The Elder Origins (25 page)

             
Madison rushed back to the lodging her and Jayden had chosen, leaving Lyndon to rest during the day’s break. Jayden was aware of her entry before she reached the front door. She descended down the stairs to see Jayden in the same position she had left him in.

Not opening his eyes, he spoke.
“Anything of note?” he asked.

             
“Of note?” she said dryly. “Only if consider the fact that Caspar is alive as well, he started this plague whilst attempting to create more like us and poisoned all the waters he could find, and apparently we
do
have a weakness that could potentially destroy us, to be ‘of note,’ as you say, then yes,” she sat at the end of his bed. His eyes jerked open and yet he still didn’t move.

             
“You found him, I presume,” he said. His lack of enthusiasm for her discovery was somewhat aggravating.

             
“Yes, I found him.”

             
“And he was civil?”

             
“Almost pleasant,” she said. “This plague is our doing, Jayden. I mean, not precisely
our
doing. But our kind, this new form we have become. We brought this upon Europe.”

             
“By the sounds of it, Caspar did, not us,” he said. “In fact, I believe you could go back even further than that if you wish.”

             
“How so?”

             
“If you truly wish to lay blame to a specific party, then the Vam-pyr-ei-ak are truly at fault. They caused this whole thing with what they did to us. That is if what you say is true, and Caspar attempted to make more.”

             
Madison was silent. It wasn’t until she felt a panic rise through her at the realization that Jayden lifted himself to meet her. Her body shook and her mouth ran dry. She didn’t know she was still capable of such human attributes anymore.

             
Jayden took her shoulder and urged her to look directly at him, sensing her rising discomfort.

             
“Madison?” he said. He shook her gently. “What? What is it?”

             
“That’s it. That has to be it,” she said softly.
              “What else did he say, Madison?”

             
“It’s not what he said, it’s what
they
did. They meant for this to happen. Don’t you remember what the healer insinuated?”

             
Jayden searched his thoughts and came up with nothing. “He said a lot without ever opening his mouth, Madison. How am I to recall?”

             
“He assumed that the Vam-pyr-ei-ak thought that we were the impending coming of the white men to their lands. What if they knew that we were not of that coming?” She looked at him, allowing her emotions to penetrate his.

His grip on her shoulder grew tighter. He shook his head, not wanting to believe it once it struck him as well.

              “What if this was their defense against the coming of white men to their shores?” she said. “What if they turned us into these beasts on purpose? They wanted us to try to turn more, and in so doing, create the sickness. They wanted us to leave and come back to our lands, if only to destroy it.”

             
“And make an attack on the enemy before they become a true threat?” he said.

             
“Not only an attack. They wanted us all dead, the entirety of the eastern world. What if this sickness was their defense?”

             
“It doesn’t make sense,” said Jayden, taking his hand from her and to his side.

             
“Why not?”

             
“If they were so wise as to see what was coming, they would have known that I would take their lives in the process. They would not sacrifice their people to accomplish such goals,” he said assertively.

             
“I would not be so certain. Is it not a moral of many cultures to sacrifice a few in order to save many? These people saw themselves as warriors. Their leaders may have been willing to do so in order to insure that their kind was protected.”

             
“And their warriors would just sacrifice themselves?” he said surly.

             
“No, their leaders would just do it without telling them. Why would they have to know?”

             
Jayden shook his head in disbelief. “They were all of different tribes. And none of them appeared to like the other. They would not take such measures to protect those they did not see as neighbors,” he said. “Do you think that England and France would ever join forces in order to defeat a common enemy? No, they would argue over which course of action to take and eventually be overpowered.”

             
“Thus one country would inevitably take the reins and make the decisions for our own good. How is the warring between our countries any different from those between the native tribes?”

             
“And the Vam-pyr-ei-ak was that superior country of men? Taking the situation into their own hands?” he seemed to be coming around to the idea. “It’s not impossible I suppose.”

             
“I am to meet Lyndon again tomorrow,” she said.

             
“What did he say of the ‘poesy’ then?” asked Jayden.

             
Madison told him of everything that had passed between her and Lyndon. Jayden grew angrier as she spoke. He jolted up and paced the small cellar room.

             
“This was not how it was meant to be,” he said.

Ma
dison couldn’t think of what to say to try to comfort him as he walked back and forth.

“I brought y
ou back here to make a new life,” he continued. “I wanted this to be our home again. And now this,” he said.

             
“Lyndon is trying to fix it.”

             
“Yes, so you said. It’s only a matter of time before it reaches to far eastern lands.”

             
“According to Lyndon, that was where it started,” she said. Jayden turned and look at her curiously. “Apparently, Caspar’s tried and failed attempts began in the east and travelled westward. The whole of Europe and even farther is now infected.”

             
Jayden went silent, lost in his anger. It took a great deal to surmount such rage in him now. His emotions were becoming less controlled than they had been in months right before her eyes.

             
“I’m going after him,” he said suddenly. He knelt down to strap on his leather boots and reach for his cloak.

             
“Lyndon is trying to stop it, Jayden. There is no point-,” she started.

             
“Not him, Caspar. He will suffer for this. And now that we may have a potential way to kill him, it should not be too difficult.”

             
“And how are you going to track him?” she asked.

             
“Simple. Follow the trail of dead,” he said.

             
“Which are everywhere,” her sarcastic tone stopping him.

             
“Our senses are heightened. And I was chosen for our journey across the seas for my ability to track animals and hunt them down. Do you think me any less capable than I was before?”

             
Madison didn’t answer. She only stepped forward.

             
“I brought you this far, mistress. I tracked Lyndon across the channel. I will find Caspar, and I will kill him.”

             
She knew better than to argue with him on this matter. He seemed resolute in his decision already.

             
“How are we to determine whether or not he is simply suffering from the same thirst as we once did, Jayden?” she asked carefully.

             
“We were wise enough in our thirst to not attempt to spread our likeness to others. Such fools must be dealt with in a swift manner.”

             
Madison wasn’t sure how to respond. She wanted Jayden to stay nearby. He sensed her resolve to allow him to go, but her hesitation was apparent. She felt his hand graze her chin and she lifted her eyes to his.

             
“You know me capable, mistress,” he said softly. “I will find you again, just as I did before when you ran from the Vam-pyr-ei-ak. I will find you. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can decide how to make a new life.”

             
Madison was uncertain of how to be alone for so long. Jayden had been her sole companion for months. And before that, there had always been Jamison. It was rare for Jayden to show his compassion for her. And when he did show, it was fleeting. He bent forward and grazed her forehead with his lips, sealing his word to her.

             
He was gone before she raised her eyes open, only the breeze he created marking where he had been.

21

             
Madison sat quietly by the ruins of the old world as the sun rose. She searched for Lyndon again, expecting him to be resting. It was not until the city itself began to stir and people walked about the streets that she sensed that he had awoken. His morning feed was as obvious as all his others. She traced him and crept up behind him.

             
“Must you do that?” he said. “Or can a man eat in privacy?”

             
“Jayden left early this morning,” she said.

             
“Without a proper greeting? Yes, that sounds like Jayden,” he said tossing the body of a young man to the ground.

             
“He went to search for your other half,” she said. Lyndon took his sleeve and wiped the blood from his mouth staining the new white fabric on his arm.

             
“Best of luck to him,” he said.

             
“You know if anyone can track him, it would be Jayden.”

             
“Perhaps, but he does not consider containment as a necessity, does he? And to think that I was considering asking the two of you for assistance,” he said. “I mean, since you already offered.” He began walking away.

Madison followed as she assumed he meant for her to. “Alright, Sir Cryptic, assistance with what? Spreading your rayen?”

              “I said that I started to spread it. Not that I had been successful in all regions. There are many still untouched by sickness that should remain so.”

             
“Meaning that Caspar has not yet reached them,” she said. “Jayden will hopefully find him before then.”

             
“Are you truly willing to risk more lives on a game of chance?”

             
“Fine then, where have you not yet travelled?” she spatted, grabbing his arm. She looked directly at Lyndon when she spoke to him.

             
“I’m certain that there were several that I missed on my initial journey back from wherest it started in the East. I tried to be as thorough as I could. But you never truly know how many smaller villages there are in a given area, especially without knowing the languages.”

             
“You cannot recall where they were or the region perhaps?”

             
“I remember one in particular. But I was warned by another English traveler not to visit there. Their dead were so insurmountable that I could not be of any use if I were to enter,” said Lyndon. He loosened her grip from him and trudged forward. Like Jayden he seemed to be a man with a purpose when he walked.

             
“And what was its name? Can’t you recall?”

             
“Strasbourg.”

             
“Where is that?” she asked.

             
“In the Rhineland. But if you think Jayden capable of killing Caspar, then perhaps it may be best to allow this plague to run its course. It kills quickly and within perhaps another year…”

             
“We cannot afford another year of this, Lyndon. Nor can these people.”

             
“I’m sure the church will comfort them in any way they can, Madison.”

             
“Because they have been so successful in doing so thus far,” she said, her voice soaked with distain. The memory of the priest she saw in London had not abandoned her. “Do you know I heard a priest in my travels here to find you?” she continued. “He spoke to a crowd of people who asked why their children were dying. Upon hearing that this plague came from God’s wrath, they desired to know what their innocent children had done to deserve such a fate. The priest claimed that their children were dying for their parent’s sins.”

             
The air between them was silent and Lyndon stopped walking. She seemed to strike him for a brief moment. She thought he might grab her, or yell at her. She and Jayden had come to violence whenever they disagreed. She didn’t know what kind of anger to expect from a man who had not been healed of giving into his urges as she had.

             
Lyndon reached into the pocket of his tunic and held a small cloth closed at the top with a ribbon in his hands.

             
“The rayen is inside this. Only a small pinch and you can cleanse any water within a well, or a stream, what have you. But forgive me if I do not join you. I have seen enough of this suffering for one life time. My part in all of this is done.”

             
“What? Since last night you decided this?” she said angrily. Her voice was rising as he continued to dissuade her. His entire attitude toward her seemed to have changed overnight. “I thought you said that you wanted my assistance? When in fact you desire that I do it for you,” she said accusingly.

             
“I have seen enough death, Madison. I wish to take what I need and not witness more of what Caspar caused.”

             
“I simply want to know where you were and any other villages you may have missed,” she said sincerely. “If it is true, that Caspar started this, then it is in our best interest to see to it that it does not spread further.”

             
“I’m merely tired, Madison. I need to be away from this. I travelled north to cleanse as much as I could, and now south to be rid of the sight of it. The southern regions have already seen the worst of it and perhaps I can find some peace there. I have done all that I can,” he said gravely.

             
“Then allow me to finish it. Perhaps I can stop it from resurfacing in regions that may be recovering from it,” she said.

Lyndon stopped for a moment. She thought he might be lis
tening for anyone who might over hear their conversation. But he appeared more nervous or guilt stricken than anything else.

             
“You did all that you could,” she continued, trying to be understanding of his resolve. “Let me handle what little remains.”

             
“Perhaps you can find Caspar as well.”

             
“I will leave that business to Jayden,” she said. “He can enjoy taking revenge upon him for causing him the inconvenience of this plague.”

             
A silence fell between them. Lyndon seemed to be deciding whether or not to tell her something.

             
“There is a man that you should find,” he said suddenly.

             
“Who is that?” Madison asked.

An elderly woman came out from her small and frail house. With a bucket of waste from the day’s household, she drenched the street below.
She peered at Lyndon and Madison, then wandered back inside and shut her doors with a loud crash.

             
Lyndon pulled Madison aside and down a side street. She followed him determined to hear what he had to say.

             
“For a brief time, I lodged with a man and his family. I told him of the cure I had found in the rayen, but never revealed its source. I cured his daughter of the sickness. He then wanted the rayen for himself. He claimed he would spread it to the regions I had not crossed.”

             
“Why did you not tell me? Then there is no reason for me to go if he has already reached them,” she said.

             
“I would want you to go for the mere satisfaction of knowing that he reached the city he was headed for safely. You would be doing me a great service. And who is to say that he was successful. If anything, that would be a verification that we do not need to spread the rayen further than I already have in the Germanic lands.”

             
Madison nodded in understanding.

             
“His name was Ascot. I want you to find him. And if you can, find his family. I only wish to know if they are well and if he succeeded in spreading the rayen,” he said. “I will draw you a map as best as I can so that you may find their lodging.”

             
Lyndon smiled and took Madison by the shoulder. He looked at her with a slight hint of contentment. But Madison sensed something else when he touched her. His emotions were as clear to her as Jayden’s could be when he willed it. There was fulfillment. He was relieved.

I
f she had bothered to delve deeper into the essence radiating from him, she would have quickly realized that this was a reason to be nervous.