Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 83

Following the washed out path in the dull light of a storm was more difficult than I imagined. With the river to my left, we trek up the narrow path towards the depths of the forest. Much as it twisted and turned, this must have been an old homestead, I scan our surroundings and the corpses of old rotten homes stand out in the various states of moss and weeds. 

The path rolls over on itself, placed wherever one could get a foot hold. Our horse slips and slides in the mud of aged farm land that only housed rich weeds. I wish I'd brought a cloak but I hadn't thought of rain, it didn't rain much in the future given the state of the slowly healing earth. 

I'd gotten used to the dry, the air here felt heavy and wet on my lungs. The horse shivers between my legs, I wonder if it's from the cold but it would appear the wide eyed creature was concerned with our surroundings. I couldn't blame him, it was errie the way the fog swelled from the river and climbed the short ridge in a rolling plume of coverage. 

Heavy trees offered their own rain shower, hardly guarding us from the down pour. 

Twitching my nose, I follow the scent of decay upward and around the ridge, leaving the river behind to tread deeper into the darkness. The forest nearly whispers, as if it was concerned we were venturing so close to a resting place of a devil. 

"Gives me the creeps." Verando grumbles. 

I jump, not expecting him to awaken so soon. 

"You're cute." He snickers, shivering as he clings to my back. "I don't bite. Much."

"You were practically dead you lush." I retort between my teeth as I see the church in the distance. Black, covered in overgrown moss and vines, secluded in the small clearing yet still to dark for something exposed to direct sunlight. The horse steps on what appears to be a rock, squealing and striking as it rights itself in the mist. Verando grips me tightly, I hiss at the creature to get a grip. 

The dirty skull rolls back down the path and I shudder. "Looks like we're here."

"Lovely." He grimaces, the two collectively shiver as I jump off and tie the beast to a tree by it's reins. "You don't think Strigoi live in covens like vampires do you?"

I hadn't quite thought of it. "Well. No, I didn't until you said that. I suppose her family could be in there." Tapping my chin lightly with my index finger, it wouldn't make sense of a witch to only free one of them and leave the others alive. 

The church practically breaths, the cross was plunged into the ground at the edge of the woods, rejected from the unholy steeple. We make our way steadily across the space, I couldn't go fast with my leg. In a sharp move, I shove the door open, wincing at my still acheing collar bone. With the pain in my leg, I'd forgotten he'd tried to rip my shoulder out of it's socket. 

"You're really hurt." Verando frowns. 

"You don't say." I sigh, shaking out my hair. The entrance way held a massive mirror, unusual from a church, the bloodied hand prints and multiple strike marks make me shudder at what could of placed them there. "Strigoi don't like their reflections, I'd assume. It's by the entrance."

"Have you seen one? They're horrid." He retorts, wringing out his shirt. 

It was like two strangers were standing before me. He was young, thin but healthier than when he arrived. His shaggy hair was tangled and pulled into a mess short pony tail. His stubbled jaw, the oversized shirt stained with blood on the shoulder from serving the woman. 

Yet, there I was, holding my own beside him. I'd become steadily more fit, my jaw that of a man and less of a boy. My shoulders broader, my waist more defined and the slight indent of a line marking my chest as if I had some sort of muscle. I touch my face, the wet sleeve rolled down to my elbow, revealing my scarred arms.