Vampire's Prey

Chapter 40: Rahlan

"Ivan, commander of the Huntsmen." Rahlan's rough voice makes me shudder. His words bounce off the walls, as if he was a magician with his voice carrying power. "You are a criminal, a despicable man who fights without dignity. Your underhanded homicide brought conflict upon your own country."

He speaks as if he's passing judgement over Ivan before the executioner brings an axe down upon his neck. There's no time left. I yank my arm, but Ivan's grip stays tight, keeping me planted beside him.

"While my past self would have taken great pleasure in ridding the land of your stench," Rahlan continues, "I see now that you are nothing more than an image, and in truth a spineless man who runs and hides at the whiff of steel. The difficulty with bringing death to men like you, men only concerned with their own survival, is that your suffering is brief." His eyes find me for a moment. "But the people who care about you, honorable people who would lay down their lives to protect you, will anguish for years over your death."

My breath hitches in my throat.

He knows that killing Ivan will bring me pain.

Rahlan raises his curved blade, pointing it in Ivan's direction. "Your legion has all but been snuffed out. You hide in foreign lands, as the commander of nothing but ghosts. I have decided to grant you mercy, Ivan of the Huntsmen. You shall keep your precious life, on the condition that you take your hand off my human and get out of my sight."

My mouth falls open.

He's abandoning his quest to take revenge, the very thing that drove him into battle after battle, on account of me? He recognizes that I care about Ivan, and he's giving up his revenge to spare me the pain of losing another family member. More than that, the condition for Ivan's life is that I be returned to Rahlan. He wants me with him, and he wants me to be happy.

I try step forward again with the thought of taking Rahlan's hand and leading him away, but Ivan's grip stays tight around my arm, keeping me up on the stage beside him. Of course Ivan wouldn't believe him. He must think that the vampire is trying to take me as a hostage.

Ivan chuckles. He has been silent since Rahlan walked through the door, and his first noise is a laugh?

"Arrogance is your kind's weakness," Ivan says, "You believe you are gods in this world, when in truth, you are nothing but an infection." He spits the last word, as if just the thought of vampires disgust him. I expected that Ivan would be trembling, but he's not. How can he speak so confidently when Rahlan could easily take his life?

Rahlan swings his sword, and it meets the bald man's blade with a sharp ring. Not a second later, he strikes again, using so much force that the man stumbles from the parry. One more hit and that man's finished. He will die for nothing!

Rahlan grunts and takes a step back. Did the bald man land a hit? How? He's only just steadied himself.

I see it. A reflective rod in Rahlan's arm – an arrow.

Another arrow cuts through the air and hits him, embedding itself into his other arm. He winces, his fangs showing for a brief moment.

"Stop!" I shout. A third arrow appears from nowhere, narrowly missing him and bouncing off the pews. Another follows right after, stabbing into his hip.

Ivan releases my arm and steps forward. "You were right about one thing, monster. I do run, but only when I expect defeat." He gestures to the shadows on either side of the hall. Two hooded figures step into the light - bowmen. "Observe, monster, I'm not running."

I had no idea that there were more Huntsmen in the room, and it appears that Rahlan didn't either. The ravager we fought managed to dodge Aled's arrows, so shouldn't it have been even easier for Rahlan?