Chapter 68

Robah recognised those shadows as the two mysterious pairs threw off their cloaks.

The two turned towards the ferals. “It's showtime,” mumbled Andrew, which made Diana roll her eyes as she took her sword from the scabbard.

The ferals howled in unison and were within thirty feet of the trolls, about to pounce.

The two cloaked vampires stood in front of Robah and his people. The lead one spoke plainly for all to hear: “Fear not! We will kill them in no time. For now, prepare yourself to run upward to the mountain. Just a few miles ahead is our camp," Andrew announced as he removed her coat over his head as well as Diana's.

They stood guard before the troll. She brandished the strange movement of the earth as if breathing in below her. Summoning the trees and everything rooted in the earth with her sheer commands. The trolls gasped. Robah had seen her power earlier from the Wetland but watching her now in the open field and in the morning sun gracing her features, Robah was amazed by her mere ability. However, Andrew had two of the long blades. The ancient vampire raised their weapons and yelled, “A sword for the feral and the troll!” Then they bolted into the strife of looming ferals.

Andrew blurred cuts through the ferals like grass. Diana let her power smother the feral midway as they attacked her. Tree upon tree pushed them away so far that the two feral cats looked like kites in the sky. Skilled and furious ferals were cut down by the two warriors in less time than it took for Robah to urinate in his breeches from the terror mere feet away.

The powerful of the two, Andrew, fought three at a time like a hungry tiger. But Diana made up for her diminished size with cunning technique and bizarre moves as the two blurred their views. They laboured well in pairs.

Andrew disarmed one and yelled out to Diana, who spun around and cut him down. They traded positions and adversaries in a flash, confusing the ferals. But it took effort. The vampires had to work hard for their results, as Diana could be seen with a sword in her hands. Slicing through massive werewolves at the same time, she commands the earth to swallow some of the werewolves who seem to attack from behind.

Three ferals managed to strike Andrew’s sword at once. It flew out of his hand. Diana threw Andrew one of her two swords until Andrew could pick up his own and get back on track.

The last four ferals encircled Diana. Andrew fought with the leader of the pack. The four beasts lengthened their circle around Diana, lashing, swinging, and jabbing their massive claws. Diana appeared to be depleting. She knew she needed blood to take back some energy she had lost from summoning her power.

Robah seems to know her predicament, so he shouted at her, "Here, take mine!" offering his hand in the open air. In a blur, Diana took it and drove her fangs. She sipped a little as sudden vigour reached her heart, then she ran away, renewed. This happened in such a second that Robah wasn't even sure it transpired. Andrew, who seemed to know what occurred, looked at her in surprise. Diana started to assault the ferals with new, surprising strength.

Andrew had only been drawing them in closer. He advanced his two blades like windmill rapiers. He spun like a whirlwind in this strange stance. His shearing swords took out the circle of the opponent encircling him. It was awe-inspiring.

Not one feral got past these powerful champions. Robah found himself thinking that it was a reasonable thing that he had changed loyalty to this solitary vampire of his ancestor. And they dealt with similar adversaries. This was satisfactory. This was very favourable indeed.

The vampires walked towards Robah as if nothing had happened. They were bloodied, and their sword seemed to sparkle from the blood. Robah and his daughter drew near to eavesdrop on.

The vampires were dehydrated. These fighters battled like monsters, but they were still like humans who created beings with flesh. They endured the concerns of that flesh. They were saturated with sweat and breathing hard. Many ferals were not easy to kill.

As they neared the awestricken Robah and his kin, they whispered under their breaths to each other. “Six kills to your four. Would you like me to teach you some tricks, Andrew?” mumbled Diana. "You are obviously a sluggish vamp, old man."

“Five to five,” countered Andrew. “That one we did together.”

“You mean the one I exterminated,” asserted Diana. “After I disarmed him,” responded Andrew.

“Was that before or after you carelessly dropped your sword?” said Diana. She couldn't help but furrow her forehead as he watched her with a knowing look.

“I did not ‘drop’ my blade, Diana,” declared Andrew. “Three of them hit me at once.”

“Okay, okay, they disarmed you,” said Diana with a grin. Then he expanded, “But then if we both killed him, that would make it five and a half to four and a half. Don't you think so?”

They arrived at the trolls and snapped out of their friendly altercation.

“I am starving. Let us eat something,” said Diana.

"Why am I not surprised?" Andrew looked at her.

"And why are you such a jerk, Andrew?"

He chuckled, while Robah stepped backward fearfully. Diana paused, then smiled. “Hey. Fret not, my friend, trolley dear; we are not going to eat you. We! Truth be told, we would not even eat those ferals. Ew! Disgusting really. But thanks for the help earlier.”

Robah's daughter hunkered down her face in nausea. These vampires were rather profane. Seeing this, Andrew and Diana laughed so hard that their laughter echoed in the mountains. They kept on laughing for a solid five minutes, but halted immediately when Diana remembered Tommy. "Oh sht, Robah, where is Tommy?"

"You mean Tomas, milady?"

"Yeah, yeah. Did you…"

"He was here with us, milady. He was still unconscious, though. He was in the care of the elderly."

"Oh, thank God. By the way, by chance you have some water with you? Or some bread perhaps? I'm really dying. I felt like my small intestine was trying to chew my large intestine, if you know what I mean."

"Yes, excuse my ignorance, milady. Yes, we have bread and some meat. But do you need um—blood?" Robah whispered in his daughter's ears and told her to get their heroes some decent food.

“A glass will do us good,” Andrew replied.

Five minutes later, Diana was enjoying the loaf of dry bread and jerky on the side.

Then Andrew advised the trolls to get ready for the journey up north. Andrew soothed their apprehension. “Do not worry. No harm shall come to all your family with us," he told the river troll leader. He wanted them to come with them and stay from Wetland as soon as possible, but by the look in their eyes, they're weighing their options.

"River troll, with your boats, you all can follow us. This river flows up into the north, where you can follow the rest of your kin on foot or with the boar in the relatively safe passage.”

Robah protested, “But the rivers flow south, milord, and we do not have the strength to man the paddlers to get upstream.”

“Are you sure? You can't?” asked Andrew.

“Yes, I am sure,” Robah shot back. “Unless the gods would like to perform another miracle and change the course of the rivers from south to north," his sarcasm dripped a bit heavy after all, this river troll was the weakest of his kin.

Hearing his doubt. Diana stood, raised his hand, and gestured with his finger for Robah to follow her. Robah trailed behind her to the bank of the river. The others of the troll shadowed them. In a while, Diana closed her eyes and murmured into the river. Robah looked out onto the river and lost his breath.

It was flowing north. "Oh, heavens.” This is a miracle indeed. How could this vampire be so powerful? He thought to himself.

The river actually flowed in the opposite direction than it had been from the beginning of time.

“It is a miracle,” exclaimed Robah's daughter, his eyes and mouth wide open as he watched Diana in awe.

Andrew smiled. “You will learn to be extra grateful. It comes with experience, you know.”

Diana leaned in close to Robah and muttered, “And you also need to stop allowing your mouth to gape open when you are in surprise. It looks awful, but anyway, thank you for the bread; it tasted nothing like donuts, though.”

Robah snapped his mouth closed. Not understanding what she meant. His daughter spoke softly into his father’s ear, “Well, we better not disappoint them, father. After all, this woman was powerful enough to change the stream upward.”

“Board the boats,” Robah said to the river troll with all their belongings—the elderly and children. “Wait a minute,” interrupted his daughter. Everyone hesitated and stared at her. Robah thought his daughter was bold. She stared straight at him with her dark eyes. It made him wary. She normally pulls that expression on him when she occasionally beats him in a game or prank.

She worriedly declared, “What about Tomas? Was he coming with us?"

"Yes, he will."

Diana intruded. "No, he is not coming with you all. Tomas will come with us."

"Diana, are you crazy? He is unconscious and heavy."

"But—"

"Diana, he was better off with us. The troll was taking care of them, and besides, I'm not running up to the mountain with him on my shoulder. Such nonsense."

"Fine." She pouted and glared at Andrew.

Everyone moaned with romantic longing.

Robah stood silent, watching them. He had made known his pleasure to the two vampires. He could see the happiness in Lord Andrew's whole body. It reminded him of his own happiness when he realised he was in love with his own precious wife so many years ago.

Everyone laughed while watching the two vampires, who seemed rather amusing to them. Robah could see that they were two of a kind. Even he could not stay hostile. He smiled. But deep in his heart, he longed for his beloved, the only genuine thing on this earth. And she was now gone forever.

A profound longing came over Robah that he had never experienced before. His soul hungered for union with her wife's soul, and his body hungered to become one with hers.

They had better get to the north quickly.