Before I can walk farther Togin dismounts and uses his speed to lay a hand on my shoulder before I can reach them, "Wait, Lieutenant Karri. We need to figure out what is going on first."
I raise my eyebrows as I deliberately take a look around the village to linger on the wary and extremely hungry adults and children, the multiple empty houses, and the pit filled with burning bodies we already passed just on the inside of the once whole gate. I find myself tensing with having to hold myself back, "I may not know what exactly is going on, Commander Togin, but I do know that there are many people here who need help. I intend to look for them and heal them."
He sighs and drops his hand from my shoulder, "Very well, but let us wait for a person to lead us." He waves an older child closer to us. The boy he waves over is the only one not looking at us with wary distrust. The look in his pale brown eyes is expectant. As he walks towards us it is obvious to tell that he is more well fed than most of the other villagers around here in the open. Togin continues without pause at the oddities, "What is your name, lad?"
The strange boy smiles and dips a bow with his upper torso, "My name's Themis. You want to see the sick and badly injured first, right?"
Togin raises one eyebrow but nods, "Tallic, come with me. Markus, you will help Karri however she sees fit." Markus quickly dismounts but just as he is about to reach us Togin smiles a little, "I would start by grabbing that smaller plain bag attached to Dancing Shadow's saddle."
Markus sighs a little but goes to grab the bag while giving Dancing a wary look. My black stallion just eyes him but does nothing towards the shadow Keeper. As soon as Markus has my bag in a firm grasp he moves quickly from Dancing and joins us, he can't get away fast enough from my stallion. Togin and I just barely manage to stop ourselves from laughing. As soon as he joins us the boy, Themis, leads us away from where all the warriors have gathered. As he moves us towards a large building just off of the center of the village the people of this village part for us with just one look at Themis. My lips purse as I look at this boy. He can be no more than twelve or thirteen but it appears that he holds tremendous sway towards these people.
I have no more time to think on it though when he opens the doors to the large building. Ice fills my veins as I see the extent of the suffering for my eyes. The smell of tainted blood is more obvious now as sick people cough up blood next to people injured so badly they cannot move. I can feel the boy's eyes on me as I take my initial stock of all the people in need. I force myself to remain calm though. I ignore the smell of the tainted blood as I slowly make way towards an older human woman who is hunched over a patient teetering towards dying.
I tap her shoulders lightly. She whirls around with a scowl on her face but right as she sees me the scowl drops. The next second she looks up and down my person, her eyes landing on the crest sewn onto my clothes. Her eyes shutter to nothingness but as I hear movement behind me her eyes flick there then back to me showing just a hint of curiosity now.
Themis takes position right next me on my left and Togin takes the same position on my right. It is Themis who speaks quietly to her with a smile on his face, "Hello, Miss Hammon, this Light Warrior is here to help heal us." She sighs, the weariness seeming to dig even deeper trenches in her body. "I can observe her while you take the Commander of Kinza to see Headman Colm."
She says not a word as she drops the cloth she was using to wipe down the bandaged man behind her in a basin. Her voice sounds just as weary and worn out as she looks when she looks up to Togin, "Come. Headman Colm is this way, Commander." Togin and Tallic follow her, their footsteps fading farther into the building as I look down at the bandaged man in front of me.
I remember what Harisa taught me about healing. She told me that every second counted in a healing but she also taught me that spreading my power out and letting the person's body help in the healing can make it so that I can save more lives when it comes to widespread disease or injury. I close my eyes as I breathe in deeply to brace myself and protect my soul from the suffering. As I exhale I plunge into the energy world and open my eyes. Past this man I can see the life energy in many individuals as I wait.
Hardening my heart, I turn to Markus. "Bag." He holds the bag out to me and I take it; immediately I start to dig through it until I find the three packets I am looking for. Plucking them out of the bag I hand just the packets to him, "Find somebody and dump these packets into a cauldron of heated water. If anybody asks they are ginger, chamomile, and elder flower."
Markus nods and goes on his way, taking the strange boy with him for the time being. As Themis is about to walk out the door I cannot help but to look at his energy. His life energy almost thrums and appears more silver than gold. I tuck that away to ponder over later as I go back to looking in my bag. Finding two more packets and a jar I hold them in my hand as I place my bag on the ground next to the bandaged man. Next, I locate a mortar and pestle and get to work grinding the wormwood and calendula. Once I am happy with their texture I mix them with the honey and hot water to make a syrupy poultice.
I make my way back to the bandaged man with the mixture in my hands. I breathe in deeply then bend down to his ear, "Hello, Mister. I know you are resting but I am going to try to help you." Now I carefully remove the bindings from his injuries and hiss quietly as two long and deep wounds are bared open to me. Both of these are red and swollen but the wound that runs from his thigh to mid-calf has started to yellow and leak pus. A clean bucket filled with steaming water is nudged towards my face; without thinking I dip my hands in there to wash them then I shake my hands out until they no longer drip. After that vinegar is put into my hands. I give a small smile to whoever is helping me and am surprised to see Themis.
His strangely light eyes watch me as he whispers, "Your guy is helping to pass out the tea you made."
I nod then use the vinegar to wash out the infected wound, the guy groans loudly in his sleep. I murmur comfortingly to him as I continue to clean the wound until there is no more pus left visible in it. After that I grab bandages from a nearby end table and fold them into a pad. I take a brush given to me by Themis and use it to apply the poultice I made onto the pad. The man does not move as I apply the pad onto his lower wound. He does not even stir as I wrap a new bandage around the pad tightly to keep the poultice on.
"I am sorry for what I am going to do next but I need to stop any infection from spreading." I wipe his chest wound with the pre-mixed vinegar solution, he groans every time a slow careful stroke pulls at his wound, pulling him into hovering on the edge of consciousness. Once he is cleaned to my satisfaction I spread more poultice on a new pad and gently press it to his chest wound. His only response now is to twitch his fingers. After I am done I send just a tiny bit of my power into him, just enough to encourage his body to kick start the healing process again.
I shut my link off to him once his body does just that, encouraged by my portion of life energy and the extra power imbued in my poultice to fight to live once more. I take just a second to whisper encouragement into his ear then I move onto the man next to him. He is also badly injured with the claw marks across his chest and arms discharging foul smelling pus. He is also sick. My mouth settles in a grim line as I start his healing by offering a tiny bit of my power to him just to keep him alive and asleep long enough for me to give him a chance.
I know not how long I work on him or the next or the next one. I do not know how many humans I worked on either as I refused to count how many sick and injured they had. All I did was connect, heal, then disconnect from the prone men and women in this communal building that was probably used for enjoyment before they had to use it to contain all the suffering in one place. As I disconnect from the sick woman in front of me, thankfully no injuries this time, my mind fumbles to center itself. I also feel empty as I close myself off completely from the energy world. I use my sleeve to wipe the sweat from my brow but grimace as I feel the sleeve wet. Looking down at my black sleeve it takes me a moment to realize that it has blood and who knows what else on it. I try to turn from the woman but my body sways. I grimace as my legs collapse from under me. Miss Hammon catches me though with Themis just watching me nearby with an awed look on his face.
Miss Hammon's voice trembles with an emotion I cannot identify, "Are you alright, Revered Miss?"
I sigh but smile a little, "Yes. I will be just fine. I only need to rest for a little." Her lips purse but she nods a little. "I can stay and watch over your sick," I cannot just leave the ones I helped. I need to make sure they live through the night.
Instead of answering, she looks back at Themis as she guides me into a chair placed up against the wall. I sink into it gratefully. She curtsies a little, "Before you decide to do that I will get Headman Colm for you to talk with."
As she walks away my inner monster stirs as my hearing centers on her strong beating heart. Immediately I scold myself as it takes me a second to pull back from it's influence. My eyes open as shuffling to my right draws my attention. It is Themis. He smiles largely at me, showing off his perfectly normal flat and rounded teeth, common to non-major predator species.
"Do you have anything to do with the new name people are referring to me?" My head lulls to the side a little as I watch him.
He clasps his hands behind his back, "Yes." At my questioning look his smile widens, "I told them that you were the one I Saw."
I start as I realize why these people gave him a berth and why his eyes appear pale even though they are brown. He is a Dreamer. He is one of the few who can see the future with his Sight. I look at him more intensely now, "Can you tell me what you Saw?"
"You are the one bathed in light with a train of blood." I stiffen but before I can ask more two sets of footsteps are heard coming back. He leans closer to me and drops his voice to a whisper, "If you want to know more come meet me by the apple grove." He then lessens his smile and drops his hands from behind his back.
When I look in the direction of the footsteps I see Miss Hammon with an older man whose hair has just started to gray from it's oak brown shade. He bows to me, "Revered Miss, I am Headman Colm. Lord Commander Togin informed me of ya special condition and needs. I expect ya'll need to feed after all ya've done for us."
"I could not-" I find the rest of my sentence interrupted by Headman Colm, but I feel my hesitance has raised Themis' suspicions who tilts his head.
"Please. Let us feed you. It's the least we can do for all the lives ya've saved today."
My whole body stiffens as a voice echoes in my head, 'Just accept it. You would not want to be rude now, would you?' Hana's voice is... undesirable and hearing it in my head causes my anger to bloom.
I try to make my smile welcoming by softening the muscles around my face but I can do nothing for my closed fists, "Very well. I reserve the right to refuse the donor if they are not healthy enough." Headman Colm bows to my stipulation then nods at Mistress Hammon.
As she leaves Themis pulls up a chair for the elder man. The headman slowly sits in the provided chair, groaning as some of his bones grind against each other at his knees. My fingers twitch with the need to ease his pain but with how my inner monster is fighting against its chains even healing a simple cold could be detrimental to the health of everybody else. I sigh as I force myself to relax against the back of the chair.
Headman Colm's voice is welcoming every time he speaks, "Do you want to hear a story, Revered Miss?"
My eyes snap open as I am startled by the suddenness of his question. I think it over for all of a second before nodding.
He hums thoughtfully then leans back in his own seat, "I will tell you the story of why our village looks kindly on vampires."
The elderly man's voice changes as he settles into the beginning of his story and I find myself smiling without knowing as he adopts that tone all storytellers have, "Long ago, long before the creation of the Blessed families, there was Hania. She came to our village with three other vampire women attending her as she was taking a break from her Master."
Now, his volume lowers as his form hunches, as if suffering is weighing down his shoulders, "When she came upon our village though we'd been suffering. Our land had long stopped producing food and we were slowly starving as we tried to hang on we were also having a hard time bearing young."
He suddenly sits up and his whole countenance brightens, "She came through and brought fertility back to us. She made the earth bear fruit and our women bear healthy children. Cause of her we survived our plight long ago and we have long revered her and her children."
I smile at the tale. Many have stories where Hania went around Lasinia and helped others, healing as she went. It was because of her that vampires gained acceptance by other species. Without her interference vampires would not be the species we are now. We may not even be alive now.
Headman Colm looks over at Themis but his wizened eyes show nothing as he looks at the equally wise Dreamer. I watch them for a few moments but nothing more is said and we sit in silence until two more set of steps head towards us once again. This time Mistress Hammon is approaching us with a young girl around pubescence. Her pounding heartbeat has my mouth watering and my fangs descending as the hunger roars into existence. Looking at this innocent girl has my resentment coming into life too. Thankfully, blocking myself from the energy world makes it so that Hana does not have privy to my personal feelings.
She blushes as she looks at me in awe, "Hello, Revered Miss. I am Kathrynn and I'm honored to fulfill your hunger."
The brunette smiles at me shyly as I motion for her to move closer to me. She stops just in front of my chair and worries her fingers as she stands there, obviously unsure with what to do now. I smile at her kindly and she relaxes her hands, stilling in front of her. Just that one act of relaxation has the self-resentment waning a little.
"Can I see your hand?" Kathrynn almost shoves her hand into my face as she does not even try to hide her curiosity. I grasp her hand lightly in mine as I watch her face closely, "I am just going to check your body first to see if you are in good health before I accept your offering." Her mouth opens slightly before her lips pursed close tightly. I pay that action no mind as I already delve into the energy world. The moment I view her with my changed sight I see the life flowing through her. Not even a touch of illness runs through her and she glows brightly showing that she is not suffering badly from lack of food. I close my bond to the energy world and smile at her again. "I accept your offering, Kathrynn."
She smiles now, her whole face lighting up with the giddiness she exudes. I try to share in her excitement but I am sure my smile shows the fact that I am not very excited about this. I smooth out my expression as I draw her wrist up to my lips. Her thrumming, beating heart pulls at my inner monster, demanding I drink from her right this instant until there is nothing left. I grit my teeth as I push against the demand.
The moment the beast relents I pierce her flesh with my fangs. Vaguely I hear her gasp in pain as I bite deeper into her flesh, most definitely leaving bite marks from my blunt teeth, and use my tongue to stimulate the area. As her blood collects in my mouth I register the sweet taste to it. Sweeter than any other blood I have had in awhile. I take only a handful of swallows before I pull my fangs from her flesh. I lick her wrist clean of blood and flinch slightly as I look on at the swollen and irritated, but healing, skin. As I manage to look back into her still honey eyes she smiles at me. Not as exuberant this time but she still manages a blush after just a second of looking into my eyes. Mistress Hammon and Kathrynn look at Headman Colm now while Themis keeps his eyes on me.
I keep my gaze from Themis as I too look at Headman Colm. The elder man smiles slightly before he starts to speak, "Revered Miss, we would like you to rest now. We have a room already prepared for you."
Thankfully, with my mental block back in place I can barely feel even a whisper that would show Hana is spying on my situation through me. I debate for all of a moment before relaxing my muscles, "Very well." The humans all smile now and Kathrynn even moves from my body and space. This time when I attempt to stand I feel stronger. My muscles barely twinge when I just stand from my chair, waiting to see if they will fail me once again. Sighing silently I am grateful that all it took for my strength to return was just a little bit of blood.
At my stronger gait Kathrynn leads us from the room and out the building in a quicker pace. The normal walking pace instead of crawling pace helps to relax my tense muscles. Placing a hand and pressing on a point between my spine and shoulder blades, I press down as I roll my head back and forth. I groan in satisfaction as I hear popping from the achy joints. Suddenly Kathrynn coughs delicately and wrings her hands again. My hand drops as I wait for her to speak, "Would you..." she hesitates a moment more, "change me?"
I would swear my heart stopped at her not so innocent question, "No." I do not even consider changing her, not for a second.
Her face turns petulant now, "Why not? I would still be like a human. Just need more blood. And, I guess, less sunlight too. Would I still get sick?"
"Vampires do not get human diseases. Half bloods will sometimes get flus but that is about it." I try to ignore her first question. Maybe if I just answer her second question and other questions like this she will forget to ask me to change her again.
My hope plummets with the next words out of her mouth, "Can ya change me please, Revered Miss?" She looks down then smiles shyly up at me, "Yu're the only one I want to change me."
"I cannot." My muscles tense with the urge to run from her. At my growing panic I can feel Hana's presence grow as my mental block starts to weaken.
"Yes ya can. Yu're just like Hania and she turned 100 people to vampires." Awe lights her eyes in the darkness of the night.
But, I feel sick to my stomach, "I cannot, Kathrynn. It is forbidden in my family to turn another without the permission of the Head."
Now the pubescent girl frowns as her hands tighten into fists, "Yu're just saying that!" Her frustration leaks into her voice. Then, in normal pubescent fashion she spits out her next sentence, "Ya aren't even that different from us humans!"
I stop, my hand shooting out to grab her shoulder and spin her to face me. My face feels like stone as I look into her eyes, "We are very different from humans. A newly changed vampire has a hard time controlling the monster inside. If they do not keep it in control though it will always want more. It will want more blood, more pain, and more death. It is rarely giving and it will take any chance it can to take over and once it does it rarely gives control back to the vampire. Even if it does give control back you have to fight with it constantly and wrest the control from it. Only by giving it a steady supply of blood will it give you eternal youth, greater speed, greater power, and greater healing. In return for these gifts all young vampires have a sensitivity to light, the newly turned has had sensitivity been so great that they cannot be out when the sun is. The only exception to the light sensitivity is one, and that is me."
This time Kathrynn is silent after I am done speaking. Her eyes move from mine to the ground as her lips turn down and her slim eyebrows draw down. She does not say another word the whole way to the house she is leading me too. Unlike many of the houses in this village the house she has led me to is built mostly from stone with only the roof, windows, and attic made from wood. It has also escaped most of the damage of battle and fire seen on other houses.
We are feet from the house when I manage to ask what has been bothering me in my free time between healings, "What has happened here?"
Her face drops completely as she almost tucks her chin to her chest, "Many battles at first. Then a man came in to talk to Headman Colm. It was private so I don't know what it was 'bout but whatever it was made Headman Colm really really angry. The whole town heard him yelling at the stranger saying that he'd never betray the rulings of the Land. The man left really angry too but he said he'd get our help and allegiance one way or another. But then after the fifth battle sickness started spreading. Really really quickly and they never came back after many of us were sick."
I nod slowly after she stops talking. At her curious look I explain why I nodded, "Diseases are uncaring with who they attack they just will infect any they can, even if the disease is brought on by magic. That is why most people who lead will choose to avoid fighting infected people. It is too easy for their own armies or warriors to get sick themselves."
Kathrynn nods, her face even sadder than before. She struggles for a moment before sharing what is bothering her, "Both of my parents are in that room and an elder brother died in battle." Her grief is a physical thing weighing down on her.
I place a hand on her shoulder. Her shining honey brown eyes look to mine and her lip trembles to see compassion looking back at her instead of pity. I still remember how it felt when my mother died. It had felt like the ground had been ripped out from under me. Losing a close family member is painful no matter who they are to you and, at first, it feels unbearable.
I squeeze her shoulder as a tear slips from her eyes, "It gets better. The pain will lessen so it does not feel so overwhelming anymore." I share with her a small smile, "Until then I will do what I can to get your parents better."
She almost looks like she wants to hug me, the relief is so palpable, she refrains though and steps away to open the door to the house, "Thank ya, so much, Revered Miss." She curtsies deeply. She has a trembling smile as she stands normally and looks at me, "Yu're room is on the second floor to the left of the stairs."
I nod then pat her head before walking inside. I follow her directions and upon walking to the left of the stairs I notice only one door left open in this direction. I feel weary as I walk into that room but stop short just inside the doorway as I see Hana sitting on a bed on the right side of the room.
She sits up the moment my body stops moving and looks down her pert nose at me, "How is it you can share more empathy to a stranger that only offered you food than to your family that has been around you since you were an infant?"
My teeth grind together as I fight back the urge to physically fight her. My voice is as tense as my body when I can respond, minutes later, to her, "I can share more empathy when that stranger has more in common with me than a pampered family member."
Hana scoffs and rolls her eyes, they appear darker than normal, but rather than responding she just lays back down on the bed and quickly pulls the covers over her head. I turn my back to her hiding form, just barely stopping myself from rolling my eyes too, and get ready for bed. Unlike most nights when I get ready I make sure I am dressed in a tunic with leggings that barely reach my knees. Before Hana can decide to move the covers down I get under my own. To keep from drifting off I stare up at the moon that is visible through the window.
It is long past dark by the time people have stopped moving in the house. I slowly sit up, holding my breath as the covers shift around me. When Hana does not move an inch I slowly put one foot on the ground then the other. Next, I stand up. I just stand there for a moment waiting again to see if she will wake up. She does not so I slowly make my way out of the room, grabbing my boots just before I leave it. I just continue to hold them though until I am by the front door. Only then do I risk the noise of putting them on. My heart pounds the whole time it takes me to put them on but I do not let my breaths get any louder or faster than the slow and shallow breaths I have started since before everybody was asleep. Once I get outside though I let myself breathe deeper.
My hands clench then flex as I walk in the general direction of the outer portions of the village. At my meandering pace it takes me what feels like too long to find the apple grove he spoke of. I start to get antsy when I do not immediately find him but I relax when I finally find him leaning against a tree and drawing in the dirt as he mumbles to himself. Even for my ears what he is saying is nonsensical. At first, I cannot help but to pause and watch him. The longer he just sits there though the more I feel like I am intruding on a private moment. Uncomfortable now, I make sure to step on a couple of fallen twigs. He starts the moment the snap sounds in the air.
He smiles at me and stands as he sees me. "I didn't think you'd come. It's very late now."
I manage to twitch my lips in an upwards motion but it quickly falls as my mind has a hard time matching the wisdom in his eyes to the youthful appearance of his body. I cross my arms in front of my chest and lean on my left leg the moment I am next to him, "I would not miss out of the information. I just wanted to be absolutely sure that everybody else was sleeping."
He nods his face still happy as he goes back to sitting on the ground and leaning against the tree, "You should sit." Now I really smile as I sit next to him. Never annoy a Dreamer. He doesn't seem to catch my train of thought as there is no change in inflection, "What do you want to know?"
My eyes furrow as my fingers tap against the ground because I am missing my sword and they cannot tap my hilt, "What did you mean by I am the one bathed in light with a train of blood?"
He hums quietly and draws a female figure in the dirt, "It is how you are seen in Dreams. In the Great Prophecy you had no definite form because your age was not known. All they could tell was that you were female and you were surrounded in light. Some say you glow. But behind you is a train and instead of it being made of cloth its made of blood. That's how you are seen in visions."
My heart pounds as I listen to him, "Why?"
"Some say that you're protected by the Cloaked One. Others say you're a fulcrum."
"A fulcrum?" I am betting that it is this one... because drawing the attention and protection of a goddess other than the All Mother is like drawing a short stick. The lives of those chosen are rarely ever calm or end from old age.
Themis gives me a knowing smile as he explains, "A fulcrum is a person or thing or event that affects the future so strongly they can't be viewed clearly because there's too many Paths that'll come from it."
I grimace. Being a fulcrum sounds little better than drawing the eye of our two other Goddesses. Themis laughs at my face then erases the person he drew in the dirt. But then his tone is not nearly as lifting as that laugh, "Things have been very unclear recently. Only the powerful Dreamers have been able to see anything at all." He starts to draw curved lines in the dirt now.
I bite my lip, "Does that mean you are very powerful then?"
Themis laughs and pretends to wipe tears from his eyes, "Not really. I just travel the Paths better than most."
My body stiffens and I look at him warily, "How much Paths did you see me on?"
His smile drops and he goes back to drawing on the ground but it is something new once again, "Just the ones where we kept our freedom."
I look at him sharply, "Were those Paths plentiful?"
"No. It wasn't until seven days ago that any of those Paths became clear."
My body stiffens as I realize what that means, "You saw the sickness after all the fighting then?"
He nods, "I was asked to See what would lead to our freedom. Not what would keep everybody alive. Battles and disease are apart of freedom now. People dying is just a part of that too." My stomach turns as I listen to him. "I can see that you're bothered by what I say. I don't make the future though, I just See what it has to offer."
I breathe out a shuddering breath and force myself to relax, "I know. I know that is how Dreamers work. It does not mean I have to like it when a child Sees death and suffering and just accepts it as the normal."
Themis smiles, a strange smile that conveys he knows more than he is telling, "You are well suited for your title, Revered Miss."
I shoot into a standing position, "You do not need to call me that, Dreamer."
He laughs as he slowly stands up, "Of course I do. Even Dreamers like me must bow when we see one of the Blessed Ones." At that he bows at the waist, as I am left standing there my mouth slightly open he walks away. It took me too long to respond.
In a little bit I manage to organize my thoughts well enough that I make my own way back to my room. The night is not quiet here. Bugs and small mammals let the world know they live. I smile as I let their sounds calm me the rest of the way to my shelter. By the time I sneak back into the house and under the covers of my temporary bed I am calm and more than ready for sleep. My body feels tired and my inner monster weary, probably from my long term use of the Light element. I turn my back on Hana's sleeping form as I close my eyes and quickly drift off.