Folk Lore (13 page)

Returning to human form, he reached a hand through the beams to touch her face.

“Not when it came to you.”

“Mortimer,” she heard Mecaldorf’s stern voice from the darkness.

Mortimer shrank back and sent her one last longing gaze before leaving the room.

“Well, Nermina, it seems your friends have arrived to rescue you,” he told her in an amused tone.
“Pity they have my army to face and will scarcely venture further than the forest before they will be retreating back to your lands. Soon I will visit them and advise them of my plans for you however I am not quite ready yet.”

“You underestimate us, Mecaldorf.”

“On the contrary, Nermina.
You underestimate me.”

When they arrived at the garden Angelique was on Angeles in a flash.
“What happened?”

“With all due respect, Elder Kalar whatever visions you foresaw, they were incomplete,” Angeles said.

“Please, Ang, where are the others?” Angelique asked him again.

Angeles sank down onto the grass, disheartenment evident in his expression.

“As we broke through the clearing the castle appeared deserted. We could see no-one on the roof watching for us and contemplated what this would mean and we soon found out. There were too many to count, hazer and vampires mixed together and powerful. Some of the blood you can see is mine. We lost a few out there today. The others are in the forest waiting for it to be safe for a princess to open the gate. We were vastly outnumbered, even if we were the better fighters. These creatures were erratic and bloodthirsty. I was disgusted and I like being a bloodsucker.”

Sera paced restlessly as he relayed his story then stopped, waiting with bated breath to discover who had been slain and why the wounded were not with Angeles being healed.
Why was he the first to return to them?

“We lost two
nymph
, a pixie and maybe an elf. The wounded were well enough to hold off until they could return.”  He turned to Seraphina
.“
I hope you are ready, we have many wounded.”

“I will help,” Anna told them stepping forward.

“Sampson?
The other protectors?”
Angelique asked the question churning in Sera’s mind.

“They were unharmed when I left them. They sent me because I am quicker and could ensure you were all safely through before they were followed into the forest.”

Relieved slightly that Sampson and Keelor were safe for now, did little to calm her ragged nerves. Without waiting any longer, Keela opened the gate but no-one came through.

Many long mystic minutes passed and their concern grew as each moment passed. Just when Sera began to lose hope, through the
gate appeared the tired blood soaked troops. Finally the protectors began to appear and Sera sought out the two faces she longed to see, to find them together, one over the other’s shoulder.

Anna raced off to aid the wounded troops while Sera stood rooted to the spot for a moment, stunned. Keelor was carrying an obviously wounded Sam over his shoulder. How could this be? Couldn’t he heal himself?

Keelor placed Sam on the ground beside her and looked at her with grave concern. She immediately felt the overpowering need to heal and her hands burned bright and intense.

“What’s wrong with him? Can’t he can heal himself?”

“He was bitten.”

“Where is his wound?
By what?
I don’t understand.”

“A vampire bit him, Seraphina. His wound healed leaving the poison inside him. There is nothing to be done.”

“No there has to be. Can I heal the poison? We have to do something.”

Angelique pushed her way through to knee beside Sam’s head, her wrist bloody.

“No!” Keelor told her.
“It is against the law.”

“He will die!” she cried.
“Please, let me do this.”

Kalar stepped forward and looked from Sera to Angelique and noted their distress.

“Why are you so concerned for Sampson, Angelique?”

“I love him.”

There was a collective gasp from those within earshot and Kalar’s shock didn’t register on her serene face.

“Seraphina,” Kalar turned to her.
“I know you are very fond of Sampson however it is forbidden for him to be changed. If this were to happen he would no longer be your protector and both he and Angelique would be banished from the lands and you would not see him again.”

Looking down at her best friend, Sera debated as she watched him writhing in pain. The poison surging through his body was killing him slowly. He opened his eyes, so like hers, to find them filled with
uncertainty. She knew instinctively he was asking her what she wanted, even as he lay dying. Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to Angelique.

“He loves you and he has to live. There is no other way.”

Angelique brought her bleeding wrist to his mouth and he drank hungrily for a moment, stopped abruptly, closed his eyes and became very still.

“What have you done?” Sera asked her.

“Patience, you have to wait for the human to die before the vampire emerges.”

Sera sat and watched him apprehensively, unsure what to expect if and when he opened his eyes. His hand in hers began to feel cold. Keelor was looking at her strangely and she resolved to deal with him later.

When Sam finally opened his eyes their colour was magnificent. The blue once deep indigo was now brighter in colour. His pallor translucent and his hair shone with a slight golden tinge. He was beautiful. Always handsome, he was now devastatingly so. His hand in hers was stone cold and she watched as he assessed her with his vampire eyes.

Mortimer returned after a short while and found Nermina once again trying to pixie dust the beams which housed her.

“Nermina, do not drain your power, it will not work.”

“I have to do something, my folk, your folk; my friends are putting their life at risk to save me. I cannot allow this to happen.” 

She reached forward to touch the beam with a fingertip to test its ferocity and was rewarded with a sharp burn from fingertip to palm.

“Ahh,” she cried out and pulled away which had Mortimer at her side immediately.

“Let me see.”

He pushed his hand through the beam singeing his arm as he gently touched her finger.

“Why do you care so much about me, Mortimer?”

“I always have, Nermina.”

“Then help me leave here.”

“I cannot.”

“Then leave me be.”

“I do not want to leave you. I want you to be safe but cannot let you leave.”

17

Vampire Eyes

The first person Sampson saw when he opened his eyes was Seraphina. When he smelt her blood, the thirst came on hard and strong. He saw the pulse beating at her throat and felt sharp fangs cutting into his lip.

His first instinctive reaction was to leap to his feet before looking around briefly with his newfound sight. Everything held more clarity and was unbelievably brighter, the colours more intense. Every tiny sound in the garden and the surrounding forest was amplified and every aroma burned his nostrils. After surveying the area with his new eyes they rested back on the smell enticing him to feed.

Knowing his glance had been mere seconds, as vampires did everything rapidly, he knew his perusal would have gone unnoticed.

“Step back,” Angelique told Seraphina before coming to stand in front of her.

“Why?” Sera asked with a hurt lilt within her tone that Sam recognised but barely gave it a thought.

All he could feel, think and imagine was biting her elegant neck.

“He is thirsty and you are the only human within range.”

Sam barely allowed Angel to finish her sentence before using his vampire speed to stand behind Seraphina.

“No!” Angelique cried and with great force heaved Sera towards Keelor who caught her before she fell.

Angelique seized Sampson by the shoulders and held his eyes with hers.

“Sampson,” she said firmly holding his attention.
“You do not want your thirst satisfied by Seraphina. Focus and I will take you to the hazer’s village and you can feed.”

“I want her,” he hissed, now in a complete bloodthirsty frenzy.

He noted Keelor was now standing in front of his prey ironically protecting Sera from her own protector.

“Take him away from here blood suckers,” Keelor said in a low strong voice.

Angelique and Angeles barely managed to drag him away towards the forest.

Seraphina in total despair felt tears warm her cheeks. Relieved Sam was still alive she began to wonder at what price. Had she now lost him forever? He craved to kill her, would this bloodlust ease? Would they ever be able to continue being friends? Keelor turned to her and noted her heartache.

“Elder Kalar,” he said without taking his eyes away from Seraphina’s.
“Permission to leave the circle with Seraphina?”

“Yes you may go. The elders have much to discuss. We will re-convene in the morning.”

Guiding Seraphina towards the river as the others dispersed, he noted sobs now racked her body and she appeared to be shaking. She sat heavily upon the ground and continued to weep.

“Seraphina.”
Keelor sat
beside
her placing a comforting arm across her shoulders.
“Once
he has satisfied his thirst, hi
s urge to feed upon you will subside. A new vampire has little control over their cravings. In time he will improve.”

“What will it matter? He’ll be banished along with Angelique. They broke the law, even if it was to save his life.

“Yes to change a human is against the law.”

She stopped crying abruptly hope in her eyes.

“Maybe the elders will consider changing the law. He could be her protector and stay within the circle. He’s not just any human but a chosen one.”

“I highly doubt it, Seraphina.”

“Those laws have been in place for a long time, Keelor, perhaps it’s time they changed,” her voice held conviction.
“I will talk to them, ask them to reconsider.”

“I do not think this a wise idea, Seraphina. You are upset, it will be alright. He is still alive, if that is how you can refer to a vampire.
He will be able to live in the human world with Angelique however they will be banished from the Mystic Lands. A new princess will be appointed and they will be able to live within her clan.”

“Things will never be the same. He will no longer be my protector as by law, he can’t be. He will always have a craving no matter how small to bite
me
and I will have lost my best friend. If I come across the vampire who bite him
...”

“What will you do, Seraphina? The vampire who bit Sampson was a cross breed. A hazer who had been changed which was why Sampson was unable to fight him off. This is why mixing blood is dangerous. The creatures we encountered today were like nothing I have ever seen before. They would change into wolves which moved at vampire speed and then were upon you in vampire form before you could blink. We were fortunate we didn’t lose more today. These cross breeds were feeding on all folk not just humans. You have no comprehension of what we face.”

She sighed, totally lost and for the first time since entering the mystic lands was afraid. Sera no longer had Sampson to protect her whilst her inexperience would never prepare her for the evil they were up against.

“What about Nermina?” she finally asked in a small voice.

“I believe our only alternative is to wait for Mecaldorf to state his intentions. It would take a large army to defeat the masses we fought today. I may have killed dozens of them today however there were much more where they came from.”

“If Sam is no longer my protector, what happens now?”

“Unfortunately there are few who are born and trained as a chosen one. When your father was killed, Annaphina was given another until Sampson came of age and was fully trained to protect you both.”

“Why haven’t I met him or know who he is?”

“He would have been close by and you would not have known it. He was probably a neighbour.”

Sera thought about their neighbours for a moment and suddenly realised Mr Jacobson living next door probably filled the role. Anna
and he were good friends and now she thought about it spent a lot of time together. He had a son a little younger than Sera.

“What happens now then?”

“I would presume this is one of many discussions the elders will undertake. I am unaware of who is next in line within the humans.”

Sera stared at the river she knew gave Keelor peace but could find none herself. Sam was lost to her now and it felt like she was losing part of herself. Neither spoke for many moments as they sat in compatible silence until she broke through it.