The two hurried into the back, howling in pain from the sunslight as they did so. They clamored inside the covered bed of their truck, and both sighed as they caught their breath.
“What now?” Ema’as asked as she looked at the barely-living guard who had been tied up back there the whole time. Most of his visible skin had been stripped from him, and huge chunks of flesh were missing. The two had been careful not to sever any arteries out of fear of killing him, but there honestly was not much left.
“I guess we eat,” Yarik smiled as he crawled toward the guard. The guard opened his eyes slightly and wheezed as the two Thirst struck Vampre approached him.
“Please... kill me this time,” He weakly whispered as they drew near. Yarik laughed as he sunk his fangs into the guard’s arm. He lapped up what blood he could draw and ripped a small piece of muscle from what was left of the guard’s forearm. Stepping back to eat the flesh, Ema’as took her turn and began to drink from the guard.
“It hurts,” The guard whispered as he cringed and turned his head to the right. “Why don’t you kill me?” Ema’as looked up at him for a moment as she chewed on a piece of his flesh. She felt mildly sorry for the guard, but not enough to stop eating. He was what was keeping her from losing her sanity, from living a life of pain. In her eyes, it was either him or her.
“We are going to run out of flesh soon,” Yarik observed with his mouth full of flesh. He poked some exposed bone, and the guard trembled. Yarik smiled as he chewed.
“There is simply not enough for both of us to keep eating.” He continued, giving Ema’as a grim expression, “We have to find more food.”
Ema’as chewed quietly to herself and realized he was right. She swallowed a bit of flesh and pondered her situation. What did she need to do to remain living? Surely she did not survive being imprisoned by Eon for her to starve to death in the Canruusi Wastes. As she took another bite, she chuckled for the answer came to her.
“What’s so funny?” Yarik asked, smiling as he did so. Feeding had put him in a better mood; he was nowhere near as irate as he had been. He scooted over to Ema’as and smelled her neck. He was getting horny.
“You want to take a break?” He asked as he rubbed his crotch against her thigh. He braced himself and began to grind on her. She continued chewing and grabbed hold of a scrap of an old pallet, a jagged piece of broken wood. Yarik didn’t see; he was too busy humping her leg. After she swallowed the bit of flesh, she wrapped one of her arms around the back of his neck and looked into his eyes.
“You want to fuck me?” She asked with a playful grin. Yarik bit his lower lip and closed his eyes. Ema’as giggled and played with the hair on the back of his head for a moment.
“Well fuck you!” She suddenly scowled as she jabbed the point of the wood through his ribs and into his heart. Yarik gasped at the sudden strike, and his body collapsed in a disgusting puddle of blood and gore that soaked Ema’as and the truck bed beneath them. She groaned in revulsion and threw the wood aside.
“That’s fucking gross!” She screamed as she looked at the gallons of slop that Yarik had been reduced to. The smell was unbearable; she had to get out of there. She ripped one more piece off the guard and grabbed a tarp as she jumped out of the back of the truck and onto the orange ground.
With the tarp over her head to block the sunslight, Ema’as walked around the truck where there was shade and sat down. She was glad to be rid of Yarik; she hated him with every ounce of her being. It was his fault that she had been stricken with the Thirst… well, it was her own fault for breaking the law, but he was the one who turned her. Either way, he was gross and ugly and all around just not her type.
As she sat in the shade with the tarp over her, she chewed on the strip of flesh and thought. Her truck was stuck, and she had no idea how to un-stuck a truck. She looked at it and saw that the axle was resting on a rock, the wheel was up in the air. She did not know whether or not the vehicle would be drivable if she were somehow able to get it off the rock. For the moment, she refused to care. She munched on the guard-flesh and allowed herself to sit in silence.
As she spent time with her thoughts, she realized that Yarik’s plan hadn’t been a bad one. He was right about North Barus; it was nearly a safe-haven for High Vampre as from what she had heard in the past, that was where most of them gathered. She wondered how far Yarik had gotten them from the border and whether there was enough guard left for her to have the energy to make it the rest of the way. She really hated the idea, but she decided to check his body and see.
Ema’as hoisted the tarp back over her head and stood back up as she made her way to the back of the truck. She groaned when she saw the Yarik soup dripping onto the ground and rolled her eyes at the ridiculous person that he was. She did her best not to touch the disgusting goop as she crawled back into the bed. When she looked up, her eyes brightened, and she giggled with glee at what she saw.
The guard was sitting up and breathing normally. A look of confusion and disbelief was spread across his face, and his entire body seemed to have healed. He looked at Ema’as and shook his head, his face forming into an expression of fear.
“Please don’t,” He begged, “I am alive again, don’t do that to me again…”
“How the fuck are you whole?” She asked in astonishment, “What happened?”
“When he… melted or whatever, his goo got all over me,” The guard said, “My body instantly began to regenerate, I watched my muscles grow back and my skin close. It was… amazing.”
Ema’as thought over what he was saying for a moment and was so filled with joy that she could have danced. She crawled over to the guard and stroked the back of his head.
“You know what this means?” Ema’as gleefully asked. The guard shook his head and stared fearfully at the fledgling High-Vampre.
“It means our… well, my blood can heal you!” She was delighted, “It means you don’t have to die; you can be my source of food forever!” At that news, the guard lowered his head and began to weep.
“No,” He whined in a high pitched, nearly falsetto tone, “I don’t want you to do that to me over and over again. Please don’t; I’ll do anything!” He lowered his head and sobbed, and she once again took pity on him.
“Well,” She said comfortingly, “Maybe we can, I don’t know... Help each other?”
“Help each other?” The guard groaned, “The only one who will benefit from any of this is you!” Ema’as smiled and helped the guard to his feet.
“Look,” She said, “Maybe I don’t need to… you know, eat your flesh like I have been. Maybe all I really have to do is drink your blood. I mean that’s what High Vampre are known for, right? Drinking blood?”
“I mean,” The guard thought it over in his head, “Yeah that's all I have ever heard. I have never heard of High Vampre actually eating people.”
“Yeah, maybe the Thirst just makes my hunger so strong that I can’t help myself, you know?” Ema’as smiled at the guard, and he sighed.
“Yeah…” The guard’s breathing slowed he nodded in agreement with Ema’as. He seemed to be calming, “I mean that’s a Hells of a lot better than you peeling my flesh from my bones like you were…”
“Right!” Ema’as cheered, “So, all you have to do is let me drink from you whenever I want, and if you get hurt or tired or something then I will let you drink from me, and you will be healed!”
“But how is that beneficial for me?” The guard asked, shaking his head. “I just don’t…”
Ema’as laughed and waved her finger at the guard. “Look, sweetie,” She said in a patronizing tone, “You are the one who is tied up, I am the one whose strength has tripled. I could rip you apart at any moment. I could fucking slaughter you in a heartbeat. This isn’t a conversation; I really honestly don’t care about it being beneficial to you. You are my slave now. That is just how your life is from now on.”
“Thank you for your honesty…” The guard sighed. He groaned and sat back d
own, gagging at the sight of the Yarik soup that he forgot was beneath him.
“Look it doesn’t all have to be bad!” Ema’as chirped, “I mean. You’re cute. Eventually, I will need some sexy company and, I mean you are a lot better looking than Yarik. Not like I am picky anyway, if you remember I was in between two guys in the middle of Eon’s camp when I got in trouble.” The guard looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders.
“I guess that doesn’t sound so bad,” He rationalized his situation with the promise of sex. He nodded his head shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever then.”
“Don’t worry about it!” Ema’as laughed, rolling her eyes. “I will be nice as long as you cooperate. I’m not a mean person!”
The guard reluctantly nodded. He did not want to upset her by disagreeing with her. He faked a smile and stood back up. “So, can you untie me?”
Ema’as thought it over for a second and shook her head. “Not yet.” She squinted her eyes and pursed her lips together, “I don’t fully trust you yet. I don’t even know your name.”
“Camber,” He told her, “My name is Camber.”
“Well mine is Ema’as,” She smiled and extended her hand, “Oops!” She laughed, remembering his hands were tied behind his back, “My mistake!” Camber rolled his eyes, and Ema’as beckoned him to follow her.
The two hopped out of the back of the truck, and Ema’as quickly picked up her tarp and draped it over herself to protect her body from the Brothers. She grabbed some rope that was sitting inside the truck and walked over to Camber.
“Hold still,” She instructed him as she wrapped the rope around his neck.
“Hey, what… what are you doing?” He asked, fearful of what was going on.
“Making you a leash, dog.” She playfully explained as she bit her lower lip. She made sure that the rope left him room to breathe but not enough to somehow escape. When she felt she had given him the right amount of room, Ema'as tied the nastiest knot she could and looked down at his hands.
“Okay, so I am going to untie your hands now,” She raised her eyebrows at him and crossed her arms. “If you fucking run, I am going to rip your head off. Understand?”
“Yeah,” Camber sighed, “But wait.” He bent over and reached into the goo that was once Yarik beneath him. He pulled the keys to the truck up and showed them to Ema’as, “We will probably need these.”
“Good job!” She smiled wide and spun him around. She untied the rope that bound his wrists together and tossed it aside. Camber rubbed his wrists and smiled.
“So…” He looked around at the wasteland and then back to her, “So what do we do now?”
“We have to get unstuck,” She pointed at the wheel of the truck that was in the air, “Stupid ass Yarik got us stuck on a rock, and now the truck won't drive. Any suggestions?”
Camber knelt down and looked at the axle. He hummed as he examined it and turned to Ema’as.
“So, it is definitely stuck,” he confirmed, “But I might know how to fix it.” He scanned the area for a moment, obviously looking for something, “There!” He pointed to a rock and walked over to it.
“Hey!” Ema’as shouted as she ran over to him, “Stop! That’s not how this works! I will do it.” She bent down and picked up the rock, glaring at her slave as she did so. “I am not about to be bludgeoned to death by my food.”
“Right,” Camber sighed, “So basically you just need to stick the rock under the tire really tight, and the hope is that the tire will catch the rock just enough so that the truck moves forward. We only need to move it a bit.”
“You do it,” Ema’as shook her head. “I am not turning my back to you.”
“But what about me bludgeoning you to death with a rock?” Camber asked, confused.
“Nope,” She stepped back, holding tight onto the rope, “You won’t, I will see you coming. Get it done.” She moved back a couple more steps as Camber rolled his eyes and knelt down. He toiled for a moment, jamming the rock underneath the wheel. The slave was careful not to damage the tire as he worked. Once he got the stone firmly in place, he began digging the dirt around him, packing the soil around the rock. He made sure that the ground was smooth and level and finally after nearly a few minutes, stood and nodded to Ema’as.
“I think that should do it,” He was sweating profusely and unbuttoned what was left of his ripped shirt. Ema’as watched closely as he tossed the shirt aside, revealing his well-toned and horribly scarred body. She raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side, thinking the life she was finding herself living might not be so bad after all.
Camber tossed his helmet on the ground as well, revealing his Faire ears and short lavender colored hair. His eyes were the same color as his hair and the stubble on his face was white. He had scars all over the left side of his face, but she thought that made him look sexier, more dangerous. She smirked at her lucky find and cleared her throat as she walked toward him.
“Okay so, get in the truck,” She ushered him toward the driver’s side door, “Give me the keys.”
“How am I going to start it without the keys?” Camber groaned.
“Just do what I say, slave,” She commanded, “I don’t need you driving away without me.”
“Fine,” Camber put the keys into her hand, and she quickly let go of the rope and ran around to the passenger side of the truck. She jumped in, grabbed Camber’s rope again and pulled it inside the truck from his open door.
“Okay,” She adjusted her tarp and nodded at him to start the truck. She gave him the keys once again, and after he stuck them into the ignition, he turned them and the vehicle roared to life. He shut his door, and she closed hers, and she looked over him with anticipation.
“Oh I hope this works,” She groaned, as she watched him press on the gas. Almost instantly, the truck found traction and moved forward. Ema’as jumped up and down in her seat, rustling her tarp as she did so. Camber could not help but laugh as he pushed the accelerator and drove forward.
“You know you surprisingly aren’t as scary as you should be,” Camber noted as he directed the vehicle West, per Ema’as pointing, “When you’re not ripping my flesh off of me… you’re actually kind of bearable.”
“Watch it,” She growled as she wrinkled up her forehead and squinted her eyes at him, “Don’t get comfortable. I may have a likable personality, but we aren’t friends just yet. Just drive.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Camber replied. He looked down at the gas gauge and whistled.
“You know, it looks like we still have a half tank left,” He observed, “Where are we going?”
“North Barus,” she told him, “I have no idea how far it is, so just keep driving northish westy.”
“Northish westy?” Camber could not help but laugh. “What the fuck?”
“What?” Ema’as asked, confused by his laughing. She smiled and started laughing herself. “What?”
“Just… northwest is a word. Northish westy… isn’t” He blurted out a laugh again and she joined him.
“Okay so I am not a complete genius,” she said sarcastically, “You knew what I meant though.”
“Yeah, I guess I got it,” Camber shook his head, “It was just funny.” They sat in silence for nearly an hour after that. Camber had found it easy to trust Ema’as. He had discovered that she was right; she was not all bad after all. She was funny, kind of ditsy and cute. In his mind, he knew it was best that they got along if he was going to be her slave.
The filleting and consumption of his flesh, of course, had been traumatizing to him. He found it strange that he was so quickly able to be comfortable with Ema'as even after he watched her rip into him. He wondered if it was some kind of Vampre magic, some kind of spell she had him under. He had heard of High Vampre controlling other people’s thoughts and wondered if she was somehow doing that.
“So, were you always a marauder?” She finally broke the silence and asked, “I mean, were you born into it?”
“Pretty muc
h.” Camber replied, “Though I never knew my parents. They and my original tribe were wiped out when I was a baby. Somehow I didn’t get eaten and was raised by the tribe that conquered mine… it was Heklaar’s tribe.”
“Heklaar huh?” Ema’as rolled her eyes and groaned at the thought of the Gaian judge, “I really hate that guy.”
“Well he’s dead now so, I guess that's good news to you.”
“Dead?” Ema’as repeated, “How did that happen?”
“Eon has these things… they were monsters really. They are called Maas’Eon. Someone told me that it means Children of Eon in Ancient Vampre.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Ema’as replied, “So these Maas’Eon killed Heklaar?”
“Yeah. Eon wanted to see how strong they were so he sent Heklaar to fight them. Heklaar killed one and then Eon thought it was unfair, so he had Heklaar take off his armor. Heklaar didn’t last nearly as long and was chopped up by three of them.”
“Damn,” Ema’as snickered, “What an idiot, Heklaar was his strongest, most loyal Judge. I didn’t get that guy… Eon. He was pretty absorbed with himself.”
“Yeah,” Camber chuckled, “And the Demon. Man, I bet those two are going to suck each other’s dicks hard when they find each other.” Ema’as burst out laughing and leaned back in her seat.
“Yeah, I can hear it now!” She giggled as she began to impersonate Eon, “I am that I am, cum onto me that I may be glazed with your essence of purity…” She began laughing hysterically, and Camber rolled his eyes and laughed with her.
“Good impression,” He snickered, “Yeah that guy was weird. I am kind of glad that I am not with him anymore.”
“Me too,” Ema’as snorted, “He made me this way you know.”
“Yeah,” Camber replied, “I watched it happen. That sucks.”
“You have no idea,” Ema’as felt her mouth start to go dry, and her muscles began to feel sore. She looked over at Camber and sighed.
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