Chapter 382 - The War of the Vampires part 5

The sight of Mount Asharoth was a great relief, an even greater relief to unburden myself of the old man, and pure bliss to avail myself of the Temple. Neolas came as we gorged ourselves on mortal blood and immediately dispatched one of his abuellas to inform Zenzele of our return. "Welcome home, Gon!" he cried. "I see that you have been restored to your true form, and none the worse for wear, it seems. The Mother will be pleased."

 "What is the news?" I asked, after the blood ecstasy had faded. I licked my lips, feeling the nourishment rejuvenate my body, freshen my strength. The hand with which I wiped my mouth was soft and pink and warm again.

It was night, and the Temple of the Bloodletters was torch-lit and idle. The others were still feeding, attended by Neolas's blood priests, all except Vehnfear, who had loped away shortly after we traversed the northeast pass. In the flickering torchlight, the stone obelisks appeared to twitch and sway. The moon was faintly orange overhead, and swathed in a diaphanous skirt of clouds. Summer had passed in our absence and winter was nudging autumn impatiently from behind.

"News?" Neolas said. "Why, you are the news, Father! Or you will be shortly."

So no one knew about the Tanti yet.

He took note of my pensive expression and frowned. "What is it, Gon?" he asked. "You look uneasy."

"Summon the high council to the Aerie," I said. "There are matters of great import to discuss. Have your priests tell them it cannot wait."

Neolas bowed. "I will see that it is done."

I looked around the temple grounds. I wished to say goodbye to my compatriots but they were all still engrossed in feeding, or basking in the afterglow, and too blood-addled for rational discourse. They had risked their lives to restore me to my true form, suffered terrible deprivations for my sake, and I was appreciative beyond measure, but the fate of the Tanti weighed heavily on my mind. I nodded to them gratefully, though none were looking in my direction, and set my sights on Mount Asharoth.

I departed the Temple of the Bloodletters, headed towards the Aerie. I would see my beloved Zenzele now, and tell her what we had learned of the Tanti. I desired her counsel, for I did not know what to do about the situation, and I missed her terribly. I wanted to see her before the others came. I wanted to hold her in my arms, and be held by her.

As I made my way through the outer district where the mortals dwelled, I spotted two figures coming down the north side of the mountain, set at a little distance from one another. The one in the lead was unknown to me—the messenger Neolas had sent to the Aerie-- but the other was Zenzele. I recognized her gait, even from a distance.

I turned in their direction as the first figure, the messenger, crossed the tree line and vanished into the forest. I passed through the inner wall into the canton of the blood drinkers, and made my way to the foot of the mountain, where the Path of the Guardians let out into the city. I started up the trail, jogging through the moon-shadows of the forest. Neolas's priest stopped and bowed respectfully as I passed him on the path. And then I saw Zenzele, and I hurried to her embrace.

"Gon!" she cried softly as I enfolded her in my arms, kissing her all over, her lips, her cheeks, her neck. She held me away after a moment and looked at me, looked up at me, as I was once again the height I was before. "You are yourself again!" she exclaimed. "You did it!"

"I am restored," I pronounced. "Our mission was a success."

"And the others?"

"We lost one," I said. "One of Rayna's elite guard. He was crushed in an accident. I could not save his life. But I took his Blood. I have him now, here, in my mind. It was all I could do. The rest are alive, unharmed. And we vanquished three of the God King's Eternals. Qor, Jelt, Baalt. We Divided them, and scattered the pieces upon the great ice sheet where they hid my torso, far to the north, in a strange land where the sky burns green at night." I could tell by her expression that it was a little much to take in all at once. Laughing, I said, "Drink my Blood, my love. Then you will know everything. There is so much I would tell you, but it is quicker this way. I have summoned the high council. There are matters of great import to discuss. We haven't much time."

She nodded and inclined her mouth to my neck. I leaned forward, exposing my jugular to her, and gasped as her fangs penetrated my flesh. I was quite instantly erect, almost painfully so, and closed my eyes in pleasure as she suckled at the wound.

I was tempted to drink from her, too. Bend my lips to her neck and sink my fangs into her flesh. Close the circle. Become one. But I would not do that without her leave. And we did not have time. A vampire can lose himself in such rapture. For hours. Even days at a time. Feeding and being fed upon, a closed loop of ecstatic Sharing.

I held the back of her head, groaning as she bit into me once more, pulling forcefully at the arteries in my neck, and then she drew back, eyes dreamy and unfocused. Her tongue slipped out and lapped delicately at her lips, and then she woke to the present, shook off the hallucinatory visions that came with the Sharing, and turned her sharpened gaze on me.

"The God King has captured the Tanti," she said.

"Yes."

She extracted herself from my arms, stepped away, eyes turned down, thinking hard. She looked sharply back at me and asked, "What do you intend to do? Will you offer yourself for them, as you did your blood child Ilio?" She was prepared, I could see, to be furious if I answered foolishly.

"Of course not," I said quickly. "I may be a fool, Zenzele, but not twice over a fool."

She visibly relaxed, offered an apologetic smile. "I was afraid…" she began.

She did not finish the thought, but let it trail off, an unspoken I-told-you-so.

"I knew the God King would betray me," I said. "I am no idiot, Zenzele. But I thought-- I hoped-- that Khronos would surprise me. That he would actually keep our bargain. He was an honorable man once, after his own fashion. Cold, yes, and brutal for certain, but honorable. But the mortal man he once was has long since been consumed, devoured by the rot of his decadence and hunger for power. No, my love, I swear to you. I will not make the same mistake twice."

"You would let them go then? Let them perish? Your own mortal progeny?" She looked as though she did not believe me.

I couldn't blame her. I didn't believe it myself.

"For the good of the whole? Yes. If I've no other choice," I said. "But perhaps there is a way…"

"A way to save them?" She looked doubtful.

It was hard enough to rescue me, and I was just a head on the wall, all but forgotten by my Uroboran captors. We were talking about rescuing an entire tribe now, segregated and under heavy guard. Khronos would not be so careless a second time.

"I have some ideas," I said.