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I shrugged. There was nothing we could do about it.
As if hearing me, Xander nodded and continued walking behind Camille and Spenrik.
We needed the men to fight my brother’s army, but according to the spelled stones, they may have never been truly faithful to our cause.
Perhaps the mage did us a favor by taking them.
Or, were the mage taking our men to fight us easier?
I scanned the long trails of flame and rock mages and tossed away that thought.
If this is a trick, we can do nothing about it right now.
There were just too many of them. There was no need for them to kill five men when they had ten times enough people to kill us all.
I kept Tru’s pace, hoping the rest of us were worthy.
Minutes passed as we continued down the enchanted path.
No further incidents occurred.
With each step, the flat stones became wider on the path. Some were larger than my feet.
We must be close.
A rush of magic blew my way and with that many scents assaulted my senses—the minty fragrance of Tribe Rock, the smoky perfume of Tribe Flame, and to my surprise the playful berry aroma of Tribe Wind and the salty sea bouquet of Tribe Stream.
They’re all here. Is that good or bad?
Tru and Spenrik would be getting married. From being in their presence for this short time, I could already tell they had great power. It would make sense for all the tribes to attend an important ceremony, especially one involving the union of two powerful tribes.
Will we be able to get all the tribes to follow our cause?
I tried not to get too excited. With all four tribes behind us, we had a major chance of destroying my brother and his army.
We may win.
Chapter 21
Worthy
Ian
I took in the land as we headed on.
Huge gray stone huts bordered the path and were stacked on top of each other. They must’ve been six levels each.
Beaded curtains served as the doors.
Flower and vegetable gardens grew in front of most of them.
The area appeared like a stone city with hundreds of these six-leveled stone huts extending as far as the eye could see.
From where I stood I could see that more forest bordered the outskirts of the city.
The few kids and people that were outside, spotted us and then scattered back into their huts.
I would have thought the city was deserted if not for the lovely fragrances of cooked stews and meats flowing out of the windows or the whispers that lingered in the air as we all walked by.
When is the last time they have seen vampires? Probably never.
The further we went up, the more mage poked their heads out of windows, pointing, whispering, and staring.
Their skin was different shades of brown—dark to tan.
Yet the colors of their eyes and clothes varied.
Most of their eyes glowed orange or green, but many changed to dark blue and turquoise.
I considered that and thought back to what I remembered of the mage.
I think the last two colors were the eyes of Tribe Stream and Wind.
We went deeper into this stone hut village.
Some of the other tribes walked out and watched us.
Tribe Wind’s clothes consisted of thin white fabrics tied around their bodies and heads.
Meanwhile, Tribe Stream wore slick body suits that glimmered blue.
When I was a kid, my father took my brother and me to Tribe Stream’s land in a long boat. There was no other way to get there. An ocean surrounded Tribe Stream’s land and was commanded by the tribal chief.
He ordered the waves to crash against boats if he did not desire the person to come too close.
If the boats had permission, then the chief sung to the water and the water brought them there.
Tribe Stream called it the Wave Wakening song because the mage believed that the ocean slept and the chief’s notes provoked it to stir.
I remembered the soothing sound of the tribal chief’s song that evening long ago. His notes soothed my blood and caused it to vibrate within my skin.
Later, my father explained that the tribal chief’s powers controlled blood in some ways too, which was why my blood reacted.
I looked at Tru. “Tribe Stream and Wind are here also?”
“Of course. We don’t take the news of a new vampire king lightly.”
I blinked. “The two tribes are not here for the wedding?”
“They are not.”
Then, this may not be a good thing.
I looked at her again. “Do you think Tribe Stream and Wind will fight with us?”
“I’m not even sure my tribe will fight.”
I paused at a sort of intersection of stone paths. “Then let’s discuss this now. We don’t have time to waste with you if you’re not interested in aligning with us.”
“Relax and come.” She rounded the corner. “Bring your queen and Horned King.”
My queen. If only that were so.
I motioned for Camille and Xander to separate from the other group and tag along with Tru and me.
