Flesh Wounds

  CHAPTER 1

  Genesis

  Kingdom of Solis Celestial Palace, 1552

  “Is there no end to this heat?” The young woman moaned, wiping the condensation off her face with the sleeve of her nightgown.

  “It is the middle of July, Princess. Now would you please hold still?” Her handmaiden asked, slightly irritated. She had been trying to tame Her Majesty’s wild ebony curls into a braid with little success, due to the woman’s constant squirming.

  “But why does it have to be so hot?” The brunette again complained, leaning against the back of her chair so that her attendant could finish the job.

  “Would you like me to leave the windows open tonight? Maybe you’ll feel better with a nice breeze.”

  “That sounds lovely, thank you Darlene.”

  After tying her handiwork off with a purple ribbon, the fairy went about the room fulfilling the future queen’s request, cracking the windows just enough to allow circulation of fresh air without making the space too cold.

  “Good night, Darlene.” The royal mumbled into silk sheets, having gotten into bed in the meantime.

  “Sleep well, Akasha.”

  And sleep she did, until a hooded figure sunk their teeth into her neck.

  It was awful; truly the worst pain she had ever felt. As soon as those sharp fangs pierced her skin, injecting her veins with venom, she was burning alive. Screaming, Akasha began thrashing about on the bed. She couldn’t see very well, the venom affecting her vision, but she was able to make out the outline of her attacker moving towards her to hold her down.

  “What have you done?” Her strangled cry was muffled by the intruder’s hand over her mouth.

  “Something…. horrible!” The man giggled, running a pale finger down her jawline. Akasha cringed, and wanted nothing more than to get away from him and his sadistic nature- the mischievous tone of his voice conveying nothing but sheer pleasure at her suffering. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the strength to fight back: her muscles were on fire and practically useless. So, Akasha responded the only way she could.

  “…Why?” It was getting harder to speak with each passing minute, and she felt the warmth of her body slowly start to leave her.

  “All magic comes with a price! And you, dearie, are paying your mother’s debts.”

  The psychopath’s deranged laugher was echoing around her as she drifted out of consciousness.

  Kingdom of Lunaria Shadowfall Village, 1327

  “I’ve been drafted, Mina.” This was not the news he wanted to greet his wife with today. He had been hoping that his newborn son would be enough to keep him out of the upcoming Werewolf War, but King Amel thought otherwise.

  “I see.” Mina had known this would happen for a few weeks now- it was all that the other women in the village complained about: how their poor, hard working husbands were in no condition to fight a war against the Blackforest Werewolf tribe. And at first, she agreed. Their village was made up of farmers and merchants- not exactly warrior material.

  Then Abraham was born, and her opinion shifted: if not enough people could be called to arms, then her sweet baby boy would have no future. In short, Dracula had to fight.

  “You see? Is that all? If I go, I most likely won’t come back. What about Ab?” Dracula glanced down at the newborn in his wife’s arms, sleeping soundly.

  He was already hopelessly in love with his son, and wanted more than anything to watch Bae grow up. The chances of that happening now were pretty grim.

  “Ab deserves a shot at a good life, and a father that will do what is necessary to secure that future. You will join the battle, Dracula, end of discussion.”

  Mina’s argument was sound, resulting in a voiced agreement from the man, but internally Dracula was planning on returning to his son. No matter the cost.

  Kingdom of Solis Celestial Palace, 1552

  “Akasha! Akasha, can you hear me?” A man. Clearly distressed, yet familiar.

  “She’s out cold.” A pause, then a series of rushed, frantic footsteps.

  “What have you done you foolish girl?” This one was feminine. Harsh, angry, but also familiar.

  “She has no pulse, Mahret.” Silence. She felt two cold fingers rush to her throat.

  “Stop hovering about, Henry, and go get the physician!” More rushed footsteps. She assumed the man went to do as was asked of him. The woman he called Maharet then turned her full attention to her neck by poking and prodding icy skin.

  “Must have been a snake bite.” Maharet muttered, stroking her hair mechanically.

  “Don’t worry, Akasha. You’ll be just fine.” Fine. She would never be fine again

  “What seems to be the problem?” Another male voice, this one sounding older than Henry’s. How long had it been since they found her? 10 minutes? 20? It was all still a daze.

  “Her handmaiden came to perform her morning tasks, and found her like this.” She imagined what she must look like: pale, sickly, on the verge of death. Surely a horrifying sight.

  “And this was 15 minutes ago?” The physician began his exam, which to her felt like inspection of prized livestock. She internally groaned; It was irritating her that she couldn’t actually tell her audience what happened, being in a coma-like state.

  “This is no snake bite.” Yes, she knew that. Maharet’s nails dug into her skin as a reaction.

  “Explain.” Again, silence. Was it hesitation?

  “She’s unconscious, unnaturally pale, and exsanguinated. The only physical mark she bares is two twin punctures to the jugular vein. No animal did this.” She felt Akasha ’s heartbeat accelerate.

  “How did I not see the signs? My poor, darling girl.” A pause, and then the sound of something heavy hitting a wall. Did Mahret just imply that she was her daughter? Why did she have no memory of this?

  “If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I’ll rip out your heart.”

  “But Your Majesty, she’s”-

  “Turning.” She was so hung up on the earlier revelation that she didn’t notice being lifted into Mahret’s lap. The strange woman returned focus to her throat, wiping away sticky fluid that remained in the wound.

  “This is the venom. She’ll be out for a few days.” Days? It already felt like weeks.

  “What, then, shall I put on the official report?”

  “Princess Akasha caught the flu and will be confined to her room on bed rest- no visitors.”

  “As you wish.” One last set of receding footsteps, and then she was alone with Akasha.

  “I know you can’t hear me in that haze of yours, but I will find who did this to you, mommy promises.” As nice as having confirmation on her relation to this woman was, something in Mahret’s tone suggested that all was not what it seemed.

  Chapter 2

  Abraham’s Fate

  Kingdom of Helios Dragonstone Castle, 1525

  You’ve ruined us, Mahret! Tarnished our family name!” She cried out as he struck her, raising a trembling hand to cover the newly forming bruise on her cheek.

  “He lied to me, Father! Claimed he was a prince!”

  “And that gave you the right to lay with him? Conceive a bastard?”

  “We were going to get married- a baby would have secured my position on the throne.”

  As the fourth of King Nicholas’ children, Princess Maharet was third in the line of succession for her father’s throne, behind her brother Dexter, sister Emilia, and youngest brother Hartos.

  Quickly realizing that she had no chance of becoming Queen of Helios, she sought to find a worthy prince in another kingdom to marry. This quest for power led to her scandalous relationship with a man that called himself Prince Darious, and the conception of a child. Needless to say, her father was furious with h
er for throwing away her virtue, and proclaimed that her recklessness had cost them their reputation. No prince would marry her now, not with a bastard child.

  “Don’t worry Father, no one will find out about this. I’ll get rid of the child once its born, and find another candidate for my hand.”

  “And how do you plan to go about marketing yourself? Why would this man pick you over your sister, who is a much better choice?” Maharet gave him a smirk, eyes alight with mischief.

  “I’m sure you’ve heard of the mysterious Dark Child, Father?” As predicted, the older monarch’s face fell at his daughter’s question.

  “Of course.” The man was notorious throughout the realm for his unusual business practices- just what did Maharet want with him?

  “Find him. I require a few of his…services.”

  Kingdom of Lunaria Battle of Moon Valley, 1328

  He was going to die. There was absolutely no version of this where he made it out alive. Dodging another falling tree, Dracula ran for cover behind a small hill. He was left alone with his thoughts, as a majority of his comrades were either dead or severely injured- lying sprawled across the battlefield.

  “Forgive me, son.” The plea left his lips as more ogres headed in his direction. With nowhere else to run, he had no choice but to fight until the death.

  His skills with a sword and shield were something to be desired, to say the least. One weak upswing after another was accompanied by a hesitant downswing, resulting in one fatality out of the five he merely injured.

  Dracula didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up.

  “Over here!” He paused to catch his breath when he heard a distinguishable female voice in the distance. Upon glancing in the direction of the sound, he saw a dark, cloaked figure beckoning him into the tree line.

  “Now, if you want to live!” He weighed his options: stay, and most likely end up an werewolf’s dinner, or go with this woman and take his chances.

  Dracula, a practical man, chose the latter.

  You’ve made the right decision, Dark One.” The stranger removed her hood, revealing two partially glazed over eyes.

  “What did you call me?” The name was unfamiliar, and he didn’t know if it had a hidden meaning or not. She took a seat on a tree stump, swirling her hands about as if trying to contain a ball of light.

  “All will be revealed in due time, Dark One. However, I didn’t track you down to tell you this future, but a more immediate one.” Dracula then realized why her eyes looked so strange.

  “You’re a seer.” They were uncommon in this realm, and those that made themselves known were more often than not killed for fear mongering.

  “So perceptive.” Dracula observed her increased hand motions, and a bright swirl of color form within them. She nodded towards him, and then motioned in the direction of her hands with a tilt of her head.

  “Observe.” Obediently, the failed soldier gazed into her palms, watching as the sights before him shifted into an image of Mina and Abraham in his home- his wife clearly distressed.

  “What is the meaning of this?”

  “Your son will become ill with a disease of the lung and die within a fortnight.”

  Dracula gasped inwardly, it was the worst news anyone could possibly deliver. He quickly began to feel hopeless, leaning heavily on his sword, his whole body trembling. The seer noticed the trademark signs of despair appear on his face, and was quick to deliver the other half of her message.

  “But, it doesn’t have to end this way. There is a cure.”

  His head shot up, now desperate for any solution she could give him that would save his son’s life.

  And she knew that, preying off of his vulnerability.

  “What you seek lies in an abandoned castle north of here- in the Eternal Mountains.”

  “I know the place; the castle is cursed. No man ever came back from there and lived to tell of it.”

  She leaned forward to grasp his chin, ensuring that he couldn’t look away.

  “You will succeed, Dark One. You will realize your destiny.”

  “Preventing Abraham’s death is my destiny? I don’t understand.”

  The mysterious woman was slowly losing her patience, shoving a folded piece of paper into his hand.

  “The Count of Wallachia is expecting you. Now go! Time is of the essence, Dracula.”

  And just like that, she was gone, leaving an ordinary man to embark on an insurmountable quest.

  Chapter 3

  Dusk At Dawn

  Kingdom of Solis Celestial Palace, 1552

  The return to consciousness was gentle, compared to the five days she endured in a hellish coma. Pain eventually subsiding, Akasha was now free to move her arms and legs as she once pleased. Hesitant, afraid of the condition her body was in, she flexed her fingers and toes with positive results. Encouraged, she opened her eyes to find she was neatly tucked in her own bed- a state that she definitely didn’t recall being in.

  “Mother?” She rasped, hoping for a response. None came.

  “Darlene?” Again, nothing. It was unusual: every morning Tank would arrive and help her dress for the day. She glanced out of the window to check the time- it was clearly mid afternoon.

  “Daddy?” A cold feeling of dread washed over her as she realized that no one was coming. As the heir to the throne of Solis, Akasha was rarely alone in the palace. Her parents would constantly fuss over her, ensuring she completed her lessons for the day- which revolved around the methodology of ruling a kingdom. In truth, Akasha found this incredibly boring, but it was better than living as a peasant.

  Swinging her legs off the mattress, the brunette princess moved towards the wardrobe to get dressed- her bloodstained nightgown wouldn’t do, it was extremely unladylike. Choosing a powder blue dress, Akasha got changed, careful to avoid looking in the mirror as she did so. That man did something to her, and she feared the result.

  But, she was forgetting a crucial part of her appearance- her hair. Drawing in a breath, she inched closer to her floor length mirror, only daring to glance upwards because she couldn’t prolong it any longer. And she wished she hadn’t.

  “I’m a monster!”

  The woman staring back at her was dead, she thought. Akasha looked like she had literally crawled out of the grave. Close to tears, she wondered if this was some sort of cruel cosmic joke, for her eyes were a murky amber instead of chocolate brown. Her skin had lost all color, now pale as a corpse, and cool to the touch. And that gave her pause. Someone with that low of a body temperature was not of this world, and yet she was still alive. Lightly tracing up and down her arm with a sharp nail, she stopped at the pulse point on her wrist. Nothing. Not even a faint heartbeat. Panicking, Akasha checked her other wrist- same result. Cold clarity setting in, her palm came to rest on her chest. Her lifeless chest.

  “No!” Venomous tears were making their way down her cheek, staining her dress. She couldn’t care less. Her life as Princess Akasha of Solis was over. To cement this statement, shaking hands went to her mouth, finding two distinct fangs where her canines should have been.

  “He turned me into…a bloodthirsty demon from the darkest pits of hell!” She was devastated, collapsing to the floor in a trembling heap, where her mother found her two hours later drowning in her own misery.

  She knew Maharet was trying her best to comfort her, but her mother was never good at that sort of thing: the older woman had awkwardly drawn her daughter into a weak embrace, drying her tears with the sleeve of her dress.

  “Oh Akasha, It’s not the end of the world.” Wasn’t it? She had joined the legion of undead, and all her mother had to say was let it go?

  “How can you say that? Look at me!” Maharet just chuckled, running her fingers through Akasha’s raven strands.

  “Yes, look at you! You’re even more beautiful than before, alluring even.” There it was, the real reason Maharet was being so motherly all of a sudden. And it made Akasha seethe with anger.
br />   “I’m a vampire, and you don’t even care?” She shouldn’t have said the word vampire out loud. Up until this point, she was preoccupied with the trauma of her situation, and hadn’t noticed all the minute changes to her physiology. When she was sobbing into her mother’s chest, everything was normal. But now, with her mind fully focused on the source of her problems, time stood still. The strong metallic scent of blood infiltrated her senses and worsened with each beat of Maher’s heart. It was unbearable, and incredibly unsettling, to realize just how badly she wanted to sink her teeth into her mother’s prone neck. Venom started to drip from her fangs in preparation, but she wouldn’t succumb to temptation. She refused to harm the woman she loved so very much, despite everything Maharet had done to her throughout her life.

  “Pull yourself together Akasha, you look like a wild animal.” If Maharet didn’t shut up, she would seriously consider taking a bite or two out of spite.

  “Get out, Mother.”

  “Not until I get some answers. Who bit you?” That was the million-dollar question with no clear answer.

  “I didn’t get a good look at his face, but his skin was yellowed, and shiny.” Maharet stiffened, and that reaction didn’t go unnoticed.

  “Do you know something I don’t Mother?”

  “Did he talk in riddles and giggle at the end of his sentences?”

  “Yes. And he also rambled on about me paying your debts.” Maharet growled, using magic to hurl a vase against the wall, shattering it.

  “Dracula. That sneaky little imp bastard.” With her mother’s rage building, Akasha was almost afraid to ask, but she had to know. This man attacked her for one of Maher’s many grievances.

  “What happened between the two of you?”

  “Nothing that you need to worry about. I’ll take care of it.” Maharet spoke in a tone that suggested she drop the matter or else. After a few seconds to compose herself, it was back to business as usual.