Marcos easily fell asleep sitting in the wheelbarrow covered in a blanket. His swords leaned between the handles and he snored lightly.
Kaarthen sat on the other blanket that was spread out. The three gladly collected around her.
“I have special milk for you.” Kaarthen said lifting off her robe. “Come drink.”
She hefted a teat to them. Rinis and Mara silently suckled her as she leaned back and closed her eyes. The Goddess was reveling in the activities of the whole day. It wanted more though. Kaarthen felt pain in her body as the Goddess made the changes it wanted.
“Come here Ein.” She patted a spot next to her.
Ein scampered forward. Kaarthen reached for her with one hand reaching across her shoulders drawing her in. New long fangs grew in to her mouth with an odd tingling sensation.
In a flash, the Goddess froze them and Kaarthen lunged forward, biting Ein’s neck, latching on for only a second. She took her blood before casting her aside where she collapsed. She pulled up Rinis who stared blankly at her and took her also then dropped her limp body before taking Mara who looked at her wide-eyed.
The changes she made to them were subtle. Their bodies could take almost any body fluid for sustenance now. Their eyes changed to a cloudy bluish grey. They had also lost their fangs because now her milk or pussy would feed them more efficiently. She gained power over them with her conscious thoughts. A bond stronger than anything vampires share was made. They would be little more then her appendages now. They now would be constantly connected to her and each other. The feelings and thoughts of all would be shared.
The Goddess looked down through Kaarthen on the three quite pleased. Marcos would have eventually killed them. They would have gotten stronger and no sworn oath would stop what was in their nature. This way they could feed from her and stay safe. Daylight would not be a problem now and they could hurry without further delay to Mavvus.
The next morning Marcus was surprised to see the three up. As they walked, Kaarthen trailed behind with her hood up. He dropped back to her as the walked
“What’s wrong? Where you up all night feeding your babies? After a night’s rest, you should be fine. How much did they drink?” Marcos snickered.
“I…” Kaarthen was knocked to her back by Marcos who was suddenly upon her.
“WHAT IS THIS?” Marcos roared. He held her head with both hands prying into her mouth. His finger had hooked a fang and was painfully tugging on it. His anger made him lose control and his appearance seemed to darken as his true form peeked out. It seemed that an aura of black was seeping out of him into the air.
This was an extreme reaction. Marcos had already lost control of himself. Mara and Rinis looked on in terror. They could feel Kaarthen’s fear. The Goddess was shocked by this reaction. Even though it felt him all those years killing and hunting vampires, it had never seen this. It also was unfamiliar with violence directed against its person.
“She saved us and made us better.” Ein said and instantly regretted it.
“Silence!” He roared
Faster then a blur he closed the distance and backhanded Ein who tumbled like a skipped rock across the road. A mere mortal would have died of a broken neck and a crushed skull. Ein was just stunned and bleeding. Scratches healed as she pulled herself back up.
He reached for a sword but his hand froze. The Goddess was trying to stop him. The Goddess was using her soft body as a platform to control Marcos’ hardened resolve. Kaarthen could feel its push shoving back against her mind under the strain and tasted blood. Her vision tunneled and dimmed, as she grew woozy.
He stared incredulously at his hand but reacted quickly reaching with his armored hand for Mara who stared at him stunned. He seemed to mistake her for the source of the interference.
“YOU!” Marcos shouted with blind hate, jamming his arm through her chest to the elbow, then swinging her away.
“STOP!!” Kaarthen and Ein yelled. Rinis only looked up at him blankly in awe.
“SILENCE!” He roared.
Marcos was now in full form. His body absorbed the light around it, and he looked like a hole in the midday. His black robes and leathers were oozing tendrils of black. His face was only a silhouette with two burning red eyes of hate. He seemed like a man shaped portal to the abyss with two terrible eyes staring back. Talons had ripped through his glove and only the gauntlet remained unaffected. With all the terrible darkness around it, the gauntlet shimmered in the midday light.
He rushed Rinis but Kaarthen lunged, hugged him around his waist, and pleaded. She cringed from the look he gave her. He grasped her head looking at her with eyes that didn’t see.
“Wampir.” Marcos uttered lost in a trace. His voice was a guttural whisper with an accent she had never heard.
Kaarthen’s heart sunk with the word and her bile rose. She felt the Goddess scrambling through the world’s memories trying to find a solution before he went any further. She was paralyzed by their shared panic. She knew he was seeing his wives dead on the floor with all his children he had killed. Houses were burning, and everyone was screaming. The images flew into her vision in chaos. Thousands of faces in the shock of pain and death flew in a blur and she fainted.
**STOP**
Kaarthen opened her eyes the pain had stopped and she felt empty. Marcus still clutched her with a blank unseeing expression.
Behind him, the Goddess had appeared with her death aspect. The only change was the bulge of a few months pregnancy she rubbed, and a spear in her other hand she idly held like a walking stick. The image was an imitation of one of his numerous statues.
The display worked, perhaps to well. Marcos roughly shoved her head away. He ran and prostrated before the goddess.
“Greetings mother…..”
**WE ARE NOT PLEASED. HAVE YOU NOT ATTACKED YOUR COMPANION AND THOSE SHE SHEPARDS?**
Marcos cringed at the recrimination. “I have…I have…I… have lived too long if I have seen this happen.” Marcos sputtered finally. His anger was quelling into dread and self-loathing.
Kaarthen felt mortified at what was happening but she could say nothing but lay still.
**ARE WE NOT FORGIVING? EASE YOUR MIND. KNOW THAT THESE VESSELS OF MY WILL SHALL LOSE THEIR SCARLET EYES. THEY SHALL NOT BE VAMPIRE NOR SUCCUBAE. THEY SHALL DRINK THE SPITTLE, THE SEED, AND THE WATER OF YOUR BOWELS. YOUR COMPANION WILL RETURN TO THE FORM YOU FOUND MOST PLEASING. SHE SHALL SHEPARD THESE NIGHT CHILDREN AS WE CALLED HER TO DO.**
“That is most gracious. I thought I failed you by allowing her desires to be subverted and her body corrupted by those…” For a moment, raw emotion broke into his voice before he trailed off.
**WE KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS CHAMPION. YOUR COMPANION HAS SOUGHT MY PROTECTION FOR THOSE CHILDREN. SHE SOUGHT IT NOW FOR YOU ALSO. NEVER TAKE ACTION AGAINST HER. SHE WON’T COME TO HARM, AS SHE IS MY DAUGHTER, AND HER CHILDREN ARE MY THREE HANDS.**
The Being raised his head and gracefully kissed him, disappearing as their lips touched.
When Marcos blinked his eyes open, he felt weak. All his anger had burnt away. He felt emotionless and numb. He sat up on his knees barely able to move his legs out from under him. Meditating, he slowly pulled his form back in, focusing on the image he used for so long. The dark hair, the thin face, the lanky figure, and the dark tan of a southlander. Around him, Mara and the girls crept warily to Kaarthen who was only partially happy he recovered himself. The Goddess was within her again. It was monitoring Marcos as he pulled his mind and body back into shape. The anger at vampires was still there, visible but once again compartmentalized.
Marcos eased himself up onto his feet feeling tired already. His hair was back, His black eyes, and his weathered and tanned skin. He was complete, but didn’t look the same despite the form he wore. He appeared in his posture to be old and worn away. To Kaarthen he looked all of his 67,000 years. He didn’t speak as he turned and ambled down the road. Kaarthen and the girls got to their feet and followed quietly as he slowly led them away.
That evening they stopped earlier than usual at the first inn they found in a small farming town. The inn they found was a four-room inn and walked in to find it quite empty. The girls were for the first time able to be around mortals without conflict. They didn’t care to celebrate. Marcos bought two rooms and walked off leaving the other key for Kaarthen and the girls. He immediately went up stairs. They stayed and ate.
The serving area was quiet. Kaarthen’s emotions ruled the group. The Goddess was raging over the entire disastrous day. For the first time it had been witness to a real miscalculation. It had learned fear from its own Champion. It was not happy or satisfied with how things were resolved either. Quietly the other three ate a real meal for the first time in several centuries. The food was average but with Kaarthen so emotional, they couldn’t enjoy it. They all went to bed full but in a somber mood.
The next morning Marcos opened his door to find Rinis standing outside. His anger flared before he exhaled and stepped past her. She followed him downstairs and out to the stables.
“Hello?” He shouted.
“What?” a shaking pile of hay asked.
“I need five horses.” Marcos said.
Quickly the stable man stood in front of him looking around with the air of a sale.
“Five huh? I dunno if I can part with five…”
Negotiations were quickly finalized since Marcos was well past caring. He turned to the little mute girl but found that Kaarthen, Mara, and Ein had joined them while he was paying.
They led out two mares and three geldings. The horses cost a small fortune and came with everything including camping gear.
“Why horses I thought we were…” Kaarthen started unsure of this change.
“We are taking too long. The trip is only getting longer. We lost any advantages of not having horses. We will be in Mavvus in three days now.” Marcos said in a clipped voice with his back to her. Kaarthen noticed sensitively how he didn’t look at her.
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