by Bre Faucheux
She was growing anxious to leave and find Jayden. Mahkah gave them a generous supply of the rayen to protect them from the illness before also giving them the horses. They were confused by this gesture of kindness, uncertain of how their rescuers would make way without horses. But Mahkah assured them in their language that he would have no need for them where he was going. They efficiently began building new homes for their people by the time Madison, Jamison and the Sioux men had left.
Madison had only spent a matter of days with them. But she knew that they had better control over their thirst. She saw it in the way they carried themselves and how Inazin had guided his people. The way they treated those within their tribe with respect and loyalty had been qualities she had only ever seen in Jamison. She knew they were chosen for this because they were the strongest of his people.
Akecheta looked as though he accepted Madison’s presence, almost welcoming her to their newly formed ‘tribe.’ He trusted Jamison’s judgment, and therefore she was treated with respect. But Jamison was their leader. The chief in their lands had proclaimed him so. Nayati on the other hand felt that he had something to prove to them. Younger in appearance, yet a man by his tribe’s standards, he wanted everyone to know that he was as capable as they were, particularly Madison. She however, had not yet proven her potential in his mind.
Jamison dressed them in tunics and trousers just as he always wore. Their long hair remained a symbol of their strength and their origins. Madison wore her hair down in the same fashion. She liked this about them. It was the only reminiscence they had from their people. Even Jamison had left his hair down. It had grown since she last saw him. He obviously made an effort to blend with them in the past.
Once they reached a reasonable distance from the Rhine, they ran with the given speed that always gave Madison a thrill. She let the Sioux men lead, staying behind them with Jamison not far from her side. Lyndon had left traces of his rayen everywhere he went. It was easy to pick up the trail he left behind. He was visibly genuine in his efforts to place rayen where ever it could diminish the sickness. She thought for a moment that there may be something redeemable in him. If he could be given the cure from the thirst, he could possibly be saved. Jamison shared in these sentiments, even though he held Lyndon equally responsible as Caspar for the plague.
“Only a fool would attempt to recreate a vampyr without understanding what one is,” said Jamison. “We have yet to fully comprehend it ourselves.”
Madison tried to remind him that Lyndon was not fully responsible, and that he was the one to tell her about the rayen. But he remained slightly bitter from Lyndon’s in-direct attempt to burn his sister alive by luring her to Caspar. Madison was relieved only to see that Jamison had developed some sort of character flaw. He appeared almost too noble in his resolve at times.
They kept to thickly wooded forests or coastlines along the sea. Moving without being detected was crucial now that Jayden was possibly in a considerable amount of danger. In any other situation, Jamison would have insisted they stop to listen for any other possible vampyrs that could have been created by Caspar and Lyndon’s foolishness, but he agreed with Madison that getting to Jayden was now a priority. Jayden had helped Madison in a time when she was not completely capable of travelling alone, thus making his life valuable to Jamison.
“A life for a life,” he had said to her. “Jayden took charge of you. Now I must do the same when he is in need. We protect our own when they prove themselves worthy.”
The trail east was farther than Madison had expected. Jayden and she could cover hundreds of miles within a day without feeling any pain in their muscles. But she hadn’t the slightest idea how much land Jayden could cover by himself. His journey thus far lead him farther and faster than she had been able to travel to the city Lyndon had fooled her into approaching. Although, Jayden knew he was being chased, and she recognized how his desire to live could serve as strong motivation.
Each and every village or hamlet they came across was vastly different from the previous, and the languages far stranger.
Things seemed darker in the lands that drew near. The woods were heavier and the people skittish. Any sound or hint of something suspicious, and they took to their homes. The forests breathed a thicker air. The fog was crisp when it touched her senses.
Everything about this land was foreign. Madison found herself fascinated by the structures. The castles were taller and more menacing. The sky created darkness, and yet there was vibrancy in the shadows of grey that cascading onto the villages.
Jamison and Mahkah fell behind for a few hours, looking for any trace that Caspar was following them, or perhaps that Lyndon was falling away from Jayden’s trail. They returned looking quite pleased.
“What do we do once he finds us?” she asked him. They stopped to take rest, even though none truly needed it. It was nearly three days since any of them had their share of blood. Madison could tamper the need, but she would soon need to give to its avidity. Her control of the thirst had increased since Jamison’s arrival. His presence soothed her. But necessities still lingered in the background.
“There will be no need for him to follow us. Lyndon apparently informed Caspar of his failure to kill Jayden. They are together now. We only need follow them. They will take us directly to Jayden,” said Jamison.
“We are no longer their main pursuit then?” she asked.
“Mahkah got close enough to him to see Caspar’s intentions. They are no match for all of us. They stand better, at least in their minds, to find Jayden. The people farther east are apparently quite aware of our kind.”
“How is that?” she asked.
Mahkah was first to answer her. “Caspar found his way farther east than any of us thought. These territories have not been untouched by his sickness nor his erratic nature,” he said. “He terrorized the people of these villages whilst trying to discover how to turn people in vampyrs. They have turned on each other in their accusations in pursuit of discovering vampyrs.”
“How do you know this?”
Mahkah looked at her quite amused. “Spirits talk, Madison. These people have been prone to terror. They know how to find our kind. We must tread carefully. The rayen may not be enough to protect us here.”
24
Four days after departure from the Rhineland
Kingdom of Hungary (Modern day Romania)
Near Newly Constructed Poenari Castle
Fog drifted through the staggering hillsides cutting them in half. From atop the height of the terrain before her, Madison could hardly see anything beyond the white slivers that sporadically sliced the length of trees. She need not feel the bitter air touch her skin to know that a brisk chill filled the sky as harshly here as it did in England. The land held a spiritual atmosphere that was not becoming nor welcoming.
An abandoned structure of stone materialized before her. It appeared as though a fortress was being built by the men who resided near these mountains. She guessed that the expanse of its presuming structure was meant to warn others from approaching it. But she was intrigued. A curiosity to explore it overtook her where apprehension would previously have compelled her away.
“Bleak, is it not?” said Akecheta.
“What would possess Caspar to come to such a place?” she asked, not really desiring an answer.
“It must fit his temperament. Sinister, yet striking.”
“Do the others still have a trace of where he is going?”
“Yes, but we are making sure he is not luring us into a trap. We cannot take chances.”
Jamison and Mahkah left to scan the regions as Madison listened closely to the area they had just travelled. She extended the depth of her perception and searched for Jayden. She hoped she could find him before night descended. The air around her was eerily quiet. The only sounds that resembled life were random animals moving about, and a village within a few hundred yards. She imagined the people there were building the foundational fortress nearby,
although how they reached it perched upon the rocky hillside was still unclear to her.
The villagers cooked their meat from their recent hunt and quietly made their way back to their beds. It was all too familiar. She had been fooled into thinking that the people of a quiet town were nothing more than humble kin before. She wouldn’t be so naive again.
“How likely is it that they know?” she asked.
“Likely,” said Mahkah.
“And Jamison was quite clear that Jayden was nearby?”
“Yes, he was.”
“Then we should make for the village. Eventually Jayden will have to feed and he will go to find people,” she stated.
“Where do you suggest we-,” Mahkah stopped speaking. Madison delved into his senses and knew that something had transpired. She listened harder around her and heard Jamison’s voice. He was calling for her.
“Madison!” he yelled. His voice didn’t carry through the thick trees, and yet his voice was booming to her ears.
She and Akecheta rushed to reach him. She led the way following the sound of Jamison’s voice. There was a cavern beneath the rocky mound where the structure was being built. Akecheta grabbed his son from nearby and followed her. Madison stopped just at the entrance to the cavern. It was pitch black inside. Very much aware that anything could be a trap, she hesitantly entered through the rugged opening. It was man built, but very old. Older she thought than anything she had seen in England.
“Jamison?” she called. He appeared from within the darkness with a torch in hand.
“What are you doing down here?” she demanded, her voice irritated that he had frightened her so only to look slightly bewildered in his face.
“I heard coughing and hacking down here. I could not be certain, thus I had to see,” he said.
“Coughing?”
He stared at her, hoping she would make the connection. He took her arm and dragged her forward. Still annoyed by his apparent sense of urgency, she trudged a pace behind him. When she stepped deeper into the cavern, she saw that it had long tunnels running through it. Wood covered the ceiling and part of the walls. However aged it was, the craftsmanship was admirable. Every line was clean and the floor was furrowed perfectly with carved stone.
Before Madison could see anything else, Jamison took the torch forth. Mahkah was a few feet away. Madison felt every nerve she had remaining magnify. If the sight did not shock her, the vast amount of blood was enough to knock her forward in eagerness for a taste. Jamison held her still, allowing her to take in the view before her.
The walls were spattered with an ungodly amount of blood. Bodies lay to one corner of the back room, completely drained. And just inches from her feet, lay at least ten or more people, gasping for life.
“They are going through the affliction, Madison, just as we did. They are becoming vampyrs,” said Jamison.
“But who brought all these people here for them to drink from?” she asked.
“Caspar,” said Jamison. “He arrived here last night and found more people in the process of changing. Perhaps he wanted to quicken the process by feeding them.” Madison looked at him through the dim light. “It worked for me, did it not?” he continued. “Your feeding me blood from the Vam-pyr-ei-ak was the only thing that helped to quicken my change into a vampyr.”
“I do not understand. Have you not thought on it, Jamie,” she asked softly. She had not voiced this concern before, but it seemed appropriate now. “Caspar had said that the reason he was not successful in making more was because he did not realize that his victims needed human blood to feed on whilst the sickness took over.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“You and I took blood when we attacked that Vam-pyr-ei-ak man in the woods. Lyndon and I attacked Caspar, and once Jayden healed, he fed Caspar. Jayden continued to feed us all to quicken the process.”
Jamison nodded. He moved around the room, gently stepping through the gaps left on the floor between the gravely weakened people who had now fallen into their deep state of sleep. He turned to face Madison when the realization came to him.
“Then who fed Jayden?” he looked about at the bodies before him.
“He said he attacked one of the Vam-pyr-ei-ak when he awoke. But someone must have fed him while he slept.”
This new information filtered through each of them. Madison looked to Akecheta. He shook his head, as baffled as she.
“How did Caspar survive for days before Jayden started feeding him no less?” said Akecheta.
“These are all questions I will have answered,” said Jamison. “There is still a great deal that we do not understand.”
“Caspar is already here then,” she said. “He was trying to get these sick to change as quickly as he could because he knew we were coming.”
“Yes. Our leading those people to a new home gave him time to prepare for our approach,” said Jamison.
A voice came from behind them. “He created more than you know.”
Lyndon stood just feet away, blood soaking his newly acquired tunic and belt. He advanced silently through the cavern.
It was then that Madison noticed that Akecheta and Nayati were not beside her, but had moved in behind Lyndon.
“There are others in nearly every small village from here to the far regions of Spain,” he said.
“I take it that this is how the pestilence spread so rapidly from one region to the other,” said Jamison.
“Yes, he was determined. He grew bored with trying to change one group of people and moved onto the next within only a matter of days. But the damage was done.”
“I see,” said Jamison, his voice creeping with disgust. “Do you have the slightest comprehension of what you have done?”
“It was not for lack of trying to stop it.”
Jamison inched closer to him. Lyndon did not falter. Every emotion within the small room was heightened to its full extent. Madison could feel the tension ascending from within everyone. Their senses clashed with one another nearly to the point of violence.
“You helped cause it!” he yelled. Madison could feel Jamison’s anger surging into everyone, especially her being so close to him. She was stunned that he still managed to control it as he did. She would have struck Lyndon by this point of her frustration.
“Not intentionally, despite what you have heard.”
“Caspar told me everything,” said Madison. “You conspired with the worst of evils, Lyndon.”
“I did not intend such. Had I known there was another option,” he cried. His desperation began clouding the room. Madison couldn’t think what would have possessed him to show himself so carelessly.
“There were other options, Lyndon. You should have known better than to return to a land full of innocent people without any control of your thirst for their blood,” said Madison.
“I followed Caspar only to keep watch of him. He left me no other choice but to follow in his stead as he pillaged. I could only tamper the havoc he created a few days or weeks behind him.”
Jamison grabbed Lyndon by his tunic collar and thrust him against the far wall with a thundering crack.
“You could have killed him,” said Jamison, inches from Lyndon’s face. The force of his anger left Lyndon startled, only having ever seen Jamison in a calmed and controlled state.
“I knew not how to. It was long after we came back to these lands that I realized it could be done. But by that time it was too late. Caspar moved onward without me.”
Jamison threw him to the ground. The crush of his strength made the rocks inside the cavern quake.
“Do you know the amount of blood that is on your hands?” he snarled.
“Did you do this to these people?” Madison demanded, pointing to the villagers on the ground. There were clearly men, women and even children amongst them.
“No, I came to warn you. There are more coming for you,” he uttered. Akecheta and Nayati stepped closer behind Jamison, ready to take Lyndon at any give
n moment at Jamison’s behest. “I also came to beg for your aid,” he continued.
“You have no room to ask for aid from anyone,” said Akecheta.
“There are other vampyrs in this region, Jamison,” said Nayati. “I heard them in the far region of the woods. They have been visiting the village by night. People are disappearing every day and the town is terrified. We must kill them.”
“Are they beyond saving?” Jamison asked.
“They are beyond anything. There are fewer people in this region for them to feed from and they are starving,” said Nayati.
Lyndon stared at the ground.
“You would not have anything to do with that, I dare say?” said Jamison, kneeling down to stare at Lyndon in his disgrace.
Jamison extended his senses deep within Lyndon’s emotions, reading them to his best ability. He needed to see more. He grabbed for Lyndon’s wrist and took it in his hand forcefully, hoping the touch would give him what he needed. Lyndon couldn’t meet his eyes. His shame was profound without having to see inside him. This much Jamison was aware of instantly.
Lyndon’s eyes eventually reached forth and met Jamison’s. There was contrition, but Lyndon’s resolve was absolute that he had done all that he could to stop it.
“I was an honorable man, Jamison,” Lyndon said quietly. “I lead our expedition with pride and care for my crew and passengers. This you know. I followed Caspar only because he was worse in his thirst than I. I knew not how to stop him unless I followed in his stead. But he was too far gone.” He stumbled over his words, trying to choose them carefully. “He is smarter than me, Jamison,” he continued. “Try as I did, I could not trap him in any way I attempted. When he realized that his blood had caused the plague, it only made him more curious. He became obsessed with learning how to change others, poisoning all the waters he could find. By the time he knew that it was longer exposure to our blood that caused the change and the taking of blood to seal it, I had discovered the rayen. I tried to end all this. You know I did.”
