Free Legends of Marithia: Book 2 - Darkness Rising by Peter Koevari

some distance away,
and fell to his rear in pain.
    “ Never try that again, even
if you are sick and weak, I don’t take kindly to anyone attempting to
take a hand to me,” she snapped.
    “ And… it’s not very nice
for you to attack the woman who saved your life.” she
continued.
    “ Saved my life?” began
Tusdar, “Why can’t I see anything? I can barely make out your
face.”
    The woman spoke firmly, “Your vision
will return to you, once you feed.”
    Tusdar laughed and said
cheerfully, “Feed? Feed is a word only used to describe animals
and…”
    His face turned serious as he reached
to his neck with trembling hands, feeling around until he found the
marks of a vampire bite near his spine.
    “ Yes, you are now one of
us,” said the woman.
    His face turned pale as the moon as he
realised and exclaimed, “By the gods, no!”
    Her next words were furiously spat
out, “No? Without our powers, your wounds would have never healed!
Would you have preferred that I let you die?”
    Drawing the sword from her hip, she
pointed it at his chest and pressed in hard.
    “ If death is truly what
your heart wishes for, then I would be willing to take away what I
have given you and grant you your request,” she growled.
    “ No, no , of course not… please, I am just
. . . surprised by this,” he replied. “Thank you, for saving my
life… I—I appreciate it.”
    Sheathing her sword, she helped Tusdar
to his feet and dusted off his clothes.
    “ Now, that is more like it.
Showing gratitude to your master is a far more appropriate
response,” she said, smiling gleefully.
    Sliding up her sleeve, she pulled out
a dagger from her vest and moaned sensually as she sliced her own
wrist open. Putting one hand on his head, she forced her wrist into
his mouth and vampire blood poured over his tongue.
    Tusdar thought he was going to be
sick, but instead, the taste excited him and his hunger overcame
his disgust. Swallowing her thick blood, he groaned with
pleasure.
    She stroked his head like a
pet as he continued to feed and spoke affectionately, “Take only as
much as I let you, but it will be as much as you need. I am Mestal,
a master of our kind and you are now mine. I will look after you.
You will learn to
feed and how to use your new powers.”
    During his feeding, Tusdar’s vision
cleared. He looked up to see Mestal’s face before him. Her body was
muscular and had strong features, but her face was feminine and
seductive.
    Reading his eyes and licking her lips,
Mestal smiled to reveal her fangs.
    “ Always stay under the
protection of the forest canopy as stepping out into the light,
even for a short moment, can kill you. After we hunt for a fresh
feed and are safe again, there will be plenty of time to enjoy each
other’s… company. I will show you pleasures that you have only
dreamed of,” she purred.

    The underworld realm pulsed with
activity. Shindar’s army trained tirelessly and the air surrounding
their tower was filled with the sounds of skeleton warriors and
shadow demons training in the arts of combat.
    To any Marithian who had seen the
underworld, it resembled a decayed mirror of Marithia as they knew
it; familiar to the eye, but it painted a dark picture of fear in
the heart of the beholder.
    Kassina walked the grounds with
Shindar close to her side. In the past few weeks, she recovered her
strength and she felt stronger than ever. As her strength grew, so
grew her impatience.
    The captured souls that were
reanimated in the underworld filled the prison towers. The poor
souls within were set to work with minimal rations, creating
weapons and armour. If anyone refused to work, they were brutally
tortured to set an example for others to not dare complain. If they
still refused to follow orders, they were reduced to blood slaves
to feed the vampires of the underworld. The worst dissentients
became target practice for Shindar’s army. Shindar figured that
letting those souls return to be reborn in