Mortality: The Story of Mortanius

Chapter Seventeen

Mortanius began attending monthly meetings. True to Moebius’s word, there were many other splinter groups of the Sarafan Cult spread across Nosgoth, and within a few months he traveled to meet with some of them. He spoke with hundreds of people, discussing their numerous concerns, learning their fears and worries, and taking their ideas into consideration. Sometimes he conferred with Moebius, but more often than not, Moebius was busy on travels of his own. For more than a year, the two of them gathered and consolidated the scattered groups into something that almost resembled cohesive movement.

The vampires never questioned Mortanius’s activities, and if they noticed that he was traveling more often than usual, they never spoke of it. Even so, he made sure to return to the Home of the Guardians on a regular basis and stay for a few days, just to deflect any curious inquiries as to his whereabouts. Despite his numerous promises over the years that he would never willingly be turned into a half-breed, Mortanius had never brought direct suspicion onto himself, and the vampires had no reason to think he was actively plotting against them. The vampires were assured of their dominance and secure in their authority. They had become complacent.

However, contacting and meeting the various splinter groups of the Sarafan Cult was one thing, but organizing them into a rebellion was an entirely different matter. Most of the humans were still terribly afraid of the vampires, after all. Convincing them to actually take up arms and fight back took months of persuasion. It was only when Mortanius and Moebius finally revealed their true identities did the majority of the other groups truly comprehend just how powerful they really were.

Many of them had no idea that there were any human Guardians at all; most people who lived far from the Pillars assumed that they were nothing but a vampire religious artifact. When Moebius explained how humans could inherit the Pillars – and the magical powers bestowed by them – the last of the splinter groups agreed to unite. Mortanius and Moebius became a symbol of injustice: humans being turned against their will to serve the vampires’ desires. But the knowledge that the human race had something to physically gain by rebellion, aside from simply getting rid of the vampires, was enough to truly motivate them.

Members of the Cult were carefully moved into vital areas to prepare for the upcoming rebellion. More than half of the mayors of the largest towns were involved in the movement, and they even managed to get some of their people close to the vampires. Some of the workers at Romanen’s estate were loyal to their cause, and numerous workers and farm-hands living near the Home of the Guardians were ready to strike at Moebius’s command.

“What really is our main objective?” Loman asked them one evening as they shared some wine in Moebius’s hut in the woods. “What I mean is, are we going to drive them off or try to kill them? I can’t believe we could successfully kill all of the vampires, even with your magic to help us.”

“We must kill the other Guardians,” Moebius answered. “Janos and Aleph and all the others, including Lora and Romanen. Once they’re all dead, humans will become new Guardians. That’s the most important thing.”

“And what about the rest of them?” Loman asked.

Moebius said, “For now, the Guardians are our main targets. The other vampires can be dealt with later. But yes, eventually we’ll have to eradicate all of them.”

“It won’t be easy,” Mortanius said, leaning back in his chair. “Some of them live in castles that are very hard to get to. Even Janos lives in that citadel up north. As far as I can tell, it’s nearly impenetrable. The only way to get inside is if you can fly.”

“Janos will surely be at the ceremony when they try to change you,” Moebius pointed out. “We can take care of him then. Once the Guardians are gone and we have control of the Pillars, we can kill the rest of the vampires at our leisure.”

As Moebius spoke, he looked at Mortanius with a penetrating gaze, as if daring him to disagree or contradict him. Of all the vampires, Janos was the one that Mortanius would most likely call a friend, and they were openly discussing his murder.

In truth, Mortanius felt vaguely uncomfortable speaking so casually about the nastier details of what they were planning, but it was far too late for him to change his mind now. He knew when he first joined Moebius that a time would come when they would have to kill. Mortanius had known that ever since he was a child. If he had to kill the vampires in order to preserve his own humanity, so be it. Moebius’s grand proclamations about the destiny of the human race were a secondary goal.

The vampires were a dying race, so all he and Moebius were doing was speeding along their eventual extinction. That knowledge didn’t do much to lessen Mortanius’s feelings of guilt and betrayal, but again, it was far too late to stop now.

“And I hate to bring this up again,” Loman said, “but you’re certain that your magic staff can incapacitate them long enough for us to strike the killing blow? It’s not that I don’t trust you, of course, but it’s not like we can test it out to make sure it works.”

“Could we test it?” Mortanius asked idly, swirling the wine in his glass. “We could track down one of the vampires that live alone, far away from the Pillars.”

“Possibly,” Moebius said, “but it’s too risky. Like you said, most of them are hard to reach, and if the vampire gets away before we can use the staff, then he’ll warn the others and ruin everything. Even if we succeed, the other vampires would know that one of their kind had been killed and they might get suspicious if they find out we were missing at the time.”

“True. We still don’t know everything about how they communicate with each other. Even if we were careful, they might find evidence that we were responsible.”

Moebius absentmindedly ran a hand across his smooth, hairless head. “The staff will work. I can’t explain how I know, but the staff will hurt them.”

“I trust you,” Loman said sincerely. “But if something goes wrong, then ...”

Then they would all be killed. Mortanius did not doubt that if their rebellion failed, then the vampires would not hesitate to kill both himself and Moebius. They were traitors and betrayers, and the vampires would have no choice but to kill them. Mortanius had known that since he was a child as well. The other members of the Cult were well aware of the consequences of failure, and they accepted the risk right along with Mortanius and Moebius.

With all their preparations well under way, the only real question that remained was when they were going to finally launch the rebellion. The answer was simple and obvious. It would not be long before the vampires moved to turn Mortanius into a half-breed. All of the Guardians would surely be there for the ceremony, conveniently gathered in one place. That was the day when the Sarafan Cult would make its move.

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