A brand new short story in the Realm Walker universe is available now. Vampires in the time of the Inquisition. Read an excerpt below.
Keep your
distance. Don't look him in the eye. Feed him and leave.
Michael D'Augustino is a priest in the time of the
Inquisition. Marked as weak for his refusal to torture those charged with
sorcery, heresy, devil worship or worse, he's given another task. Feed the
prisoner in the cell in the darkest corner of the dungeon. With the edict comes
a set of instructions.
Ever obedient, Michael does exactly as he is told. Until the
night his charge doesn't eat and Michael has to enter the cell to find out why.
Instead of the beast he believes to be imprisoned there, he finds a man. A
broken, tormented man who asks for help.
Excerpt:
Darkness recoiled from the flickering flame and receded
before him. There along the back wall a huddled form. Michael’s pulse raced and
his palms grew slick with moisture. He adjusted his grip on the torch. He both
anticipated and feared the moment the creature revealed itself.
“I can smell you, priest,” it said, without lifting its
head. When Michael didn’t respond, it looked up, squinting its eyes against the
light. Michael was careful not to meet its gaze directly. His father told him
the creature could ensnare with a look.
He was struck by how normal the man—the vampyr, he corrected
himself—looked. Emaciated from his captivity perhaps, but otherwise his blond
hair and dark eyes could have belonged to anyone. Any human. This was not the
beast Michael had been led to believe was imprisoned here. Was this another
innocent falsely accused? No, Michael had heard it kill and eat the animals he
brought to it. Whatever it was, it was not purely human. He needed to remember
that.
“You’re the timid one. If they sent you, they must intend
for me to live another day yet,” its abused voice croaked.
The creature’s words had an echo of the bishop in them.
Pointing out Michael’s flaws, his inability to hurt another as if it was
something to be ashamed of. “Why do you say that?”
“You feed me, heal me. You have never injured me.” The voice
sounded so pained, Michael cringed in sympathy. The creature detected it,
though it misinterpreted the cause. “You have no reason to fear me. You have
done me no wrong.”
“I am uncertain of that,” Michael said. “If I were a
merciful man, I would not continue to bring you food.”
The vampyr’s dark eyes studied him, the flickering flame of
the torch reflected in their depths. “Why do you say that?”
“They only heal you so they can torture you afresh on the
morrow. If I did not feed you, you would not heal and perhaps they would leave
you be. For a day at least.”
“Do you honestly believe that?”
Michael shook his head. If it didn’t heal, the bishop would
only torture it further to find out why. “Abomination you may be, but no one
deserves an existence of endless torture.”
The vampyr chuckled, a low sound, halting as if he’d
forgotten how to laugh. “Don’t be so sure of that, timid one. I can think of
many who deserve the punishment I have been given, even if I am not one of
them.”
Available Now
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Kathleen Collins has been writing since Kindergarten. And while her ability has drastically improved, her stories are still about fantasy worlds and the people who live in them. The rare instances that she actually finds some spare time, she spends it playing with her two boys. Three if you count her husband. She is currently hard at work on her next book. Find her online at www.kathleencollins.net
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