AN: Hello to everyone. This is probably the longest chapter to date, since it covers quite a bit, including the true reason for the strength behind Abraham and Vermundr's friendship. It also features the first time Abraham's telekinetic ability manifested itself. Like always, hope you enjoy, and are kind enough to offer me some feedback. Thanks in advance.
"Vermundr and I had received word of a town located at the base of a mountain range," Abraham began. "There were stories that it was frequently attacked by a gigantic monster. Continuing our roles as monster hunters, we couldn't just ignore the plight of this village, so we headed over there to see what we could do. Only this time, Cassie went with us, mostly because while she was finally getting used to having Vermundr around, she was still uncomfortable with being left alone at the estate. Thankfully, once we arrived at the town, we managed to convince her to wait at the inn while Vermundr and I went up the mountain, looking for the chimera."
Flashback
Atop a mountain summit, Vermundr was crouched down, closely examining the rocky ground and the massive paw prints that had formed in the hardening mud. Upon hearing the sound of someone gasping and wheezing, he glanced over his shoulder to see Abraham standing a few feet away, bending over with his hands resting atop his knees as he gasped for breath.
"Are you going to make it, Abraham?" Vermundr asked, a slight teasing tone in his voice.
"You try climbing up this mountain as a human sometime," Abraham grumbled, giving the vampire a half-hearted glare as he continued to try and catch his breath. "Let's see how well you fare then." Once again, Abraham lowered his head, taking in large gulps of air, so he didn't notice Vermundr moving until he felt the icy cold hand being placed on the back of his neck, wiping away the sweat that had formed along his hairline. Instantly, a grateful smile formed on Abraham's face. "Thank you, Vermundr. I needed that."
"Just tell me when you're gotten your second wind," Vermundr replied.
"No need, I'm fine now. So, any sign of it?"
"Tracks indicate that it passed right through here," Vermundr announced, nodding back at the large imprints in the ground. "Quite recently, too, judging by the strength of the scent. We're probably very close. Best start arming yourself now."
"Yes," Abraham agreed, unstrapping the crossbow from his back and loading it with a lead-tipped bolt. "So, are you certain that a lead bolt will be enough?"
"It will have to do," Vermundr said. "A story I once heard from a troupe of gnomes a few decades back stated that a human like you once took one down with a lead spear. Of course, unlike that particular human, we don't have a flying horse on hand. That means we have to improvise and work with what we have. Namely myself and your crossbow. Which means I must ask you, can you make your shot count and hit it in the exact spot we discussed?"
"The real question is, can you keep it distracted long enough for me to get that shot?"
"After all this time, you truly have to ask me that question?" Vermundr raised an eyebrow.
"Well, this is the first time we're facing a creature with more than one head. You'll have to keep all of them focused on you."
"Just watch me work, Abraham," Vermundr jabbed.
"There's a challenge I'm doomed to lose," Abraham joked in return.
It was only three minutes later that Abraham and Vermundr, concealing themselves by a ridge in the mountain, finally caught sight of the chimera, currently bent over a small mountain lake, lapping away at the cold water. The instant Abraham caught sight of the beast, he barely managed to hold back the alarmed noise that formed in his throat. The chimera stood at ten feet at the shoulder with two heads diverging from one thick neck. The first was one of a fierce lion with a thick, heavy mane and the other was a goat, sporting sharp-looking horns that extended back to the base of the neck. Instead of a tail, there was a gigantic snake with hard, calculating eyes that were seemingly scanning the area as a sentinel.
"So that's what's been attacking the town," Abraham whispered in shock. "No wonder everyone we tried talking to was too afraid to say much about it. It's like something out of a nightmare."
"It's not too late for you to back out," Vermundr offered. "I could bring you back to the inn; you could wait there with Cassie while I take care of the chimera alone. I'm sure she'll appreciate the company." After taking a steadying breath, Abraham turned to meet Vermundr's eyes. There was no trace of playful banter in his gaze and only genuine concern, indicating that Vermundr was serious in his offer and would think no less of Abraham if he agreed to it.
"I appreciate the thought, but I decline," Abraham insisted. "We're in this together, remember? I've been telling you that ever since Master Sandford's death."
"Yes, you have," Vermundr acknowledged. "That doesn't mean I haven't given up trying to make you see sense."
"Vermundr." Abraham gave a soft laugh, making sure to keep his voice down to keep the chimera from noticing their presence. "I'm a human who goes about chasing down monsters, with a vampire for a traveling companion. What makes you think I'm even capable of seeing sense anymore?"
"Fair point," Vermundr allowed.
As Abraham turned to glance back at the chimera, he felt the sudden breeze wash over his back and knew that Vermundr was already off to do his part. It was a good minute before he caught sight of his friend again, poised in a hunting crouch atop a rocky outcrop, positioning himself above the snake tail. After a few tense seconds, Vermundr lunged, latching his teeth into the base of the snake's head. An outraged hiss erupted from the snake's mouth as it started to writhe around, trying to shake Vermundr off, even going so far as to slam him up against the rocky ground. Taking advantage of the fact that both the lion and goat heads were distracted by the attacking vampire, Abraham quickly scrambled down the ridge and took a place at the bank of the lake, aiming his crossbow at the chimera, waiting for the beast's neck to be fully exposed.
"Come on, Vermundr," Abraham whispered. "Just get it to move a bit more to the left."
Still hanging on with his teeth, Vermundr finally managed to wrap his arms around the snake's neck, crushing the windpipe with just one effortless squeeze. As the snake tail fell limply to the ground, he leapt backward and landed neatly on the goat head, grasping at one of the horns to maintain his balance and to force the chimera to turn its head in such a way that Abraham would get a clear shot. Within seconds, the chimera's neck became perfectly positioned, and Abraham fired the crossbow, sending the lead bolt on a straight path to the shallow groove in the neck. However, at the last possible moment, the chimera moved, trying to jerk Vermundr off one last time. Because of that unexpected movement, the crossbow bolt completely missed its mark, piercing the right eye on the lion head instead. A roar of agonized pain split the air as the chimera bucked backward with such force that Vermundr lost his grip and flew backward into the mountain face, leaving a deep indentation in the rock. Lifting a massive paw, the chimera clawed at its injured eye, which was already starting to swell up.
Mentally berating himself for missing so badly, Abraham scrambled to load another lead bolt, but just as he lifted his weapon for another try, he realized with a jolt of fear that the chimera's remaining good eyes were all focused on him. Feeling the sweat start to form on his brow, Abraham took a few nervous steps backward, but it was already too late. With a terrible roar, the chimera lunged, jaws opened for the kill. Letting out a cry of terror, Abraham braced himself for the death he knew was coming. At the last possible second, something shoved him aside roughly and he hit the ground hard, scrapping his arm and the side of his face on the rocks. Gingerly touching the abrasions on his skin, Abraham looked back up at the chimera and immediately felt his jaw drop at the sight waiting for him. There, dangling down from the lion head's jaws, was Vermundr. Even from here, Abraham could clearly see that Vermundr's right hand was trapped in the chimera's mouth.
The chimera, growling menacingly, began to shake its head back and forth, whipping Vermundr around violently. After a few shakes, the distinctive sound of a stone being torn in two filled the air, and Vermundr dropped to the ground. Seconds later, his severed hand slipped out of the chimera's mouth, landing inches away from Vermundr's body. Gritting his teeth to try and ignore the pain shooting up his arm, Vermundr forced himself to his knees and began to reach out for his hand, planning to reattach it later on.
"Vermundr!" Abraham's alarmed and panicked cry drew Vermundr's attention away from his hand and he glanced over his shoulder. In doing so, he saw that the goat head was now looking directly at him, its mouth open. Without any visible warning, a jet of fire shot out of the goat's mouth. Even with his advanced speed, Vermundr was only just barely able to dodge out of the way in time. However, to avoid the chimera's fiery breath, he had to abandon his hand, leaving it behind to burn. The sight of his appendage consumed by the flames momentarily shocked Vermundr to the point when he was frozen in place, a perfect statue. The pause was not long at all, only lasting a second or two, but was enough to give the chimera the chance to bring its massive paw forward, swatting Vermundr right into the rocky outcrop that he had attacked the snake tail from. It was there that the chimera successfully boxed Vermundr in, cutting off any escape route by breathing fire on the two windswept trees that framed the outcrop.
Abraham had been unable to move an inch during this whole ordeal, sharing Vermundr's shock at how he had just lost his hand. Neither of them had realized that the chimera could breathe fire: the greatest known threat to vampires. For the first time since he had met Vermundr, Abraham was finding himself wondering if they had taken on a challenge they couldn't possibly win. It was only when he saw the chimera had successfully cornered Vermundr, placing his friend in a position where he was sure to die by the chimera's fire, that Abraham felt the feeling returning to his legs. Without realizing what he was doing, Abraham charged forward, running towards the chimera as quickly as he could.
"NO!" Abraham cried, holding one hand out as if he could somehow stop what was about to happen. As he continued to run, Abraham already knew that even if there was something he could do, there was absolutely no chance he'd get there in time to save his friend. Despite this knowledge, Abraham could not stop himself from racing towards the chimera and vampire.
And that was when it happened. Before Abraham's eyes, one of the trees that were blocking Vermundr's escape route completely ripped out of the ground and crashed right into the chimera's face. The unexpected attack forced the chimera to stumble back with a roar of surprised pain. Before Abraham could recover from the surprise of seeing the tree being uprooted with no visible force acting upon it, Vermundr was at his side.
"When you're ready, Abraham," he advised. Giving his head a quick shake to snap out of it, Abraham took aim with his crossbow and fired. This time, the lead bolt flew true, embedding itself deep into the chimera's neck. The creature let out an earsplitting gurgling roar and staggered to the ground, thrashing around in its death throes before it finally stopped moving. The moment it was all over, Abraham's knees buckled and he dropped to his hands and knees, breathing heavily as the adrenaline wore off. In response, Vermundr crouched down at his side, ready to offer Abraham physical support should he pass out.
"How'd you do it?" Abraham asked once he trusted himself to speak again.
"Do what?"
"Uproot that tree like that? I mean, I know you said that some vampires have some abilities that go beyond the enhanced speed and strength, but… you told me what your extra ability was, and it didn't cover that."
"It doesn't," Vermundr confirmed.
"Then how did you…?"
"I didn't. It wasn't me."
"But… if you didn't pull up that tree, then how…?"
"I don't know." Abraham was about to push the issue, but he held back when he saw the pained expression cross Vermundr's face. Following his gaze, Abraham's eyes fell upon the small pile of ash that stood nearby, the remains of Vermundr's hand.
"I wish you wouldn't try wasting her time like this," Vermundr spoke dejectedly. "You have to know she won't help."
"You don't know that," Cassie replied kindly, placing a comforting hand on Vermundr's shoulder. "Maybe she'll surprise you."
"You don't know Baba Yaga, Cassie," Vermundr said, shaking his head while giving her a small smile. "She doesn't do anyone favors, especially not for Abraham and me."
"Well, she has to make an exception this time," Abraham announced. "You're not going to be forced to live out your days with only one hand, Vermundr. Especially since you would never have lost it to begin with if I hadn't missed that first shot."
Vermundr and Cassie were sitting on the ground outside Baba Yaga's tree while Abraham continued pacing, waiting for the gypsy witch to reemerge from the depths of her tree. Nearly a full hour had passed since they came here seeking Baba Yaga's help. It had been Abraham's idea to take the impromptu detour to see her during the return trip to the estate after the battle with the chimera. He was determined to try and convince Baba Yaga to find a spell that could restore Vermundr's hand. When she heard the reason for the visit, Baba Yaga had gone off on a long rant about how their own recklessness had brought about the loss, and that they deserved to live with the consequences of foolhardiness. However, when Cassie stepped in and offered to make a special trip to Baba Yaga's tree with a basket full of Cornish pasty, Baba Yaga had grumbled incoherently before instructing them all to wait outside.
After a further five minutes, the door at the base of the tree opened and Baba Yaga emerged.
"I still say ye do not deserve this, Abraham," she announced. "However, there is a spell that will do what you wish. It will effectively fuse the hand back to your pet vampire's body. Since you no doubt will never leave me in peace if I don't agree to cast the spell, I suppose I have no choice."
"Thank you, Baba Yaga," Abraham said gratefully. "We truly appreciate you doing this."
"Hush your mouth," Baba Yaga snapped. "Where's the vampire's hand? I want to get this over and done with."
"Err… we don't have it," Abraham admitted, his smile vanishing in an instant.
"His hand caught fire during the battle with the chimera," Cassie explained. "It was burned into ash."
"ASH?" Baba Yaga shrieked in outrage. "Ye did not mention that to me. What do ye expect me to do with a pile of ash? I want the three of you off my property now!"
"But you said you'd fuse Vermundr's hand…" Abraham's argument was cut off by Baba Yaga's aggravated screech.
"That was before you mentioned that the hand was gone, you fool! Magic has limits! It cannot restore what is lost. Can ye return a burnt tree to its living state? Can ye reconstruct a rock that has been crushed?"
"So, there's no hope?" Cassie whispered in shock, glancing sympathetically at Vermundr, who had been silently running his fingers over the stump where his hand once was during the whole exchange.
"No," Baba Yaga confirmed bluntly. "Now for the last time, get out of here. If you ever come around and waste my time like this again, I will make all three of ye rue the day you even heard my name."
As Baba Yaga turned on her heel and headed back into her tree, Abraham opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by Vermundr before he could say one word.
"It's fine, Abraham," the vampire insisted. "Considering it was only my hand that was lost, I was lucky. I do appreciate you trying, though. We should just go home."
Without another word, Vermundr got to his feet and left the willow tree, with Cassie hurrying after him. Abraham on the other hand remained where he was for a few moments. No one was around to witness the sorrow on his face disappear, being replaced by a hardened look of determination. Before he followed his friends, he carefully plucked a piece of dried bloodroot from one of the incense burners hanging from the willow braches, slipping it into his waistcoat pocket, making sure it was carefully wrapped up in a handkerchief to prevent Vermundr from picking up on the smell.
Because night was already falling when they left Baba Yaga's tree, Abraham, Cassie and Vermundr had to stop and rent a room at the inn in a nearby town. Knowing that the townspeople would not provide room and board for a vampire, Vermundr had opted to stay out of sight to make sure no one there knew that Abraham and Cassie had been traveling with him. Instead, Vermundr was spending the hours until dawn monitoring the surrounding area, making sure that nothing dangerous came too close to the human populous. He was well into his thirtieth lap around the town when he suddenly picked up on Abraham's scent, which was leading away from the town. Wondering what Abraham was thinking in wandering around in the middle of the night, Vermundr promptly began to follow the trail, finally catching up with the young man a few miles away.
"Abraham, what are you playing at?" Vermundr growled, moving at vampire speed to block his way. "You know it's dangerous to go off on your own after sundown. What if I hadn't come across your scent trail?"
"Sorry, Vermundr," Abraham replied, not sounding sorry at all. "There was something I had to do alone."
"Are you absolutely insane? Do you even remember what almost happened today? The chimera would have killed you if I hadn't pushed you out of the way in time. Don't think that I'm holding a grudge over it, because I think it was worth it, but I gave up a hand to save your life, human! You running off to Baba Yaga made me think you appreciated what I had to give up for you. And now you're heading off somewhere in the middle of the night by yourself?"
"Vermundr," Abraham said, sounding suddenly triumphant. "That's exactly why I'm doing this. Because I did appreciate what you gave up in order to help me. And this is me, returning that favor." With no further warning, Abraham pulled his hand out of his waistcoat pocket, pulling out a handful of the dried bloodroot he'd ground into a fine powder. Not giving Vermundr a chance to realize what he was doing, Abraham threw the power into Vermundr's face. The response was almost instantaneous. Vermundr bowed over, coughing loudly before his legs crumpled. In seconds, Vermundr was lying paralyzed on the ground. Only his eyes continued to move, focused on Abraham in confusion and accusation.
"I'm sorry, my friend," Abraham apologized, grasping Vermundr by the underarms to drag him along the ground. "But I meant what I just said. I'm doing this to return the favor."
Cassie was sound asleep when she felt something hard tapping her face. Moaning in irritation, Cassie tried to slap the offending object away, but when it persisted, she opened her eyes with a huff. In doing so, she found herself looking right into the eyes of an irate-looking Baba Yaga.
"Baba Yaga!" Cassie cried, sitting straight up in her bed, visibly stunned to see the gypsy witch. "What are you…?"
"Where. Are. They?" Baba Yaga snarled, her ancient eyes blazing with unbridled fury.
"I… I don't understand what you mean."
"Abraham and the vampire!" Baba Yaga cried, slamming her staff loudly against the floor.
"I... I don't know," Cassie stammered, looking over at the bed where Abraham had been sleeping, noticing that it was now empty. "Why? What's wrong?"
"An hour ago," Baba Yaga said. "I was away from my tree to gather up pollen from some Nottingham Catchfly that grows nearby. Imagine my surprise when I returned home to find my inner sanctuary had been pillaged."
"You were robbed?" Cassie gasped in surprise. "What was taken?"
"A page from my spell book," Baba Yaga declared. "And I think ye can figure out which spell it was."
"Me? Baba Yaga, what makes you think I would know?"
"Use the common sense you were born with, woman! Ye were just at my tree not that long ago, looking for the spell that could fuse the hand back to Vermundr's arm. And now a certain spell from my book was taken, right when Abraham and that vampire of his are unaccounted for. Are you figuring it out now?"
"Baba Yaga! You don't mean… Do you really think they would take that spell?"
"Who else would take that particular spell?" Baba Yaga exclaimed. "Those fools have no idea what they're doing!"
Elsewhere, Abraham was clutching the stolen page in his hand, double checking the large magic circle he'd drawn around Vermundr's paralyzed body, making sure it was exactly as it appeared in the drawing.
"Okay." Abraham breathed, trying to settle his nerves, gathering enough courage for what he was about to do. "It looks like that'll do it. Now… now comes the hard part."
Taking another deep breath, Abraham stepped into the circle to kneel by Vermundr's side. Once again, his mind was plagued with hesitation. This was going against everything Master Sandford had instilled in him growing up. It was one thing to go to Baba Yaga for help, since she was the one doing the magic, but for him to perform a spell himself? Master Sandford had often told him that using magic was the absolute worst thing he could do, even worse than killing someone in cold blood.
On the other hand, Master Sandford had told him that all vampires were practically demons. But Vermundr was his friend. Someone he trusted with his very life. Even if Master Sandford had been right about using magic, it had to be permissible in this situation. After all, he was only using magic this one time to help his friend; his friend who had just saved his life yesterday.
That thought completely made up Abraham's mind. Clearing his throat, Abraham began to recite the spell that had been written on the stolen page. His voice in doing so remained strong and sure, until he reached the part he had been dreading. Abraham's voice trailed off and faltered. Closing his eyes, Abraham silently sought the strength to continue, telling himself that it was too late to back out now. He was committed to seeing it through to the end. After all, his friend was worth it. Even with those thoughts echoing through his mind, Abraham's hand still shook as he grasped the small hatchet that had been strapped to his belt. Breathing heavily, Abraham positioned his right hand against the ground before lining the hatchet up against his wrist.
Just do it, Abraham thought. Don't think about it. Once again, Abraham closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. Before he had a chance to change his mind, he lifted the hatchet and swung it back down, making sure to put enough strength into his swing to get the job done in one go.
Baba Yaga and Cassie were combing through the woods, searching for the missing pair, when they heard Abraham's bone-chilling scream of pain rent through the night air.
"Abraham!" Cassie screamed in terror. Without a thought, she turned and ran towards the scream as quickly as her feet could carry her. Baba Yaga followed close behind, but at a slower pace. While Cassie's face was filled with worry and fear, the gypsy witch wore an expression of firm disapproval. Even with Cassie running at full speed, it was still a good five minutes before the two woman reached the spot where Abraham's scream had originated. They immediately saw Abraham lying on the ground, unmoving.
"No, Abraham!" Cassie cried out, running to his side. Upon rolling the still man onto his back, Cassie instinctively shrank back, noticing his right hand was gone. Instead, a blood-soaked cloth was tied tightly around his wrist, forming an improvised bandage.
"That fool," Baba Yaga muttered, glaring down at the bloody stump. "This is exactly what I feared."
"Get him out of here," a harsh voice ordered from nearby.
Jumping in surprise from the sudden demand, Cassie and Baba Yaga both looked up to see Vermundr crouching a few feet away, his back hunched over with his fingers buried deep into the ground.
"I said, get him out here, Cassie," Vermundr snapped, a visible shiver passing over his body. "Do it."
"Vermundr, what's…?" Cassie's question was cut off when Vermundr's head flew back and an inhuman roar burst from his throat.
"NOW!" Vermundr boomed, glaring at Cassie in intense rage, his wild unfocused eyes completely black with thirst.
As Cassie recoiled, both from the sight of Vermundr's eyes and the harshness in his voice, Vermundr turned his head and pressed it firmly against a nearby tree trunk, causing the wood to split against the strain. Forcing herself to work through her shock, Cassie began to try and drag Abraham away from the thirsty vampire. To her surprise, Baba Yaga stepped up to help her move Abraham. Together, the two women managed to get Abraham back to Baba Yaga's tree. It was only there that Baba Yaga begrudgingly used her staff to magically cauterize the wound.
End Flashback
"So now you know the whole story," Vermundr announced. "Abraham cut off his own hand and used Baba Yaga's spell to fuse it to my body." As Vermundr spoke, Carlisle, Edward and Bella all felt their gazes drop to Vermundr's hands. Now that they'd heard what had happened, they were able to notice that there was indeed a slight variation in skin tone between Vermundr's hands; the left one was a few shades paler than the right.
"How does that work?" Bella asked in wonderment. "I mean, it was a human hand, originally. So… wouldn't it be weaker than the rest of you?"
"Yes and no." Vermundr spoke casually. "It is certainly less durable, as you've just seen when Baba Yaga's dagger was able to pierce the skin. But apart from that, there is no noticeable difference. I've still retained the strength and speed that is typical of our kind in this hand."
"But what about your hand, Abraham?" Carlisle inquired, noticing that Abraham appeared to still have both hands.
"Surprisingly, Baba Yaga showed us some pity one last time," Abraham explained, rolling up his sleeve and revealing what looked like a bronze arm cuff with an amethyst embedded into the center. With a wry smile, Abraham pressed a finger against the amethyst. Instantly, the skin covering his right hand seemed to shimmer and vanish. In its place was an iron prosthetic, held in place by leather straps.
"The second we returned to the estate after the whole ordeal," Abraham continued. "Vermundr locked himself away in his forge. It was nearly three whole days before he came out again, carrying this. He even made sure that the fingers could be manipulated, allowing me to hold things in this hand. In a way, I suppose that made us even. I gave Vermundr a replacement hand, and he gave me one in return."
"You mentioned that there were consequences," Edward reminded them. "Consequences that you're still paying for. Somehow, I don't think you living with a prosthetic hand was what you were referring to."
"Very astute, Edward," Abraham confirmed with a reluctant nod. "The fact is I used magic to attach a part of my body to Vermundr's. In doing so, I unknowingly forged the Life Contract; a rare but permanent side effect of some spells."
"What does it entail?"
"In the simplest terms, it means I am forever tied to Abraham," Vermundr stated. "I am sworn to serve his bloodline until I'm killed or the bloodline dies out. Whichever comes first."
"That makes it sound like… you're Abraham's slave," Bella pointed out. At these words, Abraham and Vermundr shared a long, pointed look.
"Well," Abraham finally spoke up. "I suppose that's…. one way of putting it. But we prefer not to think of it like that."
"Even if the Life Contract wasn't formed," Vermundr added. "I would still continue to stand at Abraham's side. After he willingly gave up his own hand just so I wouldn't have to live as an amputee vampire, how could I do anything less?"
Before anyone had a chance to completely process this information, the hidden door at the base of Baba Yaga's tree opened and the gypsy witch stepped out again. The instant she reappeared, a tense silence filled the air as Abraham and the four vampires waited to hear what she had decided.