Silence ruled over Earl Nuer's flying ship. The soldiers took in the massacre, their faces pale, their jaws clenched.
Out of the sixteen Chosen they captured, only two had survived. And that pair didn't even have well-established Red Powers. Their Powers were barely considered Red, and they'd mostly been captured to make up the numbers.
Now they were all that was left.
"What a mess." One of the younger soldiers sighed, barely acknowledging his dead companions. His attention was fixated on the Lesser Vampire, her neck twisted. The Captain had removed her heart as well, a caution that, while not necessary, helped the soldiers regain their calm.
Several soldiers were cursing at each other, spewing gases filled with hatred at the dead soldiers. How could they have been stupid enough to free the Lesser Vampire!?
Then again, nobody knew she was a vampire. Even the Captain had been surprised.
"The official records have her as a human. Her blood was tested no more than a few weeks before the Choosing." Captain Sibert grunted, his steely eyes locked on a small, bulbous crystal.
Beside him stood the Order's Wizard, his face as red as a cherry. Arcane words rolled from his tongue, filling the air around him with primeval energy.
The energy surged toward the dead vampire and enveloped her.
"She is a newborn. Turned less than ten days ago." He announced, his expression worsening as the words' meaning settled.
"That thing was that powerful as a newborn vampire? She was starving and should have been unable to use any racial techniques." Captain Sibert growled even before the Wizard could say anything.
"Yes. That means she was fed before the Choosing. But to feed her enough to starve for a week and still be able to use so many techniques?" the Wizard shook his head, "She wouldn't be able to control her thirst as a newborn and would have consumed her reserves long before she could have used any techniques. Especially in the Essencium cage."
"No. She was turned by an Elder Vampire. I don't know which Elder would have turned a young woman before the Choosing, but one of them did."
The Captain listened up at that "An Elder? What would an Elder want to do– forget that…Which Elder did it? What does the Mark say?"
The Wizard shook his head again, "The Mark faded with her death. It must not have had enough time to settle. Or blood. Maybe both."
"Netherworld's arse!" Captain Sibert cursed, "What now? What in the Netherworld are we supposed to do with all those corpses? They're useless! The earl will be very, very unhappy with us."
The Wizard turned to the Captain with a raised eyebrow. "Us? I did my part. To be precise, I did much more than that." He let out a hollow chuckle, "If not for me, you would have never found the Chosen with the Black Power. If not for me, your little earl would have never had the opportunity to force a Black Power into submission. We would have killed him right after the Choosing."
He smiled at the Captain, "I do not have problem. The Black Power is dead, my work done. You, on the other hand, failed to do your job. Your soldiers failed to ship the product to your earl. And you and your soldiers will face the consequences."
Captain Sibert stared at the Wizard for a long second.
"You can't do that." He clenched his fists, "The earl won't be happy with that kind of attitude! He will make you pay–"
"He can certainly try." The Wizard smiled lightheartedly, "But if he tries something funny, I will expose him and his dirty secrets. Sure, I will have to atone for my sins and accept the Order's punishment, but all they care about are the Black Powers. Stopping their rise is our greatest goal,only second to our loyalty to the gods."
Captain Sibert glared at the older man. He clenched his fists until blood trickled onto the wooden deck. Then he remembered something. A young man falling – no, jumping, – from the flying ship, and his fury dissipated. He let it be for the moment, and smiled at the Wizard.
"Do you think the Chosen with the Black Power die from the fall?" He mused, clearly remembering the special attention he and his soldiers had to pay to that kid. The Chosen didn't look any special. His body was well-trained and his appearance not too bad, but Captain Sibert recalled it again.
He was the kid with the Black Power, the boy they'd starved more than the others, making sure he couldn't try anything. And that very boy survived the vampire and leaped from the ship.
"The fall?" The Wizard's smug expression faltered for a moment.
"Didn't you hear? One of the boys escaped from the vampire's clutches. He was shot in the chest by one of the Heat Bullets, but who knows what his Power is capable off?"
The Wizard's smile was nowhere to be seen. He looked aghast, the blood drained from his face. He even went as far as to shiver, his eyes trembling violently.
"The Black Power was the one who jumped? How? When?" The Wizard stuttered, only to receive a shrug in return.
"I don't know." But the Captain knew. "Figure it out, old man."
Captain Sibert hoped the kid had survived. And that he would cause chaos. At least, that way, the Wizard would lose his head as well.
He saviored the Wizard's panic but grimaced when he turned back to the deck of blood and intestines.
Earl Nuer will have us executed… We failed. Is there no way to make it out of this mess alive?