Days passed. The storm had let up, but the travelers stayed. Cesorpha was in no condition to travel again, and Klarn wouldn’t leave without her. Larxer wanted nothing more than to be on his way, but even he wouldn’t go out alone. When it seemed as though she was about to make a full recovery, Cesorpha’s health began to decline rapidly. Ryance guessed it was Vynera’s doing, but he said nothing to the others. Larxer became even more unbearable; blamed everything on his host.
“Some help you turned out to be. Cesorpha’s dying and it’s your fault. The broth did absolutely nothing for her,” he said, pushing Ryance at every word he said. He was waiting outside of Cesorpha’s room for Klarn to come out. At the sound of Larxer’s accusing tone, Klarn had come out just in time to hear Ryance respond.
“I’ve helped you all I could; the broth was working as it should. Her failing health has nothing to do with the vampires. Some other force is at work here. But there’s no cure for what you are: an ungrateful wretch. I let you stay here when you needed shelter, I fed you from our own stocks, I helped your friend while she was sick, and all you’ve done is insult me. You don’t care for anyone but your own useless self. I should have left you out in the rain!” said Ryance, talking back to Larxer the way he had wanted to for a long time. These words shocked and angered Larxer. No one had ever had the courage to tell him such things to his face. Larxer, full of himself and his high position, wouldn’t tolerate such things, even if they were true. Especially since they were true.
“How dare you! You’ll regret saying such things to me. I am a Lord of the Solumina Council, and they will back me up. They won’t have me suffer such insults from a poor servant who works in an empty castle for a dying master. Our pride and honor are things the likes of you will never understand,” said Larxer, pushing Ryance to the ground. As he hit the ground, Ryance’s hood fell back, revealing his identity. Cesorpha, who had struggled to the door at the sound of shouting, gasped in shock, and had to clutch at the door frame to stop herself from falling.
“I’d know more than you would,” said Ryance bitterly. The ruse was up; he was exposed.
“Ryance!” was all Klarn could say, he was so stunned.
“What’s your game Ryance? First you help us, then you nearly kill Cesorpha, then you turn around and try to heal her. What are you trying to accomplish?” demanded Larxer, reaching for his sword.
“Nothing,” answered Ryance, the single word as hollow as its meaning. “What I have become, and who I am, are not the same. Don’t ever think I didn’t feel badly for what I did. My guilt runs deep; I’ve dug myself into such a large hole of sins, there’s no crawling back out of it. But I’ve done everything I could to amend this one wrong, at least. I didn’t attack her again, especially since she wore my medallion. Look what it did to me!” Ryance held out his scarred hand for all to see. The imprint of Cesorpha’s medallion was puckered and red against his pale skin.
“Why did you attack my sister?” The question was blunt and to the point, and though it stung, Ryance was oddly grateful for it.
“A fit of insanity and hunger is a hard thing to combat or ignore. Vynera did everything in her power to ruin me, turn me into the monster she designed.” Ryance’s hands were now clenched by his side. “That night I was stolen away, she showed me what you all said, when you were in Cesorpha’s living room. When you all agreed I was on her side, I felt I had nothing left. All my honorable ways got me nowhere; I surrendered myself to her plans and left honor in the dust. Vynera wasn’t going to kill me, and prevented me from ending it myself. Since you all set yourselves against me, I clung to the only thing I had left: the hunger.”
“If you feel so bad, then where did all the other vampires come from? They didn’t come from Gitaya, we disposed of her right away,” asked Larxer poisonously.
“At first I held out, then I had to feed. Soon I could only last a short while without taking blood, but by then I didn’t care anymore. Anything I had had to hope for was gone. The emptiness that was left, I had to fill it with something, so I killed without need. I lost myself, almost entirely. Then you three came. I wanted to see you again, so I remained in the shadows,” said Ryance, talking only to Klarn and Cesorpha. “But, that was a mistake, and I put you in danger.”
“You heard that conversation? I didn’t mean what I said. I was hurt and confused,” said Cesorpha in a whisper. Her eyes were wide with guilt. She never wanted to say anything to hurt Ryance. Even now, she hadn’t let go of the place he had in her heart. She didn’t care if it was foolish, she would believe what he said about Vynera’s magic, if only to allow her to trust him again. It was too painful to believe otherwise.
“It doesn’t erase your crimes; you’re still guilty!” said Larxer, his voice rising until it was just below a shout. Larxer drew the sword his hand had been resting on. He was determined to kill Ryance, once and for all. He didn’t care that Ryance was a vampire, or even that he had killed many. Larxer only cared for his own bruised ego, and the threat that Ryance had always been to it. Everything that had happened was just an excuse, a justification, an opportunity.
“I plan to get rid of you for good. I failed twice before, and I won’t fail a third time. I was so sure that you would meet your death on that mission I sent you on. You did, but somehow you came back nevertheless. Then there was the trial. I knew I’d set everyone’s minds against you, and that you would be killed. I almost had my way, but you thwarted my plans again. This time it won’t happen. You’ll never get the better of me again!” said Larxer, aiming for Ryance’s weak spot.
Ryance dodged the blow and drew his dagger. It wasn’t much, but Ryance was smarter, stronger, and quicker than Larxer. Cesorpha and Klran watched helplessly, both knowing it would be pointless to help or stop the two enemies. Cesorpha was too weak to do much, and Klarn was too afraid for his sister’s safety to intervene. Even if that wasn’t the case, it would be hard for him to choose a side. Ryance had been his friend, but he was also the vampire that attacked Cesorpha. Larxer was, well, an ass. But he was human. Time seemed to slow down as they watched the two combatants circle each other. The tension between them was palpable, almost suffocating. But it really was only a few minutes before Ryance saw an opening and stabbed Larxer in the chest. A look of smugness mingled with pain crossed Larxer’s face as he collapsed to the floor, hands clutching at the dagger.
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“Your guilt runs deeper,” he sputtered maliciously, coughing blood. Then the light went out of his eyes and he was dead. Cesorpha shuddered and fainted. Klarn caught her and carried her back into her room, leaving Ryance alone with a corpse. Ryance looked at the dead body; he didn’t feel any joy or satisfaction at killing Larxer, nor did he feel any guilt. The only thing he did feel was a hint of loathing. Now that Larxer was dead, all of Ryance’s anger turned towards Vynera. As if summoned by thought, Vynera was suddenly there, standing on the other side of the bloody corpse. Her nose was turned up in disdain.
“Why didn’t you kill him the way you’re supposed to?” she demanded. Ryance lunged at her, but as always, she stepped aside from the blow.
“Because he disgusts me, almost as much as you do,” Ryance growled as Vynera proved difficult to strike.
“I don’t think you’re in much of a position to look down on anyone, my sweet killer,” returned Vynera, calling forth a spell of shielding.
“You made me attack Cesorpha!” accused Ryance, glaring at the sorceress with murder in his eyes; the only person he wanted to kill in that moment was Vynera.
“Of course; I needed to give you a nudge since you got distracted,” Vynera said, laughing as Ryance stabbed the air fruitlessly as the blow glanced off an invisible force. “Your friends’ presence was deluding you into thinking you could be more than what you are. You will never be anything more than my creation. Mine, to do with what I please.” She smiled slowly. “But very soon, you’ll have some competition. One master vampire, especially one as weak as you, is not sufficient any longer. Hopefully my new creation will thrive where you failed.” Her laughter was painful to hear, not because of the sound, but because of the enjoyment she had at his expense. “And, he will have a few extra tricks up his sleeve.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Ooooo, are you jealous? I certainly hope so.” Vynera snickered. “This one will be stronger against silver and the sun, for example. But, don’t despair; you were an excellent prototype.”
“Why are you telling me all this?” Ryance was suspicious, and justly so.
“Just for the pleasure of rubbing it in,” said Vynera. Then she vanished, her laughter lingering in the room briefly after she had left. Klarn, who had been listening to the whole scene from Cesorpha’s side, reentered the room.
“Ryance, I’m sorry I ever doubted you. Fate seems to have picked you out to be the unluckiest man ever born. I’ve noticed you’ve changed a lot, but I would have expected worse considering the circumstances,” he said, laying a hand on Ryance’s shoulder. Ryance nearly recoiled from the touch, but decided to accept it. After everything he had gone through, after everything he had done, having someone reach for him was reassuring, even though he was sure he didn’t deserve it.
“I can’t really believe I’m the same person who left on a mission so many years ago. I think he really did die there, in Vynera’s lair. That knight seems to be someone I met in a dream, not a man of flesh and blood. Everything has been set to tear me apart since then.” Ryance sighed deeply, feeling it down to his bones how different things were. Growing up he had been so solid and steady; he thought nothing could break him. But he realized that pride had a way of tricking people.
“I don’t think he’s dead, just wounded. It seemed like you to try and redeem yourself. A part of you is dead, but the important things are the same. Maybe that’s what counts?” Klarn wasn’t sure if he would ever fully forgive Ryance for attacking Cesorpha, at least, not until she made a complete recovery. However, he also knew the situation was complicated. And, he strongly believed that if Ryance had been left as the knight he was, he never would have harmed Cesorpha, nor let anyone else do so.
“I can’t believe that, Klarn,” said Ryance. He honestly had no hope that his old self could be revived. Even if it was possible, the guilt would immediately crush that version of himself. It was better to let the Knight rest in peace forever. He fell silent as he pondered the faithful words of his old friend. Klarn was quiet as he let his friend process. Finally, Ryance spoke up again. “So what are you going to do about Lord Larxer? Gesslent will want to know what happened when you return without him. They won’t take his death lightly, especially since I was involved. The Council’s sure to come after me to avenge his death,” said Ryance, looking at Larxer’s corpse, still unable to hide his loathing.
“You could run away. Go far away from here where they’d never find you.”
“No. It would do no good.” Ryance shook his head firmly. “They will never give up until they find me. I know this because it was the rule I lived under. I would end up running for an eternity. My existence is wretched enough without having to run for it. I’ll just stay here and wait. If they come for me, they’ll find me. They can’t do anything worse than what’s already happened to me. Don’t worry about me, and tell Cesorpha nothing; she’s suffered through enough already.”
“But Ryance…”
“Don’t argue Klarn. You must return to Solumina. Someone has to get word to them about Vynera’s new vampires. They won’t be ready for the new breed.”
“What about Cesorpha? She’s in no condition to travel.”
“You must leave her with me; there’s little choice. I’m sure Vynera won’t trouble me further. Even she has forsaken me,” said Ryance bitterly. Klarn flinched. He hated to hear such bitterness from his old friend. Long ago Ryance never had a heart that was untouched by such emotions; now they were a part of him. Perhaps it was their absence that made him so vulnerable to them after his change. Or, maybe anyone would have shared the same fate.
“If I must go, I will. Take good care of her.” Nothing short of the danger presented by a new kind of vampire would make Klarn budge from his sister’s side. But, as much as he loved his sister, he was still a Council member, and had a duty to all of Solumina, not just his family. He just had to hope that Ryance could keep control of himself, that he was right about Vynera’s flagging interest in him.
Klarn left to pack for the journey. When Klarn’s figure had disappeared from sight, Ryance returned to Cesorpha’s room. She was sleeping peacefully on the bed. Not wishing to disturb her, Ryance only moved close enough to make sure that her breathing was regular, that there were no signs of physical distress. Now that Ryance was alone with Cesorpha, he felt uncomfortable. He had been so evil after the despair took hold, he didn’t want to see Cesorpha’s judgment in her eyes. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to see love in her eyes either. He felt he didn’t deserve it, didn’t want to taint it. That love belonged to the Knight, not the Monster.