A Shade of Vampire 39: A Rip of Realms(6)

Most of the kids were huddled together on the ground, while Ruby was kneeling up against one of the fallen rocks, anxiously monitoring our progress as her energy was syphoned. Tejus kept still, focusing on keeping that barrier in place, with Hazel lying next to him. She wasn’t moving.

We cleared off the top of the stones, creating a nest-shaped crater in the ground where nothing would be able to fall on the humans once the barrier was removed. Tejus checked it was safe, and then, with a sigh of relief, he let the barrier fall.

“Hazel needs help,” Tejus barked the moment the barrier came down. I nodded, turning to one of the ministers, who reluctantly edged his way down into the pit and over to Hazel.

“Do I get more white knight points?” I joked feebly with Ruby as I put out an arm to help her up. Her fingers closed around my hand, and she grinned.

“Yeah, you get more points.”

She looked back, watching the guards carry Benedict and then Yelena out.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Benedict decided to be a hero.” She rolled her eyes. “I think he feels like he’s got a lot to make up for—especially when it comes to Yelena.”

I nodded. In his position, I would feel the same way.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” she breathed, turning her attention back to me. “Did the earthquake affect the Fells as well?”

“It did, but…well, some of us survived.”

She nodded.

“Memenion?” she asked.

“Gone.”

Ruby closed her eyes briefly, taking a moment. “He was a good man,” she whispered. “Like Varga.”

She flew against my chest, her arms wrapping around my waist. I returned the hug, resting my lips against the crown of her head. A small sliver of jealousy unfurled within me—I hated that she still thought of Varga, that it still caused her pain to think of him. It was irrational. He had rescued her from the ice fires, after all. If anything, I should be grateful to the sentry. I thought when he was revealed to be an Acolyte, it would have tainted her memories of him. Clearly not.

“What are we going to do now?” she murmured against me, and I could feel her warm breath heating up my chest.

“I don’t know exactly,” I replied. “I need to speak to Tejus. I don’t know how many kingdoms were destroyed, or how many villagers, ministers and guards are going to be homeless now. Perhaps we can find shelter somewhere else.”

The prospect was a gloomy one. I didn’t know which kingdoms would be truly safe for us—of those that were left. Or if we’d be welcome at any of them, if they were still standing.

“I need to stay with Benedict and Hazel.” Ruby released her grip, looking up at me with worried eyes.

“They’ll be moving everyone out of the castle grounds,” I replied, watching as the guards helped more of the kids out of the pit. Benedict and Hazel were being carried off toward the outskirts of the gates. “Go. I need to speak to Tejus.”

“Okay.”

Ruby leaned up toward me and I kissed her, sinking into the familiar sensation of her pliant lips. Instantly I felt drugged. Varga, the entity, the destruction of Nevertide all faded away to nothing.





Tejus





Since I was a child, Hellswan castle had invoked mixed feelings in me. It had been my home, the only one I had ever known. Although the gray walls and the strict, unyielding rule of my father had made me long for escape—even causing me to stay in the Seraq kingdom for an extended period of time—seeing it reduced to nothing but rubble and dust was physically painful.

I stood next to Ash, both of us gazing at the destruction, almost as if it would suddenly start to mend itself, a twist in the universe making the stones reassemble, turning back time till it was once again the oppressive, impenetrable hulk that Hellswan castle had always been. The feelings of powerlessness I had been experiencing ever since I’d learnt of the entity’s rise started to return; what could I do—what could the kitchen boy do to stop this? If the entity was capable of such mass devastation, how would two sentries—both riddled with faults and flaws that clouded their judgment, with a limited army behind them and no closer to finding answers regarding the true nature of the evil that faced them—ever hope to defeat it?

Ash cleared his throat.

“What do we do now?” he asked, quietly.

I looked up at the sky. It was mid-morning now, and as long as the sky didn’t rip further to expose the night, we would have a decent amount of time before sundown.

“We need to get everyone somewhere safe—relatively safe,” I muttered, thinking of the few options that we had available to us.