A Shade of Vampire 41: A Tide of War(29)

“We can follow the path—it will lead to the castle, probably faster than they can reach it,” I mused, “which makes me wonder why they chose that route in the first place.”

Ben’s eyebrows rose inquisitively.

“Perhaps they’re in no hurry. Clearly the shadow feels more comfortable among the trees, and ghouls like the damp.”

A moment later I heard a ferocious howl coming from the forest. It was followed by the loud snapping of bones and ghouls’ laughter. Ah.

“They’re feeding,” I muttered. “That makes sense.”

That part of the forest was overrun with fang beasts, no doubt providing intestines for the ghouls’ evening meal. More howls went up, and the wild shrieks of ghouls enjoying the hunt.

“Let’s go,” Derek commanded. “Ibrahim, can you provide us with cover?”

The warlock nodded, casting us under his spell. The dragon, Lethe, refused – preferring to fly up and out of sight.

The shadow didn’t move as we made our way along the path. I had half hoped that it would, giving the warlock and jinni enough time to close the portal undisturbed.

“How far to Hellswan?” Ben asked me.

“A few miles, nothing more—we should be there soon.”

We kept the pace steady as we continued on the road through Nevertide. If the vampires were irritated by having to move at a slower pace than they were used to, they didn’t show it.

As we drew closer to our destination, the sounds of the ghouls cavorting grew louder. Their evident joy at taking over the land was sickening—was this what it had been like when the entity had ruled here? Had all of Nevertide’s more twisted creatures been free to prowl and hunt in this way? It made me wonder why human settlers had ever wanted to stay within its shores. Perhaps they had been of the same mind as the Acolytes, falsely believing the entity to be benevolent and an all-powerful god, before it was too late.

“We should veer off path here—edge around the side of the castle, otherwise we’ll end up arriving at the portcullis at the same time they do,” I murmured. Even if the ghouls couldn’t see us, the chance that the entity might be able to sense us made a direct arrival too risky.

“Stay vigilant,” Derek reminded us, “they might have sent lookouts on ahead.”

I led the group off the path as soon as we came to the start of the ruined village. We moved silently between two burnt-out homes, up into the farmland behind them. Once we reached the edge of the property, we were back in the forest again, making our way through the densely packed trees and viciously spiked undergrowth.

We exited the forest where the far eastern tower once stood. Here the ground sloped upward, and at the top, the remains of the castle’s outer wall lay in crumbled ruins. Lethe joined us, and we watched in silence – waiting for the ghoul hordes to arrive.

We didn’t have long to wait.

As soon as we were in position, we saw the procession making its way through the forest. The ghouls had lit branches to make flaming torches, and they held these aloft, chanting guttural noises as they approached the castle.

Jenus and the ghoul queen had been given cloaks made from dead fang beast fur, blood still running off the skin and dripping down onto the bodies of the wearers. It was repulsive—my heart quickened in anger on watching such repugnant creatures striding through the portcullis, desecrating the land where my home had once stood.

“Peace, Tejus,” Lethe whispered next to me. I guessed he was afraid I might rush forward and try to slaughter them. “You’ll get your revenge—we just need to be patient.”

I nodded, unable to speak.

Once Jenus and the queen entered the grounds, the ghouls and the shadow dispersed, flying off around the rubble of the castle, upturning the stones and dragging the rotting corpses of sentries up from their resting places.

Zerus could be one of those.

I hadn’t seen him when we’d come to find the emperor’s book, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t here somewhere—disfigured beyond recognition or buried too far down for me to see him.

We ducked down further as the ghouls approached. Fortunately for us, they didn’t seem to be aware that they might be being watched, having too much fun in their mockery of the dead to pay close attention to their surroundings.

“What do you think they’re doing here?” Ben asked, his voice barely even a whisper.

I had been wondering the same thing.

“I suppose that in a way, Hellswan castle is the home of the entity—if it was locked here for so many lifetimes, perhaps it wishes to return to it, to claim it as its own.”

Ben looked skeptical. “If I was a prisoner somewhere for so long, I doubt I would ever want to return.”