Everglow

Chapter 11

The morning had passed us by in a flurry of birdsong and bright skies, calling out a sweet spring song. Had I not been on the journey, I would've thought the serenity of the nature surrounding us was quite beautiful, yet as I heard it now I felt unnerved. We hadn't heard a single bird in the two days we had been camped here, and yet now the chorus of the song seemed to fill the forest with bright music as if lulling us into a false sense of security. 

The others seemed to move around happily as we packed up our things ready to move on with our journey. I decided to stop for a moment, to take in the surroundings, something was not right here. I watched as Marigold and Xandro laughed happily with one another, sat closely together on a log. Her arm was wrapped around his waist and his hand rested on her leg. Letting out a scoff I rolled my eyes, he had never looked at me the way he looked at her, filled with so much happiness and energy. 

Take in a harsh breath of air I realised that he perhaps did not love me the way he thought he did. It was easy to mix up emotions, after all, they were the most complex part of being alive. Instead, I thought that perhaps he pitied me, he saw my sadness and my pain and did not want me to feel those things. That did not equate to romantic love though. I found that this thought didn't really hurt me the way I thought it might. Instead, to me, he seemed unable to confront his own emotions. Perhaps he mistook all of those feelings for genuine friendship. That was the way I realised I felt. All the built-up sexual tension released from my body and I realised with certainty as I looked at the two of them that it was not what I wanted. 

As I looked over to Nasgar I saw him fiddling around with something beneath his cloak, looking around suspiciously as if to not be caught. I saw him sip at the flask of blood he held in his hand with a roll of my eyes. He may have been old but he certainly wasn't wise. I couldn't fathom why necromancy was such a bad thing when this man was practically a living corpse himself. If vampirism was still allowed then my blood practice should be too. 

"You know Wolfie those thoughts running through your head are quite correct," a voice hummed from behind me, low in my ear. I prided myself on being aware and yet Milo had slipped through my defences and rested his head on my shoulder, arm wrapped lazily around me from behind. I laughed as I shrugged him off me, turning to look at him. 

"And what thoughts would those be exactly?" I whispered with harshness in my voice as I tilted my head to look at him, arms crossed in annoyance. 

"That vamps have no right to judge when they themselves are practically zombies," he said with a laugh, holding his arms out at me, head lolled to the side like an old George Romero film. I laughed at this, glad there was somebody here who had some understanding of my own realm. 

"That's a ridiculous and offensive accusation to make, coming from a pair of cauldron fucking dimwits," A low voice growled from the side as Ero marched towards us angrily, teeth poised ready to take blood. I instantly pulled the large hunting knife from my boot, pushing Milo behind me as he began to circle us slowly. 

"It doesn't make what he says any less true though does it?" I growled at him, feeling the primaeval energy of my wolf growing inside me at her natural enemy. I was beyond pissed and had been lulling her to sleep with valerian root for the longest of times. I did not want to unleash her now, it would be a massacre. 

"You're just a useless bitch, what would you know of Vampiric customs when you have spent your life in total destruction," He hissed at me, crouching low as his eyes turned red, nose flaring with intense anger. I could only laugh at his comments and roll my eyes. 

"I know plenty about your customs. Just because Mages are banished from your lands it does not mean my kind and what they can do are any lesser for it," I growled at him, annoyance fueling my very core as I heard the birdsong around us begin to get louder. Ero laughed and took in the whole length of my body with a long, distasteful glare.