Blood Rain

by Nancy Gray

“No, but I ended up marring that pretty face of his. I never saw Scarlett so angry. She chained me back in the basement and deprived me of food, venom, and her body. I’ve never felt so miserable.”

  Mercy glanced at his ribs. She could see why he was in such bad shape now. Clearly, Scarlett never forgave him.

  “Every time I saw her, I was like a dog begging for affection. She would give me just enough of everything I needed to make me want more. But, as she started visiting me less and less I began to think more clearly, becoming less addicted.”

  Mercy avoided his eyes and asked, “Is the venom really that addictive?”

  “At first, no, but then it’s like it kicks in suddenly. It starts by making you feel less pain, but then you start feeling pleasure with it, and eventually you start loving the creature giving it to you. It’s horrible.”

  Mercy glanced at Erebus, thinking of begging him for venom to dull the pain in her back. It made her wonder if the pain was really that intense, or if pain in general felt worse since she was already addicted.

  Pack Leader began to pace again. “I don’t know how long I was chained down there, but every day was the same except for today. I overheard Scarlett talking to Erebus. He said that he needed an expendable slave to eat since he had a long journey ahead of him, and that he had heard that Scarlett had a slave she no longer had a use for.”

  Mirilee said, “He probably asked Cruor to help him find out exactly where you were sold. I’m surprised they were able to find you in such a big city. We couldn’t have been in there more than three hours.”

  “I guess so. I don’t really care how they did it. Anyway, they negotiated a price, and he came down to get me. Once we were outside, I was getting ready to fight your beast man, but he told me that he had come here with you and that he bought me to set me free. I’m glad that I listened to him, but I’m not sorry that he’s hurt.”

  Mercy didn’t say anything. She glanced at Erebus. His breathing was even slower and she could barely see his chest rising and falling. She managed to fight off a feeling of panic that made her want to rush to his side. There was nothing she could do. If Cruor didn’t show up soon, he was going to die, and it appeared he would die as a human. Somehow that made it worse. She felt like he would consider dying in a human form a sort of insult to his memory.

  Mirilee shrugged. “Well, it’s been over half an hour now, and Cruor isn’t here. What should we do, Mercy?”

  A voice suddenly said from right next to her, “I would listen to the white bat and leave, but you three seem to have a problem with following orders.”

  Mercy wheeled around, her daggers in her hands, facing the owner of the voice.

  21

  Cruor cocked his head at her and asked, “Still a bit nervous, are we? I can’t say that I blame you after that incident.”

  Mercy hadn’t gotten a good look at Cruor in the cave. It seemed that he was entirely albino. In the sunlight, his sickly pale skin was like that of the stem of a mushroom, and his eyes were a pale pink color. He was squinting in the little daylight that was left as though even just the small amount was causing him pain. She was surprised to see that a large vitula was next to him and it was pulling a cart that was loaded with a small cornucopia of supplies. She was also shocked that they hadn’t heard the cart being pulled in their direction. It was as though nothing was there one minute ago, and then appeared the next. It made her very uneasy.

  Cruor’s fur was as pale as his white skin, and his face had the scarred appearance of someone that had seen a great deal of battle. Most of his body was covered by his armor and a long red and black cloak. The hood covered his head and shielded his eyes from most of the light. Even though he was actually short for one of his kind, something about him seemed far more imposing. His scars told her that he wasn’t someone to be trifled with, and his rigid bearing said that he was at least as disciplined as one of the elders in her village.

  Mercy nodded and slowly put her arms down by her sides, but she kept the daggers in her hands.

  Cruor shrugged. “I know our people haven’t given you much reason to trust us, but I would appreciate it if you would put your weapons away.”

  Mercy nodded and slowly put her daggers back into her belt. She glanced at the others. Apparently, his sudden appearance rattled them as well. Pack Leader didn’t have any weapons with him when they left the cave but apparently had picked up a large stick to defend himself. Mirilee had one of her throwing daggers at the ready. It took them a little longer, but as Cruor stared at each of them in turn, they complied.

  Cruor continued as though nothing had happened. “Sorry that I’m late. Apparently, the twins were the sons of someone influential pretending to be lower than their station. I got here as quickly as I could.”

  Mercy frowned. “How long were you standing there? I didn’t hear you or see you.”

  “Long enough to assess the situation. It wouldn’t do to just rush in before you had a chance to talk to your brother.”

  “Erebus is dying and you were waiting around so that you could eavesdrop on our conversation?”

  “You do me a disservice. I wasn’t eavesdropping. Besides, I haven’t been waiting long. I’m going to check on Erebus right now. This is going to sound strange, but I would appreciate it if all of you would look away.”

  He knelt down by Erebus’ side and slowly put a hand on Erebus’ forehead, closing his eyes. Cruor made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a moan and whispered, “This is bad.”

  Pack Leader snapped, “I’m not going to turn my back on you.”

  “I need to help Erebus, and it would complicate things if you were watching me. I wouldn’t like to end up in the same position he’s in. So, if you would please…”

  Pack Leader took a threatening step forward. “I’m not a fool.”

  Mirilee stepped between him and Cruor. “Well, maybe if we all got a little further away so that we couldn’t see you working, would that help?”

  “That would be fine, great, in fact. Thank you.”

  Mirilee grabbed Mercy by the elbow. She didn’t realize it, but she was staring at Erebus and ignoring the conversation. She felt as though for the moment the only thing she could concentrate on was how sick and pale he looked, and the silent prayers she was muttering that he would pull through. It took her a moment to grasp that she had to move as well.

  Mirilee whispered to her, “There’s nothing you can do by waiting here. Let Cruor work. He’ll make sure that he gets better.”

  Mercy said in a choked voice, “I just have this horrible feeling he isn’t going to recover. I don’t want to leave him. I really don’t want him to die!”

  Mirilee patted her on the arm. “He won’t, as long as we do what Cruor says.”

  Pack Leader was up ahead of them. He glanced back in the direction of their mounts. Clearly, he wanted nothing more than to be leaving right then and there. He stayed close to Mirilee and Mercy, slightly in front of them. Mercy had seen the way he positioned his movements before. It was the way he always moved when he was guarding the village, listening all around him with every bit of his attention. He was trying to protect them, and Mercy appreciated the gesture.

  As soon as a cluster of trees cut their vision away from Cruor, they stopped. Pack Leader sat back down and groaned. Clearly, just the small amount of travel had made him tired. Mercy could feel his frustration and realized that he had never been in such poor shape before. She pretended not to notice. Mirilee sat down and pulled out a multicolored string from her backpack and began to play with it as she had inside of the cave.

  “Mercy, if you’d like, I’ll show you how to do it.”

  Mercy nodded and walked over to sit next to her, anything for a distraction from her thoughts. She watched Mirilee twisting odd patterns into the string but found it very difficult to follow. Mirilee handed her the string and told her step by step what to do. Mercy didn’t retain much of the information, but she was good at following instructions and found
that she was able to complete three separate designs with the string by the time Mirilee was through. She wasn’t sure how much time had gone by, but it felt good to be doing anything.

  Pack Leader asked to borrow one of Mercy’s daggers. At first, she didn’t want to give it to him, thinking of his wild eyed look after he left the cave. But she soon realized why as she saw him collecting some small sticks from the forest floor. He wanted to whittle some arrows, something he was always good at that he often did for the other warriors of the tribe. She handed him one of the daggers and watched him smoothing out the wooden shafts and whittling the edges into a sharp point. Even though rock arrowheads were better, a sharpened bit of wood was very effective as well, and it gave him something to do while they waited.

  Mercy jumped when she heard Cruor call out that he was finished. They walked around the bend of the trees. Erebus had been stripped of his leather armor and was lying flat beneath a blanket on a bed of leaves on the back of the small cart. His chest was rising and falling more evenly, and his breathing wasn’t as raspy, but there were deep bags beneath his eyes. His skin didn’t seem as clammy or as pale, but he still didn’t look good. Mercy didn’t know what she was expecting, but she had envisioned coming back to find him awake. She felt tears welling up in her eyes but tried to keep them hidden.

  “I’ve done all that I can. I’m not sure if he’s going to make it, but I think he will as long as you’re gentle with him on the trip. Go slowly and don’t jostle him too much. That’s why I brought the cart. Who knows, he may even be awake by this evening, but no promises. It comes down to a matter of will, and if he really wants to wake up.”

  Mercy sighed heavily and nodded. Even though it wasn’t good news, at least it gave her some hope. Erebus didn’t seem like the type to give up.

  “He’ll be running a fever for a few days and probably won’t be able to walk for a few more. I packed herbs to bring down his fever, fresh water for cold compresses, vitula silk bandages for his wounds, and furs to keep him warm and comfortable. That’s all I can do at this point. It’s a long journey to Concord, and I’m not sure that he’ll have enough blood.”

  The cart was attached to the horse instead of the vitula and two bags of supplies were hanging from the vitula’s saddle. Cruor began to walk back in the direction of the cave. It looked as though he was ready to go.

  Mercy stammered. “Wait. You can’t go yet. I need to know how the meeting went. Are your people going to stay away from mine while they recover from the attack?”

  Pack Leader nodded with approval and stood behind Mercy, folding his arms across his chest in as menacing a pose as he could manage, saying, “Yes, you seemed intent on slipping away without telling us about it. I would like to know the results as well.”

  Cruor sighed. “I was hoping I could wake Erebus up so he could tell you. Okay, we can talk about it, but I need to get back into the colony very soon. Let’s move a little further away and then make a fire. We need to keep Erebus warm.”

  Mirilee nodded and started picking up fallen tree branches and leaves for kindling as they hurried away from the walled up entrance to the cave. Cruor began packing a large stack of thick sticks in the cart for later. After they stopped, Pack Leader encircled Mirilee’s kindling with stones to keep the fire in control.

  As soon as the fire was ready, Cruor said, “I’ll tell you what I know. But, after that, go as quickly as you can. It’s getting dark. I can’t protect you if the others see you when they come out to hunt.”

  Mercy nodded. “Understood.”

  “As soon as Erebus got here, he came to me and told me your story. How you met Carmine, what you had found out about the rain, and the willingness of your tribe to negotiate a temporary truce. It seems that Carmine gave Erebus his medallion through you.”

  Mercy frowned. “Why is the medallion so important?”

  Cruor had an awkward expression on his face as he said, “I guess he didn’t tell you about it, then?”

  Mercy shook her head.

  “The medallion is the mark of an elder. Carmine was a man of status in our colony before he ran away with his human wife. Anyway, after he left, his son was charged to get it back from him. It was assumed Erebus would have to kill his father to get the medallion. It seems Carmine found a way around that.”

  “So, what you’re saying is that Carmine tricked me into being bait. He gave me the medallion and expected Erebus to find me.”

  “It was a gamble. He couldn’t have known that Erebus would find you, but he has good instincts and he follows them. It worked out in your favor anyway. With the medallion, Erebus was able to call the senators together to announce that he had killed his father and would be taking his position.”

  Mirilee frowned. “Won’t it be trouble for him if they find out that he didn’t kill his father?”

  “Well, very few people know that fact. Besides, Carmine has stayed hidden for years.”

  “You didn’t really answer my question.”

  Cruor shrugged. “It might mean some trouble for him, yes. But, by the time they find out, Erebus will already be established and it will be difficult to kick him out, especially since he’s a shadow weaver.”

  Pack Leader glanced at Erebus as he asked, “What is a shadow weaver?”

  “We can’t tell the details to outsiders, suffice to say he has a unique talent that my people find valuable. There aren’t many of his kind.”

  Mercy could tell that Cruor was dodging her original question. “You said the Senate met. How did that go?”

  Cruor said, “What you’ve got to understand is, our Senate is composed of many different groups; our military leaders, blood gods, shadow weavers, and the elders. So, naturally, it was as chaotic as ever and nearly impossible to get the old bastards to agree to anything, but you had Erebus on your side.”

  Pack Leader scoffed. “Why does that matter? You would think that since he’s so young they wouldn’t listen to him at all.”

  “If he wanted to, Erebus could talk a bird into landing in front of a snake. Anyway, he talked them into a temporary cease fire with your people, to the point that some of them were even wondering if we should protect them from the Ashen spies ourselves. Don’t worry, we decided not to interfere. It would be bad if the spies didn’t report back.”

  Mercy frowned. “Wait a minute. Did he tell them about me?”

  “No, of course not. He told them that on the way back from Concord he spied on your people and overheard the information. He also managed to convince my people not to join up with the other blood tribes yet. If they did, it would mean full war with your people.”

  Pack Leader asked, “There are other blood tribes?”

  Cruor just nodded.

  Mercy stood up in fury. “You were thinking of slaughtering us?”

  “No, but one faction was thinking of taking all of you as slaves. That was the same group that wanted us to join with the other blood tribes. They’re a radical group that usually isn’t given many concessions, but after the blood rain they gained more political sway. After all, we assumed your people were going to try to kill us. An alliance with the other blood tribes would’ve ended the problem efficiently.”

  “Why are you telling me all of this?”

  “Because, Erebus seems to trust you and you’re responsible for the cease fire. Mercy, I wanted to meet you, because I want our people to come to an understanding. I don’t know what that will be, but both of our peoples would benefit from a lasting peace.”

  “But I’ve been banished from my tribe. My people hate me. There’s no way they would ever listen to me, especially about this.”

  Cruor motioned to Pack Leader. “But he hasn’t been banished.”

  “I knew there must’ve been a reason why you decided to set me free.”

  “Think about it, no more raids! If our people were allies, we could help protect you from the Ashen capital.”

  Pack Leader said bitterly, “In exchange for blood, right?”


  “Only what would be freely given. We could buy or trade it from you.”

  Mercy shook her head. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. We don’t even know if my father would be interested in a lasting peace.”

  “From what Erebus tells me, he will be. Part of Erebus’ pact with your father involved making him the ambassador of our people to yours.”

  Mercy gasped and looked in the direction of Erebus. He was still asleep, still and silent.

  Pack Leader stood up, glaring at Mercy as though she was somehow responsible. “My own father made a blood pact with a beast?”

  Mercy held up her hands defensively. “I didn’t like the idea either. They did it behind my back.”

  Pack Leader stood tall and snapped, “This is unacceptable.”

  Mirilee asked, “Aren’t you interested in ending the raids? The beast men living in the desert sometimes kill my people to take our supplies. They’ve taken the best shelter from the dust storms. My people would give anything for the same opportunity.”

  Pack Leader shook his head. “You don’t understand. The Blood Wings and my people are at war. If father is making arrangements with them behind my village’s back, then he’s siding with the enemy.”

  Mercy snapped, “He made the arrangement to ensure Erebus wouldn’t betray me and that he would keep protecting me. It isn’t as though Erebus was making vows with the entire colony. The only thing he asked us to do involving the colony was to try to make them stop the raids temporarily. We’ve accomplished that. The Ashen capital is a bigger threat right now.”

  Pack Leader sat back down. “I’m sorry, Mind of Mercy. This is a lot to stomach after being a slave to them for over two years. But, I do understand.”

  Cruor cleared his throat. “With all due respect, right now the biggest threat is whoever is behind the blood rain. The truce between our people is tenuous at best. If there’s a larger blood storm, then my people will frenzy again and fly all the way to your village. It’s instinct for us to hunt when we smell blood and the last storm lasted three days. It only takes four to reach your village if we fly and push ourselves.”