Part 1 (1/2)

Souls Night.

by Kallysten.

Chapter 1.

Mierna wasn't afraid. Sherefused to be afraid.

She clenched her fist around her short spear and remained still a few seconds more. The screeching that had startled her repeated twice before fading in the distance. Nothing was moving around her, or at least nothing that she could see. Breathing deep, she pushed aside the fear.

With slow steps on the dry, crunching leaves covering the trail, she continued to advance, her eyes darting all around her, her ears straining to catch any more noises. The Fighters said no demons ever came from the woods, but that didn't mean there weren't any around. For all she knew, one of them was watching her and waiting for the right moment to attack. She stood a little straighter at the thought, and forced herself to look ahead rather than around her so she wouldn't appear to be scared. She would not be afraid of demons-and more importantly, of the idea of demons being close by.

An owl hooted in the distance. Mierna's heart jumped in her chest as she instinctively whirled toward the sound.

”Just a bird,” she muttered to herself. ”Nothing but a stupid bird.”

In the dense woods, the trail sometimes disappeared for a few yards. This wouldn't have been a problem if the moon had not periodically hidden behind clouds brought by a wind that chased them away as quickly as it gathered them. At times, the changing shadows seemed to give life to the trees, and Mierna had to look twice to a.s.sure herself she was still alone. She wouldn't let a few shadows unsettle her, or the wet, earthy scent of decay brought by autumn rains, or the murmur of the wind above her head, or all the noises she couldn't identify. She was not a little girl anymore, and she had long since stopped believing that souls roamed free one night a year, looking for minds to inhabit for a few hours.

Still, she would have felt better if the Fighters had not challenged her to enter the woods this particular night.

Her spear felt slippery against her palm. She stopped, transferred the spear to her left hand, and wiped the right against the fabric of her pants to get a better grip. Then she continued walking, the spear back in her right hand, ready to thrust. The pants, like the spear, belonged to her older brother Carrel, and she still felt uneasy at having borrowed them. She hadn't had much of a choice, though. She couldn't have gone trudging through the woods in a frock, and she couldn't have gone unarmed either. All she could hope was that he wouldn't be too angry when he noticed she had taken them. She didn't even want to think of what their parents would say.

Their shock when Carrel had told them she wanted to join the Fighters had been predictable, but she hadn't imagined her mother's tears, or her father's refusal to even hear her out. Whatever happened, now, she had to go to the end of the trail, and return to the Fighters with the proof they had demanded. Once she was accepted amongst them, maybe Carrel and their parents would begin to accept her decision. In any case, they wouldn't be able to stop her. It would be too late.

Mierna froze. She could have sworn she had seen a light flicker, somewhere ahead of her. It was much too late in the season for fireflies. She breathed in deep, counted to three, and took one hesitant step.The light returned, far ahead of her, moving behind the trees, dancing up and down and ... it settled, low to the ground. Mierna took another step, then two, and gasped. There were now two lights. The first one remained where it was while the second moved, then settled down at a short distance of the first.

Were these souls, Mierna wondered, recalling the tales old villagers told awed children every year on Souls Night. She did not fear the dead, but just the same, she didn't want to meet them.

She hesitated, and then steeled herself. She had to go to the end of the trail. She had to find the weapon she had been asked for. Small lights dancing ahead of her-she counted five-were not going to stop her.

As quietly as she could, she continued to approach. There were six lights, now, their glow even brighter as the moon had disappeared behind dark clouds, and she could see a shadow hovering around them.

Her mouth suddenly very dry, she stepped always closer. The shadow stood less than twenty feet in front of her, and Mierna frantically tried to recall what she had heard of Souls Night. The souls might try to show her images. They wouldn't hurt her as long as she left them in peace ... but she couldn't remember anything about shadows lurking among the souls. Was it protecting them, maybe? Or was it something different, something much more dangerous-a demon?

Just as the idea struck her mind, Mierna walked on a dried branch. She felt it snap before the cracking sound reached her ears, and she winced. This wasn't good. She hadn't wanted to be noticed by whatever was there, a few feet away now, but it was too late. The shadow was growing, turning toward her. A flame wavered in front of the tall shape, its light reverberating in fiery eyes. Mierna's blood turned to ice in her veins. Cold beads of sweat rolled down the back of her neck. The shadow took a step toward her, and she reacted without thinking.

The spear left her hand before she was even conscious of having taken aim. She had trained so long for this, hiding from all to do it. Women weren't supposed to fight demons. They were supposed to stay home, and hope for the best. She had never understood why. As far as she could recall, she had known that she wouldn't be hiding while others fought for her.

What she had never trained for, however, never expected, was the cry of surprised pain the shadow let out when the spear hit it. Part of her had expected the spear to pa.s.s through the shadow as though pa.s.sing through smoke. Instead, the shout was accompanied by the noise of a solid body falling back on the ground. As it did, the hood of the black cloak that had made that body seem other than human fell back, revealing a pale face that almost seemed to glow in the light of the returning moon.

Horrified by what she had done, Mierna rushed forward, falling to her knees next to the man. The spear was embedded in his abdomen, the area around it s.h.i.+ning wetly with blood. He struggled to sit up and she babbled a string of breathless apologies.

”I'm so sorry ... I didn't mean ... G.o.ds...”

He raised his hand and it hovered near the spear as though to grab it, but did not touch it.

”Pull it out,” he grunted.

Mierna's hands shook when she grasped the spear. She raised her eyes to the man's face, ready to give him a warning, but instead what she saw sent a flash of pure fear through her. She let go of the spear at once and fell back on her heels in her haste to get away. ”If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you already. Now get that spear out of me.”

There was something powerful in his voice, compelling even through the pain that tainted it. Mierna approached the man again-the vampire. For a moment, his eyes continued to burn with an unnatural fire, but nothing in him hinted at violence or danger. Only when the fire disappeared-leaving his eyes a deep blue-did she grab the spear again with hands as hesitant as they were slippery. She closed her eyes and pulled as fast, as straight as she could. The vampire groaned.

”I'm sorry,” she repeated, daring to look at him again. ”I thought...”

Her voice trailed off as he stood, a hand pressed to his b.l.o.o.d.y side. She froze when he bent down toward her, certain for a second that he would take his revenge now, but all he did was pick up a small object from the ground. She watched, her fear and apologies forgotten in favor of curiosity, as he touched the cup-like object to one of the lights she had noticed earlier. A flame rose, tiny, wavering, but resistant even in the face of the wind blowing around them. They were small candles, she now realized; by the strong, acrid scent of them, she guessed they had been made from the sap of a certain kind of trees that grew in the woods. Such candles did not give enough light to be of much use, but nothing short of water would kill their flame.

There were now seven of these candles, lined up at the top of small piles of rocks. Behind each pile, rounded stones had been polished smooth by the elements, but Mierna could still guess letters, here and there. These were tombs, she realized, her stomach tightening into a painful knot.

The vampire stood still in front of the last tomb for a few more moments, then turned back toward Mierna, a hand pressed to his b.l.o.o.d.y side. She hurried to her feet so he wouldn't loom over her, but even so he stood a full head taller than she was.

”Why are you here, child?” he asked, his voice gravelly. ”Who are you?”

”My ... my name is Mierna. I am from Riverside.”

A short, impatient nod told her he knew of her village.

”The last time, your people sent three armed men during daytime,” he said, sounding more tired than angry. ”Do they fear me so little now that they will send one lone child to steal from me?”

”I'm not a child,” she replied, annoyed. She crossed her arms and raised her chin a little higher, forgetting that she had wounded the vampire in the light of his accusations. ”And I did not come here to steal.”

His expression remained blank. ”Then why are you here?”

”It's a challenge,” she explained, trying to reach for a patience she didn't possess. ”I had to come here tonight, alone, and return-” She realized the implications of what she was saying as the words pa.s.sed her lips, but it was too late to stop now. ”-with proof that I had come.”

”What proof?”

She could feel her cheeks flus.h.i.+ng at his accusatory tone and dropped her eyes. They fell on the b.l.o.o.d.y hand he was pressing to his side, and her feelings of guilt only heightened.

”I have to bring back a weapon,” she said, talking very fast. Then, gesturing at his wound, she added:”Shouldn't you ... lie down, maybe? I could clean this for you. Bandage it.”

He ignored her suggestion, focusing instead on what she would rather not have talked about now that she understood the entirety of the challenge. The Fighters had indeed sent her to steal, even though they hadn't phrased it that way.

”Who do you think owns that weapon you had to bring back?”

”I didn't know anyone would be here,” she muttered.

”And yet you came armed.”

She wanted to roll her eyes at that, but she doubted he would take it well. Her initial burst of fear at being in front of a vampire had faded, but she couldn't forget what he was, couldn't forget old stories of how, once, humans had shown so much respect to vampires.

”Of course I came armed. It's Souls Night. I wasn't going to walk around defenseless. And I truly am sorry. I thought you were...”

She couldn't finish, her fear suddenly too ridiculous to voice.

”You thought I was what?”

Once more, her cheeks felt too hot, and Mierna was grateful that it was so dark. ”I thought you were a demon.”