A Shade of Vampire 81 A Bringer of Night - Bella Forrest Page 0,9
with wonder. “I… I don’t know. It seems like a mixed settlement of sorts, mostly made out of steel stone… but I’ve never seen it before. It’s hundreds of miles away from any main road or village, smack in the middle of this wilderness. I confess, I find it extremely strange.”
Could I believe him? Or had he led us here on purpose? My ears twitched as I tried to listen to his heartbeat. It seldom lied.
“You’re telling me it wasn’t here five thousand years ago?” I replied.
He shook his head. “No. It shouldn’t even be here now. This area is rife with sabre tigers and red-tailed vipers. The snakes’ venom is enough to kill an adult Rimian or Nalorean. It’ll temporarily cripple an Aeternae. I don’t know why these people have chosen to live in such a dangerous place.”
Taking a deep breath, I looked at the village again. It seemed quiet. No one even noticed us up the road. I heard people talking. Some laughing. The neighing of Vision horses. The scuffling of various domesticated animals. The clucking of chicken-like birds from multiple yards. There was nothing off about this place, except for its mere existence.
“Why don’t we check it out?” I asked. “They’ve got a watchtower. And houses and animals. Children. Clearly, they’ve made it work here.”
Kalon frowned and took out one of his maps, checking it carefully. “It’s not marked anywhere. This map was drawn two thousand years ago, and it’s not here. This entire clearing isn’t on the map, let alone the village.”
“So, they must’ve come here sometime after the map was drawn. Right?” I replied.
He shrugged. “Maybe. I doubt any of the official mapmakers have been this deep in the woods. Ever.”
“That means this village could’ve been here for longer, since the mapmakers wouldn’t have come this far to see it for themselves,” I said.
“And no one’s even heard of it,” Kalon murmured, increasingly intrigued. “Yes, Esme, you’re right. Let’s see what this whole place is about.”
He seemed as curious as I felt, and that gave me strange comfort. Everything Kalon did and said had an amplified effect on my senses as I tried to figure him out—all of him, including the parts he’d been hiding from me. We nudged our horses on and made our way toward the village.
“Whatever happens, you must remain calm,” I advised, tapping into my cultural studies and anthropological experiences.
“Is there something you know and I don’t?” he replied.
“No. It’s just that these people are clearly living in isolation. We don’t know what they’ll make of strangers. No one moves here because they enjoy visitors.”
“Right.”
I agreed with this initial assessment, but I was also worried. What exactly were we walking into?
Esme
As soon as we reached the edge of the clearing, voices rang through the sky.
“Strangers!” they shouted. “Strangers are coming!”
A bell rang—an old thing, made of iron and hung somewhere high inside that tower, just beneath the fire. I could see parts of it dangling as it howled through the carved windows. Aeternae men rushed down the spiral steps, nervously looking our way.
The children I’d noticed laughing earlier were now still, motionless as they eyed us. Their expressions spoke of fear and uneasiness. Their mothers called out to them, urgently motioning for them to get back inside.
“Come, Alisia,” one of the Rimian women said. “Now!”
“Fender, get away from there,” a young Nalorean mother barked.
The children did as they were told, albeit reluctantly. They cleared the main path into the village, hiding behind their parents. There were hundreds of Aeternae, Rimians, and Naloreans living here. Families with children and households, crops, and homesteads. The settlement was pretty big and well developed, considering its location.
Two Aeternae headed toward us. I’d seen them earlier as they’d come down from the tower. They were young, and they carried bows and arrows on their backs. Reliance on weaponry was not a key characteristic of their species, so I couldn’t help but wonder why they needed them.
“Hold still,” Kalon said, holding Lightning back.
“You should speak to them first. I’m not a local,” I replied. Midnight followed the Vision steed’s lead, and I stroked her muscular neck. “Good girl,” I whispered, watching as the Aeternae men reached us, their brows furrowed.
“We mean no harm,” Kalon announced, raising his voice. It brought back memories of our brief village visits just before we captured Ansel.
“Who are you?” one of the Aeternae asked, his tone clipped and his frame noticeably stiff. “What are you doing here?”