Chapter 6: Vampire Teacher
Embarking on their journey, Anaya and Godric had decided to head South from where the warriors came. They had slaves with them which meant they would be returning home to sell their bounty instead of continuing North. When they reached the great river Anaya found grooves in the sand left from boat keels running ashore on the river bank. Anaya figured that this was how they crossed the river in large numbers without perishing. She realized, much to her frustration, that it was not Godric who she had sensed in the woods the morning of the wedding day but warrior scouts from the southern tribe. If she was not so infatuated with finding Godric again, she might have sensed the danger and have warned her village before the attack.
Godric and Anaya agreed to only travel by night due to his condition and also to better evade detection by the enemy. They were highly out-numbered and so the only thing they had in their favor was that no one knew they were following them and also that they could move quicker than a caravan of warriors. Traveling by day would only lead to their detection. The cover of night was advantageous to them in many, many ways.
They had been walking for several nights, tracking the movements of the army ahead of them and trying to catch up with them. It was a hard road to follow and it became even harder with the oncoming winter at their heels. They both knew that there was no way of outrunning it. They would just have to endure the frost when it came.
The cold wind whipped harshly through Anaya's long hair, mussing it into wild, windswept tangles. Godric watched her as she continued trudging forward against the storm, steadfast to her purpose. The snow would begin to fall any night now and he was starting to become very aware of Anaya's mortality. His concern heightened as the nights passed, snowless but still dangerous to any human who tried to weather the winter storms. She barely had any food to eat, her body shivered constantly and she had nothing but a small fire in the early mornings to warm herself with. If they did not start taking more precautions, she might not survive long enough to reach the barbarians in time. He would have to turn her before she could finish her vendetta.
"Are you hungry?" She asked him one night. Dawn was approaching and it was almost time for him to go to ground. Anaya had lit a fire to warm her while she slept during the day, but for now they sat around it together. The two were used to this routine by now; they would begin their journey again the moment night fell until Godric had to go to ground at sunrise also leaving Anaya time to rest. Anaya learned to adapt to many things during her time with Godric, such as sleeping in the daytime and expecting his hunger to be for blood, not food. Which was why she asked if he were hungry.
Godric was confused by her question for a moment but when she held out her slender wrist to him he suddenly understood her meaning. He shook his head and gently pushed her arm back. "No, little one," he told her softly, setting her hand down in her lap. "I can go a while without feeding and you need all your strength. We're almost upon them."
It was true that he was growing weaker and the scent of Anaya's sweet blood made him dream of satiating his hunger but he could not allow himself to do it. He knew that Anaya needed to conserve as much energy as possible and that drinking her blood would further deplete her stamina. Besides, once they reached their goal there would be plenty of humans for him to feed off of and he would regain his strength.
Godric was surprised at how graciously she offered her blood to him. She must have trusted him in some way or she wouldn't have mentioned it at all. He liked to think that perhaps this meant that they would have a strong bond as maker and prodigy. After all trust was key in these types of relationships… he knew what he did to his own maker without it.
"How many more nights will it be until we catch up with them?" She asked, hoping that he had an answer.
"Tomorrow night I should think." Godric said with a grin as he lay down on his back and looked up at the stars, "Their scent is close."
Anaya nodded, her gaze fixated on the fire. "I don't know what I'll do when we reach them… no that's not true. Inside, I feel that I know how I'll react- I just don't want to admit it. We won't truly know until the moment comes but my desire right now is to kill them all."
Godric smirked, pleased by the thought, "I have no doubt that you will little one."
Anaya attempted a smile a she poked at the wood on the fire with a long stick. She knew that those men she killed, and the ones she had yet to kill were her enemy and that she should hate them, but the emotions she was feeling were still unsettling. She felt in-between realities, as if she were partly mad. She did not know if this state of being would help her to survive the approaching battle or if it would be her folly. "That night when the warriors came, that was the first time I've ever killed a man before." She admitted, glancing over at the vampire. "It should have been a hard thing for me to do… it should have been, but it wasn't. Have you killed much?"
A wide grin spread across Godric's face as he gave her a nod, "Yes, many men."
Anaya thought on this for a moment, her eyes suddenly fixed on the fire. She watched the fames dance up from the charred wood, all the while remembering the attack on her decided that she did not like death, she did not like killing, yet she had discovered that evening that she was very good at it. A curse, Anaya thought ruefully, thrusting the stick she was holding down into the ashes of charred wood.
"What will I become when you turn me?" Anaya asked.
Godric looked over at her then. He had expected this question for a long time now and he had decided that he would tell her the truth when she asked. His maker had not been so kind to him, keeping his vampire identity a secret from Godric until he thought it convenient to turn him; his maker's intentions being only to subject him to an eternity of further abuse.
"You'll be a vampire, like me," he told her nodded slowly; she had heard stories of these so-called vampires. Apparently they roamed the night and fed on the blood of humans, unable to ever meet the sunlight. Her people did not call them vampires though; they had a different name for them.
"How will you turn me?" She asked, not quite certain that humans could become those types of creatures, "I mean, how is it done?"
"I must drain your body of all your human blood and then I give you mine. You will then wake up a vampire," he explained. "You see, first I must destroy you in order to make you."
Anaya thought on this process for a moment, wondering how bad being turned was going to hurt. Her limbs pulsed hard then in anticipation of pain even though she knew that it would not come yet. It was going to be a sacrifice but one Anaya was hopeful that it was worthy of.
"If you turn me into a vampire, what will that make us?" She asked, curious to know more.
"I'll be your maker and you will be my child."
"You're child?" She asked somewhat disturbed by the incestual sounding term.
Godric had to laugh at her sudden distress, "Not literally little one, the relationship is quite different with vampires than it is with humans. The maker and prodigy bond can come in many different forms." He explained, finding all her questioning amusing. He found that humans were often quite humorous and Anaya's naiveté towards vampires charming; he decided then that he rather liked playing teacher.
"What was your relationship with your maker like?" She questioned, trying to get an idea of what he was talking about.
Godric's gaze locked onto the fire then, a shadow passed across his face as he stared into the smoldering embers. It was an innocent question on her part but to Godric it was a subject that was fraught with horrible memories. Immediately sensing the darkening mood, Anaya realized that this was not something that she should have asked.
"I did not know him," Godric lied, thinking that she did not need to know the details of his own experience with his maker. The truth was that his maker frequently exercised extreme cruelty towards him which drove Godric to murder him. Anaya was about to be turned in a matter of days, how would knowing the truth help her make the transition? It would only serve to frighten her, to make her skeptical. "He turned me and left me before I woke up; he did not realize what he had done," he told her. Godric was surprised on how convincing he could be in his lies. They were far from the truth but Godric thought that in time he could even convince himself to believe his story.
"How did you survive without a mentor?" Anaya asked.
"I did what I had to," He told her, knowing at least that was the truth. Godric did not wish to talk about his past any further. Looking up to the sky he saw the faint haze of light on the horizon, dawn was coming. "It's time for me to go to sleep little one," he said, pushing himself up off of the ground. Anaya followed him, not daring to question him more on his maker.
Godric stepped into the hole he had pre-dug for the day and reached out for an armful of dirt to pull in.
"I can cover you tonight," Anaya offered, truly wanting to do so. Gidric saw the longing to in her large eyes and found that he did not want to refuse her.
"Thank you, little one," he told her as he lay himself down in the hole. Anaya knelt down beside the lip of the ditch and pushed a pile of dirt on top of Godric's legs, trying to be as gentle and respectful as possible. Before she reached for another scoop, Godric grabbed her wrist to get her attention once more. "When I turn you, we will not be sleeping in dirt filled ditches. I will make sure we have every comfort imaginable," he promised her, meaning exactly he said. Living in the woods was fine when it was just him alone, but he was determined not to raise his coven in that manner. After this battle was over, he'd relocate them to a town or a city, perhaps even Rome itself, and they would take in every delight their new home would have to offer them.
Anaya kissed the chilled hand that was holding onto her wrist. "Sleep now," she said.
Godric closed his eyes and focused on the comforting weight of the dirt that his soon-to-be prodigy was pouring onto him. It did not take long for him to fall asleep.
AN: Thank you everyone for reading! I must tell you I am extremely busy and therefore updates will be a bit slower than usual.
Sneak Peek at Chapter 7:
"My sister is a warrior- let her die with honor!" Gallia cried angrily. "Anaya, I know you, I know your heart, tell him what you want, please. You don't have to live in darkness with him. Tell him you want to die a warrior like your tribesmen, like your father."