Rise of the Mare (Fall of Man Book 2) (16 page)

“I’m sure they need a few more
people.”

“It’s not easy.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t know for sure,” he shrugged.
“Just what I heard. Vala’s mother had to give up her newborn son as
a snack to be admitted inside.”

Hearing it, even though it was
something I knew, made me shudder. “I don’t have a baby to
give.”

“Obviously.”

“And I highly doubt everyone that
goes there has a baby to offer up.”

“You don’t know. Maybe you can offer
your blood.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Why?” Snake questioned. “Why is it
so important to go there and get Vala?”

“She’s important to our fight.”

“I realize that. But you know,
judging by what I am seeing and hearing, you seem to be taking the
reins pretty good and coming up with a plan,” Snake said. “Reminds
me of Davis years back. You’ve got the passion he lost. You found a
pretty big Savage nest. Taking them out, will eventually push them
away to seek food elsewhere.”

“I don’t want them to be able to find
food anywhere.”

“Makes sense. May I ask why it is so
important for you to go get Vala?”

“She doesn’t need to be there now. I
don’t want her to get chosen or whatever they call it.”

“You like this girl.”

“Yeah, yeah I do.”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Sure.”

“She left because she thought you
would die. She didn’t want another attack on us.”

“Exactly,” I said. “The Sybaris
causing the threat is gone. Banished. So no threat to me or our
people.”

“Vala knows this?”

“Of course she does, she told
me.”

Snake nodded. “So if she knows this,
why isn’t she coming back? Why hasn’t she reached out and said
she’s on her way?”

“Are you insinuating she doesn’t want
to come back?”

“Just making an observation.”

“Well, I think something happened and
she is stuck there. I feel she needs my help and I want to go get
her.”

“I’ll accept that.”

And Snake did stop talking about it,
about Vala. He focused on that whistle he was making, getting wood
shreds all over the floor. We ate and talked about other things.
Snake was looking forward to seeing the Straits. He’d always
wondered what it was like there.

I did too. Especially since all those
who came from there were so odd.

He passed out long before I did. I
paced the cabin, unable to sleep, hoping that Vala would reach out
to me again. Although I was tired, I didn’t want to miss it or
sleep through it. It had been days since I had a full night’s
sleep.

Something kept me from sleeping and I
knew what it was.

About two in the morning, I figured
it out and just as I did, Snake woke up.

“What in blazes are you doing?”

I was standing in the middle of the
room, looking up. “Listen.”

“To?”

“Nothing.”

“Okay.”

“Seriously, Snake, it’s prime time.
Where are the Savages?”

“Just because you don’t hear them
doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”

“They are always there. But they
aren’t tonight.”

“They just aren’t attacking.”

“No, they aren’t there. I can sense
it.”

“What the hell?” Snake sat up. “First
you think a Day Stalker is trying to tell you something, now you
sense the Savages?”

“Call me crazy but—”

“You’re crazy.”

“That’s not what I meant.” I walked
over to the door.

“Tanner!” Snake shrieked. “What are
you doing?”

Armed and ready, I opened the
door.

Nothing.

It was silent except for the chirping
of insects. I walked on to the porch and looked up at the star
filled sky. “They aren’t here.”

“Get back inside, they’ll smell
you.”

“I’m telling you they—”

Snake grabbed my arm, pulled me back
in, and slammed the door. “Get it together.”

“I stepped out there, Snake. They
didn’t come. They always come.”

“Okay.”

“Not okay. They aren’t here. So
knowing they always attack, they’re always here, and now they’re
not…” I said, “where did they go?”

The underground world of
Burt’s people reminded me a lot of the nourishment retrieval center
in La Sveg As. Very clinical, with small rooms. Those rooms were
where humans would go, donate blood, and rest up to recoup.

The only thing missing was
windows.

I was assigned a small room a short
hallway walk from what they called the main recreation room. Voices
carried from the room, laughter. My room barely had enough space
for the single thin bed, however, I had no intention of staying
long. I needed to get used to my human body, used to the way things
were, and then I’d leave.

Not that the folks in Hopeland
weren’t nice. They actually were very nice.

While I had not met many of them, I
did discover that most did not speak with the twang and drawl that
Burt did. They dressed in comfortable clothing, and a man who
called himself Joshua walked with me, giving me a tour of each area
of the complex, then asked me if I had any useful skills.

This took some time.

Being beautiful wasn’t just a useless
skill, it was one I didn’t have anymore.

“I can create garments,” I replied
with some embarrassment. It was a craft I liked to do, but one no
Ancient Princess dare perform.

“You make garments. You mean a
seamstress?”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t call myself a
seamstress, I did not work in the field, only practiced on the
side. I am quite good, but please do not tell a soul. I know it is
not a favorable profession.”

“Are you kidding?” He smiled. “We
really need someone who can make and fix clothing around here.
You’ll be a goddess when people find out. “

“That is a title I strive to
achieve.”

He laughed as if I were making a
joke. I wasn’t.

He left me at the eating station,
where many gathered to eat. There was a line and Burt was in it. He
waved my way.

“Madge!” He left his position in line
and walked over to me. “Come on, grab some food.”

I had avoided the breakfast Burt
brought for me, and I was still unsure if my new body would handle
the food. I wasn’t even sure how to eat it.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Sure you are. I know you are. You
have to eat. Gotta keep that cute figure of yours in shape.” He
gave me a friendly nudge.

“My figure? You like my figure?”

“Heck yeah, it’s hot.”

I laid my hand to my chest. My skin
did feel warm. “It is.”

“You’re funny, Madge.”

I bobbed my head proudly. “I do have
witty moments.”

“Funny and attractive. My type of
gal.”

“Oh, Burt.” I waved out my hand. “You
flatter me.”

“And you flatter me by hanging around
me.” He took hold of my arm. “Come on, let’s go get some food.
We’ll eat together.”

I felt proud being escorted by such a
noble human as Burt. He’d probably lost the tooth in a battle. I
could see he was at one time a human warrior. He had that look to
him.

My meal portion was meager because I
was apprehensive. If it set well, I’d have more. Burt introduced me
to a woman named Claudette. He told me she and I would end up being
friends.

She was friendly and attractive too,
and had a power about her that I liked.

“We’re all hanging out tonight,”
Claudette said. “Do you drink?”

“Don’t we all?”

Claudette laughed.

Burt laughed.

I was funny. I was spreading
happiness. It made me feel good.

“It’s game night,” Claudette
said.

I adore games,” I replied. “May I
join in?”

“Absolutely,” Claudette nodded.

“We usually play card games,” Burt
added. “About six of us. We’re the night owls.”

The term night owl wasn’t one I was
familiar with, I assumed it was their group name, like an
organization. I was trying to grasp the lingo. If I was going to be
human, I needed to truly take on the role, not just physically. So
hoping I didn’t sound unintelligent, I said. “May I be part of the
Night Owls, drink, and play card games?” I left out the part where
I didn’t quite understand card games.

“Sure,” Burt said. “Tonight we’re
playing Skip-Bo.”

“Skip Bo?”

“And we made Old Maid into a drinking
game,” Claudette informed me

Skip Bo was easy to deduct. I knew
what skipping was, so obviously it was a physical competition. But
the other game... “Old Maid?” I questioned. “I never played Old
Maid. Do we dress up like elders and seek companionship that we’re
too old to find?”

Again both Claudette and Burt
laughed.

Their laughter made me feel good, and
I had realized another talent I had— the ability to fill people
with joy. Claudette and Burt were wonderful beings.

The bread was delicious too. No
wonder humans enjoyed eating.

I looked around the eating station at
all the happy faces. These humans were different than the ones at
the Straits. I liked them. I made a decision, right there and then,
that when I regained my Ancient abilities and sought out the final
destruction of the free will of man, that unless something drastic
and horrible happened, the people of Hopeland would forever be in
my good graces.

Something had occurred in the
moment following my kiss the previous evening with Iry. I could not
move in the minutes after. I was stunned and felt as if I wasn’t in
control. Immediately when I got my senses, I sent for Samantha. She
was the only one I knew to talk to. I told her about the kiss. Then
I told her about feeling under Iry’s spell.

“No, Vala, you weren’t put under any
spell. Iry isn’t like that,” she said. “He’s a kind person with a
fondness for humans. He favors us, and his favoritism at times must
be kept secret.”

“Why did I feel so out of control?
Why did I like it so much?”

She smiled. “Because you like Iry.
Perhaps your projected disdain of him is a ruse for the truth, that
you are attracted to him.”

“
No. That can’t be. I came here
to
protect
the one for whom I have feelings.”

“Maybe they weren’t genuine. You’ve
known Iry longer,” Samantha said. “I believe that after this
wedding, you’ll discover where your true feelings lie.”

“Then why do I feel so dismal about
this wedding?”

“It’s just nerves.” Samantha insisted
a glass of wine would help me sleep and relax me. I needed the wine
and rest because the next day Sophie would start coming out of
it.

I finished the beverage and it did
make me tired. In fact, it made me very woozy and I fell asleep on
the bed with an extreme heaviness.

I didn’t even have time to change
into my bedclothes. No sooner did my head hit the pillow than I was
out like a light. My dreams were normal dreams and not in my
control. They lacked the lucidity that I usually had.

I dreamt I was back in Angeles City
and was running with Tanner in the vineyards behind Marie’s house.
We were laughing, giggling, and being carefree. Tanner told me he
liked me and then he kissed me.

Never had I dreamt of being kissed.
It had to be the kiss from Iry that caused it. It wasn’t Iry I
kissed in my dream, it was Tanner, and I held on to him. That kiss
and embrace lacked the urgency I had with Iry, though it was more
pure.

“I have to go,” Tanner said.

“No, don’t leave me. Please.
Stay.”

“I can’t. Are you okay?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m fine. Why?”

“Because you’re being weird. Not that
you’re not weird as it is,” he said in the dream. “But I do have to
go.”

I held tight to his hand.

“I’ll see you soon.” Tanner kissed me
on the cheek. “I’m on my way.”

He backed up and turned and I reached
for him. He pulled away abruptly and I felt his trimmed nails
scrape against my wrist.

In my dream he faded and I looked
down to my arm. Blood flowed from my wrist.

“Tanner,” I called to him, watching
him fade across the field. “Tanner wait, I’m bleeding!” I looked
down to my arm and lost my breath when I saw Iry kneeling before me
in the dream, his mouth lapping up the dripping blood of my
arm.

He raised his eyes, hovered his
mouth, and he brought in his bottom lip, tasting my blood.

“No!” I jolted awake. I sat up on my
bed in the same position I had been the night before.

My head felt weird, it was light. I
needed food, and it had been since early the day before that I last
ate.

After swinging my legs from the bed,
I stood and everything spun. What was wrong with me? Was I getting
ill?

Figuring I’d get cleaned up and
changed before checking on Sophie, I walked over to my dressing bin
to gather clothes. My choices were slim, since I hadn’t brought
anything with me. I grabbed the first thing that I saw and stopped
short. Slowly, I withdrew my hand from the door of the bin and my
retrieved clothes dropped to the floor.

There on my wrist were two tiny
wounds, still fresh with flood. They were small, about an inch
apart, no bigger than a bug bite. It looked as if I had scratched
two insect bites.

How had it happened?

I looked at the window; it was
slightly open, and it was quite possible that a bug had come in. I
was in such a dead sleep last night that I more than likely had
scratched myself. That was my best explanation.

Trying to forget about it, because it
really didn’t hurt, I gathered my clothes from the floor and headed
to the shower.

My day was going to be complicated. I
had my sister to contend with and a wedding to thwart.

Sleeping was a wonderful
thing. I understood why the humans did it so often. It was a luxury
and I didn’t miss an abundance of events getting enough rest. It
was a mere seven hours.