12. HUNGER
Eventually the troop made it back to the Piceus village where Griffin, Ebson, and Danowyn were from. All the people cheered at their arrival. It was a happy homecoming. Yet some in the crowd were not so happy. They searched the returning group for their loved ones and when they could not find them, they were completely shattered. Ebson, Griffin, and Danowyn went to comfort those that had lost their fathers, sons, and brothers.
It was then that Marcus noticed that Danowyn was one of the very few women that had gone to war. It must have been because of her healing power. She would be a vital asset on the battlefield.
As the anguished moans of some broke through the joyful cheers of others, another group began to converge. This group was angry. They approached the red headed prisoner of war and began throwing stones at him.
"Kill 'em!" Some shouted.
"Make 'em pay!" Said another.
"Let's teach him what it means to go against the Piceus." A deep grim voice spoke.
Griffin and Ebson ran over to the angry mob. "Now hold on." Griffin commanded. "We are not as cruel as the Cruentus. We will offer him a trial first before he is sentenced to death. For now we'll lock him in the stocks and hold the trial in the morning."
A voice from the mob shouted "His hair is red, therefore he is GUILTY!" More cheers from the mob broke out and Ebson had to hold them back.
"Of course he's guilty, be we are not heathens here. He will have his trial. You already know the verdict. What is one more day to have justice delivered?" Griffin's face was stern and he seemed to appease the mob. They began to disassemble and return to their own homes. Griffin and Ebson took the Cruentus boy to the village prison.
"Quite the charade, isn't it?" Danowyn's voice came from behind Marcus and it startled him. He hadn't been aware that she was standing there as he had watched the scene unfold in front of him. His senses truly were dulling.
"What? The trial?" Marcus asked.
"Well yeah. We claim to be more civilized than the Cruentus because we give them trials before we kill them, but we all know that the trial's are never fair. Having red hair is all the evidence needed to find them guilty and worthy of execution." Danowyn scoffed.
"So you don't agree with this?" Marcus prodded.
Danowyn sighed. "No, I don't. But what does it matter? No one will listen to me. I can't change what has already been done, what's been done for centuries, what will continue to be done for centuries more."
Marcus wanted to tell her that she could change things. He wanted to encourage her, but his growling stomach made it hard to think of the right words to say. "I'm sorry Danowyn, but I am seriously starving here. Please, I need to feed." His hunger was making him weak.
"Oh right. Follow me." Danowyn pushed the thoughts of war and death from her mind and brought Marcus back to her home. It was a humble place with walls made of brick and the roof was piles of straw. There was a pen out back that contained peculiar looking animals. Danowyn rounded up one in particular that looked to be a cross between a pig, an anteater, and maybe a panda. It was colored black and white like a panda with the body of a pig and the snout of an anteater. It wasn't a very attractive creature but Marcus was starving.
He got down on his knees and wrapped his arms around the animal's neck to hold it in place. It smelled terrible and did not appeal to him at all. He put his teeth to the animal's throat and bit into it. The beast let out a wild squeal and Marcus had to struggle to keep it in place. The taste of the animal's blood was even more nauseating than its smell. Marcus had to pull back and when he did his body heaved and wretched on the ground next to him.
Danowyn grimaced and turned away. "Okay, I was not expecting that."
Marcus coughed a few more times and pushed the animal away and it still managed to walk even with the wound in its neck. "Ugh, I don't know how the Cullen's did this. Do all animals taste this awful? That is just disgusting." His hunger pains were killing him now. He held his stomach and doubled over from the pain.
"Come on, let's get you inside." Danowyn leaned down and helped Marcus to his feet. She began to lead him into the house when Marcus caught a scent of something mouthwatering.
"What is that? That smell? Oh, it's delicious! Where is that coming from?!" Marcus began to salivate because of the tempting aroma. The closer they got to her house, the stronger the smell. Once inside he saw an older woman with long black hair busy at work in her tiny kitchen.
"Oh Hello Dani, dear! Have you brought a friend to join us for supper?" The woman's face was soft and kind.
"Sorry mom, he doesn't eat what we eat." Danowyn went up to her mother and gave her a long hug.
"What a shame. What do you eat then?" She asked him.
Marcus shrugged his shoulders. He wanted to say human blood but he didn't want to offend the lady of the house. "Whatever that is in here smells delicious!"
The lady smiled and opened up her oven. In it sat a giant one of those animals from the pen stuffed and seasoned and roasting away. That was the delicious aroma. Marcus could not believe it. No cooked food had ever appealed to him in all his days as a vampire. Something was wrong here. Surely it would taste like dirt as all cooked food did.
She closed the oven again and turned back to Marcus. "It will done shortly, you're welcome to join us! We always feast when our family comes home from battle alive and well. I'm Paxon by the way, Danowyn's mother." She smiled and held out her hand while Marcus took it and kissed the back of it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Paxon."
Just then the door opened and in came Griffin and Ebson. Griffin walked up to Paxon and gave her a tight hug. "Hey Mom, it smells great in here!"
Marcus was thrown off guard for a moment. "She's your mother too? So then you and Danowyn are-"
"Brother and sister." Danowyn finished his sentence. "Yeah, I'm not too proud of it so we keep it hush-hush around here." She smiled while Griffin mock scowled at her.
"And Ebson is considered part of the family as well." Paxon said as she wrapped her small arms around his big waist. "We Piceus like to take care of our own."
"Thanks Paxon." Ebson said as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
Marcus couldn't believe that he missed this. It was his special ability to see the bonds between people. How did he not see that the relationship between Griffin and Danowyn was stronger than just friendship? How could he not see that they were family? This bothered him but his thoughts of hunger pushed their way to forefront of his mind once more.
A few moments later Paxon had everyone sitting at the dinner table with a huge feast laid out in front of them. Marcus could hardly contain himself. He started to dig in and ate the beast's meat fiercely, searing the braised flesh with his teeth. It was tender and juicy and was exactly what Marcus was in need of.
He now realized that this was all part of him losing his immortality. The wound from the Cruentus arrow, the lack of his ability to see bonds, and now the desire to eat cooked foods instead of drinking blood were all clues that he was reverting back to his human form. In a sense it made him happy to know that he was leaving his vampire life behind but it also worried him because it meant that he was running out of time here in the underworld. He needed to hurry to get back to Didyme, he needed to save her before his entire life force became extinguished from being in the underworld for too long.
Just then his deep thoughts were interrupted by a very long, loud belch. He realized that the deep reverberating sound came from within himself! He looked up to see everyone at the table staring at him with their jaws open, and a slight expression of disgust. They must have been watching him for some time now as he hungrily and sloppily appeased his appetite.
"I'm sorry." Marcus said sheepishly. "This is just so good."
Paxon smiled first. "Well then I'll take your eating style as a compliment." The others at the table began to laugh and Marcus blushed just a little bit. "When my husband used to some home from battle he always had a fierce appetite like you, Marcus. It's nice to have someone around who appreciates food the way you do."
Marcus noticed a slight grimace on Griffin's face when Paxon spoke of his father. "Used to?" Marcus asked.
Paxon nodded and smiled at the memory. "Yes, he was a brave warrior. He defended our village against the Cruentus many times. He died fighting to protect his people, and for that we will be forever grateful."
The group went quiet and continued to eat in silence. When they had had their fill, they gathered around the hearth of the home and made themselves comfortable as they watched the flames flicker in the fireplace. Marcus put his hand in his pocket and wrapped his fingers around Didyme's red jeweled cross. It somehow brought him comfort. The family continued to talk but Marcus began to feel very tired. He closed his eyes, only planning to rest them. It wasn't long before the sounds of conversation dulled and disappeared from his ears. Marcus had fallen asleep.
His dreams were fleeting and confusing. It would not be anything that he would remember except for one image. In his dream he saw Didyme at the gates of Tartarus, waiting for him.
In the distance the screams of a woman could be heard. At first Marcus thought he was dreaming this but when his eyes opened and the flames in the hearth had died to embers, he knew he was wide awake. More shouting and screams came from the direction of the village. Soon the little cottage became a frenzy. Griffin, Ebson, Danowyn, and Paxon were all up and running about. The three from the younger generation began to dress for battle and readied their weapons of war.
"What's going on?" Marcus asked.
"The Cruentus have brought the battle to our home." Griffin seethed. "This is not normal. We rarely ever fight in the villages. They must know that we have one of theirs."
Marcus remembered the Cruentus boy who had been captured. His people were here to rescue him. "What can I do to help?"
Griffin paused for a moment. "You said you needed to get to the city of Tartarus anyways right?" Griffin reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. "On the edge of the village is a prison. You must go there and unlock the boy from his cell. Then take him far away from here. The three of us will distract the Cruentus to keep them from going after you. The green light is about to rise. When it does, you must follow it in the sky. It will move in the direction of Tartarus." Griffin paused for just a moment. "Now Marcus, once you are far enough away, you must kill the Cruentus boy."
"Why don't you just kill him yourselves, right now?" Marcus didn't want to get involved in this mess.
"Because if they find his body here they will be all the more enraged that we killed one of their young. We need to get him far away from the village. Do you understand me? Do you see what is at stake? He cannot be allowed to live otherwise he will come back to kill us. If you let him live, you will have betrayed us." Griffin's expression was serious.
Marcus looked around the room at the people who had cared for him in his time of need. When he was naked, they clothed him, when he was hungry, they fed him, he was a stranger and they took him in. He did not want to betray their trust. "I will do as you ask." Marcus answered.
Griffin patted him on the shoulder. "Come, we must hurry."
Once outside the cottage, Ebson mounted a horse. He looked tall and terrible and was armed with a bow and arrows. He quickly rode off towards the village. Griffin, Danowyn, and Marcus moved more stealthily and ran around the border of their village. They quickly arrived to the prison. Marcus went in and unlocked the boy from the cell. His hands were still bound and his eyes covered with the blindfold. He never showed any signs of fear and Marcus was impressed with his bravery. They went back outside and met with Griffin and Danowyn.
"There is the green light, do you see it?" Griffin asked, pointing to the sky.
"Yes." Marcus answered. It was like a green flame very far away.
"Go back into the cover of the woods and follow it. The journey should be just a few days from here."
"How will I know when I get there?"
"When you see Tartarus, you will have no doubt in your mind that it is the city of the dead." Griffin patted Marcus' shoulder one last time and Danowyn gave him a hug and wished him luck. "Now go!"
Marcus grabbed the Cruentus boy by the shoulders and began running into the woods. He heard another scream and looked back over his shoulder. A woman with fiery red hair had entered the village with an army of goblins beside her. Even with Marcus' waning gift he could tell that she was a leader. He wondered what special ability she might have and if it was similar to Danowyn's gift.
There was no time to pause though. Marcus turned back around and kept running, following the direction of the green light. However, as he ran it sounded like he was running towards war, not away from it. He slowed their pace and crept up to the top of a hill. He saw another troop of goblins heading towards the village. It seemed as though they planned on closing in on all sides, but a few of the Piceus rode out to meet them and cut them off. Ebson was among them. He rode valiantly on his horse and slaughtered one after the other with his arrows. Now Marcus could see why he considered himself to be a great hunter.
Marcus wanted to stay and help his friends but he had a mission to accomplish. He had to trust that they could take care of themselves. He pulled on the rope that bound the Cruentus boy's hands and tried to go around the battle on the hill. This new path would not be following the trail of the green light exactly but he hoped to get back on the right track once they had gone around war zone. Soon, everything became quiet and it was only Marcus and the boy for miles around.
"So boy, do you have a name?" Marcus asked softly.
The boy did not answer; he only kept marching to what he assumed would be his death.
Marcus sighed. "Well I'm Marcus." He said matter-of-factly.
After another quiet moment the boy finally spoke. "Are you going to kill me, Marcus?"
Marcus was hesitant to answer. "I'm afraid I have to."
