Codex Mortem

A good service

Illre

On a second harvest's market, a young man heard a whisper. A whisper that made me hold my breath and twisted my guts.

It must have been a coincidence, but I had to dig into that. Day by day, I was more convinced it was her. She knew how to cover her tracks, and was good in hiding, I'll give her that.

As a New Dawn Aga-she used to be one of the best strategists. But she lost her true purpose and became weak, a liability to us.

Without the beast's help, I would have never found her. That pathetic exile, finally bent to my will, has proven himself useful. He didn't even have his fangs fully grown back.

Stripped of his title, no longer a warrior's commander, this former Aga was exiled into Midlands.

With his canines filed and the bite on his arm, he was a threat for all lowers. The peasants were afraid to hunt him down, so we managed to capture him. We used him to learn more about his kind, keeping him weak with moonberries infusion.

I remember when we pulled his fangs out, for him to grow another set. The pliers were useless, so we had to be inventive. We wrapped his teeth roots with silver twines and connected the strings to a horse chain. While he was tied to a tree, we whipped the horse's rear.

My mind switched back to her. She was supposed to be dead. Memories of that night are still vivid like it was yesterday.

The vampires took the bait and attacked the werewolves, providing the perfect opportunity. We marched into Dirae' s core and slaughtered those bitches. Many were heavy after the black moon, so it wasn't hard. Harder was to tear their limbs apart, to look like the nightwalkers' work. Despite the mission's importance, she tried to stop it.

After it was done, I caught her in the Midlands, attempting to run. We fought, and her sharp blade pierced my chest right before a raged werewolf charged.

My fingers check the spot instinctively.

She killed the animal, but it was too late. He already bit her. With tears in her eyes she took off, leaving me to die alone.

I can't understand how she survived, and I needed to find out. That's the only reason I can't kill her yet. And, perhaps, for the love and admiration I once had for her.

The woman that used to fill my dreams betrayed me, betrayed our kind. She stole the Codex. And she kept it somewhere close.

Without it, we could never end this misery. Our lives meant nothing to them, our daughters were taken at their pleasure, our will broken.

My own daughter, Mirabeth, was nearly taken. I'd rather bury her corpse than to allow her to be their whore. She knew it, and kept her waxed berry in her hair, ready to use it if necessary.

It was our custom, as New Dawners. We would not be captured alive. Of course, she had no clue about all that. Since I was betrayed, it has been decided that no woman should be allowed in.

I watched her for some time. She smelled the air and disappeared into the hove.

I dismounted the mule and walked slowly, with the dirk at ready. Stepping in, my eyes adjusted to the dim light.

At the right end, embers were fuming angry in the brazier. On the far wall, a straw pallet was filling the earthen floor and in the middle of the room stood a round low table, with a few cooking tools. A familiar scent lingered in the air. Her famous tea...

"Hello, Illre", said a voice that I haven't heard in 18 years.

"Endrine..."

Stepping out of the shadows, she motioned to the table.

I sat on the hard floor and studied her. She filled a mug and offered it to me, sitting on the other side. I eyed the hot brew suspiciously.

"Oh, you think so little of me!" Her almond hazel eyes bore into mine as she took a gulp.

"You are still beautiful. It's like the years didn't take your youth away."

"We change, Illre, life changes us all. I am not young any more, and I am not stupid. Why are you here?"

Shifting my position, I leaned against the wall behind.

"I saw the bite, I smelled the venom. So tell me, why are you still breathing?"

"I don't know... what I know is that you will not believe a word I say. So why bother to ask?"

"I loved you, Endrine, and all I wanted was a better life. I dreamt of our children, and I wanted a better world for them. Why did you betray me?"

"How we could ever build a better life with all that blood on our hands? How do you smile at your own child when you murdered babes in their mothers' wombs? Does she knows? We are more beasts than them. Can't you see that? Perhaps we deserve everything they do to us!"

I swallowed dry, calming my anger.

She got up and threw some twigs in the brazier, blowing at the ambers.

"What do you want from me?"

Always so curt. I got up and stood behind her.

"I want what you took. I want the missing page of the book of Hara."

"I do not have it. I lost it that night, the night I prepared myself to die. So I take it as you deciphered all the rest?"

Frowning, I thought about the book, and how I lost it that same night. No one had to know. My hand nearly touched her, but I pulled back. It all most hurt. " Is none of your business."

She peered over her shoulder. "Leave, and never come back!" she said. "There is nothing for you here."

Her cold words didn't stirred my heart any more. She indeed changed, and I had to do what I came for. Once dead, she will be out of my way, and I will search her place. I was certain that she lied.

I mounted the mule and turned back, whistling casually.

After a while, the stupid beast joined me. We walked in silence till we reached a small pond. It was clear the vermin had heard it all with his fine ears and knew too much.

I peered at his skin. It was fire red, ready to burst. We both knew what that meant.

I stretched the chain and he nodded, drinking the mixture of water with moonberries while I shackled him. His eyelids felt heavier, and he stumbled forward. The berries worked fast. It was the only way to weaken him when madness took over, but this time I tripled the strength of the poison.

"Let's rest for a moment" I said. We laid on the ground.

"So... Dawners were behind the attack, not the vampires. Is that right, Dawner?" He asked with a heavy breath.

I was expecting this. The lame, drugged werewolf was anything but scary right now.

My fist collided with his arm, where the bite was. Pus exploded as he groaned hard, twisting in agony. I straddled him and took my time slitting his throat.

Blood gargled in his mouth with steam rising from its warmth. At the end, I buried my dirk into his heart, and he died with his eyes wide open.

All I had to do was waiting. I will have that code. I knew it was there, somewhere. Soon, it will be over. Once she drinks, my path will be clear, and I will search the place in detail.

I cleaned the blade on his sleeve.

"Thank you for your service, Jayce!"

.....