The Elder Origins (29 page)

             
“What are the other’s names?” she asked referring to native men who had arrived with Jamison.

             
“You have already met Mahkah some time ago, or so he claims,” said Jamison, pointing in his general direction.

“Yes, he was in charge of our guard after we were first healed,” she said. “He and Jayden shall get along famously,” she said sarcastically.

“This is Akecheta. And his son just there is Nayati. They are of the Sioux tribe, or at least this was the name that Inazin said the French would eventually come to call them.”

             
“What shall be done of the others, Jamison? Caspar’s men?”

             
“Akecheta and Nayati already disposed of them. They threw them to the pyre after I had taken you. They are warriors for their people, Madison. And they will protect their own.”

             
“We are not to consider other ‘vampyrs’ our own?” she asked.

             
“Not when they capture and torment those who are trying to help restore health to the sick,” he said looking at her. “Especially when that person is my sister.”

             
She smiled at him, and couldn’t resist the temptation to reach for his hand. He caught it and kissed it gently. He had felt her compassion since he revealed himself by the stream.

             
“You feel that, don’t you?”

             
“What?”

             
“Your love for me,” he said.

             
“Of course.”

             
“Well, have you noticed as of late your inability to feel as much as you once did?” he asked.

             
“Only when I was angry or distraught,” she said calmly. “Fear seems to dissipate quicker than it once did.”

             
“That is another of our abilities, Madison. You can harness it,” he said.

             
“What do you mean?”

             
“You were created to become a ruthless killer,” said Mahkah from a horse a few feet away. “When Inazin healed you, he also gave you the ability to control everything else.”

             
“But that makes no sense. I cared for you and the others after I changed. I wanted you to get better. And I had not yet met Inazin.”

             
“Because that is the one thing that Vam-pyr-ei-ak did not account for,” said Mahkah. Madison looked at him, waiting for him to continue. “Human empathy,” he said. “They assumed that your people, the white men, had none, given the visions they had of what would become of their tribe in the future.”

             
“Empathy outweighs any hatred or anger,” said Jamison, “but only for those who are capable of feeling it.”

             
“That explains Caspar’s recent activities,” she said sarcastically.

             
“Precisely,” Jamison responded. “You can control the depth of your empathy in the same way you can control the depth of your fear. We still feel, Madison. But we control our emotions. They do not control us. Not anymore.

             
“And if I may be so bold to ask, Mahkah,” she said slowly, “how did you come to learn English so quickly?”

             
Mahkah looked at her and snickered. A wide grin crossed his face and he trotted forward with his horse, not answering her.

             
“He did not, sister,” said Jamison. “None of them can, although it will soon become a necessity for them to learn.”

             
Madison looked at him with inquiring eyes.

             
“They are speaking their native tongue,” he said.

             
“Okay,” she said quizzically, “explain please, for the one who obviously is not following.”

             
He laughed softly. “You can make sense of his native language in the same way you can make sense of his emotions when he is standing feet away from you,” he said.

             
“But I couldn’t understand Caspar’s henchmen.”

             
“They were not making any attempt for you to understand them,” he said. “When you sense another vampyr’s emotions, they have the ability to sense yours as well. By doing so, a connection can be made.”

             
“Yes, I have experienced that with Jayden. When we were very close, I could almost feel his aura touching mine.”

             
“When Mahkah is talking to you, he is touching your, ‘aura’ so to speak with his. It allows you to make sense of what he is saying through your language.”

             
“Can you and I do this?” she asked.

             
“You can do it with anyone, no matter their language, hence why our influence among those in power can be most profound.”

             
“How convenient,” she said.

             
“I will show you once we settle for the night. It will take two days to reach the land I have in mind for these people.”

             
“And then we start for the eastern lands,” she said.

             
“Yes, and there we will find Jayden. We must run on foot to reach him in time,” he said.

             
“In time for what?” she asked hastily.

             
“Let’s just say that Caspar has covered much ground since we left him without guards. He is setting up some sort of trap. People in the eastern lands are not ignorant of our kind. Caspar spent a significant amount of time there poisoning their waters with his blood some months ago. I think there may be a vast number of vampyrs in the region.”

             
“You can sense this?”

             
“I will teach you everything. I promise,” he said, ending the conversation there.

             
Madison chose to stay quiet from that point onward. She was anxious to learn the few things that Jamison had from the tribes he visited, and the skills that Inazin had taught him. She wanted to pass them along to Jayden. And she knew that sensing what was to come, taming the thirst, and understanding foreign tongues were among the few skills he had acquired.

             
The people Jamison and the Sioux rescued were grateful. The land they were given was near enough to the Rhine to be fruitful for crops, and far enough from other villages to prevent being detected. Jamison warned them not to make contact with other people or even leave the region for quite some time. Years at best or until their children reached an appropriate age for marriage. Madison had the feeling that a few of them suspected that they were not human. They presumed that their rescuers had been sent by God to protect them. Madison paid no mind to their reasoning, so long as they were left in relative safety.

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, t
o 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.”