He caressed his fledgling over their bond.Thank you, Christian, for always believing the best of me.But there is no more time to wallow.Death is afoot.
Balthazar turned towards Wyvern and asked, “Fiona, can Sabine, Aurela, and Sana take us to the king’s tomb now?”
Fiona’s brow furrowed, “I will take you myself, Balthazar.”
“No, you need to stay with Grayson.”Balthazar shook his head.
Grayson immediately said, “If Ryder is in trouble–”
But Grayson did not get more out as Balthazar firmly put a hand on his shoulder.Grayson was so wasted that, even without him using any Vampiric strength, Grayson could not rise.The young man groaned and sat back down on the bench.Daemon was right.If Grayson was not stopped he would kill himself.Caemorn would tell him death was not the end, but it would still complicate things and upset people.
“Dammit!I’m shot!”Grayson growled.“I can’t even stand!”
He could almost hear Daemon saying,See why I said not to take away even the least modicum of pain?He will drive himself on and on and on.
“We can handle this, Grayson.Trust me,” Balthazar said even as his mind reached for Caemorn’s.
The Kaly slice’s interference had been surprisingly strong, but it was gone now and, immediately, Caemorn reached back for him.Their minds interlocked and something in Balthazar eased that he had not known was tense.Relief gushed across their bond both from him and Caemorn.It was so unexpected that he was silenced for once.
One of the slices left a gift in the tomb.Zradum,Caemorn said, somehow able to ignore the fact that they’d had the mental equivalent of a fervent embrace.Not romantic, but deeply intimate.
Ah… I have no idea what Zradum is–are–oh!That’s horrible!Balthazar gagged.Why did you have to show me that?I’ll never forget them now!Brain bleach is not a real thing!
But they are very real and here, Balthazar, Caemorn said.
Balthazar opened his mouth as if to physically retch from the image Caemorn had shown him.The Zradum were the offspring of Ickraskas, a giant wasp-like animal the size of an American Eagle.They laid their eggs in the bodies of the dead and when the Zradum hatched, the corpse burst as they skittered in every direction looking for prey.They were only half the size of a baseball when born and they needed a lot ofmeatto grow into their adult form.
And the meat tonight was to be students.
They think the Zradum are coins.The treasure that the Helm promised them, I’m guessing,Caemorn explained.Roan, himself, must be here–
Not necessarily.He’s sliced himself, Caemorn,Balthazar said.Grayson just took out two of them.Long story.
He felt Caemorn freeze around his words as if he couldn’t quite believe them.The instability of slicing a slice–
Yes, I’m sure it’s all sorts of bad,Balthazar said.But he’s done it.So he might not need to be here at all for things to go to Hell.
Another frozen silence.No, he is not.He will be hiding some place he thinks we cannot get to him.He is a coward that way.
You are not a coward in any way.Not even the bitter, burnt end of you that’s inside of Roan,Balthazar stated firmly.You just know the odds and they are not good if you’re in the open.
Caemorn was silent as if digesting this.Balthazar, of course, could know what the Kaly Vampire was thinking if he just dipped a little further into his mind.But he had never done that with Caemorn.It was a violation of their trust.So he certainly didn’t do it now as he was sure that the Kaly Vampire was dealing with his deepest fears about himself.
We’ll be there in a moment.Keep the students away from the Zradum,Balthazar said as he also swept out his mind to nearby Vampires.I’m sending other Vampires to you right now to assist.
Through Caemorn’s mind, he saw that Ryder had turned into his unkindness of ravens’ form.The hundreds of birds were snapping up the near fistful-sized Zradum, soaring up into the sky and then dropping them to their inevitable, splattering deaths.Others were pecking the creatures into white globs of goop.
Tarn and Farun were stepping on them and stomping the foul things underfoot.They liked the feeling of them squishing between their toes.They were joined by a panther and a snowy fox.Siban and Demos had joined in on the Zradum killing “fun” even as the students still attempted to surge towards them.
Caemorn was using soul stones to conjure some very neat barriers, but the students were like Grayson’s tidal wave.They would not retreat.They kept pushing themselves forward.The barriers were starting to hurt them instead of keeping them away.Caemorn’s alarm flared.
Can you not send the students away from where you are?Caemorn asked.
No.Balthazar’s expression grew grim, which actually had one of the Wyvern Vampires–Sabine, he thought–stepping back from him.It’s a Roan-special.Basically, if I don’t do this carefully, their minds will collapse in on themselves.I need to get up close and personal for this.Perhaps even full touching to undo this work.
It could be a trap then,Caemorn warned.
I’m sure it is, but what else can we do?
