The Tale of a Vampiress
Chapter 13:
I think that I was somewhere between being asleep and awake, my eyes were partially open but I still felt tired. I could feel that my body was being prodded and that was when I sat up.
"Huh, what's going on now?" I asked in a state of sleepy confusion before I yawned and lay back down.
"Darling the sun is about to set, we need to get up and eat something, after that it will be time to begin our journey." Larten stated.
"I'm so tired and cold I can't even move Larten." I rolled over and closed my eyes again, did I really have to get up right now?
"It is time to move on Anna, we must make the most of the nighttime to get as far as we can. I have a bowl of rabbit stew for you to eat." the smell of the food made me wake up. I yawned, stretched, got myself dressed and then I ate. After the rabbit stew was gone I was much more alert and I knew that it was time to start walking. I had no shoes or socks on, I was wearing warm clothing, but my feet were freezing. It had snowed during the daytime so the ground was cold and hard. It wasn't pleasant to walk on. I sat down on another bench by the campfire and I held out my feet to warm them up, I couldn't walk with frozen feet.
"Anna we have to leave, we have a long way to travel tonight." Larten said impatiently, he was correct and I wasn't going to argue with him.
"I know that Larten, but my feet are freezing and my toes are already numb. I can't walk with frozen feet now can I?" I was guilt tripping him into letting me wear my snowboots.
"No, you cannot walk with frozen feet. I would hate it if you got frostbite on your toes Anna." he sat on the bench beside me and waited whilst I warmed my feet up a bit.
"Well what can I do Larten? I have to walk barefoot through snow and then I have to walk on a hard concrete pavement that is icy." I wasn't wrong to say these things.
"The rules say that you must have bare feet whilst travelling to Vampire Mountain, however we shall also be passing through human populated areas and we would look out of place if we have bare feet. It will raise alarm bells, humans do not walk on snow with bare feet after all." Larten was a stickler for rules and regulations, however he could also be persuaded to bend the rules occasionally if there was a good reason to do so.
"You are right, it would look suspicious if we walked around on snow with bare feet infront of humans Larten." I was inclined to agree with him, as such I think we'd found a loophole to the no shoes or socks rule.
"I have made this journey many times Anna, I believe that as long as we are passing through human populated areas we can wear shoes and socks. When we are no longer in a town, city or village and there are no houses around we will go barefoot. I know that you are still half human and therefore the skin on your feet will not be as tough as mine, I can cope with walking on the cold, hard ground but I understand that you are still adjusting to our way of life." he explained.
"I will do my best to go barefoot whenever it is possible Larten, I am a half blooded vampiress after all." he knew that I was doing my utmost to make him proud of me, I also wanted to show him how vampiric I was. My feet were warmer now that I had been sitting by the campfire and I could feel my toes, I asked Evra to run to my trailer to fetch my thermal socks and my snowboots, when I put them on my feet felt much better. I stood up, stretched myself and picked up my backpack. I was ready to begin the journey to Vampire Mountain, to the Vampire Council and to the place that many of my Clan called home...
I turned away from the fire, I began to walk out of the campground and into the night with Larten by my side. When we had cleared the campground and had travelled quite a long distance away from it Larten took my hand in his and we walked together through snow covered fields, we climbed over a few fences, we crossed a river and then we came upon another village. We had to walk from one end of the village to the other to get onto the main road, when we were on the main road we followed it until we came to more farmland. After we had walked through two fields we found a barn that had its door slightly ajar, Larten unlocked the padlock and chain that was preventing the door from opening fully with a click of his fingers, we went inside the barn and it was warmer in there than it was outside.
"The dawn is near, we can sleep inside here until it is dark again." Larten stated.
"Isn't this trespassing?" I wasn't sure how vampires felt about such things and I didn't want to get in trouble.
"No, it is OK because I know the farmer. I have an arrangement with him Anna," I stood back and observed as he set up some hay bales to use as a windbreak. "I will be back soon, make a bed for us out of the remaining hay bales."
"Yes, of course Larten." I watched him vanish and then I began to shift some of the hay bales into a line that was long enough for me and him to lie on. I then pushed them next to some of the other hay bales, this way we would have enough room to sleep next to each other. I had just finished putting the last hay bale in place when Larten returned, he was carrying a small deer over his shoulder.
"I have brought us a meal Anna." I watched as he skinned the deer, gutted it and cut it up into smaller joints of meat.
"Shall I get the pots out Larten?" I wasn't sure how to cook a deer when we had nothing set up in the barn to spit roast it.
"Not yet Anna, we have to get the fire going first." we went outside to the firepit, the farmer obviously used it to burn up rubbish and other stuff. Larten fetched some kindling and dry twigs before lighting them with a flint striker, it was just like one of the ones they used in ancient times, the fire roared and then I set the pots up.
"We will need to get some logs, the fire will not last long otherwise. See if you can find any dry wood or fallen tree branches lying around here Anna, I will then snap them into smaller pieces and use them as logs for the fire."
"Alright. I nodded and began looking around the barn for anything we could use, I found a few loose branches outside and some logs under a plastic sheet, surely the farmer wouldn't mind if we used a couple of his logs now, would he?
"Hey Larten, I've found a great big pile of logs. Can we use them?" I didn't want to get into trouble so I thought I'd ask him first before I took any of them.
"I do not see why not, we only need two or three after all." he answered as I passed him a couple of the really thick logs, the thicker ones would burn for longer so we'd need to use less of them.
"There is a lot of meat here for just the two of us, can we eat all of it?" I hated wasting food when there were people starving in the world.
"It is not only for us, we will have company soon." he stated.
"Where? I can't see anybody Larten." I looked around, however there was no sign of another person being in the area.
"Just wait and see, you will love them trust me." he sounded confident and that was a good sign.
"I trust you Larten. I'm starving so I hope this meal won't take too long to cook." I was expecting to eat sooner rather than later.
"Keep the noise down or our company will not appear," he instructed, "they do not like unfamiliar sounds." I watched quietly for a few minutes, then I saw a family of fox cubs approaching us cautiously and they were really cute.
"Aww, they are adorable Larten." I sighed quietly as one came over to me.
"I told you that you would love them Anna, feed them some meat." I ripped off some of the partially roasted meat and gave it to them. They licked my hands and sat down beside me like dogs do.
"Can I stroke them?" I whispered, I wasn't sure if I could or not because they were wild animals.
"Of course you can Anna, they are quite tame," he answered as one of the bolder foxes jumped onto his lap and curled up into an orange, furry ball. "I have been hand feeding them since their mother was killed, when I am not here the farmer feeds them as he only grows crops, the foxes keep the rats and rabbits away from munching on his corn." he threw some more meat on the ground for them, then I watched the fox cubs tumbling around and playing with each other, they were about six to eight weeks old at a guess.
"Have they got names?" it was a silly question to ask.
"No, of course not because they are wild animals. They are not pets," Larten said, then he admitted, "I never have been a fan of keeping pets, having an assistant is stressful enough without adding animals into the mix."
"That's a good point, however I do hope that I don't cause you any stress. The fox cubs are really sweet. I feel so privileged to be able to get up close and personal with wildlife," I declared, "I love animals, I always have done."
"If you think that these fox cubs are cute just wait until you see the other wildlife that we may meet on our journey Anna." he declared, I was curious about the kind of wildlife I would possibly come across.
"I am sure that you will keep me safe Larten." I stirred the contents of the pot and hoped that it'd soon be ready to eat.
"I will protect you, you are my dark angel and I love you." he sounded like he meant it which made me feel happy.
"Aww, Larten you are going soft in your old age." I heard a familiar voice say from behind us.
"Gavner Purl, what are you doing here?" Larten queried as Gavner stepped forward, he had been standing behind me.
"I am going to the Vampire Council, I knew you'd be stopping here to check the cubs and sleep the day away so I thought I'd join you." Gavner said as he sat down next to me, he kissed my hand and then my cheek. I was a bit taken aback by this but he always had been rather forward, he was far more flirtatious than Larten was. At one stage Gavner put his arm around me but Larten didn't miss a trick.
"Gavner Purl remove your arm from around the waist of my mate." Larten demanded, it sounded like an order.
"I'm just being friendly Larten, you know I'd never do anything inappropriate." he remarked.
"It is OK Larten, I don't mind." I was trying to diffuse the situation.
"I mind, get your own mate Gavner and keep your hands off of mine." he said angrily.
"Something smells good," Gavner remarked as he tried to change the subject, "I haven't eaten for a while."
"Venison stew is what you can smell Gavner, before you ask there is enough in the pot for you to have some," he got three bowls out from his own small bag, "ladies first as always Gavner." he handed me my bowl of stew along with a wooden spoon and a fork to eat it with.
"Thanks Larten, it tastes great." I said as I tucked into my stew.
"Here is yours Gavner." Larten handed Gavner his bowlful of stew, when we had ours he served up his own portion.
"Cheers Larten my old pal." Gavner said casually.
"Are you following our route to Vampire Mountain Gavner?" I was interested in routes because there were several ways to get to Vampire Mountain, I wasn't sure which route Larten and I were taking.
"Hell no, I'm going my own way. I only came here to say hi to you two. I'm going to go and visit Liz before I go to the Vampire Council anyway." he answered between mouthfuls of stew.
"Gavner, who is Liz?" I hadn't heard her name before.
"Liz is a woman that I like Anna, we spend time together as often as we can, she's a human but she's kind of like my mate." he replied as he finished his stew.
"She's a human? Is that permitted?" I wasn't sure about the laws regarding vampires who mated with humans.
"I'm a General, the Clan won't do anything about it. We can't help who we fall in love with after all." he replied.
"That is true." I agreed with him.
"How is life with this old buzzard anyway?" he asked, Gavner was referring to Larten.
"We get along very well thanks and my life couldn't be any better actually Gavner." I had a broad grin on my face when I said these words.
"As long as you're happy Anna then I'm happy for you." he sounded like he was almost congratulating us.
"I'm very contented and well looked after, I have no complaints at all Gavner." I stood up and moved so that I could sit next to Larten, I snuggled up to him, he put his arm around me and we kissed briefly. One kiss was never enough for me and he knew this so he gave me another, longer kiss.
"The sun is coming up," Gavner said, "I think I'll go and find shelter for the day because I don't want to burn."
"I know, come Anna let us return inside the barn." Larten instructed so we stood up and headed inside it.
"Gavner it was nice to see you again," I replied, "we'll probably cross paths at the Vampire Council."
"Likewise Anna, I'll see you both again in the Hall of Khledon Lurt." he concluded before he vanished.
"Now we can get some peace and quiet Larten." I said as I lay down on our hay bale bed next to him.
"Yes, we can rest here safely Anna. The fox cubs will be OK, they are old enough to find their den by themselves and go back to it." Larten gave me his cloak to sleep under, I got myself comfortable and he pulled me close to him, I curled up and he put his arms around me. I kissed him softly and he kissed me back with more passion. I settled down and went to sleep, I was tired and my feet were hurting from all of the walking that I'd done. I had walked much further than a human could have managed, the vampire blood in my veins had given me stamina but I didn't have the same level of stamina as Larten, he was fully blooded after all.
When I opened my eyes again I saw that the sky outside was grey and cloudy, I wasn't sure if it was going to snow again or not but I didn't mind either way because I was inside the barn. I just hoped that the roof had no leaks in it. I shifted slightly but only to pull the cloak back over me. I was hungry, but it was unwise to get up in the middle of the day. I was meant to sleep from sunrise until sunset and be awake throughout the night. So here I was laying awake on my hay bale bed, Larten was asleep next to me. He was used to sleeping through the daytime but my body was still adjusting to the change. I had been a vampire for over two years now, but as I worked at the Cirque Du Freak during the daytime it had messed up my nocturnal schedule. I often had trouble sleeping, when I couldn't sleep normally I'd get up and help the performers or the staff out, being here meant I couldn't do that so I just had to lie still and try my best not to disturb Larten. I didn't want to wake him up in the middle of the day, it'd make him grumpy.
"What are you doing in this barn?" somebody said, I leapt up and pulled my dagger out instinctively.
"I'm sorry, we were just sleeping here. We haven't caused any damage I assure you." I replied, then Larten woke up because he had heard me talking.
"Anna, what is going on?" Larten asked me as he stood up and towered over the farmer.
"The farmer wants to know why we're in his barn." I replied.
"We were just sheltering from the daylight and the weather." Larten explained.
"This is my barn, you are trespassing. Get out of here," the farmer told us angrily.
"I thought you said that you knew the farmer Larten." I stated.
"I do know the farmer, this is not the farmer that I made the deal with," he commented, "it was another man."
"Hang on, what did you say your name was?" the farmer asked Larten.
"I am Larten Crepsley and this is Anna, she is my mate." he declared.
"I am so sorry, I didn't recognise you. It is my uncle that you know, he's away on business so I am taking care of the farm and the surrounding farm buildings." the farmer said.
"Oh right, that makes sense I guess." I yawned and sat up, I was still half asleep.
"My uncle told me that he made an arrangement with a man who dresses all in red, he said that if you look after the foxes then you can stay here. We need the foxes to get rid of the other vermin like mice and rats." the farmer explained.
"Yes, it was I who your uncle spoke with and I fed the fox cubs last night. There are five of them and they are all healthy." Larten confirmed.
"I'm sorry I woke you up, I thought you were travellers or gypsies to begin with. It wasn't until you stood up that I saw you dressed all in red just like my uncle said you would be." the farmer said apologetically.
"It is alright, you have a right to protect your property. We shall be moving on as soon as the sun has set." Larten reassured the farmer and I lay back down again, I was just grateful that we hadn't been naked when the farmer had found us.
"At least you aren't like those other folk we get in here sometimes, they're weird and quite violent too. They have purple skin, they must be in a biker gang or something. We don't like them at all," the farmer said, "they make a mess and set fires, then they will usually leave half eaten deer carcasses hanging up in trees so we get lots of flies buzzing around."
"When were they here last?" Larten asked seriously.
"Two nights ago, they refused to leave until the sun had set too. They slaughtered a deer and left its remains outside, there were flies everywhere and the smell was awful." the farmer replied.
"I am sorry for that, we have had problems with them too. They set our campground on fire and destroyed a very expensive circus tent, we also lost a lot of our stage props and costumes." Larten told the farmer.
"I called the police, but by the time the police got here the gang had vanished. I couldn't work it out, they had no vehicles at all. They only left behind the carcass and a load of rubbish. I was not a happy man, now I do patrols to make sure that they don't come back. If they do come back then I'll set my dogs on them." the farmer said assertively.
"Leave them to us, we know how to deal with gangs like this." Larten concluded.
"But Larten I don't want to k..." I began, but he held up his hand to silence me before I said too much.
"I would be grateful for your help, I'm going to rig up an alarm system that links to the police, if anybody enters here in the future without entering the code the police will be notified. It is a silent alarm system." the farmer explained.
"That'll show them, they are scum." I concurred.
"Anna is right," Larten acknowledged, "they are nothing more than vandals and low life criminals."
"Are the police good enough to deal with a gang like this?" I looked at Larten and he knew what I meant.
"Do not worry, we shall rid you of this gang once and for all." Larten announced.
"How?" the farmer asked.
"Leave it to us, I will strike a deal with them. They will not bother you again, I can promise you that." Larten replied.
"OK, I will leave it up to you, however I will be setting up an alarm system just to be on the safe side." the farmer said before he left us alone.
"Damn those Vampaneze, they cause trouble wherever they go Larten." I said angrily.
"Calm yourself Anna, we can deal with them now just like when we dealt with them before." he claimed as he drew his sword.
"They are not likely to attack in daylight and they may not even come back here. Maybe they were just passing through." I suggested.
"I hope so, I have an idea though. If they do come back here then they will not wish to stay if my idea works." he replied with a glint in his eyes.
"What are you going to do?" I asked.
"I am going to locate their tracks and slaughter them." he answered simply.
"Are you sure about this Larten?" I queried, "Won't that break the truce that exists between the two Clans?"
"The Vampaneze are fragmented and their leader is weak, by now they will be aware of what happened to those who attacked us at the Cirque Du Freak. If we kill the rest of these Vampaneze now then we will not have to face them later on," Larten explained, "dead Vampaneze cannot fight in battles after all."
"No, they can't," I answered, "the only good Vampaneze is a dead one."
"I agree, they deserve to die because they are nothing more than murderers," Larten declared, "I hate killing but sometimes I have no choice."
"That's very true," I commented, "when it comes to Vampaneze either you kill them first or you will be killed by them."
"I have no intention of dying Anna." I couldn't bare the thought of Larten dying and I didn't want to think about it either.
"Personally I hope that I won't have fight again for a long time Larten, my arm still hasn't healed up properly." I wasn't sure how long it'd take to heal either.
"Let me see it," I held up my arm for Larten to look at, he removed the bandage, washed the paste off and then examined the wound. The wound was closed over, but I still had a scab. I soaked it in hot water and much of the scab came off leaving behind a scar. "it looks fine to me Anna."
"It still hurts, it may look fine on the outside but it isn't healed on the inside. That wound was deep, it cut through my arm muscle." it had certainly bled a lot, I was just lucky that it hadn't become infected.
"Muscle will take a while to form, however the skin has healed up well. You have no need to be concerned about your arm." Larten knew more than me about these things so I took his word for it.
"Well that is something at least, it was a stupid mistake on my part Larten, I left myself open and this wound was the price I paid for doing so. I must learn to block better or next time I may not be so lucky." I really needed to work on my weapon and combat skills, it wasn't one of my strong points.
"I will continue to train you, you need to know some more advanced combat techniques, you only know the basics right now Anna." I liked it when Larten taught me new skills, I had fun practising them with him.
"I think that is a great idea, after all if you are not with me and I run into trouble then I'll need to know how to defend myself, all I know right now is how to block and lunge," I admitted, "there are far more things for me to learn besides that."
"I agree with you Anna, however we have a lot of ground to cover and I wish to arrive at Vampire Mountain as soon as I can, I will teach you some more hand to hand combat when we have arrived at our final destination, right now though I think that we should move on from here within the next hour or so." we were waiting for the sun to almost disappear before we left the barn. I saw Madam Octa's cage nearby to where I was sitting, she hadn't been fed recently so I cut some of the remaining venison up into tiny chunks for her.
"What are you doing?" Larten asked, his eyebrows were raised.
"I am going to feed Madam Octa, she hasn't been fed since the night before yesterday." I attempted to play the flute, I was trying to tell Madam Octa that I was about to feed her, but I was hopeless at it. I just couldn't play and think about what I was trying to tell her at the same time, in the end I dropped the venison pieces through the tiny gaps between the bars of her wooden cage. It was safer to do this than to open the cage, I couldn't take any chances. I watched Madam Octa scuttling around picking up the pieces and eating them one at a time, then she looked straight at me. I wasn't sure if she wanted more food or if she was trying to thank me for her meal.
I went outside and dug around underneath the soil, the ground was hard but I managed to turn it up a little bit. I was looking for a worm, Madam Octa loved worms and she loved pizza too, however I didn't have any of that to give to her. I found a nice, long, fat worm. I picked it up and took it into the barn, I dangled it over the cage, it was wiggling and I could have sworn that Madam Octa's eyes widened when she saw it. I dropped it into the cage and Madam Octa practically jumped to get to it, I watched her eating it. It was gone within a couple of minutes, I was sitting on the hay bale with Larten, the cage was next to me and one of the flutes was in my hand.
"Pass the flute to me Anna," I handed the flute over to him, "you definitely need to practice playing the flute more often."
"I agree, hence why I fed her through the bars of the cage. I wasn't sure if you'd want me to let her out or not either." I replied, after all Madam Octa wasn't my pet.
"Open the cage Anna, she needs to exercise." I unlocked the cage and I opened its door. Larten began to play the flute and Madam Octa came out of her cage, she walked around for a bit and then she scurried up my back and she stopped to sit on my shoulder. I knew better than to move so I froze, Madam Octa then climbed back down my arm and onto the floor. Larten stopped playing the flute, I watched as Madam Octa scurried around on the floor and all over the place.
"What is going on?" I wasn't used to Madam Octa being set loose like this, however Larten obviously knew what he was doing.
"I have told Madam Octa to stretch her legs and return to her cage when I play the flute again," he explained, "she is quite safe and so are you Anna, do not panic."
"Will she obey you Larten?" I wasn't sure how well Madam Octa was trained, did she even have a will of her own? She was smart, well for a spider at least.
"I am sure that she will, I have something for her when she returns to the cage," he answered, "I tend to give her live crickets, she seems to like them."
"Yeah and they probably fill her up nicely too, they are quite large after all," I acknowledged, "I'm not sure how often Madam Octa should be fed, is once every couple of days OK?"
"Yes, that is fine Anna. In the wild she would not catch a bug every day, if we feed her every few days it simulates how she would eat in the wild." Larten seemed to know a lot about his pet, I would take the time to study her at some point as she was fascinating.
"That is probably the best thing, if she eats too much then it may not be good for her Larten, it isn't good for us either." I had never been the type to eat too much.
"Can you see her Anna?" I didn't know if he wanted me to start looking for her or not.
"No, where has she gone?" I couldn't see her anywhere and that was a problem.
"She is up there, she has been partially hidden by one of the beams." Larten pointed her out to me, the beam had made her awkward to spot.
"How long do you let her out for normally?" I wasn't sure how long spiders needed to exercise for.
"I normally let her out for a few minutes so she can hunt and stretch her legs. We have to be moving on soon Anna so I shall send her back to her cage now." Larten once again blew the flute, Madam Octa scurried down a long beam, she then climbed back up the hay bale and into her cage. I shut the door and locked it again, he stopped playing the flute and gave the live cricket he'd found to Madam Octa, she wrestled with it for a few minutes before she tucked into it. "Have you packed up the pots and bowls yet?"
"They need a wash Larten, but there is no water left to wash them in." I wasn't sure if the barn had a running water supply or not, I hadn't found one.
"I saw a river earlier and the water looks clear, all you have to do is fill up that large pot and heat it over the fire, then you can use that to wash the smaller pots in." he remarked.
"Where is the river?" I hadn't seen one in the area.
"It is about ten minutes away from here if you walk it at human speed Anna." he answered.
"OK I'll be back in a minute, I'll just go and get some water." I left the barn and went to locate the river, I found it pretty quickly. The water was flowing very fast, I knelt down to fill up the pot as that was the only way to do it. I placed the pot into the water and it filled up, it was a large pot that could hold about two litres of water. I waited until it was almost full before removing the pot from the water and I put the lid on it. I was about to go back to the barn when I felt something push me hard from behind, I dropped the pot, lost my balance and fell straight into the fast flowing water!
I was swept away down the river faster than I could imagine, the shock of the icy cold water had hit me like a knife. I wanted to scream for help, but I couldn't breathe, the water was too cold and the current was too fast. I kicked furiously to stay afloat, I tried to stay calm and let the river carry me away, if I could just stay afloat long enough then the current would slow down and I'd be able to get across to the riverbank. I was looking out for a tree or something I could grab onto, my fingers were numb, my body was numb and my brain went blank...
I knew that if a vampire died in running water then their soul would never reach Paradise, it would be forever trapped in the water or so we believed. As I was being swept away I saw something getting nearer to me, I was too cold and confused to work out what it was. It grabbed hold of me and pulled me towards the riverbank, I screamed at the top of my lungs, I was screaming for help and out of fear. I understood that whatever had grabbed me out of the water was trying to pull me onto the dry land. I was too weak to fight it, I just let it happen. I lay down and collapsed in a coughing fit, I was coughing up all the water that I'd swallowed.
I must have been there for a while, I was freezing cold and disorientated. I could feel something warm next to me, in fact there were two warm things laying beside me. I opened my eyes a little bit and then I saw what they were, they were wolves. I couldn't move, I was so exhausted. I realised that the wolves were trying to warm me up so I snuggled into them as closely as I could. Each one of the wolves was sharing its bodyheat with me, I was alive and the wolves had probably just saved my life. I stayed still, I let the wolves sniff me and tug at my clothing. They were trying to help me, then a big mother wolf with swollen teats came over to me. She must be the alpha female I thought to myself, she nuzzled me and she sniffed me. The mother wolf then lay down next to me, her milk-filled teats were by my lips. I instinctively drank some of her milk, the other wolves were still right next to me, I continued to drink the milk until the mother wolf pulled away from me.
"Go, get Larten." I whispered weakly to one of the wolves. The wolf stood up, sniffed my clothing and ran off. I lay there with the others, I took my wet clothing off when I could move again, the mother wolf helped by tugging my sleeves and then she lay back down beside me. Two of the other wolves leapt up and started growling fiercely, I was too weak to pay much attention to them, then the mother wolf got up and growled too. She stood over me protectively and she wouldn't stop snarling.
When I looked up I saw a bear, it was large and black. It looked vicious. I stayed down on the ground, the wolves continued to growl and snarl with their fangs bared until the bear turned away and walked back in the direction that it had appeared from. I was safe for the moment, the mother wolf let me drink some more milk from her, it was as though she knew that I needed it. I heard a wolf howling and then I looked up again, it was the same one that had sniffed my clothing and ran off earlier. Moments later Larten was by my side and then the wolves were howling and going crazy.
"Anna, what the hell happened?" Larten looked really concerned.
"I got the water." I murmured weakly.
"Yes and then what happened?" it took me a moment to register his words, I was still dazed.
"I was pushed into the river, I was swept away by it. The wolves came to my aid. There was a bear, but the wolves snarled at it and it went away." I managed to explain when I could think again.
"I knew something was wrong Anna, you did not return and then a wolf came into the barn, it was tugging my cloak until I stood up and then it ran. I followed it and I found you." he covered my body with his cloak, I was still wet and cold.
"The wolf, it saved me." I muttered. I was drifting in and out of contiousness, Larten scooped me up into his arms, he carried me back to the barn and the wolves followed him. He placed me onto the hay bales and got some of my warm, dry clothes out of my backpack, he dressed me and then he left me to rest. The wolves lay down beside me and I snuggled into them for added warmth. I must have fallen asleep, when I awoke the wolves were still with me.
The mother wolf jumped up onto the hay bales and one of the younger wolves jumped off to give her some space. She once again nuzzled me and licked me, I was able to move slightly until I could reach her milk, I drunk some of it and then I drunk some more. She rested her large head on my body and the other wolves all lay down on the floor by the hay bales except for those who were keeping me warm. I could see the wolves all around me. I sat up slowly, I still felt weak but the mother wolf's milk had given me a life saving boost, without it I would have died from the cold. The mother wolf still had her head on my lap, the others were right up against me. I didn't know where Larten was.
"Larten, where are you?" I was weak and cold.
"I am over by the fire cooking, how are you feeling?" he queried as he stirred the pot.
"I feel weak, but at least I am warm. The wolves are still here." I called back.
"They will not leave your side Anna, you are one of them. The alpha female has accepted you, as far as they know you are a wolf," Larten handed me a bowlful of hot soup, "eat that and then you will feel better. It is made from a few vegetables I found and the leftover meat."
"Thank you." I said weakly as I slowly started to eat it. A few minutes later Larten came back into the barn carrying a small deer which he placed on the ground. The wolves leapt up and sniffed it, the mother wolf got up too. She ate first as the alpha and then all the others started eating. Soon there was nothing left, they devoured the whole thing. I finished my soup and had a drink, Larten gave me his flask that had been topped up with fresh blood, I drained it and handed the empty flask back to him.
"I needed that Larten." I hadn't drunk blood in a few days so it was good to get some into me.
"I know you did, you are lucky to be alive Anna. The wolves must have seen whoever pushed you in, they followed the river and dragged you out of the water as soon as they could. Wolves are highly intelligent creatures." he explained.
"I don't doubt it, if I were a human I'd be dead right now." I finished my soup and lay back down on the hay bales.
"The wolves do not like humans, humans hunt and shoot them for their skins. We do not harm them, we feed them and we live in harmony with them, there will be plenty of wolves at Vampire Mountain for you to meet Anna." Larten washed out the empty bowls, the pot still had some soup left inside it.
"I owe them my life Larten, I must repay them somehow." how exactly was I supposed to thank a bunch of wolves for saving my life? If I said thank you to them verbally then they wouldn't understand.
"The deer I have given them is payment enough," he stated, "I am sure that you have no debts owing to this wolf pack."
"I see. Do you want the rest of the soup Larten or can I have it?" I was still hungry and the wolves refused to leave my side, whenever I moved or stood up they followed me like dogs would. I threw them some scraps, it was mostly bones now, but they didn't care. I gave the biggest bone to the mother wolf as she had shared her milk with me, she stayed beside me as she ate it, her strong jaws made short work of the bone and she crunched it up as if it were a biscuit.
"You can have it Anna, I made it for you and you need it more than I do." he answered. I ate the rest of the soup and he washed the pot out.
One of the younger wolves, a male ran outside of the barn. I wasn't sure why, but about twenty minutes to half an hour later he returned with a rabbit between his jaws. He dropped it at Larten's feet and sat down beside me, Larten picked up the rabbit, skinned it, gutted it and roasted it. He gave the skin and bones to the wolves, they ate the heart and other innards too whilst he ate the meat, although the rabbit was tiny so he didn't get much to eat.
"That was a tasty snack." Larten threw his last bone onto the floor for the wolves and sat on a hay bale next to me.
"I'm sure it was Larten, it looked nice, but it was so tiny. I'm sorry that I have delayed our travel. We should have left here a long time ago." I was feeling a bit stronger now, at least I was warm and dry if nothing else.
"It could not be helped, nobody can predict when something like this is going to happen Anna." he was trying to make me feel better, I had been feeling guilty because of what had taken place. I didn't know why I hadn't heard the person coming behind me, it was unusual for a vampire not to hear something like that.
"I think it was a Vampaneze who pushed me into the river," I claimed, "who else would have done that to me out here Larten?"
"I agree with you, no vampire would do that unless they were a traitor. I very much doubt that a human would do that to you either." he acknowledged.
"What do I do?" I was scared, I'd never been attacked like this before either, was I being specifically targeted?
"Stay close to me and keep your wits sharp Anna." Larten's answer sounded almost like an order.
"I'll be more careful in the future, I promise." I wasn't one to break my promises.
"Your wet clothing has dried out now, I have folded it up and put it back into your backpack." it wasn't like him to do the laundry, although he knew what to do.
"Thanks for doing that for me Larten, I'm glad that I packed my extra clothing now." there was no way I would have left my clothing behind, just in case I got soaked through to the skin or got covered in blood from animals that we'd killed to eat.
"Yes, it was a good judgement call," he nodded approvingly, "I was wrong when I told you not to pack your clothing initially, I am sorry."
"When will we move on from here Larten?" I was tired of staying in the barn, I wanted to start the next part of our journey.
"Providing that there are no more incidents we shall move on at sunset. We are at least a day behind schedule and we cannot afford to waste any more time here." he remarked.
"I agree, we need to get out of here. If we meet any Vampaneze we can kill them can't we?" I wanted to be sure before I started fighting them, I didn't want to spark another war by breaking the truce that the two Clans had.
"Yes, there are grounds to kill them because they have attempted to kill you. It would be seen as justice by the Clan if we were to kill them." Larten's clarification was all I needed, at least now if a fight broke out between us and the Vampaneze then there wouldn't be any repercussions for the Clan itself.
"As long as the truce isn't broken by us then we are in the clear, they've broken the truce and now they can suffer the consequences." I was determined to make the Vampaneze pay for nearly killing me.
"I agree Anna, however if we run into them then we shall fight them. As they have attempted to murder you my actions will be swift and merciless." he concluded. At that moment the mother wolf leapt up and started snarling at something, the other wolves got up also, they were all growling and going crazy.
"What is it?" the mother wolf stood infront of me and snarled even louder. "Show me." I said to another wolf, but the mother wolf wouldn't let me move, she nudged Larten with her paw until he got up to investigate. The mother wolf remained infront of me, the other wolves stood on either side of her. It was as if they were forming a protective wall around me.
"You foul, pitiful waste of breath!" I heard Larten shout before I heard swords clashing. I saw what was going on, the Vampaneze had come back to the barn and they were fighting with Larten. Larten dispatched two of them in quick succession, but the other three were proving tricky. Two of the wolves leapt forward and started snarling at the Vampaneze, the mother wolf remained infront of me like a guard dog, she was snarling and growling at them non stop. The wolves were no cowards, they were attacking the Vampaneze and Larten was attacking them too, he killed another one and then the other two ran, however the wolves chased after them. From the sounds of their screams the wolves had caught them and ripped them apart. About twenty minutes after I had heard the screams of the injured and dying Vampaneze the wolves came back into the barn, one was limping and the other one was covered in blood, but it wasn't wolf blood it was Vampaneze blood.
"I think that is the last we shall be seeing of them for a while Larten, they are tenacious I'll give them that." I washed the deadly Vampaneze blood off of the young male wolf whilst Larten put a splint on the leg of the other one.
"They were just trying their luck Anna, the Clan did not name me the scourge of the Vampaneze for no reason." he revealed as the young male whined a bit and nuzzled me. I stroked him and then he lay down beside my feet. The mother wolf licked my ears and face, she then nudged me so I moved, she lay down and then I lay down too, her teats were exposed so I bent down to drink from her which she let me do. The youngest wolf also had a drink, she drunk from the teat next to the one that I had been suckling from. The mother wolf then got up and once again rested her head on my lap whilst I sat on the hay bale.
"What are we going to do with the bodies Larten?" I hadn't disposed of Vampaneze bodies before, all I knew was that their blood was highly toxic to animals and plants alike.
"I shall build up the fire and burn them, this way wild animals will not be able to eat their remains and turn mad as a result." he replied.
"They attacked in the daytime Larten, they are either desperate or stupid. I do not know of any vampires who attack in broad daylight." it didn't make any sense, however I was determined to get to the bottom of it.
"The Vampaneze have no leader, they are fragmented and their numbers are dwindling. If we keep killing them then soon there will not be any left." I hoped that Larten was right, I just couldn't see myself on the battlefield fighting for my life or dying in defence of the Clan that I belonged to.
"So much for Sarah being their leader, what on Earth is she playing at Larten? She sends the Vampaneze out to attack us at every opportunity she gets and we keep killing them. It is almost as if she wants us dead, however she doesn't care about anything else, not even her own Clan's numbers." I didn't get her motives, what were her reasons for wanting us dead?
"Sarah is a weak leader, when she is dead hopefully the Vampaneze will go back to the sewers where they belong and leave our Clan alone." he remarked.
"That is if we don't slaughter them all first Larten, we've killed about seven or eight between us so far, the wolves have killed at least two, Gavner killed two or three and the Wolf Man has killed two also." I was trying to add up exactly how many we had actually killed, some of the Vampaneze had been wounded, however they'd escaped by flitting.
"That is statistically a lot, on the battlefield you may only kill one or two if that and injure several others, but these Vampaneze are dropping like flies. They have either had no combat training, they are only Vampets or they are just weak as a whole." Larten cleaned the blood off of his sword and put it back into its scabbard.
"I have no idea, but I want to get out of here and continue our journey to the mountain Larten." I was getting impatient, I knew how far behind schedule we were too.
"We will have to report this to the Vampire Council. It is not normal for Vampaneze to act like this, the Clan needs to be aware of it." he had a point, if war was coming then we had to prepare for it.
Larten sat next to me on the hay bale, he kissed me deeply and he held me in his arms for a long time. I kissed him back with just as much passion because I wanted to feel his warm body next to mine for as long as possible, however the sunset came and it was time for us to leave the barn.
"Anna, are you ready to leave?" we stood up and brushed the hay off of our clothing, although the wolf hairs remained.
"Yes, I am ready when you are Larten," I answered, "we have been here for far longer than we planned to be already."
"I agree with you, we have a lot of ground to cover and we are quite a long way behind schedule." he remarked as we walked out of the barn and to the gate that led to the road. The wolves followed us as far as the gate but no further, they knew that the road wasn't a safe place for them to go. I stroked them all and I sat down with them, they all bundled me and licked my face, the mother wolf nudged me and nuzzled me before she lay down on her side. The younger wolf suckled from her, but I had no need to so I didn't, the younger wolf needed the milk more than I did. I stood up again and walked through the gate, the wolves began to howl so I howled back. I took Larten's hand, we began walking along the road that would lead us away from the countryside and into the town...