36 Lucian

As per usual, Lucian was prepared, and everyone else he relied on was not. He did suppose, however, with the absence of sleep from his schedule of late, the vampire did have more time than most to accomplish his tasks.

The older vampire had already checked that their horses were ready, that Jerel had all necessary paperwork to run the castle, and negotiated a new contract with Aniyoh all before breakfast. Honestly, he was already tired. He could hear Ender conversing with Aniyoh in the kitchen and Mara rousing Caroline upstairs, so the vampire planted himself in the great hall with a book and awaited his friend's arrival. At least, Lucian considered the group to be the closest approximation to friends he had in a very long time.

Caroline was surprisingly the first to join him, descending the staircase dressed in a light blue linen dress. The sleeves were short, to accommodate the weather, the intricate tattoo snaking down her arm was prominent and would be difficult to hide during their travels. Lucian wondered if this wasn't a negative, her status might ward off trouble along the way. Somehow he found the wishful thinking doubtful.

Ender and Aniyoh followed not long after, both dressed for travel. Aniyoh had tied a leather cord around her head that kept her wild curls from obscuring her vision. Ender looked the same as he always did, brown trousers, loose white shirt, and the same worn leather boots he wore into battle.

Lucian desperately wished they could take a carriage, his typical mode of transportation when the need arose. Still, the impracticality of seating the four of them together during the quickly warming months, to an even warmer location was not lost on him. The older vampire still wore his black suit, complete with black riding gloves. Fortunately, he felt neither heat nor cold due to his vampire blood.

After bidding Mara farewell once the vampire stopped fussing over Caroline, the four of them made their way outside quietly to the stables where they met Silas, waiting upon his horse. Lucian was still unsure about the man. Although he had befriended Ender after many years, it was doubtful to him that the man could be truly trusted. The human lifespan in his estimation was just not long enough for loyalty to be instilled. That was why nations were lost, and armies created, the whims of man changed so frequently.

The weather was still warm and pleasant under an almost cloudless sky. The five of them should make good time their first day on the road and arrive in the small hamlet of Skars located along the coast. They would travel to the sea first and then move down Ibudal's coastline, eventually reaching the southern capital in two weeks. Lucian had planned the route himself having visited there before, but this time utilizing Ender's expertise as conditions in the country had deteriorated since Lucian's last journey.

The vampire found it hard to imagine calamity coming their way with how pristine the landscape appeared and favorable climate, but he was not naive. It was not a question of if but when they would face some kind of trouble.

The first half of the day passed without much incident. The group traveled quietly, for the most part, Aniyoh and Caroline riding in the middle and chatting amicably throughout the ride. Silas took up riding at the front, Lucian was skeptical of the old man's abilities, but Ender had assured him the ancient human was the best option for scouting the terrain.

Ender rode at the back, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings while Lucian guided his horse between all four of them, somewhat unsure of what his purpose was. Nevertheless, he made small talk and longed for the long day of travel to be done. His mind was not prepared for staring at trees and the same monotonous road all day long. He wondered if this wasn't some sort of personal hell made just for him.

Lucian knew they were approaching the sea long before it came into view, the air had turned saltier, and the vegetation began to thin out. Not long after passing through the trees and Caroline pointing out where she had crash-landed, they crested a small hill that led to a long sandy beach, the sounds of the waves crashing, creating white noise that filled Lucian's head.

He had been riding ahead with Silas who had said no more than seven words to the vampire in the past three hours, Lucian had counted, and turned his horse to follow the human heading down the road that now sharply veered south to follow the beach. In a few more hours, they would reach Skars, and a bed for the night, Lucian thought with relief.

A sharp trill sounded from behind him, and the vampire brought his black mare to a rocky halt at Ender's whistle. Lucian turned, instinctively ready for whatever fight may be coming, although he was woefully unsure as to what he could do besides talking his way out of it, and met his brother's eyes.

Ender nodded down toward the beach from atop Murf, and Lucian followed the younger vampire's stare. Caroline's horse, a white mare named Whisper, was cantering in place in the middle of the road riderless. Caroline was running down the dunes and quickly approaching the water.

"I will go retrieve her," he said quickly, dismounting quickly.

"You sure about that?" Aniyoh said slyly from behind him, he green gown flapping as the wind off ocean picked up considerably.

"I need to get off this horse before I die of boredom." Lucian snapped quickly at her. It was true, while his body felt no physical signs of fatigue, his mind had been wandering for hours. The thought of another two weeks traveling this way was terrible. At least in a carriage, he could read a book comfortably.

Ender just shrugged as the older vampire felt the sand give under his shiny black boots. The wind whipped black hair into his eyes, and no manner of brushing it away could stop the onslaught. Through it, though, he could Caroline, who had surreptitiously removed her shoes and left them sitting in the sand, perched at the very edge of the water. Smaller waves washed ashore threatened to cover her tiny feet as they tumbled towards her.

She did not hear him approach. The ocean sounds blotted out the noise so well that Lucian wondered how Ender could have possibly fought a battle in the same place just a few weeks before.

"What are you doing, little witch?" he asked, standing beside her, careful not to trod on nearby seaweed.

"I have never seen so much water in one place," she said quietly, Lucian's supernatural hearing barely picking up the words.

"You've never seen the sea?" Lucian asked, surprised.

Caroline shook her head slowly. "It's incredible. I can feel it, every drop of water. I think I could move it if I wanted to." she said almost to herself.

"This sea was cursed, always to be violent and not allowing for travel. It has been such for over a hundred years. Even then, it took a hundred witches to do so. Surely you don't have that much power?" Lucian scoffed.

Caroline continued staring at the vast expanse of choppy water for a long moment before closing her eyes. Lucian felt the familiar buzzing in the air that accompanied her magic. His slow heartbeat once loudly in his chest as the clouds that always lay over the Sea of Bones parted, allowing bright sunlight to penetrate through.

Lucian rarely felt fear, even back in the castle, when Caroline had nearly burned his home to the ground he hadn't been afraid. More annoyed than anything. But as he watched the waters before him cease to churn and sunlight reflect off of the still waters, the vampire felt cold fear seeping into his bones.

"What did you do?" he asked, unable to keep the awe from his voice.

"I lifted the curse," she said simply, turning around to retrieve her discarded footwear, blonde braid swinging in the now pleasant breeze.

"Will you travel home now that the waters are calm?" he asked tentatively.

Lucian watched as the features on her small angular face adjusted from thoughtful to a renewed calm. Her shoulders relaxed a little as the witch began to walk back to their friends, still waiting on the road.

"No," she said, placing a hand on his arm, "My place is here...for now."

Lucian nodded, feeling a tension he didn't realize he had been holding release from his body. The vampire and witch trudged back through the sand together slowly. After a few yards, Lucian suddenly felt a pain so intense he could swear hot spikes were being driven through his head, bringing the immortal being to his knees.

Lucian grabbed handfuls of sand as the vision flashed before his mind's eye. Heaving lungfuls of air, the vampire waited for the images to pass.

"Lucian! Are you okay? Was it a vision?" Caroline said hurriedly while helping the older vampire up by the arm. Lucian stared up into her crystalline blue eyes from his knees in the sand, unable to stand fully yet. The white-hot pain from his glimpse into the future was still making its way out of his head.

"You have doomed us, Caroline," he said before losing consciousness.