Chapter Five ~Serenity~

The doors of the temple whipped open in an intimidating display of power, my power. I entered the overcrowded temple without any of the sickness I had felt before, no gut wrenching protest from the divine. They couldn't touch me now. Stagnant air rushed from the open doors filled with the scent of rotting wounds and spoiled flesh, mixing with the sweet aroma of death and wet ash that filtered in from the ruins of the city. Two worlds were clashing in this holy place, one of feeble hope clinging onto what remained of life, and the other of ruination. The harsh reality that would soon befall these people, but first I had business to attend.

I stormed in like a clap of thunder. This temple was all that was left. The only building in the aftermath of the Vamdari's tantrum from last night. Ryder's men had burned everything else and herded the people into the temple much like animals, that was just what they were. Animals being rounded up for the slaughter. When the army landed this evening, we would feast, toast our success and bless the coming battles. It was a tradition. A ritual of sorts and these people were our sacrifices.

The mass of people that once overflowed into the halls stretching out from the community chamber now extended farther. There were hundreds packed within these walls, each one giving off the most delectable scent of terror as I marched through the tightly packed numbers. People started to shift and stand, watching me with horror stricken eyes, my unmasked appearance no doubt a startling revelation for them. There was no reason to hide myself any longer, their fates were sealed. I flaunted my darker features and blood colored eyes feeling the beauty and power I did last night. That pervious feeling of dark seduction, the elegance of some brutal creature beaming off me despite the lack of my creature. This feeling I would keep.

The holy protest of the gods protection didn’t stop me like before. It couldn't. Not with Vondorian's blood racing through my veins, I was more powerful than I had ever been before. The small tastes I was allowed from him were nothing compared to what I was feeling now. Strong wasn't the right word. I felt godly. He had never offered me so much, but I would take it again just to feel this untouchable.

In our hungry kissing and physical exploration of each other's impassioned bodies, he offered me more than I could ever imagine, and I gorged myself on him. My dark lord. I was left free to do as I willed. Vondorian finally trusted me as he did in the past, his dark voice inside my head was gone, in fact all of them were gone.

Walking into this place should have flooded me with mental chatter, the mortal emotions that clung to the atmosphere should have been taking over, but again none of it could touch me. The feeling, so liberating, sharp tingling awareness pricked at my skin making me feel more alive than I had ever been as I rode the high of Vondorian's power. He was all I needed. I knew that now.

It was the idea of Vondorian waiting for me and the prospect of finishing what we had started that lifted my stomach in excitement. Time and events couldn't pass fast enough for me to return to him. My lips were still warm and swollen from his kisses, my body covered in his vanilla scent. By morning I would be in his bed, becoming his and he becoming mine. Then at night fall we would march together with the army toward the capital. Vondorian was right—the world was going to change.

First I had the matter of the high priest to deal with, the bastard who had so willfully tested my patience before. Then there was the matter of the villagers, the ones Cret forced me into sparing. They didn't fear me like they should have, and now I would make sure they cowered before me. Which was what they did seeing the ease I displayed in navigating the room, the rawest depraved version of me on show for them. The other priests didn’t even step forward to stop me. What could they do? Even the holy beauty of this place was falling at my feet.

The once polished marble was drained of color and vibrancy. This place no longer held the awe I felt as a child. It was just another holy place I was to decimate, just another in a long line of temples and churches I would burn and reduce to ash. The last moments of this holy temple had already begun, it was clear in the dulled beauty of this place. The vivid murals of the gods and goddesses were now pale with chipped paint. The altars were dimly lit and the items placed before the statue of the goddess were tattered and worn. How easy purity was to sway and destroy, it made me chuckle…pathetic.

Stopping in front of the altar where the giant statue of the Peace Goddess sat, I looked up at her. Judgment creased her stone face and I felt a challenge, one I would gladly take on and win. I would show her people they were not safe, not even in this holy place. Nothing could stop me until my hands were wet with Cret's blood, and even then I wouldn't stop. I would see this mortal world overrun with nightmares from the exiled realms. Show those gods how easily everything could fall into complete chaos. I had to show them.

Soon this valley would be a crater where no living thing would dare enter. The darkness would pour through the cracks of the devastation. I would reign upon these grounds, that moment was fated. She couldn't stop it any more than I could.

"I told you," the enraged voice of the high priest yelled at me. "You are not welcom—"

My hand grasped his throat as he came closer cutting off his words. Hearing his voice and demands was an annoyance. Welcomed or not I went where I pleased.

Lifting the fat man off the ground with such ease caused a gasp to rush over the crowd. People jumped to their feet, the other priests inched forward to aid and then paused with uncertainty. Their actions left me with an edgy need to slaughter them all and this annoying priest, but he would live—for a few more moments. I had plans for him…Painful plans.

He struggled in my grasp, clawing at my hand that clasped around his throat as I walked him back to a door. It was then that other priests finally forced themselves into action and rushed in our direction. I put my other hand up to stop them. "Follow us and I will kill him without hesitation."

My tone was steady, cold, and calm. It was perfect, my old self returning so fast. I was back to the vampire I was before Cret cut me down in battle. No more inner conflict, no more struggle against morals and emotions I never wished to have. I pushed the high priest through the door and toward a spiral staircase leading down, suspending him over the edge of the steps. Intoxicating fear reflected in his eyes sharpening my high. I held him there for a long moment dangling over the descending darkness of the spiral steps. Once I could draw no more enjoyment from the moment I released him, letting his pudgy figure tumble down into the pitch black nothing as I followed behind at my leisure. An array of groans and painful grunts echoed up from the darkness, followed by a harsh release of air as he hit the bottom. I could do whatever I wanted to this man down here, no one would hear his screams.

I reached the bottom just as the priest was struggling to his feet.

"How dare y—" My hand was at his throat before he could say more. His voice was so damn annoying.

"Don't speak, it only makes me want to kill you faster and I want to enjoy this." I instructed releasing his throat so he could get his breath, he would need it for the screaming.

Watching as the priest heaved in and out for every small amount of air that passed through his strangled sore throat was pleasing. The scent of death so heavy in the air pushed me to a place of reckless depravity, I wanted to see this man's blood here among the stale dimness. It would be so black and fluid, running along damp slick stones that hadn't seen the light of day in centuries. Spices and powerful perfumes assaulted me as I inhaled deeper, mixed with decaying corpses. The catacombs.

I had no idea what this place was when I first forced the priest down the steps, but now it was all too fitting I should choose this place. Here among the most honored dead, the most sacred place in the entire valley, I would desecrate it with the blood of a holy man. Lay my claim to it and watch every pure and sacred aspect wash away under my intimidation. Yes, this was perfect.

A warm glowing light to the left flickered against my vision, drawing my attention from the doomed priest. I glanced in the direction and then back to my victim, ignoring it until something drew me back for a second glance. This time my eyes lingered on the curious room for longer than a passing second. The soft timid glow of candlelight breaking through the darkness intrigued me. So small a light defeating such a looming force, how?

I took a step forward toward the room when the priest grabbed at my arm. "Stay away from her!" he demanded.

Throwing him to the ground, I ignored the protest and continued toward the odd light. Just outside where my vision was still obstructed by the wall, a familiar scent hit me. Every limb of my body froze and I stopped breathing.

That rose aroma had haunted me for days, the phantom memory of a life I took. A tremble started in my hands, and I clenched them into fists before pushing on. This was ridiculous—she was just another victim. Another life I took without reason or care. That was how I lived…That was how I wanted to live.

Certain I could handle whatever my imagination told me was just around the threshold, I walked in strong willed but unprepared. The mortal feelings of guilt flooded over me and my newfound cruelty and power-fueled brutality vanished.

Rhea lay there on a stone bed surrounded by melted candles that were dwindling away to dripping ribbons of wax. Soft light flickered off the outline of her body basking her in an otherworldly glow, capturing me in awe. She was dead, her body as cold as the stone she lay on, but there seemed to be a judging life-force in her. Those pale green eyes flashed in my mind and the emotions took over.

The guilt, shame, conflict—they weren't gone. They didn't fade and leave me to my former self. I still felt every bit of the emotions even through Vondorian's power that beat in my chest.

Rhea's last plea replayed it my mind like it had before. There was no stopping it now as I stared at her corpse.

'You have a choice.'

I had killed thousands of people throughout my life. I had heard people beg before, saying wild and random things in their last moments. Why did she and her words matter so much?

"Leave he—" The priest growled grabbing my arm again, the weak contact of his hand against my skin was enough to snap me from my guilt-riddled haze.

Slamming the man into the wall, I pressed my arm across his throat, my unmasked scarlet gaze focused on him. "I'm going to give you an option," I said forming a series of events inside my head. "Save yourself and this pathetic mortal world, or die with the people in the temple above us. The choice is yours, but know that there are others I can go to. I don't have to spare your life."

An array of emotions washed over his face until I finished speaking and he belted out his answer without thought. "Y-y-yes…Yes, I'll do whatever you say."

My inner cruelty fluttered with approval at how quickly he swayed. Humans were no different from savage animals. It was all about the individual. Evil resided in their hearts just as it did mine. The difference was I enjoyed it.