“Hello, Sir Danton, I presume?” Danton let out a wounded howl. “Oh, so much anger. A new blood feeder who doesn’t know what he is or why he is so ravenous for human flesh. Let me enlighten you. The Black Mage in her current ignorant state created you and then abandoned you to this life. You are now drawn to her like a moth to flame, but you can’t help stopping here and there to feed. You need to satiate that horrible hunger after all. She is south of Emlestra. If you are planning on taking the river, don’t. The water can be deadly to you. Besides, I have another task for you before you make your presence know the Black Mage.”
“What are you? Are you like me?” Sir Danton’s voice was scratchy and harsh.
“No, not exactly. I am not a vampire. I am… something else.”
“You are an elf.”
“No, I am not exactly an elf either. What I was in the past is no more. It’s best we not get too friendly. Suffice it to say, I do not fear the dead or the undead.”
“I must get to the Black Mage.”
“Oh, I will fix that.” He pressed on Danton’s forehead with his free hand. “There, better?”
“I am free from her grasp!” His body went limp in Tanyth’s hand.
“Well, for now. I wouldn’t get used to it if I were you, but for now you are in my power. You work for me and as long as I am nearby you will not feel the pull from your creator.”
Tanyth peered into the room where Danton had emerged with Danton still clutched in his grasp. A man, presumably the farmer, lay dead straddled over a wooden rocking chair. Tanyth let Danton go and he stayed at bay. “I must teach you how to feed. You are far too sloppy. At least you have the wits to stay away from villages, towns, and cities where your present would be felt by the locals.”
“My father?”
“You best forget about him. You are far too dangerous to him now. He will send soldiers out to find what happened to you, but soon you will become unrecognizable to him. Blood feeder’s features tend to change unless you manage to keep feeding on a regular basis. Even then, your features will distort. Your father is the current king, is he not?”
“Yes, he is the king.”
“He is soon to be replaced. You have failed to secure his line.” Tanyth breathed in and then grinned maniacally, letting his breath slowly out through his nose. “However, your service to him is not yet done. Once you and I complete our goddess given task, you shall have made your father proud. Come now, we have a long way to go and we need to get you a steed.”
“Horses shy away from me. I can’t get near them.” Danton rasped.
“Live ones do.” Tanyth said. “We will take care of that, don’t worry. Come, let us visit the barn.”
Once back in her room at the inn, Thessa felt a pang of dread in her forehead, as if something hard and small had struck her square in the middle of it. She rubbed the offending spot, and the pain subsided. “What the heck was that.” She said.
What did you say? Sarren asked telepathically.
“Nothing, I just felt like I got pelted in the forehead with a pebble or small rock for a second.”
Oh, that’s not good. As far as I know, you have not created any minions, right?
“Never, I would not do to anyone what you did to me. I don’t care how much pressure Cassany is applying.”
The pain you describe sounds like what happens when one of the Black Mage minion’s link to you is severed. You are bound to all creatures you create.
“But, as we have established, that can’t be it since I have not created any minions as you put it.”
Then it could be a random body pain. It could mean nothing.
“I’ll let you know if I feel it again.” Thessa said. “I am going to change the subject now, and I want you to listen carefully. Do not talk to me in my head when we meet with Gaelyn. I don’t want you distracting me.”
I will try. Why don’t you speak to me in the same way I speak to you?
“Because I don’t know how, and I would rather just say it.” She stopped and rubbed the spot on her forehead again. “Ouch! There it is again.”
Are you certain you have not raised anyone from the dead or created a blood feeder?
“Raise from the dead? That will create a blood feeder?”
Yes. It could if you don’t know what you are doing.
“I raised Sir Danton. You were there, remember?”
Yes, but I didn’t notice anything unusual. He got up and ran as I remember. That’s a common reaction for a human. He was also not dead long enough. The newly dead tend to come back unscathed.
“Well, he was the only one.”
What about the man in the market?
“Oh, I had almost forgotten I raised him. He was newly dead too. Could I have made a blood feeder out of him?”
I could never make one until the body had been expired for at least a day. When I tried it on people who had just died, they would rise and live like normal.
“Well, are you a blood feeder? Remember, I raised you too. Shouldn’t you be one, I mean?”
Technically, yes! Cassany said
