Chapter 32 – Those Who Came Before.

“Oh, they are going to be so pissed.” Julia grinned, her blood red eyes sparkling in the morning light that was filtering through the canopy, the world bathed in a soft green. “They had all these plans for me, and now none of them are going to ever happen.”

It was still raining, now just heavily though, and not the torrential downpour that it had been a few hours ago. It gave the day a strange feel to it, especially post the conversation. The water actually tasted rather nice too. Refreshing. But it was too cold to consider trying to use it as a pseudo shower or anything.

“You’re not saddened by the loss?” Callie asked, somewhat confused, absently running her hand over her tummy. Now that she knew that she was with child, she was rather happy that she could actually do so. Even if there was the chance that it had been because of something else's influence, and could quite possibly be her only baby. But Julia, she couldn’t. Having become a vampire, that aspect had been taken from her. Whether or not she’d been aware of it at the time, Callie did not know. But even if Julia wasn’t saddened by that, Callie was, for her.

Julia shrugged. “No? It wasn’t something that I had ever wanted, to be honest, rather something that they had always pressured upon me. To be the perfect wife for whoever they paired me up with. For you, it ended up being. They were never happy when they found out what I’d been up to.” Julia looked flustered, a nervous smile playing on her lips, her fangs just visible. “And, well, some things I enjoy perhaps a little too much. More so now, since the changes. And that is not something that I am ashamed of at all. It means so much to me, to be able to be intimate with you, Uriah, and Felicia.”

There was a glint of hunger before she then sighed, and took a step closer to Callie, reaching out a hand, and gently running it along Callie’s face. Tenderly. Even when she wasn’t sparring or fighting, Julia’s fingernails were just that little bit longer and wicked looking. She had perfect control over them it seemed.

“I’m...” Julia paused again, looking deeply into Callie’s eyes. “This is actually hard.”

Another deep breath, fingers tracing a line along Callie’s neck, before Julia brought up her left hand, holding it there, a fox styled ring there on the second finger from the left, lines from her mark wrapping around and under it, just like it did for herself and Uriah. Even the ring itself was of the same form. The array, the spell, it ran off intent, and it had evolved again, and she hadn’t actually noticed at all. Not that she minded. Things had changed a bit since then.

“This is what I so desperately sought, what I wanted, and for that I hold no remorse, but...” Julia looked down at the ground, her voice becoming quieter, the hint of pain present. “I’m sorry for how aggressively I pursued it. That I caused you suffering and anguish. I caused you pain. I... you mean so much to me, Callie. As does Uriah and Felicia. I guess... no, it’s not a guess, it’s the cold hard truth. That I really do love you all. More so than I had ever expected. And it’s not just my nature and hunger speaking there. We have truly become so much more than that.”

Callie wasn’t sure at all what to say. The feelings that she was getting from Julia were... complicated. Say what she would, Julia was hurting a little bit herself. She’d never quite seen her like this, not since she’d gained the gift from Amber at least. For all the confidence that she showed, for all her dominance in certain areas, right now, Julia was just a little bit vulnerable. And she couldn’t help but find that cute. And that was ignoring the fact that the bond, and she guessed herself as well, saw her as more than just a lover now. The ring, it marked her as their wife. When exactly has she started seeing her that way?

‘Is it the same for you, Uri?’ she asked, still staring at Julia, a little colour tingeing her face. She hadn’t looked back up yet.

‘Yeah...’ Uriah sent back sheepishly. ‘I... relationships are complicated, Callie. We accepted her, let her in, but we could never do it in part, could we? It always had to be everything, didn’t it? Especially with what we’ve been doing, and being here. I’m...’

‘Don’t you dare say you’re sorry!’ Callie cut in. She knew him too well.

‘Sorry.’ There was amusement that time though. ‘The feelings, they are very real and true. Yes, I love her as well. But even so, it is still so complicated. Feli has a ring as well, in case you hadn’t noticed.’

No, that she hadn’t. Perhaps she’d just been too wrapped up in herself, and the situation that they were in. Too reliant on the bond that they shared? Mind you, Felicia spent a lot of time in her fox form, but that wasn’t really an excuse.

Callie reached out, placing a hand gently under Julia’s chin, lifting her head up. Really, there was only one thing that she could do. She leaned in, pulled her close, and gave her a kiss. A passionate one. ‘Thanks,’ she sent, just enjoying the sensation of the vampire’s lips against hers, Julia replying in kind. ‘And I love you too.’

---

“I’m all for it,” Uriah stated as he stood there, hoisting one of the backpacks onto his back. “We’ve nothing to lose. And, I’m kinda curious, about this realmwalker, if anything of them actually remains. Five thousand years or more is a long time.”

“Arianna seemed to think so. At least, of what they brought with them,” Callie said as she stretched, looking up into the heights of the trees, and the water cascading down in places. She was starting to wonder how long the rain was going to last for, but for now it didn’t matter too much. Once they left the trees though, that was a different story. Hopefully it broke by then. To her surprise, the images of the location, and how to get there, were still very clear in her mind. Which was a good thing.

“We have no reason to distrust her, as far as I can tell? I mean, she has helped thus far.” Julia wiped a little bit of blood from her lips, a contented smile on her face. She always looked almost radiant after feeding. Callie just wanted to give her another kiss, but they’d done plenty of that already.

“That she has,” Callie nodded in agreement. And as Felicia had already said, there really wasn’t much choice. And for a change, Felicia was curled up in Uriah’s strong arms. While she had no interest in men, it seems that she had grown somewhat fond of Uri. Well, they were both fox aspected after all. She also suspected that Felicia was keeping a watch at times during the night, even if there wasn’t the need to do so. She wasn’t going to diss the caution, and she did actually appreciate it. It did mean that she was often tired during the day, but no one was going to deny her, Julia usually the one to carry her for periods at a time. Or well, Uriah now, it seemed.

Getting her bearing for their new destination was easy enough, Callie trying her best to remember the angle between Arianna and where they were now going. She knew it would change as they passed by landmarks, but it would still be useful as a rough guide. Travelling through the forest was certainly a different feel from walking through the grasslands and following the river, and a lot more pleasant than their stretch along the mountainside. She didn’t miss the cold winds at all. Some parts of the forest floor were starting to get quite boggy, small streams weaving their way through, or just pooling, the decaying leaves floating on top almost able to deceive them that the ground was solid, if it wasn’t for all of the surrounding tell-tale signs. And in some places the canopy was thin enough that the rain just came straight in.

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They couldn’t walk in a straight line either. Trees just didn’t grow in that way. It was a pattern of chaos, some of the trees as large and round as small houses, but none quite as large as some of the monsters that she had seen in their own realm. There were as many small and wiry trees as anything else, that seemed to cluster around the larger ones in some areas and yet be completely absent in other places, varieties that she had never seen before. She guessed that thousands of years of being untouched would do that. She was surprised that none of the larger ones had been brought down by the earthquakes, but also wasn’t keen to see that happen. There was no chance that they’d clear the forest before the next one hit, and fighting here was going to be interesting at best. Hopefully the trend continued, and they didn’t have to face a titan.

They made good progress, all things considered, the rain stopping two days later, the trees thinning out somewhat, allowing them to cover ground more quickly. Four days after that the earthquake struck, right on schedule, tearing up trees and making a royal mess of everything around them. The shadow creatures clawed their way out of the carnage, snarling and attacking as soon as they could move, a change that they had been noticing over time, no longer as cautious as they had been for the first battle. Julia now fought, hands deadly claws as she ran alongside Uriah, tearing into the shadows with a feral brutality, the girl almost laughing at times. Callie stood nearby, Felicia at her side, her lightning dancing around the battlefield, tearing through the shadows while also supporting Uriah and Julia, Felicia throwing up shields as needed. The bond between them all was more than a blessing, enabling them to sense things that they might not have otherwise seen. Their teamwork was definitely something to envy. The battles were always short, especially this one as there was nothing above a hunter present, the smell of magic heavy in the air as the last of the shadows dissipated into the air.

“The earthquakes are always centred on us, aren’t they?” Uriah asked as much stated, flexing his hands, tail swishing behind him, the magic that formed his blades fading away.

“Yeah. I’d been wondering that myself, but it certainly seems like it.” Callie watched her lightning dance around her, playfully bouncing off Felicia’s shields, before she let it fade away as well. She kind of missed it when she wasn’t using it. Was she getting addicted to it?

“Perhaps because we’re the only living people here,” Felicia offered, “or perhaps because of our magic, the phenomenon attracted to our location? It’s not like the world is a static thing.” She walked over to Julia, giving her a poke in the head with a finger once she stood in front of her. “You’re taking too many risks, Julia. Aren’t you meant to be learning from Uri, not trying to compete with and outdo him. At times you act more animalistic than I do, and I can turn into a fox!”

Julia gave her a sheepish grin back. “Yes, well. I’m getting better, Feli.”

Uriah just laughed. “You say that every time, Julia. But, you are getting better. Just don’t try giving Felicia a heart attack. Or any of us. We have no idea how quickly you’ll heal, and we really don’t want to find out.”

Julia just blushed, giving Uriah the most adorable bashful look. Followed by a rather flirty smile, her eyes saying everything. No matter what was said, Julia was always herself.

A week later they finally cleared the forest, and found themselves at the foot of a valley, a stream flowing past them, gentle hills rising up on either side, the slopes a carpet of short grass and boulders that stuck out of the grass, in all shapes and sizes, like someone had taken every large rock they could find, and dropped them en masse from great height. Most were mossy green on one side, and sun-baked grey on the other, a few rabbits hopping around the lower reaches, pausing to look at them. A mistake on their part, the cold air suddenly tinged with the hint of sulphur and singed fur. For her, range wasn’t an issue, and she wasn’t going to miss the opportunity.

She recognised the area though. It was exactly as Arianna had shown her, right down to the placements of the boulders. The final resting place of the realmwalker was here, near the top of the valley, in what Callie had first thought was a cave, but hints from the memories seemed to indicate that it had once been more than just that. The realmwalker had actually died relatively close to civilization. As to why he had never made it there, or if they had just been hostile to him, she had no idea. But still, his death was sad, especially for one who had magic like that.

The joy of finally being at their first destination, and having fresh meat for dinner was offset by the sky quickly darkening, the temperature plummeting, and then snow falling, all within the matter of an hour. Thick and heavy, coating everything in a carpet of white, as they all but ran along the basin of the valley. Callie had hoped that it might have held off till they’d reached the cave, but nature had a mind of its own, and she did not want to be camping out in it. Even Uriah was feeling uncomfortable in it, though Felicia seemed unfazed, pelting along the top of the snow, her fox body much more suited to it. Sending her familiar the images that Arianna had given her, Callie sent her ahead, as they did their best to catch up. She remembered enjoying snow as a young child, but right now, it was just being a pain.

‘Umm... I’ve found it, but I don’t think he quite left.’

Callie had lost sight of Felicia, the snow just getting heavier, none of them able to run any longer. They were walking up the slope now, cursing every time they ran into a boulder that had been hidden under the white carpet.

‘What do you mean?’ At least range didn’t seem to be an issue, and she knew that they weren’t far off, the bond letting her know exactly where Felicia was.

‘Exactly that. He’s here. Well, a shade or spectre of him. It feels kind of familiar in a way. But while I always had you, he’s been all alone.’

‘Be careful!’ Even though they were close, it was still going to take a bit to get there.

There was silence for a bit, well, from Felicia at least. The wind had picked up, and was throwing snow everywhere. She was beginning to hate it more and more, but Arianna had said that the winters were now brutal, and if this was any indication, then they really needed to get to the city as soon as possible. Not to mention that it was going to bury anything of use.

When Felicia’s next message came through, she all but stopped in shock, the words echoing around her mind.

‘Callie... his name... it was Soryen erl Tasuriet...’