Scarlet Soul

Chapter 6: Faerendal

Chapter 6

The two were rather disappointed to find that the small house in front of them was not part of the village they were searching for. It was almost nightfall and they could at least ask for shelter, couldn't they? Also, the wooden shack could be abandoned for all they knew.

The closer they got to it, the clearer it became that it was, unfortunately, not the case- smoke was coming out the chimney and a fire was burning in one if the rooms. Kayla immediately placed the hood of the cape on her head and hid her long hair under it. The pair was quite suspicious-looking: a boy and a girl wearing dirty clothes of surprisingly high quality that have tiny stains of blood that did not come off. Their baggage was a leather bag containing books and a pouch for water, a sword and a lot of stolen gold that was, coincidentally, taken off the corpses of the men they killed.

The boy knocked on the large door but it was clear that the one talking would be the vampire. She could take advantage of her being blind and keep her eyes closed to not expose her true nature. Situations like these were another advantage of travelling with a person who could actually talk.

The first attempt brought forth no results and the door was not even opened. When Kayla tried knocking, an angry call was heard: "Okay, I get it, I'm coming!" The voice was that of a man, quite a young one, too, and the image that the travelers saw when the door was opened did not disappoint them: although his clothes were in a state nearly as bad as theirs, the man was tall, handsome and fit. He had short black hair and a small, neat beard with a rather banal design. "How may I help you?" he stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him. Kayla showed him a very sweet smile and spoke: "We are travelling to Allono and have been wondering if you could perhaps provide shelter for the night-"

"And why, gods have mercy, would I let a vampire into my home?" he said these words calmly, as if it was nothing abnormal or even troublesome. Edrich was the one to send him a shocked glance while Kayla could not even do this much. Was the man a vampire? No, Kayla would have warned him... Besides, his eyes were black, not red.

"How...?" he girl's voice was pitched higher than usual. "Your friends were here just a week ago, Kayla of the Red Forest." He was leaning on the door he just closed carelessly. At first the boy could not understand his lack of fear - there was a vampire in front of him- but then he spotted the stone he was playing with, rolling it between his fingers. His realization did not go unnoticed by the man: "Sharp eyes you got there, lad. I really was wondering about you, you know? The vampires did not mention a human tagging along with their long lost, beloved princess. Did you two run away together to commit to your love?"

The kids would've been blushing had they not been too mature to fall for that trick. "That's not it-"

"Why don't you let the boy answer?" The man was clearly having fun teasing them. This situation was ridiculous- although he did not seem to mean them any harm, the man was dangerous. Kayla was careful with her answer: "He doesn't talk."

The man did not oversee her choice of words. "Doesn't talk? Does that mean that he can?" The wizard was a cunning man- he was fishing for information, even now! "I don't know. He did not say a word since the day we met."

"And when was that?"

"A while ago."

"I see."

She somehow avoided sparing too much information but the damage was done. The man smirked. "You know, there's a pretty decent bounty on your head-"

"Excuse me sir but would you please stop? I can tell that you have no interest in gold or gratitude or in the two of us, none at all, so would you please just let us leave?" Her eyes, now open, were burning with fury and frustration. She was accustomed to having her elders look down on her so the man's behavior was the smallest of her concerns- his presence or rather, the lack of thereof was what worried her. Not only she could not tell that he was a mage earlier (she could tell from the short distance) but she also felt no life in him at all. Was he concealing his presence? Is that sort of thing possible...?!