He nodded and placed his hands behind his back. “Long ago they captured mages and tortured them until they found a way. But that spell was destroyed eighty-two years ago, and any mages who betrayed us were executed.”
A darker thought hit me. If the spell was destroyed... “Wereallthe mages who knew this magic killed to keep it secret?”
Vander’s blue eyes settled on mine. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. “They weren’t killed, but their memories of it were erased. That magic is too dangerous to exist.”
“How many daywalkers are left? If all of them are killed, does that give a chance of defeating them?”
“We estimate that number is under one hundred now and yes, it would greatly turn the tide in our favor. It’s why they’ve grown desperate in the last few months. The number of attacks and their brutality have increased. It’s more dangerous than ever to be an assassin, but without us, everything falls.”
“What are they desperate for?”
“The magic to create more daywalkers.”
“Why don’t they come out all at once during the night and kill everyone if they’re so desperate?” He was quiet for a moment. I looked up to see if he’d heard me and found his stare.
“You don’t hunt the very thing you need to survive to extinction.” The weight of his words hit as they were meant to. He pulled his gaze. “And if the guilds didn’t stand in the way, they would have already won and humans would be their thrall. The wall and the protection of the sun has made this a war of attrition; they can’t lay siege for more than a single night buthope to wear us down by picking us off in smaller raids. They attack to draw us into battle and whittle down our numbers. You may not see it from your village, but there are battlefields between our lands. Scouts watch for large forces moving out of Nocturnus. The warriors meet them.”
So, they did defend humans, we just never saw it in Neverglade. My father had refused to believe it when my Grandma Thora told him.
Vander went on, “I led a rescue mission once. We found a hidden prison for hundreds of humans they’d captured. They slowly drain their prisoners over time. They feed the people and give them water but only enough to keep them breathing. I don’t know how long this group had been there, but most of them were nothing more than skin and bone. It was worse than you can imagine, the gaunt faces, the sallow, ashen skin, the empty eyes. I kept wondering how they were still alive. How their organs hadn’t shut down. Half of them couldn’t stand, let alone walk. We carried the youngest ones, as many as we could, but there were only thirty of us. The climb out of the canyon was too much for some. A few fell or slipped... daywalker vampires caught up to us just as we reached the crest of this hill.”
My stomach felt hollow.
“It was a bloody fight. I lost five, but we killed most of them, the others retreated back to Nocturnus. So many of those that we’d gotten out were slaughtered... just when they’d tasted freedom. I’ll never forget this young girl, thirteen at most, who held my hand as she took her last breath. ‘Thank you for letting me see the sun one last time,’ she whispered. Her dress was tattered and dirty, but it was blue with little yellow daisies. Her mother was amongst the ones we saved. Her screams haunt my dreams sometimes.” His voice lowered. “I heard she took her own life a few weeks after we brought her back to Nighthaven.”
My throat tightened, and I closed my eyes. “I didn’t know they did that. Capture and... drain people, I mean,” I said softly. The soil of the wildflowers dancing in the breeze of this meadow was stained with the blood of innocents. I didn’t know that the ducai saved humans either. They did more for us outside the wall than I realized.
“They call these captured humans and ducai blood bags or sources.” He spit in disgust.
“You said all vampires aren’t like the wildlings... They’re worse. At least the wildlings don’t torture people until they wither away and die.”
There was a deep sorrow behind those bright blue eyes, as if pain was slashed into his memory, as if he could drown in it. “We need to head back. As soon as the sun goes down, these hills will be crawling with vampires.”
The pace on the way was casual. He took time pointing out landmarks so I could find my way again. An ancient oak tree with thick, curling branches and what almost looked like a face in the trunk. A towering waterfall that cascaded over red rocks, with moss peppering most of the surfaces. He called it Silver Falls. We stopped for a drink out of the rushing Thalassa River that ran to the sea. Beside it was a circular set of standing stones. Each was a different shape and size, with weathered carvings in the surfaces. Moss crawled up the stone in patches and grew in the cracks.
“This is the old Celestial Spire, where the mages used to come during each full moon to draw more power. Or at celestial events like an eclipse. There is now one in Nighthaven called New Celestial Spire.” Vander pressed his palm to the stone closest to him. “Assassins used to join the warriors to guard them, but now it’s against the law for mages to leave Nighthaven at all. Capture is too much of a risk.”
I brushed my fingertips against the rough stone surface that towered above my head. Something about this place made my chest feel lighter. “Do the ducai consider the mages the most important of the guilds?”
“Everyone has their role of importance, I don’t know if one is considered higher than another.” He leaned his back against the stone and crossed his arms. “The scholars certainly think they’re the most high, but then again, so do the mages. Assassins tend to have a superiority complex. We are the most secretive and therefore draw the most curiosity,” he said with a lift of his shoulder. “The warriors are loud and hardheaded. They think they’re the strongest.”
“So, every guild thinks they’re the best. What do you think?”
“There’s a reason I chose to be an assassin.”
My brows rose in surprise. “You were able to choose? I didn’t get a choice.”
He let out a deep chuckle. It was the first time I’d heard his laugh, and I found my heart beating faster. “You’re not me.”
“Is arrogance also an assassin trait or is it just you, sir?”
He laughed quietly and pushed off the stone. “Come on, let’s get a drink from the river.”
It was a quick walk from the spires to the river. He stooped and removed his gloves, then pulled his mask down below his chin. He cupped river water in both hands and brought it to his mouth.
I crouched at the edge, my boots sinking into the squishy moss-covered bank. Ifelthim watching me. It was probably paranoia, but was he waiting for me to take my gloves off? He already suspected something was wrong with my left hand. Seeing it would be all the proof he’d need. I knew I shouldn’t hide it from him, and I wouldn’t be able to forever, but I pulled my right glove off and dipped one hand into the cool water.
I turned my head slightly. Hewaswatching me. “Can you swim?” he asked.
