Chapter 16

“Thank you,” I said, once the fighting was over. “I greatly appreciate your help. I promise you, my father, the Alpha, will hear of your bravery and reward you accordingly.”

The ginger haired woman handed one of the men her big axe and walked towards me with her right hand stretched out. Her firm grip took me by surprise. For a moment I thought it she was trying to threaten me like most men do when they pretend to be friendly in public, but her smile and calming gaze quickly put an end to all thoughts of malice. 

“Don’t worry yourself about it. What kind of people would we be if we didn’t help other people in need?”

People! What is she talking about? And why is her accent different from Monica and the other humans I have met.

I was somewhat relieved to see that Monica looked as confused as I was. Seeing as I was the one who had started conversing with her and whose hand was still in a death grip, I decided to continue playing the role of ambassador.

“Forgive me, my lady, but what do you mean by people?”

“Oh I see! You’re a Kelorian aren’t you?”

“A what?”

“A Kelorian. It’s what me people and I call you people…. I mean creatures, of Kelor. To answer your question, people are what you would call creatures. Speaking of creatures, what kind of creatures are you? So far we’ve met only two kinds but we’ve been told that there are more.”

I was about to ask her a question when suddenly, she pushed me to the side and quickly placed her hand on a knife’s hilt tucked underneath her fur coat. At the same time a sound of swords and axes being unsheathed in unison came from behind her. The men seemed ready for combat, all except one dark haired one with a medium height and dark eyes. Although he had his axe in his hand, he didn’t stand at the ready like everyone else.

“What’s that?” she asked. It took me a while to realise that the ginger haired woman was talking about Leon, who before this moment was a few feet away kneeling besides a dead horse. The fog had gotten thicker and had concealed him completely but now that he had stepped out of it, the humans could see a stream of blood stains that run from his mouth all the way down to his boots. Even I had to admit that he looked like a dangerous creature, or rather a dangerous Kelorian, as we are now being called.

“Wait!” Monica said and quickly jumped in front of the ginger haired woman with arms stretched out wide. “He’s with us.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing. He was feeding on horses that’s all.”

“And why was a human feeding on living horses?”

“He’s a vampire, not a human.”

The woman looked at her men questioningly. They either shook their heads or shrugged. Turning to Monica she cocked her head to one side and asked, “He’s a what?”

“A vampire!”

“I’m not deaf, I heard what you said. What I meant was what is a vampire?”

“How can a Kelorian-human not know what a vampire is?” I asked.

“We are Vikings not Kelorians.”

“And what exactly is a Viking?” Leon asked.

“I would need a whole day to explain that to you.” Sif replied. “So how about we make camp and you explain what a Vampire is before I tell what makes a person a Viking?”

“That sounds fair enough,” I said. “And tomorrow we will continue our journey.”

“Where are you heading?” Sif asked.

“To the land of the fairies.” 

“So are we.”

I couldn’t understand where, and how, Sif and her men could have met A’el. Whatever the case, I was eager to hear her side of the story.

************

Prince Valark had his back hunched and his head lowered. His long wavy hair covered his face and swayed in rhythm to the sluggish movement of the horse. For fear of having to lift him off the snowy ground and back on his saddle if he should fall off, I slowed my horse’s pace until his horse was by my side. 

“General Gunther, how far are we from home?”

“Not far, just one more hill to climb and we’ll be there.”

“Father is going to kill me.”

If he is going to kill anyone it will most likely be me.

We had fought off the black eyed invaders with every ounce of our strength, but more of them kept coming and more of our dead kept changing. I was forced to retreat and eventually abandon the small town. The following day, I woke up to the screams and cries of some of the locals who had fled with us. I had rushed out of my tent  to find more of the enemy’s numbers in our camp. Only after the chaos had subsided did I understand that the enemy had not attacked us but had turned those who were gravely injured into their kind. They lacked reason and emotions. They only seemed to be filled with blood lust as they attacked their family and friends without mercy. 

After we had put them to rest, I made it a rule for all those who were injured, mild or otherwise, was to be kept a few feet away from the main camp. It wasn’t easy to rip children from their mothers arms or to tear apart loved ones who held on to each other, but it had to be done. It turned out to be the best course of action for none of the injured were with us now. After the second night, most of them either took their own lives or chose to be laid to rest for fear of turning into those shrieking creatures and murdering their loved ones. Without food or water, we slowly made our way back home.

As we descended the final hill, the capital city came into view. A light grey stain on the snowy canvas below. The last time I had rode into the city I had felt proud and I smiled and waved at any of my kind who stood along the streets but today, I couldn’t bring myself to look at any of them. Worse still, I couldn’t even look my King in the eye when we reached the castle gate. He and his queen had come out to welcome us but I’m grateful that they didn’t throw out a parade or roll out the red carpet.

The queen  rushed to Valark’s side and aided him down his horse. Barking at the castle servants she said, “Get the people food and shelter. Dedicate a room in the castle for the wounded.”

“There….There aren’t any wounded, mother,” Valark said.

“What happened?”

“The boy needs to rest, let him be,” said the king.

“No. I’ll rest once I’ve given my report.”

The king nodded and proceeded to lead us to the castle. 

We walked past the servants as they ran up and down carrying out their various tasks. In the hallway that led to the Council room, a servant firmly held my hand forcing me to stand next to her as the others walked passed us. Only when they where an earshot away did she lift her head and look at me.

“I’m glad you are alive,” she said as she shoved a letter in my hand. 

Her disguise was perfect and I wouldn’t have noticed her if she hadn’t shown her face. “Mage! How did you get in here?”

“Don’t worry yourself with my secrets commander. What you need to be concerned about is the contents of the letter. When you’re done, come and meet me behind the stables with your letter, tonight.” 

“Is there a problem?” the queen asked. I was surprised to see that they had stopped walking and were waiting for me a few feet ahead.

“No, my queen.”

The mage bowed like any other servant would do and I left her alone as I joined the royal family. Once we reached the Council room, the king ignored all matters of courtesy. He simply pulled out two of the closest chairs, gestured for us to all sit while he remained standing.

“Now, tell me exactly what happened.”