Fractured Reality

Unintended Circumstances

Chapter 44

It was the middle of the day, and Carmilla was pacing around the command tent instead of sleeping like she should have been. Her rage was evident with each turn she made. Both Morana and Striga were watching the display with a mix of resignation and bemusement. It wasn't as though they didn't understand. Lenore was the only one of the four not currently present. She had decided to try and give her pet more motivation to get done faster. Not that he hadn't been working hard, but she had to do something to pacify Carmilla's temper.

At least for the moment, the Queen's rage was not directed at Lenore and Hector. No, it was due to their circumstances. They had not made any forward progress in three days, and she was livid. Several of the local villages had banded together and started harassing the vampire camp during the day when most of the occupants were more vulnerable.

In and of itself, that would not have been an issue, as there was little the humans could do to the vampires at least. The problem stemmed from the fact that Isaac was gaining ground. Alone, Carmila would not have thought much that either, but combined, the two issues were enough for her to be pissed, if not worried. She was ready to get this over with so she could take that damned human down a notch.

After several more moments of this behavior, Morana finally gave her lover a pleading look. Striga sighed before she stepped forward. "Carmilla, do not fret. Yes, we have stalled, but from the beginning, I have laid out defensible positions for our camp each time. No matter what any enemy throws at us, we will emerge victoriously."

Carmilla's first reaction was to snarl. However, she took a deep breath and then pinned Striga with a glare. "I know we will win, but that doesn't mean I like the delay." She paused as a thoughtful look passed over her face. "Though, I suppose this does allow us to lie in wait for that damned Forgemaster."

Striga gave her sister a devious smile. "Yes, and he will not appreciate what he finds when he catches us, not nearly as much as we will. We are already prepared for his arrival. Instead of being angry at the delay, use the time to think of all the ways you can torture him when we catch him."

Those words seemed to ease the last of Carmilla's anger. She gave her two sisters a grin that would have made any others shiver as their blood ran cold. However, Striga and Morana merely shared in the look as they all thought about their coming victory.

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Despite their lack of success in the first village, the two couples still decided to continue to stop in each town they passed near. If for no other reason than to warn the people of what was coming. Much to their surprise, a few of them were already prepared and even more shocking, had people that were willing to go with them.

Their group was growing as they traveled. Having men from the villages also helped them recruit more in the subsequent towns. They did not meet with as much hostility when it was more than just Sypha and Trevor speaking. It also helped that the closer they got to the border, the more people had already heard of what was on the way.

Unfortunately, having the villagers along also made it more difficult for Eva and Adrian. Until they could be sure the men would not cause issues, they had to remain hidden. That made camping a lot more complicated. At least nothing was said when Trevor left the cart near the edge of the growing camp.

The one upside to that fact was it allowed the two of them more privacy then they had been given during their travels. Neither couple had considered that fact until they were on the road and faced with it. Despite how much they hated it, the lack of alone time was the least of their worries as they got closer to Hungary. The one good thing was that one of the armies seemed to have stopped moving at all. Whether that meant the vampire troops were waiting to join with the Forgemaster's or not remained to be seen. Though at the rate the couples were traveling, they would all probably arrive within the same day.