Empire of the Vampire, #2
Empire of the Damned
by Jay Kristoff
Contents
VI. Best Served Cold
Overview
Gabriel’s attempt to resume the hunt for Dior begins with another painful loss: Phoebe has left Redwatch after their fraught night together. Fionna equips Gabriel with supplies and the horse Argent, sending Gabriel back onto Dior’s trail with a warning that his past enemies still matter.
Gabriel’s renewed purpose is cut short when silversaints track and ambush him near Fa’daena. The revelation that Lachlan, Gabriel’s former apprentice, leads or joins the attack turns the pursuit into a personal reckoning and leaves Gabriel captured or incapacitated.
Summary
In the tower at Sul Adair, Gabriel continues recounting his past to Jean-François. The vampire remarks on Gabriel’s painful history with women, and Gabriel explains that after the disastrous night with Phoebe at Redwatch, he found her gone when he knocked at her door the next morning.
Gabriel goes downstairs to the White Rabbit, where Sœur Fionna gives him breakfast, winter gear, supplies, and a cloak. Their banter makes clear that Fionna understands the tension between Gabriel and Phoebe, but Gabriel’s priority remains rescuing Dior from the Dyvok. Fionna then takes Gabriel to a farrier and gives him Argent, a strong Ossian tarreun descended from her old horse Titan.
Gabriel and Fionna part with affection and sadness, both aware this may be their last meeting. Fionna warns Gabriel that if he is going where she thinks, the people there will not forgive what Gabriel did to Tolyev. Gabriel rides out through Redwatch’s starving outskirts and across the frozen Volta, comforted by being back on Dior’s trail despite his troubled thoughts of Phoebe, Astrid, and guilt.
As Gabriel rides south, he searches for signs of Phoebe but finds none. Reaching out toward Dior, Gabriel senses that Dior is moving more slowly, giving Gabriel hope that he might catch the Dyvok before they reach their destination. That hope proves dangerous, as Gabriel notices a familiar mousehawk and realizes he is being tracked near Fa’daena, the Forest of Sorrows.
On the third night, Gabriel sets a decoy beneath his cloak, and an attacker’s silver-chained crossbow bolt strikes the false target. Gabriel kills the first assailant with Ashdrinker, but more attackers close in: a hound, gunmen firing silvershot, and silversaints bearing sevenstar marks. Gabriel recognizes the skill of one swordsman as someone Gabriel trained, but Gabriel is overwhelmed by coordinated attacks, silver weapons, and sheer numbers.
Badly wounded, Gabriel is beaten down while an order is given not to kill him but not to treat him gently. When Gabriel is rolled over, he sees Lachlan, his former apprentice, standing above him. Lachlan calls Gabriel a traitor and knocks Gabriel unconscious with a brutal blow.
Who Appears
- Gabriel de LeónLast Silversaint; leaves Redwatch to pursue Dior and is ambushed by former comrades.
- Sœur FionnaGabriel’s old comrade; supplies him, gives him Argent, and warns him of danger.
- LachlanGabriel’s former apprentice; appears among the attackers and calls Gabriel a traitor.
- Jean-FrançoisVampire listener in Sul Adair; prompts Gabriel’s account with dry commentary.
- Phoebe DúnnsairAbsent after leaving Redwatch; her departure weighs heavily on Gabriel.
- ArgentFionna’s tarreun warhorse; carries Gabriel south on Dior’s trail.
- AshdrinkerGabriel’s blade; used in the ambush and speaks hungrily during the fight.
- Unnamed silversaintsCoordinated attackers with silver weapons, hound, guns, and sevenstar markings.