Making Tobia

by Sherri Jordan-Asble

day. Tobia did not have a very good sense of where in the world he was. He knew that they were close to the great Persian Empire, and that south beyond Persia lie Runihura’s home land, Egypt. He also knew that his own home land of the Celts and Gauls lie to the far northwest. He also knew that the Romans had their hands everywhere and that war was everywhere as well.

  Runihura had always made sure they were well away from the human conflicts, but Tobia had no idea how to do that. He feared if he made it through the first day, he would still have quite a struggle ahead of him.

  He reminded himself to take things one night at a time. As he walked around, he realized that this village wasn’t much more than a few huts and tents. Horses were corralled at the outer edge of the settlement. A few more structured buildings made up the center of the town. These buildings were made of stone, and some of them had carvings on them. One area had been sectioned off, and a work of carving just barely started. The pictures on the walls and the buildings themselves held Tobia’s curiosity. This was nothing he had seen before.

  Tobia’s thoughts were interrupted by laughter. He followed the human noises to a large tent. Inside, a celebration had obviously been going on. There were several drunken men and a few women. Tobia listened quietly from outside the tent. He could smell wine and fish and other food stuff hours old that he could not identify by smell alone. The people spoke an odd language that Tobia had never heard before. He wanted to stay and learn more of these people, but the sun started rising. He had to find cover.

  Tobia went back to the center of town where there were several stone buildings. He quickly explored them, finding one that had a deep recession running under the building. The sunlight wouldn’t reach that spot, but he would not be safe from the humans should they come here and find him. He had no choice. His skin began to itch as he anticipated the burn of the sun. He crawled into the cramped space.

  Tobia had to force himself to take long deep breaths. He swallowed back his panic. It had been a very long time since he had been trapped by Runihura and changed. He refused to scream out. He would not give in. Though alone, he would live. He was only trapped by the sun, and eventually it would set. As long as the humans didn’t discover him, he would be fine. He breathed in deeply again, and tucked his head down. He would not panic. He closed his eyes tight and took long slow breaths until he fell asleep as the sun rose higher.

  Late in the afternoon his worst fears came true. A human had come down into the pit and found him. He looked up at a woman with deep red hair. At first she seemed startled, but then came closer to Tobia. He could see his reflection in her eyes and in her thoughts. He could not understand her language, but he could tell he had her pity. He didn’t move. He hoped this red haired beauty could sense his fear of her. In his weakened state, if she pulled him out of his hole and into the sun, he would die.

  She didn’t. She didn’t do anything. She reached out and touched the side of his face. He could smell her scent, olives and thyme. Tobia closed his eyes. The woman quietly left, and Tobia was certain she would return with men from the village, and all would be lost. He could do nothing and resigned himself to it. He had escaped Runihura. His death no longer mattered. He had nothing to live for except life itself.

  The woman did not return until the sun was almost down. Tobia turned and crawled out of his hole. She stood in the doorway watching him with large green eyes. Tobia’s emotions and hunger took over. He moved to her, faster than her eyes could see, and pulled her into his arms. He ran his hands through her long wavy auburn locks as he sunk his fangs into her neck. He drank her essence and could not stop himself. He drank it all. What a terrible way to repay her kindness.

  He lay out her dead cold body on the stone floor of the small chamber. He had no choice but get away fast. Runihura would never forgive this betrayal. He clamped down on his thoughts, and then he ran again.

  Tobia traveled west as fast as he could up into the mountains. In the higher altitude, he could feel fresh air on his face and he could see the colossal sky full of stars; so many sparkling jewels, they seemed infinite. Tobia felt free and exhilarated. He allowed himself to enjoy the feeling, though he knew it was momentary. He could never outrun the sun and it would soon catch him, even if no living, breathing thing could.

  He began to search out a hiding place in the mountains. They were not a huge chain, but there had to be a spot the sun could not reach. He felt desperation closing in on him again. How many times could he get lucky? He had to plan better. He had to start thinking instead of merely reacting. If he found a place to spend this day, a meal would not be waiting for him at nightfall. He could not spend his life running through the mountains.

  Finally, he found a cave and took refuge from the day’s sun. The cave was deep and wide, and Tobia felt comfortable there. He could breathe with no signs of panic. He smiled as he fell asleep truly freed from Runihura. Some time during the day he woke looking for his master. He felt the dirt scattered floor of the cave and jerked awake. A pang of loss constricted his chest, but Tobia was stubborn and still angry. He would not go back. Again, he tightened the walls around his thoughts.

  The next evening, Tobia rose and ran until he found a small port village on a sea side cliff. It didn’t take long to find someone that spoke a language he could understand. He used the last of his coin to purchase a day inside a little stone hovel. It had one large window covered with wooden shutters and the door was a thick wood as well. It would keep out enough of the sun to keep him alive and safe. The man also gave him a jug of wine. That was all he could do. Tobia smiled and thanked him for his hospitality. He had fed off the man earlier before the deal was struck, but only he knew that.

  Tobia had bought one more day, but he had to do better. He could take what he wanted, but it would cause trouble and it wouldn’t keep him safe during the day. Without money to buy his safety, he would be forced to stay in the mountains. For one day, though, he would be safe inside stone walls. He drank some of the wine, and curled up in corner on the stone floor. In the moments before dawn, he missed Runihura, but loneliness was a still a price worth paying for his freedom.

  In the days to follow, Tobia had little choice but to follow the mountain chain northward. He found caves and crevices to hide during the day, and at night he would descend into human establishments to feed. He picked pockets when he could and collected mostly copper and silver coins. If he were a human man, he could work in the fields to earn money, but as a nightwalker, he could not.

  Eventually, the mountain chain turned to the west, and Tobia continued to follow them around into more and more inhabited lands. Then, his easy trek became a challenge. Roman armies were everywhere. Tobia could no longer avoid them. They camped in the foothills of the mountains during the night and crossed the mountains during the day. They conquered any villages they came across. They took whatever they wanted and kept moving north.

  Tobia entered their camps quietly at night and fed on their sentries. The coins he stole now were gold. The Romans may have added to his fortunes, but Tobia always approached them carefully, still heeding Runihura’s warnings. He took great care in choosing his day time hideaways. If Roman soldiers found him, they would show no mercy.

  When the sun went down, Tobia searched the area mentally for signs of humanity before emerging. If the Romans camped too close, he did not want to be surprised by a lone scout. As he scanned this evening, his mind brushed across a different thought. He knew right away this was no Roman soldier, nor a villager. What he sensed was a bloodlust, a nightwalker.

  Tobia jumped up from his hidden cave and made his way down the northern side of the mountain following the thoughts of bloodlust. He came to what once was a small farm. The stone frame of the main building still stood, but anything that could burn had. The smell of burnt hay and ash still lingered in the air. This had happened a few days ago. An angry snarl came to him, and Tobia wandered around the stone ruins to find the nightwalker. He was kicking what looked like d
ead bodies lying in the dirt.

  “What are you doing?” Tobia asked.

  The nightwalker looked up at him. “They leave nothing but death. I can’t live off of death.”

  Tobia felt the nightwalkers frustration, but his own happiness at finding one of his own, that spoke a language that he could understand, overwhelmed him. “Ah friend, I’m so happy to find you.”

  The nightwalker snarled again. “Happy for what? Now I have more competition. How am I going to survive?”

  Tobia took a step back. “Off the Romans,” he offered.

  “What? You can’t get near them with their sentries. It’s death.”

  Tobia shrugged. “I feed off the sentries.”

  “How?”

  “I just keep quiet and think about the peaceful night. Then sink my fangs in and drink. They never even remember I was there.”

  “You don’t kill them?”

  “No, why should I?” Tobia didn’t understand why this nightwalker didn’t do the same.

  You are not the same as me. The nightwalker used the mental speech.

  I am a nightwalker just like you. Tobia answered back.

  The nightwalker shook his head. He stared at Tobia for a moment more and then ran away. Tobia quested after him with