B5 Chapter 32 – Dangerous Gamble

“You fucking moron! You actually broke a rift for nothing!”

Dove rolled around on the ground, cackling out loud as he held his ribs and kicked his feet. Tyron scowled at him.

“How was I supposed to know they would move at the last second?”

Scouting the Golden Army wasn’t exactly easy. Their members were all level 79 veterans with inhuman abilities. Sentries that could see a fish swimming in water from hundreds of metres away weren’t easy to survey. If he hadn’t had access to his ghosts, it wouldn’t have been possible at all. Even the spirits had to be careful, since they could be seen by anyone able to detect the faint magick that held them together.

“A break. A fucking break! All that effort. The look on your face!”

Dove howled with laughter pointing his bony finger at Tyron and chattering his jaw. The irritating skeleton had been like this for hours, ever since they had retreated back through the rift to Granin. Still puzzling over how this could have happened, the Necromancer had been too distracted to silence his old teacher at first, and now he had something to discuss with Dove, but his patience was fast running out.

“Shut your skull already, Dove. If you act like this every time I make a mistake, we’ll be here forever.”

“You say that, but you don’t actually make that many mistakes, do you?” another voice spoke from the dark corner of his sitting room.

At the sound of the first syllable, Dove stopped laughing and curled himself into a defensive ball, empty sockets glaring at the newcomer. Tyron didn’t bother turning around.

“Glad you could come on such short notice, Yor,” he greeted her, stretching his feet out toward the fire.

Crackling low in the hearth, the coals radiated a soft, orange glow along with a warm heat, but he was curious to note that it didn’t scald him as once it might. His otherworldly endurance didn’t only extend to resisting the cold; he could probably put his feet directly into the flames and not get burned. His sensitivity to temperatures fading like this made him feel as if he were part-undead already. Even pain was starting to become something of a memory. At times, he wondered why he bothered to cling to his humanity in the first place.

“Oh, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. Dove, wonderful to see you again,” the vampire purred as she slinked into the light.

As always, she was dressed in a form-fitting dress, red this time, every curve of her quite literally sculpted form on display. She smirked at Tyron, who hadn’t turned his head, then sat down with inhuman grace.

“I don’t remember what it feels like, the warmth of a fire, I mean,” she said, gesturing towards his feet.

He was a little unnerved she had managed to read his thoughts so closely, yet he didn’t move.

“Of all the things you miss about being human, I can’t imagine warming your feet by the fire is top of the list,” he noted.

“Oh, it isn’t. There are other things I dearly miss. Yet, as I have said before, I have gained much more than I have lost. Eternal life, Tyron, is worth a few sacrifices. Eventually you will come to the same realisation, hopefully not too late.”

He made a non-committal sound, but couldn’t dismiss the thought as easily as he had before. If necessary for his revenge, then he would throw away his human form without hesitation, but he wasn’t convinced he had to. So long as he lived to achieve it, he couldn’t care less what race he was. After a few moments of silence, Dove finally decided what it was he wanted to say.

“You sexy BITCH!” he yelled, jumping to his feet and glaring accusingly at the vampire. “Why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be sucking on your Mistress’ toes right now?”

Yor curled an elegant eyebrow.

“Why Dove, that is a very specific vision you have. Your imagination is wasted on you.”

Frustrated, the skeleton turned back to Tyron.

“Why is she here?” he demanded.

“Because I invited her.”

“No! Not… not here… why is she here?!”

“You think emphasis is making this any clearer?” Tyron sighed. “I assume you mean still in this realm. I don’t know, but I presume for much the same reason as before, to keep an eye on me in order to fulfil the deal my parents made with her Mistress. Either that, or to siphon away more blood slaves. You can ask her if you want.”

“I will not exchange words with that gorgeous creature,” he said, turning his head in a huff. “She is naught but scum and filth in my eyes.”

“Why Dove, you wound me,” Yor chuckled deep in her throat. “Even now, I wonder what it would taste like to eat your soul. The very thought sends a shiver down my spine. Why don’t you let me have a taste?”

Dove stared at her for a minute.

“Couldn’t hurt,” he shrugged and began to walk toward the vampire.

“Sit down, Dove,” Tyron growled, his scowl returning to his face.

“Don’t be jealous! I just have this effect on women, it can’t be helped.”

“By all the Gods in this realm, I wish I could let you die,” Tyron said, rubbing at his temples. “Sit down before I have to hurt you.”

“No need to be so rude,” Dove sniffed, moving to his seat before perching awkwardly on the front of it. “Sitting as a skeleton is kind of weird, have I ever mentioned that? I’m arse-less. What am I supposed to sit on?”

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“I don’t care. Let’s discuss what I brought you here to discuss before I kill someone,” Tyron said.

“It’s me, isn’t it. I’m the ‘someone’.”

“Yes, Dove. It’s you.”

“Well, go on then,” he said. “I have no idea what you need me and her to talk about, but I’m interested to hear it.”

“I bet you are, since we need to discuss the Realm of the Dead.”

Dove froze in the act of slouching and sat up razor straight once again.

“Oh. The Realm of the Dead, you say?”

Yor smiled.

“How did you find your time projecting your consciousness into that realm, Dove? I would be fascinated to hear the tale.”

“I bet you would,” Dove growled, uncharacteristically serious. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew exactly what was going to happen. What I was going to find there.”

“Of course,” she said, folding her perfectly pale hands in her lap. Her eyes twinkled wickedly. “We vampires are the most perfect undead in creation, there is little about death we don’t know. I’m a little shocked you didn’t seek out my advice before you vanished into the mountains. Rather a foolish move, don’t you think?”