Page 61 of The Vampire's Lament
That made me feel a little sick. “Fine. Lead the way.”
We walked amongst the rose bushes, side by side, our backs to the vampire king. My instincts told me to join him, not to leave him alone in this place. It didn’t seem fair, and also pretty mean.
But how could I argue with a deity? Aidan only knew what she’d do if I mouthed off at her too hard.
Not Aidan!
Damn this rancid habit. It made my tongue hurt.
“There has been an interesting development at the Carving Glade,” she announced, running her hands over the roses. “Although I maintain its protection, I am locked out.”
Whoa. That was a shock. “How come?”
“A dimming in my power,” she said.
Uh-huh. “Okay. Is there a key to get inside?” I asked.
She stopped, bending to smell a rose. “Yes. An elf Druid. He is the gatekeeper of the glade, his wife a Carver. We will go to his home in Glimmer City to get the appropriate rune disk from him.”
Rune disks were carved from the wood of a tree in the Carving Glade by Carvers, who then inked elvish runes onto it with the blackberries. This process created a spell for the Druids to use. Each disk was a one-shot thing.
With Caer inside me, I could absorb the disk’s magical energy and use the spell, still sticking to the one-shot rule. And in the glade, a new spell would be created to help destroy Aidan.
She’d made the disk that I’d freed Aidan with, for the whole freeing-him-to-begin shit, but she needed that glade place going forward.
Wait a second. “How does this gatekeeper know he’s a gatekeeper?”
“He will once you meet him,” she said. “You will sing for him, allowing me to reach out and touch him. Show him his ancestors, why the disk has been passed down his family line allthese years.” She smiled. “Regardless of Aidan’s rot, he and his predecessors knew their duty.”
Man, I needed a cig.
“And this is how I think we can defeat him,” she added. “Or least weaken him.” She smelled the rose again. “He feeds faith. Even if worship isn’t what it once was, there is still belief in him. His name is holy. Remove that, and he is diminished.” She smiled again. “If we magnify the song to a global scale, we can show everyone the truth and hurt him. Although that will only make him more dangerous.”
Whoa. This was a lot.
“Do not let the guilt over setting him free get to you.”
I blinked, stunned by the swerve in subject. “Oh…I…”
“The lie would have only soured the world,” she said. “Taken it in dark directions. More war, a different kind of rot bringing it to its devastation. In freeing him, there is hope for better days ahead. Much better days.”
Damn. I hated her being inside me and sensing my emotions. But at least I had an answer tothatquestion.
The guilt slapped like a brick in a sock, though. Really packing a punch.
Time to change the subject myself.
“Yeah,” I agreed, beginning to shiver. “So, who are these elves?”
Her smile seemed a little sardonic to me. “The mother and father of an elf you know.”
My first thought was the thrall who’d tried to kill me. “Not Elio?”
“Yes. I want you to take him with you to soften the blow of truth.”
My anger started to slosh. “He doesn’t need to be there.”
“Yes, he does, precious one. You must put aside this hatred and work for the greater good.”
