Chapter 28: Vol 2 – Chapter 8 – Mystery of the North

Much to Duncan and the group’s relief, with still a couple of hours to spare before the sun would have disappeared behind the horizon, we made it back to Blackwall. Now that we had a taste of what may lurk in the darkness of the north, everyone was on edge and eager to get behind the safety of the walls before night had fallen. The trip back was largely filled with silence, as everyone was dealing with Rosethorne in their own way. Even Kit was strangely quiet. I also remained reserved as I reflected on what the event’s emotional toll had been on me. 

Rosethorne’s vampires were not quite unlike anything from a fictional story from back home. They were basically just monstrous mindless thralls, who may or may not have been controlled by their master. The thralls had the increased strength and speed I expected, though seeing it in action had been jarring. I shuddered as I remembered the crunching and tearing sounds as the vampire had bitten a soldier’s head in two while he had screamed in terror. I much rather preferred observing these once mythical creatures on a screen or in the pages of a book. 

Duncan’s belief that they could have been just part of a larger pack or the results of a separate roaming party of other thralls was not unrealistic either. What did stick out about their behavior, however, was that they chose when to spring their trap. Someone did anyway. If the thralls had just been waiting and lurking for food, we wouldn’t have been able to freely roam the town and explore the way we had without stumbling on them much sooner. No, someone or something had controlled them enough to wait until the right moment. This was bigger, but exactly how big? Duncan was right. There was more at stake here, and we needed more. 

As we got closer to the fort, I saw that a contingent of troops stood in formation, likely ordered to see to our injured, if there existed any, and to get firsthand reports of our discoveries. Once we were within a few hundred paces of the formation, a large and heavily armored woman pushed her way through to the head and stood, helmet in the crook of her arm, awaiting us. 

She was tall, at least as tall as I had been as Amelia, if not taller. Her hair was cut short, extending barely to her jawline, and was roughly the same shade as Kit’s. However, where his was shaggy and borderline unkempt, hers was straight and swayed easily in the cooling breeze. As we got closer, I noticed that the ends of her hair were tinted red, almost like they had been dipped in blood. I also saw she also bore Kit’s eye color, but her red was more subdued, if not still intimidating. She had a small scar torn up from the left side of her upper lip that extended about an inch up her face. She filled the armor she was wearing, and I would have been surprised if she wasn’t as physically chiseled as Kit or Duncan underneath it all. 

There was no mistaking her. She was a Zannister. 

She saluted as Duncan dismounted and approached her. “General, we are pleased to see you have returned from the north, and with time to spare before the loss of daylight. She scanned our group, “I take it you found something, given your riderless horses? My condolences on the losses of some of your men.” Duncan nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder in greeting. 

“At ease, Commander Zannister. We have much to discuss, and we wish to do it in the comfort of your high walls.”

The commander nodded and turned back to the formation. With a glance, they broke ranks and began retreating into the fort. Once we were all inside, Duncan informed all the soldiers in our groups they were released from their duties for the day and they were encouraged to rest up and get their fill of food and ale, as we had another early and long day tomorrow. He then turned to the boys and me. 

“The rest of us still have a meeting to attend.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We all crammed into a smaller room that looked half office, half weapons storage. The eight of us filled into the space as Commander Zannister lay her helmet on an armor rack on the wall, then walked to a large table in the middle of the room. 

“Please, forgive the space limitations. As I am sure you are aware, we Zannisters have post rotations between the three major forts, and we don’t really like to share space. This means we all claim our own rooms. I don’t feel the need for something grand, so my quarters are more conservative. I find a quiet corner with a small bed suits me just fine.”

“Find a man willing to share that small bed with you yet, Carmilla?” Kit mouthed off.

Carmilla Zannister stopped and looked back over her shoulder at him, her red eye looked to be smoldering as she stared him down.

“You will address me as ‘Commander’. I am the current Zannister representative of this fort as well as leader of this exercise, and you will show me the proper respect of my rank.” she hissed.

Kit just shrugged and continued to press. 

“Whatever. Glad to see ya finally upgraded from a broom closet in some fort that hell forgot. Being a Zannister has it’s perks.”

She finally turned, the rest of us momentarily forgotten. 

“If you have concerns at my qualifications for this posting, you may take it up with our father when next you see him, brother. Until then I am still your Commander, and you will give me the respect I am due, or you may consider yourself dismissed.”

She held Kit’s hard gaze, neither of them blinking or giving ground. 

Duncan finally interjected.

“Enough, both of you. I am well aware of your grievances with each other, but we have more pressing matters to address. Kit, you will do as the ranking officer of Blackwall says. Either show some level of professionalism that I know you still possess or leave this briefing.”

Kit didn’t acknowledge Duncan and only broke eye contact with his sister to turn and leave the room. No one attempted to stop him. 

Carmilla sighed in response, and I felt some of the tension leave with Kit. 

It wasn’t the first sibling squabble I had experienced amongst the children of the four houses, but it was far and away the most intense. Max and Chad had at least been cordial in their teasing on the stairs, but Max also did mention Chad had a more intense relationship with his brother, Horrick. 

Not having any siblings, myself, I really didn’t have any way to relate to these exchanges of sibling rivalry. In hindsight though, it should have been obvious that in such a family, or four, where the future of the kingdom was at stake, their places as unfortunate pieces on a board weighed heavily on all of them. 

“My apologies, all. I forget my place when around my brother.” She gave a small, sad smile. “If any of you know him, you know how difficult he can be to get along with. Our father is the eldest of his kin, and as his eldest, I endure quite a lot of friction from my younger siblings.” 

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At this, my mouth dropped. Kit wasn’t the oldest Zannister child? I had just assumed his place among any siblings he had just because he was supposed to be the next head of their house. Instead, the actual eldest was a woman being overlooked simply because she was missing something swinging between her legs. She had obviously strived extremely hard to be where she was now, making every effort to be the model Zannister, but all for nothing? She must have had a hell of a chip on her shoulder. 

With the distraction passed, we crowded around a table with a sprawling map of the north. It had a couple of pins stuck in it for points of interest, but I did notice the map was very empty of specific details. The shape of the land itself even seemed to be without much form, and merely faded up to the top of the parchment. Nothing about most of the topography appeared set in stone once the map traveled north to the black pines, with only a rare village or a large landmark in random spots that sprawled away from the only location with any definitive markings: Rosethorne. 

It occurred to me that the humans of Monera actually knew very little about what lay beyond the dense forest tree line. I noticed there wasn’t even a designated location for the vampire castle that Duncan had mentioned. They didn’t even know where the lair was! The further out the details spread from Rosethorne, the more infrequent and less specific they became. If this was the information we had to go on for planning a scouting mission into the Black Hills, our task had gotten much more challenging.

We summarized what we had discovered in Rosethorne to Carmilla: the unnerving state of the town, the surprise ambush by the thralls, the tragic loss of some of our own, the thrall that got away. She absorbed all the key points without speaking or interjecting until we were finished. We then turned our attention back to the vague chart on the table. 

Duncan summed up what we were all thinking as we leaned over it, “How much do we know about the lands surrounding and further north of Rosethorne? Are the map details this empty because the north is mostly devoid of life or because what’s there is unknown?”

Carmilla frowned, obviously being unhappy about the response she was forced to give. “Next to nothing. I also haven’t been at this post long, so I’m learning at about the same speed as you when it comes to our situation. Unfortunately, my cousin that was stationed here last was more than content to squat and ignore the situation. Due to my unfamiliarity at this post, the Crown and my father ordered me to not send scouts into the north for any purpose until you arrived and were able to lead any expedition. Not even for mapping out the area.” 

She crossed her arms and huffed in frustration, “Unfortunately, this means I have very little to offer to prepare you for pushing further through the dense pine, other than more men of course.” 

Duncan pulled at his mustache and looked at each of us in thought. “As much as it pains me to ask others to risk their lives for this mission, this type of danger is something that is required at this post. Prince Chadwick, thoughts?”

Chad sighed deeply, eyes fixed on the map. “I don’t like it, Duncan. Any of it. Pushing further into that strange dense forest, we won’t know beyond what’s just a few feet in front of us, and the risk of stumbling on an ambush or some other danger will be very high.” 

Chad furrowed his brow and gestured loosely at generic dense tree markings throughout the map. “Time will be against us if we wish to be back at the fort before sunset, thus a preference on speed with a smaller group. But then that runs the risk of being outnumbered should we encounter thralls again, or something worse.” He hung his head before continuing, “Which I assume is our aim, yes?”

Duncan briskly nodded, “Indeed. Julius, you’re usually one with all sorts of unasked for opinions. For once, please share your thoughts of our situation”

Julius pushed his glasses up his nose. “They’re not positive. That said, I’m not as dedicated to this mission as you or the prince seem to be. I believe the parameters of our task were to determine if the vampires had returned to the north. The sinister clouds and ill change in the weather, as well as our ambush at Rosethorne should be enough to fill out a report to satisfy the king and council. Even if we don’t know the extent of their reawakening, what we discovered today leaves obvious proof that, left unchecked, events in the north will only get more ominous. Let King Chadwick send in an army en masse and burn the north down.”

Duncan dismissed this recommendation with a wave of his hand. “Not an option. The king will need more confirmation of their threat for Chadwick or I to convince him to muster a force great enough to penetrate the forest and attempt to exterminate the vampires lurking in it.” At this, Julius warmed a hand, tiny flames licking his pristine fingertips. Duncan understood the intent and denied the request. “We aren’t taking it upon ourselves to burn the Black Hills either.” 

He then looked at me, “What do you think, Amelia?” 

Startled on hearing my name called, I didn’t immediately respond. Carmilla took the break in the debate to address my presence. “I am glad someone decided to bring attention to her. Who exactly is this again?”

Like he had when Julius and Kit had wondered about why I was an allowed tagalong, Chad spoke up for my attendance at this debriefing. “This is Amy. She is a recent addition to our group and brings along her own special viewpoint to our situation.”

I blushed as Chad looked at me. It was the first time since my transformation he had acknowledged me to other people and done so without obvious frustration or a backhanded insult to my mere existence. Duncan also seemed to notice the prince’s change in demeanor, as he chimed in, “You would do well to not underestimate her, Commander. She slew one of the vampires who ambushed us at Rosethorne.” He winked at me, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, “She is cunning and fierce, and we are fortunate to have her in our company.”

Carmilla raised her hand to stop the platitudes. “At ease, boys. No need to lay it on so thick, or have you forgotten I am the last person at this table who needs to be convinced not to take a woman just at face value?” 

She, too, smiled at me, and it was nice to see a kindred spirit in her expression. She reminded me much of Noelle in that moment, a woman doing everything within her power to carve a name for herself in a man’s world. I would think the two would have gotten along effortlessly if they ever met up. She gestured to me, “Well, Amelia? What are your thoughts on the matter?”

I gulped loudly, all the attention now on me. 

“Well, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Chadwick about the risks in the Black Hills. We run a fine line on taking larger numbers to prevent catastrophe on further contact, but risk slower travel with time being our enemy.” I blew air out my cheeks. I’d had the time on the ride back to review what I thought I knew about our predicament, but it took me a moment to decide what to share next. 

“As for what our discoveries in Rosethorne meant, it honestly could be anything. It’s unlikely that they were just roaming hungry thralls. Had that been the case, the attack would have felt less planned. We numbered nearly 20, and we couldn’t find any trace of them when actively looking.” I took off my glasses and rubbed my tired eyes. I was still getting used to this detective work, especially since the boys seemed to be strangely valuing my input as of late. 

I put my glasses back on and continued. “No, they attacked with timing. They were controlled by something, or someone. There would have been less precision in the attack otherwise. There is something else out there with the power and capabilities to bolster the vampire’s influence in the north. That is the threat the king sent us out here to find. We need to know their numbers and true capabilities, and the only way we find that is another expedition into the wild.”

I looked around for a response of some kind. Either someone telling me I was crazy or dismissing my observations off hand. Instead, there were raised eyebrows and side glances between everyone at the table. Carmilla was first to speak up.

“Alright then, sounds like we still have work to do. Everyone, consider yourselves dismissed. Please go freshen up and get some rest for tomorrow. Duncan, when you are ready later this evening, you and I should further discuss our expedition plans for tomorrow.” 

Everyone nodded and we headed for the door, eager to wash the grime and gore of the day away and get some food in our stomachs. 

“Except you, Amelia,” Carmilla called out. “You and I aren’t quite finished.”

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