Protecting A Vampire [ON HOLD]

Chapter 4

Trees throughout the town started to sway softly as the wind was brought back to life, signs swung, and buildings wheezed. Theo and Sylvia were remained near the inn, waiting for someone with the caravan to exit the drunken doors.

Almost spontaneously, a towering and drowsy russet-haired man came through the doors, wearing a clean pair of brown slacks and a white silk shirt.

"Hello, are you part of the group?" Theo spoke clearly and with a warm voice, he had to struggle not to yawn or close his eyes for more than a second.

"Yes, I'm a driver, but I don't own it. Do you wish to ride wit' us?" His voice was coarse, a thick Reorian Dynastinian accent was obscured by a thick brown beard, his head scarcely covered with just a few strands of hair left.

"Yes, do you know how much it would take to allow us passage?" Theo felt obligated to rustle his satchel, rattling the heap of coins inside. It seemed to have worked, as the driver's eyes brightened, a small smile appearing from beneath the beard.

"It depends on where you are going? We're traveling to some other small towns before heading for the main city of Thoma; Ribnica is a great city to be in this time of year, the Pozet River is stunning at sunset." The driver's brow wrinkled, and he stroked his beard lightly.

"We only need to go as far as Ribnica, are you stopping off at any town right outside of the city?" Max stood stoically behind Theo, acting as a guard as the Hunter asked the Driver about places they were going.

"Yes, some of them, 3 exactly. If you want safe traveling, then it will cost you heavily. 1 Gold and 3 Silvers, to be honest, judging that you want to go all the way to Ribnica with us." A few more men came out of the inn and placed things into the back of the carriage; things appeared quite tightly packed from Theo's view.

"Okay, that's a good deal. Is it just one carriage or...?" The ebony horses seemed rather curious in Max, huffing at him and leaning down to take a sniff at the Svarian Huskwolf.

"Oh, don't worry. There are two more carriages behind the inn. We moved them behind to get more stuff onto this one; it's what we store everything in. The others are food and clothing." The Driver held out a rough hand to Theo, who gladly shook it and gently handed him the 1 Gold and 3 Silvers.

"You'll need to get friendly with the others, because it'll get rather boring otherwise. It'll take us a while to get to Ribnica and the towns surrounding it; 2 weeks or so I imagine. My name is Duncan, Duncan Lucshire." Duncan started to walk toward the back of the secure inn, beckoning for them to follow him past the carriages and to the last one, where a well-built and cheery dark-skinned man stood, laughing with another who was packing up.

"Hello there Duncan, we're almost done packing up." The striking new face seemed quite weathered from travelling, making him look as if he were an eye-catching captain in another life. "And who are these two? Travellers?"

"They wish to travel with us to the edges of Ribnica, they have already paid for the journey. 1 Gold and 3 Silver seemed reasonable for it." Max bobbled up from behind Theo and stared up at the new man, as if waiting for attention, or treats.

The large mountain that had towered over Arlto was now further away in the distance, still dauntingly huge with its peaks snowy and glaring from the early sun's rays.

"That much for a trip to Ribnica? That's a little too much, don't you think? I believe 1 Gold will do just fine for us." He scratched his shoulder and smiled warmly toward Theo and Sylvia.

"Really? I thought it was quite sensible... alright Kaln, I'll reduce the price." Duncan sighed and give Theo the 3 Silvers back, looking a little sad about the loss of the money.

"So, you want to come with us to travel? I'll need to know yer names, I need to log whoever comes with us to show the quartermaster." Kaln had a rather light Vechian accent, his Elven ears pointed out from the loose woolly hat he wore to shelter the greying hair on top of his head.

"Of course, it would be rude not to tell you. I am Sylvia Underbrook, whilst this Hunter here is Theo Winter." Sylvia smiled quietly, uncrossing her arms and roughly shook Kaln's hand as he outstretched it to the pair of them. "Did you mention a quartermaster? Whatever do you need one for?"

"Ah, cause the stuff we got has to go to some noble; purchasing wares and more. We have a log of who comes with us, where we stop off and any bandit attacks as well. It's quite tedious to be honest." Kaln stepped away from the back of the last carriage and headed toward the first, which was still out near the front of the inn.

They walked in silence across the loud mismatched cobblestone, Theo secured the hefty satchel around his shoulder comfortably; it kept slipping off whenever he moved.

Sylvia gently lowered her hand toward Max, who bumped his muzzle against her tanned skin and panted slightly at the warm touch. She curled a little of his steel-grey hair around her finger as Kaln talked to them about the carriages.

"So, it'll take a while to get to Ribnica, but sometimes it's good to take it slow. Have you two got everything you need?" Kaln rubbed his hands together. Perhaps a little cold from the morning sun, which had begun to rise above the horizon, casting long shadows behind the buildings and trees. "Ah, I forgot to fully introduce myself. My name is Kaln Oweten, was born in Vecha, if you couldn't tell from the accent."

"Other than food and drink, I can't think of anything else Kaln." Sylvia shrugged her shoulders lightly and turned to Theo. "Anything popping to mind, Winter?"

"Not really, talking about food and drink, we should go buy some-"

"Ah don't worry about that, we have plenty of food, we can restock at each town we come to." The gruff Elf curtly interjected, saving Theo, Max and Sylvia some time; hopefully saving them from the clutches of the abandoned Vampire Hunter group. "Hop into the back of this one, we'll be going on the trail for a few days; until our first town comes up, that is."

As Kaln had said-and to Theo's relief-there was plenty of food and drink in the back of the carriage, but also fresh sheets of cloth and other clothing items laid down, folded upon one another to save space. Even with a lot of objects there was still a lot of leg-room for them to rest their bodies, especially Sylvia's, her durable figure protested in pain from the morning sun as it got stronger; slowly scorching her skin.

It took a moment of heaving and lifting for Max to jump up onto the back of the wagon. The town seemed to slowly ebb with life, Elves and Humans alike stepped out of their homes to bask in the sun; a delicacy Sylvia could only endure for a few long minutes.

The horses reared their heads nobly as they seemed raring to go; eager to start the tedious journey to Ribnica. Theo stole a glance at Sylvia, her long honey-coloured strands seemed to still glimmer gently whenever small beams of light caught them, something about her azure eyes captivated him...