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We travelled fast, Seth was worried about the last line of the seer's message. We managed to arrive at Yeste in two weeks; although the nights are longer, we have to move more slowly due to the darkness. We slept during the day out of respect to Alastor, and travelled all night. We finally arrive when the snow blankets the ground and everything seems still and quiet. The whole region is white and calm looking, like someone whipped some cream and spread it over the whole landscape; it's so beautiful in the glow of the moon and stars in this clear night. It's a shame how deceiving it is, covering what really takes place only a few days travel away. I wonder how much blood runs through the streets of Kierin city at night, how much pure, white snow gets stained in the violence of the feeding vampire covens.
Alastor leads us to the edge of the forest, where the road starts. We travel on for a while on the path, still quite clear due to frequent use; use by whom, I don't know. After an hour or so of walking, the horses being lead on a tether line, we veer off the road and onto a less worn path, almost unrecognizable under the snowy sheet. We must have unknowingly turned here off the main path when we first travelled through here. We then follow the path for a ways until we reach a very small clearing, a little ways before where we had stopped almost two months ago.
“We'll stop here for the day,” the sun was starting to appear as he said this, “If we go much farther, we'll be in the range of the patrol's day scouts' sight. Keep quiet, or else they'll hear us.” I can see that Seth clearly doesn't like taking orders from Alastor, inspite of knowing him for almost a month and a half.
Seth finally decides to object and take charge of things. “Why don't we travel during the day for a change? If the vampires are as powerful as Sapphire says, then maybe we should be travelling when they can't attack us. You can just wrap yourself up in some bandages and walk in the shade. We're all tired of walking in the night when we can't see and stopping in the day when it's too light out to fall asleep.” I saw this conflict in a dream, it was a fight just waiting to happen; I just wish it didn't have to happen now, so close to our enemies. I can see a mist starting to loom around us, creeping in slowly as Seth's voice rises.
“We have to travel at night,” replies Alastor, trying to keep his voice down and stay calm, “because I won't be able to see the traps during the day. Besides, the day scouts are almost as bad as the night patrol. I'm sorry if you're inconvenienced by that fact, but it's the truth. I'm only doing this for your own safety.”
Seth is about to start yelling when Jana steps in, ever the voice of reason when I'm too frightened to think, like I am right now with the mist creeping up. “Now, now, hold on. First of all, Seth, you'd better keep your voice down. Second of all, Alastor's right. We need him to be at full strength if we're going to get into the city safely. Now, both of you had better get some sleep before the sunlight starts to reach down here and burn Alastor to a crisp.”
At this, Seth and Alastor both turn away, Seth in one of the worst moods I've ever seen him in. Alastor takes his sleeping kit and lies down underneath a snow-laden oak tree, making sure he covers his head. Seth scrapes away some snow and lays out his sleeping kit before lying down on it himself. The rest of us follow suit, although with a much less frightening attitude, just as the sun starts to light up the ground. Not being very tired, and being more than a little frightened of the mist that shouldn't even be possible that is sneaking up on us like a hunting cat, I offer to take the first watch.
The looming mist reminds me of that horrible dream I'd had and puts unwarranted thoughts into my mind, thoughts I would never imagine on my own. I shake my head and hold some snow to my face in order to clear my mind. I start to pace in a circle around the camp and even try humming to myself in a futile attempt to silence the screaming thoughts raging inside my mind like a maelstrom. It's almost more than I can bear.
I start to pray, to calm myself down. I pray for Justin and for the group; I pray for Alastor and for Lorin; I pray for Kierin city and for the gruesome thoughts brought on by the thickening fog to disappear. I feel a little soothed, when I realize that my watch is over. I start to giggle, slightly hysterically, to myself in relief. Then I wake Jana and gratefully jump into my sleeping kit, slowly relaxing as it begins to warm with my body heat. I cover my head in an attempt to ward off the predatory haze and fall into a deep sleep.
We're all gathered around a small fire, its warm golden light playing shadows along the cliffside. Everyone is exchanging jokes and laughing as we all sip hot drinks. The stars shine brilliantly and the full moon is like a second sun in the dark sheet that is night sky. All is peaceful and harmonious.
A flute plays in the distance. I stand up to follow its melodious voice. The others can't seem to hear it, they just keep laughing. I stumble away through the woods, constantly tripping over unseen roots and stones. The hypnotic harmony seems to be getting farther away with each step I take. I run faster, in a desperate attempt to find the source. There is a strange longing inside me for whatever is making such a lovely sound.
Finally, I come to a large clearing. Its trees almost shrink away from the oppressive light that glares down upon the field of death before me. An entire village slain; men, women, children, and even a small, white lamb. I find the source of the melody, dancing in the centre with a metal pipe held to his lips. He's tall and dark and very frightening, in an almost seductive way. His eyes glow with bloodlust and an evil humour at what has taken place before him. Beside the vampire is a large wolf, standing on his hind legs, a werewolf with bloody foam dripping from his gargantuan maw. As the red sun rises upon the drained and mutilated corpses, the werewolf changes into a man. No. Not a man. An elf. Justin!
He staggers and looks around at the carnage and the blood on his hands, then begins to weep. He runs off into the forest while the vampire laughs; the vampire that comes up to me, strokes my hair (which is somehow shorter and untied) and kisses me with a kiss so fierce and passionate that I almost don't notice as he removes his lips from mine, opening his mouth to reveal a frightening pair of fangs, and sinks them into the bare flesh of my neck. . . almost. I let out a piercing shriek as his teeth sink into my veins. . .
Only to have it muffled by an ice cold hand over my mouth. I wake up with such a jolt that my survival instincts kick in. Before I realize what I'm doing, I've whipped my knife from my boot (where it's always kept) and attempt to slash at whoever's on top of me. A strong hand seizes my wrist before I can do any harm, and my eyes clear to reveal Alastor over top of me, the last rays of sunlight fading from view behind him while the erie fog gets denser. I look to the side and see Seth gripping my wrist with all his might, to keep me from harming our guide. I relax my grip on the dagger and let it fall harmlessly to the ground beside my arm. Seth lets go of my arm and Alastor takes his hand off my mouth and gets off me.
As my mind begins to clear, I realize how much the vampire from my dream resembled Alastor. I start to shrink away when Seth comes up and berates me for screaming when we had to be quiet. When he finally calms down, he notices the fear in my eyes and my still shallow breathing. “You had another nightmare, didn't you?” I still can't find my voice, so I just nod my head a fraction of an inch. “What happened?”
I'm in such shock from what I almost did that I don't even hear what Seth is saying, or even see that he's speaking to me until he to snaps his fingers in front of my face to break my trance. I shake my head quickly to clear the fog from it. Alastor suggests that we should get moving, while the shifts are switching and no one is on guard.
We set out rather quickly, not having much to pack up, after eating a quick breakfast of dried meat. Alastor veers us off the path and has us walk parallel to it, about five yards away. After a few minutes, I notice the horses being uneasy. They sense vampires about. Alastor leads us around several traps and guard posts.
We manage to make it to the city wall unnoticed and Alastor starts tapping until he finds a secret door, hidden among the stones. He pulls aside the camouflage and leads us into a tunnel, currently empty, while we tie the horses a ways down the wall; Alastor must have timed this perfectly to avoid any passing guards.
The tunnel is of a fair size, large enough for a horse to get through but not tall enough for a rider, and very dark. As we reach the end of the tunnel, Seth reviews the plan with us.
“Alright, first we have to find these 'bloody towers'. Then we can decide how to get all the vampires together and destroy them.” Seth turns to Alastor and asks, “Do you know of anything like that? Their chambers or something?”
“We have a set of towers in the centre of the city called The Heart, but it's not a sleeping area for vampires. It's actually a prison for 'donors', as the others call them.”
“Maybe that's what the seers message means,” Mella says, “We have to free the prisoners from the towers and thus stop the bloodshed there. Alastor, is there a way to get there to avoid any patrols or spies?”
“Yes, but one of you will have to be a distraction to the door guards while the others get inside.”
“I'll do it,” I say, “I'm the quickest and I can slip away when all of you are inside.”
I can see that Seth is not so sure about using one of us to distract the vampires, I wouldn't be either if I was the leader. “All right. Here's the plan, Sapphire will walk up to the guards directly and distract them. Then Alastor will lead us through the entrance and to the inner guard posts. We'll dispatch the guards and free the prisoners. We'll use a mirror to signal you, Sapphire, when it's safe to escape from the guards.”
And so Alastor lead us through the city streets, bypassing the major roads and following the winding, snake-like alleyways. Eventually we see a large building with several towers sticking out of it. Alastor indicates this as the heart, and Seth signals for me to start distracting the guards. I've already got several ideas.
I sneak back a ways until I reach the main road. I walk towards the guards at the door, actually a side door where anyone could sneak out of with no one on the main road able to see, not that there was anyone on it to begin with. The guards notice me before I even round the corner, they catch the scent of my blood. I find them on their guard, weapons up and eyes alert. I decide to go with my ignorance idea. I walk up to them with a shyness to my demeanour.
“Um, hi,” I flash them a small, innocent smile and tilt my head just enough for part of my neck to be exposed. “I'm new here and a little lost. Could you show me where the inn is?”
The guards look at each other, hands on swords, then turn back to me and smile. They have a cheeky look in their eyes. They quickly walk up to me, shoving each other to get to me first.
“Hey,” the first guard says to me, “I'll show you where it is. . .”
“We'll show you where it is,” says the other guard with an annoyed look at the first. “My name is Ashton, this is Megildur. We'll find you a good inn to stay the night,” he says with a sly grin.
“Thank-you, could you both take me? I'm frightened of cities at night. I'm always thinking something's going to jump out at me from the alleyways.” I tilt my head again and flash a sweet smile. I can see them trying to sniff the air without me noticing, getting a good whiff of my blood.
We walk off together, putting my arms through theirs. I secretly flash the mirror in my hand towards the others, signalling them to get in the building. We walk off, arm-in-arm down the street.
They take me down several roads. We pass many inns, but the guards pass them by, saying that none of them are good enough for “such a delicate flower like you”. I'm just glad I can fake a blush well enough to fool the distracted vampires. The sly looks they give me with increasing frequency are making me very nervous. How am I going to get away from them? And how am I going to see a signal from the others if I'm at the other side of Kierin city? I just hope the others are doing fine with their end of the plan.
 Girl of the Dragons · Thu Dec 30, 2010 @ 04:14am · 0 Comments |
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