Encounters (The Elder Origins #3) (7 page)

“How noble, Lyndon,” said Jamison sarcastically, “and might I add that those ‘savages’ are now the key to your survival. Now where are they?”

Akecheta and Nayati took Lyndon from behind and held him up, taking his arms behind his back and squeezing at his wounded wrist, not allowing it to heal so easily.

Lyndon groaned in pain, but his face remained stern.

“Swear to me,” he said, looking at Jamison directly in the eyes. “You must heal me as they did you. You cannot let me live like this knowing that there are others who can so easily.”

“I am not swearing anything, Lyndon. Unless you tell us where they are immediately.”

Lyndon hesitated. Madison knew that he had no other options. He couldn’t expect more by walking in on them and demanding their help.

“The villag
es already did away with Jayden. I am not certain of where he is,” he said in a hushed tone.

“Did away with him?” said Madison. She stood before Lyndon and she knew th
at he could feel her rage.

Akecheta and Nayati let go of Lyndon, sensing what was to come. Madison threw her arms in front of her and thrust him backward. He flew up into the shallow roof above them with a thunder that nearly made the entire hillside shake. Timbers of wood and stone began to crack all around them.

Jamison feared what she had done would bring down the entire cavern. As stable as it was, it wasn’t up to withstanding Madison’s fragile temper.

Madison walked forward through the rocks falling from the ceiling. She clutched Lyndon’s tunic from within the pile of rubble and lifted him with a single arm. Flinging him back the other way, he collided with the bodies at the other end of the room, sending them flying about as though they weighed nothing.

“They buried him alive. Somewhere just outside the outer rim of the village!” he yelled. “I don’t know where exactly. They have been doing so with all the vampyrs they could capture. No easy feat, so at least give them credit for that.”

Madison did
n’t find his sarcasm amusing. Ready to grab for him again, he made no intent to fight back. His desperation for being healed of his thirst was far greater than his current need to withstand Madison’s blows.

“Caspar is with the other vampyrs. That was why I came here. He sees that he cannot overcome all of you, especially now. So he is using them to his best advantage. I came here to warn you! They are coming this way.”

Madison stepped back and peered behind at Jamison.

“He is telling the truth,” said Jamison looking at her with certainty.

“How did Caspar manage to convince a bunch of rabid and starving vampyrs to combine forces and combat against us?” said Madison, still not thoroughly convinced.

“It’s not that difficult, really,” said Lyndon, his hand in front of his chest, urging for his ribs to heal as they snapped back together from Madison’s destructive anger. “Just point them in the direction of food. It is getting too dangerous for them to hunt near the village. The people here have become adept at protecting themselves. Caspar simply told them that there were unarmed people living in this cavern.”

Akecheta left instantly to peer outside the tunnel’s opening and extended his hearing as far as it could go. The others waited in silence to verify if this was so.

It didn’
t take long for him to hear the commotion. These newly created vampyrs were hardly subtle. Trees broke from their unwavering speed. The ground shivered as they drew closer.

Night had fallen. Their only advantage would be if they gained high ground
at the foundations of the fortress above them.

Akecheta quickly ran back into the cavern where the others waited.

“We must leave, now,” he said.

“How much time?” asked Jamison.

“A matter of moments, if that.”

Jamison stopped to stare at
Lyndon once again.

“I tried to tell you sooner. I did!” he shouted. “You were more intent upon ‘holding me accountable,’ as you say.”

“No, you were intent on getting your way!” Jamison screamed back with equal force. “How many are there?”

“A few dozen,” he said.

“Oh, is that all,” said Jamison, taking a turn to sarcasm. “Nayati, take Lyndon to the far corner of the fortress and make certain he cannot leave.”

“So I am to be your prisoner, is that it?” Lyndon’s voice dripped with contempt.

“You are to do what you are told if you want what you came for,” said Jamison. “Madison, go to the village as fast as you can. Take the back route we came from through the hills to avoid the vampyrs. Find Jayden and bring him back.”

Madison nodded and left before Jamison could continue with the others.

“Mahkah, Akecheta, I trust you are still as skilled as ever with your bows. How far are our weapons from here?”

“I set them on the fortress above. They are well hidden,” said Mahkah.

“Wonderful. Now, have either of you ever heard of the term “fire arrows?”

“Rather self-explanatory, Jamison,” said Mahkah.

He smiled.

They were
at the top of the fortress within seconds and preparing for as many intruders as they could.

“If worse comes to worse, attack them with your bare teeth,” he s
aid. “And I do mean literally.”

Chapter
7

Madison could hear rapid footsteps coming closer to the fortress before she had a chance to reach the village less than a mile away. The vampyrs were approaching effortlessly regardless of its staggering height. Perhaps mere motivation from their thirst, she assumed. She was no different on her first kill. She wondered for a moment if things would be different if she and Jamison could in fact help them. But with present circumstances, they were only a danger. Calming so many vampyrs at once to try and convince them that they could be saved was hardly an easy feat. And if more were being changed throughout the whole of Europe, she doubted that many could be saved in the manner in which Jamison wished.

She stopped just outside the village’s outer rim. There was a burial ground from their dead of plague, undoubtedly caused by Caspar having poisoned their waters.
A muffled sound came from beneath the dirt under her feet. Barely able to hear anything, she extended her length of hearing as far as she could. There were several vampyrs buried alive here. Although a few were so starved that they were growing weaker.

She couldn’
t reach Jayden or find out which burial plot was his without digging up a few bodies. The village was prepared only a matter of yards away with guards on every corner. She needed discretion to get to Jayden unnoticed. Moving quickly from one spot to another, she evaded their sight.

She was
surprised to see that they didn’t bury their dead of disease farther away from the living. But then again, the vampyrs probably fought them with viciousness beyond their force. They were buried quickly and guarded at all times.

She knelt down
to the ground and decided on a spot to begin digging.

Madison’s fingernails ripped along her skin. She hardly noticed the smell of blood coming from her thin fingers as she ravaged the ground with her hands. Her skin healed only quick enough to reopen again as she continued slicing away at the earth. Faint cries escaped from the cold, hard, and dampened soil. But to her ears, they were screams of agony.  They steadily grew louder as she
tore away more dirt and pieces of grime. She dared not cry back to Jayden. If anyone were to hear or see her, she would be forced to kill them.

She repeated this process four times before coming across the proper plot, stopping with only a few inches of dirt above each wooden coffin. She finally
found a coffin containing screams she recognized. She didn’t bother removing the few inches of dirt that remaining between her and the tightly sealed lid. She only wanted to silence Jayden’s yelling. With one thrust, her fist was through the wooden boards. She felt the impact wreck her knuckles under her skin. Giving them only a second or two to recover, she reached for the shattered timber and placed it quietly beside her. Jayden continued to yell. The pitch blackness between them made her invisible to him. She quickly muzzled him with her hand and removed what felt like chains from his throat with the other. She felt for them running along his chest and pulled upward. Jayden let out an ear piercing cry from under her.

“Stop! Stop
!” he yelled.

“Silence yourself,” she said. “They are listening for you.”

“Don’t pull the chains. They have nailed me down.”

“What?” she exclaimed louder than she meant to. She moved alongside allowing herself a better view although there was none to be gained.

“Where are the nails?” she whispered.

“My hands, my ankles, and my heart,” he said growling.

“Your heart?”

“Yes. When that did not kill me, they nailed me down.”

Madison grimaced in repulsion.

“My skin has healed around the wounds. You must pull hard,” he said.

“Then you must not be tempted to scream.” He didn’t need to see her clearly to know that she was looking right into his eyes. Her command implied that she would do worse than just muzzle him if he were to make a noise.

She ripped away more wood and knelt down, a knee to one side of him, the other extended for leverage. She found the nail in his heart. Not trusting his threshold for pa
in, she placed her other hand on his mouth again, using his jaw for leverage as well. Having him before her in such a state was something she wouldn’t soon allow him to forget.

He didn
’t yell and didn’t move, but gave a thunderous groan from behind his teeth.  Madison pulled the nail tight between her fingers and yanked it out as quickly as she could.  It was far too deep within his chest to pull out slow. She placed it beside him and trailed along the length of his arm to find the one within his hand. He only gave a slight groan this time, as it gave him relief to have it removed. She did the same on the other side then stood to rip away the remaining wood from the coffin above his legs. Jayden ground his teeth as she yanked away the nails, her hands searching for the lengthy metal just above the surface of his wounded skin. She turned and pulled away the chains from his chest.

“How did they even overcome you?”

“Better question,” he said as he stood up, speaking softer than he she had just before. “How did you come to find me?”

“Not without effort. There are plenty of others here. But it was Lyndon who told me where you were.”

He looked at her confused. “Lyndon has been chasing me for the past week with vigor comparable to yours,” he said as quietly as he was capable.

“Yes, I believe him and Caspar cornered you here to this small area of the world, did they not?”

“He set fire to nearly every lodging I took. He even tried to set a forest ablaze.”

“Yes, he learned that trick from Caspar,” she said.

“How did you get by them undetected?”

“I did not do so alone,” she said. “Come, the others need our help.”

“What others?”

She took his hand and led the way out of the burial ground. They moved hastily, but only in subtle movements
to avoid detection. Although, the noises coming from the fortress served as a descent distraction for the villagers who may have seen them otherwise.

“I’m tempted to go back there,” he said when the stopped just before they
reached the cavern. “I’m angry, and thirsty, and dirty,” he said while examining himself. “There is food to be had in that village.”

“You must urge away what cravings you have and expend any energy you may still possess. Now more than ever, Jayden,” she said.

“Why, what has happened? And what is the god awful screeching.”

A thud landed just before them, followed by two others after they stumbled and rolled down the grasses above causing a trail of flames in their wake. They stopped moving upon their
imminent collapse into the hard earth beneath the tall hillside. Fire consumed the bodies before them as they suddenly went silent.

“Are those-?” Jayden started.

“Yes.”

“Well, this is quite the spectacle.”

“You want to see a true display, follow me,” she said.

***

Mahkah took the last of the remaining arrows and what bit of fluid they had for the torches. Smothering the arrow and dagger tips within it, he lit each remaining arrow from his pack. He took aim and shot the arrow to the small figure climbing up the side of the jagged hill. Looking down at his work, he saw what was becoming of the forest. They had caught at least half of the vampyrs before they reached the top of the steep mound and shot them down. They tumbled down the length of it, leaving trails of flames behind them.

Madison and Jayden reached the height of the fortress, doing their best to avoid all vampyrs descending upon them in heaps of fire. Madison had no desire to feel flames encroaching
on her skin ever again.

Mahkah tossed her a dagger and sword as soon as he saw her. She passed the sword to Jayden.

“Stop them in any way you can,” said Mahkah.

“But they will heal from daggers and swords,” she said.

Jayden looked at Mahkah, confusion crossing his stern face. “I’m sorry, how is he here?”

“I said stop them, don’t try to kill them. Leave that to the fires. Just stop them!” Mahkah yelled.

Jayden took off then and there as he heard more coming up the hillside. He understood now that they were under attack.

“Jayden!” Madison yelled for him. “Not the Sioux, just the others!”

“The Sioux?”

Akecheta let out a fearsome whooping cry yards away as he leapt off the ledge of the structure. He landed atop a man
jumping for him from beneath and struck him down with the arrow in his hand, setting him afire.

Jayden looked down the side of the stone wall and saw Akecheta moving to the next attacker only seconds later. He was wrestling a young teenage girl snarling for his throat. Aiming true, Madison threw the dagger into
the girl’s back. Akecheta tossed her into the flames engulfing the trail others had left behind. They watched as she went down the hillside, her screech echoing everywhere.

Jayden stopped and looked at Madison. “That man is not from where I think he is, is he?” he asked.

Madison didn’t answer.

The last few remaining vampyrs were
relentless. They didn’t take time to worry about the fact they were burning alive, only continuing in their pursuit of blood.

Akecheta rushed forward and took on as many as he could. Madison and Jayden watched in stunned fascination as they went to help him. Fewer were reaching the top of the fortress due to Akecheta’s efforts. Jayden threw him the sword, and Akecheta caught it. A man lurched for him with sharpened teeth and dug into his throat, ripped away what he could. Not hesitating from the
pain, Akecheta sliced at the man upon him, cutting him into two from the torso. Taking an arrow from his belt, he lit it afire from the path of flames. He sent it deep inside the vampyr’s chest and thrust him backward. He fell down the edge along with the others. Madison could see faintly that it was an elderly man. Age had clearly not stopped his thriving thirst.

Waiting for the sound of others approaching, nothing reached their ears except the sound of fire overtaking the trees below them. Madison and Jayden took a pace back and jumped back up to the fortress for a better view, Akecheta following them with blood splintering down his neck as his wound healed.

“And why are you here?” said Jayden glaring at Mahkah once he reached the top behind them.

Madison took Jayden’s arm and urged him to look her way. Jamison slowly approached them. His arm had been burnt and scratches across his face were healing. He had taken all the vampyrs from the back of the fortress.

She felt the shock pulsing through Jayden only seconds later. Jayden would have thought Jamison a ghost passing through the mist of the darkness had he not taken his shoulder in his hand.

“Thank you, Jayden, for the care of my sister,” he said softly. “I could not have hoped for her to be placed in better hands during my absence.”

*
**

Madison had no need to explain everything to Jayden. He understood when Jamison appeared. She supposed things were much simpler between men. More people on his side meant more efforts for surviving. Therefore Jayden didn’t need a long description of what had happened to Jamison like she did. Although knowing what had happened to her brother was important to her, Jayden seemed thrilled at the mere prospect of having others for company.

A heavy
rain fell over the dreary landscape. The fires tampered down slowly as mist veiled the entire hillside from the extinguished flames. They retreated to the far end of the fortress to find Nayati standing there awaiting them in the downpour.

“Is it finished?” said Jamison.

“Not quite,” he replied. Nayati’s grin was nearly as confident as Jayden’s.

“You seem pleased,” said Madison to him.

“We have another visitor.” Nayati turned around and brought them to the outer corner of the fortress where he had kept Lyndon.

Caspar was pinned with arrows to the outer wall of the fortress, his feet dangling above the ground.

“Lyndon spotted him trying to bring a fresh crop of blood to his newly created vampyrs in the cavern below,” said Nayati. “Turns out, he had special plans for these ones. He wanted them to survive.”

Caspar sputtered and groaned in pain. The arrows went through both his hands, nailing him to the rock behind him.

Everyone stopped to stare at Lyndon.

“I told you I would have if I could,” said Lyndon. “Well, this time I could.”

“Yes, after you snatched my bow from hands,” argued Nayati.

“Forgive me, but for this one instant, my need was greater than yours.”

Nayati rolled his eyes and faced Jamison, not wishing to dredge on how it was accomplished.

“I think the vampyrs were a mere diversion so he could help the others recover,” said Nayati. “If he had succeeded, we may not have overcome them all.”

Caspar laughed. The prospect of them being able to overtake him was as amusing as it was shocking to him.