Blood Moon, page 8
part #1 of Lord of Shadows Series
A massive crowd of bandits approached us, hooting and jeering. I wasn’t sure if I should have been afraid, or excited. So many bodies in one spot sure would provide for decent nourishment, but also a quick death in such a situation.
I sighed for the umpth time, forgetting myself. I’d just been reborn, so I wasn’t able to control my powers yet, even more, I was weak and very hungry. The cursed sunlight didn’t play well with Vampyres I guessed.
My eyes roamed the ragtag group of scoundrels. They looked rather well fed, well dressed, and well armed. Weary, sure, but there was an edge about them that didn’t go with ordinary bandits. These men were organized and under a strict rule, no doubt.
"Those three couldn’t have been part of this gang," Katya said, just as the same thought passed my mind.
"Yeah. They look more formidable than the count's soldiers."
Katya turned toward me and scowled.
"Who doesn’t? They let us basically walk out of there. And trust me when I say, I could have taken on the entire garrison by myself, even underfed."
"Hey, I’m not saying anything. They were bullies, and pushovers.
Music and song started up as Hana got off her horse and walked through the throng of men and women, stopping right in front of a small boy. It was Andrej.
"Andrej!" I shouted and rushed to the boy, but the throng closed right in front of me, blocking my path to him. I growled and stared them all down, but no one budged. They weren’t ragtag of ordinary ruffians, these men and women were much more disciplined and not afraid of a pushover like myself.
"Maybe later, pretty boy," Hana called out. "Bring them to Boris’ tent. He will want a word with them. After all, they have blood on their hands."
A group of armed men stepped up to us, swords and bows in hand. They prodded us toward the center of the clearing, and straight toward an enormous tent. It was almost as large as the inn we’ve met them in.
As I passed Andrej, he looked at me confusedly, waving with a half smile on his face. He had no idea what was going on, but I could see it in his eyes that there were still feelings for me there. Good, my heart didn’t need to be broken over and over again. But what had I expected? They ran without me, alone and without any money. Why was I acting as if they were the ones who hurt me when it was the other way around?
Hana remained by his side, whispering something in the boy’s ear as she handed the bag of bones to the boy. He smiled happily and nodded, throwing the content into the enormous pot of stew. An unpleasant aroma wafted from the contraption, and in all honesty, I couldn’t believe anyone would be willing to eat that.
I turned away, not able to watch what she made him do. We would bide our time.
"Fuck," I whispered, annoyed by my own powerlessness and idiocy. I was the one who put us in this situation, so I was the one who needed to get us out of it.
We were pushed into the enormous brown-green tent by the guards, but none of them followed. I turned around questioningly and got barked at by a thickly-bearded brute of a guy.
"Sit down and wait for Hana," he snapped, leaving no trace of a doubt what would happen to us if we didn’t obey. So I did what I did best, and that was obeying orders. Katya, as usual, showed her disgust too openly, and it made me wonder if she really hated me that much, or if it was just an act.
To my surprise, the tent was more lavishly decorated than the count’s own study and had a wooden frame built up from the inside. Beams and branches as thick as my hand were arrayed to form a square for the front entrance and a circle for the back part of the tent.
Lavish rugs and animal pelts were strewn around over the floor and hung on the sides. Wooden stands held unusually thick and large candles that burned a fiery red and cold blue. Plush pillows and blankets sat in two corners of the room, that led into the back part. It looked like someone might have slept there every night.
"Hello again, my property," Hana teased as she entered the tent moments later. She looked more amused than anything else, but that could play in our favor. "I’m gonna go ahead and talk to Boris for a moment, alright? I need to explain our strange-- arrangement to him and see what he’ll do with you. Sit tight," she smirked and blew me a kiss.
"Wait," I said, running my stupid mouth again. "I want to see him in person. You’re just an underling --"
Before I could even finish my sentence, she stood over me, hand over my throat and pressing hard. There was no doubt: she was a monster. Just what sort? I had no idea. With a hiss, she got up in my face and licked my cheek.
"You would do well to know your place," she whispered and gut punched me again. As I landed, my eyes made contact with Katya, who rolled hers in turn. She had enough of me it seemed, and so did I. It would be better if I remained silent until we knew what Boris the Bloodletter wanted.
Hana disappeared behind wooden doors, into a dark room beyond. They closed a moment later, adding to the charade. We remained quiet and awaited our doom. I couldn’t help but appreciate the fine fabric which covered the insides, red yellow and black interwoven to perfection.
As time passed, it stung more and more. Being manhandled by a woman no less. I scowled at myself for running my mouth. That needed to change. I wasn’t an ordinary young man anymore, no, I was a Vampyre, and I needed to start acting like one.
After some time passed, she walked out again but in a different set of clothing. The manly rider shirt, pants, and boots were changed for an ultra-short nightgown, which showed off most of Hana’s shapely body. Her long legs, neck, and arms.
I almost gasped at the sight of her. She wasn’t monstrous after all anymore. Katya kicked out and landed a blow on the back of my head. I stumbled up to Hana and landed in just beneath her legs.
"Let me at him! Let me rip him apart!" Katya yelled.
Hana stood there, laughing her heart out. She was amused by what she’d seen so far, and I would have been too if I was her.
"No. What the two of you will do, is get rid of a certain-- something for Boris. See, there’s a Vodyanoy down the river who likes to break our dams. Without them, we can’t properly redirect water, and without water, there’s no life. Anyway, since you killed two of the three men who should have taken care of the problem for us, it would only be fair to solve the problem for us, no?"
"What happened to him anyway? The guy that fled I mean."
Hana shrugged her shoulders.
"We never found him. Anyway, we’ve been walking for a while, so it’s almost dark. And we all know you work best in the dark, no?" Her fiery red eyes were more than enough incentive for me to scramble up and nod. Those eyes. I both hated and worshipped them!
"What if we don’t return? You can’t make us once we’re gone," Katya asked, saving me from even more disgrace.
"Vera darling? Would you care to join me?" Hana called out. The tent’s flap parted and let the young woman in. She walked past us up to Hana, never sparing me a single glance. The woman put an arm around her back and leaned in, kissing Vera.
I looked away. Partially from embarrassment, partially from rage. There was a limit to how much a man could and should take, and I was at mine.
"The first one to go will be Andrej. They will eat him from the kettle, without even realizing it. Now, if we’re done here, I’d like to enjoy some off time with Vera."
Chapter Thirteen
"Guards!" Hana yelled and waited for the two men to enter. "Take them away and leave them at the road leading south. They can take it from there."
"Yes, mam," one of the guards replied as he prodded me to walk.
"Oh, and be sure to return their belongings once you make it as far," Hana added. A cold sweat ran down my spine. The Sword. Tierney would do much worse to me than Hana ever could if I lost that sword again.
"How do we return here?" I called back, just as we were exiting the tent. Hana shrugged.
"Someone will get you once the deed is done. I will know because your target is similar to us. Now, get lost," she scowled.
The guards escorted us out and handed to a man on horseback. He threw down to ends of rope for us to hold onto and two cloth sacks. One of the two guards took them and put the stinky things over our heads. I was so pissed at that moment that I’d rip them limb from limb and suck up their blood.
“Will we have any problems?” the rider asked.
“No,” I growled. “Just get us out of this stinking hole so we can be done with it.”
I caught a glimpse of Katya smirking as the guard first pulled the sack over her head, and then mine. So she found this rather amusing, huh? I’d give her amusing once I was satiated.
The rider hit the horses side and the poor animal started running. We could easily keep up, and he’d been told as much. The couple hundred foot between us and the forest was a problem, as the sun sapped at our strength, but once we were in the forest, I was in my element.
“Someone will be waiting for you at the inn once you’re done with the job. See you soon,” the rider said a while later as we stood on the cobbled road. He’d left us with the sacks over our heads and bound hands, but that wasn’t a problem for either of us.
"Whatever," Katya said and tore the rope free from her wrists. "You need a written invitation?" she snapped at me.
"No," I replied, not in the mood to argue. "Let’s get this over with so I-- We can get Vera and Andrej back."
To my surprise, she didn’t make a snarky comeback. Instead, she turned south and started walking as if nothing was amiss. I was hungry, and not in very good shape. I needed nourishment and energy. If we were to fight a creature humans probably couldn’t kill, then It wouldn’t do to go in with anything less than full power.
"Can we eat somewhere first? I’m exhausted," I asked.
"Suits you just right. If you hadn’t gone off chasing tail, you’d be stuffed right now and fucking me senseless. Idiot," she murmured
"I know," I replied, not even registering what she said for a moment. "Wait, did you just--"
"No! I didn’t, so shut up and don’t drag me anymore down than you already have."
I was so tired of the games that I didn’t even want to reply. If she wanted to act the way she did, I’d let her. And once the mood was right again, I’d fuck her senseless.
The moonlit night was a sight to behold, just like the one before. The road and the forests couldn’t hide anything from my eyes anymore. The shadows were my closest ally, even in this weakened state. The cool night air helped to calm my nerves and stayed me from going crazy. Hunger. The hunger was so overwhelming that I wanted to jump Katya and drain her dry.
“Hold it in for a bit longer. I think we’ll be there soon,” she said under her breath. A human might not have heard it, but I sure did. I didn’t reply though, instead, I quickened the pace, even if it hurt like mad.
Ahead of us, I could see the clearing finally. The same inn and the same group of men and women playing music, singing, and dancing. I licked my lips at the prospect of draining all of them dry. If I had to kill them all, I would do so. But just then, the innkeeper from last night walked up behind the inn and disappeared from sight.
Before Katya could even protest, I was halfway there between the road and the back side of the building. She ran after me, but there was no chance she could catch up. Rounding the corner, I noticed the innkeeper lying on the ground. A man holding a club stood over her menacingly.
"I guess it’s dinner time," I whispered and darted toward the man. What happened next, played out in slow motion. He turned my way, just fast enough to see me sink my teeth into his thick neck. I growled as I drew his blood and pushed him to the wall. A rush of ecstasy washed over me as his blood coursed through my veins. Finally, there it was, the power that allowed me to perceive everything around me on a whole other level. It was much stronger the second time around. This man had a lot of blood, and somehow it suited me much better.
Katya hissed at me and grabbed him from my grasp. She sunk her teeth in hungrily, draining whatever had been left inside him. For a few long seconds, she groaned and moaned, licked the blood from her lips and hurled what remained of him deep into the woods. Her icy blue eyes stared daggers at me as she growled low.
“You think you’re the only one who’s hungry?” she hissed.
I narrowed my eyes on her.
“You have the woman. Besides, I didn’t drain him all dry.”
“No, and only because I stopped you!”
I sighed, not willing to give her the argument, but decided to keep it in mind. After all, sharing was caring
I woke the woman up and forced her to be quiet, staring deep into her eyes. Her big round eyes looked as if they were staring at death itself, but after whispering all kinds of lies into her ear, both pupils dilated and fogged out as she dusted herself off. The woman walked off as if nothing had happened back here.
We found ourselves staring down at the river from a particularly tall tree. Climbing it had been zero effort, but maintaining balance and keeping still so that no one noticed us was a bit trickier.
Down the river, some two hundred foot, bathed an old, naked, and frog-like man on a tree trunk. He floated steadily with the help of an oarsman, which turned out to be the man we let go last night.
"What’s the old guy singing?" I asked, startled by how low his voice went.
"Some old folk song. Doesn’t matter."
With that, she dropped down the tree and landed with a cat-like grace on her right foot. I dropped after her and found myself landing the same way. It would surely come in handy if I ever had to run from a mob.
"Dedushka?" Katya called out, as we approached. The old man wasn’t paying us any heed, instead, he stared intently at his new servant.
Katya sighed and placed her hand into the river. A crackling sound reverberated all around us as the water started freezing over. A narrow, icy road appeared and lead straight to the creature. We walked or rather stepped slowly toward the creature over the icy path she created as he kept on singing this sad song. It grated on my nerves the more as nearer I came.
"Dedushka?" Katya asked again. The creature’s head shot around. A long, green beard hung to just above his navel. Strong brown, mud covered arms were intermingled with its moss-covered hair. Tough looking skin was partially covered by black, thick scales that shimmered in the moonlight Two webbed paws pointed us instead of normal hands, as a set of big, red-hot coal looking eyes darted in between us.
"Yes? You came and ruin my music? And freeze my water? You must die to repent!" it sneered, and without so much as a warning, the water creature attacked us. It flashed toward Katya who was caught off guard.
I beckoned the shadows to heed my will, surrounding both of our bodies with a layer of protection. At the last moment, I grabbed Katya and threw her onto the river bank. She cursed as her body touched the cold, icy-covered ground. At least she was safe, for now.
The attack came fast and hit strong. The Vodyanoy’s webbed hand, struck out like a snake, smashing my shadow shield in smithereens, and drove me back a few steps. I gasped from the pain, but there was so much fresh blood streaming through my veins, that I felt invincible.
Using the shadows beneath my feet, I launched myself forward and struck at the Vodyanoy. His scaly skin was hard as metal and deflected most of my blow. I shuddered at the recoil from the impact. If I hadn’t been a Vampyre, my hand would have shattered most likely.
I kept pressing, despite the pain and kicked out at the creature. With a side-sweep, I kicked his legs out from under him, but as he fell onto his back, the cursed creature rolled to his feet in an instant, lashing out at me with his webby fists. It narrowly missed me as I ducked, and darted in again, using shadows to cover my hands and pummeled its exposed side. It howled in pain and snatched its teeth at me as if it were a wolf.
The Vodyanoy was tricky and worse, we fought above the ice which was slippery, and the water which was it’s home.
Using my long, sharp nails, I raked across the creature’s legs and arms, drawing blood. They weren’t covered as well as the scaly chest. It screeched and dove into the murky water, disappearing from sight.
"Give him an opening," Katya said. I immediately knew what she was going for, and smirked in anticipation.
"Very well," I replied and turned away from where it dove into the water. I used whatever shadows remained as a second and third pair of eyes, looking from overhead and from the sides, trying to spot the thing. The tendrils seeped from my body and covered the surface. I closed my eyes and calmed my breathing.
"Gotcha!" I whispered and grabbed hold of his arm, then spun around and threw the creature at Katya.
"Ahh! What the hell are you doing!" she, unsheathing her dagger and slashed at empty air.
"We need to fight it on the ground!" I replied and rushed over the icy bridge toward the bank. With a simple flick of the wrist, I drew my blade and cut deep into one of the webbed hands, drawing green, slimy blood before it could even stand. The Vodyanoy howled in pain, then stepped back.
"Why do this? I do not know you!"
I didn’t fall for the usual bait and launched myself in a straight line at him. The sword flashed through the air and passed through the wounded hand and arm. Screams of pain and horror filled the clearing, as one of its arms dangled by a strand of skin.
Things changed for the worse when the Vodyanoy turned a shade of purple. He bellowed in anger and ripped off what remained from his arm. With a speed that surpassed mine by far, he lunged at me, both feet landing on my body. One struck my chest and broke two ribs while the other struck my face and crushed my nose.
The force behind his blow, sent me flying against a massive tree and knocked all air out of me. I could clearly hear my spine snap upon impact. A searing hot pain ran up my body as I lay there, trying to move my body, but I couldn’t. The lights went slowly out when I hit the water surface.
“Idiot,” Katya snapped as I struggled to breathe, but I couldn’t. Water filled my nostrils, my mouth, and my lungs. I had failed.
