He forgot his hunger and approached the creature gently, trying not to trample the fresh smelling greenery surrounding them both. He attempted to speak for the first time since his awakening.
‘I am Vellar,’ he murmured groggily but deeply, unsure if any sound would come forth. ‘I fly to find my Master.’
‘Well Vellar, you’ve chosen the nicest spot in all of the oceans to rest upon. I am pleased for some company. I come from the Royal Sea City and my Father will be missing me so very much.’
‘What is a city?’ Vellar knew so little, he was aware that his question sounded odd.
‘It’s a place where my people dwell,’ the creature still showed no fear of his presence. ‘I wonder what manner of creature you are and where you come from. You are quite large like the whales but I have never before seen the likes of you upon the lands. You look a bit like a human, but they are much smaller. Yet you seem to be also a dragon, now they are big. What are you, exactly?’
‘I do not know. What is human and what is a dragon?’
A strange sound emanated from the little creature. It did not sing but seemed to snort oddly from its face.
‘Why do you make this noise? He asked, feeling a little offended as his emotions stirred in confusion.
‘I am laughing, Vellar. You don’t seem to know very much do you? I simply must know what manner of creature you are.’
‘Will you do that sound that you were doing when I found you? I liked it.’
‘Sing, you mean. Of course I will sing but why made you land here’
‘I am tired and my Master tells me I need to rest and feed.’
‘Oh I see,’ she tried to understand but her mind raced ahead in her excitement of meeting such a strange beast. ‘I know a little sea magic that will help you, but don’t tell my Father. Just because he is a Prince he thinks he knows everything.’
‘What is sea magic?’
‘I can sing you a melody that is a sea spell. Because I am a sea Princess I can weave this magic.’
The giant smoothed the greenery carefully so as not to disturb it too badly. He settled himself next to the little creature, minding that he did not crush her. Then he listened to the soothing noises again. Only this time the words made him feel strong. This was just what he needed. The noise ended and he suddenly felt weak again.
‘Little creature, you must not stop, do it again,’ he demanded boisterously.
‘Instead of a spell of healing I will do a spell of enchantment,’ the creature had sensed his unease. ‘This should make you feel happier, so you will not be so forceful and grumpy.’
Little did the sea creature realise that the magic was not only healing, but it was feeding the Fire Giant. This was his source of food. As the monshaads fed with souls, he fed with magic.
The little sea creature ended her lullaby and announced that it was time for her to sleep.
‘I am a huphin,’ she told him. ‘But I still don’t know what you are. I am also held here when I want to go home. My family will be heartbroken, wondering and worrying. Can you help me leave this place?’
‘No,’ Vellar roared. ‘You cannot leave me.’ Tears welled in the corner of his eyes. He did not know what it was he felt but he had to keep this little creature.
The huphin looked on in horror at his confused expression.
‘I cannot let you go. You make me feel strong.’
‘I must go, Vellar. My father will be looking for me. I could meet you again if you like.’
‘No. I found you so you are mine.’
‘I must go back to my own people just as you must travel to your Master.’
‘You can come with me,’ he realised this was the answer to his loneliness. ‘I need you and I am keeping you.’
The little huphin made another strange noise. Now her cheeks shone with a wetness and she no longer made the strange noise of laughing.
‘What noise is this you make?’ he asked of her.
‘I am sad and I am crying. You cannot keep me, I belong to the sea.’
‘No, you belong to me because I found you.’
‘You did not find me because I was not lost. I don’t belong here, I was forced to stay here. You must let me go to my home. I need my people if I am to be happy. I will be sad if you keep me.’
‘I will be sad if you go, so you are staying.’
‘Am I a prisoner?’ she asked.
‘You are mine and I am keeping you.’ Vellar could not part with this newfound comfort. ‘I will ask my Master to tell your people and then they will know that you are mine.’
The aching fear of losing her had ceased but he could not risk her sneaking away. He picked her up and placed her in a small crevice of inland rocks. As he lay to rest, he blocked the crevice with his body so she could not escape whilst he rested. She was his to keep and he would take her on his journey so he would never again feel those terrible pains of hunger.
Princess Bryley sobbed softly. This monster had betrayed her. She should never have shown him her secret that she could perform sea magic. If this magic did make him strong then she would never do it for him again. She would rather die.
Vellar awoke and readied himself to continue his journey now that he felt stronger with sleep and nourishment. The voice in his head encouraged him to move on. He scooped up his new prize, a sleeping little creature, and took flight heading towards the vast lands that sat on the very edges of the oceans; then onwards to the mid-mountains; then onwards to the Magic Wall. All of this he knew, as if it was written upon his mind. His Master directed him. As he flew he cared not for the land or sea below, he did not see or hear. With his precious bundle he just flew. His strength renewed he would not stop until he reached the mid-mountains. His Master was overjoyed when he told him of his prize. Soon he would be home.
A little huphin Princess awoke and wept. She missed her home, achingly. When would she ever see her family again?
33 Love Hurts
Heather’s numbed body felt the coldness creep in. Slowly she became conscious. She felt an urge to feed, it was a strange sensation as she did not crave food to fill her stomach. She desired a warm beast so she could drink from its pumping veins. Surely, this would give her strength.
A lonesome basca stood beside her, left behind because of its broken wing. An injured basca was no longer of any use to a vamplin. The basca lowered its head to see if this vamplin would want to fly. She stroked his beak and lowered her head to its neck.
‘I need to feed, creature. You must help me.’
Sinking her teeth into a throbbing vein, she experienced her very first feed of warm pumping blood. It was exquisite. Warmth ran through every vein in body. Exquisite. Her muscles felt strong. Her mind sharp. She felt alive and powerful. As the beast’s heart rate slowed, she pulled away. She had no desire to kill the creature. The basca had never been used in this way other than by an occasional hungry vamplin hound. He was confused. He turned to leave.
‘No, basca, please stay. I will not do that again, I needed desperately to feed.’
Too late, the basca followed his own instincts of survival and rushed away, using half flight and half hopping with its strong legs. It rushed to create a distance between itself and this vamplin.
Once again Heather was alone.
A storm was stirring and she knew she needed to find shelter. Something inside her stirred and she shivered, not at the cold but at the feeling of something unknown. Her instincts were becoming ever strong.
With icy fingers she continued to dig, hammer, shape and build the soft snow. To survive she must find refuge. It was not perfect but it would provide some form of protection from the increasing wind and snowstorms of the mountains. She was in a weakened state but the feeding from the lamed basca had cleared her mind. She must survive.
Settling inside the finished ichale, she shivered. She knew that it was not too late to Change, this would guarantee her survival, but this she could not do. Her hands rested on the sides of her stoma
ch. Nothing yet moved, it was too soon, but life was there within her. She must protect her unborn. Changing would kill the innocent life that nourished from her womb.
She thought of Fiendrac. He would look for her, of this she never doubted. She could even try to reach for his thoughts. In her weakened state, she knew she could only afford one attempt at magic. One of the first lessons taught at the Academy was that of self-healing.
She thought of her father. He had taught her well though she had never acknowledged this before. She knew what must be done to survive this bitter loneliness. She missed the warmth of her mother and the tender routine of her nursemaid Gloria. All of this seemed in another life, another time.
She thought of Leon, tender Leon, her childhood sweetheart. How would he feel seeing her in the form of a vamplin?
It must be done now, the time was here. All her strength must go into her attempt at saving her and her unborn child. She closed her eyes. The coldness still bit at her thick pale skin. A human would never survive in this world. She reached deep within herself. Her attention swirled as she slowly sank into the shadowy pits of darkness, deep, resonant and bottomless. She could no longer think of those who she loved, she had locked away the vulnerable depths of her thoughts. Her heartbeat slowed almost to a stop. Her body temperature cooled to match the air that surrounded her. Still her hands rested on her stomach as if she embraced the child to keep it warm. Heather had entered a magical trance that would allow her body to hibernate. Her child would nourish within and remain blissfully unaware of the dangers it would soon face in this new world.
Lord Fiendrac awoke with a sudden start.
‘Who drugged me to slumber?’ he demanded.
‘Are you ready to do battle my Lord?’ Commander Vendring asked of him.
‘I must find her,’ he remembered. ‘Then I will find the Emperor and put an end to this madness.’
‘Lady Vatara has fed on her blood. You must know that your sister plots against you and follows the Emperor with an army.’
‘It is she who has taken my wife.’ Fiendrac’s anger was quickly increasing. ‘My child will be the next ruler, not that traitorous female. My sister will pay for her blundering mistakes.’
‘Calm yourself my Lord,’ Vendring advised. ‘You have your own army at your disposal. You must act as a leader, not as a lovesick youngster.’
‘My son is the next leader of our people. I must save her, then I save my son.’
‘You cannot even be sure she is with child let alone with a son.’
‘Upon my life I know this to be. We must take the armies that are loyal to the old ways and put a stop to this Emperor’s rule. It can only lead to the destruction of life as we have known. Then I must find my wife and child.’
‘She is not your wife, my leader.’
‘In my heart she is my soul mate.’
Lord Fiendrac wasted no more time and ordered his commanders to break camp, his mission: to destroy the enemy, the monshaads.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Catherine lives on the borderline of North and West Yorkshire, the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales in England.
She is a mother of 4 children and a grandmother of 2 grandchildren. She has an array of dogs and a cat. Her wonderful husband assists her with the complicated world of computers that enable her to publish her works for the world to view.
Her reading is dedicated to the worlds within Fantasy Adventure, Urban Fantasy and Historical English Crime. Occasionally she turns to English Classics with Charles Dickens and the Bronte sisters being favourites.
By day she sells antique and vintage items. By night she is busy creating and writing towards her new Fantasy series, Aarabassa World.
Aarabassa World Website:
http://www.onewomansquest.co.uk/index.html
Author’s Blog:
http://onewomansquestuk.blogspot.co.uk/
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Look out for Book 4 in the upcoming
Aarabassa World series.
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Blood Bride (Aarabassa World) Page 16