Karl was frying the lamb heart for the mirror curse. The child had to witness the butchering of the animal. The necromancer had numbed the lamb to the point where it fell into a coma, then he had slit its throat.
As the blood gushed out like a fountain, little Elidys had broken down and had begun to cry. That was a good sign. It meant that his curse was a recent development.
Had it been something that had been laid on him since birth, his brain would have been inadvertently altered. He’d think that cruelty was normal, and then he would get himself killed.
He looked down at the toddler, his ember eyes for once not finding any mirth in the pain of others. The child would grow to be a little idealist, just like Eddy. Maybe the country would welcome him, maybe he would still get himself killed.
But after Karl was done with this, he needed to duel Aleric Stormcrow. He would need all the body parts he had preserved during his long life. And he would need to win, for if he did not, then it would be Edwin’s turn to battle the dwarf.
Old Aleric was older than he by far. A war hero, same as Karl. He wouldn’t fight alone when Karl would have to leave his undead legions here to protect the country.
He had considered handing them to Edwin, but then the boy would do something foolish like letting them pass on. No, Karl had picked Alaine as his heir in that matter, even if he had chosen Edwin as the next protector of Duria.
But there was a problem. The boy didn’t have a phylactery. Anyone could kill him. Maybe if that vampire of his could be separated from him for a few minutes, then Karl could talk him into helping.
Vampires had their weaknesses. The sun, something they could stand only for two hours and fully fed, at that. Beheading. Low immunity and hard recovery rates. But they were immortal.
And Eddy, in a stroke of brilliance, had found a way to feed vampires without human blood. The boy could have been great if he had the appropriate backing. As it was now, he could only trudge on in the dark and stumble on things accidentally.
But potentially that was for the best, mused Karl as he flipped the cut-up organ with onion rings and carrot cubes. Perhaps what Duria needed was a fresh perspective on things. Someone who used their brain, instead of blindly follow in the footsteps of those that came before him.
The smell became mouth watering, and he took off the food from the stove. Placing it to cool, he turned to the black-haired toddler, who was still glaring at him.
“Eli not like you,” said the boy, and he punched Karl’s leg weakly. Karl chuckled.
“Well, Karl likes Eli,” Edwin must be doing wonders for the boy because the last time he had met him, he could only speak two-words sentences.
“Karl bad! Fluffy was napping and Karl made a boo-boo on Fluffy’s neck!” Screamed the toddler, and Elidys gripped the fabric of Karl’s pants.
“For Eli’s health. Tell me, Eli, what did you want to do to Fluffy before I made the…boo-boo,” Karl grinned at himself using toddler speech. The boy mistook that for mocking and began to hit Karl’s leg with his small fists.
“Eli, stop that,” the vampire came and took the toddler away. Or tried to. Elidys was not letting go of Karl’s leg.
“Elidys Gothenburg, if you don’t let go now, I will make a boo-boo on another Fluffy!” snapped Hadrian and Elidys turned to look at him, betrayed.
“Harry bad, Karl bad. Eli goes and tells Eddy!” And the toddler was off and screaming Edwin’s, well, the shortened version, name.
“Did you have to kill that lamb before Eli?” Asked Hadrian, his frown a clear indication of what he thought about the practice.
“Normally, it would be required of Elidys to butcher the lamb himself. That is why I made him hand me the knife. He needed to feel guilty about the death, or the counter curse wouldn’t take hold,” said Karl with a shrug.
“It was a cruel thing to do in front of a child,” said Hadrian stubbornly.
“Does he not eat meat?” Asked Karl with a smirk. “And who are you to judge, vampire? You who has killed, and not animals, either, but humans.”
“Elidys is a child and…”
“He is a cursed child,” said Karl calmly. “But I wanted to speak to you about something else. Tell me, have you ever created a vampire before?”
“I will not do so. Eddy deserves to go out of this world as guild free as he can!” Hadrian’s back was straight and his fists balled. Who was this man to ask him to ruin his best friend’s life?
“But, if he comes down with something he can’t cure. If he gets cursed. Would you stand aside and let him die? You two are friends, are you not?” Asked Karl, amused at Hadrian’s affront.
“I will protect him!” Yelled Hadrian. Edwin poked his head from the living room and stared at both of them, confused.
“Something the matter?” Asked the hedge healer. Elidys chose this time to point at both Karl and Hadrian.
“Bad Karl and bad Harry!” Screamed the boy, and then he hid behind Edwin.
“Harry, you said something about bringing pain to an animal?” Asked Edwin in a dangerously low tone. Hadrian gulped and tried to smile, but his smile soon fell at the look of annoyance in Edwin’s face.
“Yeah, about that. Eli was misbehaving and…”
“Apologize, baddie!” Screamed Elidys and then he hid back behind Edwin.
“I am sorry, Eli. I won’t make any boo-boos to a Fluffy,” said Hadrian with a hand over his heart.
“Promise?” Asked the toddler, running to him and extending his pinky.
“Cross my heart and hope to die!” Said Hadrian energetically and they did a pinky swear. Elidys smiled, poked out his tongue, and ran back behind Edwin, who tugged the toddler’s ear.
Karl leaned in to whisper in Hadrian’s ear.
“Remember what we spoke of. If he doesn’t make a phylactery soon, you may be his only hope for survival,” and then he picked up the pan and went to serve the heart to Elidys. Edwin looked between the two men with suspicion, and for once, Hadrian’s lopsided smile did not put him at ease.
