The Knights Of Blood. Vampire Eloim Book 4, part 3.
PRESENT DAY
Karla looked up from the journal and stared at Junior in disbelief, unable to believe the words she had just read. “How is this possible?” She finally asked.
Junior shrugged his shoulders. “We need to start looking for any other mention of him. Did he find a witch or did he fall victim to the Blood Knights?”
“What do we have on that witch, Mother Munnings?” Karla asked.
“I’ll look, the name rings a bell but it’s the Knights of Blood I’m more worried about, they killed almost every vampire in England. The only ones who escaped were those who ran. No one knows the truth of what happened and why the purge ended.” Junior said with concern.
“Well we do know that Eloim is no fighter, despite the attempts of Polly and Gary to teach him and we also know he is far too stupid to run from a fight.” Karla said. “Get a few of the others to help you find anything written during that time and study it in case of any other mention of him.”
“I’ll rope in Nathanial to help me, what do we tell Mum and Dad?” Junior said, closing the journal.
“Nothing, the priest is due to arrive later and he and Father are off on some official business. Wait till he’s gone before we approach Mother, we’re more likely to get somewhere with Mother.” Karla said.
HARTEST, 1686 ENGLAND
Eloim had again travelled south, searching for the small village of Hartest. The land he travelled through was in upheaval, the failed rebellion by the Duke of Monmouth and his subsequent execution was again a topic of conversation in the towns. The subject had been given new life at the news that the King had given high positions to known Catholics in breach of the law.
The night time inhabitants of the land were almost impossible to find. Most had gone into hiding to avoid the terror of the Knights of Blood who roamed the land destroying any creature they found. found. Eloim managed to find a few who, like Jieller, looked upon the young vampire with suspicion and were happy to see him leave the next night. Eloim was stuck in the time of the greatest upheaval in Vampire history as the Catholic Church and their allies established their power as they defeated the Ottoman Empire of Turkey. Vampire kind had lost their main human ally and their enemies had gained much information and many magical items to aid them in their task of destroying them.
Vampire kind faced extinction at the hands of their enemies and Eloim’s father had insisted all his children learn about the darkest time in their history. Caught in a war on two fronts, the old power of the vampires crumbled as the third lycan war was coming to a conclusion which would see the vampires losing much of Eastern Europe, including Transylvania, to their oldest supernatural enemy, the werewolves.
Eloim sat on what was locally called Hartest Hill; Eloim thought it was stretching things to call the slight rise a hill. The landscape was patchy woodland with most of the area cleared for farming. He had investigated the small cluster of houses earlier, avoiding the tiny church situated on the edge of the village green; he had crept around in the early hours, while the inhabitants were sleeping. The village was little more than a few houses set around a large village green. The green had its own small stream that snaked its way through, yet if Jieller and the few other vampires were correct, it was the home of the witch, Mother Munnings. With only a few hours left before the sun would come up, Eloim set off back to the local farm of the Waryn family. Eloim had paid the farmer a visit earlier in the night and convinced him to give him shelter for the daylight hours. While fear could go a long way, a bag of gold to keep everyone out of one of his outbuildings for a couple of days worked better. Since his arrival in that time, starting with the escape from the great fire that raged through London, Eloim had spent his time searching for a way home to his family. The presence of Alexia inside his head at least gave him company, but he was getting sick of the regular arguments and criticism. It seemed that even female demons thought they were always right and knew the best way to do anything. With a final glance around, Eloim set off back to his daylight hiding place to sleep.
With the return of night, Eloim headed for the small hill just to the east of the village. Once there, he headed to the south of the church until he found the small river. Alexia, as usual, had told him of an easy plan to find the witch: kill everyone in the village until the witch revealed herself. Eloim agreed to consider her plan but as soon as the sun set, he went to see the farmer. Alexia was disgusted that Eloim just had to ask which house the Munnings lived at and the farmer had told him. While the Munnings family lived in the village, old Mother Munnings lived downstream in a hut at the source of a small brook. The farmer had also told Eloim how the old woman’s teenage grand-daughter had left the village the month before, collected by a priest and escorted by some Knights. Mother Munnings had been furious when she had heard and had not been seen in the village since. Moving at speed through the night-time landscape, Eloim left the village behind and soon found the brook he was searching for.
As the brook entered a small dense copse of trees, Eloim slowed as the voice of Alexia spoke to him
“SHE KNOWS WE ARE COMING, ELOIM.”
Eloim came to a stop and peered into the shadows of the trees. Ahead of him he could sense a presence but couldn’t pinpoint it. Slowly he walked forward again.
“That’s close enough, vampire. State your business or move on.” The voice was high pitched and cracked.
“I’m searching for Mother Munnings; I was told she may be able to help me.” Eloim replied.
“BE CAREFUL. SHE HAS POWER, IT LOOKS LIKE WE'VE FOUND OURSELVES A REAL WITCH. JUST REMEMBER IF SHE AGREES TO HELP, YOU CANNOT TRUST HER.” Alexia’s voice warned him.
“Why should I help you?” The voice from the trees asked. “Your kind is damned and even now you are being wiped from the land by the power of the church.”
“I’ve heard that you’ve helped my kind before, plus I have gold.” Eloim said casually, he had learnt that those three little words always made things happen when dealing with humans. Sometimes it caused some humans to try and forcibly take the gold from him, but it always got things moving.
“I don’t have any need for gold, vampire.” The voice from the trees replied.
“Why?” Eloim asked confused, he’d never had anyone say that to him before.
“There is only one thing I care about and it has been taken away. Now go and leave me, I care nothing for the world anymore.” The voice said and Eloim heard movement as the witch turned to leave.
And so ends part 3, hope you enjoyed it. Upvotes and comments welcome.
All images are mine.
Part 1 is here:
https://steemit.com/writing/@alienbutt/the-knights-of-blood-vampire-eloim-book-4-part-1
Part 2:
https://steemit.com/writing/@alienbutt/the-knights-of-blood-vampire-eloim-book-4-part-2