Chapter 139 - Ilio part 6

We camped that morning in the grove of pines where I'd found Ilio huddled over his Tanti victim. The rain continued to slash down from the heavens, so we constructed a crude lean-to and wrapped up in my cloak.

My vampiric skills were no match for the deluge. I could find not one dry stick with which to build a fire. My only solace was that the nearby Neirie, as resourceful as they were, had no fires either that night.

We rested together beneath the angled roof of our dripping lean-to, listening to the rain hiss down without respite. If we were mortal men, we would have been miserable. Cold, wet, shivering. As we were not mortal men, the storm was merely an inconvenience, but I did miss the comforts of a nice big fire, its light and warm. I have always enjoyed staring into the flames of a campfire, watching them leap and twirl like dancers. Much as you modern mortals enjoy staring into the cold blue light of your electric television sets.

Ilio talked interminably as the rain drummed down. He talked of the child he might have, and how a blood drinker might live among mortal men, and keep them safe from our cursed appetite.

I offered what advice I could, cautioning him against too much hope. "The woman may not even want you for a mate, Ilio," I pointed out. "Naming you the father is no proposal of marriage." To his credit, he understood, and confessed that he was only passing the time. I nodded, water dripping from the tip of my nose.

"Tapas said that he and his people will part with the Neirie in the morning," I said, changing the subject. "The hunting party they met a couple days ago are from a region near his tribal lands. He plans to travel with them."

"You wish to see him off, don't you?" Ilio asked.

I nodded. "I think we should both go. He can introduce us to the group. He speaks the language of the Tanti, the tongue the mother of your child speaks. Once Tapas and his people leave, there may be few among the Neirie who speak the Denghoi tongue."

"I would like that," Ilio admitted.

He pressed up against me, quietly happy. I put my arm around his shoulders, wondering how long it would be before we parted, this boy and I. He was nearly a man, in thought if not in form. He might look like a child, frozen in time by the vampiric transformation, but he would soon yearn to be free of my rule. He would want to lead his own life, be the master of his own destiny… and that was as it should be.

What would I do then, I wondered. Where would I go?

Perhaps I would travel east, I thought. Seek out those Others we've heard so many rumors of. Their brutal reputation did not frighten me. I knew my power, and I was fairly certain I could protect myself among the blood drinkers of the east.

I spent the rest of the night thinking about those mysterious immortals, wondering what they were like, how many of our kind roamed the world. What strange customs did they keep? What deities did they worship? The questions swirled inside my head like a cloud of buzzing gnats. The prospect of meeting other members of my race filled me with great excitement.

I looked toward the east, but it was just as gray and featureless as any other direction in the downpour. The rain, like the mountains, guarded the secrets of the eastern blood drinkers.