LEGIONS OF THE DARK (VAMPIRE NATIONS CHRONICLES) by Billie Sue Mosiman Read Free Book Online Page A

He managed to sit up and look down at his hands. They were young hands, unmarried by life, the knuckles smooth and the skin tight. He looked up at Balatan and realized he had disappeared.
    So this is how it is done, Mentor thought, rejoicing. We do not have to lie in old bodies trapped in a graveyard. We move into another body and use it instead. He doubted he could have done it without Balatan's help, but he wasn't sure. He expected he would have struggled for as long as it look in order to wrench himself free. Balatan had surely shortcutted the process, however, and one day he would thank him.
    The switch left him momentarily confused, so that it took him some time to get to his feet and stumble away into the night. He was hungry and deprived of blood. His old body had taken most of what made the new body function.
    Before the night was over, Mentor had taken a second victim, a drunk from the pub who had wandered out to relieve himself in the snow. The killing revived Mentor's youthful body and he was able then to get back to his empty castle where he could sit by a fire and think over what it all meant. A vampire had supernatural powers, some he realized he hadn't yet discovered. One of them was the ability to take a new home.
    ~*~
     
    Mentor tried to explain things to Dell. Dell's aunt, Celia Widen, sat nearby. Celia held onto Dell's hand and now and again patted it. Mentor said, "The Cravens and Naturals, just like the Predators, also need fresh blood, but their fangs only go into blood bags, not into the flesh of humankind. Without new blood with living cells, a vampire perishes. His veins collapse, the arteries shrink, the heart shrivels. Finally, the muscles atrophy, the brain softens in the skull, and the skin dries to crusty leather. I know this is graphic, but you have to understand everything." He paused to see how she was taking the information. She did not look as horrified as he expected. Probably because she knew some of this already.
    He continued, "It's a horrible thing to see a vampire die of starvation. It's a torturously slow process. Only lack of blood or fire can end a vampire's life. If he loses a limb, his cells grew a new one. If he's injured, the cells renew the flesh. As for crosses and holy water and the silly ropes of garlic necklaces—well, that's merely myth and superstition. There are far worse obstacles to contend with than Stoker could have ever imagined for his infamous Count Dracula."
    Dell smiled.
    "Deprive a vampire of new blood and he'll eventually dry to dust and be gone. Burn him in an inferno and his cells have no chance to renew and will turn to cinder. Otherwise, our kind, or at least our minds and souls, are impervious to the effects of aging, death, and destruction."
    As Mentor sat at Dell's bedside, he knew she struggled to come back into the world as a new being. That struggle was almost as difficult as facing her death or choosing which path her soul should follow. He imparted his strength to her, pulsing waves out from his own strong body to surround her, in the same way a supernatural human healer cured the ill by radiating energy through his hands. Soon he would have to leave. Already he had telepathically received pleas for his assistance from others going through the same process as Dell, and he must be there to guide them. The cries were piteous and urgent. Save me. Help me. Find me and take me from the arms of destruction.
    Mentor turned his attention fully back to Dell and saw she was trying to tell him something. He opened the channel and listened to her thoughts. You can go, she told him. I'll be all right. Aunt Celia will see about me.
    "Yes," he told her, "you will. You will be fine now. You'll find a way to rise and walk again. Your parents and your brother love you and want you with them. This is the dawning of your new life."
    One single tear fell from her eyes. Mentor reached out and plucked it from her cheek with his finger. It was her blood. He tasted it to