Encounters (The Elder Origins #3) by Bre Faucheux Page B

said.
    “How much time?” asked Jamison.
    “A matter of moments, if that.”
    Jamison stopped to stare at Lyndon once again.
    “I tried to tell you sooner. I did!” he shouted. “You were more intent upon ‘holding me accountable,’ as you say.”
    “No, you were intent on getting your way!” Jamison screamed back with equal force. “How many are there?”
    “A few dozen,” he said.
    “Oh, is that all,” said Jamison, taking a turn to sarcasm. “Nayati, take Lyndon to the far corner of the fortress and make certain he cannot leave.”
    “So I am to be your prisoner, is that it?” Lyndon’s voice dripped with contempt.
    “You are to do what you are told if you want what you came for,” said Jamison. “Madison, go to the village as fast as you can. Take the back route we came from through the hills to avoid the vampyrs. Find Jayden and bring him back.”
    Madison nodded and left before Jamison could continue with the others.
    “Mahkah, Akecheta, I trust you are still as skilled as ever with your bows. How far are our weapons from here?”
    “I set them on the fortress above. They are well hidden,” said Mahkah.
    “Wonderful. Now, have either of you ever heard of the term “fire arrows?”
    “Rather self-explanatory, Jamison,” said Mahkah.
    He smiled.
    They were at the top of the fortress within seconds and preparing for as many intruders as they could.
    “If worse comes to worse, attack them with your bare teeth,” he s aid. “And I do mean literally.”

Chapter 7
     
    Madison could hear rapid footsteps coming closer to the fortress before she had a chance to reach the village less than a mile away. The vampyrs were approaching effortlessly regardless of its staggering height. Perhaps mere motivation from their thirst, she assumed. She was no different on her first kill. She wondered for a moment if things would be different if she and Jamison could in fact help them. But with present circumstances, they were only a danger. Calming so many vampyrs at once to try and convince them that they could be saved was hardly an easy feat. And if more were being changed throughout the whole of Europe, she doubted that many could be saved in the manner in which Jamison wished.
    She stopped just outside the village’s outer rim. There was a burial ground from their dead of plague, undoubtedly caused by Caspar having poisoned their waters. A muffled sound came from beneath the dirt under her feet. Barely able to hear anything, she extended her length of hearing as far as she could. There were several vampyrs buried alive here. Although a few were so starved that they were growing weaker.
    She couldn’ t reach Jayden or find out which burial plot was his without digging up a few bodies. The village was prepared only a matter of yards away with guards on every corner. She needed discretion to get to Jayden unnoticed. Moving quickly from one spot to another, she evaded their sight.
    She was surprised to see that they didn’t bury their dead of disease farther away from the living. But then again, the vampyrs probably fought them with viciousness beyond their force. They were buried quickly and guarded at all times.
    She knelt down to the ground and decided on a spot to begin digging.
    Madison’s fingernails ripped along her skin. She hardly noticed the smell of blood coming from her thin fingers as she ravaged the ground with her hands. Her skin healed only quick enough to reopen again as she continued slicing away at the earth. Faint cries escaped from the cold, hard, and dampened soil. But to her ears, they were screams of agony.  They steadily grew louder as she tore away more dirt and pieces of grime. She dared not cry back to Jayden. If anyone were to hear or see her, she would be forced to kill them.
    She repeated this process four times before coming across the proper plot, stopping with only a few inches of dirt above each wooden coffin. She finally found a coffin containing screams she recognized.