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S ebastian landed flat on his back with the sickening crunch of bones shattering against stone. The breath whooshed from his lungs and, for a moment, he thought he’d managed to overcome his immortality. Lights flashed in his vision and he felt his consciousness fading.

Yet his curse kicked in and began knitting the torn flesh and bone back together. It was an excruciating few minutes, feeling the bone shards creeping back into place and the white heat of accelerated healing welding them in place. He let out a low groan, which was met from laughter from above.

“That eager to get into the dungeon, brother?” Remus called down, only his face illuminated in the small amount of light that reached the dungeon stairs. “Don’t mind me taking the long way. You can take a catnap or something while you wait.”

The mocking tone made Sebastian’s teeth itch to retort, but any words were cut short by the snap of his femur shifting back into place. He let out a piercing scream of pain, which only earned him more laughter from above.

While Remus slowly made his way down the perilous stairs, Sebastian managed to sit up and begin breathing again.

Another minute passed and he could stand, albeit leaning against the slimy stone wall.

He watched his brother’s flashlight bob closer and closer, until the two men stood side-by-side.

“I see you’re up,” Remus snarked. “Alright, then. Fourth cell on the left.”

They passed three gaping black mouths of crumbling stone and entered the fourth, where Remus began casting his light around in search of the secret entrance.

“It should have a small carving in one of the stones…” he muttered, running his fingers over the walls. “Ah, here we go. Hold the flashlight.”

Sebastian accepted the light and pointed it at the stone Remus indicated, while the other vampire opened a vial of blood and dipped his finger into it.

He then traced the outline of the carving, a simple dragon, with the blood.

The room began to rumble and the wall dropped halfway into the ground, revealing a small bowl carved into the top of the stone.

Remus poured the remaining blood into the indentation, and it quickly soaked in.

With another rumble, the wall lowered completely and allowed the pair to enter.

No sooner had they passed the threshold than another rumble heralded the closing of the entrance.

“Don’t worry. I brought two vials,” Remus said, despite Sebastian showing no signs of worry.

Wonder, though? The still-burning lights of the enchanted torches lining the hallway reflected in his wonder-filled eyes.

There was a sense of reverence he felt as he walked down the stone passage toward what promised to be an untapped treasure trove of forgotten knowledge.

The air was cool, but dry, as if some enchantment had been placed on the space to keep the climate right for preserving ancient texts.

There probably was such an enchantment. His vampiric ancestors held a far stronger power than the modern day Turns, for whatever reason.

Perhaps the books inside held the answer to that question as well?

They turned a corner and the passage opened into a massive cavern, lined floor-to-ceiling with rows and rows of shelves filled with leather bound tomes.

“There better be some sort of organization system, or we’re going to be here for an eternity,” Sebastian groaned, staring at the thousands upon thousands of books.

The thought of having to search them manually for the information he needed was nearly enough to make him give up.

Maybe it would be better to just destroy the paintings than continue to fight for another solution?

It made him sick to consider, but so did knowing Isabel would continue to suffer until he acted.

Remus nodded, but walked past Sebastian into the library with glittering eyes. “This is the most amazing place I’ve ever seen,” he whispered with reverence dripping from his words. “I can’t believe our people would leave so much knowledge behind to rot.”

“It’s not like the coven was just moving because they got tired of the scenery,” Sebastian replied.

His eyes swept up toward the cavern’s ceiling and found it had been elegantly painted to look like the heavens.

The moon and stars even gave off light. “If we manage to stumble across the book explaining how they’ve kept these torches burning and those stars shining for a thousand years, we’re taking that knowledge with us, too. ”

“Agreed.”

And with that, the search began. Sebastian walked over to the closest set of shelves, while Remus disappeared into the maze of stacks.

The wood was carved with delicate scrollwork, still pristine after all these years.

He was almost unwilling to touch it, should his fingers somehow mar the craftsmanship.

But with his mind focused intently on the information he needed to find, he began pulling books out, observing their contents, and putting them back.

While putting the third book back on the shelf, his hand brushed the wood and he had the strangest sensation that he was looking in the wrong place. His head tilted slightly and he purposefully pressed his palm to the wood again. Not here, he distinctly felt.

Well, that was strange. But perhaps helpful? He gripped the end of the next set of shelves, only to get the same feeling. “Hm. I guess it would take less time to test this by just touching each set of stacks than to attempt to figure out the theme of them,” he whispered, and began doing just that.

Ten minutes passed, then fifteen, thirty, and an hour.

Sebastian considered giving up and just believing he was making up the feeling, but then…

it changed. His hand rested on yet another shelf and this time, a feeling like warm static tingled in his palm.

His heart fluttered and he began trailing his fingers along the shelf, feeling the tingling grow stronger.

Here, he felt, and stopped in front of a book titled Vampyre Majik.

“Well, that sounds like the one,” he said, and pulled the book from the shelf. It was large and heavy, and its cover was intricately decorated with jewels. Sebastian carried it to one of the many small tables dotting the library space and gently set it down, afraid to damage it.

He opened the cover and found a beautiful illustration just inside, the colors just as bright as the day it was painted. It depicted the original Vlad in all his glory, surrounded by light. “Propaganda existed even that many years ago, I see,” he chuckled and gently turned the vellum pages.

Each magic type had an illustrated header followed by flowing script describing its details.

Despite the anxious feeling in his stomach urging him to hurry, Sebastian couldn’t help scanning each page and admiring the artistry.

Thankfully his magic was near the beginning of the alphabet, and he soon found the correct page.

Excitement flooded his veins, making his skin feel prickly as he read the words. However, it didn’t last long. “This is…the same as Victor’s book…” he muttered. In fact, it was nearly word-for-word what Victor’s book had to say on the subject. “No, this can’t be all!”

He turned the page and, to his relief, there was more. But rather than giving him the escape he hoped for, the contents only made his stomach sink.

Should the artist continue to paint the same subject without destroying previous works by fire, each painting will tear away another portion of the soul until no pieces remain.

The pieces will form a mirror of the subject, good for evil and evil for good.

The mirror will strive to reunite the two sides of the soul, even to the detriment of their physical body.

In addition, each soul fragment taken will shorten the life cycle of each reincarnation.

As of yet, no artist has entirely removed a soul to where the reincarnation ceases.

However, as the fragmented soul is trapped on the mortal plane, current theory is that the spirit would remain in limbo for eternity unless every painting of them is properly destroyed.

Sebastian sat back heavily in the chair, despair consuming him.

Futile. The entire trip had been futile, just like everything else he had done in his life.

“I found it, Remus,” he called out, defeated, and his voice echoed in the space.

His brother appeared at his side and Sebastian turned it around so Remus could read.

He did so silently with anger creasing his face more and more deeply as he learned the truth. “You’ve damned her to Hell, Sebastian,” he whispered, the anger more apparent than if he had shouted. “You claim you love her, but you’ve damned her to Hell.”

There wasn’t even anything to say in response.

Remus was right. And the only way to redeem her soul was to force her body to feel the burning pain of the damned.

“I don’t know if I can do it, Remus. I burned one painting out of fear, and even while unconscious she writhed in pain.

I don’t know if I can put her through that much torment, to drive that knife into her over and over again.

I can handle the pain, but can she? She’s so fragile. ”

“Well, we’ll just have to add that the burning causes pain for the artist and the subject to the update in Victor’s book,” Remus answered, his voice still shaking from the tide of unexpressed anger boiling beneath the surface.

He was carefully transcribing the additional information from the large book to a pocket-sized notebook.

Once he had finished, Remus closed the book and gestured to Sebastian.

“Best put that away so we can get out of here. We don’t know if this place has any enchantments that would alert Vlad that we’ve been here.

Best to be long gone if it does, and to leave the place as we found it.

” He shoved the notebook in his pocket and looked longingly at the rows of books.

“Good point,” Sebastian admitted, and carefully put the book back exactly where he’d found it.

He watched Remus for a moment and sighed.

“I wish we could stay and read them all, too. But right now, the woman we love is in danger. Maybe in the future we can find a way to make this place accessible to everyone, regardless of coven.”

Remus took a deep breath, nodded, and together the two of them left the library.

The door at the end of the tunnel opened the same as the way in, and this time Sebastian very carefully navigated the stairs.

Once the two emerged under the night sky, Remus flicked off his flashlight and turned his back to his brother.

“Well, now you have your answer. My job was to keep you from getting us all killed, and I’ve done that.

So what you do next is entirely your problem.

I’m going home.” Without a further word, Remus disappeared at full vampiric speed into the darkness, leaving Sebastian alone in the crumbling ruins of his ancestral home.

The weight of his failure and what he had to do next pulled Sebastian to his knees.

He clutched his stomach with both arms and curled up so tightly that his forehead nearly touched the ground.

“Forgive me,” he murmured as he rocked back and forth, his emotions overwhelming in scope. “My only Muse, forgive me…”