They left the temple doors unlocked that night. It happened sometimes, when the priests were lazy or too drunk on wine from a celebration earlier that day. Or maybe they'd just been preoccupied and forgot, perhaps by a warm body calling from their beds. Nonetheless, it was a shadowy night. Both moons were low crescents. Ilsair hung just across the wall to the north, the slim white crescent a sign that the vampires would be advantageous in any conflict waged that night. Ardwen, the blue moon, was half full but shined only dimly high in the sky to the southeast. Lovers would be favored this night.
Neither sign boded ill or fair for Eiden as he snuck quietly through the halls of the village temple. As quietly as possible he snuck up the stone stairway, moving at a snails pace up the steps while he tried so very desperately not to make a sound. Slowly the darkness lessened as he reached the landing above. Four arched windows, one facing each direction, were set in the walls of the tower. More stairs curled up past the landing, first to the bell that would call everyone to the temple and second to the horn that was a summon to the vampires. If he was caught tonight, both would sound.
Carefully, quietly, he snuck away from the shadows. The urge to know, once and for certain, was stronger even than his fear of death. He was not a brave child, not by far, but he was pious, and the nagging thought that maybe his piety was directed towards a false god was enough to shore up what miniscule courage he had. The view to the north was both breathtaking and ominous. He was higher now than he ever had been in his life and he could see the dark forest looming around them over the tall palisades, shadows dancing across the treetops as clouds flitted across the sky.
Taking a deep breath he reached out and hesitantly touched the golden statue of the goddess Brue that stood in the middle of the room with a shaking finger. Nothing happened. The inaction made him bolder and he placed a full hand against the idol's leg. Still nothing. There was no stirring of power inside of him, no bolts of wrath screaming from heaven to strike him down for daring to touch the figure. There was simply... nothing.
"Hey! Who goes there?"
Eiden's blood ran cold as one of the priests stepped out onto the landing with him, the bright light of his lantern illuminating Eiden as he stood frozen in fear, his hand still touching the statue's leg.
"How dare you!" He could see the priest's eyes go red with fury and all of Eiden's former courage fled him. "Heretic!" The man screamed loud, rousing the priests below and probably half the village as well. He knew he should run but his legs couldn't move. Fear froze him in the spot as the priest marched forward and grabbed his arm. "Someone has desecrated the sacred goddess!"
Feet were pounding up the stairs and suddenly the landing was filled with priests all yelling and glaring at him angrily. Seconds later the bell tolled, and more shouting rose from the village as everyone was woken from their slumber. Eiden was drug through the temple while curses spilled around his ears. They called him a blasphemer, a heretic. They said he was unworthy of life, that the punishment they would soon bestow upon him was too kind for the likes of him, and that when the sun rose after his death he would be pulled into the fiery pits of eternal damnation.
Most of the villagers had already gathered by the time the procession reached the front gates of the temple. Giant torches stood in the corners of the courtyard, illuminating the face of the angry mob that had gathered. As he was drug down the temple steps, the crowd roared into a frenzy, shouting the vilest of obscenities at him. He saw his own parents in the front, hatred twisting their faces as they called him a betrayer. Small rocks and rotten fruit were tossed from the crowd and he had no way to dodge, the priests held him fast in their grip.
The village mayor strode forward, a length of rope in his hands and the priests drug Eiden to kneel before the mayor. His wrists were bound to an iron ring set in the ground just for this purpose and Eiden cried as he knew what was about to come. He begged and pleaded for them to release him, to forgive him for what he knew now was wrong. But in his heart he knew that even if they did forgive him, which they wouldn't, he couldn't go back to worshiping an empty goddess. If he looked over his shoulder he knew he would see the eyes of the golden idol staring down at him, watching his punishment with glee.
"You have defiled the sacred goddess." A stern voice spoke clearly behind him, the high priest of the temple, and the entire crowd fell silent. "For your sins you must make amends in flesh and blood before the eyes of the goddess." He heard the sound of leather falling to stone and he sobbed hard, his eyes squeezing tight so that he didn't have to see the looks of glee that filled the faces around him.
The air split with a crack and Eiden screamed, fire lancing across his back as the whip cut through the thin cloth of his shirt to rend tender flesh. He didn't have time to recover from the pain of the first before the second crack sounded and he was screaming again. The crowd went wild as he was beaten, cheering and shouting for more. Through the haze of pain he could feel blood tricking down his back and pooling around his wrists where he'd tugged so hard on the rope that it'd cut into his skin.
He lost count of how many strokes fell. When the next one didn't come he thought they were teasing him, waiting until he relaxed a tiny bit before striking him again, but it never came. Instead hands were untying him and then pulling him to his feet. Pain, white hot like the glow of the sun, filled his back and he couldn't stand. He didn't have the strength to, everything hurt so badly.
"You have broken the laws of our village." The mayor intoned, standing just a few feet in front of Eiden. "You are no longer a member of this village, or any of the other palisades. Your description will be circulated and if you come near the palisades again you will be killed on sight. May your death be as gruesome as the goddess demands."
"No. Please." He screamed and begged for them to let him go. He didn't want to go outside where the vampires would find him. His cries fell on deaf ears.
The priests pulled him to the city gate, now opened the tiniest of cracks for them to chuck him through. He hit the ground hard, the impact jarring his back. Then the horn sounded just as the door slammed shut, and he heard the gate lock tight. Ignoring the pain in his back he launched himself at the gate, pounding and scratching at the gates until his hands bleed. He screamed and screamed but the door didn't open, and so he fell to his knees before the gate, sobbing in pain and fear.
The vampires would come, he knew. The horn had called them. Even though their two peoples were technically at war they would come. They had the last time, he'd heard, over thirty years ago when the last person was exiled from the village. Maybe they knew the horn as their signal that someone had been set loose, defenseless, and would now be easy prey. Stories abounded about what the vampires did to those they captured. They used their sharp teeth to drink their victim's blood and then they'd eat him, flesh and bone. Some said they liked to torture their victims first, that the sound of pain-filled screams was music for them. They'd heat iron and place it against his bare feet, use sharp needles to carve off his skin while he watched, they'd....
A twig snagged and Eiden froze. Trembling, he turned to look over his shoulder at the figure that stood less than ten feet away. It was too dark to make out much but he saw a too large head on the man's shoulders. The faint light of the moon gleamed in spots off the figure's clothes and Eiden saw the distinct glint of metal held in the figure's hands. Behind the figure he could see more people, dozens, slipping from the forest and crossing the flat farmland towards him.
The figure took another step forward and Eiden screamed, so loud that it would have shaken ghosts from their graves and he ran. The figure jumped back and Eiden used the opportunity to bolted north as fast as he could, panic driving the pain completely from his mind. The uneven earth tried to catch his feet, to pull him down like the hands of his ancestors saying that he must die here to atone for his sins. But he darted wide of the vampires, they'd been coming from the west which left the north completely clear, and made it to the safety of the tree line. Only then did he realize that the forest wasn't safe at all. This was where they lived. He'd run right into the vampire's home ground.
Thorns and branches cut into his bare feet and he stumbled, unable to see in the darkness of the forest. He ran straight into a tree, impacting with a hard thud, but then arms reached to encircle him and he realized it wasn't a tree at all but one of the vampires. He shrieked again and the vampire raised his hands to his ears instead of grasping him. Eiden ran again and he heard the vampire shout something after him in their language, probably a curse that he'd escaped them. More grasping hands came from the trees but somehow they were seconds too late as he ran desperately past. Branches whipped at him and he felt himself collect more and more bruises until it hurt just to breath, each inhale causing his back to tighten painfully.
Then all of a sudden the ground fell out beneath him and instead of running he was falling, tumbling down a rocky slope and his leg was what stopped him. There was a large rock at the bottom of the slope. He knew that because his right leg slammed into it, followed by more rocks that had been dislodged by his journey down the slope and as they smacked into his leg he heard a sickening crack. All the pain that had been pushed away by his fear hit him at once. His back, his leg, his hands, his wrists, his feet, his chest, everything blazed with pain. It took him in a wave, swallowed him under and he knew he was dead.
The chief's eyes opened wide as he took in the boy cradled in his son's arms. Lesair knew it looked bad. There was so much blood and he knew beneath the dirt they'd find even worse bruising.
"What happened?" Chief Alistair directed them to lay the boy on a bedroll by the fire while the healers were called. Concern was evident in his eyes as he studied the poor boy.
"He tried to run from us," Lesair answered. He couldn't resist the urge to stroke the boy's hair softly. Even unconscious the boy was in such obvious pain. The shriek the boy had uttered earlier that night when Lesair had approached the boy outside of the wooden gate had been so full of terror that Lesair could only guess at the fear the boy held for them. There was a bustling at the door to the lodge as the healers arrived and the warriors dispersed around the boy's bedside. Lesair stayed, silently offering whatever aid he could provide to the healers.
A bucket of water sloshed as it was dropped beside the boy and one of the healers, Vannen, glanced at him once before pressing a damp cloth into his hand. "Help us get some of the dirt off."
Lesair nodded and tried to clean the boy's face off as gently as he could. The healers cut off the boy's clothing, cleaning his front and then covering his waist with a blanket for modesty. Two of Vannen's apprentices took a hand each while Vannen bent over the boy's leg. Lesair winced in sympathy as the apprentices dug splinters of wood from the boy's hands. They cleaned the cuts on his wrists with damp cloths before coating the wounds thick with salve. White bandages were rapped around his hand from fingertip to halfway down his forearm, the first layer already beginning to stain with blood.
"This is bad," Vannen muttered. He called for splints and Lesair had to look away as one of the burlier apprentices shifted parts of the boy's leg back in place with a sickening snap. More salve was applied, followed by a layer of bandages and then the splints to hold everything in place.
"Turn him over." Vannen ordered quietly, and equally startled gasps rang from around the room. Twenty long slashes were visible in the boy's skin, angry welts now covered in dirt.
"What have they done to the boy?" Alistair murmured as he watched from nearby and Lesair looked up to share a concerned glance with his father. The barbarity of this boy's people astounded him. Lesair could only watch in sympathy as the healers cleaned and bandaged the boy's wounds.
A tap on Lesair's shoulder brought him back to attention and he looked up at Vannen's carefully expressionless face. "Help me get him sitting up." With a nod Lesair complied and he cradled the boy gently in his arms, his head resting against Lesair's shoulder as Vannen tipped open his mouth and trickled a potion slowly down the boy's throat.
"Here." Lesair's brother, Connach, knelt beside them, holding out a pair of shorts and a loose shirt. "I found something small enough that should fit him."
Vannen nodded his thanks and Lesair averted his eyes politely as the healers slipped the clothing onto the boy. He lowered the boy carefully to the bed as the healers packed away their tools, pulling a blanket up to cover the rest of the boy's exposed skin.
"What do you think happened?" Chief Alistair asked quietly.
Sorrow flitted across Vannen's features. "I do not know the customs of this boy's people to tell you why this happened, I can only tell you what his injuries show. He was tied down and beaten. You said he was clawing at the gate when you saw him, Lesair?"
He nodded. He could still remember how desperate the boy looked as he shouted strange words back at his people, most likely pleas to be let back in.
"The injuries on the hands are most likely from that. He must have been so scared and desperate to get back in." Some of the emotion that Vannen tried so hard to keep away snuck into the words.
"We don't have anyone in the village who speaks his language?" Lesair asked hopefully. He knew it was doubtful, only a few of those who left the palisades lived through the night and even less were willing to join with the forest people.
"No. I can send a messenger once morning comes. I think there was someone to the north who knew their tongue." All eyes drifted back to the poor boy now in their keeping. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the morning brings."
Eiden woke with a feeling of hazy numbness. The pain was still there but it was far away, like it was hovering just outside of Eiden's body. He opened his eyes slowly to stare at the wooden ceiling above him and he had no idea where he was. The room was too large to be anything in the village, but he'd been thrown out of the village so why was he back? Had someone pleaded his case to the mayor?
Strange voices sounded from his left and he turned his head slowly to stare at the people sitting around the fire towards the middle of the massive room. They seemed like fairly normal people though their manner of dress was a little strange. More color and decoration than anything he'd seen in the village. The language they spoke was unknown to him but it had a certain familiar ring to it, like he'd heard it somewhere before. He tried to think of the foreigners that had visited their village a long time ago but none matched the people he saw here.
One of the men noticed he was awake and turned to glance at Eiden. The man was handsome, Eiden noted. He was tall with muscles evident on his bare chest, and dark skin similar to the light brown of the trees that formed the palisade around Eiden's village. His hair was light like the sparkle of sun on gold and long, something that would have been considered unmanly in Eiden's home village but it seemed to fit this strange man. The man made a gesture to his fellows and said something to his fellows that made the room grow still.
Eiden's eyes widened, not from the words the man spoke for he couldn't understand them, but from the way the firelight glinted off the two sharp fangs set in the man's mouth. A scream pushed from his mouth as he realized what these people were and he pushed himself away. One of his legs wasn't responding, he couldn't move it, so he pushed as best he could with his hands and his one working leg until he hit a wooden wall behind him. Alarmed looks crossed the men's faces and they all stood, there were five of them in total, and approached him, reaching for him. Eiden kept pushing away until he reached a corner and he huddled there, scared to death as the vampire reached for him.
The man who'd noticed him first was the closest and he stopped about three feet away from Eiden and crouched down, reaching a hand out towards him. Eiden shied away, curling in on himself as he started to cry.
"Please don't eat me," he begged, not that he expected his words to have any effect on the heartless vampires. They probably couldn't understand him anyways. "Please don't eat me." The words became an endless chant, muffled by his tears, and they seemed to work because the men shied away. He was cold, this far from the fire, and he hurt. The pain that had been floating outside of him seemed to have come back with his movement and he hurt so badly that it caused more tears.
The men said something and then slowly moved away, leaving Eiden crying in his corner.
Lesair looked over at the poor boy huddled in the corner and he couldn't stop the sympathy that washed over him. The boy was so scared. He'd freaked out when he'd seen them, scrambled to the corner even though his wounds were probably paining him severely. The look on the boy's face had been so stricken when they'd approached to try and coax the boy back to bed, like a rabbit caught in a trap with eyes so wide that it looked like the boy's heart would explode if they took one step closer.
That had been what caused Lesair to back off, afraid of doing more damage to the boy though he couldn't help but glance guiltily over at the boy every few minutes. It couldn't be good for him to sit like that with his injuries. He should be lying down. Lesair had tried leaving a blanket near him and some food, getting as close as the boy would let him before he started crying again and mumbling that same phrase over and over again. But the boy had made no move to touch either, he seemed almost afraid of the food. In fact, his babbling had grown to a near frantic pitch when Lesair had left it near him.
So Lesair had relegated himself to the far side of the fire, where he could watch but not disturb. It seemed that the black haired boy had fallen asleep finally because his crying had finally quieted. The boy was strange to look at. Far too thin for his own good and pale, like he didn't see the sun much. They'd found no jewelry or personal items on him, nor had he even been wearing shoes. He wondered if the people of the palisade had thrown the boy out without them or if the boy had never owned a pair to begin with.
"What's going on here?" Lesair couldn't hide the guilty flinch as Vannen walked in, the healer's eyes dark with anger.
"He won't let us come near him, Vannen. He's too scared of us."
Vannen looked between the men circled around the fire and the boy huddled in the corner. "Well, he's going to have to let us touch him. I need to change his bandages." He gestured to the two apprentices who'd followed him in to drop their bags. "Lesair, Bedwin, and Connach, you three can help hold him down while we work."
Lesair didn't feel very well about the idea but he stood and followed Vannen anyways. The boy seemed to start awake at their approach and he looked up at them with fearful eyes. Vannen was the first to reach forward and the boy screamed so loud Lesair wanted to clap his hands over his ears. He heard people outside rushing to the door but Lesair's father kept them away. The boy started crying again, huge sobs that wracked his tiny frame as he said that familiar phrase over and over again in a pleading tone. Lesair's brothers held his arms as Vannen drug the boy away from the wall and he struggled against their hold, desperately trying to get away.
They moved the boy over to his bedroll and Lesair sat first, cradling the boy upright against his chest so that each of Vannen's apprentices could work on an arm. Lesair's oldest brother, Bedwin, held one of the boy's legs down while Vannen carefully stripped away the bandages on his injured leg.
"Will someone stop his crying," Vannen said, annoyance clear in his voice.
Lesair covered the boy's mouth with his hand but that only seemed to make the boy cry harder, though at least his screams were muffled now. He remembered what his mother would do when Lesair was hurt and the song she used to sing to him. It was worth trying, he thought, and so he started quietly, crooning the song into the boy's ear. The others looked at him strangely but after a few minutes it worked and the boy was no longer screaming against Lesair's hand.
He felt the boy flinch as the salve was wiped off his hands. Loosening his hold around the boy's chest, he let his hand stroke idly against the boy's side. Slowly the boy relaxed into his touch and Lesair could feel the resistance draining away. Whether it was just tired acceptance or actual trust Lesair couldn't tell but it made the work easier as Lesair's brothers fell away so that it was only him and the healers hovering around the boy.
"I need to turn him over to check his back." Vannen said quietly. His eyes studied Lesair a little strangely, but he didn't put much thought into contemplating what that look meant. "Do you think you can keep doing that?"
Lesair nodded, still singing the same low song, now on his third repetition. The boy seemed about to fight them as they turned him to lie against the blankets but Lesair calmly stroked the boy's hair and that seemed to settle him down. He was still tense when Vannen lifted his shirt and he flinched when the same started to unwrap the bandages around his chest but he didn't scream anymore when Lesair pulled his hand away from the boy's mouth. He did whisper that phrase again but he let Vannen's apprentices hold his arms to his sides.
Slowly, the boy turned his head to look up at Lesair and he smiled softly. The boy seemed to about to tense again so Lesair let the hand that had been covering the boy's mouth stroke over his shoulder, rubbing soothing patterns lightly in the boy's skin. The boy was staring at his mouth he realized and that brought an idea to Lesair's mind.
"He's afraid of our fangs." He said softly between verses of the song.
Vannen looked up slightly from his work and nodded. "Makes sense. His people don't have them so I suppose they'd look frightening. I can just imagine the kind of stories his people tell about us. Probably make us sound like some blood-thirsty cannibals."
Lesair didn't respond, he just continued singing softly and stroking the tension out of the poor boy.
"Has he eaten anything?" Vannen asked quietly as he tied the last bandage on the boy's back and lowered his shirt.
"Do you think you can keep signing while we try to get some food in him?"
Lesair nodded and they shifted the boy into an upright position against Lesair's chest again. The boy looked up at him curiously but didn't seem about to start crying again. Vannen ordered his apprentices to bring some food while he fished a potion out of one of his packs. The boy did panic then, when Vannen brought the potion towards the boy's lips and it was all Lesair could do to keep the boy in his arms until Vannen backed away. He started crying again and Vannen looked annoyed, like he was about to try forcing the liquid down the boy's throat.
"Here." Lesair held out one hand for the bottle. "Let me try."
"Go right ahead." Vannen handed over the potion with an exasperated glance.
Lightly, Lesair tapped the boy once on the cheek to get the boy to look up at him. Scared brown eyes turned hesitantly towards him and Lesair lifted the bottle to his own mouth to take a small sip. "See, it's alright," he said softly. He offered the bottle to the boy but he shut his mouth tight and shook his head, that same terrified look crossing his face again. Lesair took another small drink. "It's alright. It's not going to hurt you."
The soft tones seemed to work more than the words and the boy reluctantly opened his mouth to take in a tiny bit of the potion. Lesair let him try the small sip, watched as the boy seemed to wait for something before he'd let Lesair feed him any more of the potion. Nothing seemed to happen and then a confused look crossed the boy's face, but he drank a bit more.
"He acts like we're trying to poison him," Vannen snorted.
"He probably thinks we are." Lesair looked up with a serious gaze. Vannen considered that for a moment and then shook his head.
"I will never understand those idiots if I live a thousand lifetimes."
When the food arrived, Lesair tried the same trick. It only took one spoonful before the boy was willing to try the soup, though he steadfastly refused to eat any bit of meat. Lesair's brothers were watching from the side and they seemed equally as confused as Lesair was.
"Maybe he's a vegetarian," Connach guessed, and that seemed as good of an explanation as he could think of.
Lesair shrugged and kept feeding the boy spoonfuls of soup until the boy would open his mouth no more. It took him a moment to realize the boy wasn't being stubborn. Instead he'd fallen asleep in Lesair's arms. With a smile he disentangled himself and tucked the boy into bed. His brothers simply grinned but didn't comment as the smile lingered long into the night.
"Come with me." Lesair held out his hand to the injured boy. "Come on," he coaxed gently.
The past few days had been interesting. Slowly it seemed that the boy was getting used to their presence. He still seemed scared but not quite as much as the first day, and he didn't try to shy away from them anymore. Lesair was the only one that the boy allowed to touch him but at least he ate and he appeared to be sleeping alright. Vannen's potions were taking effect as well. The boy's hands no longer needed bandaging. They were still marked but it appeared they wouldn't scar too badly, if at all. His wrists were still fairly bad, his back worse, but those would mend in time as well. At least he seemed to be moving alright.
Hesitantly the boy took Lesair's hand and he helped the boy to his feet. The boy regarded him curiously as Lesair positioned a crutch under the boy's arm and he smiled back, trying to convey reassurance as best he could. Vannen had said it would be good for the boy to walk around on his own a bit and so Lesair had volunteered to walk him to the fire pit that night. He thought maybe some fresh air and the happy revelry that always seemed to surround the cooking fires would do the boy some good.
With one arm securely around the boy's waist for balance, he led the boy out into the streets of their village. The night was dark but clear. Neither moon was high enough to provide much illumination but the bright torches scattered around the village gave him more than enough light to see by. But then his people had always been good at seeing in the dark so it was more the boy that he was concerned about.
Wide brown eyes regarded the village with wonder. He knew the boy probably couldn't see much but it seemed to impress him nonetheless. There were little decorations scattered all around the streets and on the wooden buildings. There'd be more if they went towards the small sanctuary on the east end of the village. Maybe they'd stop by later in the evening. It was one of Lesair's favorite parts of the village. The stones were so beautiful, more so in the light when the sun would catch the many colors of gems set in the rocks. Turning to look at the boy in his arms he realized that everything must be so different from the world he was used to. Lesair wondered how he'd fare, separated from his people in a strange land. He'd probably turn out to be just as frightened as the boy.
He guided them towards the center of the village, going slowly so as to not push the boy. He seemed to be walking alright and if Lesair looked close enough he was sure he could make out a tiny smile curving on the boy's lips. Not for the first time he wondered what those lips would feel like under his own and he looked away quickly, a faint blush staining his cheeks. He knew how strange his attraction to the boy was but he couldn't help it. The boy was so pitiful sometimes and Lesair just wanted to hold him, as he had done before and make all the boy's hurts go away.
The smell of fresh meat cooking drifted to his nose and he smiled widely, fangs peaking out from between his lips. "Smells good, doesn't it?" He knew the boy wouldn't understand it but he'd taken to talking to him nonetheless, more hoping that his voice would begin to sound familiar and calming.
As they rounded the last of the buildings between them and the fire pit, the sound of the revelry overtook them. A good number of the villagers were dancing about the fire. Someone had dug up a set of pipes and a drum from somewhere and they were playing a jaunty tune, Pure Maid's Folly if Lesair remembered correctly. The boy's eyes widened as he took in the sight and he seemed to focus in on the deer turning on the large metal spits set over the fire. All of a sudden the boy went mad, screaming and babbling that familiar phrase in his native tongue. He tried to run from them and suddenly they were the focus of attention. The revelry died instantly as the boy fought Lesair's hold. Lesair tried petting him and whispering words of reassurance but the boy kept crying and looking over his shoulder at the large spits with an expression of abject horror.
"What happened?" His brothers were suddenly beside him, as well as a good number of other concerned villagers.
"I don't know," Lesair admitted. "We were just walking. No one touched him."
The boy continued babbling, shaking like a young sapling in a windstorm in Lesair's arms. He looked up at Lesair, his hands gripping Lesair's shirt tight, and pleaded with tear-filled eyes.
"I think he actually thinks we're going to eat him," Lesair said in shock as he followed the boy's gaze back to the roasting meat.
"That's horrific!" Connach exclaimed. Similar sentiments echoed through the crowd. Each face had the same horrified expression. All sound died except for the boy's hysterical sobbing.
Lesair moved the boy away slowly. "I'm going to take him towards the outskirts, see if I can get him to calm down." Wishes of good luck followed him as he guided the boy away and he couldn't help but notice some of the pitying looks the villagers shot towards the boy.
Connach followed him at a slow pace, carrying the boy's crutch until they got a bit away and the boy seemed inclined to take it again. Lesair held the boy close and crooned softly, the same old lullaby he'd learned from his mother, until the boy stopped crying. He seemed to calm down a bit as they reached the area surrounding the sanctuary but he didn't look around at the decorations in wonder as he had before. He only glance up once as Lesair guided him through the stone gate that stood at one end of the small sanctuary courtyard, and the boy's gaze fixed instantly on the moss-covered cairn set in the middle of the courtyard.
The boy froze, his gaze intent on the cairn. Slowly he shifted away from Lesair's grasp until he was walking forward, towards the stones.
"What..."
Lesair held an arm out to stop Connach from moving. This was the first time the boy had shown something other than fear and he wanted to let things play out. The boy hobbled closer to the cairn and his expression seemed enraptured as far as Lesair could tell. About three steps before the cairn the boy lost his footing and he fell. No sound of protest or pain escaped his lips. In fact it didn't seem as if he'd noticed the fall at all, he just drug himself closer slowly until he could reach out with both hands to touch the moss and stones.
A green light sparkled beneath the moss, seeming ignited by the boy's touch. Ancient words flared to life on the stones as the light seeped down the cairn to swirl in spiral patterns over the carvings inlaid in the courtyard, somehow following the channels etched in the stone until the light reached the large rocks that circled the outer rim of the courtyard. There the light crept up in the same strange fashion, illuminating more ancient script on the old stones. When the light reached the top of the final pillar there was a flash, bright as daylight, and lime green light shot from the cairn in the center straight up in the sky for an endless distance.
"What's happening?" Connach shouted for it seemed like something was ringing in their ears, drowning out the cries of the villagers coming to investigate.
They both fell back to the edge of the courtyard and stared in wonder at the giant pillar. Never in his life had he seen such a strange light and he wondered now if maybe the spirits that watched over them had had some purpose in guiding this boy to them.
As suddenly as it had appeared the light vanished, gone in the space of a blink of his eye to leave the courtyard in dark shadow. It took a moment for his night vision to refocus and when it did he saw the boy lying crumpled before the cairn. In a flash Lesair was beside him, turning the boy over and searching for some sign of a wound.
"Gods, let him be alright." He prayed silently before turning to the scan the faces of the crowd.
"Vannen," he called, and an instant later the gruff healer was pushing his way forward. He took the boy in hand, touching first his neck, then his wrist before relaxing slightly and patting Lesair on the shoulder.
"He's fine, boy, just asleep. Take him back to the lodge and let him get some rest."
With a nod Lesair gladly complied. Around him he heard the villagers questioning and he left Connach to answer them. He had other things to worry about.
Eiden felt apprehension fill his heart as he slowly woke. His head pounded in pain but he pushed it away as he tried to figure out what happened to him. He'd done something... What? Oh goddess, his mind screamed at him. He'd touched it. He'd touched their sacred stone. It had to be sacred. He'd felt the power and there were the designs, the decorations. It was just like the golden statue of Brue. His curiosity had taken a hold of him and he'd defiled something sacred.
Slowly the tears welled in his eyes. He couldn't have helped it. The feeling had just come over him and it was like his body had moved on its own. He could barely remember what happened, except he knew there had been a light, a bright green light, and there were the voices too. Strange voices that had spoken in a language he couldn't understand, telling him things that were important if only he knew what they were saying.
A voice sounded near him and Eiden opened his eyes to see the light-haired man kneeling next to him, an expression of concern on his face. Memories of the night he'd been exiled flooded back to him and Eiden screamed. The man jumped back, far enough that Eiden could scoot away to the corner that had sheltered him before. He huddled there now as the tears streamed forth and he cursed his own folly. They'd eat him now, he was sure of it. They were going to last night, when they'd taken Eiden to see those giant metal spikes and the carcass roasting across them but something had changed their minds. Or maybe they had simply wanted to play with him more, but now he was dead for sure for violating their sacred stone. Maybe they'd beat him first, like the temple priests had, or do worse. Visions of the many tortures they could inflict on him filled his head and he cried harder, shaking in terror as he waited for them to drag him away to his punishment.
Aedoch watched the commotion around the chieftain's lodge with a bit of curiosity as he approached. His guide had said the boy from the palisades would be staying with the chief and his family. He heard crying then and hurried his steps. The boy would no doubt be terrified. The stories told in the palisades said all sorts of horrible things about the forest people, though Aedoch was guilty of believing them himself when he'd first come here.
The crowd parted to let him in, a few familiar faces nodding a greeting. The sight that met his eyes inside was nothing but astounding. A small boy, pale with dark hair, was huddled in a far corner of the lodge in obvious hysterics and one of the chief's sons, Lesair if he remembered correctly, was kneeling nearby trying to calm the boy down. Not that the words had any effect for the boy seemed to continue crying heedlessly.
Aedoch approached quietly, giving Lesair's shoulder a squeeze once in reassurance as he knelt near the boy.
"Hello, little one," he said in a tongue he hadn't used it over ten years.
The boy stopped crying instantly and stared at Aedoch in a mix between fear and curiosity.
"Would you tell me your name, little one?" Aedoch kept his tone as soft as possible, hoping to coax the boy into trusting him.
The boy didn't answer so he tried a different approach.
"Why are you crying?"
"They're going to eat me," the boy sniffled. Aedoch raised an eyebrow at the words. So they'd changed the stories since Aedoch had lived in the palisades over three decades ago.
"What makes you think that, little one?"
The boy glanced over at where Lesair was crouched. "Because they're vampires. They're going to eat me because I... I..." The boy broke into sobs again and Aedoch quickly made shushing sounds, hoping to get the boy to talk to him again.
"It's alright, little one. They're not going to eat you. The forest people are a peaceful folk. They won't cause you any harm."
"But I..." The boy seemed intent on protesting between hiccupped sobs. "They..."
"They took care of your wounds, didn't they?" Aedoch gestured at the bandages visible around the boy's leg.
That quieted the boy some as he puzzled through that logic. "But I touched the stone. They're mad at me so they're going to eat me."
The boy broke into more sobs and Aedoch sighed, turning to speak to Lesair for a moment. "What stone is he talking about?"
Lesair looked at him curiously for a moment. "Stone? Oh! He means the cairn. The boy touched the cairn in the sanctuary last night and it shone with this strange light. Surely you saw the green pillar on your journey."
Aedoch nodded. "That was part of the reason why I got here so fast." He turned back to the boy. "Hush, little one. They aren't mad at you. Why would you think they would punish you just for touching the stones?"
The boy sniffled and mumbled something.
"What was that?"
"I touched the golden statue in my village." The boy admitted quietly. "They beat me and then threw me out so the vampire could eat me." More crying seemed on its way so Aedoch spoke quickly.
"The forest people aren't like that. They have no such strict laws. In fact they think it's a rather remarkable thing you've done. They aren't going to kill you."
Almost hesitantly the boy uncurled slightly. "They aren't?"
"No," Aedoch shook his head fiercely. "You're safe here."
The boy seemed on the verge of believing him. "You promise?"
"I promise."
Aedoch breathed a sigh of relief as the boy finally stopped crying and relaxed. "Now why don't you let Lesair help you out of there and we can talk more by the fire."
"Lesair?" The boy asked quietly. Aedoch could barely contain the grin as Lesair perked up instantly as soon as the boy said his name and he looked between Aedoch and the boy with barely contained curiosity.
"Yes, that's the blonde man next to me. He's quite smitten with you."
The boy blushed but he reached a hand out to Lesair that was gladly taken. The young man picked up the boy and carried him over to the fire. Instead of letting the boy go like Aedoch thought he would, Lesair sat with the boy cradled in his lap and Aedoch fought to contain another smile.
"What's your name, little one?"
"Eiden."
"Eiden." He repeated once and then turned to the gathered forest people. "The boy's name is Eiden."
Lesair tried the name out and it rolled off his tongue like a lover's caress. Not surprising considering how obviously smitten the young man was. A wicked idea formed in Aedoch's mind and he spoke once more in his and the boy's native tongue.
"Do you know what would make Lesair quite happy, little one?"
Eiden shook his head innocently.
"If you were to give him a small peck on the cheek."
"He'd like that?" The boy flushed an amusing crimson but seemed to be actually considering the suggestion.
"Quite." Aedoch affirmed. "He's madly in love with you, you know."
"Oh." The boy turned to look up at Lesair in quiet study. Just as Lesair turned to look down at him Eiden leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
Cheers broke out around the fire and Aedoch smiled widely at the flush that spread across Lesair's face.
"What did you say to him?" Lesair asked accusingly.
"I told him it'd make you happy if he kissed you," Aedoch admitted.
Lesair blushed furiously, steadfastly ignoring his brothers' teasing as he shyly asked Aedoch a question. "Can you ask him what would make him happy?"
Aedoch translated.
The boy looked curious but unembarrassed as he answered. "Another kiss."
Aedoch's grin almost broke his face as he translated and Lesair leaned down to cover Eiden's mouth with his. The two boys would probably have continued to kiss, completely ignorant of the world around them if the chief hadn't arrived then to loudly wish the boys luck in their relationship. They broke apart, each looking similarly reluctant and Aedoch sat back to translate the boy's tale with a wide grin on his face.
Written 12/29/04