As we rode to the Southwest through the forest, Leofrick told us a small back-story on the vampires. The vampires had a city of their own named Chevrolata, which was located by the coast of the Imperial Sea. Not many connections existed nowadays between Chevrolata and Kaerosa, except that about a decade or so ago a few murders in outlying villages were traced back to vampires. Franklin then hired a vampire hunter to take care of the problem, thus enraging the vampires, which later ensued to a small confrontation. But the vampires were outnumbered and the sun's light would soon be upon them, so a hasty peace treaty was formed shortly after the battle began. I imagined that the vampires still wouldn't be too hospitable to Kaerosans, even if there was a peace treaty.
Leofrick figured that the journey would probably take us about 5 days on horseback, depending on what we might encounter along the way. For the first few hours or so, the scenery we passed was sunny, green, and lively. We passed by towns, forests, and hills, and all intelligent life greeted us as we passed by. But the further west we traveled the less friendly the landscape became. Soon all that was around us became dark and uncertain, and no life was visible except for the dark trees and underbrush that lined the road. No animals could be seen, but I knew that they were there. I could feel their cold gazes seeping through me, leaving me feeling cold and doomed. My first impression of this foreign land had been magical and happy. And I guess that for the most part of what I'd seen, it was. But the further we ventured from the civilization and safety of Kaerosa, the more menacing the trees and shadows became. The mere silence of it all gave the eerie
impression that it was impossible for any organism to inhabit such an empty and grave place.
We rode until dark, halting occasionally to eat or stretch our legs. We finally stopped to make camp at late dusk. We rolled out our fluffy bed-rolls and carefully started a small fire, making sure that it stayed under control. Fire was, after all, his sphere of power. As much as we hated to have this threat, the night was bitter and we would most likely turn into pre-wrapped human popsicles if we didn't have some sort of external heat. After everything was set up I sat on a flat stone by the fire, huddling in a blanket and reading a book that Rose had lent me. I was deeply engrossed in my reading, for it helped me to get my mind off of things. Sometimes I imagined what it would be like to live inside of a book, conversing with the characters and kicking butt. Although there really was no need for that any more, since my own adventures at the present time were very much like that of a story in a novel. I prayed that our ending would be as fortunate as the endings in most written stories were. I was so interested in my book that I didn't noticed the snow-white ball of fir that was climbing up my pants. Only when a tiny, sticky tongue lapped at my neck did I react. I shrieked and jumped up, my book sailing up into the air, barely missing the flames. Hubbub hopped down from my shoulder and landed on the rock that I was previously sitting on. He(or rather it, since we hadn't quite figured the gender out yet) looked up at me with it's luminous eyes and imitated my panicked cry. I laughed, not just because it was so dang cute, but also because I felt really dumb for almost having a heart attack over a ball of fuzz.
"Is this a private jest, or may you enlighten me as to the reason of your amusement?"
I turned to see Adam carrying a bundle of sticks to the fire. Sometimes the way he talked was so formal, and once in a while I had to process in my mind what he was saying just to figure out what the heck he was talking about. It got annoying at times, but that only added onto the reasons of why I adored him.
"Hubbub just startled me a bit. He climbed onto me and I didn't know what it was at first."Adam smirked and those wonderful silver eyes of his glinted playfully.
"Just a bit? It sounded as if the zombie apocalypse was starting to break out for a while there." I guess that he had heard me screaming.
"You never know. It wouldn't surprise me if it did, especially in this place."
YOU ARE READING
Crown of Daelin
Fantasy"I wished that things were different. That I could make a greater impact. That I could be someone stronger, someone important. But what could I do here, in this small town, that was already civilized and happy? I wanted a challenge, and I had no clu...
