Castlevania Nocturne: A Sneak Peak

Sneak Peak: The Wandering Prophet

A longer sneak peak of the next chapter

Richter noticed Emma's lifted mood after setting out again. He could have chalked it up to her having a filling meal from the farmhouse or her pain medicine, but he had the sense it was because she was beginning to smooth things out with Alucard. She didn't engage with him much, keeping quiet and looking out on the river at the passing scenery, but she didn't seem as tense around him. Willing even to sit next to him on the boat.

And she was chatty, not necessarily with her father, just all around more talkative. (Though a few times Alucard urged her to lower her voice since they were traveling discreetly.) Richter loved seeing his mentor and mother figure returning to her perky old self.

"Let me get this straight. They ripped out your guts and they stuffed them in jars?" Richter questioned disgusted.

"Yes, but they kept the heart in because it held the person's being and intelligence. It was vital for their journey into the spirit world." Emma explained giddily. "According to ancient beliefs, the gods judged if the heart was worthy of eternal rest."

"Like a person's soul." remarked Annette.

"Exactly!" Emma snapped her fingers. "The heart is a soul. That's why it was left intact, and why we're after Sekhmet's mummy; to protect her earthly spirit from being exploited by Erzsebet. "Ooh! And you also know how they took out your brains?"

"Emma, I don't think they need to know this." said Alucard.

"They take a sharp, red-hot poker, stick it up your nose, scramble it about,and then rip it all out through your nostrils!" Emma mimicked poking and stirring a long rod.

"Ouch, that's got to hurt." winced Richter.

"It's called mummification Richter; you'll be dead when they do this." Emma informed.

"For the record, if I get killed, don't put me down for mummification." Richter told Annette.

"Likewise." Annette agreed.

Emma shifted her feet and happily leaned against her now filled pack. "The Egyptians weren't the only civilization that mummified their dead, you know? When I was in the Kingdom of Peru, I saw mummies hidden up in the mountains. The angels there are keeping them secret from humans so they don't abscond or destroy them, but one of them gave me a special look. They're far older than Egyptian ones by centuries, but they were treated practically the same, buried with worldly possessions, some even had clay masks to cover their faces!"

"That's fascinating." Annette remarked.

"I didn't know you went to Peru." Richter said amazed.

"Oh sure! I did a good amount of traveling before I settled in the colonies. Spent a few decades in South America. I've been to Peru, Brazil, even the Galapagos islands. That's a little archipelago off the western coast. They have lizards that swim, and penguins!"

"What are penguins?" asked Annette.

"Little birds with flippers instead of wings, they cannot fly but they can swim. They are so adorable!"

"Sounds like you were quite the traveler." remarked Richter with a smile.

"I suppose." Emma curled her toes. "There was so much to see, places I've never even dreamed of and a community of angels helping me reach them. When you're someone like me you've got a lot of time on your hands to explore."

Alucard kept quiet, watching his daughter with melancholy and pain. He never regretted bringing Emma into the world, she was the greatest gift Amalie had ever given him, but truth be told he felt a shred of guilt fathering a child fated with immortality. To watch generations of loved ones live and die. I should have been there for you, my dearest, you wouldn't have faced a changing world alone. He thought regretfully. But I am here now.

Emma noticed the sun shifting over the river, and the shadows changing. "It'll be dusk soon. Father, is it safe for us to travel at night? We're out in the open." They were on a part of the river patched by open fields and farmlands. Not an issue during the day, no vampire would burn themselves alive under the sun, but night was a concern; they had no cover.

"We cannot stop Emma." said Alucard. "We must move quietly and not draw attention. Once it's dark I advise we do not speak until we're under the cover of the trees again."

The three glanced at each other with a heavy look.

"Understood." Emma said awkwardly. "Most of us will either be sleeping or keeping watch anyway. What if we encounter vampires? Could we speak then?"

"Yes." Alucard clarified.

Emma sat up straight. "There's a boat up ahead."

"I see it." Richter peered, covering the top of his eyes from the sun. "Figures we'd eventually pass someone. What should we do?"

Alucard eyed the smaller boat with a single rower. "Pick up speed."

"What? Are you sure?" Richter was surprised.

"Yes. Entirely sure." Alucard blinked, gazing onward. "It's a friend of ours."

A smile crept along Emma's face, her sight was sharper than her hearing and she identified the other boatman immediately even from a distance. "Eli!" she waved her arms. "Eli over here!" If the other boatman didn't notice them before he certainly did now, waving his hand up and quickly rowing their direction. As the boat drew closer the humans could see his features; A man in weathered traveling clothes and a sun hat. All he had with him was a rucksack and a walking stick laying on the boat's floor.

"Emma! Alucard! What a delightful surprise! I didn't expect to find you out on the river!" The man joyously shouted in recognition, pulling his boat up to theirs.

"It's good to see you again." Emma helped Eli tether his smaller boat to theirs. " What brings you out here?"

"I'm a traveler Emma, what doesn't bring me out on the road, or river I should say?" Eli's sun-kissed face wrinkled with a smile. "Though now I travel with intention. I have important business to attend , but I'm getting ahead of myself. I see you're accompanied by friends."

"Relatively." Emma chuckled. "Richter, Annette, this is Eli. He's an old friend of my mother's." She happily introduced him.

"A pleasure to meet you both." Eli tipped his hat shaking their hands.

"It's good to meet you." Richter didn't know what to make of him. Physically Eli appeared in his mid to late thirties, but his eyes held an immeasurable age. Something about them struck familiar.

"It's nice to meet you Eli." Annette clocked it instantly. "You're a zanj."

Eli raised his brows surprised. "Oh. You've met our people before. Amalie I'd reckon."

"And another before her." Annette responded amiable. "One who set me on my path. I wouldn't be here today if it were not for him."

"I understand." Eli brushed his thumb over Annette's fleur-de-lis. "Not many recognize what we are. We call them blessed."

"Indeed." Alucard cleared his throat thinking of his wife miles away.