“Plenty.” Dema nodded to the stone house where Tenzin was already headed. “Come on inside. You’ll like this place.”
Like everything else in Lalibela, the house was built up, a three-storied structure built of dressed-stone blocks, angular in form and beauty. Balconies stretched across the second floor, and the house wrapped around an inner courtyard tiled in red with a trickling fountain in the center.
“This place used to belong to some politician in Addis, but he was arrested for corruption,” Dema said. “Now it belongs to Hirut.”
“Saba’s daughter owns this house?” Ben asked.
Dema shrugged. “Seems like every vampire we meet in this place is Saba’s relative or in her line. It’s impossible to avoid the connection.”
“Yeah, I’m getting that.”
“There are plenty of light-safe rooms on the second floor and even one on the third. There’s also a new basement dug into the bedrock. It’s pretty cool.”
“Sounds like it.” Ben couldn’t muster up any excitement though.
Ever since they’d seen the dust storm south of Lalibela, he’d felt a sense of dread settle over him. Now that they had all the leverage they could find, Desta’s crown and her devotional, the enormity of what they were attempting was beginning to weigh on him.
A scroll that purported to show vampires the secret of controlling every single element at once. He couldn’t even fathom it. He’d seen the havoc one single ancient could create if they lost their temper. Arosh, the fire vampire purportedly searching for the bone scroll, had leveled cities and wiped out civilizations according to his uncle.
There was no way on earth that vampire needed to be able to control the wind, the earth, and water too.
Why would she want him to? The whispering voice stopped Ben in his tracks. Saba was the biggest, baddest vampire in charge. Why would she want Arosh to find a scroll that could make him more powerful than she was?
He doesn’t have it yet.
Tangled thoughts crowded his mind as he entered the house. He was immediately greeted by Zain, who handed him a glass of water and a bottle of blood-wine.
“Figured you’d be parched by the time you got here.” He slapped Ben on the shoulder. “It’s a lot dryer here than in Addis.”
“I can feel it.” His skin felt tight and his throat burned. “Tenzin?”
“Already exploring your digs on the second floor.” Zain nodded toward the stairs. “The rest of the humans and vampires are settling in. Dema and I just waited up for you two. Figured you wouldn’t want to land in an empty house.”
“Appreciate it.” He lifted the bottle of blood-wine. “I’ll take this up. You two get some rest.”
Zain yawned. “If the churches don’t wake us up. The priests start praying early here.”
And broadcast it on loudspeakers through the town. Ben had discovered that little trivia fact in Addis. Luckily, vampire sleep wasn’t disturbed by much, so the subtle sounds of early morning chants had been his brief but peaceful companion every time he drifted to sleep for the past week.
Ben walked up the stairs, feeling the comfortable hum of amnis from his aunt and uncle below his feet. Dema was speaking softly, heading toward the wing of the house where Sadia must be resting, and Ben felt Daniel’s vibrant energy coming from upstairs.
He found the man on the second floor, sitting on the ground and looking out over a narrow valley.
“This is beautiful,” Daniel said. “Places like this? They’re so beautiful.”
“All the wild?” Ben looked out over the dark valley, and it felt untamed to him. The wind whipped around the rocks and licked over the rivers in the distance, bringing the scent of green growing things, dust, and humanity.
“It’s not the wild.” Daniel shook his head. “It’s the harmony.” He put both his hands down, placing them on the raw stone that made the house. “People have lived here for so many centuries. They carved holy places into these rocks, used the rock to build shelter and make roads. It’s all connected, you see?”
Ben couldn’t see, but then, he wasn’t an earth vampire. “I guess it’s a little like the Native people in the southwest, right? They made their homes out of mud brick and rock, right? That’s why Santa Fe is so unique.”
“It’s a little bit like that, but there’s something here that’s so deeply…” Daniel sighed with a smile on his face. “…loved. The earth here is loved deeply. It’s an extraordinary feeling.”
Ben smiled, and for the first time, he really saw Carwyn in Daniel. The earth vampire had helped raise him and had one of the biggest hearts Ben had ever known. But Daniel, on first impression, came across as whimsical and flighty.
“I’m glad you’re with us.” Ben patted his shoulder. “You clearly love people, and you love the earth. That means you’ll take care of both.”
A shadow crossed Daniel’s eyes. “I haven’t always taken care of people,” he said. “Not the way I should have.”
Ben looked at him and remembered Dema’s knife against his neck.
Dema doesn’t pull a knife on people unless they’ve earned it…
“So change.” Ben leaned against a stone pillar and looked at the man. “Be a better person. A new person if you need to. God knows I never wanted this life, but I’m managing.”
Daniel turned to him. “You’ve taken to it well.”
“That’s what you do when there are people in your life who love you,” Ben said. “You manage, you adapt, even if it’s not what you planned.”
“You’re a good vampire, Ben Vecchio.” Daniel smiled. “Quite an excellent one, in fact.”
“If I am, it’s because of Beatrice and Giovanni.”
“And Tenzin.”
Ben smiled. “Always Tenzin.”
He could feel her in the distance, floating in the air and rolling with the breezes that licked up from the valley floor. “I need to go,” he said. “Don’t get careless.” He nodded at the brightening horizon. “We’re going to need you soon.”
Daniel grinned. “So are you going to carry me, or will it be the little one?”
“Uh…” Ben laughed a little. “You don’t want her to carry you,” he said. “Trust me. She will bitch about how much you weigh the entire flight.” He walked up the stairs, letting her amnis pull him.
Ben could see her in the distance, just as he’d pictured, floating in the night wind and staring up at the stars overhead. He joined her, drifting toward her in the darkness, knowing she could feel his approach.
She reached out and tangled her fingers with his. “The stars.”
“The quiet.”
Tenzin let out a long breath and closed her eyes. “I love this place.”
It seemed that everyone did. “Is it the elevation?”
“Yes. And the wind. The air currents. The stars. The silence. The air smells like pepper trees. Did you catch it?”
“I do now that you mention it.”
“This is peaceful.”
“I’m glad.” He let his body float toward her, turning his head when he got close.
She turned her deep grey eyes to him. “Hello, min khar.”
“Hello. Did you find our room already?”
“Yes, it’s light safe and has a very nice bed.”
He winced a little. “So it’s as stiff as a wooden board.”
“Like I said, it’s very nice.”
Tenzin’s love of very firm mattresses always amazed him. It wasn’t that he couldn’t sleep on hard mattresses. He was a vampire; he could sleep on rock if that’s where he landed. But Tenzin didn’t sleep. She actually chose to spend her hours of waking meditation on surfaces that could be used as a building foundation.
He twisted a lock of her hair around his finger. “Are we starting tomorrow night?”
“No.” She pursed her lips. “I promised Chloe and Sadia we would spend our first night here. We’ll start searching the following night.”
“Okay.” It wasn’t a bad idea; it was j
ust that Ben was feeling the pressure. Arosh, Saba, and their cadre weren’t taking time off to socialize and see the sites. “Do you think if Arosh finds the bone scroll we’ll get any warning, or will we just get wiped off the planet in a wave of elemental power?”
She turned her head and brushed a kiss across his lips. “So doubtful, Benjamin. The elders of Alitea are just as fallible as the elders of Penglai. Trust me; they only act all-knowing to keep young ones in awe.”
“Young ones like me?”
“Like you. And Beatrice and Giovanni.” She patted his cheek. “Trust me, after you pass your first thousand years, your perspective on authority really changes.”
Ben bit his lip to keep from smiling. “I guess I’ll have to take your word on that.”
“You should.”
The following night, they were regaled by tales of the fascinating city, told by Sadia and, to a lesser degree, Zain. Ben was surprised his little sister was so intrigued by the place. But then, she wasn’t exactly an ordinary six-year-old.
“And there were kids—like my age, Ben—and they were walking all by themselves. And some of the boys have their own carts.” She leaned closer, shoving what looked like a chicken nugget in her mouth. “And they have donkeys. Donkeys that pull the carts! And they stand on the back and the donkey goes like this.” She hopped down and pantomimed a trotting donkey. “And the boys are just standing on the back of the carts like this.” She mimicked holding reins. At least that’s what he was imagining. “And so they have, like, their own cars practically.”
“But they’re donkeys with carts,” he said. “Not engines.”
“Ben.” Sadia rolled her eyes and got back in her seat. “Donkeys are much better than cars. Donkeys are smart. And they carry stuff, and Dema today said that all the donkeys wandering around the town? They all know how to get back to their houses, all on their own.”
Ben took a long drink of water. “Clearly I have not given donkeys enough consideration.”
“They’re like, the best things,” Sadia said. “Way better than cars.”
“You already sound like your father,” Tenzin muttered.
Giovanni was well known for appreciating a solid equine mount instead of modern vehicles. He was a fan of original horsepower, not the technological variety.
“And Ben.” She tugged on his shirt. “There’s a whole church with secret rooms.”
“I’ve heard about that.” Ben had heard that some of the churches only allowed women in parts of the church and that the holy of holies in each church, where they kept a replica of the Ark of the Covenant, was only accessed by the head priests. “But you still got to see a lot.”
“Yes. And there was an angel church—that was my favorite—because it was really high up and I thought, Yeah! Because it’s the church for the angels and they can fly.”
He nodded and drank his blood-wine. “That’s good thinking.”
“Ben, do you think angels were really just wind vampires like you and Tenzin?”
Ben nearly spit out his blood-wine. “What? No.”
“Yes,” Tenzin said. “That’s the most probable explanation.”
“Tenzin, angels appear in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and multiple other religions. Can we not discount the spiritual beliefs of millions because—”
“’Cause I was thinking if people back a long, long time ago,” Sadia continued. “If they didn’t know what wind vampires were, they could think they were, like, creatures sent by God. Like angels.”
Tenzin nodded. “That’s entirely plausible.”
Great. Giovanni and Beatrice were going to blame him when Sadia gleefully told her very Catholic great-grandmother that angels were really just wind vampires.
“Hey, Sadia.” Ben could only think about one thing that would distract her from the angels were vampires train she’d been caught on. “Why don’t you tell me more about the donkey carts?”
23
“I can carry him,” Tenzin insisted.
“Tiny, you don’t want to carry him. You hate carrying people around.”
She shrugged. “Fine. If you insist, you carry the earth vampire.”
If he insisted. Ben barely controlled his eye roll. He shifted the backpack on his shoulders and held his arms out to Daniel. “The night’s not getting any younger,” he said. “We better go.”
Daniel stepped up to Ben and held out his arms. “Which way do you want me to face? Are we hugging it out?”
Ben smothered the laugh. “Please don’t make me stare at you for two hours, Dan.”
“Fine.” The man sighed and turned his back to Ben, who put his arms around the man’s chest and pulled him tight. “I do feel very secure.” He patted Ben’s arms. “Thank you, Ben.”
He turned to Tenzin. “Are you sure we need an earth vampire?”
“How much digging do you want to do?”
“Fine.” Ben took to the sky, barely feeling the weight of the man in front of him. He did what Tenzin suggested and created a bubble of air around them, cutting down the drag from Daniel’s gangly frame and their heavy packs.
“We’re going north, right?” Daniel yelled.
“You don’t have to yell,” Ben said. “You don’t feel the wind, do you?”
“Oh.” Daniel turned a little. “No, I don’t. That’s very odd.”
“Trust me, you’re going to appreciate that when we get to Hawulti and your teeth aren’t filled with bugs.”
“All these insights into wind-vampire transportation,” Daniel said. “Fascinating.”
They flew north-northeast for about two hours, Tenzin leading the way. She began to descend as they crossed over a round, green-blue lake that looked like an old volcanic crater. The land rose and fell beneath them, a series of hills and valleys marked by small towns and isolated electric lights.
Ben finally saw where Tenzin was heading when she circled around, approaching the hill from the north. Sitting on top of a hill was an island of forest among cultivated land with a round church in the center.
“I’ve read about these!” Daniel said. “The church forests of Ethiopia. They keep the land around the church wild as a representation of Eden.”
“Really?” That was cool. “I don’t think the site is actually in the church, but it makes a sheltered place to land.”
“Oh right. That makes sense.”
Daniel had been a relatively easy passenger considering he really was all arms and legs. He hadn’t wriggled or shifted too much in Ben’s arms.
Ben followed Tenzin as she descended to a dark corner of the forest, well away from any electric lights. If there was any wildlife or human life awake, Ben couldn’t sense it. There was only the wind, the trees, and the stretch of rocky plain that stretched beyond the trees.
They landed in the forest, and Ben could immediately feel the sense of calm the church fathers no doubt wanted to evoke. The night birds had fallen silent at their approach, but insects sang and the wind soughed through the branches overhead.
The forest floor was soft and damp from a recent shower, verdant with new and growing things; tiny pale flowers were popping up along the base of the trees. Small saplings grew in clearings, and a stacked rock wall surrounded everything.
He heard scattering footsteps in the distance and knew small creatures were running from the scent of large predators.
“This is magical.” Daniel wandered through the dense woodland, so different from the surrounding landscape. “Imagine, the hills were once covered in this kind of forest.”
Ben looked around. “Beautiful.”
“But over time…”
Tenzin kicked at a pile of sheep droppings. “People graze animals. They have to eat.”
The more people, the less wild. That’s what Ben was learning the longer he lived. “At least this piece has been preserved,” he said. “Tenzin, where did Liya indicate the possible site was?”
Tenzin was already looking at the map. “This way.” She pointed past the wal
l. “This is one of the active sites she mentioned, so let’s take care not to wake up any priests.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Daniel followed Tenzin, hopping over the stone wall and leaving the dark safety of the forest. “And let’s not tell my father we’re digging for treasure on holy ground, shall we?”
“It won’t be the first time,” Ben muttered.
Daniel shot him a dirty look.
“What?” Ben looked around at the terrain as they left the shelter of the church forest.
There were no houses nearby, and only the hint of cultivated land that started on the terraced hillsides. Still, his senses were on alert.
“Are you getting any old vampire signatures?” Daniel asked Tenzin.
“Nothing.” She shook her head. “None of our kind have been here in a long time.”
“I’m sensing the same thing,” Daniel said. “Lots of human activity, but no immortal.”
“That’s good.” Ben watched Daniel. “Are you getting anything from the ground yet?”
“Not yet.” He looked at them, then looked at the ground. “Just to warn you, I need to get significantly more naked to do this properly.”
“That’s what she said,” Tenzin muttered.
Ben looked up. “Tiny!”
Tenzin looked surprised. “What?”
“That joke actually worked.” Ben was astonished. Tenzin’s attempts at anything approaching a joke about sex usually fell very flat. “Good job.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I’ve been out of isolation for fifteen years now, and I can finally tell a joke that makes sense.”
He looked at her while Daniel was stripping to his skin. “You know what? Don’t minimize that accomplishment. You should be proud.”
“I know who should be proud, and it’s Daniel for his very well-developed—”
“You know what?” He put his arm around her shoulders and casually pinched her lips together. “Don’t spoil your moment of triumph. Let’s let the earth vampire work.”
“Mm shh gnnng naa ahshhh.”
The Bone Scroll: An Elemental Legacy Novel Page 17