Chpt 5. Bite Me
Trigger Warning: Gay Vampires.
As I return to the grove, my mind is racing with the thoughts of everything that's happened today. The sun is waning low in the sky and it may be best to start setting up camp. I walk through the Ivy Gate and notice a small trail off to the right that leads to a wooden elevator platform. It looks like it will take me straight down into the inner sanctum. As I approach I catch the eye of a chittering red squirrel who begins to charge at me. As it launches itself toward me I quickly catch it under my heel and crush it. Fucking rabid grove creatures. I scrape my boot on a stone nearby and continue on. The elevator is top level so I step on and pull a leaver to descend. As I do I hear the plucking of a lute and some unpracticed singing. I glance around, the inner sanctum is a verdant temple to Sylvanus. In the middle is their sacred idol, glowing with his essence. How that tiefling girl got her hands on it I'd like to know. It must have been an impressive heist given the attention the damn thing is getting. Around the statue even now is a circle of about 6 to 7 druids, hands held high in revere as their words echo the right of thorns. Who knows how much longer these people have before the ritual is complete. I finally notice Gale standing near a Tiefling bard under a tent overlooking the river. They are on a cliff's ledge that seems to be adorned with crumbling druidic columns just above the inner sanctum. As I step off the elevator platform there is a bear who was likely supposed to be guarding this entrance, but is fast asleep. I quietly step past, making my way to Gale.
When I approach he looks over at me and smiles, "You've made it back! We were wondering if you'd ever be done in there. How did the extraction go?"
I feign a grave expression, "She couldn't help, but I can catch you up later when we make camp. I have a lot to discuss with you. Do you know where the others are?"
Gale waves his hand, "Oh, they can't be too far."
The bard chimes in with a bit of frustration, "I appreciate the audience, but if you're going to talk could you please go somewhere else?"
We turn our attention to her and I lean against one of the ancient stone pillars crossing my arms inquisitively, "I thought a chatting audience would be expected."
"If I were actually performing, but I'm practicing and trying to focus. This is important."
"Why is it so important? Is someone expecting it?"
She glances up at me, "Do you really care?"
I give an offhand shrug, "I'm asking."
She looks down at her lute, and then looks at the lute on the ground next to her, "It's dedicated to my teacher, Lehala."
Gale puts a hand to his heart and he speaks softly, having caught the sorrow in her tone, "What happened?"
She doesn't look up, lost in the memory, "We escaped Elturel together. She was like a mother to me. When Zevlor brought us to these wilds we had such high hopes. But one night..." She 's silent for a moment, I see her eyes shift as she sees it all again replaying in her mind, "We didn't hear them coming, it was an ambush. Gnolls..." A tear tumbles helplessly to the ground as the very word elicits it.
I recall Zevlor mentioning Gnolls in the area, this attack must have been what drove them to the grove, "I'm so sorry to hear that. She must have meant a great deal to you to dedicate such a lovely song to her." The practice session sounded like ungodly caterwauling.
She shakes her head in frustration, "This song feels so inadequate, it doesn't say what I want to say. Like it's just ashes in my mouth." She suddenly gasps and Gale and I jump, startled by her excitement, "That's it!" She gets to her feet.
"Dance upon the stars tonight
Smile and pain will fade away
Words of mine will turn to ash
When you call the last light down"
Gale's face is soft and attentive, "She would be so proud of you right now."
Admittedly when she puts her heart into it, she is a genuinely good singer, "Evocative, well done. She was clearly a wonderful teacher. My name is Vash Neel, and this is Gale."
She smiles and laughs lightly as she wipes away a few more renegade tears, "Alfira."
Gale nods politely, "Pleasure."
I hesitate for a moment, watching her, I run my thumb across my beard lost in thought. My blood stirs at the sight of her and I feel my gut turn over. So sweet. So innocent. So filled with hope and sorrow. So fragile. Like a porcelain doll. What does she look like on the inside? Crack her open. Break her open and see. Smash her to pieces. Sift through her innards.
"Hey, do you want to travel with us? We could use some music on the road, and we could offer safe passage to Baldur's Gate if that's where you're headed."
Her eyes go wide, "Travel with you?" She grabs her hair and twists it in her fingers genuinely considering the offer, but I see a resolve in her eyes. Something is holding her back, "No... I couldn't. I have obligations here. I appreciate the offer though!"
"Obligations? Is it something we can take care of for you?"
She laughs and blushes a little, "It's not really a something as much as it is a someone."
I smile, "Ah. Understood. Well if you change your mind we'll be camped just outside the gate."
She smiles brightly and meets my eye, "Thank you. Truly."
We quickly find the others and set up camp right outside the gate as promised. Gale insists on preparing the meal for the evening, and once it’s ready we gather around the campfire to eat and commune. I take this time to fill them in on what I learned after getting separated.
Gale looks at me gobsmacked, "You killed Nettie?"
His alarm is understandable, "Regrettable, but she gave me no choice. The minute we were alone she tried to strike, saying she needed the worm for her research. The only way she knew how to extract it was to kill me. She even had the body of a Drow laid out on an operating table having pulled the worm from that sorry sod’s skull already."
Astarion sneers, "I guess we better be more careful who we tell about our little... condition."
"Agreed. She mentioned that Halsin, the last First Druid, had experience extracting tadpoles. She gave the impression that it was a procedure we could survive with a skilled enough healer. If he disappeared with Aradin's gang, then he's likely being held at the goblin camp. Perhaps we can find him and at least get more answers." I glance over at Astarion, "Aren't you going to eat anything? This is actually good."
Gale breaks away from studying the worm, "I'm sorry, what do you mean by actually good?"
Astarion waves his hand, "I'm sure it's fine, I just don't really have an appetite tonight. It's been a long day." He holds up a finger to keep my attention and then reaches into his pocket, "I do have this though, something I thought you might find very interesting."
I give him a curious glance and take it from him. It's a small, weathered note with a simple message. 'Kagha, Swamp-docks. Tree. Meet me. Alone. ~Olodon' I look up at him, "What is this?"
He shrugs, "No clue, but it does seem juicy, doesn't it? I found it while you were viciously strangling the Druid's last available healer."
I roll my eyes at his snark, "Where did you find it?"
"Hidden in the servants quarters."
"Hidden?"
He nods, driving the point home, "Hidden quite cleverly in a locked chest behind one of the bookshelves."
Shadowheart looks over my shoulder reading the note, I hold it up so she can get a better look, and she mutters, "We all have our secrets. This is peculiar though, I wonder what this 'Olodon' wanted with her."
"Do you think it might be relevant to us?" My voice carries a tone of sincerity.
She stands looking down at me, "Right now I don't think so, but it could be useful for leverage in the future, you should hold onto it."
I give her a playful grin, "Leverage? I didn't realize you were so well versed in subterfuge."
"Isn’t it a good thing I am? We're not going to get far by brute forcing our way through this problem of ours. Such things often call for cunning." Her face is sly and knowing, with the pride of a schoolgirl who’s outwitted the headmaster.
"I agree." I glance back to Astarion, “Good find, well done.” Tucking the note away I shift the subject back to the events of today, "When I left the grove I came across a dying man and his two siblings. The sister was ready to tear me apart to protect him but then he connected his mind to mine, the same way we've been able to connect with each other. He was tadpoled, unlike the others, and foisted upon me the responsibility of caring for them. With his dying breath he told them I was a True Soul and to trust me. At that they addressed me with reverence; I asked them to recite to me the nature of a True Soul. They told me we were chosen to be the voice for The Absolute." I pause to ponder back on the scenario, "If being wormed is what makes us True Souls then why would The Absolute be favoring people with illithid worms instead of simply granting divine power of her own? Whoever this goddess is, her schemes are bizarre."
Shadowheart softly grips her satchel, “What were they doing out here to begin with?”
I see her fidgeting, “They said they were looking for survivors of the wreckage. That these survivors held a weapon The Absolute wanted found.” I watch her face as the words sink in, and she is visibly uncomfortable.
“And what did you do?”
“I tried to kill them of course. We are clearly the ones they’re looking for, but I don’t know what weapon they might be seeking from us. I was able to dispatch the brother, but the sister managed to escape.”
Lae’zel finally interjects, “And you didn’t hunt after her? A poor warrior to let your enemy escape so easily.”
“She’s no threat to us now. If she does manage to survive the wilds alone and make it back to wherever the hells she came from, it will be her word against mine. It appears we’re already higher-ranking members of the cult given our condition. It would be no problem talking our way out of any slander she might try to spread. She’s nothing more than a heretic that tried to kill a True Soul.”
I feel Astarion’s judgmental eyes on me and I glance over at him, he gives me the most insincere grin, “You seem to be quite comfortable leaning into this role as a True Soul.”
He’s correct, being a True Soul feels like yet another missing piece of me that I’ve found once again. I give him a playful smirk, “I’m a Paladin, being a self-righteous prick is one of the things we do best.”
“Ha! Gods at least you’re self-aware.”
The conversation continues until we each slowly retire for the night.
The night passes in phases. I find myself sunken wistfully into the bowls of my mind only to be jolted to the forefront of consciousness again and again. How long I had been trying to sleep I don't know, but as I lay playing this tug of war in my brain I feel a gentle breeze brush past my cheek. As I open my eyes, I see Astarion, placing his hand next to me to gain balance as he hovers over my neck, his teeth bared, ready to bite.
He notices me wake up and quickly sits back to give me space, "Shi-", I grab his throat before he can even finish the word. He quickly grabs my arm with both hands and tries to pull away. I grip tighter. As I get to my feet I lift him into the air, staring into his panicked face as he kicks his feet trying to find any way to escape. I begin to pace the camp watching him struggle and after a minute he stops and the panic melts away. It's replaced by a vacant stare as he waits for what comes next.
"Out of anyone in camp you chose me." My heart is racing, and I feel a wild fury surge within me, "What about the others? Were you going to pick us off until no one was left?" Astarion continues to hang on, watching me carefully, "I could crush you, you know? I could pop your head beneath my boot; I could paint the ground with your gore." The images flash behind my eyes, a masterful explosion of browns and blacks from his oxidized necrotic brain tissues. I pull him in close to me flooded with excitement, giddy as I speak, "Would you survive? Would you walk around camp our little ruptured husk?" Astarion's eyes don't break contact with mine, this clearly isn't the first time he's been threatened to this degree. "It would be a shame. You're not just a vampire but an elf as well. Who knows how long you've been alive. It's grievous to see all that wisdom from all those years snuffed out in an instant. Decades upon decades and the thing that finally got you killed was a single moment of weakness and trusting a man you barely knew. Embarrassing." My hair stands on end with the prospect of such a beautifully tragic demise. Kill him. Kill him slowly. "It would be wonderful, wouldn't it?" I take a moment more to savor the idea, but lucidity creeps back into my mind, and I am struck with curiosity at this revelation, a vampire in our camp. Astarion is a damn good rogue, his affliction could easily make him more valuable as an ally. Or more of a liability. Gods I yearn to end him so deeply, but as if being released from a trance I drop him onto the ground.
He lands on his feet but is staggered by the fall. After regaining his footing he looks at me with alarm, rubbing his neck, "Good gods... What the hells is wrong with you?" He looks like a cat with wounded pride but no worse for wear.
My eyes grow wide, "What the hells is wrong with me? You tried to bite me! What made you think this would go any other way?"
Astarion looks at me indignantly, "You're a paladin; a beacon of justice! Killing the innocent would break your oath, and I'm as innocent as they come! I figured you'd just kick me out if you caught me at all, not monologue at me about my age of all things."
I throw my hands in the air, "Semantically that makes no sense, by right I can defend myself from a vampire bite." The halfling crosses my mind, I didn't seem to break my oath when I slaughtered him. Why? What really is the nature of my oath? I didn't even think twice about dismembering him.
He gives me a placating smile, it drips with honey, "I was betting on the fact that out of anyone in camp you could handle a little bloodletting. You're more than strong enough to take it and although the way I went about it was a calculated risk, I assumed trying without disturbing your rest was far more polite. Forgive me."
I stare at him, letting the silence stretch. I'm both surprised and annoyed that his attempts to stroke my ego are fucking working. I point to my bedroll, "Sit."
The flash of victory on his face makes him look more punchable than usual. He makes himself at home and watches me attentively.
I take a deep breath and start in, "How long have you been a vampire?"
"224 years."
"And before then?"
"I was a magistrate in Baldur's Gate."
"How old were you when you were turned?"
"39."
A taunting grin crosses my face, "Oh, so you were a baby."
Astarion scoffs with a half smile, "Excuse me. I was a ma-gi-strate, I worked my job, lived my life, just like any other Baldurian."
I continue on, "How often do you need to kill people for food?"
He puts his hand on his chest with offense, "I haven't killed anyone for food, thank you very much."
I do nothing to hide the skepticism in my voice, "Nobody?"
"I haven't been feeding on people. I had been planning to hunt in the wilds, maybe I could catch some Boar or Rabbits…" a pause, "maybe some Kobolds."
"If you haven't been feeding on people then what did you do in Baldur's Gate?"
"I had my food provided for me in the city. It wasn't as robust as wild caught boar, but it still wasn't thinking creatures. In all honesty you would have been my first." He looks down and fidgets with his fingernails.
I give an abrupt laugh, "Really? Very first? Well I'm flattered." Astarion and I share a brief smile, "Wait, aren't Kobolds thinking creatures?"
Astarion rolls his eyes, "Okay, maybe not Kobolds, I just didn't want you to judge me if I happened to indulge in one or two. I imagine they're quite tasty."
"I'm not going to cry over an exsanguinated kobold, do as you wish." I sit back and refocus, "If you had bitten me, wouldn't I have turned as well?"
"Not at all. I'm just a vampire spawn. I wouldn't be capable of turning you into a true vampire, or even another spawn."
"True vampire. So there is, or was, a true vampire out there that turned you all those years ago?"
The vacant expression seems to return, "Yes." He's unsettlingly quiet.
I wait for him to continue then shrug impatiently, "...and? Are they alive? Are they looking for you? How much danger are we in just having you here?"
He gives me a weary look, "I don't know. I don't think it's going to be an issue. I don't feel him anymore. Not since waking up with the tadpole in my head. Things have changed; I can stand in the light again! I haven’t been able to do that in centuries."
I note the wistful joy in his voice, "I'm glad you get to experience that again, that must be very liberating."
He sighs, enraptured by the mere thought of it, "In more ways than one I hope."
"So why try to drink my blood now? Why only settle for what was provided when there are so many people in the city? After 224 years, I don't imagine it's any small thing that this has come about tonight."
He leans back and looks at the withering embers. He's quiet for a while, "I was a slave..."
I am taken back and say nothing, I give him space to speak.
"I am bound to the power of the Vampire that turned me. As a vampire spawn I cannot defy his orders, it's physically impossible. While under his control all he ever provided me for food was rats and bugs. There was no way for me to try to drink someone's blood no matter how much I yearned for it." His foot begins to shake, "I don't seem to be compelled by him anymore. I think..." his voice drops, as if saying it might break the spell, "I think I might finally be free of him, but I wanted to be sure. I didn't just want to drink your blood out of hunger, that certainly was part of it, but it was more for curiosity."
"Ah, risked your life because you were curious."
"Again, I had convinced myself that you wouldn't be the kind of person to immediately kill me and look at how right I was! You're as good as they come. What's some light strangulation between friends?" His quips are smooth but laced with a hint of unease.
"Not much if you don't need to breathe..."
"Awww, did I ruin the fun for you?"
I give him a half laugh and then take a moment to consider what he's told me, then I come to a definitive conclusion on the matter, "Okay, let's do it."
"What?" He's shocked that I was actually swayed.
"Let's see if you can and if so what it does for you. I'm curious. You can drink my blood, just don't take more than you need."
"I-... thank you. If at any point you want me to stop just let me know."
"I will." We get into position; I lay back down on my bedroll and present my neck. Why was his master so intent on keeping him from drinking the blood of thinking creatures? What will it do to him? What will it do to me? How will it feel to have my blood drained?
A familiar scene, Astarion, placing his hand next to me to gain balance as he hovers over my neck, his teeth bared, ready to bite. As he does it feels like a blade of fire and ice piercing my skin. He's likely punctured my external jugular, and I feel him pulling the blood from my body into him. I smell my own blood as it leaks out and coats my skin, sticky and fragrant. I am still roused by the thoughts of crushing his wretched head beneath my boot and my body has a rush of pleasurable tremors course through it. I grip the back of his calf as he's bent over me and I feel him smile as he slides his hand behind the back of my head, running his fingers through my hair and then gripping tightly. Gods this hurts wonderfully, I could lay here forever, letting him take me away while I gratefully embrace death. It is not in the cards for me now however, so I start to do the maths. I am 200cm (6' 7") not including my horns, 115kg (~250lbs), which means I would have approx. 8 liters of blood in total, and I'm only willing to spare 1 liter at most. I am starting to feel a hollowness within myself, a waning of my mind. It's so peaceful. Given where he is pulling blood, a lesser major vein in my neck, and the amount of pressure he's using to suck, I feel an appropriate amount of time has passed and I gently place my hand on his chest, "That's enough." Astarion's lack of a heartbeat catches me off guard, I'm fully aware he is undead, but I like to use pulse to get a read on people. Astarion remains a tightly locked diary of his own experiences.
"Hmmm?" He immediately lets go and sits back, with an expression of euphoria plastered on his face, like my blood made him high, "Gods that was wonderful."
I sit up and place my hand on my neck as I continue to leak blood, "I'm glad you enjoyed it, could you get me a rag please? I'm a little too lightheaded to stand."
I note that he's staring at me with a post coitus glow, his eyes drifting across my body, lost in thought, then my request finally registers, "Oh! Of course!" He dashes over to his tent and comes back with a silken kerchief.
I place it on my neck and look at him expectantly, "So, how do you feel?"
He gives a genuine smile, "I don't think my head has ever been so clear. I feel powerful, I feel... happy." Even he is surprised when the word escapes his lips. As if he hadn't known that he might ever experience such a thing again.
"I'm glad I could help; I look forward to seeing you fight."
He laughs, "Indeed! Now that the truth is out, I can use all the tools at my disposal. Now, as invigorating as you are I'm still going to need something more substantial tonight. I'll let you get back to sleep." As I watch him leave, he pauses and then glances back at me, "This is a gift you know. I won't forget it."