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“Can she?” Brandon asked.
“Most likely, but it is not definite. The thing about vampires is that we like to project an air of confidence. If you can make people believe that you are unbeatable then it almost becomes true. It’s a kind of magic all of its own, really.”
“So is there a trap we can set? How exactly do we kill her, because I think that is the only way we’re going to bring an end to this? I don’t want to just banish her again and have the problem come back. I liked the thought of living in a world with no vampires. The last thing I want is for us to become embroiled in another never ending war.”
I leaned back in my chair and wiped a crumb from my mouth. I looked at the meat on the bone.
“There are two ways we can deal with her. Either we can separate her head from her body, which Willow has already come close to doing,” I said, and Willow wore a look of pride. “Or we can try and entomb her in her final place of resting.”
“Wait, being in the tomb will kill her?” Willow gasped.
Peter and Brandon looked at each other, not understanding what we were speaking of. I nodded, feeling a little ashamed that I hadn’t told her this.
“Why did you keep this a secret?” she asked in a demanding tone.
“I didn’t think it was relevant,” I said, although that wasn’t entirely true. She knew it as well. Her eyes narrowed. I didn’t think this was going to be enough to form a crack in our relationship, but it certainly wasn’t going to help. I should have learned by now that secrets were never wise to keep. I held up my palms and took a breath. “Fine, it may have been relevant at some stage, but it never seemed like the right time. Before we became close I did not feel the need to share this with you, and then came the unfortunate episode where you poisoned and paralyzed me.”
“Wait, you did to him what he did to Amara?” Brandon asked.
Now it was Willow’s turn to blush. “Without the banishing,” she muttered.
“She had her reasons. She thought that I was some kind of monster. I don’t know what could have given her that idea,” I joked, although none of us laughed. “After that I was afraid that you might turn on me again so I didn’t want to tell you this vulnerability, and then we became close so I thought you wouldn’t need to know. It wasn’t as though any other vampires were around that we needed to kill at the time.”
“No, but-” Willow said. I interrupted her.
“I’m sorry Willow. I didn’t want to die with you, and after I turned mortal it became irrelevant. But the fact remains that it is a point of vulnerability.”
Willow shook away the frustration she felt towards me. “But how? Is it some kind of magic?” she asked.
I nodded sagely. “Do you remember how I told you that death was always lurking around us and that we vampires taunted it by making our tombs?”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t entirely true. We do use them to taunt him, but there is also an old pact between vampires and death, one that has been passed down as an ancient tradition. It’s something that none of us have been able to escape. One of the first things we do as vampires is to create a tomb. We may have more than one over the years, but that is always tempting fate. We carve the stone ourselves. Some, like Amara, prefer to make ornate ones that look glorious. It’s an affront to death. I preferred mine to be simple, hoping that I could just forget it and be overlooked.”
“But how does it actually kill them? Is it filled with spikes or something?”
The echo of the words shuddered through my mind. “Our sire binds a spell to the tomb, so that if we are ever to fall in and the lid is closed then whatever remains of our life force will be taken away. There we will lie, dead and buried, and from that there is no return.”
“And that’s what you were too afraid to do to Amara?” Brandon asked, although his question was just a whisper around me. I remember standing there in front of my own tomb. It had been raining. The mud was slick on my hands, so dark that it looked like blood. I panted. My clothes clung to my skin with a mixture of rain and sweat. I held the axe in my hands and looked down at the gaping tomb before me, looking like eternity itself was waiting for me. I was half afraid that Amara was going to condemn me to that tomb there and then. Instead she placed her ghost white hand on the stone and began to speak ancient words. They twisted through the air and I felt the tomb crackle with energy.
I blinked away the past and shifted my position in the chair. My gaze bolted upright. I cleared my throat. “I wasn’t sure how long the poison would last. I was afraid that she would wake up before I made it to the tomb, so I thought banishment was the safer option,” I said, although secretly it was because I could not bring myself to close the lid on her, at least not then. Now would be a different matter, I hoped.
“The tomb is deep in the catacombs of the castle,” Willow explained.
“Okay,” Brandon said, “so either we need to sever her head from her body, or we need to get her into the tomb.”
“I think I know which one will be more satisfying,” Willow said darkly, no doubt thinking back to their last fight.
“Is it possible to get back to the castle with that book of yours? I’m thinking that if we make our move now we might be able to take her on before she has a chance to raise an army of vampires,” Peter said.
I blanched at the suggestion, as did Willow. “While I can understand your desire for swiftness, I would strongly advise against returning to the castle. It is her domain now and it will bend to her wishes. The shield spell I cast against you is only the beginning of the power. I could have killed you all with little more than a thought if I had wanted.”
“Thanks for your mercy,” Brandon said, rolling his eyes. “So what are we supposed to do, just sit here and wait for her to come?”
“I’m afraid that’s all we can do, but in the meantime we can prepare. We can fashion weapons to fight them with, and we can build defenses. It would also be wise to create a plan of retreat as well, just in case there is a need for it. I don’t want the wolves to die because of her,” I said. It was the reason why I had banished her in the first place, and I hated the fact that all my hard work could be undone.
“There are some other packs who can shelter us, but I don’t like the idea of having to run from her for the rest of our lives. What about that book of yours, is there anywhere in there we can go that’s safe?” Brandon asked.
