The Dawnbreaker Gambit: Grayscale Book 1, page 33
A small pitch-black dot came into existence behind Dakarai. Small particles of dust began to fly into it, drawn by an unseen force. The dot swelled and soon, loose pieces of debris began to fly towards it. Dakarai slid towards it against his will before planting his feet.
“What?” Dakarai shouted in confusion.
As the orb continued to grow, Dakarai was dragged along the floor, tearing it up and giving my attack more debris to feed on. He stabbed the talons on his feet into the ground and managed to secure his footing again.
“What is this?” He asked.
“Condensed gravity so powerful that even light won’t be able to escape it.” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “And the last thing you’ll ever see.”
“You still had some fight in you after all!”
Dakarai dropped to all fours and dug his hands into the ground as well, a dark red glow enveloping his body.
He was shaking it off!
I poured more energy into the black hole and it started to gain more mass, the air around it growing more distorted. The fragmented pieces of one of the pillars Dakarai smashed me through succumbed to my spell giving it another growth spurt. Dakarai was slipping but so was I.
I just had to outlast him. If that failed I’d tackle him in myself.
Something cracked and some of the pillars still supporting the roof started showing fractures. If they broke, I’d end up bringing the entire throne room down on top of us. I was willing to make that trade. There was nothing more important than killing this bas-
Lana.
A single, random thought shattered my concentration. With Dakarai still linked to her, there was a good chance I would be killing her. When I turned to her, she stared back in distress; her arms clamped down on her chair.
Was she feeling his pain even now?
We locked eyes for a few moments before she shook her head and smiled.
“Don’t worry about me! Win!” She shouted over the chaos.
Idiot, how could she say that? There was no way I could trade her life for mine!
“Go on, listen to her! Kill us and save yourself!” Dakarai said.
It was like a bad joke.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!”
I saw an ethereal version of my shadow self in front of me. My transformation was coming undone.
“We can’t win like this. Not if it means hurting Lana.” I said.
“She gave us the go-ahead herself! What have we spent this last week working for? She betrayed us, and you’re going to let her fate decide ours?”
“She feels all of his pain. There’s no telling what will happen if he dies.”
He looked at me in disbelief. “This is our last chance, if you do this, it’s over.”
“I know that but…it’s Lana,” I replied.
My doppelganger faded with my Zero Point, and the black hole disappeared.
Dakarai staggered a bit before catching his breath. He stood upright once more and my last chance at victory was gone.
“I’ll admit you caught me off guard, but it looks like you were too soft to finish the job.”
“Shut the hell up and do what you’re gonna do,” I dropped to the ground. “Just spare me the monologue.”
This was it huh? I felt like such an idiot for letting him live. I was still mad at her for what she did, but I couldn’t…
I saw two bright green lights out of the corner of my eye. I turned to get a good look at them and saw they were heading straight for me.
What the hell? Dakarai must have hit me harder than I thought.
“In the end, you lie at my feet broken and alone,” Dakarai said as dark red energy formed at his fingertip. “The moment you challenged me your fate was sealed. It was your destiny to die here.”
“Damian!” I didn’t recognize the high-pitched voice that called me. “Take this!”
The voice was coming from…one of the orbs?
The orbs changed shape and took the form of miniature winged humans, almost like fairies. They threw something with a whitish-yellow color at me. It looked like some sort of scroll.
I saw a red light coming towards me, but the scroll reached me before Dakarai’s attack. As soon as I caught it, the world erupted into a bright white flash before going dark.
III
Sins of Youth
Chapter Forty-Seven: A Girl Named Lana
The ringing in my head hadn’t stopped, but it had become more bearable. For some reason, the air felt cold but it was refreshing all the same. Somewhere nearby I heard water flowing.
Where was I? The last thing I remember was…
Dakarai!
My eyes shot open and a dark red sky with innumerable stars greeted me.
One thing was clear. I had no idea where I was or how I got here.
I sat up and saw a mostly barren landscape in front of me. Clean stretches of flat plains and rock for miles. It seemed like I was on some sort of mountain. Thankful there was a small wall of stone next to me, otherwise, I might’ve rolled off the edge in my sleep. I extended my senses but didn’t detect Dakarai, Lana, or the others.
I did find something else though. There was a presence, something old and powerful. But it wasn’t oppressive like Dakarai’s power had been. Whatever I was feeling was more nuanced. It was hard to truly gauge, but one thing was for sure.
I’d never felt anything like it before.
I turned towards the sound of water and saw a red waterfall behind me, pouring into a pool of a suspicious-looking, but familiar, liquid.
“Seems you’re finally awake.”
A man in a dark red suit with silver hair was standing on the shore next to the waterfall.
He was the presence I was feeling. Whatever he was, he was no ordinary man.
“Sup?” I asked while rising to my feet.
The man looked at me with visible amusement.
“It’s been a long time since someone has greeted me so casually. I suppose that’s part of your charm after all.” He replied.
I cracked my neck. “Who are you?”
He smiled at me and took a three-foot section of the waterfall and morphed it into a ball, before splitting it into smaller pieces. Then he recombined the pieces and pulled the reformed ball towards him, absorbing it.
“You’re intelligent, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” He answered.
For one thing, he wasn’t human. He had a strange power that I’d never felt before, and that was impressive considering I’d met a half-dragon, a golem, and two Vampire Lords.
That waterfall he just played with looked an awful lot like blood. The only creatures I knew of that could manipulate blood were vampires.
And there’s no way in hell this guy was a mere vampire.
Wait…no way…
“You,” I pointed at the man. “You’re the Blood Aspect, aren’t you?”
“Ding. You may call me Vermiculo.” He confirmed with a slight bow.
“Okay…then I’m guessing this is your place,” I said.
The Aspect nodded.
“If that’s the case, how the hell did I end up-”
Everything went white when I touched that scroll. It must’ve happened then.
“Correct again.” He said.
“What are you-” I stared at him in confusion. “Oh, I get it. You’re a mind reader too huh? That’s just great, guess I should keep my thoughts kid-friendly.”
“It’s true, you should learn how to guard your thoughts more carefully,” Vermiculo chided. He stared at me with a wry smile. “I’m quite fond of the Blood Queen myself, but try to reign it in.”
The Blood Queen? Oh right, Lana. I didn’t know I was thinking about her.
“It’s more subconscious than anything else. Regardless, I believe it’s time we got down to business. You’ve become quite formidable for someone so young, even though…how would your generation put it?” Vermiculo looked slightly distressed as he pondered the answer, slamming his fist into his palm when he found his answer. “That’s right, you got your ass handed to you!”
I crossed my arms and gave him a death stare.
“…Look if you brought me here just to talk shit, you can send me back right now.”
“I’m only having a bit of fun. It’s been a while since I’ve had company,” Vermiculo smiled at me before adopting a grim expression. “I brought you here to talk. You’ve lost your way and you almost paid the ultimate price for it.”
“I don’t know what you-”
“Yes, you do.” Vermiculo cut me off with a soul-piercing stare. “Why have you been holding back?”
“Holding back? I gave everything I had and it wasn’t enough. Even with my Zero Point I barely scratched him!”
“You could have won but you stopped yourself.”
I shook my head. “No, I couldn’t…not like that.”
“You are a fool Damian Grayscale,” Vermiculo said. “You thought casting your soul into darkness would give you the power you needed to win, but when the time came, you could not even do that properly. I can see it even now, the conflict raging inside of you.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“You are fully aware that magic feeds on emotion, and you did whatever you could to provide your dark side with fuel. You focused on the pain of abandonment and your rage at losing those you cared for. You took it out on those closest to you.”
Like the things I’d said to Mika. I practically called her useless. I wouldn’t be surprised if she hated me for that.
“You do not even appreciate the risks your friends are taking for you,” Vermiculo said.
“That’s not tr-”
“Isn’t it? That Dragon Boy stayed with you, even at your lowest point, but did you ever truly think about what he was going through? How he must have felt watching his friend suffering, keeping him at bay when all he wanted was to help? The sacrifices he was making by helping you?” He asked with that same chilling gaze.
“No, but…” I shook my head.
Just how stupid was I?
“I took it for granted.”
“You need to realize your actions have consequences. You achieved great power, but at the cost of what made you, you. You’re not a creature of darkness and that false Zero Point is nothing compared to your true potential.”
“What are you saying? I just need to balance my heart?” I asked.
“Indeed,” he answered. “The conflict you’re feeling is proof it’s possible. If you truly discarded that part of yourself, your last battle would have had a very different outcome.”
A chill passed through me. “Where do we start?”
“With a history lesson.”
Vermiculo motioned for me to join him at the pool of blood so I did. He stuck his hand out and the pool began to pulse lightly. After a few seconds, the color changed, and I was treated to the image of a cloudy sky.
“Cool,” I said.
“You think so?” Vermiculo asked.
The image shifted downwards to that of a roaring battlefield.
On one side there was a red semi-dome, a mystical barrage flying from the open end. On the other, about four rows of men on horseback, eighteen per row, rode towards the dome, mages behind them launching covering fire.
“What the hell? What’s going on?” I asked.
Members of the first row of horsemen went down, but the others pressed on, no regard for their fallen brethren.
“This is how battles were fought during the Sanguine War. Pure vampires cannot wield Light magic, so they had to rely on enthralled Light mages to modify their armor and clothing for daylight. The human’s response was to instruct Light mages to commit suicide if they were captured or had no way of escaping. For those without protection from sunlight, there were troops on the vampire’s side whose only role was to maintain these blood domes.” Vermiculo explained.
“Wouldn’t it have been better for them to fight at nighttime?” I asked.
“Of course, if they were allowed to set the terms of battle.”
The humans had lost nearly two rows of cavalry, but once they reached the dome all hell broke loose. The dome split into three smaller ones as the vampires tried to scramble away, but one of them went down almost immediately.
“That makes sense. It’s smarter to attack during the day when they have to rely on support mages to keep the sun off of them.” I said.
“That’s right,” Vermiculo nodded. “But there was one vampire that did not fear sunlight.”
I turned back to the pool and watched the image slide over to a single horseman in the distance. He wore fancy clothing and was pale-skinned. I didn’t recognize him, but I knew exactly what he was.
“A Vampire Lord,” I said.
Horns blared and the human army began to retreat. The unit of cavalry that pierced the vampire’s defenses saw their luck flipped on its head as the Vampire Lord began to wreak havoc on them. He launched spears of blood aimed at the fleeing men’s horses, and they were slaughtered quickly. The Vampire Lord looked smug as he rode towards the retreating army, clearly wanting to cause more mayhem.
“Even back then, they were still just as cocky,” I shook my head. “Seems like all these Vampire Lords are the same.”
Vermiculo turned to look at me and I met his gaze. He raised an eyebrow with a thin smile on his face.
“She doesn’t count,” I said.
Four soldiers stayed behind to cover their forces’ retreat. They all radiated immense power as pillars of light shot into the sky above them.
I leaned closer to the pool. “They’re using Zero Point.”
“A necessity at the time. You know full well just how powerful a Vampire Lord can be, not to mention when one is backed by an army.” Vermiculo explained.
The pool shook once again as the scene began to change.
“Hey! It was just getting good!”
“I know,” he smiled. “But I only wished for you to get a glimpse of how things were so that you might better understand the times.”
“I would’ve liked a longer ‘glimpse’ than that,” I mumbled.
“I believe you will appreciate what comes next even more.”
The scene shifted to a well-lit hallway. There were torches lining the walls but the building itself looked cold and official, almost like the Valorian Executive Building.
A short girl with long pitch-black hair was bouncing down the hallway. The camera, for lack of a better term, panned over to her face and my jaw nearly fell off.
“Holy shit!” I pointed at the girl.
Vermiculo chuckled. “Surprised?”
“Are you kidding me? Of course, I am! This is like, one-hundred years ago!”
“One-hundred fifty.” Vermiculo corrected.
She looked younger, even younger than I was, maybe thirteen or fourteen? But there was no doubt…the girl we were seeing was Lana, back during the Sanguine War. Her skin had a healthy tan, compared to the almost snow-like complexion I was used to.
“I had no idea she was so old…” I trailed off.
“Appearances can be deceiving,” Vermiculo added.
Lana continued down the hallway, silent glee etched on her face. For some reason, she was in a good mood. It’d been so long since I’d seen her smile like this. Not the forced one she gave when she was trying to cover her emotions, but genuine happiness.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself,” Vermiculo said.
“Huh?”
“You’re smiling.” He said.
I didn’t notice until he’d mentioned it, but I did have a small grin on my face.
“I guess I am,” I replied.
She continued down the straight hallway until she reached a single branching path. Thanks to our bird’s eye view, we got a good look at where the branch went. It led to a metallic door, guarded by what looked like two sentinels.
Lana ran out in the middle of the passageway where the guards could see her.
“What are you doing here?” One of them asked.
“He told us no one’s allowed in,” the other guard began. “Not even you.”
“Well, why don’t you kick me out?” Lana said cheerfully, putting her hands behind her back.
“Go escort her out.” The guard on the left said.
“What? Why don’t you do it?” The other guard asked.
Since she put her hands behind her back, the only people who saw what she was doing were me and Vermiculo.
“I don’t want him, I want you!”
Lana swung her arm and threw a small ball of water at the guard on the left side. It didn’t do much damage since she didn’t use an incantation, but I don’t think that was the point.
The other guard snorted at his partner’s misfortune.
“Hehehe! Come get me!” Lana scampered off down the hallway.
“Hey! Get back here!” The slightly drenched guard shouted as he chased after her. His partner followed him to the edge of the passageway and he turned to address him. “You stay here, I’ll get her!”
The second guard nodded and watched as his partner chased after Lana.
Lana and her pursuer made it a few feet down the hallway and he started to gain on her, finally catching her seconds later.
Until Lana melted into a pool of water.
“What the hell?” The guard looked confused that the young woman he’d grabbed suddenly decided she wanted to be a puddle.
The sound of running drew my attention to the other side of the hallway.
“Spring!”
The second guard turned around, but he was too late, as the raven-haired girl had already jumped over his head and was on her way to her goal.
“Wait!” The Sentinel shouted.
The scene followed Lana as she threw open the door and we were treated to an interesting sight.
The door led to a large chamber with a long rectangular table in the center and three massive windows on the other side of the room. On the table was a map and different figures were laid out across it, marking territories and troops.
The table was lined by a group of nine men, including Vermiculo, and a man in familiar-looking purple and gold robes. He must have been the Magus of this era.
