Court of the Shifter 5 Chapter 3

“Who let you in?” Lord Urman demanded. “Surely, my household staff did not approve of you barging in here.”

“I could smell her majesty amid the other shifter scents,” the messenger said as he tilted his head toward Calantha. “So, I didn’t ask for permission.”

“Do I know you?” the vampiress asked, and she scanned the other vampire up and down.

“Okay, okay,” I said as I stood from my chair and lifted my hands. “We all need to take a deep breath and start from the beginning. Lord Urman, I understand how you feel about having a stranger show up unannounced, but this seems to be important enough to ignore the social etiquette. Do you mind if we excuse ourselves from dinner to deal with this matter?”

The Bear Representative’s tensed up shoulders relaxed, and he gave me a grateful look. While the women rose from their seats, I looked over at the messenger with a shrewd gaze, but besides his smell, there were hardly any visible clues to his race. He had full lips to hide the fangs, but I’d seen flashes of them while he talked. His hair was sandy blond and cut short, and he kind of reminded me of a ken doll.

“Shall we?” I asked as I gestured for the messenger to lead the way.

Luxe said goodbye to her father on the way out, and he only argued once before sighing and giving her a hug. We walked through the hallways of the bear shifters’ home, and the messenger led us out onto the porch.

I came to a stop as the vampire headed down the steps, and he noticed after a couple of steps without the sound of mine following behind him. He turned and gave the four of us a confused look.

“Where are you taking us?” I asked. “You can give us your message here.”

“No, I can’t.” The vampire crossed his arms over his chest. “Nicolai is the one who can explain everything, and he is waiting for us back at The Square Tree.”

“I’m going to need more than that to go off into the city with you,” I said in a firm tone.

The vampire messenger’s eyes flicked from me to Calantha, and it seemed like he was trying to understand our hesitancy. The crimson eyed beauty remained by my side with a stoic expression on her face, and I knew she would follow my lead.

“How did you find my family’s home?” Luxe asked.

“I first approached the palace when word spread of your return to the city,” the messenger said. “When they didn’t want to tell me where you were, I followed Princess Calantha’s scent to this location. I’m sorry, but I was expecting a touch more gratitude for bringing the news that you can leave this wilderness.”

“That’s assuming a lot,” Cal countered in a dry tone. “If Nicolai is waiting back at the inn, why didn’t he come get me himself?”

“He has been… especially offensive to the locals,” the messenger said with great reluctance. “When we heard you were back in the city, the palace guards had already said he was to never return.”

“Wow,” I chuckled. “That’s awesome. Now, we have another mess to clean up on top of everything else going on. Let’s go see what this is all about.”

“Excellent.” The vampire turned around and continued marching into the street.

I exchanged a glance with the three women before I sighed and followed after him. Things were getting even more interesting, but it didn’t seem like we’d be getting any easy answers.

“What’s your name?” I asked the vampire messenger as I caught up to his stride. “You can call me Eli.”

“Rostra,” the man said in a low voice. “Many never bother to ask.”

“Well, Rostra, I do things a little differently.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m glad you both didn’t overly offend the locals, but I know the shifters can be a tad… brisk.”

“I don’t let it get to me,” Rostra said, and he paused as he shot me a searching look. “Why do you smell so different from the other shifters?”

“You’ve got to read up on the current news, my friend,” I chuckled.

“All I know is there are rumors throughout Marbrooke that an alliance with the shifters is being formed, and many are not exactly pleased with the news.” Rostra glanced at me sideways in an anxious way. “Is that what you’re doing here?”

“In a manner of speaking, sure.” I grinned. “That’s beside the point. This urgent matter you’ve traveled so far to handle obviously takes priority over everything right now.”

“Thank you, Eli.” The vampire nodded gratefully. “It’s not much further.”

We entered The Square Tree behind the vampire messenger, and I didn’t even have to look around the common room to know Nicolai was upstairs. His vampire stench radiated through the building, and I could see the uncomfortable expressions on the other patrons’ faces. There were mostly bear shifters in this business, and I nodded at them in a friendly manner. I got a couple of double takes as my own scent hit their nostrils, but Calantha received a few dirty looks.

“This way,” Rostra murmured as he herded us up the stairs. “I find it’s best not to make eye contact with them.”

“Maybe that’s why they treat you like outsiders,” Luxe said with a one shouldered shrug. “You act like animals afraid to catch an arrow.”

“I’m sure you’ll find we are more predator than prey,” the vampire messenger hissed under his breath.

“Easy,” I said as I batted a placating hand. “We aren’t here to go at each other’s throats. Let’s just get upstairs and meet Nicolai.”

The vampire was staying in the room at the far end of the hall, and the peeling paint bespoke the upkeep of the establishment, but Rostra didn’t pause as he pushed open the door. We all followed in behind him, and I was met with a modest room filled with two small beds and a desk. Nicolai sat at the desk with his back to us, but I would recognize the back of his head anywhere.

Nicolai Amadeus was the right hand advisor and personal guard for the king and queen of Vosrettera, and he’d been with Calantha when I’d first encountered the vampiress. Even sitting, it was obvious he was a tall man, and his square shoulders were neatly trimmed in a dark navy blue jacket stitched with golden thread. He stood as we entered the room, and I was once again reminded of how intimidating his stature could be.

But this time, I wasn’t a newcomer to his realm being attacked by crazed vampires, and I stood with my chin up as his gaze met mine. I had traveled across both Vosreterra and Shyfeterran to accomplish not only my goals, but the agenda of the royal family, and I had earned my spot among them.

“It is good to see you again, Cal,” Nicolai said as the vampiress approached for a hug. The older man had acted as an uncle to the young woman, and he’d been there to protect her during her entire life. Once his greeting with Calantha concluded, the stiff backed man turned to me with a bow of his head. “I suppose you are Prince Elijah now. An honor to see you once more.”

“You, too, Nicolai.” I pressed my lips together, but then I turned to the other two shifter women. “You remember Willow, princess of Shyfeterran? And this is Luxe, daughter of the Bear Representative in Ordrya Court.”

“Lovely to meet you both,” Nicolai said, but he wrinkled his nose ever so slightly. I could tell he was trying extra hard to be nice to the shifter women, but I remembered his apprehension about me in the beginning, so I knew he’d adjust.

“So, Nicolai,” Calantha said in a casual voice. “What brings you to Ordrya?”

“I come on behalf of your parents,” Nicolai explained, and he gestured for us to take a seat on the beds occupying the rest of the space.

Then he motioned for Rostra to leave, and the Ken doll with fangs bowed and slid through the doorway as he muttered something about fetching food. The door clicked shut behind him, and we all turned our gaze expectantly toward Nicolai.

“To put it simply,” Nicolai said. “You’re wanted back in Marbrooke as soon as possible. I am here to escort you and ensure you arrive safely back in the capital.”

“Who exactly?” Cal asked. “Me or all of us.”

“Your parents specifically mentioned all of you by name.” Nicolai’s eyes slid from one of us to another. “Princess Calantha Mithari, Princess Willow Lunaverre, Luxe Ursidax, and Prince Elijah.”

“Wait, how did they know about me?” Luxe asked with a confused frown. “Calantha is the first vampire I’ve ever met.”

“That is not included in my instructions, but it is nice you line up with your description so well that there was no question of your identity.”

“Thank you?” Luxe tilted her head to the side.

“It’s a little odd all four of us were specifically listed with our official names,” I pointed out. “I haven’t talked to King Aleister and Queen Seraphine since Willow’s parents gave me the title.”

“What is going on in Marbrooke?” Calantha asked with a furrowed brow. “Are my parents okay? They’re not dead are they? You wouldn’t keep that from me. I know you better than that.”

“No, they’re not dead,” Nicolai chuckled. “But they were being very secretive regarding this mission. This is the first inn we have stayed in, but that was because we had to wait so long for you to return to Ordrya, so we didn’t have much of a choice.”

“What do you think they’re scared of?” I asked. “Calantha has been safe enough from the shifters’ bigotry during our stay, and tensions between the races are starting to fade.”

“I suppose we shall all find out together when we return to Marbrooke,” Nicolai said, and he raised his eyebrow in a challenging manner. “We depart at midday tomorrow. That should give you plenty of time to wrap up whatever endeavors you have started here.”

“You’re so generous,” Willow teased.

“There isn’t a lot of time to spare,” Nicolai explained. “You have to understand that the entire time we’ve been waiting for you has eaten into the time we’ve been on this mission. If it was urgent a week ago, I can only imagine the state of it now.”

“What do you want us to do?” I shook my head. “I’ll have to speak with King Frejit.”

“That makes two of us,” Willow muttered.

“I urge you to pack up whatever you need and meet us at the stables at noon tomorrow,” Nicolai said with a concerned look. “There is no more time to waste.”

The four of us stood from the beds and headed toward the entrance, and Nicolai clasped his hands in front of him as we walked by him. There was a lot to do if I were to be prepared for such a journey before noon the next day, but we’d done more in less time.

First, though, I needed to speak with the king and queen of Shyfeterran.

“I’ll have to explain to my father that I’m leaving again already,” Luxe said as we entered the streets of the Bear Zone. “He won’t be pleased with the news.”

“I wonder why the vampires sent for you,” Willow said with a thoughtful frown. “It’s a little uncanny how much they already know about what we’ve been doing.”

“My people have talents beyond your wildest imagination,” Calantha said in a haughty tone, and she peered at her nails in a bored manner. “There are many far more powerful than the likes of me or even Nicolai.”

“You think one of them was able to basically spy on us?” I asked.

“How else do you explain it?” Cal countered. “Like your very presence in this world. It goes beyond me, my parents, and even Zolas.”

“Looks like we’re going to find out, doesn’t it?” I chuckled. “Let’s just stay focused on what we have to do. There isn’t a lot of time left before noon tomorrow.”

We traveled the rest of the way back to Luxe’s house, but the polar bear woman placed a hand on my chest to stop me from following her inside. Her brown eyes were deep and filled with affection as she peered up at me, and I was glad I didn’t have to say goodbye to her anytime soon.

“I’ll meet you at the palace in the morning,” Luxe promised as I kissed her goodbye on her doorstep. “Don’t worry about my father. I’ll handle everything.”

“This is going to be fun.” I smirked as I tweaked her cute little button nose. “I’m glad you’re coming with me.”

“There’s no way I’d let you leave me behind.” Luxe laughed, and then she disappeared behind the door.

Calantha, Willow, and I finished the rest of the walk to the palace, and I could tell we were all lost in thought as we separated into our own rooms. There was a lot to do if we were going to leave town at noon the next day, so an early bedtime was best.

We ate a quick breakfast before going to see the king and queen, and Willow was wringing her hands in an anxious manner as we walked the corridors to the throne room. I could see the muscle in her jaw working as she stared straight ahead, so I reached out and took one of her hands in mine. I squeezed it warmly, and my wife flashed me a grateful smile.

“Everything is going to be fine,” I assured her.

“Better than fine,” Cal said. “We get to return to civilization.”

“Ha ha,” Willow countered dryly.

The guards pulled open the double doors as we approached, and a line of supplicants waited in the hallway to gain access to the king and queen. We marched past the waiting line of petitioners into the throne room side by side, and I heard more than one shifter commoner whisper my name. The audience chamber was empty, and the king and queen were just getting settled into their chairs as we crossed the room to the dais.

“Good morning, Your Majesties,” I greeted in a loud voice.

“Prince Elijah!” King Frejit clapped his hands together. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Mother, Father, hope you’re well today.” Willow climbed the steps to press a kiss against her parents’ cheeks, and she returned to my side a moment later. “It’s such a beautiful day.”

“What’s going on?” Queen Liliana asked as she narrowed her eyes at her daughter. “Why do I get the feeling we’re about to receive bad news?”

“Well, not bad news, per say,” I said, and I cleared my throat. “We’re wanted back in Marbrooke.”

“We?” King Frejit frowned. “This includes my daughter? She’s pregnant and only recently returned from a long quest. Perhaps we can revisit the idea of another journey in a few weeks after we examine her condition.”

“I’m not ill, Father,” Willow interjected. “I’m fit and healthy as can be. Besides, it doesn’t seem like this can wait.”

“What can’t wait?” Queen Liliana scanned over our faces. “What’s happening in Marbrooke that is so urgent?”

“That’s the thing, Your Majesty,” Calantha said in a hesitant tone. “We aren’t sure yet. My parents summoned the four of us back to Vosreterra, but they didn’t say why. That can only mean it is of the utmost importance and secrecy.”

“When are you leaving?” King Frejit asked. “We should throw a farewell dinner.”

“Noon today,” I sighed. “We will have to rain check on the dinner.”

“Rain check? Nevermind.” King Frejit clasped the arms of his chair as he rose from his seat, and he stepped down the dais to grasp my forearm in his. “I’m trusting you to keep my daughter safe. There are unknown perils in this land a couple of vampires may not be able to handle.”

“Okay, but that’s not exactly conducive to forming a lasting peace between your realms,” I pointed out. “How would you feel about sending a personal letter to the king and queen of Vosreterra?”

“For you, I can.” King Frejit smiled. “Times are changing. There’s no telling when we will need an ally at our backs.”

“It is such terrible timing, though,” Queen Liliana sighed. “The city was just starting to come around to our guidance again.”

“How are things in Ordrya, by the way?” I asked as the king took his seat on his throne. “Have there been any more riots?”

“No, the voices of the dissenters are fading into silence,” King Frejit reported in a proud tone. “I’ve also been making a real effort to give each person a voice in court, and I believe it is truly affecting the populace.”

“Plus, Salina has been holding rallies of her own to publicly denounce her father’s ways,” Queen Liliana said in a quiet voice. “She’s making huge strides toward ending the zone to zone hostilities and regaining the trust of the residents.”

“I’m glad you gave her a seat at the table,” I said. “She seems like a good person.”

“Don’t they all,” the queen chuckled.

“Was that the really pretty snake woman?” Luxe asked.

“That’s the one.” I smirked. “At least now she’s only working for one side.”

The conversation continued about the situation in Ordrya, but it sounded like the king and queen had everything under control. I wouldn’t have to worry about them being booed by the masses every time they stepped out in public, and I knew the city had a bright future ahead.

We wrapped things up with Willow’s mother and father, but once we covered all our bases, we headed out of the throne room. Once we passed through the double doors, the guards began allowing the line to move into the audience chamber. I scanned over the faces of the crowd, but no one seemed overly pissed.

I turned to follow the rest of the group away from the throne room when I suddenly bumped into a dark-haired mass, and the woman flopped onto her ass.

“Oh fuck, I’m so sorry,” I said as I offered up my hand to pull her up.

The woman pushed her face out of her hair and accepted my hand, and I realized it was Salina, the former Snake Representative’s daughter. She was wearing a muted gray dress that covered her feet, and she had a stack of papers tucked into the crook of one elbow.

“Thanks,” she murmured while I helped her to her feet. “It’s not every day you slam head first into the Prince of Ordrya.”

“I hope you’re not injured,” I chuckled as she fixed her hair and smoothed out her dress. “That was quite the spill.”

“I’m fine, but thank you for your concern.” Salina’s yellow hued eyes twinkled with mischief as she met my gaze. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was intentional. There are other ways to get a girl’s attention, you know.”

“Oh, I know.” I laughed and raked a hand through my hair. “I haven’t seen you having any issues noticing me.”

“You’re hard to miss.” Salina smirked.

“Doesn’t mean you weren’t looking.” I winked.

“Oh, I was definitely looking.” The snake woman laughed, and it almost reminded me of a rattlesnake’s chittering tail. “Where are you off to? Do you have time to meet up for lunch or something?”

“Actually, no,” I sighed. “I am leaving at noon, and I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”

“Oh.” The disappointed pout on her lips was hard to ignore, but she regained her composure quickly and flashed me a bright smile. “Travel safely, Prince Elijah.”

“I hope we meet again someday,” I said, and I lifted her hand to my lips.

I could feel her shiver in my grasp, and the corners of my mouth lifted into a knowing smirk as I rose back up to my full height. Salina let her hand hover in the air for a second longer than expected, but then she snapped it back to her waist like a recoiling snake.

“Until then,” she murmured, and I could see the lust in her eyes.

I had to jog to catch up to the three women heading back to our wing of the palace, but I threw my arms around Willow and Calantha’s shoulders once I caught up to them.

“What was that all about?” my wife asked with a sly smile. “Are we adding a name to our travel list?”

“No, no,” I chuckled. “Just saying goodbye. Why? Do you like her?”

“We all do,” Calantha said.

“She really showed us her true colors when she stood against her father,” Luxe said. “I don’t know if I would be so brave if it were mine doing the evil deeds.”

“Well, she still has a lot of work to do to undermine his hold on the city,” I said. “Maybe next time I’m in town I’ll get the chance to catch up.”

“How much time do we have left to pack?” Willow asked.

I glanced at the sun out the windows of the hallway, and it looked to be a handbreadth above the horizon. The day was passing faster than I would have liked, but I’d completed most of my preparations the night before.

“Not long,” I said with a shake of my head. “But I’m almost done, so I can come help you.”

“Thanks, Eli.” Willow pressed a kiss against my cheek.

The four of us met in the courtyard shortly before noon, and Nicolai was waiting with Rostra and a troop of horses. Half the mounts were saddled, but each one had a pack horse’s lead lashed to the pummel. The two vampires were already on their steed’s backs, and an air of impatience surrounded them both.

“You want us all to ride?” I asked as I began to strap our packs to the beasts of burden. “I’m a lot faster in my wolf form.”

“Be that as it may,” Nicolai said. “It would be best if we could all manage the same pace.”

“I guess I understand that.” I shrugged.

We rode out of the gates of Ordrya with the sun high overhead, and I let Nicolai take the lead on his jet black mare. Rostra seemed content to remain at his master’s side, and I wondered what kind of relationship the two men had. In any case, it was none of my business, so I focused on the road ahead. The southern side of Shyfeterran was much more populated and explored, so we made good time on the well worn road.

By the time the sun was setting to our right, we’d traveled further than I had expected to, and I had to give Nicolai credit for the horses. It had been easier to keep a steady pace without having to exert more of my stamina into running myself, so I was still full of energy when we stopped for the night.

“We camped here on the way to the capital,” Rostra said as the pair of vampires led us to a small clearing off the road.

Signs of previous stays were scattered all over from the gray ashy remnants of a fire to the lack of deadfall nearby. We quickly got to work on setting up camp, and we each took over one of the tasks. I cared for the horses and built a fire, Willow and Calantha set up our tents, and Luxe gathered wood and started dinner. We were running like a well oiled machine, and I noticed the impressed look on Nicolai’s face when he realized there wasn’t much left for him to do.

After Rostra finished setting up the two tents the vampires would sleep in, he brought over some of their rations to add to our dinner. We managed to put together a mixture of ingredients that almost resembled pot roast, and the vampires drank their necessary allotment of blood from similar silver flasks before we called it a night.

We continued to travel in this pattern for a few days, and while the two vampires kept to themselves and stayed quiet, the rest of us revisited some of our favorite games. One night, we were all gathered around the fire, and Willow was passing out the dinner bowls. Nicolai accepted his without meeting her gaze, and my pregnant wife pulled the dinner back out of his reach.

“What’s your problem?” Willow asked. “I’m sensing you don’t like me, and I want to address it before it becomes an issue.”

“It’s not you specifically,” Nicolai grunted. “Your kind are known to be duplicitous.”

“What does that even mean?” Luxe crossed the distance to stand at my wife’s side. “It sounds like you’re calling us liars.”

“Shifting your form into that of another is a little… hard to trust.” Nicolai’s golden eyes were resolute.

I wondered if he realized how offensive he sounded.

“Drinking the blood of others isn’t?” Luxe countered.

“Alright, alright,” I said as I moved to break up the disagreement. “There’s no reason to get hostile. We all have to work together to find a happy medium, and that means giving each other the benefit of the doubt. We’re all here with the same goal in mind.”

A breaking dead branch suddenly caught my attention, and I swiveled my head around in the direction of the sound. A quick sniff of the air revealed what my spidey sense had already told me.

We weren’t alone.

I held up a finger over my lips to signal the others into silence, and I inched my way across the campsite toward my weapons. All I had on me was a small dagger strapped to my waist, but I had no idea what I was up against.

Luxe, Willow, and Calantha all sprung into action, and they all had weapons in hand as they formed a circle around the fire. Nicolai and Rostra readied themselves as well, and we all stared into the shadows of the forest.

A weird gnarly creature suddenly sprang into the light of the campfire, and my eyes widened as I scanned it over. It was some sickening combination of a cheetah and a monkey with the segmented curved tail of a scorpion.

“What. The. Fuck.” My eyes flicked to each of my companions, but I didn’t see any fear on their faces.

The creature glanced around with eyes that blinked sideways, and we all held completely motionless as we waited for the monster to make the first move. Its tail curled and twisted through the air as its head turned from side to side, and I wondered if it had some special kind of vision that could see our body temperature.

Before I could contemplate that thought further, the creature sprang forward in Luxe’s direction, and everyone moved at once to protect the polar bear woman. The beast’s tail snapped out at the shifters and vampires, but after a swift slash of my sword, the appendage was severed and hanging limp behind the beast.

The monster turned and snarled at me, and the next thing I knew, I was laying on my back with the beast standing on top of me. I narrowly avoided the snapping jaws as I wrestled the beast off me, but my shirt was ripped from its long cat-like claws.

“Eli!” Cal called out, and the beast turned toward the sound.

Then an arrow shot through the air, and the tip buried itself deep into the monster’s neck, but this only seemed to piss it off even more. It twisted and rolled until the shaft of the arrow cracked, and then it charged toward the fire and the people standing in front of it.

I wasn’t about to let the mutated looking thing hurt anyone I loved, so I jumped onto its monkey-like back and hauled it to the ground. While the creature’s arms were almost humanoid, the claws decorating the ends of the limbs were far deadlier than the average nail, but I was even deadlier.

In my next breath, my head was shifted into my big cat form, and I clamped my jaws onto the back of the monster’s neck. It tasted of death and filth like it had rolled around in a dead animal, and I grimaced without letting go.

Whatever the fuck this thing was, I had every intention of killing it as quickly as possible.

With my back legs planted in the ground, I dug my claws into the dirt and hauled the monster off its feet. Once I had it beneath me, I shook it by the neck like a dog playing tug of war, and the thing suddenly fell limp.

“Is it dead?” Luxe asked in an out of breath voice. “Like really dead?”

Before I could even answer the polar bear woman, the creature began to move again, but this time, I wasn’t going to give it a chance to get back up. I picked up my sword and swung it down across the beast’s neck, but it took more than one chop to sever its head. Finally, its skull rolled across the ground, and I bent down to pick it up.

“Should we keep it as a trophy?” I asked as I held up the cat-like head.

“Gross, Eli,” Cal huffed.

“What was that thing?” Rostra asked, and I realized the vampire’s face was even paler than usual. It looked like the Ken doll with fangs had been a little more scared of the monster than he’d first let on.

“Nightlich,” Willow said in a low voice. “Or at least I think so. I’ve only ever heard about them in stories.”

“There seems to be quite a lot of that going on in Shyfeterran,” Cal pointed out in a dry tone. “You’re really selling the whole ‘not just a dangerous wilderness’ thing.”

“These creatures have been unheard of for years,” Luxe said. “But that might explain why few travelers return from their journeys. The stories about missing adventurers are even more extensive than the list of monsters.”

“I must admit,” Nicolai said, and the older man cleared his throat. “I wasn’t expecting the four of you to work so efficiently together when faced with such a threat. You are all skilled fighters.”

“Thank you, mysterious vampire man,” Luxe teased. “I’m glad I could prove myself to you.”

“It’s hard to let go of preconceived notions when you’ve been taught them your entire life,” I reminded the group. “I think we all still have a lot to learn from each other, and we are always stronger when we work as a team. Today is proof enough of that.”

“Well, I will only add that I promise to trust all of you more in the future,” Nicolai said.

The older vampire was true to his word, and he asked for my advice about where to camp and how fast of a pace we should keep. I saw respect when he met my gaze, and I knew it as a good sign. Vampires and shifters were capable of putting their prejudices aside for the good of all, and I looked forward to seeing a world where everyone worked together.

After the encounter with the nightlich, we decided to take turns standing watch, but no other monsters emerged from the darkness for the next few days. We made steady progress toward Lyndirfjeld where we would board the train to Marbrooke, and I was looking forward to traveling in luxurious style. While I didn’t mind camping and riding horses for days on end, it would be nice to make progress without using a muscle.

The town of Lyndirfjeld was quiet when we rode in, and I saw a few mothers ushering their children indoors as we approached. Since this small settlement lay on the border of Shyfeterran and Vosrettera, the people were a mix of vampires and shifters as well as more than a few Nulmancers.

Now that I had visited the capitals and palaces of both the shifters and the vampires, I could understand why some people would want to live outside the hustle and bustle of the city. We’d made a few friends the last time we were in Lyndirfjeld, and I wished we had time to stop in for a visit.

Nicolai ignored the people rushing to get out of our path, and the older vampire led our group straight to the train station. Rostra struggled to keep pace with him, but our horses kept close to their companions so we were swept along with them. Once we reached the station, Nicolai shared a few words with a man behind a counter before he returned to us.

“It looks like I found a buyer for our horses,” he explained. “Start loading your belongings onto the train, and I will join you once I finish conducting business.”

“We are supposed to get inside that thing?” Luxe asked in a disbelieving tone as she stared at the train. “It looks like a small cave or a massive snake.”

“Pretty cool, huh,” I chuckled. “Wait till you meet Cecil.”

“I don’t know who that is.” Luxe glanced from me to the others in confusion.

“Come on,” Cal said as she beckoned for the polar bear woman to join her, and Willow took Luxe’s hand and followed behind the vampiress. “I’ll introduce you.”

I helped Rostra load the rest of our stuff while Nicolai sold the horses, and then we joined the ladies inside the train. Cecil was enjoying the extra attention from the women, and I could hear his purrs from across the room.

Luxe was beside herself, and Willow and Calantha smiled knowingly, but I had to pull the polar bear woman away from the fluffy white cat so he could conduct the train.

Then we all settled into a large cabin, and we snacked on the remnants of our rations to pass the time. I worked on my maps and made some notes in a journal I’d decided to start, but Willow took the opportunity to nap.

It seemed like no time had passed when the train screeched to a stop once more. We all yawned and stretched before we rose to our feet, but the instant the doors opened, I was greeted with a brightly smiling familiar face.