Sky, take the blood of this strong one
Allow me to ride in your clouds
Unseen by others, unknown to others.
He scooped more blood and rotated in a counterclockwise manner, flinging the blood west, east, south and north. His hands came up stained with the blood of his victim. The blood was on his robes and in his beard. He began another set of complicated patterns.
Lastly, he opened the crystal ball at the top of his staff and scooped up blood directly from the victim’s chest to fill the chamber. When he had enough, he closed the crystal ball. He took the heart he had removed and placed it carefully in the eye of the staff, then closed and locked that chamber as well.
Stepping away from the altar, he walked out to the surrounding forest, a pleased smile on his face. “I will return Xaviero with the blood of the royals. We both will walk out of here free.”
Afanasiv could make out Xaviero sitting in the shadows, rocking back and forth as if in terrible pain. Xavier strode boldly up to a tree that looked decidedly familiar. It was one close to the inn where Afanasiv and his brethren were staying. This tree was slightly different. The trunk and branches were twisted and darker in appearance.
Xavier tapped the staff to the earth’s floor three times and then raised it toward the sky three times. He walked in a circle counterclockwise, not around the tree but in front of it.
I call on all that is unholy to aid me this night
I seek revenge on those who would put me in such a plight
Come forth out of your hiding places
Shed light on my enemies’ faces
I must walk above to achieve my goal
Open for me a large portal.
In front of Xavier, a tear in the fabric in the walls between the underworld and aboveground appeared. It looked to Afanasiv like a giant archway. Xavier stroked his beard and then started forward. Before he could step through, another voice stopped him.
“You will remember who you serve, Xavier. If you fail to keep your staff with you, my army will reacquire you immediately. If you fail to answer when I call, you will die immediately. Do not believe that because you are aboveground that you can escape me. That would be very foolish thinking.”
“I understand fully, mistress.” Xavier bowed low and then turned back to the portal. With great confidence, he stepped through.
“You had better,” the voice followed him. “If you lose your staff, you will come straight back to me.”
As Afanasiv was gathering the information for Vasilisa, she was stalling Xavier and doing her best to keep his attention centered on her.
“How did they force you, Aunt? You have always been the strongest among us. When there was no one to aid my dying mother, you fought off the attackers and kept them from violating her body. You did that with no one to aid you.” Vasilisa didn’t have to reach for admiration and love, it was right there whenever she pulled up the memory of Olga desperately trying to save her sister’s life.
Olga nodded her head. “Yes. I did try so hard to keep her alive, but there were so many wounds, Vasi, so many.” For once, there seemed to be genuine sorrow—or maybe Vasilisa just wanted there to be. “Before she died, Bronya told me how extraordinary you are and how I must guard you at all times and continue teaching you to fight. I was to encourage you in learning all sorts of defensive and offensive techniques. She told me you hold the soul of a Carpathian and must guard it at all times. That it was a sacred trust, and no matter what, you had to be up to the task.”
Olga’s expression turned crafty the moment she mentioned the soul of the Carpathian. “Maybe you can barter with that soul. It’s onlyhalf, in any case. Maybe the mage would take that in return for our lives.”
“Why would I want half a soul when I already have two whole ones right here?” Xavier snarled, but there was no way for him to contain the look of pure glee. The blood in the crystal ball swirled around like mad. Suddenly, the heart began to beat a fast rhythm.
Afanasiv found the overly loud beat distracting. The rapid heartbeat thundered in his ears and roared out a challenge as he backed out of Xavier carefully.
Olga pleaded with the mage. “Don’t kill me, please. Take the soul of the Carpathian instead. Vasi, give it to him now.”
Xavier pretended to consider that. He shook his head a couple of times, looked off into the forest as if contemplating, frowned and then sighed. “Oh, all right, then. Hand it over to me now, and I won’t kill this worthless being.”
“What would you want with half a soul?” Vasilisa asked.
“Vasi,” Olga wailed. “Don’t make him mad. He agreed to our bargain.”
“Yourbargain. I didn’t make the bargain with him,” Vasilisa pointed out in that same confident, quiet way she had. She continued to look at both of them, yet they couldn’t make her out. The snow around her was blinding white, as was the coat she wore. The white hat covered the dark hair she had fixed on top of her head. One moment she appeared there, and the next she was somewhere else. “I need to know why he wants this soul before I turn over my legacy to him.”
Olga screamed as the knife pierced the delicate skin of her neck and blood began dripping down onto the material of her blouse and jacket. She shuddered and shook, opened her mouth again, and no sound emerged.