Chapter 413: Seven years later...
Chapter 413: Seven years later...
“Daddy! Zoe's doing 'it' again!” Eron protested as he pointed to a black-haired girl with red curls at the ends, who smiled at him arrogantly as she tapped a sparkling blue ball, the same color as her eyes, in her hands and made it disappear, completely forgetting that she was floating.
Ian looked disapprovingly at Zoe.
“Zoe! You know that the use of magic is forbidden!”
Zoe slowly let her feet touch the ground.
“I'm not a coward, Dad. Eron and Hope are a disgrace.”
Ian listened to the thick rain that began to fall outside again before turning to Zoe.
“They're not cowards, Zoe. They're just smarter than you and they obey me.”
The girl shook her shoulders.
“Is it smart to be afraid of the rain?”
“They're not afraid of the rain. They respect our rules, because they're not selfish and they know that we depend on your common sense not to be killed and see our people devoured.”
Zoe glared at Eron, Hope and Ian as Ian sat and lectured them on history.
“You're all cowards. I'd rather fight than face a lifetime in this place.”
“Then maybe it's time I kept my promise, isn't it, Zoe?”
Everyone jumped in fright when they heard the ghostly voice. The leader of the Firecolds was standing in the doorway, as if he had been there a long time, listening to them.
The children took cover behind Ian. The creature's gaze lingered on Hope for a while, before turning to Ian.
“Your family is beautiful and healthy...”
“What do you want here?”
“I've finished. I've finished my work. You can go back to the surface.”
“How do I know this isn't an attempt to get me and my family out of a safe place and make me an easy target for you?”
Baron stopped his pink, shimmering gaze again on the children behind Ian, and realized that they were spying on him with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
“Hope, you're going to become the most beautiful Bruma ever.”
The girl cringed, but there was nothing more she could do to hide. Her golden hair, red at the ends, stood out among the other children's black hair.
Baron turned to Ian.
“I have no reason to wish harm on your children. And you know that the vampires won't rest until they've sucked every drop of their blood. Besides, your supplies are running low and even if you ration them, you shouldn't have more than two months' worth of food and water down here. And you worry that one day you'll come back from your food expeditions and find everyone in this place dead, because children are easily manipulated by them. Are you going to risk them convincing your children to invite them in?”
“It's also a risk to their safety if I leave here. It won't be any different on the surface of the earth. Your Firecolds are worse than vampires.”
“Maybe you're right. I can't stop the Firecolds from attacking you, but I can impose rules on them.”
“That they only besiege you on full moon nights, when it rains and when you exceed the limit of people. You must understand that the Lens need to be replaced, each for forty lives and that the Firecolds will disappear after this replacement is complete and the world will be inhabited by humans again.”
“The Lens... Don't you think it's easier to kill us and spare so many innocent lives?”
“Yes. I do. But there's a balance, Ian. We need to respect that. Don't be anxious. You'll welcome the humans who manage to get to you and teach them the rules. I believe that you will omit that you need many human lives for this replacement to be completed and the world to become a habitable place for children. But we've both known about the Universe's demands since we were children, haven't we?”
Ian looked at the children thoughtfully.
“I don't know...”
“I'm going to offer you comfortable accommodation, a world very similar to the one you knew, plenty of food and the possibility of exchanging favors, whenever you want something other than those things, like a different food, for example. Of course, I'm going to provide you with plenty of food, but after a while, you may wish to vary it.”
“Why do I feel that at a certain moment, you are sure that this will happen?”
“Because you are subject to the human instinct, now stronger than the supernatural one inside each of you, and humans are never satisfied with what they have, they ask for something and after they get it, a short time later, they already crave something greater.”
“And what will you want in return?”
“Nothing you'll need.”
“Like Tayme?” Ian asked angrily, because that was the same sentence he had said before taking his sister.
The creature smiled.
“I've dedicated all these years to building a city, with houses, parks, a hospital, with some first aid instruments, a supermarket, a school and a restaurant, where you can even enjoy ice cream. These buildings are ready, just waiting for occupants.”
“What if we want to live somewhere else?”
“The world as you knew it is over. There's nowhere else to go. Anyway, I've drawn boundaries for the Firecolds, and apart from the days I've already explained to you, they won't be able to attack you and even if you meet one of them on the days that belong to you, they won't come close to hurting you, but only if you're within the boundaries of the city I've prepared. I'm not responsible for your safety if you cross that boundary and you can bet that the Firecolds will be anxious for you to do so.”
“Why do they obey you?”
“Because the werewolves obey you?” He returned the question rhetorically. “I'll be back in three days to find out your answer.”