A Shade of Vampire 84 A Memory of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,15

with me. “Her name is Eliana.”

What an odd moment this was. I couldn’t look away.

“How do you know?” I wondered aloud.

“I just do. I’m bound to her on a deeper level. Or maybe I’m just more alert, more aware of everything this time around. Her name echoes inside me. I’m Eliana.”

“Do you know where you’re going?”

“This is Roano,” Valaine replied. “I recognize it. Kalla described it to me before. The westernmost city on the western coast.”

It was a big place. Imposing, too, with suspended bridges over large houses and squares. Most of its buildings were tall, each yearning to reach the heavens, all of them competing to get there first. There were four watchtowers—magnificent things—robust columns with fires burning at the top. They looked to the north, the south, the east, and the west.

As we entered the city of Roano, I realized this wasn’t a pleasant visit at all. No, we were walking into a living hell, the city’s streets littered with Black Fever infested bodies. Corpses had been piled up in the squares and set ablaze, the meat melting off the bones as rolls of black smoke rose and spread out. Screams of agony rippled from nearby. Mothers crying. Husbands cursing their fate. Children begging for their parents to come back… but there was no coming back from the Black Fever death.

Eliana kept moving, maintaining a low profile as she snuck through the side streets. She knew where she was going. She’d been here before, but never under such dire circumstances. The city of Roano was dying, its Aeternae sickened and fading away with each minute that passed. The stench of death persisted, replacing the breeze and filling my nostrils with a sickening feeling. I stayed close to Eliana.

“She’s scared,” Valaine said through the Aeternae woman.

We rushed through the streets until we reached a higher level of the city. Here, a rounded open space waited, its pavement glazed with dark red blood. A battle was raging. I recognized the Seniors in their white silk garments fighting… Darklings. Purity fought evil. White silk against black velvet. Claws and fangs against claws and fangs. Part of the same species, yet fundamentally different.

Kemi and Mira were leading the charge against the Darklings, moving like shadows through the expanding brawl. Eliana stayed back, hidden behind a stack of caskets, some of which had been broken. The blood had already spilled from them, coagulating over the oakwood and turning brown. Aeternae heads littered the entire area, Seniors and Darklings alike. From what I could tell, the Seniors were winning, pushing back against the Darklings, unwilling to let them take what they wanted.

“What is this?” I asked.

“I think I remember reading about this,” Valaine said. “It’s considered forgotten history now. This was what led the Seniors into exile. The Battle of Roano.”

“What do you know about it?”

“The Seniors fought the Darklings here. It was violent and bloody. Innocent Aeternae were killed in the process, which is why the empire agreed to have them retire on the island. Well, islands, as it turns out,” Valaine replied.

“I wonder what made the Darklings come out into the open like this. Roano is clearly affected by Black Fever,” I said.

“Today, the city dies. It’s why the Battle of Roano remains somewhat obscure. The Black Fever hit it hard. On top of that, the Seniors fought the Darklings here. The remaining Aeternae civilians didn’t stand a chance. Roano has been abandoned ever since.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” I said quietly. Eliana moved away from the battle and kept to the side streets, going farther north toward the watchtower. “I can see the Seniors are trying to limit their violence to that particular area. Where’s the collateral damage?”

“Maybe we’re still early in the story, so to speak. Maybe the worst has yet to happen.”

Eliana took me away from the violence, but I looked back and saw Mira and Kemi running toward us. They shouted her name, their faces contorted with fear and horror as they tried to catch up.

“What are you doing here?!” Mira cried. “Eliana, no! Get away!”

“It’s not safe!” Kemi growled, picking up the pace.

But Eliana wasn’t having any of it. “I have to stop this!”

She raced up the stairs of the watchtower. The higher we got, the tighter the walls around us. I got dizzy following her up the spiraling steps, but it all took a turn for the worse when we reached the top. A fire burned here, but it wasn’t what Eliana had come for. No, she’d