Moonless - The Eternal Night

The Others

Orion

He died.

Orion was sure of it. So sure.

How many times had he escaped death? Fought against it, with hands and feet and teeth? Fought tooth and nail, no matter what came?

Only for death to finally catch up to him. Find him. In this dark room. In the arms of a vampire.

Yes.

He realized it. She had pulled him into her arms. Held him as he bled out. Absorbed his last drops. While he died.

Died.

And left behind an unfinished task. With no one to take it up. His men were prisoners like him. Those who remained back at the camp were either too old or too young. No one would take up the fight in his place.

Perhaps in a decade, perhaps later, a new leader would emerge, a new star.

But this one was extinguished now.

For Orion, it was over.

Struck down by a vampire. At least he wouldn't have to live with the grip of madness. The abyss of a blood slave.

Not yet.

The thought echoed in the absolute darkness that had enveloped him. Death. This must be death. Not peaceful. Not warm and friendly. Just nothing.

At least the pain left him.

It's not over yet.

Thoughts again. An echo in the blackness. Something in him rebelled. Why? Hadn't he fought enough? Until the end. Tried to lash out.

In vain.

I can still fight!

This is not how it will end.

Not with me.

I refuse!

A part of him rebelled. As he always rebelled. Because that's what Orion was. A rebel. Someone who would always fight. As long as there was a spark. As long as it was possible. As long as he breathed.

And he breathed.

He still breathed. There was still enough of him. Enough to resist. Enough to rise up, to fight back.

Fight.

Resolution surged through him. Stronger, angrier, more desperate, more powerful resolution.

That's right, boy. No parasite will ever get you down! Devour your light!

Never.

His senses returned crashing. Like a rubber band snapping into place, setting everything right again, and Orion was sure that he wouldn't die. Not today.

For he was warm. He lay in something soft again. Not as soft as before, but still. And the pain in his body was dull, steady, far away. From the raging, gigantic tsunamis, only gentle, bubbling waves reached him.

The red of light glowed behind the lids of his closed eyes. A steady light. It no longer smelled of ash and cold, but of neutral soap, and when he had enough control over his fingers to move them, something that didn't evoke a white, cutting glow, he felt sheets beneath him. Above him. He had been covered. In a bed. In an unfamiliar place. This was no longer the vampire's place.

For a few moments, his thoughts flitted to the possibility that he had been saved. That the rebellion launched a major attack just to free him from the clutches of the creature. A brutal war. For Orion.