Encounters (The Elder Origins #3)
Read Encounters (The Elder Origins #3) Online
Authors: Bre Faucheux
Chapter
1
European Continent
Rome, Italy
Four Days Later
The sickness showed little mercy to who it struck before Madison’s eyes. She never realized that it had spread as far as she now bore witness to. England was not the only country affected by its vicious grasp. She hardly expected to feel empathy for the French people, who she held responsible for the taking of her home as she and Jayden quickly followed Lyndon’s trail into France, and yet before her lay victims everywhere. Nor had she expected to find remnants of her own countrymen in armor on French shores, having partaken in the same treacherous acts that had left her without a home. It took little to no time for her to recognize that neither the English nor the French could individually be blamed. Both caused destruction beyond what she had once thought men capable.
The shores of France were littered with as much blood as her own village
had spilled, and all caused by English swords. She no longer had an inkling as to why such things were done and why these two countries caused such harm to one another. And for the briefest moment, she felt relieved that the plague had temporarily put a stop to it.
Madison was
excited by the prospect of hearing that Lyndon and Caspar were indeed alive, somehow making their way back to Europe long before her or Jayden made the journey. She was less excited to know that they had left a trail of bodies wherever they were. She and Jayden didn’t find it difficult to trail Lyndon as he quickly made his way through France and Italy. Only the prospect of finding Lyndon could have convinced her to journey into France. Nor had she expected to find the people there as normal and quaint as she had once been. The French held little to no differences to her, only angering her further at the knowledge that two close nations could find the energy to loathe one another to such a degree.
The gentleman Jayden
visited was brief with him. The sight of Jayden had apparently frightened the poor man nearly to lose himself to shock. Madison learned that his name was Allister, and he lodged alone in London. She was curious to learn how Jayden had known him, but not enough to ask.
Madison saw Rome as a city of little interest as it would more than likely resemble the sight of London in her mind. No other land they had approached held the same veneer as London had. In respect of the sickness, it was no different, but in structure, it was
completely varied. The detail given to one building or another was astounding. The homes and alehouses were more sandy than grey. Timbers appeared thicker and sturdier. There was more color in the stones and roof tops. The mark of nobility residing was more evident, and much more forceful. There was a beauty to it that England had not become accustomed.
It also appeared as though Rom
ans had more time to clean and grow used to the idea of chaos than the English had. Madison took this as a hint that the plague had come from the south, and Rome had seen the likes of it much earlier than England. Life did not appear to stop here as it did in London. The initial fear had worn down.
“Lyndon told A
llister that we were all dead, and that only he and Caspar had been spared by the journey,” said Jayden as they trailed the lengths of cobbled streets.
“However did Lyndon manage to have him believe that?” she asked.
“He said that the pestilence caught everyone aboard. Apparently we were all lost to it at sea and the few remaining upon deciding to return to England were dead within a week of arriving home,” he said.
“How dismal,” she said sarcastically. “I gather your showing up was rather startling.”
“I sensed the ‘poesy’ on him almost immediately. But it was masked quite well by all the city’s stench,” he said.
“Yes, I discovered the same,” she said.
“You said that the children had it on them,” he asked.
“Lyndon is spreading it somehow. How he came by so much of it is beyond me.”
“He is probably doing so to keep himself hidden,” said Jayden roughly.
“Actually, I t
hink not. The children said he claimed that it would protect them,” she said.
“How so?”
“That is what I want to know,” she said.
Their new horses dragged their feet through the cobble stone streets of the city. Their last few days had taken them to the English shores where Madison had once resided and over the English Channel. Madison was relieved to reach a continent that she suspicioned would not require swimming again for quite some time. As much as she had come to love the feeling within the water, it was becoming nuisance to travel through means of swimming.
“It should not be long before we find him,” he said. “I suspicion that he has plans to lodge here for the time being.”
“Then we would be
wise to do the same,” she said. “Have you seen a tavern that accepts travelers?”
“None such yet. Most here seemed to stop taking in people
quite a while ago for fear of further spread of the illness.”
“We may have to resort to a previous tactic then,” she said.
“If you see a home you fancy, mistress, say the word.”
There were hardly any suitable homes of comfort lining the outer rims of the city. The poor and sick had apparently been ousted. And yet further inside the city, it became
obvious where nobility lived. The homes became grander in their appearance only a mile down the length of the streets. The structures scattered throughout the city were older than anything she had seen. She imagined them to have stood the test of time and that they would see generations to come. Some crumbled to the ground slowly as others stood boldly. Statues and art of all kinds graced the walls and cathedrals, but one hardly noticed them now. For who could notice aesthetics of this kind when death was everywhere. Madison supposed that many parishioners flocked to see such marvels in previous years. Now there was no one to admire them as she could without the fear of death all around her.
Eventually finding a home to his liking, Jayden stopped and dismounted his horse.
“What taste you have,” she remarked. “Whatever happened to discretion?”
“To hell with it,” he said. “We might as well be comfortable.”
The house before them was made of stone and was grander than any lodging they had previously attempted to invade. It was undoubtedly a home of nobility or of the like.
The task of confronting strangers had become an acquired skill for Madison. She often reached to touch their shoulder to quiet their concerns for foreigners
just as they opened their door to them. Her lack of knowledge for the language didn’t appear a problem. She merely expressed that they were friends in need of a place for the night, and did so without ever uttering a word.
The maid of the household led them to a small room beneath the main level of the large home. Beds were stacked on top of one another for the house’s help. It was
n’t what Madison had hoped for as far as how a guest should be treated, but then again, she quickly perceived from the maid that there were no nobles presiding over the care for this house any longer. They had long since died of plague. The maid had become the master of the house and took the bedding upstairs as her own.
Madison watched as Jayden gently reached for the young lady’s wrist, drinking only as much blood as he needed. She had become impressed with his methods of persuasion. He rarely spilled or caused great pain anymore, the wound was often mostly healed by the next morning. He was learning to survive on as little as he could, and she respected him more for it.
The maid slowly walked up the warped wooden stairs and left them in peace to rest, eyes gazing directly as though she were in a fog.
“It would seem
you did more than simply calm her, Jayden,” said Madison from behind.
He smiled at her, proud of his honed and proficient skills. “I think we could make them love us with great ease, mistress. Gaining trust of strangers is growing easier. Have you not noticed?” he said, amused by the potential prospect.
“No, I have not. I have however noticed that this illness could easily spread by our taking of blood,” she said dusting off the cloth for her bedding with her hand.
“It has more than likely run its course here, mistress. I hardly think us a threat.”
Madison turned and looked back at him. He was already lying back on his bed with his arms crossed behind his head.
“We don’t know that for certain,” she said.
“Are you bothered by the fact that I enjoy taking from pretty young girls such as yourself or by the fact that I do it more efficiently than you?”
She didn’
t have to look at him at all to know he was grinning. “Why don’t you sit here and enjoy the notion that you are becoming a gentleman in your manner of consuming finally, and I will walk about the city for a while. Thus I shall hone my skills of efficiently finding Lyndon,” she said, sneering as she walked to the door. “We both know that I can hear him out better than you ever could.”
He sneered at her as she left the room, slamming the door behind her. His ability to get beneath her skin was becoming obvious. His backward way of complimenting her appearance was to take from women who directly resembled her in build and features. And then making it known that those she mirrored were more to his liking. If ever there were a more depraved way of making his war
ming inclination for her apparent, she would not know it. The only thing that made her even more irritated was that she almost found it flattering. It was a compliment… of sorts, that he only hurt them slightly. And his emotions always gravitated towards her when he fed. His satisfaction was only met when he knew that she was watching him.
The streets of
Rome were surprisingly quiet at the night. Everything seemed to have a different atmosphere about it. Even with death still looming around every corner, the city held a mystery that she never found in England. There was elegance to its character. Although she sensed that there was suffering here just as there was anywhere. Spring didn’t carry warmer air just yet. Even though the cold did not affect her skin, she saw the shivers among others wrapped in heavy cloth as they hurried to their homes before the sun completely set. The city became dark within moments. Only a few remained about as Madison sat along the edge of a long stone wall listening to cathedral bells calling for the end of the day. Behind the wall stood a tall circular fortress, strong in build and yet crumbling with its years. Around her lay stones that once stood just as strong. She wanted to see Rome ages ago, when it was a city of glory. Now, it only appeared of a city with dreary memories.
She tried as best she could to lengthen her h
earing. The city had grown hushed rather quickly, and leaving only the sound of the wind hastening passed. She drew the hood of her now moderately clean cloak over her head and focused as best she could. Searching through the streets for any sign of Lyndon had grown difficult. The healer’s mixture was easier to trace than anything else. She smelled it in the nearby wells within a reasonable distance. It seemed more widespread in these lands than it was in England, as if it had been here a while.
Madison
had not expected to be sitting for such a brief time. A cracking of bone struck a wall within a short distance from where she sat. Someone had been shoved against something with ghastly force. She could clearly hear the tearing of skin being ripped open, followed by a groan. There was a wrestle to combat the attacker and finally submission. Madison stood suddenly and ran into the streets of the city, paying no mind if anyone were to see her speed. Cutting corners as fast she could, she followed the noise. It was all too familiar. The draining of blood from a body was as distinct of a sound as any other. And now, she could easily trace it.
She stopped suddenly in an abandoned alley. Lyndon stood before her, holding the limp figure of a middle aged man in his arms. Not even noticing Madison behind him, he wiped his mouth clean with his sleeve and dropped the man to the ground. Lyndon moved to walk away when he se
nsed someone behind him. He didn’t immediately turn around to face her. Madison could feel the confusion drifting from his body. When he did turn, his eyes widened. She slowly stepped toward him. He didn’t step away or even move. He merely gazed at her.
Madison was the first to break the awkward silence. “How did you survive? You were completely unconscious when I left you,” she said.
“I was not as lifeless as you may have believed.” He didn’t move. His mouth hardly even opened when he spoke. “I awoke ravenous,” he said, clearly still trying to conceive the memory.
“And yo
u frightened them off?” she asked.
“Not all, but most, indeed.”
“And did you ever try to find me or Jayden?”
“Caspar and I thought that you may be alive, but our thirst quickly overcame any desire to search for you, I am sorry to say,” he spoke softly. “How did you find me?”
“Your trail of bodies and, ‘poesy’ as you call it, were apparent once we discovered them,” she said.
He snickered slightly. “Poesy is what the children called it. I named it ‘Rayen.’ For it was a ray of light in all of this mess. Much more eloquent, wouldn’t you say?”