Salt of The Earth: The Fall of Barcelona

by Vlada Asta

  He left her alone when they reached the monastery, he disappeared as quietly as he came. It was hard to tell whether he blamed her for her connection to Sebastian; no-one could guess what was on Karim’s mind. Aeterni wasn’t thinking about it, other things concerned her now.

  She sensed the warriors inside the monastery clearly. Some of them were on patrol, while others were asleep. Sebastian remained awake… She knew he wouldn’t fall asleep. It was clear by his condition when he left the party.

  It wasn’t the first time she was breaking in there. She just had to tear the hem of her dress a bit, because otherwise she couldn’t move her legs freely. Aeterni didn’t regret it: she didn’t like long clothes anyway.

  His room was empty. That was weird, but not shocking, because she sensed this emptiness before seeing it. She knew Sebastian was inside the building. What was he doing at this late hour? The question intrigued her.

  Checking her surroundings all the time, she left his cell and moved to the place where she sensed his aura. She ended up in a common shower room; she could hear water splashing ahead. Normally, many warriors used this place at the same time, but right now they weren’t supposed to be there.

  Except for the one who wanted to wash away his exhaustion… or something else.

  She continued moving forward, to the place where no woman had ever been. She saw his clothes on the bench, the same things he was wearing at the party, and the cross above them. Aeterni touched the fabric carefully, thinking about whether she should turn back or not. She didn’t expect things to go like this, she believed that meeting would be different!

  Now she was following him too bluntly… Aeterni had no idea where she should stop. But she wasn’t ready to do it now.

  She went along, and soon she saw him. Sebastian missed her arrival, he was standing under the pouring streams of water, his hands pressed to the wall, leaning on it. As if he had only just finished a marathon and was trying to recover! He was so sure he’d be here alone he wasn’t looking around at all.

  It was the first time Aeterni saw him naked. His body was beautiful – objectively beautiful, with proper muscle development. She knew enough about human anatomy to find the sight delightful. She also noticed his scars – he had plenty of those, so she could only guess what kind of traumas he had lived through.

  She came closer, and now the water was splashing on her too. She didn’t mind, there was no salt in this water. Her dress was getting wet, but Aeterni paid no attention to it.

  He finally sensed her, he turned around, and his eyes filled with disbelief. He even closed them for a moment, hoping that the illusion would go away.

  “I’m real,” Aeterni assured him.

  “What the hell are you doing here?!”

  He wanted to seem rude, but Aeterni felt it was just a defense mechanism. His body desired one thing, his mind told him the opposite, and he was totally confused.

  “I wanted to wish you good night,” she grinned.

  “You know you can’t come here!”

  “I can, as you see.”

  “Get out!”

  “Your body is amazing…”

  “Aeterni!”

  She ignored him, because she knew he wouldn’t dare to push her away, he wouldn’t dare to touch her. She wasn’t going to make things easier for him. She carefully touched his stomach – very lightly, with the tips of her fingers, but even that was enough to make him shudder as if he was hit by electricity.

  “Stop it,” his voice was shaky. “You’re crossing the line…”

  “I want to cross it. This line is stupid.”

  Actually, Aeterni didn’t want it. She knew that breaking the church dogma would hurt him. Even if it was for the better, it would still bring pain. She wasn’t sure he was ready for this after the things he had been through lately…

  But she didn’t want to deny herself either, she nearly died because of Nuria, and that fueled her wish to enjoy everything life had to offer. Her hand moved lower, making this touch even more sinful for the church warrior.

  She was planning to stop at this, she didn’t want to lose him as a friend. But he took that decision away from her.

  Sebastian caught her wrist and used it to pull her closer to him, and Aeterni didn’t even notice how she ended up pressed against the wall of the shower room. The water was pouring over her head now, but he didn’t let her move away, keeping her in place with his entire body.

  “Is this what you wanted?” he whispered.

  He was different. His limitations were either broken, or he abandoned them deliberately. The desire he had been suppressing all these days was free now, crushing them both like an avalanche. The pheromones created by his body filled the space around them, and Aeterni’s head was spinning a bit because of them, but at the same time, she was thrilled by what was about to happen.

  “Always,” she smiled.

  That was the only thing she managed to say. His lips pressed to hers, and this kiss was very different from the one on the beach. There was no tenderness in it at all, only passion and some sort of despair, but most importantly, triumph. It was the kind of pleasure that was close to pain, long awaited and complete. Now that he let his restrictions go, neither of them could stop this.

  Aeterni didn’t control the situation, she was swept away by it. She wasn’t going to fight it! She was excited by the fact that her body, created from dead cells, reacted to his touch so readily. She finally became real, desired, and every atom of her body pulsed with life, accepting this pleasure.

  On the moment when their bodies became one, Aeterni understood that she could never lose that person. He was the one who made her complete, adding human nature to her Hente nature. It wasn’t about their physical contact as such. She forgot everything in this world, she simply knew she was with Sebastian, the only man she wanted to be with, the only man who could make her feel so… alive.

  It was the moment of absolute happiness for her. And she didn’t care what was to come after it.

  ***

  The old road was nearly swallowed by tall grass. The forest was now conquering the territory where gas stations, motels and restaurants used to stand. It made the air incredibly fresh and sweet, filled with sunshine. An old woman walking down the road was clearly enjoying her surroundings.

  She didn’t look younger than eighty. She was short and very thin, with milky white hair combed carefully at the back of her head, her skin dry and wrinkly. She was wearing a long travel dress and comfy leather boots, and on her back the woman was carrying a large bag of apples.

  The likes of her were frequent guests in the wild lands. They appeared here more often than the squads of soldiers! Such wanderers were too poor to stay away from these roads and too old to send someone else instead of them. They believed that if they had a long life, they should face this risk instead of forcing it on their children and grandchildren. They knew they wouldn’t be able to escape if they met a Hente here, they accepted it and weren’t afraid.

  This old lady was absolutely calm too. Her movements were energetic, and she was raising her face to the sun, smiling when the warm rays reached her skin. She was happy to have found an abandoned apple garden. Judging by the size of her bag, she’d have enough food for days!

  Age was taking its toll on her. She was getting tired quickly, and the heat was draining extra energy from her. So when the sun reached its zenith, she moved away from the road to a place where there were more trees providing shadow. She sat on what looked like a large stone and started searching for a bigger apple in her bag.

  The surface on which she sat was in fact too warm to be a rock. If someone observed that place from above, they would manage to recognize the shape of an old airplane under those trees, rusty and tangled in vines, and the woman was resting right on its wing. But nobody was watching.

  While the woman was choosing her lunch, the movement of the trees around her became stronger, though the wind remained the same. An attentive witness of this w
ouldn’t believe their eyes: part of the vines was growing with unnatural speed and agility. They were soft, each ending in a sharp talon, ready to attack. They were gliding through the air now, to the place where the human was sitting.

  And the old lady didn’t notice any of this. She finally picked an apple and wiped it on the hem of her dress. She was joyful and careless, she failed to notice that the clearing behind her back was now covered in stretched vines.

  When she turned around, it was already too late. The predator tree was left to make a single movement to get its rare prey… But it didn’t make this movement. Because the old woman finally swept her white bangs out of her eyes.

  The eyes were solid black, with no pupil or iris visible. Even the primitive Hente hiding in the tree knew what it meant.

  The old lady jumped off her spot, and even a young warrior would be amazed by her speed. Theoretically, her body wasn’t supposed to move so perfectly, but she was proving that theory wrong. In spite of her frail appearance, it was easy to tell her muscles were strong and her joints were elastic.

  She headed for the tree trunk situated on the other side of the clearing. The tree tried to intercept her, but it dug its own grave when it stretched its branches so far. It couldn’t change the shape of its flesh rapidly, and now its vines were tangled, getting in each other’s way. The old woman was moving closer, she avoided the vine web with ease and got to her goal. Her hand cut through the tree smoothly, like a blade through butter. Somewhere from inside the wood came a scream – a dying one. The old woman was now holding a life core in her hand, and the tree branches around her were turning into ashes.

  “Here’s the snack of the day!” she smiled broadly, demonstrating two lines of small sharp fangs.

  One of the branches that were trying to catch her pushed the bag over. The upper layer of apples rolled out, revealing the life cores it was covering.

  The old lady returned to her stuff and started putting the apples back into the bag. She was almost finished when the sound of a car engine reached her ears, making her frown.

  “Looks like we’re in trouble,” she mumbled to herself.

  Cars could almost never be seen on these roads. A lonely traveler, quiet and small, had a chance to pass here unnoticed, while a car was doomed to attract attention. Besides, few of them could pass here without getting stuck in tall grass.

  It was easy to tell that the old woman wasn’t happy to get company. But she wasn’t trying to get away, because she knew that not all trees in that forest were actually trees. She remained on the clearing, waiting for the black jeep she could already see to get to her.

  The car came closer and stopped. Two weird creatures got out of it; they reminded a strange hybrid of a human and a gorilla: broad-shouldered, with mighty chest, long arms and short legs. Their bald heads had low foreheads, massive eyebrows, and the size of their jaws was impressive even when they kept their mouths shut. The creatures were nearly six feet tall, but their unhealthy gray skin was still hanging on them like oversized clothes, as if it was meant for someone bigger.

  It was impossible to take them for humans. The old woman tensed up; she knew they only looked clumsy, their fighting style was superb.

  But the Hente didn’t attack her. They opened the back door of the car, letting their companion out.

  In comparison to them, this companion looked like a creature from a different planet. It was a stunningly beautiful woman: perfect face with porcelain skin, huge eyes, full lips of tender pink color. Her silver dress decorated with pearls hugged her ideal body tightly. Her inhuman nature could be seen only in the solid ink of her eyes and thin fangs shining in the corners of her mouth when she smiled.

  And then the old lady understood she was done for it. Her power was enough to deal with the two gorilla creatures – she would be wounded after this, but she had enough life cores to rebuild her body. And this woman… she was just out of her league!

  Some Mothers created special bodies for themselves. They could still use any of their children, clearly, but such bodies were stronger and faster than the average ones. They had great fighting potential and were used only on special occasions. To fight them, one had to possess the kind of skill the old lady didn’t have.

  However, the beautiful woman seemed quite peaceful.

  “Stop shaking, Nuggi,” she said. Her voice suited her appearance, it was melodic and velvety, hypnotizing in its own way. “I didn’t come here for you, although I’m not happy about the amount of my children you’ve killed.”

  “We all need to feed,” the old lady shrugged, trying to cover her bag full of life cores.

  “Could you feed outside of my territory? It doesn’t matter. If I wanted to punish you, I would simply send a pack of my children after you. You’re not as strong as Karim, Maya or Aeterni, so there’s no point for me to go after you personally.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “I need to talk to your Mother. Call her.”

  The old lady didn’t try to argue, she really didn’t want to die here. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath – and a moment later she changed. There was nothing striking or mythical about it, her skinny shoulders simply straightened, and she held her head high. When she opened her eyes, the look on her face was serene and proud.

  “What do you want?” she asked coldly.

  “I want to talk to you, Teresa. I’ve asked you more than once not to hunt on my territory.”

  “Other Clans are not happy I’m killing them too, but they don’t try to ask me to stop.”

  “Yes, they’re trying to kill you without any talks!” the woman laughed. “And I’m more diplomatic than that. To prove my good will, I’ll even let Nuggi go after this talk. But honestly, if I catch her here again, I’ll show no mercy! I don’t care about those stupid trees, it’s easy to make them, but she doesn’t show proper respect!”

  “That’s not why you called me, Ginevra. What do you really want?”

  “What, mommy can’t miss her daughter?”

  “You’re not my birth mother,” the old lady shook her head. “You’re not even my Clan Mother anymore. I broke free, you didn’t give me this life deliberately. It was an accident.”

  Ginevra didn’t try to lie:

  “Sure, I didn’t want a new Clan to appear. More competition for me! But you managed to surprise me. Even though you became our enemy, there’s some pride in you and deeper honor that I can respect. I didn’t need you or your sister. But looking at who you became, I can say you’re the only daughter I’m ready to accept.”

  “That’s not as impressive as you think.”

  “Don’t be so cold… This world is changing, and it would be better for us to unite. I’m not against your work with humans, and I don’t expect you to kill them. I just want you to spare my children and concentrate on other Clans. Then I’ll help you.”

  “And in the meantime, you’ll be killing humans yourself,” Teresa noted. “I don’t think they’d appreciate that.”

  “My positions are stable now. More stable than of the other Clans. There’s no need for me to reach an agreement with you. But I want it, because I like you, because you are my daughter!”

  “That argument won’t work with me. If you want to have a daughter, help Goar.”

  “I told you I don’t like her.”

  “And I don’t like you. It’s not the first time we’re discussing this, and it always comes to the same conclusion. Why? Why are you repeating that? Do you want me to ask you not to kill Nuggi? I feel sorry for her, she’s nice, but just like my other kids, she’s on her own. She chose to come here and hunt for your trees. If she dies because of this, it will be the consequence of her choice.”

  “I told you that her life is going to become my little gift to you,” Ginevra reminded. “You don’t have to ask me for anything.”

  “Then let’s get back to the point: why did you call me here?”

  “Because I know that your Clan is on the peninsula now.
I’m not interested in that territory, I don’t even have any spies there. But I have my children in other parts of the continent, watching other Clans. You know what they say – keep your enemies close.”

  “And?”

  “Something great is coming, Teresa, and soon. Tsiara and Goar’s Clans’ activity has been strangely low lately. A couple of weeks ago they crushed a group of nomads, received hefty prey, and I expected dozens of new warriors to be made of that. But the forests are quiet! They’re preparing for something.”

  “I agree,” the old lady nodded. “They’ve been preparing for something for a while now. But why are you telling me this now?”

  “I have my reasons to believe it’s connected to the peninsula. Those lands are not just rich territory for Tsiara and Goar, it’s a matter of principle. They’ll attack sooner or later… And I think it will be sooner rather than later. I know that your favorite children are in New Vatican now. Get them out of there! They won’t be able to help those humans.”

  “How do I know you’re being honest about it? Maybe you just want me out to make things easier for Goar!”

  “You may think what you like. But there are facts that you know: I don’t work with other Clans, and I didn’t send my spies there. I ask for no gratitude. My request remains the same: leave my children alone, and there will be peace between us. Maybe I’ll even help you, I like viewing you as my daughter.”

  Teresa didn’t answer, but Ginevra wasn’t expecting that. She got back into the car, and her assistants closed the door for her.

  The old lady’s face was back to its normal expression, even more confused than before. She watched the car drive away in disbelief. The ones who could crush her like a bug decided not to touch her!

  She wasn’t going to try her luck twice. She gathered her trophies hastily and walked the road again – but she changed the direction, going back to where she came from. She didn’t want to die. There were enough lands on this planet where the hunt was much safer!

  Chapter 15

  It had been a while since he last woke up like this – with the feeling of complete tranquility in his soul. He felt warm and rested, his body was full of energy. Nothing hurt or bothered him. He felt like he was strong enough to do anything.