Chapter 5 "Timere ex hominibus

The first rays of sunshine pierced through the window and surrounded the silhouette of the young woman with a warm glow. Her lightly curled blonde hair nestled against her body and ended just above the hips. The white linen dress wrapped tightly around her upper body, while it was flared from the waist up.

Her usually vivid green eyes looked indifferent to the reflection. Her narrow face looked even more fragile because of the circles under her eyes, while her pale skin tone seemed almost unnatural. The pressed lips gave her a grim expression.

On the floorboards of her small hut were still working materials scattered around, the ones needed for the recovery potion. There were small red splashes around the kettle, which had already moved into the wood.

Blood.

Regis's blood.

So far she only knew one vampire. He was gentle and always enveloped her with a feeling of security during their conversations. His company was refreshingly different. He had the right answer to almost every question and despite his old age, he still possessed a childlike curiosity, especially in the field of science, which always wanted to be satisfied.

For 16 years she has known about his true nature, even though she was spared the sight of the teeth-breaking beast. He has neither a shadow nor a mirror image, and he can dematerialize his body and move around as a cloud of smoke.

He has internalized the customs of human society and gallantly participates in the events. Some people would probably say that Regis fits too much into the image of a thoughtful person of advanced age.

The transfigured dreamy views of this species were destroyed yesterday. Dettlaff was neither gentle nor restrained. He was driven by his emotions and had no consideration for his surroundings. This led to spontaneous and even worse, unpredictable actions on his part. With his monstrous appearance and behaviour, he made the impression on Livia that he was a wild animal who had only learned human language on a whim, but refused to actually use it and understand his counterpart. He could have confronted her in human form, but for some inexplicable reason he preferred to present the teeth-breaking beast.

The way back home went without further incidents, but Livia could not reconstruct the chronological course of the rest of the past day in her mind. The shock after the clash had done something to her, unfortunately she did not know to what extent this was relevant for her. How would she behave in a future meeting with Regis? How would he react to her failure?

The brooding was interrupted by a knock on the front door.

Gerard, a young farmer, stood at her doorstep and looked at her in horror. "By Majoran, Livia! You look awful. What have you been doing the last few days? Can I help you?" A tired smile stole onto the young alchemist's lips and she crossed her arms. "Charming as ever what? Unfortunately the last days were not really blessed with luck, but it has to go up again sometime, right? What brings you to me?"

"Unfortunately, nothing good either. The last two nights my cattle have been attacked in the meadow."

Livia's laughter made Gerard stop and blink.

"Gerard, I am neither a hunter nor a witcher. How could I help you?"

After an embarrassed clearing of his throat, the young man started again: "Well, I don't expect you to throw yourself at the monster with a sword, but maybe a potion would help."

"A potion?"

"Here, look at the claws. I found 'em between the carcasses. These are definitely not wolves, I tell ya! Maybe if it's a monster with a sensitive nose, a potion with a good smell might scare it away. My animals would be safe and I wouldn't have to deal with fuckin mutants. They don't seem to be much good any more anyway. Have you heard the latest from Beauclair?"

Livia rolled her eyes and tugged her sleeve briefly. "Please don't you start that too. Yes, I heard about the vampire attack, and no, I don't care any further."

"Oh really? My brother was there when it happened."

Livia opened her eyes: "For God's sake! How's Gaspard? Was he hurt? Do you need potions or anything else?"

Gerard lifted his arms and shook his head. "You know him, the old goat has more down to luck than skill, as always. But one thing he told me about it is quite interesting."

Livia went silent, but looked curiously at her conversation partner. He was visibly satisfied with the attention he had gained and continued in a lowered voice.

"He was hiding in the back alley when he saw a human figure walking along the main path. A black-haired man, middle-aged, with a hard face. Especially the black leather coat was striking. He walked quickly, but didn't give the impression of fleeing. And then..."

Livia only noticed from that moment on that she listened to Gerard's story with her mouth open and already knew which individual it was.

"BAMMMMMMMMMMMM!"

She cried out and made a leap to the back.

"Razor-sharp claws sprang from his hands! The human face turned into a grimace, and before Gaspard knew it, the wide corridor was littered with the bodies of the townspeople!"

Breathing was difficult for her and the certainty hit her like a strong blow to the stomach. They knew what the Beast of Beauclair looked like. The description was extremely apt, even if Dettlaff were to take on his human form, there would be a mass panic in the village, according to the case that he would dare to come out of his hiding place.

"That's not good at all," she chewed her thumbnail and was already completely lost in thought.

"Yes, isn't it? No one is safe from anything these days. Monsters posing as humans! Who'd have thought of that? We live in strange times. You should start looking for a man, Livia. It's easier to handle disasters and bad times together than alone." He walked up to her and looked at her intensely.

The blonde-haired woman blinked briefly and snapped her middle finger against his forehead.

"Tstststs Gerard, Gerard, what am I going to do with you? You'll never give up, will you?"

The young man gave a resigned sigh. "No. Most people in the village already think I'm crazy for it. Nevertheless I will not give up so quickly! Imagine what it would be like with us! Me with my animal farming and you with your alchemy. We'd be the richest people in the area and we could go far!"

The smile did not reach her eyes as she replied to Gerard:

"Money isn't everything. I" she was interrupted by her conversation partner.

"Of course it's not everything! You're also beautiful and, by the way, my appearance is quite popular with the other single women."

Livia made a face. "Well, with all the choices, you don't have to put up with me anymore. Shall I make you a potion with a nice smell?"

A small money pouch flew towards her and Gerard made his way back to the village without another word.

When she was alone in the studio, she lay down powerless on a chair. For her taste, there were too many events within the short time span. Old friends, vampires, annoying admirers and the running of the shop, slowly demanded their price. She opened the next best bottle of wine, saved the glass and drank directly from it. After a while the gentle waves of intoxication enveloped her and the room became blurred before her eyes.

The next morning was rung in by a piercing crow and unspeakable headaches. Before making the potion, Livia wanted to see the situation for herself. At a leisurely pace she put on wide trousers and a chemise.

Due to her slender figure, she lacked female curves, which could make an observer from far away think she is a boy. She packed in her bag a drinking tube, her knife and a small piece of coal with parchment. As she left the house, her eyes fell on the sphera sensum on the windowsill. Her gaze became clouded at the sight of the grey colour. "What a bore." During her small drinking binge, she had searched various books for the meaning of color theory, but only with moderate success. With a few exceptions, the meanings were different. In principle, you could interpret what you wanted into any color, just as it is in art. With one quick movement she put the ball in one of her trouser pockets and left the house.

In Francollarts, she was approached by most of the villigers, because of her tired appearance. The young woman used this fact to her advantage to get more information about the beast near the village. Unfortunately, most of them did not know anything about it and the rest only parroted the story of Gerard. She stocked up with some bread and cheese in the inn and set off for the fields.

A gentle breeze passed through the sunflower fields and made the flowers sway in a gentle rhythm, while the sun's rays pleasantly warmed the free parts of her skin. Livia relatively quickly dismissed the idea of going to see Regis, for fear of his reaction, and especially hers. In any case, it was not a particularly uplifting thought to visit an immortal friend at the cemetery.

The crowing of a pheasant brought her back to reality and the rest of the way to Gerard's fields she tried to concentrate entirely on the warming sunrays.

She was almost at her destination when a strong smell of decay hit her. The cows were at the other end of the field, while in the middle was a fresh carcass. The alchemist wrinkled her eyebrows and approached it leisurely, telling herself that this stench at least drove away her hangover.

As she stood in front of the carcass, everything suddenly went pretty fast. She noticed with horror the huge holes in the lower part of the dead animal, when a rustling could be heard next to her. Unfortunately, the sound was all too familiar to her and without a second thought, she threw herself into the adjacent sunflower field, hitting her hook. Some of the archespore acid landed on her sleeve, which slowly began to disintegrate. As she fled, she tore off her sleeve and threw the garment carelessly to the ground. Fortunately for her, the linen fabric was a little thicker, so her skin had not come into contact with the corrosive liquid. The attacker, however, remained stubborn and pursued her to the edge of the forest.

Shortly after she reached the forest, she turned around to see if the pursuer had given up hunting. However, she did not come to analyse, as the ground under her feet was missing when she continued her run. She had miscalculated during the race and was already deeper in the forest than she had initially assumed. With her upper body first she hit the steep and rocky terrain and rolled down the remaining slope.

During the fall she tried to protect her head with her arms, which she unfortunately only succeeded moderately. When she reached the bottom she lay motionless and tried not to cry out loud. Every fiber of her body was burning and she felt her blood running hot down her bare arm.

She concentrated on taking long, strong breaths to calm herself. It wasn't the first time she encountered an Archespore, but so far things have always gone smoothly for her. So far.

Slowly she turned on her back and started giggling. The giggling soon gave way to a loud laugh and this eventually turned from occasional sobbing to crying. "Bloody hell! What's been going wrong these last few days? I don't want any more of this!" A bloodcurdling scream escaped her and she hit the ground with her clenched fist.

She didn't know how much time had passed until she had calmed down again. Silently, she was still lying on the ground, looking through the dense canopy of leaves at the blue sky. The clouds moved slowly through her field of vision and in the distance she heard some birds chirping.

As she sat up, a painful groaning escaped her. Carefully she moved all her limbs and performed a quick health check. "Nothing broken, so far so good."

With great effort she rose and continued walking limping into the forest. Sooner or later she should come across a path and then the way home was no longer a problem. But despite the midday sun it was quite gloomy in the forest, which didn't necessarily help to improve her mood. The rough terrain did not do her aching limbs any favours and after a very short time she had to take a break. A glance into her bag told her that the water bag had burst and made coal and parchment unusable. Resigned, she simply pulled out her knife and fastened it to her belt.

In the distance she heard the sound of water and decided to get something to drink when she noticed huge footprints on the ground. The size of the footprints immediately made her heart beat faster and the cow came to her mind again. With her first thought she realized that the carcass in the field was fresh and untouched except for the fatal wound on the belly, as far as she could judge by the brief sight, while her second thought led to her screaming after the fall. If this creature was still around, it knew she was in the woods, and thanks to her cumbersome gait she must have had the effect of an elephant in a china shop on all creatures in the immediate vicinity.

Her breathing accelerated and her eyes widened. There was only one thought in her head:

Escape.

Quick escape.

As she tried to get up again, she heard the loud cracking and breaking of woods. Whatever it was, it was fast and she knew instinctively that she would not stand a chance against this creature.

Hectically she looked in all directions to find a suitable hiding place. A lush ivy blanket along the forest floor seemed to be the best choice. With clenched teeth she crawled under the plant layer and tried to push herself close to the ground. Only a fraction of a second later, the most powerful monster Livia had ever seen appeared.

A kind of deer, with three bestial eyes, huge antlers and paws bigger than her upper body. She was scared. Scared to death.

This was not a monster like a Archespore, which you could shake off at a fast walking pace. Likewise, the plant life had dentures not nearly as large as this monstrosity.

In her mind she went through all the options she could think of in a state of shock. Climbing a tree was not too clever. Before she could find a suitable tree, the deer would have already torn her to pieces. To call for help would be the same as to commit suicide. To continue to stay under the plant cover would only work if the ivy neutralized her smell. Probably she would normally get away with this strategy, but she had hurt herself when she fell and her blood was still sticking to her forearm and only the Gods know what other tracks she had laid with it.

The monster stopped at their resting place and tried to take in her scent. In blind panic, individual muscles strands of the young woman began to tremble. A loud snort made her collapse and the realization that her scent was being taken in by the beast robbed her of her last nerve. She did not wait any longer and sprinted off. The start of her escape proved to be a stroke of luck.

Her opponent was extremely agile and started to jump. She owed her life to the fact that she got stuck on one of the ivy vines and fell unplanned in the opposite direction.

The next moment passed for her like in slow motion. While she picked herself up and tried to sprint again, she noticed the sphera sensum lying on the ground in front of her. Quickly she grabbed it and ran towards the sound of the water. The cold surface of the sphere stood in stark contrast to the elevated temperature of her body. Her slender fingers closed even tighter around the object, so that her knuckles on her fingers turned white and began to hurt.

While she stumbled more through the dense vegetation than she ran, her hunter broke through it with ease and before she knew it, the vegetation stopped and she found herself in an open field. The escape route to her left was blocked by a wide river, so that further escape was only possible to the right, because in front of her there was an extremely deep abyss with a small waterfall nestling against it.

Her courage faded and when she stumbled over a root while looking back she remained motionless on the ground. She squeezed her eyes tightly and hoped for a quick and painless end, but the expected impact failed to happen. Instead, she heard a strange sound that reminded her of a parchment sheet tearing.

When she opened her eyes, Dettlaff stood with his back turned, as he had already done in the hunting lodge in vampiric form, and in front of him her pursuer, who had been cut in two, lay motionless on the ground.

Only at this second did the function of the sphera sensum come back to her mind. Her eyes widened as she realized what had just happened.

Hectically she rose and started: "I am... I am sorry! This was not meant to happen!" The vampire turned to her and looked at her coldly with his light blue eyes, the pupils reduced to narrow slits. His vampire form did not necessarily help to calm her mind. She raised her hands in appeasement, with his gaze caught on her hand with the sphera sensum.

"I stumbled and lost the sphera sensum. When I picked it up, I didn't think about putting it back in my pocket on my further escape. Please, I'm... I'm sorry." He took a step towards her and wanted to reply, when her legs finally gave out and she stumbled backwards. The eyes of the vampire widened as she tried to reach out to him.

Until now, Livia only knew the case of fall from a low height, such as chair on which you stand to dig out a rarely used book from a shelf and then you falling on the floor. The free fall could not be compared to anything that had happened before. The sounds of the roaring waterfall, the forest and her own scream did not reach her ears. There was complete silence around her, while the feeling of falling took over her body.

A red cloud surrounded her and shortly afterwards her body was firmly enclosed by two arms. The following impact ended her temporary deafness and brought her back to the present. Her rescuer never let go of her and pulled her to the sandbank where the water was only knee-high. When he finally let go of her, Livia let herself fall and sat trembling in the clear water.

The man bent down to her and looked at her intensely: "How bad are your injuries? Can you stand up?"

She looked at her rescuer and had to think of Gerard's description of the catastrophic events. Striking coat, black hair and hard features, but the now blue-grey eyes caught her eye most of all. They seemed tense and restless. The sudden pressure on her thigh caused her to avert her gaze and look for the cause. Miraculously, the sphera sensum had not been driven downstream by the current. Livia blinked several times because of the colour inside the sphere and fished it out of the water with shaky movements.

She lifted the object towards her counterpart and continued looking at it. With one blow she felt calm and balanced and had to think about the evening with Regis.

"Regis, I can see that you care a lot about your friend, but you cannot completely ignore his actions. "You yourself described him as impulsive. " What could stop him from committing such an act again?"

Now Regis got up too and approached Livia. He bent down to her until only a few inches separated their faces. His cool breath enveloped her like the first snow in winter. She could not take her eyes off him and remained motionless.

"His conscience."

Now she returned her gaze and spoke in a soft voice: "You are afraid. You've been afraid of me from the beginning."

Dettlaff retreated and pressed his lips together before he could no longer stand her gaze and lowered his head. "Even if I pretend to be human, it doesn't mean I understand what's going on inside of you. I cannot understand what you think or feel, even though I use your language. We are visually the same at first sight and yet so different."

Livia didn't have to think long about the following words: "You have neither shadow nor reflection, and you also possess extremely powerful powers. It may be that our cultures are very different, but we all have feelings. Some more and some less pronounced. Regis asked me to brew you the potions for a faster recovery, but I think he knew from the beginning that you would need something else much more.

She reached out her hand to him, "Let's be friends."