Verita's Chronicles, The Dreamer

Chapter 8

Between the village of Irith where Rycaon had been engaged and their destination was about two days' journey. And since there was no tavern on the road, he and Mika found themselves sleeping under the stars, which was not to disturb them. Rycaon never had a real home and Mika lived in his cart with his "brothers". It must have been around two in the morning when a noise woke the hunter. He quickly stood up, grabbed his sword and looked around. The night was dark, even Mika's lantern was out, but Rycaon had accustomed his eye to seeing in the dark. The noise that had woken Rycaon had not stopped, a sound of hooves on the ground that did not approach. Making sure his crossbow was loaded and strapped to the strap on his back and sword in hand, Rycaon approached the source of the noise and promptly slammed his head against Mika's cart. Grabbing a lighter from his coat, he created a small red flame, just enough to guide him towards the source of the noise. Without much surprise, he saw that it was Mika's two brothers, or her two donkeys, depending on the point of view. Surprised, he came closer and saw that they had been gagged with cloth strong enough to prevent them from neighing, and in the cart, where Mika must have been, there was no one.

- It is not good news.

In his presence, the two animals had calmed down and silence had returned, this was good news, and thanks to this Rycaon would be able to hear anyone approaching. In the cart, everything seemed in order, although, looking closer, Rycaon noticed a small red spot, blood. Jumping onto the cart, he leaned down to look at the blood more closely, it smelled different from that of a human, probably because it was not human. It didn't take long for Rycaon to understand the situation, he was in Irith, a cursed land where the sun rarely shone. And Mika was kidnapped, but not killed, so his captor was not beasts but intelligent beings, not to mention that to capture his partner without waking him you had to be silent, fast and efficient, although after drinking so much he had to be a heavy sleeper. This could only lead to one conclusion, vampires, at least that's what people call these beings who feed on flesh and blood. And Rycaon actually has some history with them, which explained their attack. However, one question remained unanswered in Rycaon's head, why not kill him in his sleep? It was the easier option, but instead they captured the cub that came with it.

Searching the ground, it didn't take him long to find footprints, fresh ones, no more than an hour old. He counted four of them, not counting Mika who they surely carried, and all of them were heading out of the clearing where they had stopped to sleep in the forest. Rycaon suspected that they wanted him to follow them, that it was a trap, but he could do nothing but jump into it.

- Throwing yourself into the den of the wolf can only turn out well.

Heading deeper into the forest, Rycaon kept his eye on the footprints, trusting his other senses to warn him of any approaching danger. And he did well, because he saw that one of the individuals had suddenly stopped leaving footprints, and this right next to a tree. Without a second of hesitation, he drew his crossbow and shot one of the branches, followed by a scream and the fall of a body. In front of him, dead instantly, was one of Mika's attackers, and as he suspected, his long fangs and white skin showed that he was a blood drinker. But why ? He had agreed with Ariazan that he would leave him alone if he no longer hunted them.

- I was told that you were talented, but here I say hats off, how did you guess which tree it was in?

- It's simple though, it was the only tree within reach that had enough foliage to hide a man.

In front of him, the three other attackers stood. At their head a man who must have transformed when he was barely twenty years old, and behind another taller and heavier man with a more mature appearance, and a woman with a rather thin body and an almost pointed face. The one who had spoken to him, the vampire in the lead, had a rectangular face with a noble appearance, the three had pale colored hair, but he had a streak of silver. He held a dueling saber in his right hand, Mika was unconscious in the arms of the man in the back.