Star Iron - A Vampire Epic

Kira

With her bag filled and strapped across her back, Kira rode from her home before sunrise. When the warmth from the light finally reached her, she'd made several miles from the place. Pangs of quilt coursed through her veins with every step the horse made. It was far against her duties as a village elder to leave for anything long period, but it was her in her bones as a shaman to follow the words of the blessed dead.

The Salar devotees had noticed her leaving, since they always woke before sunrise to make their prayers with the rising sun, and a farmer on the edge of town saw her, but she'd pulled her hood up to cover her identity. They'd think nothing of her missing for several hours into the day.

She weighed her options on how to get across the sea. A port town lie southeast where she could purchase rides or go directly south to the Salar port who would surely be a cheaper ride but come with more burden. She'd stopped to sit beside a fire to think it out when she'd heard the horse approaching.

"Millis?" she asked as she recognized the boy on the steed. Clearly one of his father's horses. "Why are you following me?"

The boy incorrectly stopped his horse then crawled down the side of it, "I saw you leaving this morning. I thought that you could use my help."

Kira took a deep breath as she feed another stick into her fire. "I need you to turn around and go home. If your parents knew you'd gone this far from the village, they'd punish you for weeks."

"But what about you?" Millis asked as he warmed himself by her fire. "We all need you."

"There's something that I have to do," Kira said. She glanced at the sun which would be nearing the horizon soon. "You can't go home tonight. This path won't be safe after nightfall."

Millis tied his horse next to Kira's then joined her beside the fire. A wolf howled in the distance.

"This is the furthest I've ever been from home," Millis said. "I've always dreamed of it, now I'm finally out here in the wilderness."

Kira spotted the outline of a knife under his shirt, "That might not be enough out here."

"You're not even carrying a weapon," Millis said as he took the knife from his waist. It was a hastily crafted carving knife with a dull blade.

"The elements are my weapon," she said. She handed him some of her dried jerky. "In the morning, I'm going to send you back home."

"Is it true that sometimes a vampire doesn't kill a person, then they turn into a vampire too?" Millis asked.

"All the legends and myths claim that," Kira said. "It's hard to say, all those that I've known to go missing by vampires have never returned to the village as a vampire themselves. I hope not, it would be such a curse to be one of those wretched monsters."

"They don't usually come down this far south, do they?" Millis asked.

"Not unless they're desperate," Kira said. "Now, let's talk of something more peaceful least we draw their attention."

The two finished setting up a little campsite, using the small tent that Kira's horse carried. The night promised gentle weather, so Kira let the fire take on a low and slow burn. The calls of owls and bats hunting filled the night sky. Millis feel into a deep sleep as Kira listened to the fire, hoping for more aid.

The horses heard them before Kira could, footsteps that rushed towards them. Spoked, both horses reared up and fought against their tied reins. Kira used the fire from pit and created a circle around her and her tent where Millis resided. He darted to Kira's side as the horses were screeching out in horror.