MALACHI II

The bulky man led us down the beach to a more rocky area. Not many people came down this way for recreation. The jagged edges of the rocks cut through the surface of the water, looking like gnarled teeth. Not even fishing boats came this way. He showed us to the damp cave I was familiar with. Days hiding from my responsibilities in this very cave swam into my memory. It was somehow tainted, ruined by all the people in it now. The peaceful rush of waves was barely audible now. In the center of the cave was a wooden cart. In it was a dwarf woman. The cart looked rickety and worn, held together by sheer willpower. There was another person next to the cart as well. She looked like a cheerful human girl.

“I’m back. With Iara,” Telvin greeted. The dwarf didn’t even look up, her head hung down and her hands folded in her lap. The young girl on the other hand jumped up to greet us.

“Hello,” she beamed. “I’m Yula, and this is Charlotte. Telvin said how powerful of a witch you were. Can you call upon all the gods?”

“Ah, I suppose,” Iara replied.

The girl glanced at me, then turned back to her companion. “You didn’t introduce the man, Telvin,” she stated. He only shrugged, not sparing a look to me. Yula turned her honey colored eyes back to me. “Well, what’s your name?”

“King Malachi Bloodtide II,” I spat. I watched as the woman shot me a harsh look. Her skin was dark, making the tattoo under her eye almost invisible. The mark pricked at another memory, but I couldn’t quite place it. I narrowed my eyes at her, giving her all the same venom back.

She turned to Telvin. “You seriously brought both of them?” she snapped. “A leech and his bloodbag.”

“A leech?” Iara snapped.

“And his bloodbag,” I chuckled. “Your name was Charlotte?” I asked, giving her a big smile. I made sure my fangs were as exposed as they could be.

She made a face of disgust and turned her head away. “I won’t accept your help. You can leave.”

“Charlotte,” Telvin hissed. “Iara agreed to help you. You’d turn her away?”

“What happened?” Iara asked. She took a seat on the cold stone beneath us. She sat right in front of the cart, her legs tucked under her. Her eyes were intent on Charlotte, not wavering at her harshness.

“That bitch queen cursed me,” she replied in a low voice.

My fingertips went numb. “Who?”

Charlotte gave me a cruel smile. “Your mother,” she replied. “I was there when Hark cut her human down. He bled like a pig. I was shocked he even had blood left.”

My vision blurred then. I pictured my father being cut down like Charlotte said. I tried to keep my face as blank as I could, but I felt the mask slipping. My throat stung and my stomach ached as though I was physically struck. I saw his injuries. I saw them now. The people who brought him back had done a good job at cleaning him, but it was easy to picture the state he was found in. Caked with blood pooling from his throat. Lifeless and so very empty. I couldn’t move. I wanted to scream, to draw my bow and kill the woman. But I couldn’t find the strength to even twitch a finger. I stood there, stock still. The soft sounds of the waves suddenly felt too loud. The lapping of water crashed in my ears, making it hard to think. My heart pounded almost as loud. I was sure my eardrums would burst.

The slap echoed off the cave walls. I thought for a horrible moment, I had struck the dwarf. When my eyes focused, I was shocked to see Iara standing. She let her arm fall back to her side, a fierce look on her face. Charlotte’s head was thrown to one side. She slowly looked back at Iara, her eyes wide. Her hand went up to rub at her cheek. No one spoke. It didn’t even sound like anyone took a breath.

“If you want to walk again, you will watch what you say,” Iara said in a flat voice.

“Iara, we didn’t kill them. Believe us,” Telvin sighed, reaching out to her. She let him touch her arm. I noted Iara didn’t flinch as his skin met hers. It was a familiar gesture, suggesting closeness. I didn’t dare touch her without her permission. Seeing another man do it so freely filled me with rage.

I turned away from everyone and stepped out of the cave. I couldn’t stand another second in there with those monsters. To kill my parents in cold blood. To stand by while they died. I had always known my family would be targets for such things, but I never thought I’d have to experience it in my first thirty years of life. Things changed so fast even though we lived forever. No one could stop the march of time, even if all I wanted to do was go back to when I was younger. When I was Jeremiah’s age, I didn’t have a care in the world. My biggest concern was what I would say to Grandle to make him cry and when I would see my girlfriend again. Now I had the weight of a kingdom on my shoulders.

Their bickering seemed to go on forever. The sun hung high in the sky, beating down on me like hot iron pellets. I had found a spot in the sand, leaned against a rough boulder just outside of the cave. I watched the waves lap against the beach in calming motions. It was comforting to be close to the water. I had grown up next to it and I was nervous to leave it behind. This would be my first time outside traveling without my parents. The thought made me feel like a child, but I was truly scared. The thought of my father came up in my mind again. Not the horrible image that Charlotte gave me, but one of a happy memory. He used to take me to the beach when I was younger. He had walked along this very shore with me. My heart ached at the memory.

“Here,” came a soft voice. I looked up to see the young girl standing next to me. Yula. She offered me a black piece of fabric.

I took it from her, my face a question. “What is this?”

“A hood. Iara mentioned the sun gives you headaches,” she said. “I don’t know how well it will fit you,” she added sheepishly.

I lifted it, inspecting the fabric. The stitching was wide, roughly done. A low quality linen, but now wasn’ the time to refuse. I tied it around my neck, the fabric barely covering my shoulders. The hood did reach over my head though, giving my eyes some shade. “Thank you.”

The girl sat next to me, closer than I would have liked. “Sorry for Charlotte. She doesn’t like immortal patronages. And she doesn’t like magic.”

“And you don’t share the same sentiment?” I looked at her from the corner of my eye. She gave a small smile, looking at me out of the corner of her eye as well.

“Can’t say I do,” came a light reply.

“Are you a witch?” I asked.

“I wish I was,” she giggled.

“You don’t need anything to practice,” I told her. The words soured on my tongue though. I glanced back to the mean dwarf again. I doubted she would have taken kindly to this young girl learning any sort of spell.

Yula only laughed. She glanced at her companion as well and only shrugged. I turned back to the dark waves. She didn’t say much more after that. I didn’t mind if she sat next to me in silence. It was better than being next to Iara right now. After everything that has happened today, I’m embarrassed to even look her in the eye. Bitter thoughts plagued me every time I saw her standing next to that man. She was more suited to him. He was painfully human, mundane. He seemed so familiar with her that it hurt to watch them talk. It was made worse by the fact he was there when my father died. She was perfectly fine with being so close to him after knowing that? She clearly still cared for him. You could see it in her eyes. She still wore everything she felt on her sleeves. Her eyes softened when she looked at him.

“Do you need to drink blood for that?” Yula asked me, pulling me away from my thoughts.

I looked down to where she pointed. It was easy to forget a wound if you didn't move. It hurt plenty, but nothing compared to the husk bite I endured. “I will need to later,” I replied.

“Can you drink anyone’s blood?” she asked, her eyes looking at me curiously.

“If I wanted to blood bond with anyone I suppose,” I sighed.

Yula pressed her lips together in thought. “Blood bonding is. . . ?” She raised an eyebrow at me.

“When a vampire takes blood from a person, their fate threads intertwine. It was done by our night goddess to save us. If we bind for life with someone we wouldn't need to kill to be fed,” I explained. I felt incredibly tired all of a sudden. Explaining this to people was bad enough, but to a young girl? It felt awkward.

“So is Iara bound to you?”

I only nodded.

“Well, you should drink from her,” she said. “You look exceptionally pale, and I don’t mean because you aren’t in the sun often.”

My wound had started making me feel light headed. It was still oozing blood, slower than before. But it was still draining me. I glanced back at Iara still in the cave. She was bickering with Charlotte, Telvin standing next to them like some referee.

I jumped when Yula gasped. “Your pupils,” she exclaimed.

“What?”

“They’re like a cat’s,” she said, her eyes wide with wonder.

I frowned. “Is this your first time around a vampire?”

The girl nodded. Her mannerisms then reminded me of Iara. Carefree and not held back. I turned back to the ocean and leaned forward. I tried not to suck in a breath at the pain from my shoulder.

“If you have any other questions you may ask them.”

Yula shook her head. “If you don’t want to ask Iara for any blood then I should dress your wound.” The girl stood and walked over to the cart her companion was seated in. She grabbed a small bag and turned back to come towards me. I watched Charlotte grab Yula’s arm.

“Don’t go to that man,” she warned.

Yula pulled her arm out of her grasp. “He needs to be bandaged,” she snapped.

Iara’s eyes widened and she brought her hand to her mouth. “That’s right.” She turned to follow Yula out. “Do you want any help?”

“You could give him blood,” Yula suggested.

Iara’s face turned bright red. “Th-that would be improper.”

Charlotte shivered. “Improper,” she repeated in a disgusted tone.

“Then I don’t need any help,” Yula smiled up at her.

Iara looked at me, worry on her face. “Are you sure?”

“I would prefer it if you didn’t touch me right now anyway,” I snapped. I looked away from her, pulling my eyes back to the water. I knew I would regret how I spoke later, but right now I didn’t want to talk to her. She could stay with her friend since she wanted to come with him so badly. She hadn’t even asked for my opinion when she agreed to help.

“Alright,” she whispered.

Yula held up a roll of linen bandages. “Don’t worry, I’m really good at this. Charlotte needs her wound rewrapped every so often so I’m pretty fast now.”

The girl turned back to me when Iara left. She peeled my bloody clothes off and wrapped my shoulder with ease. Once she was done, I shrugged the ruined clothing back on and pulled my knees up to support my elbows. I begged for the pain to ease up, but movement only served to aggravate the wound. I shouldn’t have pulled the arrow out like I did. It ripped up my skin and made me bleed worse. I might even have a scar. We can add it to the growing collection.

I heard the fighting stop and I glanced back at the other three. Telvin was pulling the cart Charlotte was in and Iara trailed behind them. Charlotte looked angry, her arms crossed over her chest. Telvin wore a mask of annoyance and my wife mirrored him.

“We’re leaving?” Yula asked, placing the bag back on the cart.

“We have to discuss where we’re going,” Telvin said to me. He looked down at me, his eyes filled with loathing. It was as if I were an insect.

“Iara and I have to find a way to Oreshire,” I said flatly. I turned away from them, not moving from my spot. I didn’t want to move my shoulder more than I had to.

“I can’t go to Oreshire,” Charlotte chided. “I’m exiled.”

I ground my teeth together, my fangs cutting into my cheek. “You are only holding us back,” I seethed.

“Don’t say that,” Telvin warned. “Iara agreed to help us. Charlotte can’t go there. We’ll find another direction.”

“The wound that the Queen gave Charlotte is not a normal one either. It isn’t something I can just cast a spell to get ri of,” Iara informed us. “We’ll have to go north for ingredients. I can make a potion from these flowers that grow in the mountains, hopefully Charlotte will be healed, and then Malachi and I can go to Oreshire.”

“Sounds good to me,” he replied.

I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach. The nation north of us was Vallengoth Every piece of my being told me Vallengoth was the wrong move. I didn’t know if it was an omen or if I was just a childish man trying to follow my mother’s last order, but the thought filled me with dread. My stomach knotted up and my heart raced. I stood with much difficulty and turned to them. “We can’t go that far north,” I said.

“And why not, beach boy?” Telvin asked. His mocking tone made anger flare in my chest. “Iara already said it was the best way to go.”

“It’ll only be a few days' travel if we take the queen’s road,” Iara said. She gave me a reassuring look. “Then we won’t have to be with them anymore. We can go to the closest shipping town and leave for Oreshire.”

“Leave him behind,” Charlotte hissed. “I would rather not have to sleep near that thing.”

“Don’t be mean,” Iara snapped at her. The dwarf only huffed in response.

Telvin pulled the cart past me and Yula followed close behind it. Iara stopped in front of me though, her eyes apologetic. “I know a few days seems like a long time-”

“It is very long considering one touch can cure any curse,” I commented in an icy tone.

She looked down. “I tried that already. For some reason, it didn’t work. I don’t know how to use this blessing yet, but I still want to help them.”

“Help the people that killed my parents,” I added. I felt my shoulders tense.

“They didn’t kill them. And Rey said to be nice to him when we saw him again,” she said again. “I think she meant for us to help them. They could be important to us later.”

I turned my face away from her. Her eyes were so genuine. She was far too nice. Even to those who have hurt me, hurt those important to us. She had to know how this made me feel and she still insisted on going with them. All because of a cryptic hint from that crazy old elf.

“Malachi, I’m sorry,” she whispered. She reached out and rested a gentle hand on my bloodied clothes. “You have every right to be upset right now, but let’s just go with them until Charlotte can walk again.”

I grabbed her wrist, my glove shielding me from her touch. “We make this potion for her, and we leave for Oreshire. That’s all I’m willing to give,” I said in a firm, low voice.

She swallowed dryly and nodded. “Okay,” she muttered.

I dropped her hand and started to follow the cart down the beach. Iara stayed in step next to me, but didn’t say a word.