Oracion's POV

"You have it, pass it to me now." He orders. But even despite his threatening gaze, I can't help but remain frozen as I'm lost throughout my thoughts and fears. I don't need confirmation for I know who this sole being is.

He kisses his teeth, "Having me lower my head even the slightest? You should feel praised." He leans down, brushing past my ear, "Mutt". Reaching in my pockets for the red vial I took from Mael.

He takes out the cork, pouring it into his mouth and causing his pupils to dilate. He stands there for a little bit, almost completely zoned out and defenceless...but I'm in no position to take advantage of that. His body takes a large ungraceful inhale as he returns to consciousness with a wicked smile wrapped across his face.

"You?" His smile grows wider as he covers his face with one hand. "You're...meant to kill me?" His bellowed laughter fills the room as all the other vampires join in with him. "Mael...was scared...of you?" He wipes the tears from his eyes, flicking them away and onto the red silk carpet.

I glare at him out of instinct, halting his laughter as he stares at me from his full height. "Among all the names of the humans Mael encountered, and all the humans I have registered to be born within the Veil. None go by the name of Oracion." He questions. "So...who are you?"

I remain silent, trying to understand what he's even asking. Eragon notices my hesitation, lowering a finger under my collar and insisting on pulling me. "Come." He orders even though he's already forcing me in a direction. "Bring 782" He clicks his fingers and without a moment's notice, an almost fully naked man is kicked through the grand doors along the side. "Perfect." He hisses, pulling me closer to the man.

"You should feel grateful, pleasured even that I'm giving you the opportunity to do this." He speaks to the man kneeling towards him.

"I do, thank you." He quickly replies without a single doubt.

Eragon lowers his hand with the empty glass vial, placing it near the man's mouth.

He hesitates, clearly understanding what he wants him to do but remaining unwilling to carry it out. "Come on 0782, we've known each other for so long." Eragon leans in to his face as his eyes begin to swirl a misty red, "Do you want to be replaced already?"

The man shakes his head frantically, opening his mouth and allowing the vial to slide in. "Good boy." Eragon pats his head three times, forcibly closing his jaw as each hit harder than the last until we hear an audible crunch through the man's mouth. "Keep going, you're not getting anything else to eat for the day after hesitating for that long."

The man nods sadly, dropping his head as he continues to crunch the glass while his mouth overflows with blood. Eragon looks around at the other vampires as if they're missing something blatantly obvious, "Take him away? I'm done with him." He orders as they quickly nod, running to the man and dragging him by the shoulders and back through the doors.

He lines himself up to the centre of the room where the moon graces his presence, lining his frame with a white outline whilst he stares at Ira's body. Lifting his limp arm up as he decides what to do with it, "An unborn, roaming my halls, killing my people but bit by my idiotic brother. Won't you be just...interesting?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He stands up, turning to me with a small grin. "Ira you called him? The name you shouted within that dark room where you burned Mael?"

"Ho-" I go to ask.

But he interrupts me, "Blood remembers, a trait of the vampiric that we all share." He looks up at the other vampires again. "I'll speak to him later, get him marked and taken away somewhere, I don't really care where as long as it doesn't kill him." He drags Ira's body beside his throne as he pinches his own head in frustration, "The memories are still flooding in and honestly it's a pain even having your shadow in my vision." He shoos his hand away, trying to hurry them with removing my body from his space.

Their arms interloop with mine as they carry me, kicking my sword away. Away from Eragon, away from Ira. They both remain silent while they drag me through an endless amount of halls, eventually holding open a heavy steel door that releases a sharp air from being opened so suddenly. Their handling of me not caring enough to lift me from the stairs, and instead insisting on beating my ankles against each and every single step along the way. But again, the only thing that flashes through my mind is Requis' consistent voice repeating, 'Ira'.

As we reach the bottom, a hole inside my trousers catches onto a piece of metal that's been drilled into the floor, causing them both to tug on me aggressively and ultimately cutting what's left of my trousers into makeshift shorts. Goosebumps flood my skin as my body was just getting used to the brief heat from being inside for once.

"Here." One states as the other lets go, forcing him to hold me by my hair to carry me in the rest of the way.

"Bed, window, not sure what else you could ask for?" The one by the door laughs, encouraging the other to join him.

As limp as my body is and as lost as my mind feels. I can't help but feel something burning inside me, screaming at me to jump at this thing and try one more time before it's too late. And so as he turns to leave and I instinctively shove myself onto him, not waiting to turn his head to face me and wrapping both my hands around his throat.

The effort didn't last a second as the next moment I knew, I was already pinned against the wall of my new room. My purple hands now covered in broken bruises as blood runs down them from the force of him breaking free from me. His scar covered face lingers down my throat as he breathes out along my skin, "You won't even remember your name..." He whispers as a new noise fills my ears.

The one standing by the door wheels in a metallic barrel that seems neither hot nor cold but it's causing my skin to tingle as if it's aware of what's about to happen. I writhe back and forth, not wanting any part of what's in the hand of the vampire. "Don't take it personally" He snickers, "I don't want to touch you either, mutt." He lifts the metal stake out of the substance as a purple coat lines around it.

"Don't." I murmur with the breath I have left but the man with scars near enough crushes my throat with his elbow, breaking away more of the brick behind my head as he forces it into the wall.

"You don't want your new name? 0808." He uses his spare hand to grab the stake from the other one, "So where..." He eyes down my body, touching it up far more than I'd like as the metal sears off pieces of the last remaining fabric on my torso.

"Here!?" He sticks it into the side of my left leg, engraving the purple substance into my flesh that begins to merge with my blood.

I open my mouth to scream but nothing comes out. No tears, no words and no feelings. I know what's happening to me...and I can't do anything about it.

He drops me to the floor after removing it from me, placing it back into the barrel and looking back at my next movements as I bring myself into a fetus position to stare at my leg. "Not gonna scream? Scrub it off? Cry?" He mocks with a glare to his eyes.

I don't give the new marking more than a second. Instead I look at them both, memorising every feature, every eye twitch and every. Single. Breath. 'I'll remember you' I think to myself.

The vampire with scars along his face and the vampire with a streak of white through his midnight hair. They both remain silent as they stop smiling, instead becoming more intent with matching my gaze from behind the now locked metal door.

I 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 remember. I promise you.