Embracing the Shadows by Gavin Green Read Free Book Online Page B

letting his closest friends know
he was going out on a scouting trip. Then he simply didn't return;
his death would've been assumed. He and Fennore found a large cave
that had a small entrance a mile or so inland and stretched
underground to a rocky coast. They remained in that domain for
decades. The war parties that travelled nearby made feeding
easy.
    During that time, Fennore gathered more
followers as well as some of her own distant descendants to live in
a section of the huge cave. Those humans who weren't related
eventually became compliant to Viggo's presence after he and
Fennore continually fed from them. I guessed it had some mellowing
effect, like a lobotomy. Fennore continued her rituals; Viggo
didn't get involved, and left her to it.
    After a long while, though, Viggo got
restless; he wanted to be with his people again. Over a generation
had passed for them and all the faces he knew were gone, but he
didn't care. The people were still Veleti - his people. So Viggo
slowly introduced himself as some powerful being to the new
generation of the tribe, soon establishing himself as a local
warlord. In a fairly remote area, he had a fortress built that was
big enough to bunk Fennore's lineage and his own trusted warriors.
It sounded pretty cool.
    Fennore and her followers still did their
dark druid stuff, but only in the fortress courtyard or out in the
woods. People found out anyway. Viggo took his company out on raids
to make sure his domain was secure. As a bonus, his people
prospered from the loot he brought back. In those fights, he
sometimes ran into other hemos, most of whom were leading the
enemy's forces. Being of a greater scion, he killed or defeated all
that he met. Word spread from those encounters. Viggo and Fennore
became recognized names, and not necessarily in a good way.
    More years passed while the Deviant couple
kept up with their habits and interests. A trio of supposedly young
hemos came to the fortress one night, asking to serve in their
company. They spent a long time gaining Viggo's and Fennore's
trust, all the while using their mental Gifts to sour the
villager's thoughts. It didn't work so well in reference to Viggo;
he was a good and generous leader. On the other hand, the villagers
were always nervous about Fennore. It was easy to turn their fear
of her into hate.
    Those young hemos belonged to a small sect
that used their immortal blood to delve into some creepy occult
shit. Barnabus used the word 'macabre'. I guess the sect didn't
like what Fennore was up to, or saw her as some sort of spooky
competition. Minions were made out of some of the village leaders,
who kept everyone riled up during the day. It was getting ugly in
Viggoville.
    The trio of hemos waited for Viggo to take
his men on another extended war march, and then made their move the
next day. The short version is that most of Fennore's followers
were slaughtered, and her human lineage hid in secret rooms within
the fortress when the villagers finally managed to break in.
Fennore, apparently too arrogant to think humans would ever revolt
against her, laid there slumbering without any defense. She was
wrapped in about a ton of chain and then staked.
    That night, the trio of hemos carried Fennore
out of the fortress and waited for scouts to tell them what
direction Viggo would return from. They got the info and used all
that chain to secure her to a stone post on that edge of the
village. The bastards waited until Viggo and his men were barely in
sight, set Fennore on fire, and then used their Gift of the Void to
escape. There was no way he or his warriors could get there in time
to put her out, but they charged forward anyway.
    The stake burned away, freeing Fennore, but
she was engulfed in flames by then. At first she could only scream
in agony, but then was able to form her last words when she saw
Viggo through the flames that were licking her face. Fennore called
out, telling him to watch over her lineage, and to swear to