AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Looking into the ferocity in her eyes, I knew nothing would sway her decision. “When things settle down, we’ll work on it.”
“Thank you.”
“And I’m sure my brothers will help too.”
“Even better.”
10
CLARA
I was up at sunrise and dead asleep shortly after sunset. That was how the Ethereal were, living for the sunshine that pierced our canopy. We tilled the earth in our farms, nurtured our plants, thrived in the sunshine like all living things.
But now that I was in the company of vampires, we slept during the day and worked in the night.
It was an hour before sunset, and I sat with Cobra under the tree. We were scattered from the others, Larisa and Kingsnake far away in their own grouping of trees. Viper was the only one alone, usually with the snake Kingsnake was bound to.
Cobra leaned against the tree, his water canteen in his fingertips as his arm rested on his knee. With every passing day, he grew weak, tired. His charming smile was absent. His jokes were gone.
“Feed from me.”
His eyes remained on the landscape, on the next mountain. “No.”
“You’re weak—”
“And so are the others. I won’t feed while they starve.”
“They can feed from me as well—”
“Never.” He gave me his hard stare, and that ended the conversation.
I looked forward again, seeing the three stones that were still embedded deep in the hard rock of the mountain. The others had been toppled by our shovels, but the rest were indestructible.
“Having second thoughts?”
“No.” I pulled my knees to my chest and circled them with my arms. “I think enough damage has been done anyway.” Most of the stones were gone, so it probably didn’t work anymore, or worked at a minimal capacity. The canteen I brought had water from the streams, had liquid souls that were fueling my immortality this very moment. It made me sick.
“I admire you. Most people wouldn’t be so brave.”
“I’m not brave. I just feel sick.” Cobra had told me how he’d lost his mother, and knowing that my people had destroyed her entry into the afterlife made me hate myself, hate my father beyond the grave.
“You feel sick because you have a conscience. Most people don’t.”
“I used to think all people did, but I was wrong.” It made me wonder about my own mother. When she died, did we ingest her soul too? My father knew that but didn’t care? “Will you guys be able to make it back?”
“If these explosives work,” he said. “And if there are no more rebels waiting for us to return.”
“I think that was the last of them.”
“Hope so.”
Sunset finally arrived, the sun disappearing behind the branches in the trees. The sky turned pink and orange. A chill instantly crept over the land. “It’s time.” I got to my feet, as did the others.
We walked to the pillars, and Viper began his work. “Stand back.” He placed an explosive on each side of the first stone then moved back behind the next slab of stone for cover.
We all did the same.
Viper grabbed a rock and threw it at the explosive, and the second he hit the mark, an eruption of fire and dirt appeared. Rocks were chucked into the air and sprinkled down on us. A moment later, we heard the slab topple over and thud hard on the ground.
