Curse of Blood and Shadow

by J. M. Kearl

  The stable master stood beside me with a saddle under his arm. “His name is Proud Boy. He’s fast and eager to go but minds well.”

  “I like him already.” Running my palm along his soft neck, I cooed, “We’re going to have a wonderful day, aren’t we, Proud Boy?” He nickered as if to agree and dug his front hoof in the dirt. “Hurry up,” I called to my friends. “You all are so slow.”

  “I’m struggling to get this tight enough,” Lora said with a grunt.

  The stable master set down his saddle and went to help her. I rode out of the barn and into the fenced field where a few other horses grazed on the green grass. A cool breeze slithered over me but the sun warmed my face. I wore all-black riding leathers except for the crimson phoenix design that took up the majority of my back. I had a cloak stashed in my bag as well just in case the weather turned bad. By the current look of the blue sky, we would be fine but in the distance dark clouds threatened.

  I asked Bindy to be part of our group instead of hanging back in secret like she usually did. She rode her horse up beside me and shoved a fuzzy hat down on her head. “Once we get out in the open that breeze is going to be cold.”

  “Have you been to the town yet?” I asked.

  “I haven’t,” she answered, her eyes searching all around us. “They’ve named it Henalae. There are people from all three kingdoms living there. It’s an experiment just like this academy.”

  “Have there been any fights?”

  “Not any more than any other town or so I’ve heard.”

  When the others were ready, we rode out of the protection of the fence and enchantments that surrounded the property. To my surprise, Madison sat on a horse picking at her nails. “It’s about time you showed up.”

  “Professor Magnevera!” My friends exclaimed excitedly. “We didn’t know you were coming with us,” Freya said.

  “All students must be accompanied by a professor when leaving the property. Although I’m sure Bindy would have been sufficient, she’s not a professor. Rules.” She picked up her reins and led the way.

  Our horses dutifully followed in a line behind hers, not needing any direction. Outside of the property the landscape lacked beautiful green and colorful flowers. There was patchy yellow and brown grass, occasional sagebrush, and large boulders scattered about. Ugly. Nothing to marvel at to pass the time. A few animals skittered from one hiding place to the next as we rode by and I tried to see what they were. Maybe ground squirrels or mice but they were so dang fast.

  “How about a song?” Legacy shouted at us. “Ten miles of silence is going to kill me.”

  “Start singing and we’ll join in,” Lora said and cleared her throat as if to get ready.

  Legacy started with humming a tune that I recognized instantly and after a few words we all joined in, singing as loudly as we could. It was sort of silly but I hadn’t had this much carefree fun in a while. The simple joy of riding a horse through the wilderness, singing with my friends, no pressures, no worries, simply being young girls. We laughed at certain parts, and carried on song after song, I even heard Madison singing a few lines in front of me. Until Henalae appeared on the horizon and we cheered.

  It was bigger than I thought it would be. At least a hundred homes, a couple tall buildings, one I guessed to be a library and the other a worship center, and that’s just what I could see.

  When we arrived at the gate, the only visible opening in the surrounding stone wall, it was guarded by seven men. They didn’t wear uniforms to signify where they came from; their attire was a mixture of browns and dark grays. Perhaps to blend in with the environment.

  “Welcome,” said an approaching gentleman. His use of the Heshan language, full black beard and copper skin made me think him Hesstian but I wasn’t sure. “You lot must be from the Allied Kingdoms Academy.”

  “We are,” Madison said. “These girls and I came to visit for the day.”

  “That’s great.” His eyes followed each of us down the line. “Are all of you from Delhoon?”

  “Yes,” Madison replied. There was no feeling in her voice but I could sense her tense up.

  “You’ll find many Delhoon inspired stores, pubs, and other establishments to the west, we call it Little Delhoon.” He gestured to his right. “Another small pocket of Hesstian places to the east, and some of the Collweyans have founded an area in the center but it’s much smaller than the other two. But mostly everyone here is intermixed. Delhoon neighboring with Hesstians and so forth.”

  “Interesting,” Madison said, her eyes lifting to the town. “I’m sure it will be a fascinating day.”

  He waved at his guards and they stepped aside allowing us to pass. “Oh!” The guard exclaimed running up to Madison. “You’ll want to be back at the academy before it gets dark if you aren’t staying the night here.”

  “Is there a particular reason why?” she asked.

  “There’s been talk of strange creatures and a few people have gone missing.”

  My heart leaped. Blood drinkers.

  Madison’s eyes slid to mine briefly. “Within the city or outside?”

  “Outside. A handful of people have left after dark and never returned. We found no trace of them.”

  “It is common knowledge that the Gap of Freeole is dangerous. Was it pack of rogue Wargon trolls?”

  “The Wargons slaughter and leave bodies. Animals eat their victims. We have not even found bones.”

  “Thank you,” was all Madison said.

  If it was vampires and they were only attacking outside the city, they were probably the savage ones Aric talked about. The creatures who couldn’t survive in sunlight. If no bodies were found—what if they are creating an army? There was no hunting party here to keep them in check. Hardly anyone even knew they existed.

  I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. I had no proof it was even blood drinkers. Like my grandmother said, the Gap of Freeole is a notoriously dangerous place, and people who aren’t trained could easily be killed out here in the territory that none of the three kingdoms claimed as their own.

  After we rode through the gates we were greeted by a group of people walking down the street. The women wore day dresses of pastels with ruffles and puffy sleeves. They were most definitely Hesstian; it was customary there for the women to wear dresses daily, not only for special occasions. There were also very few Hesstian girls at our academy I noticed. They didn’t allow their women to fight in battles either, at least they hadn’t in the last war.

  My mother grew up there, and it was so strange to me to think she’d lived like them. Docile and expected to keep to the cooking then became the Queen of Delhoon and one of the most, if not the most, powerful person on the continent. Perhaps the world, but we knew nothing about the lands beyond the oceans. The merfolk said there were other nations with great power and immortal beings they called Fae but we’d never encountered them. At a certain point the waters became too dangerous and if the ships ventured too far, they didn’t return. Either the Fae had no interest in us or their ships couldn’t make it here either. I had a feeling we were glad they hadn’t come.

  One thing clear in this city was that everyone seemed happy. They wore smiles and waved at us. The main streets teemed with people. All races, the wealthy, the poor, women in dresses or women in pants with swords, men in suits or in armored leathers, all together. They sat at the same restaurants and shopped in the same places. On the surface they appeared unified but as I looked harder they still grouped. Wealthy with wealthy, poor with poor, I could see the difference in their outerwear. The Hesstian women in poufy fine dresses didn’t sit with the women like us. I wasn’t sure who was prejudiced there. Madison told me that the wealthy women in Hesstia were snooty pigs. They probably thought us barbaric. Skin tone didn’t appear to be a factor, however, but that was not what separated us. It was ideals, traditions, customs, magic, non magic, and separate allegiances.

  “Shall we go to Little Delhoon first? Or start some
where else?” Madison asked, brushing a piece of golden hair out of her face. “We have about four hours to play and then we need to start on our way so we don’t get caught out after sundown.”

  “I miss home,” Lora said, softly. “I vote Little Delhoon for some brunch.”

  I patted my horse’s neck. “That sounds good to me.”

  We headed to the right, down the main road and had to stop several times for children running, people crossing, vendors shouting for us to try a bite, or finally chickens barging out in front of us to peck at whatever it was they could see but I could not.

  “Shoo!” Madison said with the wave of her hand and the birds bowled over and out of the way as if by a blast of wind. I laughed as they shrieked and flipped end over end.

  It was apparent when we arrived at the Little Delhoon section. A pair of unicorns grazed in a small corral, both white and stunning. I would have loved to pet them but it was bad manners to touch another person’s unicorn without permission.

  Another indicator was very few women wore dresses, and a large phoenix sat perched on a stand outside a shop. The sign above read: Kurney’s Enchanted Goods

  “I want to stop in here,” I said, pulling my horse over to a post.

  “I’m starving, Vis,” Legacy complained, giving me sad eyes.

  “Just for a minute. You all can go ahead and get us a table. Send me a note on where you choose to eat.” I wondered if this place would have an item I could use against Senica or the other vampires. Even if it was simply something to detect them.

  “I’ll stay with her,” Bindy said.

  The others rode ahead and I dismounted. Bindy followed me into Kurney’s and a bell rang when the door opened. The phoenix flew in right after us and landed on another perch by a desk near the back. It called loudly and watched us with keen awareness. A man stepped out from a darkened doorway, pushing his glasses higher on his nose. “Hello, how are you ladies today?” His white and gray hair was disheveled and balding on the top. Although he was old, likely very old, his body still looked strong.

  “We are well, thank you,” I answered, stepping over to a ceiling-high shelf with small cubbies that held an item or two each. There were hundreds of things ranging from jewels, crowns, necklaces, a floating rose, to skulls, human and animal alike, bottles of potions, a human hand in a jar of liquid, a bottle of what looked like blood and much more.

  The Phoenix flew again, this time it landed on another perch right next to me. It cocked its head to the side and cooed, watching me intently. “Hello,” I said slowly, reaching for it. “May I pet your phoenix?”

  “Yes,” the old man said, folding his arms. “It’s quite interesting he’s approached you. He usually doesn’t like strangers.”

  I stroked his silky smooth feathers and he cooed again and then he hopped from his perch onto my shoulder. I was a little startled at the suddenness of his jump and the old man laughed. “Seems you’ve made a new friend, Marlow.” The old man looked at me a little longer and I wasn’t sure what he was trying to see. “There must be something special about you.”

  “She has a way with animals,” Bindy said.

  The old man tapped his shoulder and the bird Marlow flew over to his shoulder. “It would seem so. Is there something you’re looking for today?”

  Peeking over at Bindy I wondered how much I should say. I’d agreed with the princes when we decided not to tell any of the professors or headmaster about the blood drinkers. But Bindy was neither of those two things, I didn’t think she’d tell if I asked her to keep it quiet. “Yes, but I’m not entirely sure what the item will be. I’m looking for something that can be used to detect if someone perhaps looks human but is not entirely human, if that makes sense.”

  Bindy stood with her arms crossed and if she was caught off guard by my question, she didn’t show it.

  “It makes perfect sense,” he said and tapped a finger on his clean-shaven chin. “I’m not sure I have anything that specific. An orb that glows when someone wishes you harm, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  I chuckled. “I’m afraid it would always be glowing.”

  He smiled at that. “Perhaps if I knew exactly what type of being you were talking about. There are few I can think of.”

  I gently chewed on the inside of my cheek wondering if I should say. “The Collweyans call them vampires.”

  He blinked a few times before speaking. “I’m sorry I don’t have an item that would detect one of those.” He paused. “Are there rumors of one here?”

  “You know of them?” I didn’t want to alarm him but I was curious that he knew what I was talking about.

  “I’ve heard some of the Collweyans talk but none have mentioned one here.”

  I shouldn’t have said anything, this was sure to cause panic in the city. I had to do something to recover. “Oh, no rumors of one here of course. It’s not cold enough and they can’t go in the sun. It’s for a class project. We are doing reports on a creature from the North and I chose the blood drinkers. I thought I could impress my professor if I found something like that.”

  I was about to say my thanks and walk out, when Bindy said, “I need something that detects a lie.”

  ∞∞∞

  On the way out of Kurney’s Enchanted Goods Bindy pushed the ring she’d gotten into my palm. “I know there is no class project but if you’re trying to figure out a vampire from a human, you can ask and if they lie, you’ll know. This is what you suspect that boy who threatened you from the party is?”

  I nodded, inspecting the fingernail-sized ruby encased with silver vines and leaves swirling and interlocking beautifully.

  “You think this is what killed Finnick?” Bindy asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I suspected so myself.” Bindy untied her horse from the post. “The spell solaris adonus should work against them.”

  “Sunlight magic.” I licked my dry lips. “The only problem with that is I think some of them can walk in the daylight.”

  A nearby torch lit and a note floated over to me. We’re at The Plank Walk

  “I’m sure cutting their heads off will work just fine,” Bindy said, mounting her horse.

  “That’s what Zyacus said.”

  Chapter 21

  As one might expect, The Plank Walk was a pub serving mostly seafood. The very distinct aroma this type of food carries, wafted out the door before we even stepped inside. Every table in the place was filled with patrons, while waitresses rushed around with drinks and trays of food. The walls were covered with seashells, and paintings of ships and merfolk. An old anchor with barnacles hung from the center of a massive beam, like a chandelier. A large fish tank full of colorful tropical fish, sea plants, and coral took up half the back wall. It was such a fun little place and I could see why they chose to eat here.

  Legacy stood up in the middle of the room and waved at us. We made our way over and within seconds a woman with pink scales all over her forearms and mauve long hair, approached our table. With some magic, this mermaid on land had legs, and she smiled warmly. “Academy students, what a pleasure. My name is Namara and I’ll be helping you ladies today. We’re serving crab legs with bread or salmon and bread. And if you need a moment to discuss it, I can get drinks for you.”

  “We’ll need a minute but yes, drinks.” Madison turned to the bottles of wine and liquor on the wall.

  “What are you getting, Visteal?” Lora asked.

  “I’ll have cherry kinikari, if you have it.” That was a sweet bubbly drink with a touch of mongleweed for energy.

  The waitress gave me a long look but nodded. “Yes,” she said slowly and I wondered what she was calculating in her head. “I can get that for you.”

  “Oh, me too,” Freya said, and eventually all the young girls ordered it while Madison got red wine and Bindy, an ale. For a meal, we ended up getting a huge plate of crab legs and a loaf of bread.

  I was mid-bite when a tap on my shoulder drew my attention. Tur
ning around, there stood three children about seven or eight, all holding wooden swords.

  “Are you Princess Visteal?” the boy asked.

  I put my hand over my mouth to cover my chewing and nodded. “Yes, I am.”

  “Will you sign our swords?” One of the girls asked with a toothy grin. Her twin ginger braids and mass of freckles were adorable.

  “Of course.” I didn’t have a quill and looked at Madison.

  “Orlan tuacara,” she said. “It will engrave your name.”

  The three of them beamed as my hand hovered over each sword and as I whispered the spell, my name slowly engraved, as if I’d used a hot poker to burn it in.

  “Wow, thank you so much!” The three exclaimed when I finished, and ran off to their own table. They jumped up and down, excitedly telling their parents. I wished they hadn’t been so loud about it. Everyone would hear and it would cause a commotion.

  “I wonder how they knew,” I said, picking up a slice of bread. I loved making the children happy but being out here with no guards to stop a crowd worried me. “I’m not dressed like a princess. I’m not wearing my crown.”

  “The mermaid guessed I’m sure and probably has told everyone in here by now, and if she didn’t, they heard it from those kids,” Madison said, sounding a little annoyed. “Lora said your name when we were ordering. Your name isn’t common and everyone knows you’re at the nearby academy.”

  Lora’s cheeks reddened. “Oh, should I not have?”

  “We’ll see here in a moment.” Madison sipped her wine surveying the room.

  Many eyes shifted toward our table and my stomach twisted. There were few times I was allowed to go out in public like this. The last time I was in Delhoon and when people learned who I was, a crowd started clamoring and pushing to see me. Fights broke out, grown adults cried when they touched my cloak, or if I even said hi to them. Guards had to surround me and shoved through the crowd to get me out.