Hollow Immortal

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Caine was grateful for the voivode's kindness. He was pleased that he'd be able to spend more time around Vladimir the Younger . He'd have time to prime him, train him, teach him. The boy would become the greatest warrior to walk the Earth. His champion.

The voivode had shown him the various things in his designated solar, including a useful secret room behind the bookcases where he would 'practise his arts' in privacy. It was all very pleasing. He'd also received a, more than adequate, change of clothes to replace his torn, bloody ones. He just needed a few things from the cave he'd been living in and everything would be perfect.

He took himself out of the castle, which he'd had a tour of, and made his way to the horses and cart he'd asked to borrow. The cart, if it could really be called a cart, was a solid, wooden supply coach, with a door that locked on the back. Two majestic, black horses, whose glossy coats reflected the moonlight, were yoked to it. Caine took the driver's seat and the reigns.

"Ya!" he cried and the horses took off down the path at a canter.

He didn't know how far away he was from his cave but he did know he'd recognise it when he saw it. In the meantime he decided to take in the scenery. He was flanked by lush woods on either side of the pass. The snow had stopped falling so the ride was actually rather pleasant. The cry of a night bird made him smile and he inhaled the icy, fresh air.

A rock caught his attention and he realised that it one of the rocks in front of his cave. He called for the horses to stop and parked the coach on the road. It was highly unlikely that anyone would want to pass it at that hour. He hopped off the driver's seat and went round to open the padlocked door at the back.

When he opened it, he was greeted by a strange sight. There were two eyes looking at him from the shadows. He was sitting just out of the moonlight illuminated strip that opening the door had achieved but Caine could see him. In fact, he was surprised he hadn't noticed him before. Vladimir the Younger broke out in a sheepish grin.

"Vladimir!" Caine exclaimed, "What on Earth are you doing here?"

Vladimir stood up and moved into the light, "I wanted to come with."

Caine rolled his eyes, "Get out of there, there are some heavy things that need to go in."

"Can I help?" he asked.

"No, Vladimir," Caine replied, "it is unlikely that you can but you may try if you so wish."

Vladimir jumped out of the carriage and landed in the snow with a crunch. He looked around then peered into the darkness of the cave Caine had, for a whole year, called home.

"You can call me Vlad," he said as he started trudging towards the mouth of the cave.

Caine sighed and followed the boy into the cave, where he lit a few candles for Vlad's benefit. He watched the boy marvelling at the things in the cave. He had a weapon rack with a few average pieces on it. He'd also utilised a flat surface as a shelf and had a couple of jars with things he used in his experiments inside them. Vlad immediately walked to the shelf and started looking into the jars. He reached for a corked bottle with a pale yellow liquid in it.

"Don't touch that!" Caine exclaimed before the boys fingers could make contact with the bottle, "It's poisonous."

Vlad lowered his hand and took another look around the room, "What do you use all these things for?"

Caine shrugged, "Oh, various things."

He began packing the jars and bottles into an empty trunk. Once he'd done that, he went out to the cart and began loading it up. He then went back inside to retrieve another trunk and found Vlad opening one.

"Do all of them contain books?" he asked.

"And scrolls," Caine answered, "and other forms of educational material."

"You must be very intelligent," Vlad said, "what with having read all these books."

Caine nodded, "Perhaps. Or I'm just old."

He lifted another trunk and took it outside. When he returned, he found Vlad trying to lift one of the heavy trunks. He picked it up and pointed Vlad in the direction of some lighter things. Vlad happily obliged and by the end of it, the cart had been loaded with six trunks of books, two chests of potions and ingredients, one chest of clothes and Caine's swords.

He locked the coach door and helped Vlad onto the seat before getting on it himself. He tugged at the reigns and Vlad turned to him.

"Are we going anywhere else tonight?" he asked.

Caine cast sideways glance at him, "I might but first I'm taking you home. I'll join you later."