Chapter 26: Green Fire, of Part IV: Iceland takes place in the cave inhabited by the local Master vampire, Laraby and his minions. Anita goes there to ask his allegiance, bringing with her an ancient skull recovered from among Marmee Noir's things which Anita's crew believes to be a relic of Laraby's lost line, the Larmes de Tristesse, or Tears of Sadness. Here are some excerpts from the chapter with accompanying graphics:
"His high, sharp cheekbones glowed yellow in the firelight, emphasizing the elongated hollows beneath them. His eyes were narrowed to lazy slits, but I could still see the sickly yellow-green color of them that at once fascinated and disgusted me. I thought back to what Alex had told us, the tale of how Laraby’s line was gotten, and it all made sense. He looked . . . unnatural, undead – from his skeletal features to his putrid color. He reminded me of an inexperienced Animator’s zombies, and that’s exactly what he was - an early model vampire."
"I pulled my hand away in surprise, but Laraby held up the skull in front of him, his long arms stretched out and the black cape falling back to reveal his jaundiced skin up to the elbow. The flames inside the skull came to life and coiled around his arm, writhing downwards and disappearing under the black wool to reappear at his neck and finally, like living snakes, diving into the matching flames of his eyes. Laraby laughed, and it was a hollow, toneless sound that made the room feel ten degrees colder. A fine tremor went through me. It felt as though his power had more than doubled. It was there, hanging in the air, yet under perfect control. The torches around us lit up again, this time with the yellow-green flames that only enhanced Laraby’s sickly pallor."
Read the whole chapter
here, or
start at the beginning of The Queen of the Dead.
