give me a minute. We may never get a chance to observe something like this again.”
“I’m going to have nightmares for months,” complained his friend. “In my ideal world, I would never see anything remotely like this ever again.” His eyes fixed on the body parts. “They keep moving, ugh.”
Will heard a strange noise from Tiny’s throat. “Are you all right?”
Tiny gagged. “It’s the smell. I think I’m going to lose my supper.”
He scowled at the big warrior. “Don’t you dare. That meal was a work of art. Go stand a little farther away if it bothers you too much. The smell will be worse when it starts burning.” Will still had vivid memories of the stench of burning flesh from when he had set fire to the enemy camp in Barrowden. It wasn’t the sort of thing one forgot, but fortunately he didn’t have a sensitive gag reflex.
Despite his warning, he heard Tiny begin to retch into one of the ornamental bushes planted in the exquisitely maintained garden. Will kept his attention on the pile of flesh in front of him. It’s definitely separating, he observed. The parts can tell the difference between self and other.
The movements were slower as well, as though the vampiric flesh was beginning to run out of energy, like a clockwork music box whose spring was winding down. It wasn’t too surprising. They were trying to heal from a massive trauma, and almost all their vital fluids had spilled out. Would they eventually die without nourishment, as the fae did if cut off from Faerie? He had too many questions.
Will activated the limnthal and asked the ring a question. “Do you think it’s safe to store a pile of vampire flesh inside the limnthal?”
For once, Arrogan didn’t immediately respond with sarcasm. In fact, the ring took several seconds to process what Will had said before it answered. “So many questions. I’m assuming you need a quick decision?”
“Yes,” said Will. “I’m not in a safe place.”
“If you still have some of the clay jars in there, one of the big ones that I kept water in should do. Dump it out, put your, uh—sample inside. Be careful, though. If you’re injured or have cuts don’t let any of the vital fluids get on your skin. If it mixes with your blood, you’ll have a whole new set of problems. Seal the top with a heavy piece of cloth and tie it tightly around the neck. If any light gets inside it will destroy your vampire.”
“It’s dark out right now.”
“Not here, moron. Inside the limnthal. It might be daytime in there.”
That brought a dozen more questions into his head, but there wasn’t time. “You said the blood is dangerous. I didn’t get cut or bitten this time, but suppose I do—is there a treatment?”
“Sure. Tell your friends to leave you out for the next sunrise, then put a knife in your heart. That will keep you still until the sun comes up. It takes a few days before you start regenerating the way they do.”
“Anything less fatal?”
“A blood-cleanse potion will work, but only if given within an hour or so. After that, it will just make you feel sick before you finish transforming into an unholy abomination. It’s a good idea to keep a few of them with you as long as you’re dealing with the undead.”
Will nodded out of habit. The ring couldn’t see his expressions or movements. He actually had several dozen blood-cleanse potions stored inside the limnthal already. He’d made most of his money selling them to the school, and when they’d no longer wanted to buy them, he’d been stuck with the surplus. “How long do you think it will be safe in there? I don’t want to summon it out and have a fully functioning vampire at my throat.”
“If you’ve fully exsanguinated the creature it will heal very slowly. Hell, it might not even finish unless you pour some fresh blood on it. Add to that the fact that time inside the limnthal is a thousand times slower and I would think that you should be safe even if you wait a week or longer.”