by Amber Lynn
Amber Lynn
Copyright © 2017 Amber Lynn
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Thank You
I want to say a quick thank you for taking a chance to join me in my latest adventure. From Earth to Oblivion is the first book in a series that explores a future where humans no longer exist and the beings left behind find themselves faced with their own extinctions. In this first book, we meet some of the main characters and learn about what life is like in this future. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Amber
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter One
The air smelled sweeter than usual as the young woman raised her face to take in a whiff. Her raven hair whipped around while the wind blowing in her direction grabbed hold of it. The wind only made the smell she was tracking stronger as she worked to try to figure out what it was.
She could imagine what a sight it would’ve been to see. The pale Dracul princess out in the middle of the woods by herself with her guard partially down because of a simple smell. It was too bad the dark, tall trees surrounding her gave her no guidance about which way to turn.
Krinla took another deep breath as she tried to place the scent. She wasn’t supposed to be away from the castle. Her father was strict about that and would more than likely thrash some skulls if he ever found out she’d slipped by the guards who were always on patrol. Krinla wasn’t concerned about their welfare. She wanted to know where the smell was coming from and she couldn’t figure that out sitting in her room.
It never seemed to last long when it assaulted her nose, which it had been doing for four cycles straight. It appeared just after the sun hit its highest mark in the sky, a time when most Draculs were tucked in bed, or at least the safety of their homes. Being out in the sun’s rays bothered quite a few of Krinla’s kind, but the adverse reactions, like serious burns and fatigue, didn’t trouble Krinla.
“Look, I know you’re there,” she said with her husky voice barely audible.
There was no reason to attract unwanted visitors, so she tried to be as quiet as possible. As deep as she’d wandered into the woods, she was sure she’d made it to the neutral sector. Any of the four factions were free to roam there, but most were smart enough not to do so alone.
Krinla was kept away from the other factions, and people in general, but she sometimes heard them at the castle meeting with her father. The system they lived by made it necessary that they kept separate when at all possible. They’d all survived the plague that hit Oblivion because of their unique characteristics, but those traits made each of their groups seek isolation.
“Can you hear me?”
She tried again to get some kind of response. At first, all she heard was the continued sound of the dead leaves around her rustling as the wind diverted them from the black soil they covered. The noise was something familiar to her, so she muted it in her mind and searched for anything else around her. The smell had gotten stronger and wasn’t moving away, so whatever it was had to be close.
It took her a few moments, but she finally picked up the muted sound of a heart beating. The sound wasn’t unknown to her, but Draculs don’t have heartbeats, so it wasn’t something she heard often. Of the factions, only the Beasts and the Naturists had hearts that functioned. The Reborns were like the Draculs, not needing blood flowing through their veins to be considered alive.
Krinla used her nose again to figure out what faction the person was from. She could narrow it down to two from what she heard, but that didn’t give her enough information to know whether she should turn and run back to safety. If it was a Naturist, she wouldn’t have an issue. Even though they were known for losing their temper, very little of the magic they could call from the environment around them hurt a Dracul.
Beasts, on the other hand, were known to be aggressors towards Draculs because the two factions always believed they were the top of the food chain. At least that was what every history book Krinla read said. Many years of war had caused the Beasts’ numbers to dwindle until they finally conceded and an awkward sort of peace was formed. Krinla wasn’t sure how many of each faction were alive, but the population of the planet was nothing like what it had been when it was called Earth.
The wars between factions were all before Krinla had been born, but she heard stories about how things were back then. The stories were told to every Dracul child, in hopes they would keep them from wandering out in the woods. Obviously, it didn’t work well for Krinla.
Whoever she’d found didn’t seem to be up for talking. If her ears were right, he or she was close by. As far as Krinla knew, all factions had the ability to hear at that distance. The trouble she was running into was that no factions smelled like the scent she was following.
That made her desire to chase after it all the more foolish. When every second of your life is dictated, sometimes being foolish is all you have. Krinla had learned that at a young age, but that was a subject she didn’t want to dwell on during her quest.
“Look, we both know we’re here, so why don’t you just come out and say hi. If you don’t, I’ll scream and my armed guards will come find us.”
Whoever it was had to know that wasn’t an ideal situation for either party. From the person’s vantage point, they could very well see her and know who they were dealing with. Krinla assumed that was why they hadn’t already shown themselves. A Dracul in the morning light wasn’t a sight often seen, so it probably triggered some sense of self-preservation. Krinla assumed others were smart enough to know she could be dangerous if the situation warranted.
“Are your guards invisible?”
Krinla’s head tilted to the side as the deep male voice sounded from behind her, not the direction she was expecting. The smell of something sugary was overwhelming, causing her to lick her bright red lips as she thought about biting into whatever was causing it.
“Maybe they are. We are in the neutral sector, so I shouldn’t need them.”
As much as she wanted to, Krinla resisted turning around to see the man, who’d, more than likely, unknowingly been driving he
r crazy for cycles. She didn’t know what he was, and a part of her was afraid seeing him would take away her enjoyment of finally tracking him down.
She could feel the heat his body was giving off just behind her. The gentle throbs of his heart beating from a distance were nothing like the sound hammering in her head as it seemed to convulse with every beat.
“I believe it would be wise for you to have a guard with you everywhere you went. Children shouldn’t be allowed to just roam these woods.”
No matter how smooth and tranquil his voice sounded as Krinla became hypnotized by his words, he’d crossed a line by calling her a child. Her sharp fangs dug into her bottom lip as she spun around to face the man who apparently knew nothing about the ways of the world.
“How dare you call me a child. I don’t know what adults look like in your faction, but I’m almost eighteen.”
Most females in the Dracul faction were married by the time they were fifteen, so Krinla had been considered an adult for years. She would’ve been married herself, but she didn’t particularly like the man her father had picked out for her and thankfully it seemed their wedding was being delayed.
As she thought about Hulin, the man she was supposed to marry, she took in the strange man she faced. She didn’t have a picture in her mind of what he’d look like, but everything she saw seemed wrong.
His hair was cut short to his head, something only a very few Reborns were said to have, but his skin was the color of a Beast’s, a deep golden color that Draculs and Reborns didn’t have. His eyes were also off. Krinla had never seen anyone with eyes the color of the sky. She couldn’t look away from them as he stared into her deep red ones.
“I didn’t mean to offend you. You’re younger than I am, so compared to me, some may consider you a child.”
He smiled slightly, revealing straight, square teeth. Krinla studied them, looking for any sign that he used them to eat food. They were a bright shade of white that made it seem like they were only used for drinking clear liquids.
“What are you?”
Krinla had to ask because it was clear he didn’t have characteristics of any of the factions. His smile widened and he sidestepped so he could maneuver around Krinla. She followed his movement to make sure she didn’t find her back to him again. Whether he was a threat was still something she had to determine.
“Someone you shouldn’t be talking to. Why have you been following me?”
Krinla’s eyes narrowed. She was used to people immediately answering her questions, not asking their own. Instead of jumping to reply to the question, Krinla let her eyes drop to take in more of the man. The first thing she noticed was that he had wide shoulders that made it hard for her to see around him.
The clothing he wore seemed to have small circular objects holding them together. For a brief second, Krinla thought about reaching out to feel how different the black fabric felt compared to the white cloth that made up her dress. It looked softer where it covered his chest and arms, but what covered his legs seemed stiffer and looked uncomfortable.
A warm hand touched her chin, tilting her head back up. Warm wasn’t the right word for the temperature of the man’s skin. It felt like it was on fire.
“Whether you brought people out here with you or not, there are other people walking around these woods. I’m sure you know that means we don’t have long for this little chat.” He briefly looked behind him and brought his eyes back to hers. “I shouldn’t have bothered showing myself, but I’ve watched you the last three days and had a feeling you wouldn’t stop coming out here by yourself unless I said something.”
The man’s hand lingered on her chin for a second before he made a quick motion to put his arm back at his side. Krinla hadn’t factored in his age to all her observations, mainly because she didn’t know how to gauge it since she couldn’t figure out what he was.
“I wanted to know what smelled sweet.”
Krinla knew she shouldn’t, but she inhaled to try to get the scent deep into her lungs. Something about it made her fangs tingle.
“Am I right to assume you’re one of the blood drinkers?”
Krinla hadn’t missed that he used the odd word “days” earlier in their conversation, but she’d let it go. Calling her a blood drinker was even stranger. That was what her diet consisted of, but no one said it that crudely.
“Would you like me to demonstrate the skill?”
When the man had moved forward to lift her chin, he’d put the distance between them at less than arm’s length. Krinla could easily cover the rest of the space and sink her teeth into him. Just thinking about it caused her skin to prickle.
“I’m surprised you haven’t already done that. I had the impression your kind doesn’t have much self-control.”
The man clearly knew everything to say to get on her bad side. Krinla tried to pick up any hint in his tone that he was doing it on purpose. Nothing seemed to change in his inflections, so she assumed he didn’t know he was irritating her.
“I guess it’s good for you that I don’t have my guards with me because you’d be able to see firsthand what little restraint we have.”
His eyes rolled slightly as he shook his head. “I offended you again. Believe me, that’s not what I’ve been trying to do. We don’t have time to sit here and discuss things today.” He glanced down to some band around his wrist. “Are you able to meet me tomorrow, a little earlier?”
Krinla’s head drew back as she looked at the man sideways. She wanted to know who he was and what he was doing creeping around in the woods, but she didn’t want to wait for the answers to her questions. Not to mention, getting out again without being noticed was going to be tough.
“Will you tell me who and what you are then?”
Krinla realized she hadn’t asked for his name. All the oddness about him made that seem like a secondary bit of information.
“I can’t make any promises, but I would like to see you again.”
Before Krinla could make a commitment, the air suddenly felt colder around them. For someone who only ever felt heat in the air, it was an odd sensation. Krinla quickly turned in a circle to try to see if she could spot a Naturist working their magic among the trees, but there was no one else around them. When she turned back to ask the man if he felt it, she found she was alone in the woods.
Extending her senses out, she couldn’t find his scent or the heartbeat that seemed to still pulse through her mind. The coldness she’d felt was ebbing away until she could only feel it if she moved to stand in the spot the man had just been in. Krinla had started out on her little trip to find an answer to a question, but she ended up with more questions than she knew what to do with.
Chapter Two
On her way home, Krinla didn’t dawdle. She’d set out to find the smell, so her pace was slower than her usual gait when she headed out into the woods. Since she’d found what she was looking for, there was no reason to take her time getting home.
Spending a few moments looking around to see if the man was hiding somewhere was all Krinla allowed herself. She didn’t understand how he could be there, and then vanish like he never was, but it made her believe he was a Naturist. None of the other factions could disappear like that, not that Krinla had ever seen a Naturist do so. She just knew Beasts and Reborns couldn’t bend the molecules around them.
As she hurried to get home, Krinla tried to tell herself that was all the man was, just a Naturist who looked a little funny. She went over his features as she ran, trying to pinpoint what made it hard for her to accept that conclusion. She’d never met a Naturist, but for some reason, she didn’t believe he was one. That idea settling in her mind was anything but comforting.
Krinla saw the large gray stone blocks that made up her home long before she was back within the walls of the Dracul fortress. Her father thought it was important for the other factions to be able to see their home from clicks away. Unless someone was coming for diplomatic reasons, they were to see it and k
now they should go the other way.
It was probably because she’d grown up there that Krinla didn’t see the forbidding place her father hoped others saw. Even standing in the shadows of it, where Krinla had found a small hole to sneak in and out of, nothing about the place itself felt menacing to her.
The tunnel she started crawling through to get on the right side of the walls was dark with jagged stone edges that threatened to cut into her skin. Darkness wasn’t a problem for a Dracul. Their eyes easily adjusted to any level of light, and it tended to be easier for them to see after night had fallen. For most, bright light hindered them from seeing clearly, so staying indoors when the sun was at its highest was a way of life.
That didn’t mean everyone was indoors when the sun was in the sky, which was why Krinla had to find her secret ways in and out of the fortress. Guards monitored the main entrance and several spots on the walls at all hours of the cycle. Supposedly that made the Draculs feel safe, but it just made Krinla feel like a caged animal.
“Where have you been?”
Krinla sighed as she heard Gyla’s harsh whisper as soon as she was through the tunnel. Hesitating a second to make sure no one else was with her friend, Krinla entered the rear courtyard of the fortress. Guards patrolled the area, but they weren’t generally standing around in one place. The closest one to them was rounding a corner three buildings away.
Gyla hated standing watch while Krinla was away, a task she felt she had to do since she couldn’t talk Krinla into staying put. When Krinla escaped the confines of the tunnel, she saw the worry in the deep red eyes of her friend. Gyla tended to be a tad overdramatic, so Krinla rolled her eyes and looked around to make sure no one was watching them.
Just because the guards weren’t right on top of them, didn’t mean someone wasn’t watching. Within the walls, Krinla always felt like eyes were following her everywhere if she wandered out of the castle. That alone was a good enough reason for her to try to sneak out and breathe a little clearer air.
