A Different Path

Chapter Five

They travelled for five nights, finding as dark a shelter as possible during the day. Vereistenwald was a large country, mysterious, dark, and ancient. It was so thickly forested, so puckered by little mountain ranges, and criss-crossed by rivers that it remained largely unmapped. Felicity navigated carefully as she thought about leaving her homeland.

The moon hung full and lambent in a sky speckled with stars. Night noises surrounded her, the rustle of a woodland creature in the grass, the mournful call of a night bird. There was a heavy beat of wings and an owl swept above the path. A howl rose about a mile to her right.

"The doggies are out tonight," she observed. She felt a shiver of unease. A vampire could handle a werewolf one-on-one, but if she was overtaken by a pack—well, she could always take to the skies. She shook her head. That was being silly. The vampires and the werewolves had reached an uneasy understanding, and it was extremely rare there was an incident between them.

The vampire clans still operated on a feudal system of fortified towns and fiefdoms with no real boundaries and miles of forest in between. The werewolf clans always had some sort of feud going on and there was no law beyond the vampire codes to maintain the health of their Herds. It was far from perfect.

Felicity walked along, her hand resting gently on Spirit's side, and she marvelled at how such a great being walked without sound. The path wound gently down the slope, twisting, and turning but coming ever closer to the border. The trees began to thin, and the glades were more plentiful.

As they walked, they talked. A plan was beginning to form in Felicity's mind. "I think," she said slowly. "I think I'll try to find Harmony."

"Do you have any idea where she might be?" Spirit said.

Felicity shook her head.

"Ashtarom is a very large place," Spirit said gently. "There are many countries, some far bigger than Vereistenwald."

Felicity nodded. "I've given this some thought. She's a very fine pianist and artist. I think she'd try to find somewhere where there were a lot of people who appreciated those things."

"Hm, probably one of the big cities then."

Felicity nodded. "I'll start with Unun-Nili."

The unicorn considered, "You'll go to Ilonyia first?" she asked doubtfully.

"Hm, I agree it's not the best option out there." Felicity clicked her tongue. "But that's the closest border."

The people of Ilonyia had no magic and hated the supernatural. There was no place for a vampire there.

"We'll have to make do," she nodded her head. "It means I will have to get the hang of acting human very quickly."

"I'm not sure that's a step in the right direction," Spirit muttered.

Felicity ignored her. "If she's not there I'll go to Rephar."

She lifted her head, all her senses alert. She could smell wood smoke from a fire about a mile away and she heard the bass rumble of a man's voice.

A horse screamed.

As Felicity raced down the slope, she caught glimpses of furry shapes darting through the shadows. Werewolves! she thought grimly. Just what she needed now.

The lead wolf, the alpha, was massive, far larger than any normal wolf she had ever encountered. In his human form, he would tower over others. The breeze shifted, carrying with it a mix of musk and smoke, laced with a bright note of citrus—the alpha's scent.

She tried to assess how much danger she was in when the horse screamed again. She was close enough now that the sharp metallic smell of blood filled the air, but not human blood.