“About the enzymes… Amal, do you think we could use them back home, for various cures?” I interjected, now standing next to her and the microscope, where she’d placed a new sample from Derek.
“I think so, yes. If we’re smart about this and help them cure the Black Fever, our chances of establishing a blood trade with Visio will grow significantly,” she said. “Of course, we wouldn’t need more than a few gallons every month to synthesize cures, especially if the witches help us. But we could do a lot of good with the enzymes I’ve come upon so far. We could easily upgrade our healing potions, too. There is a lot of untapped potential here, well beyond the day-walking protein.”
There it was. The key conclusion I’d been floating in my own mind about all this. As uncomfortable as their social and political system made me feel, I couldn’t deny its benefits. Most importantly, I couldn’t ignore the fact that our progress was directly dependent on our ability to “play nice” with the Aeternae and to respect their wishes.
It was quickly becoming obvious that their blood had many wonders to offer, testing our ability to compromise and to set our GASP values aside in order to reap the kinds of benefits that could change Earth and the whole federation forever. At the same time, I couldn’t stop wondering… what was it that they were hiding from us?
Tristan
After visiting the Black Fever patients, Valaine and I slowly made our way back to the more populated areas of the palace. The evening had set in, and all the candles and oil lamps had been lit, their flames flickering across the elegant tapestries and marble panel walls.
Everything was dressed in a soft yellow hue, making me feel like I’d walked into an ethereal dream, amber glimmers warming my eyes. I couldn’t get my mind off what I’d just witnessed, though. The Black Fever was making a comeback, sooner than expected, and the Aeternae were not ready for it. Then again, one could never truly be ready for a deadly plague to just swoop in and kill hundreds of thousands of people, no matter how many times it had already happened in the past.
“Do the Lord and Lady Supreme have any plans for this?” I asked Valaine as we walked through one of the main corridors leading to my chambers. She’d been kind enough to escort me, and I didn’t mind it one bit. I found that I enjoyed spending time with her—there was a gentle tranquility about Valaine that somehow made every moment worth more. “I mean, any contingency at all?”
“Besides the quarantine in the infirmary halls? Not really, no,” Valaine replied. “They will probably instruct the silver and the golden guards to watch out for symptoms manifesting among the people. And messages will be sent to all the physicians, as well.”
“Hopefully, Amal and Nethissis will be able to work something out, in terms of a cure, or at least a vaccine, to prevent contamination,” I said. “But we’ll definitely need you to get the Lord and Lady Supreme to approve our intervention. Amal will likely request blood samples from the sick Aeternae.”
“And they’ve yet to admit we have any sick Aeternae to begin with,” Valaine reminded me, nodding slowly. “I’ll request an audience with our leaders, first thing in the morning.”
“I’m sorry this is happening again,” I offered. “Given your personal loss to Black Fever.”
She sighed. “I think it was easier growing up the way I did, not having met my mother at all. I probably would’ve missed her a lot more, had we actually known each other.”
“You can’t truly miss what you’ve never had, right?”
She gave me a faint smile. “So to speak. Yes.”
Shadows moved at the end of the corridor. I stilled, the hairs on the back of my neck rising. Reaching out, I stopped Valaine from moving forward, and she gave me a confused glance. My instincts were on fire, the air moving and brushing against my face. Something was coming, but I wasn’t sure what it was, exactly.
“Tristan?” she asked.
“Wait,” I whispered, my muscles twitching, my stomach tightening with anxiety. I’d rarely had such sensations rushing through me. Esme would call it a weird sixth sense whenever it happened. I was her personal danger radar, my instincts picking up on trouble shortly before it crossed our paths. I’d felt this way before so many times, it was impossible to ignore or to brush off as just a fleeting thought.
A blade left a sheath with a bloodcurdling zing, somewhere behind us. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw four figures dressed in black bolting toward us, long knives swinging. I pulled Valaine to the side and quickly turned around to face them. My fangs and claws came out as they attacked us.
“Watch out!” I shouted, as two of the attackers went straight for Valaine’s throat.
Their faces were painted in black and gold, making it hard for me to spot their eyes or any kinds of memorable features. They looked like butterflies’ wings cloaked in black, and they instilled fear in me.
Valaine dodged their attacks and ripped through one of their cloaks with her extended claws. The other two came at me, and I instantly remembered all my defensive training. I didn’t use it as often as Esme, but I wasn’t entirely rusty. I swerved around and caught one of my attackers by the back of his neck.
Putting all my force into that hold, I yanked him back and bit into his throat, tearing it open with my fangs. Blood gushed out as he screamed in agony, but I wasn’t done. I grabbed his knife and cut off his head, adrenaline bursting through me. His body fell to the floor, limp and bleeding out.
The second guy rushed back to take me down, but I tossed his friend’s head at him, distracting him for the briefest of moments. I dashed forward, still holding the knife and ready to ram it into his throat, but he managed to jump back. I missed him by inches. Still, he didn’t dare attack me again.
Instead, he tried to go after Valaine, who was still fighting the other two. Without hesitation, I moved to help, stabbing one of them. Boots thundered through the hallway. The attackers withdrew quickly, including the guy I’d just injured, who held his bleeding side and cursed under his breath.
Behind us, golden guards emerged and charged at them. The fiends ran off, light on their feet, moving like whispers in the semi-darkness. One of the soldiers stopped to check on us, while the others went after the attackers, who turned right into one of the corridors and vanished from sight.
“Milady, are you all right?!” the guard asked, his eyes wide.
Valaine had a few scratches on her, but they healed as quickly as they’d been inflicted, leaving mere droplets of blood behind. “I’m okay,” she said, breathing heavily as she looked at me. “Tristan?”
I nodded. “I’m fine. Took one of them down,” I replied, pointing at the fallen attacker. “Who the hell are these people?”
The guard crouched in front of the body and turned him over, revealing his painted face. He recognized the colors immediately. “Darklings, milady,” he said to Valaine, who, in turn, sucked in a breath.
“This isn’t right,” she murmured, then raised her voice in anger. “How did they make it all the way inside the palace?!”
“I… I don’t know. All the entry points are heavily guarded, milady. They must’ve found another way,” the guard managed, taken aback. He was as surprised by this development as Valaine, though clearly not as ignorant as me.
“Alert the captain of the golden guards,” Valaine ordered him. “And have this body taken to one of the spare study rooms. I’ll send word for my father. This is unacceptable!”
“Yes, milady. Right away,” the guard said, and ran back up the hallway toward the main stairs that led to the ground floor. I remembered seeing a captain’s office somewhere down there.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked Valaine.
“I’m fine, Tristan,” she replied. Exhaling sharply, she stared at the body. “You killed him.”
“I had no other choice,” I said. “It was either me or him. Who are these people?”
She looked at me, fear burning in her dark eyes. “You weren’t supposed to even hear about them. I’m sorry.”
“Please, Valaine, tell me the truth. I almost got killed tonight. These knives are good enough to chop a vampire’s or an Aeternae’s head off with minimal effort,” I said, dropping the blade on the floor. It fell with a clang on the smooth marble, blood spattering across. Killing someone made me feel terrible, but rationalizing it as self-defense stopped me from spiraling into any form of regretful despair.
“They call themselves Darklings,” Valaine said, leaning back against the wall as she caught her breath. She was a good fighter, definitely worthy of the Blood Arena. She’d held two attackers back with just her fangs and claws. Chances were she’d have taken one of them down, but three could’ve eventually killed her, had I, then the guards, not intervened. These “Darklings” were seasoned assassins—it wasn’t hard to tell, judging by their movements and stealth. We hadn’t seen them coming until they were right behind us. “They’re… I’m not sure what they are, besides evil Aeternae with a hidden agenda. They’ve always gotten involved in the empire’s affairs, and they know nothing but thievery and murder.”
“What are they after?”
“I’m… I’m not sure. Tonight, they wanted to kill me, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you why. It’s the first time their attention was directed at me,” Valaine replied. “They have been responsible for several high-profile assassinations, including a Nasani Lord Supreme, before Acheron’s reign. Whenever Visio looks toward progress, the Darklings just show up and start killing key figures in the government or even in the noble dynasties. If it were up to them, we’d all be drinking the Rimians and Naloreans dry, without any compensation, without any regard for their civil rights… They’re monsters. Bloodthirsty monsters.”
“They drink people to death?”
“Yes. And it’s a horrifying thing to do. Whenever a Rimian or a Nalorean shows up without a single drop of blood left, we know… we always know it’s because of a Darkling.”
“Valaine, there are a lot of things you people don’t seem to know as well as you should. The Black Fever, the Darklings… is there anything else I should know about?” I asked. “Anyone else who might be gunning for you or me or my team?”
She shook her head, tearing up. “No. I’m sorry, Tristan. I didn’t… I didn’t think they’d make it into the palace. It’s the one place they haven’t touched in centuries, and I have no idea how they got past the security checks. It’s strange, and I will, of course, speak to my father and the Lord and Lady Supreme about this.”
I pointed at the dead attacker. “Do you recognize him?”
“No,” Valaine said, shaking her head. “This is the first Darkling we’ve caught in over three thousand years. He’s dead, sure, but he can still help us investigate the matter further.”
We heard soldiers somewhere in the distance, running and shouting. They must’ve caught a trail for the Darklings. I knew Derek and Sofia needed to be told about this, as soon as possible. The presence of Darklings was an unexpected factor that could easily spoil our operation here. The worst part was that they’d just tried to kill Valaine, the daughter of the empire’s master commander and leader of the armies.
This was a targeted assassination attempt, and it had to be taken beyond seriously. In my experience, such incidents occurred when there was a political agenda in play. Someone’s interests required that Valaine be killed. But why?
