VINCENT SCALED THE cliff face with ease, pulling himself onto the narrow ledge that concealed the entrance to the cave. Inside, he found Eldra still asleep. He remained there for a moment, watching her peaceful expression before stepping back outside and settling upon the ledge. Below him, the meadow stretched out beneath the rising sun, the tall grasses swaying gently as the cool morning breeze moved through them.
He knew he would have to confess to her about his trip into the village, and about the man he had observed leaving Johnas's house. He would also have to tell her what the man, and his father, along with the other vampire hunters had done to his clan.
He could recall every strike of their swords, the thrust of their silver tipped lances. Every cry of torment from his vampire kin, as they were consumed by the flames.
A shiver passed through him at the memory.
Vincent could hear Eldra stir behind him, he could not bear the thought of her being seized by the blood-stained hands of the hunters. He knew what Johnas would do to her, and himself, if they were discovered hiding in the cave.
When she awoke he would plead with her to leave this place before it was too late.
Perhaps Eldra would like to visit Prague? Vincent had many fond memories of Prague. Though not quite the kind of memories that Eldra would have enjoyed, he considered, with a rye smile.
* * *
Eldra watched as Vincent sat in the caverns entrance, she could feel the tension radiating off his body in waves. She threw off the heavy furs, before rising to and moved to join him on the ledge.
He reached out taking Eldra's hand in his own pulling her gently down to sit beside him.
Eldra rested her head on his shoulder as they sat in the stillness watching the sun rise, neither wanting to be the first to breaking the silence between them.
When the tension filled silence became unbearable, Vincent began to speak, telling Eldra of venturing to the village in the predawn hours. Witnessing the vampire hunter leaving Johnas's house, the two of them speaking in hushed tones before the man rode away flanked by his companions who wore the king's colors. Vincent described to Eldra how his clan had been slaughtered by Mowbray and his father, along with the paid cut throats hired by Mowbray's father to join him in his murderous quest to rid the world of Vincent, and his kind.
A shiver passed through Eldra's body, be it from Vincent's haunting tale of the murder of his clan, or from the cold morning air coming in through the cave's open entrance, she could not say.
Vincent pulled her close to him, wrapping her in his woolen cloak before pleading once more with her to come away with him.
To leave the valley before Mowbray, and his men returned to search for them.
Eldra turned to him apprehension filling her eyes, then nodded her head in silent accord.
Her vivid dream of Vincent being tortured in a rat infested cell, calling out her name as she watched helplessly from the shadows unable to save him, came unbidden to her mind.
Could the dream have been a warning, a vision of events yet to come if they stayed here? She asked herself.
If Vincent had seen the Hunter with Johnas it seemed an almost foregone conclusion.
She knew in he heart that Johnas would use any means at his disposal to find her, putting Vincent in the deadly path of the Hunters who had slaughtered his vampire brethren and she knew Vincent would willingly risk his own life to protect her from being captured by Mowbray, and his men.
Eldra resolved that she would not let that happen.
Casting a glance into the cavern, she rose from Vincent's side and began searching for the book. She hoped to find a spell hidden within its pages that would conceal them from the hunters' eyes, buying them the precious time they needed to slip away unnoticed.
As Eldra opened the book, she noticed that the inside of the back cover had been carefully slit open. Tucked into the narrow space within was a small piece of parchment, deliberately hidden between the cover and its lining.
As Eldra removed the piece of parchment from where it had been concealed, ominous black clouds began gathering above the meadow.
The brilliant sunlight that had filled the cavern moments before vanished beneath the approaching storm, casting the landscape into an unnatural twilight. The tall grasses continued to sway in the growing wind, but the peaceful morning had been replaced by a sense of impending danger.
A deafening crack of thunder crashed above the mountain, shaking the cavern walls.
Vincent leapt to his feet, moving rapidly away from the caves entrance just as a powerful wind roared in through the caverns opening. Sending a whirlwind churning around its interior.
The force of the gale dislodged fragments of the crystal covered formations from the ceiling, and they shattered against the ground only steps away from where they stood.
Vincent reacted without hesitation, crossing the distance between them in an instant, sweeping Eldra into his arms and carrying her deeper into the cave, away from the danger.
He brought her into the chamber where the strange glowing worms illuminated the walls with their faint, ethereal light.
Lowering her carefully to her feet, he immediately searched her face and body for injuries. Finding none, he released the breath he had not realized he was holding.
As Eldra began to remove the parchment from the book once more, Vincent placed his hands over hers, stopping her.
"Do you really think that is such good idea after what just happened out there?" he asked her.
" It was only the sudden gust of the wind that caused the crystal formations to fall. It had nothing to do with this." She insisted, before pulling her hands from beneath his, and holding up the parchment before her.
She studied the strange markings for a moment longer, unable to make sense of them, before turning to Vincent handing the parchment to him.
"Do you know how to read this?" she asked.
Vincent accepted the parchment, his eyes moving across the ancient script.
"It appears to be written in Latin," he replied.
His expression grew thoughtful as memories from a distant life stirred within him.
"Though I have not studied it since I was mortal, I believe I remember enough to translate the words."
He ran his gaze over the faded writing once more, the centuries falling away for a brief moment as he reached back toward the man he had once been. Vincent read the spell out loud, noting that it was a blood magic ritual, to intertwine two souls in an unbreakable bond, linking their minds, and fates together, even after death.
The spell called for them to mix their blood.
Eldra looked at Vincent's face, searching for any sign of hesitation in joining their fates for eternity.
"The spell calling for us to mingle our blood gives me pause," he said. "What if I am unable to control the bloodlust once your blood begins to flow my little Raven? I do not wish to put your life in peril."
Eldra considered Vincent's feeling about the blood magic for a moment before making her decision.
" If the risk of mixing my blood with yours is the price I must pay to reveal my true powers, then that is a risk I am willing to take, my dark love.' Eldra said. "You once promised me that you would never harm me. I trust you enough to know that you will keep that promise no matter what. You are stronger than the beast that lies within you. I know you are.""
Vincent nodded his head, praying that her belief in his abilities to keep the beast at bay was not misplaced.
Vincent returned alone to the ruined main chamber to gather the materials needed for the spell.
He moved carefully through the damaged cavern, his senses alert as he searched among the scattered remnants of the chamber. The destruction around him served as a reminder of how fragile their refuge had become.
The remaining formations hanging above were unstable, and he could not risk leaving Eldra exposed should another collapse occur.
As he gathered what they needed, Vincent studied the damage surrounding him.
This chamber was no longer safe.
Once the spell had been completed, they would have to find another place deeper within the mountain.
Vincent returned to the glowing chamber carrying the cloth wrapped sword that had once belonged to his father, along with the other items he had gathered for the ceremony.
The ancient blade felt heavier in his hands than its weight alone would suggest. It carried with it memories of a life long gone, of a family and a world that existed before everything had changed.
He approached Eldra and carefully passed the sword to her.
"Use this," he said softly.
She looked at him questioningly as she held the wrapped blade.
"You need to unwind some of the golden threads from the hem of your dress," Vincent explained. "We will use them to bind our hands during the blood letting portion of the ritual."
Eldra looked down at the sword, then back to Vincent, sensing the importance of the weapon he had entrusted to her.
This was not merely a tool for the ceremony.
It was a piece of him, and a long ago life that he had now turned his back on.
Vincent, using one of the crystals from the main chamber, began to etch a circle into the stone floor, much as the elder folk had scratched the animal drawings onto the tunnels ancient wall.
He placed the candles at the four corners to represent north, south, east and west, lighting them with a piece of dry tinder he set alight with flint and steel.
He plunged the wooden bowl into the spring, filling it with water before placing at the center of the circle.
Once they had finished the preparation for the binding ceremony they sat down, the water filled bowl between them.
Clasping their hands over it Eldra bound their wrists together with the golden thread.
Vincent took in a deep breath before drawing the sharp blade of the sword across their bound hands, the blood springing from the wounds mingling together, before flowing into the water in the vessel.
Vincent thanked the Gods silently when the beast did not stir as Eldra's blood sprang from her wrist, its coppery smell filling his nostrils.
Eldra smiled at him over their clasped hands as they began to recite the incantation:
BY THE DEEP EARTH, AND THE HIGH STARS LET TWO PATHS BECOME ONE ROAD!
They recited in unison.
BY THE FLOWING WATERS, AND THE BURNING FLAME, LET TWO
HEARTS BEAT WITHIN ONE BREAST!
The earth beneath them began to shift, as they continued to speak.
AS THIS BLOOD JOINS THE DEEPEST WELL, LET NO STORM, NOR
TIME, NOR DEATH REND THIS TETHER APART! BOUND WE ARE, AND BOUND WE SHALL REMAIN!
They lowered their bound hands into the water, allowing the mixture to wash away the separation between them.
The ritual required more than blood. It required trust.
Eldra carefully unwound the golden thread from around their wrists, then held it over the flame of one of the candles until it caught fire and was consumed, the fragile bond between them transformed into smoke and ash.
Together, they lifted the bowl.
The crimson stained water within it reflected the flickering candle-light as they brought it to their lips, each drinking from the mixture that now carried a part of the other.
As Eldra swallowed, she felt something awaken within her.
Vincent's power.
It moved through her veins like a current of fire, a force unlike anything she had ever known, and her emerald eyes flashed crimson for a brief moment, the sudden transformation startling even Vincent.
He recoiled slightly, his expression filled with surprise.
He had expected many things from the ritual, but that was not one of them.
Vincent took the bowl from her hands and drank what remained of the liquid, savoring the mingling of their blood as it passed through him.
He felt it surge within his body, stronger and more profound than he had anticipated.
For the first time in centuries, the power that had once been his curse no longer felt like something he carried alone.
When the last of the liquid had been consumed, the trembling beneath them intensified.
The low rumble of the mountain grew louder then louder still, building into a deafening crescendo until the very floor of the chamber split apart. A deep crack tore through the stone, widening rapidly and swallowing the spring's crystal clear waters as they vanished into the depths below.
Vincent reacted instantly.
He lunged toward the edge of the widening crevasse, snatching his father's sword away from the collapsing stone before it could be lost forever. He then turned back to Eldra, grasped her hand in his own, and pulled her to her feet.
They ran.
The cavern's only exit lay ahead.
Behind them, the mountain continued to awaken.
The violent shaking brought the remaining crystal covered formations crashing from the ceiling, raining shards of ancient stone upon the chambers floor, shattered into countless fragments, their once beautiful sanctuary becoming a place of destruction and chaos.
They had completed the ritual.
But whatever they had awakened had come at a terrible cost.
Vincent held Eldra tightly against him as he leapt from the crumbling ledge.
For one terrifying moment, they were suspended in the open air before they struck the rain soaked ground below.
Vincent's feet sank deep into the mud, but he never loosened his hold on her, and he did not stop, Vincent carried her across the meadow, moving with desperate urgency until he was certain they were far enough from the collapsing mountain to be out of danger.
Only then did he slow.
Only then did he dare to turn and look back. The sanctuary that had sheltered them was gone.
The mountain stood in ruins their hidden refuge swallowed beneath falling stone and earth.
A place that held centuries of memories, had been destroyed in an instant.
Eldra wriggled free of his arms, her feet sinking into the muddy ground beneath her.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then she looked toward the mountain, breathing deeply as she realized they had survived.
"Thank the Gods," she whispered. They had escaped. Barely.
But they were alive.
* * *
Eldra began to shiver as the storm continued to rage around them, the cold rain soaking through her clothing, chilling her to the bone.
For several moments, they had stood there, transfixed by the sight of the mountain collapsing before them.
Neither one had noticed how fiercely the storm still raged around them until a deafening crack of thunder erupted overhead, shaking them from their thoughts.
Vincent and Eldra exchanged a glance. There was no need for words.
Together, they ran across the rain swept landscape toward the cottage of the elderly couple that Vincent had discovered dead days before.
Both knowing it was the closest shelter available, the only place nearby where they could escape the storm's fury.
It was not home, and may not be as safe in the way their mountain refuge had been, but it would provide walls against the wind, a roof above their heads, and a hearth where they could build a fire to warm themselves and dry their soaked clothing.
So for now, that would have to be enough.
Vincent lifted the latch, opening the cottage door, then crossed the room to the fireplace, where he soon had a fire roaring in the grate.
They undressed in silence, hanging their dripping garments in front of the fire to dry.
Eldra lifted the lid of the chest at the end of the dead couples bed, finding woolen blankets, and furs inside, she pulled out the blankest and wrapped herself in one of them, while handing the other to Vincent, before sitting on the floor close to the fire.
Vincent joined her by the hearth pulling his blanket around them, drawing Eldra into his arms.
Vincent could still feel Eldra's blood coursing through him as he reached beneath the blanket to caress her soft skin with his hand, her eyes flashing red as she felt the heat building in between her thighs as his fingers slid into her, teasing at her tender flesh with them.
Eldra pushed Vincent roughly to the floor straddled his prone body, and guided his erect manhood into her velvet softness as he moaned with pleasure, gripping her hips with his hands as she moved above him.
She threw head back crying out as she rode with him over the edge, and down into the abyss of ecstasy, she fell forward onto him, seeking his mouth with hers kissing him deeply.
He rolled her body beneath him without uncoupling.
When Vincent thrust deep into her tender flesh with his manhood, it seemed the blood they had shared making him more turgid than he had ever been before. His ardor rose as his need for release intensified.
Eldra writhed beneath him, arching her back matching his thrusts with her hips, crying out like a bitch in heat, as he thrust deeper into her wetness.
Her eyes burning crimson as the hunger grew inside her.
Vincent moved her onto his lap, Eldra clawing at his back and arms, lost in the bloodlust that lived in his blood, and had transferred to her when she drank of him.
Her mouth sought his neck, fiercely biting into his flesh, drawing blood. He wrenched her mouth from his neck, uncoupling their bodies as he moved away, fearing that if she drank more of his blood he would lose her forever to the beast that was rising in her.
She let out an animalistic scream, attempting to attack him in her unhinged state. Vincent knocked her to the ground where she lay mewling like a kitten, curling her body into a ball as the crimson flames began to fade from her eyes, returning them to emerald green.
He could hear her ragged breathing as she struggled to contain the beast that had taken root within her after consuming his blood during the spell.
Vincent cautiously approached her, but she held up her hand signaling for him to stay him away.
"No!" she cried, afraid that if he came any nearer the bloodlust would rise again.
"I'm sorry my dark raven," he breathed, before sprinting out of the cottage and into the raging storm.
* * *
Eldra lay on the floor by the fire feeling as if her heart might burst from her chest as the beast clawed at her insides, battling Eldra for control of her body. Vincent's touch had ignited a raging fire inside her, transforming her lust into the rutting of a feral beast.
She called upon her mother's spirit for strength, struggling to master the relentless craving for Vincent's blood that threatened to consume her from the inside out.
In desperation she begged her ancestors for help.
A pinpoint of light appeared in the corner of the room, growing brighter and larger as it drifted toward her.
As it neared, the radiant glow slowly took shape, transforming into the figure of a woman clothed in flowing white robes.
The radiant figure knelt down beside her, reaching out to place her hand on her brow.
The woman in white's touch slowed the thrumming of Eldra's heart, a feeling of calm washed over her liked a cooling breeze on a scorching summers day.
The woman filled Eldra's mind with visions of a strange place, where a circle of woman danced, and sang in a language that she could not understand, around ancient stones that stood like silent sentinels in a great meadow.
The women weaving between the ancient stones wore the same white robes as the woman whose luminous face hovered only inches from Eldra's own as the vision unfolded.
"Who are you?" Eldra asked, with a tremble in her voice.
"I was once as you are, and as you shall become in time." The White robed figure replied cryptically.
Then she receding back into the shadows of the room, her spirit once more shrinking into the pinpoint of light that Eldra had first noticed.
Before disappearing entirely.
Eldra sat up cautiously. The beast was no longer clawing for control within her.
She paused, scarcely daring to believe it, before realizing she could no longer sense its presence at all.
She silently thanked the woman for her help, her thoughts lingering on the spirits identity and the cryptic answer she had given when Eldra had asked who she was.
"I was once as you are, and what you shall become in time?" Eldra repeated to aloud to herself.
What could she have meant? She asked herself, and why had she shown her the vision of the woman dancing about the stones?
Eldra shook her head, trying to clear away the puzzling thoughts that clouded her mind, before rising unsteadily to her feet from the floor.
She needed to find Vincent to bring him in from the storm.
She needed to find Vincent, to show him that she was herself again and to apologize for the violent attack she had inflicted upon him while under the beast's influence.
Eldra lifted the old woman's cloak from the peg beside the door, gently shaking the dust from its worn fabric before wrapping it tightly around her naked body. Pulling the hood over her head, she stepped out into the raging storm in search of Vincent.
* * *
Vincent despised himself for allowing Eldra to go through with the spell, knowing full well the danger it carried. He should never have agreed to perform the binding ritual, but he had not possessed the strength to deny her after seeing the desperation in her eyes.
He could not bear the realization that, by mingling his blood with hers, he had passed his curse on to Eldra.
He walked through the muddy garden to the place where he had buried the old couple whose cottage they now inhabited.
He stood silently, staring down at the pool of rainwater that had gathered in the depression where the earth had settled above their grave.
Vincent sensed Eldra before she approached. She came to stand beside him over the freshly filled grave and slipped her arms around his bare waist. He turned to look at her. It appeared Eldra had recovered from her battle with the bloodlust he had passed on to her by mingling his cursed blood with hers during the binding ritual.
"Is this where John and Maggie are buried?" she asked timidly.
"Yes," Vincent replied simply.
Eldra picked a bouquet of Yarrow from the garden, solemnly placing it atop the couples grave.
"How do you feel, little raven?" he inquired, turning toward her with guilt-filled eyes.
"Much better, my dark love. Though I would feel better still if we were somewhere warm and out of this damnable rain," Eldra answered with a gentle smile.
Taking his hand, she guided him back toward the shelter of the cottage. Eldra added more logs to the fire as Vincent used one of the woolen blankets to dry the rain from his body. His eyes followed her every movement as she moved about the cottage, filling the teapot with water. Though she appeared to have recovered from her struggle with the beast, Vincent found he could not fully relax.
The fear of what had happened, and what might still remain lingered within her.
"How did you master control over the bloodlust?" he asked cautiously as Eldra hung the teapot over the fire in the hearth.
"First, let me prepare myself a proper cup of tea, and then I will tell you about it," she said, watching him dry his mane of dark, curly hair with the blanket before drawing it over his broad shoulders, concealing his nakedness from her lingering gaze.
As the water heated over the fire Eldra knelt beside the chest, rummaging through its content in search of one of Maggie's dresses that she could wear until her dress dried.
In their haste to escape the crumbling cavern, they had been unable to gather their belongings before plunging from the cave's entrance and into the safety of the meadow below.
Now they found themselves with nothing to wear except the garments that hung before the fire, drying in its warmth.
Finding none of Maggie's clothing within the chest Eldra closed its top, looked around the dark interior of the cottage for any place that the couple could have concealed their few spare garments.
Eldra knew from her visits to tend to them that the Maggie had been very house proud, and she was sure that she would have kept their clean garments well hidden from the prying eyes of any visitors.
Eldra made sure the curtains were closed tightly over the only window in the tidy room so as not alert anyone to their presence in the cottage, before lighting the candle in the lantern that hung on the wall beside the bed.
Using the meager candle light that it afforded, Eldra began to searching the interior of the cottage for another chest, or perhaps a hidden cupboard. Having more luck when she pulled aside a curtained off area of the kitchen behind which a few items of winter clothing hung neatly on pegs.
She picked out a clean dress that, despite fitting a bit snugly across her bosom, would at least cover her unclothed body.
Eldra was also able to secure a pair of John's trousers that she hoped would fit Vincent, though they would likely be a bit short, as John was not as tall as he was.
Eldra handed the trousers to Vincent as she prepared her cup of tea, before perching on the chests lid, finally ready to tell Vincent about the woman in white robe who had answered her call for help as the beast raged inside her.
Vincent asked her if she understood the meaning of the woman's words, but she could not enlighten him as to their meaning any more than she had been able to understand them herself.
"All I know with any certainty is that when the spirit, if that is the right word to describe her, placed her hand upon my brow the beast seemed to leave my body," she said.
Vincent stood still in the darkness, studying Eldra as she sat sipping her tea.
"Are you sure that the beast is gone?" he asked her.
Eldra placed her cup on the top of the wooden chest, before making her way across the floor to where Vincent stood, and he gazed down into her upturned face.
"I cannot explain how I know that it is no longer within me, only that I can no longer feel it there." Eldra stated, trying to placate his fears.
"Is there a test I could take to help to ease your apprehension?" she asked him.
"There is only one test that comes to mind, and I think you know what that may entail. Are you willing to couple with me again to discover if the beast has really gone?" Vincent teased, as he pulled the ill fitting dress from her body.
Eldra caressed his bare chest then reached between his thighs, feeling his rigid member beneath her palm.
"Are you sure you are willing to take the chance that I will not attack you again?" she breathed, the need for him to be inside her was almost too much to bear.
Vincent lifted her body pressing her back against the cottage wall. As he lifted her, she wrapped her legs around him, and slid his manhood deep inside her, a moan of pleasure escaping from her lips.
Vincent studied Eldra's face as they coupled for any sign of the beast rising within her, finding only the lovely visage of the woman he loved, and not the wild, unhinged face of the creature that she had become when they had coupled earlier.
Vincent carried Eldra to the bed, laying her gently onto the rush filled mattress as he continued to thrust into her warmth, both crying out as their desired reached a fever pitch, plunging them over the edge of desire, their bodies quivering as they reached their release.
Relief flooded through Eldra as she lay beneath Vincent, listening to his heavy breathing after his exertions.
She had not been entirely honest with him when she told him that she had felt the beast leave her body.
Until this moment, she had not been certain that it had truly departed. Eldra had feared that if she confessed her doubts about the beast still lingering within her, Vincent would abandon her, and the thought of losing him was one she could not bear.