Adrian Blackwood's Arc

Chapter 2 of 3

Adrian woke in the oak chest when night came. He pushed the carved lid open and climbed out. The castle lord waited at the top of the stairs, red eyes patient. "You slept," the lord said. "Now you owe me. I teach nothing for free. Prove you are useful, or crawl back into the wood." Adrian's throat ached with hunger. He had not fed. But he needed what this old vampire knew. "Tell me what you want," he said. The lord led him down to a cellar. A golden tree stood there, small as a man, its leaves shining. Glowing fruit hung from the branches. "An old thing," the lord said. "It grants growth to those who eat its fruit. But thieves have moved in." He pointed. A cluster of small green goblins crouched at the roots, stuffing fallen fruit into ragged sacks. They snickered and multiplied as Adrian watched, two becoming four. "Clear them out. Then we talk." Adrian stepped toward the tree. The goblins hissed and scattered. He grabbed one by the arm. It bit him and slipped free. Two more climbed his back, pulling his hair, laughing. Every one he caught, another sprang up behind him. He could not fight them all. He stopped. He watched what they wanted. Fruit. They came only for the fruit. Adrian pulled three glowing fruits from the low branches. He held them out on his open palm. The goblins froze. "You want these," he said. "There's more outside. Follow." He walked to the cellar door and rolled the fruit across the floor into the dark passage. The goblins shrieked with joy and chased them, tumbling over each other, out and gone. The cellar went quiet. The lord came down the last step, slow, studying Adrian. "You didn't kill them," the lord said. "I didn't need to." Adrian faced him. "You said prove I'm useful. It's done." The lord's mouth twisted. For a moment Adrian thought he would refuse. Then the old vampire laughed, low and dry. "Clever rabbit. Most of my kind only know the throat and the kill. You found another door." He turned toward the stairs. "Very well. I will teach you. Tonight you learn to hunt without a corpse behind you. Come." Adrian followed him up. His hunger still burned, sharp as ever. But for the first time since the fever took him, someone would show him a way to feed that did not end a life. He had bought his lessons. He had not spilled a drop to do it. At the top of the stairs the lord paused. "Understand this. My lessons come one at a time. And each one you will pay for." He smiled with all his teeth. "You are useful now. See that you stay useful."