Page 127 of Eternal Ruin
On the Origin of Dranacti
How do you know that you are good? Demasus the Fanged Lion asked.
When the loss of one soul hurts as deeply as the loss of ten others, responded the Last Sage.
You cannot be good and be a vampire’s companion. You must kill to share in my darkness.
I have killed, the Last Sage said. I have killed my own brother. Not to share in your darkness, but to know the pain I must cure. Love is the first enemy. It is what mutates to destruction.
Then we agree. In the end, taking a life is always necessary.
*A conversation in the caves under Semain Mountains. Not found in any text or record.
44.
KIDAN
There was a flush to June’s cheeks from the wind outside, light dancing in her brown eyes. A delicate red ribbon tied her long curling braids away from her face. At times, Kidan wondered how they could have shared their mother’s womb yet come into this world so drastically different. Maybe if they were identical, their insides would match too. June had no idea what had transpired a few minutes ago. That she likely stood on drops of Etete’s blood.
“What happened to it?” June’s finger touched the cut in the canvas.
“I came in here with an axe,” Kidan said. “Looking for you.”
A flash of surprise darted across June’s soft face. Her features smoothed out quickly, resetting to pretty and avoidant.
The silence returned between them. Professor Andreyas had once said silence was death, and Kidan understood why now. It was the quickest way to kill something—a friendship, a sisterhood, any sort of love. They withered in unspoken words for weeks and here they were now, almost strangers.
“All this for a mask,” Kidan said dully. “Will it be worth it?”
June’s profile was difficult to read. Her tone was familiar, innocent, just like in her videos. “Isn’t that why you want to master the house?”
“I couldn’t care less about the mask,” Kidan said. “I want to save GK.”
A frown met June’s lips. “Save him from Samson?”
That was part of it.
“I made him into a vampire,” Kidan said without emotion. “I have to make him human again. As a Mot Zebeya, he hates—”
“I didn’t know you’d met a Mot Zebeya.” June’s head snapped to her. This, above all else, seemed to hold her attention.
“That’s because you don’t know anything about my life,” Kidan said tightly.
“I guess I don’t.” June turned to face the portrait. “But you should care about the mask.”
“Why?”
In a low, haunted voice, she said, “Break the artifacts and break the Three Binds.”
Kidan cocked her head. “I know that. But why does that concern you? Why do you want to free vampires?”
Her sister scanned her face for something. “He hasn’t told you.”
A prickling itch started at Kidan’s scalp. “Who?”
“Your companion.” June said the word with a tightness and turned back to the portrait. “Samson and Susenyos didn’t spend all these years hunting for the artifacts just to break the binds. There’s a grander myth they are after, fromYe Abyssi Tarik.”
That book.
