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?
Looking at her now, I couldn’t immediately think of a reason. She was a kind creature, though ruthless and calculated in her defense. It was probably why they’d sent four people to kill her, instead of one or two. But they could’ve waited until she was alone again, so… why did they attack now, while I was still with her? Were they trying to raise awareness regarding their presence in the palace, perhaps? Were they looking to spread fear-inducing rumors?
Their attack came at an inopportune time, as the Black Fever was returning about five thousand years sooner than it should’ve. I had a feeling we’d come to Visio at the worst possible time in its modern history, but it was too late to turn back now. If anything, I wanted to get to the bottom of it all even more, as more pieces of this gigantic puzzle came to light.
Esme
Training with Kalon had drained me of most of my energy. I’d never imagined he’d be such a ruthless drill sergeant, but the social and the sparring versions of him were two diametrically opposed personas. The Kalon who’d taken me riding and who’d joined me in the Blood Arena had been charming, intriguing, and mischievous. The Kalon who fought me in the training room was ruthless, methodical, and strict.
I was still wrapping my head around the two, my muscles sore and my knees a little weak, as Kalon escorted me back to my chambers. We hadn’t spoken since we’d put the blunt swords away back in the training room. It wasn’t because we’d run out of things to say or because of a falling out or whatever… no, we’d exhausted ourselves to the point where talking could’ve basically knocked us out. We were beyond tired, smiling like two of the happiest creatures who’d ever lived.
Personally, I loved this kind of fatigue. A hot bath would soften my muscles and relax my joints, and everything would ache in the morning, but I reveled in the sensations. This was my body telling me I’d given it a lot to work with, throughout most of the day. We’d planned on training for a couple of hours, tops, since Kalon had insisted that he could improve my form. Lo and behold, it was close to midnight when we made our way back to the first floor, where my room awaited.
“Thank you for today,” Kalon said, throwing me a sideways glance. “It was fun. Unexpected, but fun.”
“What exactly was unexpected?” I asked, smiling.
“The whole thing. I don’t know why, I just didn’t see you as the fighting type,” he replied, genuinely amused. The coldness had gone from his blue eyes, and, for a split second, I felt as though the sky had been captured in those irises, and not the frost I’d seen before. “Don’t get me wrong, it was a pleasant surprise. You and Valaine have more in common than you think.”
“How so?”
