The Vampire's Harvest

46

You pull the horse figurine from your pocket and place it on your palm as you begin to chant a generic spell. You wish you could conjure up some directive for the spell, but all you know is you need this horse to ensure Ell makes it out alive. So you focus all of your concentration upon that thought as the figurine grows hot in your hand.

With the conclusion of your muttered words, the small horse takes on life and leaps from your palm. As it falls, its size multiplies so that when its hooves meet the ground, the steed is about as tall as you are. With eyes wide, you watch the golden horse sprint forward, knocking over humans, vampires, and drones on its charge towards Ell. Unlike the befuddled duke, Ell doesn't waste a moment of what little time is left. He grabs hold of the horse, swinging his leg over its back and holding tight to its neck as the steed bursts through the hall doors at lightning speed. Before the duke can even register what has happened, a blood-curdling cry breaks out through the hall.

The duke claws at his skin, his mouth wide with a silent scream as his eyes burn from their sockets and his body glows red with fire. In a matter of seconds, the once hulking immortal figure that controlled your town with an iron fist is reduced to a pile of ashes, just like the rest of the vampires still trapped within the great hall.

You turn at the sound of several pairs of feet racing out onto the hardwood of the dance floor. Ferris looks around, a smile wide across his face as his coven rejoices. They don't have long to celebrate though as the drones that once served the recently deceased shift into their final command. With a drone's master dead, they have only one task left -- to kill those responsible for their master's death.

The coven makes a circle and a new chant starts as the drones lurch and growl.

Fortunately for you, you were not the source of the vampires' downfall, and the drones serve as a welcomed distraction. With Ferris preoccupied with releasing the drones from their captivity, you have a chance to flee yourself and make sure your mage friends don't discover that a vampire still remains within the town.

"I need to go, Ailisa," you whisper as you grab your friend's hands. "If you still want to be a vamp, you should come with me."

However, Ailisa gazes at the ash pile that was once a duke with sad, regretful eyes, her shoulders low as she sighs.

"I don't know," she answers. "I'll need to think on it a bit."

"I'll come back for you then, if you want me to, but for now I need to go."

"Goodbye, Micah," she says, turning back to you and giving you a shaky smile. "Go and live your dream."

You give her hands a squeeze before running out the door and on to the street. You scan the town, which is eerily silent compared to the hysteria still raging back within the great hall. Everything looks as it should with curtains drawn and the candles fading within the jack-o-lanterns poised on every stoop. The only thing out of place is the single drone who stands prim and proper without a single glint of murderous rage in his eye.

"Please, follow me," he says, stretching his hand towards the street and out to the forest that lay beyond.

"All right," you respond, taking a few tentative steps forward before speeding up to keep pace with the swift drone.

Once you make it to the outskirts of town, you find a carriage waiting behind a large hay stack. The horses whiny and paw at the ground, ready to sprint off towards a destination unknown, but they remain steady and waiting while you are escorted to the side of the carriage.

Without a word, the drone opens the door and assists you up the ornate metal steps. Inside you find a plush, velvet lined compartment, with heavy black drapes and a smiling vampire.

"So glad to see you have decided to join me," he says, gesturing for you to take a seat across from him.

"Glad to be chosen by you, my lord," you reply, choosing to take the seat beside him instead.

"I believe this fine steed is yours," he replies, as he hands you the golden figurine, which has returned to its original size. "Quite a clever and spontaneous trick you pulled there." You try to hold his gaze, but find it difficult as his eyes dance with the bounce of the carriage rumbling over cobblestones. "Never would I have guessed such a treasure would stumble into my path tonight. Such an enchanting and capable creature is above the life of a feeder." He reaches over, grabbing your chin as he pulls you against him so that his mouth lingers just below your ear. "If it pleases you, I will welcome you to life immortal this very night."

Had you been told only a few hours earlier that you would be offered immortality before the end of the night, you would not have known how to react. Yet, in that moment, you didn't hesitate. With the subtlest of nods, you welcome his bite. In the space of a breath, he snaps his fangs around your throat and digs in. A surge of ecstasy washes away the initial shock of pain and then your world slips into a hazy memory.

By the time you wake, you find yourself in a castle by the sea. Drones are ready to serve you at your beck and call. Though, it's not just the palace's undead servants that are ready to heed your every order. Ell is as good as his word, and takes every chance he has to dote on you with love in his eyes.

One of the first gifts he gives you during your eternity together is the town. After Ferris's rebellion, ownership was uncertain and many vamps vied to claim it. However, Ell, with the help of the allies he saved that night, eventually claimed command of the town and then handed the reins over to you without any expectations as to what you should do with it.

You decide to let the town live as it chooses. Those, like Ferris, who wish to live out their mortal lives in peace, are left to do so. And those, like Ailisa, who wish to be given opportunities for immortality are granted access to them.

So long as you live, the town is safe and free.

***

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