Heart of Ashes

Weakened

Dmitri looked on in awe and wonder as the shadows that swirled around Caine began to ebb and fade back into their source. Then something strange happened, Caine wavered. His whole body swayed as if he were a reed in the wind then he lost his balance and crumpled to the ground. His scythe fell beside him but disappeared before it hit the ground. Dmitri pushed past the few who'd gathered in front of him to watch the spectacle and ran to Caine's side.

Beneath the cowl, his face looked awful. His skin was so white it seemed to glow. His eyes were sunken and red-rimmed and he was so drawn, Dmitri could see every bone underneath his skin. He was like a skeleton. He was like... Death.

A raven cawed on the wall above him then swooped down to land on Caine's chest. Dmitri recognised it as Tara, Caine's cheeky raven who seemed to tolerate only Caine. Her landing had caused the robes to part to reveal Caine's chest which was just as deathly white and thin as his face.

Dmitri heard concerned muttering coming from the crowd within the castle walls and the sound of running footsteps. Mercedes and Katrina. Theodore was walking briskly toward them. He hadn't seen it. He'd gone down to crypts to get the Maragi up to the great hall.

"Don't let them see me like this," Caine's voice was dry and raspy.

Dmitri stood up and sent the crowds back. Theodore ignored him completely and broke out in a jog. He knelt beside Caine with a puzzled look on his face. Mercedes crouched next to him and nudged him out the away. She pressed her hand against Caine's forehead. He reached up and gripped her wrist. That was when Dmitri saw the reality of what Caine's right hand was really like. He saw the scars and the claws. Even a strange jagged one that wrapped around his wrist. Caine had once told him about that, he'd tried to cut off his own hand but it healed around the blade.

Mercedes instantly retracted her hand. She gasped in shock. Dmitri held out a hand indicated for her to let him see. She placed her hand in his and, to his horror, her whole hand was raw. So was her wrist where Caine had touched her. Burned. Her skin blistered and peeled.

"Good heavens," he muttered.

"Don't worry about me," Mercedes replied, "you and Theodore need to lift him. Don't touch his skin."

Despite her warning, Dmitri reached out and touched Caine's forehead. Caine's skin felt like dragon fire. Dmitri's own skin began to bubble and blister. He cursed and seized Caine under the arms.

"Theodore, take his legs," he ordered.

Theodore quickly took Caine's legs. They lifted him and carried him through the gates of Castle Dracula. Mercedes and Katrina ran ahead, ushering the crowds away so they wouldn't see.

When they got him up to his room, they put him down on the floor. Mercedes began running cold water in the bathtub. When she was finished, she recited an incantation over the water. She rushed back into the room and stripped the robe off of Caine.

Dmitri was horrified at seeing his ribs through his skin. He could see each, individual vertebra and Caine's shoulder blades and hip bones jutted out, awkwardly. Dmitri was used to a lean, muscular Caine, who possessed a beauty most women were jealous of. He, hurriedly, shouldered Caine's weight and dragged him into the bathroom where he dumped him in the tub.

Caine's eyes were closed and he wasn't moving, not even slightly. Mercedes splashed water over his face and ran her fingers through his hair. Dmitri felt sick and he slid to his knees next to the bathtub, resting his forehead on the edge, resisting the urge to vomit. He felt a warm, wet hand on his head. He looked up. Caine had opened his eyes again but they were dull and empty. His lips were moving. Those deathly pale, parched lips moved and uttered one, raspy word:

"Hungry."

He hadn't heard that word pass Caine's lips for over... ever. He hadn't heard it ever and he'd never seen Caine feed, not properly anyway, and he knew that not even an entire village would be enough to sate the thirst of a vampire as old as Caine, and in this state. Dmitri scrambled to his feet and offered Caine his hand. Caine bit into Dmitri's hand and began to drink. Dmitri winced as fang scraped bone. It was a weird sensation and not at all pleasant. Caine's eyes fluttered closed then he suddenly jerked back, ripping through the flesh in Dmitri's hand.

He coughed and blood bubbled in his throat. A strange mixture, Dmitri could smell, of his own and Caine's blood. Caine stiffened with the coughing fit and blood spewed out of his mouth, running over his face an chin. Katrina buried her face in Dmitri's chest so she didn't have to watch. Mercedes waved her hand, indicating for them to leave.

"Dmitri, call Evelyn," she said.

***

Evelyn's phone buzzed in her pocket, waking her. She rubbed her eyes and took a moment to wake up a little more. Ragnar was still sitting next to her, massaging his temples. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone. She checked the caller ID and had to blink a few times so the name would become clearer. It was Dmitri, Caine had her put his number in her phone incase.

She answered, "Hello?"

"Hello, Evelyn?" came the voice of a Slavic male.

"Speaking," she said, "is everything okay?"

"Evelyn, you should come to Castle Dracula," said Dmitri, "I've managed to acquire three tickets for you and the others from Heathrow International, for a two o'clock flight."

"What? Why?" she asked, "Is everything okay?"

There was a hesitant pause, "Caine, he's been weakened. I don't think he'll make the trip back. To be honest with you, I don't think he'll make it to morning."

"Wha... what happened?" she stammered.

"It would be better for him to tell you hims... sorry?" there was a bout of silence on the other end of the line then Dmitri was back, "he says to bring the Book and his sword."