Chapter 9

After a chilly night’s rest, the pair met in the drafty tavern on the first floor before the hearth fire. Snow found Titus already up with a plate on his lap as he huddled close to what was likely the only warmth in the entire inn. The man had helped himself to a meager breakfast of cheese, stale bread, and a chunk of half-burnt ham.

“Morning,” Titus mumbled through a mouthful of bread as he inched his toes closer to the hearth.

Snow grimaced at the less than savory fare. “Good morning. Is Jorn up or did you fix that yourself?”

Titus shrugged, “Didn’t want to wake anyone. I left some coins on the counter.”

Snow looked back towards the bar and sighed before walking over to look for a kettle and a pitcher of water. Herbal tea was his preferred choice in the morning, and some hot water was all he needed.

“So, when we going to get started?” Titus asked as he watched Snow arrange motley colored kettle on the fire.

“As soon as I can feel my toes.”

Titus snorted. “Have you ever … dealt with one of these things before? Vampires, I mean.”

Snow pulled up another chair to sit and stretched his own shiny black boots towards the hot cinders.

“Yes. But not like this,” he replied with his eyes steadily watching the flames.

“How then?” Titus asked between bites.

“I’ve met some Lords. Magic is often aware of other magic. It’s difficult to travel through their lands without being noticed. Thankfully, most are simply curious and want only to make my acquaintance.”

“Really? They don’t want to eat you?” Titus leaned forward, tearing at the ham as if it were a bit of dried jerky.

“Most know how to be courteous … and recognize when a fish is too big to catch.”

Snow glanced at Titus to notice the man studying him in that moment and the look was oddly concerning.

“And yet those zealots give you trouble?” Titus asked.

“It’s not the same,” Snow was quick to reply.

“Well go right ahead!” A voice interrupted behind them. “Just help yourselves! Like damn lords of the manor! Don’t mind me! It’s only MY INN.”

The vitriol was so ripe, it put a scowl on both men’s faces. Jorn continued to grumble about arrogance and entitlement until the kettle started to bubble.

✵✵✵

The town looked bright and cheery in the morning light, though its residents gave Snow and Titus wary looks as they passed. The tanner had returned to the inn to show them where the two men had died on previous nights. He still had his axe in hand, despite the reassuring sunshine washing over the brisk autumn-colored valley.

Recent rains had made the ground muddy, but otherwise, the walk was pleasant as he led the pair to the edge of the town where the backs of houses looked out onto acres of farmland or peaceful meadows that still held yellow blossoms. The road before them turned around gentle hills and the tall crops on either side kept them from seeing too far in either direction.

“This is where it happened. Both men have farmsteads down this road,” Warin pointed further towards the next blind bend.

“It’s a good spot,” Snow noted grimly as he looked around. “Blind corners, tall crops to hide in, no windows in sight.”

“Road’s too churned up by recent traffic,” Titus remarked as if to himself. He was looking down as if scanning for some sign of the monster left in the mud.

“Maybe,” Snow agreed tentatively. He then walked to the nearby edge of the cornfield and looked down at the base of the stalks. Titus quickly understood and turned to scan the other wall of vegetation.

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After a moment, Titus spoke up, “here’s something.”

Snow dropped his search to come over. Titus held out a single sword-shaped leaf with a splattering of rust-colored blood. The two men looked further back to the next row and saw another small splotch on a stalk further in. An eerie morning breeze was winding through the fields at that moment and all the crops seemed to be waving for them to come this way.

“What’s in this direction,” Snow turned back to the tanner.

“After this field there’s a steep and rocky outcrop, there’s a little grove of oaks clinging above it, but we’ve already checked it yesterday. Nothing’s up there… unless it can move boulders around.”

Snow gave the man a tired look. “You’re lucky you didn’t find it when you did.”

The tanner blanched. “You think it’s up there somewhere?”

“Only one way to find out,” Titus replied before pressing in past the crops. Snow turned back to watch him lead the way. The forwardness was unexpected, and he hesitated a second before following behind him. The two were quickly swallowed by the tall yellowing plants that crackled all around them as they bent leaves to part.

“Convenient early warning noise,” Titus commented.

Snow didn’t reply. He was too busy watching this supposed neophyte walk straight towards danger as if he had done this all before. The voice of doubt tried to reassure Snow that this was only a soldier-mentality kicking in. That Titus was only taking up the hero’s mantle all over again. But he still expected more caution from someone unfamiliar with vampires or whatever else might be lurking up there. Believing it was one’s job to save the weak and innocent is one thing, marching off into something’s open jaws is another. Snow recalled the race through the Erbin market and wondered if Titus had foolheartedly picked a fight in the midst of other guardsmen or tried to wisely isolate his target before pouncing.

When the crops thinned, the pair noticed that the tanner had not joined them. They stood alone at the far edge facing a sloping wall of sun washed rocks dabbled with dancing shadows from the towering oak trees high above. The branches were still heavy with leaves as they stretched out to catch every bit of open air and the roots weaved down like snakes among half buried boulders that were as small as a loaf of bread and as big as a loaded cart.

“Um,” Titus spoke up briefly before lowering his voice, “What now?”

Snow looked at him suspiciously, “I don’t know. Apparently, you’re leading this thing,” his quiet voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“Well, we were going to go this way, right?” Titus huffed, still keeping his voice down – as if something might be close by and listening.

Snow stepped past him to survey the strip of open ground where the field ended and the rugged incline began. Birds were singing overhead, and the breeze came up again to tussle his hair. The more he stared, the more his thoughts turned against this idea. It would be unlikely to find this creature still hiding out next to a village that was on high alert.

“I’m starting to doubt we’ll find anything here. Even a fledgling wouldn’t stay long after a couple of bloody scenes. If the village already searched this area, then it would know they’re aware of it. One vampire can cause a lot of damage when it wants to, but it’s still vulnerable on its own. The village only needs to surround it during the daylight or hire someone like us.”

“You think we should search the next town over?” Titus asked.

“No,” Snow scoffed. “Who knows which way the thing went. We don’t even know for sure what we’re looking for, but anything with half a brain would have either hid the bodies or moved on the next night.”

Titus stood quietly for a moment as he mulled over the thought. He then said, “Let’s just look around. We said we would. Maybe we’ll find where this thing slept.”

Snow sighed. “Fine.” He looked both ways along the rocks one more time before deciding on the left side.

The rocky slope looked ancient and weathered. Beyond the towering oaks above, Snow knew the land continued to rise into gentle, grassy hill-like mountains used by sheep herdsmen. The larger boulders were likely an ancient avalanche that had been eroded and weathered for ages. Some of the smaller rocks looked to have been tossed on top by the neighboring farmer as he cleared them from his field.

The walk was beautiful in a serene, but empty way. Snow was beginning to enjoy the warmth of the sun beating on his shoulders when he found an odd scattering of smaller rocks underfoot. They seemed to have fallen, but they were too far to have rolled naturally with such jagged shapes. The boulder beside them in the wall also looked strange.

The sun bleached everything out here, and yet this boulder had lines where rock and root had been shadowing its surface for ages. Whatever had been laying on it to cause such tan lines was now gone and the boulder stood unrestricted by the rocks and earth that framed it.

“Here,” Snow said. He felt Titus step up closer over his shoulder and stare at the boulder. It was bigger than him and looked like it would take ten men and a mule to move it.

“Behind that?” Titus asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Snow replied before stepping closer and peering around to see dark empty cracks as if a natural hollow existed beyond this immovable door.

“It can move that?” Titus continued to balk at the idea.

“Actually, this is rather large, even for a vampire – unless it’s versed in elemental magic.” Snow started to step back until his shoulders were against the crops.

Titus quickly noticed the new focused look on the magician’s face and drew his sword. His brow lifted with a touch of disbelief as he watched Snow lift his hands as if attempting to take hold of the rock despite the distance. And, as if he had done just that, he pushed the thing out and to the side, just far enough to create two-foot opening on one side.

A sudden feminine shriek came from inside. Snow quickly stepped up to the opening with Titus right behind him. The two came to an abrupt stop upon peering inside.