Upir recovered from the shock of the blast of wind and focused her attention on the person who had cast the spell and Lehi.
They were still lying on the ground.
Lehi looked at the lady that had cast the dangerous spell. She had large brown eyes and long, red hair. Her skin looked like she was fond of tans. She was a bit shorter than Lehi and she had an aura of fierceness about her. Lehi was not sure what exactly had endeared her to him, but whatever it was, it made Lehi want to protect her.
Lehi stood up and held out his hand to her. She made to cast another spell but Lehi held her hands and stopped her.
“I won’t hurt you if you stay still.” He said, his grey eyes boring into hers.
“Stay … where… you are Rose.” Tira warned, fearing for her daughter’s safety.
So her name is Rose, Lehi thought.
Upir took her attention away from Rose and back to Tira.
“Where were we?” She asked, turning to Tira.
Kenneth looked at Evan, his mouth open in disbelief.
“You mean that thing did this?” He asked Nella and Theo.
They nodded gravely.
“And isn’t there a way we can get him back to normal. Isn’t there a spell we can use?” Kenneth asked again.
“We’ve tried,” Nella replied, “nothing works.”
“I think only abyssal magic can save him now.” Theo said.
“But, he’s a vampire,” Kenneth said, “and if he doesn’t feed in about two weeks he’ll be dead. I don’t think he can feed in this condition.”
“Aren’t vampires supposed to last longer than that when they don’t feed?” Theo asked.
“It depends on how old the vampire is,” Kenneth replied, “older vampires can last longer without feeding on blood but younger ones can last for two to three weeks at maximum.”
“How old is Evan?” Theo asked.
“I don’t think he’s up to a hundred years yet – maybe fifty.” Kenneth replied.
“We’ll have to get the blood for him.” Nella replied.
“Unless you want to rob a blood bank I really don’t see how that is possible.” Theo said.
“We can drain some bodies and transfer their blood into containers.” Nella said.
“Or feeding bottles.” Kenneth muttered.
Nella gave him a hard look.
“Is there a spell for that?” He asked Theo.
Theo nodded.
“But are you going to do that forever?” Theo asked.
Nella went quiet, she knew that if they could not help him, the only other option would be to kill him and put him out of his misery.
“Have you seen The Guardian recently?” Nella asked Kenneth.
“Not since the veil was torn.” came Kenneth’s reply.
“He has abyssal magic, he might be able to help us.” Nella said again.
“Doesn’t this Guardian live in the abyss?” Theo asked.
Nella and Kenneth nodded.
“Then how are you going to get him?” Theo asked again.
“The veil has been torn, maybe…” Nella started.
“No!” Theo interrupted her, “you are not going to the abyssal realm!”
“That is not what I was going to say,” Nella said, raising her voice, “I was going to say we might be able to invoke The Guardian.”
“But wouldn’t that be dangerous?” Theo asked.
“For the past few weeks, everything I and Nella have been doing has been dangerous, so I don’t think you should worry.” Kenneth replied.
Theo wondered if Evan, who was blabbing and spitting on himself was worth all the trouble.
He knew that Evan had met both Kenneth and Nella when all this Upir business started so he wondered why they wanted to take risks for him.
“He’s our friend Theo,” Nella said, as if reading his thoughts, “we have to help him.”
Theo nodded, they must have formed a pretty strong bond while they were together or perhaps they were doing it out of guilt. Perhaps they still felt that Agnes’ death was their fault. Whatever it was, Theo knew that they were serious about helping Evan – with or without his help.
“How do we start?” Theo asked them.
Nella rushed to her bag and brought out the articles for the spell.
She spread them out on a white piece of cloth which she had laid on the floor.
Theo stood opposite her and Kenneth took Evan and himself out of the way.
Theo and Nella held hands and started murmuring a song-like spell.
They continued murmuring until the articles on the white cloth began to levitate.
Nella started chanting with greater gusto. Theo soon joined in and they both continued till the chanting reached fever pitch.
Suddenly, Nella let go of her brother’s hand and stared into thin air.
Theo followed her gaze and saw what she had seen. But their non–magic weilding companions saw nothing.
“What is it?” Kenneth asked, confused.
Nella pointed at the place they were looking at. Nella and Theo were seeing the true form of The Guardian but after a while he began to appear in his human form so that even Kenneth could see him.
“Tony,” Kenneth said standing up.
“You invoked me?” Tony asked, looking at Nella.
“Yes,” Nella said, ” we have a problem.”
“The abyssal creatures?” Tony asked.
“Yes , ” replied Kenneth, “one of them fed on his intelligence.”
Tony rushed over to Evan and examined him.
“He was attacked by a Farmin.” Tony said, shaking his head.
“How long did the feeding last?” Tony asked.
“I can’t say for sure, ” Nella replied.
Tony examined Evan again.
“Can you help him?” Nella asked.
“To be honest, I’m not sure.”
“Upir … please…” Tira begged.
Upir turned a deaf ear to her cries. She had made sure Tira had given her all the books that were about Upir.
Upir took one of Tira’s grandchildren and held her by the neck.
“Now Tira,” Upir started, “how do you hope to remedy this situation before I kill you?”
“It has been over two thousand years now Upir,” Tira begged desperately, “there is nothing I can do!”
“That’s sad,” Upir said, “you know that means I will have to wipe out your entire lineage.
“No!!” Rose yelled.
“Quiet child!” Upir snarled at Rose.
Lehi held Rose gently.
“Leave me alone!” Rose yelled at Lehi and tried to fight him off.
Lehi’s grip was too strong however, so she couldn’t fight him off.
“I can tell you where your sons are!” Tira said, “just spare the children please!”
Lehi was surprised, Upir had sons?!
“My sons were destroyed you slut!” Upir said, strangling the child.
“But their souls were not destroyed,” Tira continued desperately, “I can show you where their souls are, at least so you can see them one last time!”
Upir shook with rage and another emotion that could not be detected easily.
“It doesn’t matter if I see them one last time or not,” she said, picking her words one by one, “the fact remains that they are gone and I can never have them back.”
Upir snapped the child’s neck.
Rose screamed and cried aloud, as did Tira and the other children. Lehi’s heart churned for Rose. He wanted to tell Upir to stop but he didn’t. He had no idea what was making her act that way, and he was almost sure she had a good reason. So he just stood there, casting a questioning glance at Upir when she could see him.
“Oh don’t cry children,” Upir said, “wait till you hear what happened to me. Wait till you hear what your lovely family did to me.”
The children stifled their cries for fear of Upir. It’s the worst kind of punishment you know, not being able to grieve for your loved one because you’re afraid.
Anyway the children stifled their cries, except Rose.
“Tell them yourself Granny,” Upir mocked.
Tira winced in pain .
“Tell them!” Upir screamed.
Tira nodded weakly and proceeded to tell the story.
Lehi grabbed a chair and sat down, it seemed like the story would be long.