Seta's Fall

Chapter 7

Rialto's sweet cherubic face filled Seta's mind as she lie sleeping. She didn't know if it were a dream or a desperate wish she clung to as her body refused to allow her to wake before the sun fell away but she woke smiling ... until she saw the large man standing above her with a spear in his hand.

Seta quickly rose to her feet, using her vampire speed, and drew back her hand, flame already forming in her palm.

The man's eyes widened but he quickly recovered.

"You are fast," Atsidi said. "So am I. Put your fire away and my spear will taste no blood. I did not come for a battle."

"Why are you here?"

He turned away, pulling back the door covering. "She is awake. Come forward."

The green fireball in Seta's palm fizzled out as a small shirtless man entered the hogan and faced her. He attempted to stand straight, head held high with pride and courage, but his eyes betrayed him. They radiated fear.

"Kneel," Atsidi ordered.

The smaller man turned his back to her and kneeled on the ground. She heard him gulp as he tilted his head to the side and pulled the braided hair away, revealing his neck to her in offering.

"Hastiin Sani has sent you blood," Atsidi advised, positioning himself before the man, spear raised. "He has offered a meal, not a life."

Understanding the intended threat, Seta stepped forward and rested her hand on the young man's shoulder. His jaw clenched as he struggled to be brave. Seta looked up and saw disgust in Atsidi's eyes as he glared down at the man. Obviously, Atsidi was impressed by strength and abhorred cowardice.

"Who chose the offering?"

Atsidi removed his gaze from the man to meet hers. "I did. Is he not worthy?"

Oh, he would love for her to say that and love even more to ridicule the young man. Never removing her gaze from Atsidi's, Seta squeezed the young man's shoulder, infusing him with a small bit of her power, just a little something to take the edge off of his fear and felt him calm beneath her hand. "I was just wondering. I am a powerful predator, the type of creature one does not often come across. Judging by your size I assumed you would have been my offering, but I understand, fear comes in all sizes."

Atsidi's nostrils flared as he tightened his grip on the spear. "I fear no beast, man, or woman. I choose the offering and I protect the offering." His thunderous tone softened as the corners of his mouth turned up slightly under what one would consider a grin. "I am the watcher. I am the one who keeps you in my sight and rams a spear through your throat if you take too much. As you see with your own eyes, I do not tremble. I will not hesitate. I will not miss."

She looked into his dark eyes and saw his words were true. The man beneath her had grown completely calm under her influence. Now she was the one ill at ease. Atsidi intended to watch her feed as if she were some freakish monster on display. The hunger inside her warred with her shame.

"Now who is the one in fear?"

Casting a glare at the large man goading her, Seta forced herself to push all insecurities and shameful feelings out of her mind and lowered her mouth to the smaller man's neck. She lived therefore she needed to feed, just as the rest of the people in the world. She did not ask to be a bloodsucking fiend and she would not apologize for it, not even if these people thought she deserved to be fed under armed guard.

Her fangs descended and penetrated the man's heavily sunned skin, allowing her to drink his life-fueling blood. His blood was very thick and powerful, heavy with iron. As his blood filled her stomach, images from his life filled her mind. She saw him playing as a child one day, watching his father die at the hands of white men the next. He lost his childhood innocence quickly and what he'd seen that day scarred him. The others alternated between taunting him for his weakness and trying to build strength in him. These people were proud warriors and did not understand his meek personality. Atsidi took special interest in him, training him to fight, but the boy never did become a great warrior. They relegated him to tending to the sheep.