3. Erik

1000 YEARS AGO

We had to abandon the village and run north. North to the snow, the wind, the rain. Moving in the daytime was a severe disadvantage to us. We needed more hours of darkness to ensure the slayers wouldn’t catch up. The cover of clouds and shorter days.

I despised running from the slayers, but I was badly injured and the others had confirmed there was a whole host of them on our tail. Perhaps we could have taken them in a fight if we’d planned our attack better, pushed ourselves to our limits. It was pointless to chew over it, but I had nothing else to occupy my thoughts as we journeyed on.

Fabian had suggested we recuperate a while and ask Andvari to assist us again, but I’d pushed for another option. The battle of Atbringer was still fresh in my memory. I’d killed too many with the god’s power, spilled too much blood. Even if we could manage it that way, it didn’t sit right with me.

My decision wasn’t out of kindness to the slayers. The fact that they’d hunted us across an entire ocean set a rage burning in me that hungered for their demise. But they were still only mortal.

Instead, I came up with a simple plan that would ensure Magnar and Julius Elioson would never be a threat to us again. Once we reached the snowy lands, we’d break apart, head separate ways and remain deeply hidden for a hundred years. By then, Magnar and his companions would be long dead. The Blessed Crusaders would be no more. And all without spilling a single drop of blood.

My siblings had finally agreed. I sensed they were eager to stop killing for a while too. Our time in the village had proven peaceful. Trust had been built between us and the humans. Blood had been given willingly in exchange for our help. That was the sort of life we wished to build for ourselves again one day. And I held onto that dream with all my heart.

We’re not monsters. We can be better. There is a way to live like this that doesn’t result in more death.

We’d taken shelter for the day in a dark cave after we’d found our way into a mountain range. The ache in my side had finally dulled and it was slowly knitting over. The damage done by the slayer’s blade would leave an eternal scar, but I didn’t care. The mark would only serve to remind me of the man who had made it. Magnar Elioson was determined to make himself my enemy. But we would outsmart him and the others in a way that they could never fight against. We had time on our hands. And a hundred years was nothing if it meant we would be rid of them.

Rain formed puddles beyond the cave, the world turning to a deep shade of blue outside our haven.

Clarice stalked back and forth in her dress; it was shredded in places and she’d soon need something new to wear if she wasn’t going to be walking around naked for the next few weeks. I doubted she’d care about that. I, on the other hand, would rather my sister wasn’t baring it all for the rest of our trip. She might not have been a sibling by blood, but since we’d been turned, our bond had grown more familial, and I knew Fabian and Miles felt the same way about her. We were protective of each other, nothing more.

“We should seek out a village soon,” I said.

Fabian moved for the first time in a while, stepping away from the cave wall.

“Blood,” he rasped, nodding firmly.

“And clothes.” My own shirt was in tatters after my fight with Magnar. “But we must do so without leaving a trace. Without killing anyone.”

Fabian nodded, moving to the edge of the cave. “I’ll find a bird. In fact, I might find a few so we can keep an eye on the slayers too.”

“Good idea.” Miles jogged to follow him and the two of them stepped into the pouring rain, disappearing off through the trees.

Thunder rumbled overhead and energy spiked in my veins, storms always awakening something primal in me.

Clarice drifted toward me, perching on the rock at my side. “They’ll never stop hunting us.”

“That’s why we’re going to hide.”

“And what of their children? And their children’s children?” A flicker of fear flamed in her dazzling blue eyes and I rested a hand on her arm.

“They will not hold the same anger in their hearts as these slayers. As generations pass, they will not feel so wronged by us.”

“How do you know that? Idun could instil the same hatred in them. We could be facing an eternity of being hunted. And one by one, we will fall. Eventually we have to. The odds won’t always be in our favour.”

“Clarice,” I sighed. “This is our only option for now. What else can we do?”

“Talk to them?” she suggested quietly. “It’s the gods who drive this fight. What if we went against them?”

I shook my head, knowing it was pointless. “The slayers do not see it that way.”

“But maybe we can make them,” she begged, her tone laced with desperation. “I don’t want to live in caves, watching my back at every turn. I want to have a real life, Erik. We had one at the village of Bel Vedere and they stole it from us.” Her voice broke and I sensed she was on the verge of tears.

I pulled her closer, rubbing her back in soothing circles. “We will have it again.”

“When?” she growled.

“I cannot know, but I promise we will. I’ll make sure of it.”

“You always did know the right thing to say to make a girl feel better.” She sighed, sitting upright.

“I’m not sure about that,” I grunted. “But you know I’ll do everything in my power to look after those I love.”

“I know,” she whispered, reaching up to place a kiss on my temple. “It’s why Kyla loved you so fiercely.”

A chasm of regret opened up inside me at the mention of my dead lover’s name. She’d died by my teeth on the night I’d been turned, lost to the bloodlust. A woman I’d promised to look after had been killed by my own hands. How could I declare myself some valiant protector when I could not keep those I cared for safe in the past?

I glanced away from Clarice, and she took in a breath. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, you’re right to mention her. We rarely talk about them anymore. I think of my sister often. When I see my reflection, I recognise her in some parts of my face.”

“I see her too,” Clarice whispered, running her thumb over the line of my cheekbone. “You’ll find her again one day in the afterlife. We’ll find all of them.”

I nodded vaguely, unsure if that was true. Our souls were tainted now. Even if we could somehow break the curse and become human again, perhaps we’d already done too much wrong to afford us a place with our families in the afterlife.

A sniffing sounded beyond the cave and I lifted my head, spotting a wolf and its three cubs eyeing the shelter intently. The mother was perfectly still, her eyes pinned on me as water dripped from her grey muzzle.

I tilted my head, seeing something of myself in her as she padded into the cave and her three little cubs followed.

Clarice’s lips parted in surprise as the animal shook off the rain and curled up on the dry floor to nurse her cubs.

“Why isn’t she afraid? Or aggressive?” Clarice breathed into the cool air.

“Maybe she knows we’re not her enemy. Maybe she knows we are just like her,” I murmured, a strange feeling stirring in my chest.

A wolf protected its own at all costs. No one lay judgment on it for that. Wasn’t that the same as what we were trying to do? If that was the case, maybe the gods really would forgive us one day.

* * *

We travelled further north, using Fabian’s Familiars to scout out small tribes. It was easy to fall into a routine, sneaking into their villages at night, taking unsuspecting people and knocking them unconscious before feeding from them. We never drank too much, never killed, and left as little trace as we could. When they woke, we hoped they’d put the painful bites down to snakes. It was the best we could hope for. And at least no one had to die in the process.

When we finally reached a snowy land where mountains huddled on the horizon, I knew it was time for us to part. We’d each head deeper into the northern territories, spreading out, east and west until we all found somewhere we could live undetected.

We’d taken clothes from the towns, wrapped ourselves up in furs so we resembled the natives as much as possible. We couldn’t do much about our pale skin, but that was why we’d all agreed to continue with our plan of taking people surreptitiously for as long as possible.

Now, we stood in a ring with snowflakes dancing between us. One drifted down to land on my hand and didn’t melt. I couldn’t feel its icy touch, my own skin was impervious to it.

“We reunite in a hundred years,” I said as Miles rested a hand on my shoulder. The others did the same so we were linked in a circle. “Return here when the times comes.”

Fabian took a knife from his hip, striding away from the group towards a black boulder that jutted from the ground at an angle. He swept the snow from the side of it and etched a cross into the stone.

Clarice embraced me and a sadness weighed down my heart at the thought of parting with them all.

“We’re family. Forever,” Miles vowed. “Never forget that.”

“We won’t,” Clarice promised and tears slid down her cheeks as she pulled Miles into a tight hug.

“We should unite under one name,” Fabian said, strolling back to join us. “As true siblings.”

“We could name ourselves after the people of Bel Vedere?” Clarice suggested, raising a brow.

I liked the idea. The village had been full of people who’d loved us. Even if their belief in us had been wrong, that didn’t change who we really were. But maybe it was something to hold onto. Something to remind us that we could be better than the thirst. Stronger than it.

“Belvedere it is,” Fabian announced, gazing around at us with a sad smile. “I’ll miss you all.”

“See you in a hundred years,” I said in a low voice, an ache growing in my heart. “And when we reunite, we will be free of Magnar and his bastard friends at long last.”