Chapter 25: The Source (1/2)

Stairs have been dug into the side of the mountain and railings placed at strategic positions. It does not help, I feel like I am a trespasser in a place that should have remained untamed and untouched.

We quickly reach a small landing. Nestled between two planes of the mountain is a shack. It is little more than a shelter and when we enter, I notice that it can barely contain all three of us. A cot and cupboard have been pushed against the farthest wall. Most of the single floor is covered with an alchemy kit and a desk covered in paper. I let the men walk around and quickly find what I knew would be there: a research journal.

The tome is hefty so I mostly glance through. The cult leader’s writing is methodical and more importantly, it is not coded, therefore my reading is quick and unimpeded. I soon learn that Abernathy found the place three years ago thanks to hints from a Creek guide. He immediately found something which he refers to as the temple, further up, and studied the inscriptions left behind. Apparently, some of them contained European style alchemical annotations on the art of blood magic. He gathered several rogue mages and followers and moved in.

A bit over a year ago someone broke through the temple and destroyed the lab and many of the notes, that is when Abernathy ramped up his activities and started kidnapping people for blood experiments. At the same time, he acquired something he refers to as “the Source”. He believed he could produce an elixir of eternal life without the drawbacks of sun sensitivity and bloodlust. The attack on the lab was taken as an attempt to stop him from reaching enlightenment.

We have to go up.

Dalton and Bingle join me with little to show for their efforts. I wordlessly hand the adventurer a single sheet I took from experiment note.

“Subject: Flora Schaffer, female...”

His voice dies down as he keeps on reading. I already suspected she would be dead of course. This only confirms it.

My vassal and I wait in respectful silence until he is done. The grief on his face is palpable.

“Forgive me, I need a moment.”

We step outside, close the gate behind us and wait. I am a bit shaken as I realize that this is the first time I have witnessed the fearless adventurer with such a hopeless expression on his face.

“I wanted to ask you something, Mistress.” Says Dalton.

“Yes?”

“What are you exactly?”

I turn to him dumbfounded.

“You decided to serve me, yet you do not know what I am?”

“I knew enough to decide, now I want to know everything.”

I spend a few minutes telling him about my strengths but also my weakness to fire, silver and the sun. It only occurs to me when I am done that I did not even contemplate him betraying me. My instincts tell me that he will not. We have bonded now. His loyalty is as certain as the dawn.

It doesn’t take long for Bingle to join us.

“Forgive me for this delay. I am.. I was...”

I place a comforting hand on his arm and address him with a soothing voice.

“There is nothing to apologize for sir, and I can only extend my condolences to you. I know it is poor comfort in the face of such pain, yet I must remind you that without our timely intervention, those unfortunate souls behind us would have suffered a fate most cruel.”

Bingle seems surprised by my touch; his honest face brims with emotion.

“Yes, you are correct. Thank you so much Miss Delaney. We have done well tonight, and though salvation was beyond my grasp, we made sure that vengeance was not. A worthy end, I say!”

“Indeed. Now, that loathsome man’s notes mention a temple above, and I would like to see it with my own eyes and make sure there is nothing afoot.”

“Of course, Miss Delaney! Your tenacity and rigor are an inspiration! No stone shall remain unturned until we ascertain that evil has been vanquished!”

Right.

“Then I shall lead the way, forward!”

Wait, what is wrong with me?! Why did I just say that?!

Impossible...

Is the man contagious?

I certainly hope not. I would not want to turn righteous.

My hearing has recovered enough to hear Dalton’s amused chuckle. I may never live this down.

We walk for ten minutes at a measured pace along the mountain and up a natural ridge. Eventually, the path turns right to end on a small plateau.

Hidden from the worst of the wind, pine trees and knee-high bushes have prospered and spread around the place, turning it into a shelter. I notice regular formations that look too perfect to be the work of nature. Rather, someone grew a garden here and left it for at least a decade. Further up, the valley disappears between two cliffs.

This feels awfully familiar.

Oh.

OH!

I remember now. “Not where, but when.” said Nashoba in that dream months ago.

I found it! The place from the dream!

Just as I remember it, the blocky architecture clings to the rock as if it had been dug in. Two lion statues stand guard on each side of the main entrance, a little worse for wear. I hear nothing suspicious.

“Let me in first Miss Delaney.”

We enter the so-called temple and look around. The men take out lanterns and light the insides.

Abernathy has mentioned that the place had been ransacked. That is not correct. The single room has been devastated by an impact of incredible power. Everything that stands near the door such as a stone bed and fire pit remains intact. Further up, debris litter the floor and the opposite wall has been shattered completely.

On the side, I recognize a bare alchemy station under a pile of rocks curiously arranged. I walk closer.

Somebody gathered stones with inscription. I recognize the tongue.

“Dalton, I need your lantern.”

It is, of course, a lie for the benefit of Bingle.

I read a few runes despite the poor state. Unfortunately, there is not enough to infer a meaning, unless...

I walk to the shattered wall, dodging the errant stone.

Something smells delicious. I know a very similar scent, from long ago. It’s on the tip of my tongue...

I approach the impact.

Either someone brought a small cannon or...

I place my fist against the central hole and push in. I touch smashed rock when I am elbow deep. Hmm.

I take a look inside. The point of origin has a single black spot.

Could it be....

I shove hand back in and after fumbling for a few seconds I manage to touch something. When I pull back my index has the slightest hint of a tar-like substance. I rub my fingers and sample the scent.

A wave of emotion overcomes me. There is no vitality left yet this fragrance is unmistakable. Stunned, I stand back and realize the crater is surrounded by other runes. I pull two and two together.

“What are those Miss Delaney?”

“A poem in the tongue of Akkad. It says:

Little bird flew low and high

To the rock and to the sky

Little bird flew far and wide

Yet always one step behind“

“I do not understand.”

“This is a taunt.”

My Master came here a year ago. He did not find what he was looking for. Someone took it and hid it from him.

This is why he came to this remote place.

This is also how he… Found me.

As to what his target was, I have no idea. If we find a container of some sort, we might get a clue. I decide to keep looking. I am particularly interested in where that precious smell comes from.

I turn left and walk to the wall. A particularly well-preserved stone cabinet has escaped the devastation.

That is rather suspicious.

“Help me move this, I think there might be something there.”

Both men rush past me, intent on making sure I do not need to work. Alright, so there are some benefits to being of the fairer sex. I would still rather be allowed to go bounty hunting.

With little effort, Dalton and Bingle push the piece of furniture out of the way. Light shines into a small bathroom, sparsely equipped with a stone tube and a storage shelf. More interesting is the prostrate figure on the ground. This is where the tantalizing scent comes from.

I can’t help myself. I walk past my companions and ignore their warnings. I fall on my knees before the humanoid thing and lift its chin.

Two Amber eyes open and blink at me. They are too large to belong on a human face. The thing’s traits have a strange alienness to them, different yet alluring. I think it is male, a he then. I lean closer. He smells so scrumptious, so incredibly delicate. This bouquet, this vitality ... I open my mouth and eight fangs manifest. The man cries a single tear as he shows an acceptance born out of the deepest pits of despair.

He knows what I am, he knows what I will do and he has already given up. Good, now I just need to...

“Miss Delaney?”

I close my mouth with a click.

If I do this now, I will have to kill Bingle. I do not believe I can hypnotize him into forgetting someone’s death.

I don’t want to kill Bingle. No. I do not want my instincts to get in the way of my long term plans. So I slowly force myself away from the most potent, delicious blood I have...

Wait that’s it.

This entity provided the blood that saved my life the night of my escape. Or not. His smell is slightly different, spicier and more mature. I fed on his kind, however.

“Miss?”

I finally force myself to turn.

“He’s alive! We need to free him.”