t make it.” I looked my beloved dead in the eye. “You and I need to make sure that portal gets made.”
She scowled. “You know they could kill us. By copying the frequency Shadow found, we’ve all but defied them. They’ll know we were planning to enter dragon territory without their permission.”
“I’m afraid this is yet another no-win situation,” I said grimly. “If Shadow failed and the frequency was not delivered, then the royals won’t be able to launch their armies into dragon territory. We caught them by surprise today, but if we dare delay…”
“I hate no-win situations,” Morgan snarled.
“Well, I suppose it’s only a no-win situation if we lose,” I said with a smile. “Let’s make sure we don’t.”
***
Tarasque
At long last, the Mirror permitted me to see the vampire world. I managed to ignore the part of me that knew it was really Necoc Yaotl who enabled me to see it. I could not have cared less. I was about to witness a great victory for the dragons. In slaughtering the vampires, the sacred grounds of all dragon kings would be safe, new treasure would be added to my personal horde, and I would have my revenge against someone whose name had become a curse in a very sh
ort amount of time.
Mercedes Strand.
Mercedes Strand, the human girl Necoc Yaotl had ordered me to kidnap supposedly because she was a key to dragon victory against the vampires. But in uttering such a thing to me, the god had already proven himself to be a liar. One puny human girl a key to dragon victory in a war against creatures who were almost as puny as she was…the concept was laughable at the very least.
Your Highness…do you love me?
Smoke emitted from my nostrils. She had asked that question to manipulate me. She was desperate to save the vampires, especially her beloved mate. She would say anything to make me do what she wanted. She would say something that would cause iron claws to wrap around my heart, even when I was in my true dragon form. My true invincible dragon form. She would ask me something that I would not be able to stop thinking about. She would ask me something while looking at me with those beautiful blue eyes, so filled with compassion and honesty and concern, all for me…
It was all I could do not to unleash a jet of flame. In my current emotional state, my fires would be hot enough to melt every last bit of treasure I possessed. And dragons valued treasure above all else. That was what Mercedes was. Treasure. Nothing more, nothing less. I once thought she could be a companion, almost an equal. How wrong I was. My father was right. My desire to visit other worlds and interact with other sentient creatures was an unforgivable weakness.
That will change, I thought as I watched my soldiers rip out the hearts of every vampire within their reach. Once I have Mercedes’ beloved, once he is in my grasp, I will bring him before her and I will personally tear his arrogant heart out.
Fortunately, I had given my warriors a detailed physical description of Mercedes’ vampire mate. Once the rest of the vampires were dead, he would be brought to me.
Enjoying yourself, Your Majesty?
My hatred for Necoc Yaotl could not have been greater. But for the time being, I was set on a different vengeance.
“They are more pitiful than I could have ever imagined,” I said icily. “The universe is better off without them.”
The same can be said for so many other creatures. There was a trace of irony and contempt in Necoc Yaotl’s voice. But for the time being, I am grateful that at least one will meet their doom.