𝙳𝚊𝚜 𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚣: 𝙱𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝙴𝚒𝚗𝚜

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔

𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙩𝙚, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚.

After sending Thayer to acquire fresh clothes from their usual barracks, his young friend returned with the clean garments.

Koza sits in a tall backed chair next to the fireplace in the living room of Eber's home whilst Ermanno lies on the couch opposite him. Finding his own comfort atop one of the chair's stool, Thayer passes his gaze over the walls of the home.

This house of Eber's is its own sort of castle with grandiose rooms and high ceilings. The walls are lined with detailed frescos of reds, gold, deep browns and black. If one stared long enough at the patterns on the walls made by those colors, steadily, images appear as faces with eyes looking back at you. The fine furniture reflects the beauty and polish of the manor house with expensive rugs dotting the wooden floors throughout.

The outside is as looming and dark as the inside. The house is set on a low cliff that connects to the waterfront of the wide river below, which gives a view of the city's harbor down the way.

The house was given to Eber by Berin for deeds well done, a few of those rewarded deeds meant to stay tightly behind Eber's lips.

Koza leans forward, his elbows setting to his knees and hands rubbing together as he stares into the flames of the fire in the large stone fireplace, sculptures of dragons rising from the mantle with roaring open mouths. Anxious, he says to himself, "I wonder where the Commander went?"

"Maybe he went to speak with family?" Thayer proposes, his seat on a stool near Koza's chair.

"You think Eber has family?" Ermanno spouts at leisure while lying on the couch with his eyes closed and arms behind his head.

"Does not everyone?" young Thayer asks from his stool.

"Brigadier General Eber Soldat's body was forged like a sword in the fires of Hell." The two men look to Ermanno who rolls his head and opens his eyes, growing a toothy grin at them. "But that is just my opinion."

Softly, a knock comes to the front door of the house, drawing all to turn.

Rising to his feet, Koza moves for the door, pausing before opening it wide. Lorelei stands with hands holding a large bag in front of her. "Who are you?"

"A friend," she smiles innocently.

Taken aback by the pleasant expression on her already attractive face, Koza gawks. "Uh, friend?" She steps past him and moves inside. "The Commander has friends?" He trails her.

Her innocent smile turns to more of a devilish smirk. "Surprising, is it not?"

Gathering his manners, Koza leans. "Uh, what is your name, Madam?"

"Lorelei. Lorelei Zima," she answers, her bright blue eyes casting up to him under her dark lashes. "You?"

He sets a hand to his chest and gives a little bow. "My name is Mikhail Koza." The fashion of his uniform adding the title of Captain to his name, her eyes recognizing the clothes from the years she saw Eber in them. "That is Johan Thayer." He aims a hand towards the young man with messy blond locks. "And that is Adolpho Ermanno." Koza cringes at the somewhat psychotic smirk that crawls up Ermanno's cheek at the woman.

"And how can we be certain you are a friend of the Commander, and not one of his many enemies who is worming her way into his home?" Ermanno sets his knees into Koza's empty chair, hanging past the high back. "Hm?" That innocence returns to her smile as she reaches into a pouch hanging from the waist of her corset, and pulls out a very small amount of some kind of powder. She then blows it with a little puff into the man's face.

"Aaahhh! It burns! Why is it burning?!" His hands slap over his eyes and he falls onto the floor, flopping around in pain.

She watches him writhe with no sympathy as Koza and Thayer flinch and get closer to one another. "It is garlic, dried and ground into a fine powder. It will stop hurting when it burns away... eventually." Lorelei waves a hand over Ermanno and his yelps. "Those screams are enough to wake the dead." Koza and Thayer look to her as she chuckles. "What am I saying? You are already dead." She pokes Koza in the ribs with an elbow, ending her laugh with a snort.

"I see you are acquainting yourself with everyone," Eber says from behind the group.

Koza and Thayer release a couple of tenor screams of surprise. Turning casually, Lorelei looks him up and down unenthusiastically. "Commander, do you know this woman?" Koza asks.

"The Gypsy is here to assist us in learning more about what we now are."

"I see."

"What is the first step?" Thayer queries.

Regaining his wits, Ermanno creeps to his feet, his eyes watering. She sets her bag on a small table against the wall and rummages through it. "I suppose we should first begin with learning just what kind of undead each of you are."

Thayer speaks again, "What do you mean what kind of undead we are?"

She pulls her hands out of her bag and rests them on the stiff mouth of it by the handles. "Well..." she cocks her head and looks up at the ceiling, then turns to Thayer. "You see, there are literally countless chronicles of the undead." She steps up to Thayer. "There are tales of creatures which feed on blood." She peruses the faces of the men, passing them a soothsayer gleam in her eyes. "Some have been known to feed on the bodies of their fellow departed... There are even some who are said to only feed on energy," she stops in front of Eber and meets his gaze. "Such as... sexual energy." She pauses and arches a thick eyebrow. "What are you hungry for, Soldier?" Lorelei teases with a grin and holds her stare on him. He doesn't blink, thoroughly acquainted with the Gypsy's humor.

"Excuse me?" Thayer interrupts the moment. The Commander and the Gypsy turn their heads faintly to look at the young man. "I am not hungry for anything. What does that mean?"

An immediate thought strikes Lorelei. "Have you not undergone rigor mortis yet?"

ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕟𝕛𝕠𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕤𝕠 𝕗𝕒𝕣?