Love Bite Obey

Chapter 6: Scars

I rub my eyes again, trying to keep my vision focused on Rahlan's horse. The sun is up. I've been riding a few paces behind him all night, and I'm aching to rest. While I love the freedom and control of having my own horse, right now I miss being able to fall asleep between Rahlan's arms like I did when we shared Mittens.

The forest isn't as dense here as it is around Litton. We've deviated off the north-east road and made our own path north by riding between the trees. Small meadows breakup the forest, each about the size of a small farm field. I've never traveled this way before, but the flowers that dot the fields seem familiar. Every meadow has a different mix of flowers and colors. Each time we pass through a thick set of trees, I make a silent guess about the next field's mix of colors. It keeps my mind active and away from thinking about questions which I'm afraid to know the answer to, such as the state of Litton, and how Jaclyn's doing right now.

We enter a field covered in short yellow flowers, each with petals that glow under the morning sunlight.

"Can we take a break?" I ask. We're miles away from the threats looming in Litton castle. "I need to stretch." A yawn escapes me.

He brings Mittens to a stop. "We may."

I gently tug back on Ari's reins before climbing down. After what must be twenty hours of nearly constant riding, my legs and butt are finished. My arms stretch high over my head, and I walk in a small circle to get my blood pumping again.

I take the waterskin out of Ari's pack and drink.

Rahlan's standing beside Mittens, looking out at the path ahead. We have no home, and I know that he doesn't own any other land in this country. He appeared to know exactly where he was headed the moment we abandoned Litton, as if he already had a plan.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

He turns back to face me. "While we are traveling as one, these events are of vampire matters that you need not concern yourself with. Simply follow my instruction, and all will be fine."

I cross my arms. It seems like he is going out of his way to avoid sharing it with me. If it has nothing to do with me, then why be so secretive? What harm is there in telling me?

"Come here," he orders. "I wish to drink."

It's morning – time for the drink he takes every two days. I'm already tired, and I decide who takes blood from my body, not him. Ignoring his instruction, I climb back on Ari. "That sounds like a vampire matter," I say.

His eyes narrow, and I ride past him.

* * * * * * * *

I follow Rahlan through one meadow after another. It's midday, and I'm starting to get hungry. We haven't encountered any fruit or villages yet. Expecting to be back before sundown yesterday, I only brought along a small bread snack, and it's long gone. I'm carrying nothing more than my sword, a waterskin and Jaclyn's bite congealment. I'm not even wearing my armor, as it's now in the hands of whoever is occupying Litton. Instead, I'm covered in a white dress that feels far too thin for wandering the wilderness.

A striking tree catches my eye. It's tall and old, sporting horizontal branches with leaves that frame its trunk in a semi-circle. I pull Ari to a stop, not taking my eyes off it. It feels familiar, but I can't remember from where.

"'Tis too soon to rest," Rahlan says.

I ignore his prodding to move on, still staring at the tree. I see hundreds of trees every day. Why is this one so striking? There's a memory connected to it, but I can't figure out what.

"Julia."

I tap Ari's side and direct her reins, sending her galloping towards the tree. Mittens' hooves stomp behind me, indicating that Rahlan's chasing.

The tree grows larger, enveloping more of my field of view. I've been here before, a long time ago. My eyes jump around the vegetation. There's a trail that runs right up to the tree's base. Upon reaching the trunk, I redirect Ari's reins, sending her running down the overgrown dirt path.

"Julia!" Rahlan shouts behind me. I can't stop. Even if I tried to explain it, he wouldn't understand the deep desire within me to know what's here.

Rushing down the path, thick vegetation surrounds me on either side. Overgrown ferns obscure the trail, but Ari stomps through them without hesitating. I remember now. I ran down this path as a child.

I push Ari to go faster. Faster. Faster.

The trees open up, revealing fields of withered crops. I pull back on the reins, and Ari stops. Small black rocks appear to protrude from the landscape, except I know that they're not natural formations. They're burned houses – the remains of Heldana, my village, my home.

Ari's reins are snatched out my hands, and only now do I realize that Rahlan has come up alongside me. I look back at the ruins, focusing in on a brown stump a little off to the side – my house.

I hop off Ari and run.

Dry wheat crunches beneath my boots, leaving a trail of flattened stalks behind me. Getting closer, I can begin to make out the beams of the wooden skeleton.

Panting for breath, I reach the remains of the building that Jacob and I called home. The roof, walls and front door are gone. Blackened branches poke up at the corners of the foundation – the only remaining part of the wattle-and-daub walls. Nothing is left standing higher than my shoulders, and most of it is below my knees. Scavengers have taken everything that wasn't ash, and the rain and wind have pulled apart what's left.

I stand where the front door used to be. The flat stone slabs, which were once a floor, show the outline of each room. My eyes linger on the footprint of the outside storage room, then the kitchen and finally the bedroom. Jacob and I spent years improving and maintaining this home, and the fruits of all those hours will never be seen again. It's gone, destroyed by an invading vampire army for no reason other than that it served no purpose to them.

I look back. Rahlan's in the field, still on Mittens. He's stopped a distance away, giving me some space. This isn't his first time here either. He was only able to track us down because he was part of the force that razed my village.

I focus back on the blackened husks that used to be people's homes – people who I knew my whole life, like Oliver, the elder who greeted me every day, Sarah, who taught me how to sow, and Jordan, the kind farmer who let me work his fields for a portion of his harvest. Most are probably dead, and the ones that aren't have been taken far away, bound in slavery. When the vampires came through here, they didn't simply demolish buildings, they destroyed lives. Most of the people here had never even seen a vampire, let alone done anything to warrant their wrath.

After one last look over the ruins, I walk back to Rahlan, taking Ari's reins and returning to my saddle.

He doesn't say anything, but he doesn't have to. I know that the Rahlan who hunted his father's killers is not the same Rahlan who I know today. Fury blinded him, but now he can see.

* * * * * * * *

We've been riding west since we found the ruins of Heldana. Evening is upon us again, and we still haven't found any food, and being a human, that's been harder on me than it has on him. Repeating my questions about where we are headed was met with silence.

Ari has become sluggish to respond, requiring far more breaks than usual. She's not a strong war horse like Mittens. I don't think that either of us will make it through another night of riding. On top of two exhausting days, the temperature has dropped considerably since the sun went down. My sleeveless dress isn't suited for spending the night outside. Usually I'd ask for Rahlan's coat, but things have been bitter between us since I refused to give him my blood. He's free to keep me naive to the situation unfolding around us, and I'm free to keep my body to myself.

We crest a hill, and the sight ahead startles me, nearly causing me to fall off my horse. There's a village. Tall bleached white houses with sharp triangle roofs emit a warm orange light. The whole place is surrounded by a wooden wall of vertical logs. There are at least a dozen houses. A village this large must have an inn. I'm going to have a tasty meal and a warm bed tonight, and it's only five minutes away.

Author's Note:

The next chapter is already published.