Page 35 of Dark Reckoning
“I'll kill you all!” Emperor Martin charged at us, but this time, not as fast.
I decided to show him more of my power. I used my vamp speed to intercept before he could reach the dais and I conjured up a wall of fire that caught the emperor in its flames. Salino, Adrian, and Nakago both had to get back as the flames licked all around us. Emperor Martin flapped his arms and slapped at the fire that was destroying his garments to put it out. He snatched off his cloak, tossing it away as it burned to a cinder. It was enough of a distraction to buy Adrian the time he needed to finish the spell which froze the powerful emperor in the position of him in mid-run toward us again, claws extended and his face contorted in sheer rage.
I lowered the wall of fire, the heat of the flames disappearing as well. “Fuck!”
“Jesus Christ, that was scary, even with the protection spell in place,” Adrian gasped.
Salino's chest heaved a little as he observed the scene. “That was... magnificent.” He rose and stepped off the dais to approach the frozen emperor, gazing at him in awe. “He would have killed us all had you two not been here. His plan was to be the first to kill me, as I had suspected.”
“Well, even if we weren't here, you had that nifty barrier,” I pointed out.
Salino smiled and nodded. “Yes...yes.” He walked around the emperor, looking the man up and down and even touching him as if he were a fragile statue. “Is he aware of everything?”
I shrugged. “When I was frozen, I wasn't. It's like everything stops and you're in deep sleep. At least, that was my experience with the first-level spell like that.”
“I honestly don't know what he's feeling. The grimoire doesn't really give details like that about spells unless the spell is meant to do something like make a person feel pleasure or happiness,” Adrian said.
“Or pain and despair,” I added.
Salino nodded, then stepped in front of Emperor Martin. “Are you sure he can't move? If you're leaving to tend to Damon, I need to be sure I will remain safe from him.”
“He's not going anywhere,” I said, and pointed at the emperor who resembled a very life-like statue.
“I get that you're confident, but this is the first time you've performed this type of freeze spell. We don't know if it's a hundred percent effective.” Salino patted my shoulder.
“Now you want to doubt my magical ability?” Adrian asked with his arms crossed over his chest.
Salino smirked. “I've always doubted it, but I also had faith in it, if that makes sense to you.”
Adrian frowned. “A little. I mean, Sage and I still have a lot to learn, but once a spell in the grimoire is replaced by another, it means that we have mastered it. The book is our teacher in that way.”
I sighed. “Besides, we can leave this room, and as you can see, he can't. If you want to leave Nakago in here to watch him, you can.”
“But if anyone else enters, they won't be protected,” Adrian added.
Salino sighed then. “I'll take your word for it. If nothing else, I'll arm the barrier. I just hate to lose the three hundred and sixty thousand vampires under his command.”
Both Adrian and I made sounds of disbelief. “How many fucking vampires?” I asked.
Salino repeated the number.
“Holy shit,” Adrian gasped.
“How many vampires will you be in control of if you become the one emperor?” I asked.
Salino looked up as if doing the calculations, then back at me. “About one point two million, roughly speaking. I have over a hundred thousand now from Galan's line. Other emperors have more like Emperor Klaus Jäger, who has over five hundred thousand vampires.”
“That is a lot of vampires,” Adrian said.
Salino smirked. “Really? You think so?”
“Yeah,” Adrian answered.
Nakago laughed as Salino chuckled. “There are more humans in this city than there are vampires the world over. Our numbers are small so we can make sure our survival is guaranteed in our territories.”
“Okay, when you make that kind of comparison, I see your point,” Adrian said.
“Humans outnumber us and I believe that's why the best thing for us to do is to remain hidden from their world,” Salino said, and I agreed.
