Blaze in the Darkness | ✔

Seven

I took the paths circling around the pack's town, counting on them to be mostly empty. It made the trek to the slaughterhouse a little longer, but I didn't mind. The peace and quiet made it worth it.

The stone building was at the edge of the town, for easy access from both the forest and the town. I walked past the building next to it - the magically cooled meat storage - and walked into the abattoir.

I was greeted by the usual crew of werewolves working there. Keeping up my reputation, I gave them a gruff "good evening" in return as I dumped the deer onto a bloodied table.

"We'll keep it away from the rest of the meat. Wouldn't want more undead running around, now, would we?" one of the men grinned at me as he chopped at the meat beneath his hands. His breath formed little white clouds in the air.

"The more the merrier, wouldn't you say?" I rolled my shoulders, glad the heavy weight of the carcass was off.

"More of you? Nah, thanks."

"One of these days, I'm going to infect you lot just to see how you'd feel if you were in my position." Although my voice was serious as always, I'd never do such a thing. And they knew it.

Another butcher chuckled. "I'd chase you down and throw flower petals at you until you beg for mercy."

"Do you really want your mate to think you're courting me?"

A few snickers came from the room. I turned around and started walking out, waving their "Goddess be with you"'s away without looking back. Using the paths curling around the territory once more, I started heading back towards the abandoned mineshaft.

I ensured my footsteps were audible as I entered the room. Zanixa poked her head out of the fire, blinking sleepily as she sniffed the air. 'Why do you smell like an odd flower?' she asked.

"It's called vanilla," I answered. "It's a plant that the goddess Ablait favored."

Her sleepy eyes became wide with suspicion and fear as she took a sharp breath. 'Ablait?! What do you have to do with her? You aren't close to her, are you?'

"No, I am not. Vampires were originally created by her. Apparently, she didn't want her soldiers to smell bad..." I shook my head at the irony of it all. She made us smell like flowers, yet we were weapons, meant to kill. Why'd she ever bother to make us smell nice?

"No one will ever understand why she does the things she does - not even herself. Although I admit I'd rather smell like a nice, foreign spice than a corpse," I finished, attempting to lighten the mood a little.

'I guess the scent isn't that awful,' the little fox admitted a little sulkily. 'But if you're her soldier, what are you doing here?'

"You can count my race as one of her many failed experiments. The original vampires turned other beings into vampires too, and so it spread, on and on. Ablait lost interest and just let it be, leaving the Moon God to exterminate us. As you can see, he still hasn't gotten around to do it, as there's still many vampires in the world." My mood darkened at the thought of Daskil, but I tried not to show it for her sake.

Zanixa was silent for a while, either thinking about what I just said or contemplating running fast and far. A quick look inside her mind ensured me it was the former. She peered back up at me before tilting her head. The inward debate to see if I was dangerous or not still continued.

After a while, she shrugged, resting her head on her paws. She bared her fangs in anger with a faint growl, only to eat a coal and fall silent. Eventually, she settled down once more and just napped.

I watched her for a few moments before sighing. Most of what she seemed to be doing was simply laying there in the fire and napping, or laying there while observing me. Would I be allowed to leave her to go on patrols, or would I have to watch over her at all times?

Being here and just watching the icicles grow from the airshafts was not very high up my list of priorities. I couldn't do much protecting from inside, nor any scouting. With the increased amount of Emio sentries spotted just further north of us, the idea of doing nothing made me extremely restless.

With a silent shake of my head, I teleported to room in the pack house reserved for me. The only reason there wasn't a layer of dust coating all surfaces was that Omegas cleaned every room at least once a week. Still, everything except for my drawers with clothing remained untouched. The room barely even had my scent.

My gaze fell onto the wingback chair set in the corner of the room, by the window. A book was lay on the small table next to it. After looking at it for a few moments, I put the leather-bound article on the chair. A few of the better furs neatly piled on my bed soon sat atop of it.

I looked around the room for anything else I'd want to take, but came up empty. I'd simply return here to change clothing if need be, and otherwise stay in the comfy chair in the mine. Although I was tempted to take a few of the communal games, I decided against it, in case Zanixa ever told anyone I played games with her.

Picking up the chair with all things on it, I teleported back to the mine. I put it in the corner and angled it in such a way that I could see the entrance easily. It put me far away from the fire, too. Just how I preferred it.

Arranging the furs to my liking, I settled down in the chair and picked up the book. After a glance at the sleeping fox in the fire, I opened it to the first page and began reading.

Surprise update! I started writing Blaze in the Darkness exactly one year ago, on November 23rd 2018, and decided to honor this in two ways:
1) Post an extra update
2) Start writing the sequel, Scales of Ice! I already got half a chapter done.

I'll be working hard on writing the sequel as fast as I can while still delivering a high quality story for you guys. It'll be a few months before I truly start posting, but when I cross the halfway point, a teaser will already be posted...