Vampas-2

Jarad pulled the reins of his horse to increase the speed of the carriage. He knew that the carriage wouldn't be able to run at his maximum speed because of the snow, after all, it was never made to run on snow. And he also knew that the horses were tired, their breed was never meant to survive in snow. Yet he pulled the reins as hard as he could, only that way he could survive. He also started praying to Lord Tibba, he couldnt die here.

He was very desperate, he could see a white color monster running alongside his carriage. Based on the speed and the body of the monster, it was pretty clear that at any moment in time, that creature could pounce at them. The muscles on that thing told him that this creature would have no problem jumping on the carriage.

The creature did not look as if it had any fur on its back, and still, it was running in this cold like it was nothing. Most importantly the creature didnt have any eyes or ears on its face, nor did it have a nose. All he could see was that the creature had slits that looked like gills on either side of its head.

This creature was clearly a magical beast, because despite not having any eyes, it is able to follow them for such a long time, magical creatures are very dangerous, especially for someone like him, who does not possess the miraculous body of an awakened one…

HAH

He pulled the reins again, but the horses couldnt increase their speed anymore, they were tired, also he could feel that they were slowing down little by little, which started frightening him, if this monster was able to catch up to them, then he would be toast, he was sure of it.

And sure enough, when the carriage slowed down after a certain point, the creature ultimately pounced at one of the horses, he was able to see the wide-opened mouth of the creature, it looked like it didnt have any teeth, it only had two long canines which invaded the flesh of the horse with ease.

The lunge from the creature was enough to make the horse lose its balance, and the horse got toppled on its partner, making both of them lose balance, because of this the equilibrium of the horses and the carriage was broken, and the carriage tilted to the side, and the whole thing fell to the side.

Maybe it was fear, or maybe it was instinct, because as soon as he saw the creature's teeth digging into the horse's back, immediately he stood up and jumped to the right, narrowly avoiding the carriage as it fell down to its left.

He landed on the soft snow, and although the snow was able to cushion his fall to some extent, it still hurt like hell when he fell, but the adrenaline in his body made the pain go away for some time, immediately after falling he got up to see that creature was now gnawing on the flesh of the horse.

With its teeth it was ripping apart the flesh of the horse, and digging in deeper and deeper, while the other horse was lying on the ground, moving its feet over and over again, unable to get up, he figured that the other one might have broken its leg or would have sprained ita ankle.

But he didnt care for the animal, he was more invested in saving his life for now, so immediately he started running in the opposite direction, he was not thinking about waiting for the creature to finish its meal and get come at him…

As he moved in the desolate snowy land, clinging tightly to the silk on his back, he knew that he was going to die tonight, no one could save him, if he didn't die in this awful weather, then he was to die by the hands of the creature that he found way back.

His body was also giving him signs, he was tired, he was thirsty and he was not feeling very good. He just wanted to lie down on the ground and close his eyes, he knew that if he did that then hypothermia would do his job, and make him fall into an eternal slumber.

And at this point in time, he was really considering closing his eyes, he loved his family and all, and for them, he could do anything, but this was getting out of hand, he couldnt just move another step, he didn't has the power to do so…

But it was then he saw it, a bright light on the horizon, seeing which he smiled, he instantly knew that the great Tibba had sent her angels to get him. His time on this hunk of rock was now over, with the last bit of his strength, he pushed himself forward, he had to embrace the bright light and finally make this torment go away.

With stumbling steps he moved closer and closer to the light, his body started to slow down, and he didn't have much energy left, but still, he pushed himself. And when he got too close to the bright light, his legs finally gave in, and he stumbled, unable to help balance he fell onto the ground.

With his head buried in the snow, he tried crawling, but his hands and legs refused to move, they had become too weak and numb for him to do anything with them, as he couldnt even struggle anymore, he finally decided that it was time, he forgot about the light, he closed his eyes, finally letting everything go, he was tired and wanted to sleep, and he finally let everything go, he was finally at peace…

***

Jarad remembered that when he was little, his father used to tell him about the miracles that great Tibba made. Whenever a baby was born, the great Tibba would show the previous life of the baby for 9 whole months, and only after that baby had seen their previous life, only then would she let them take birth again.

Sometimes when the baby dies in the mother's womb, or the times when the baby is disfigured at birth, it was said the baby was horrified by what they did in the previous life, that is why they either decide to commit unthinkable or beg great Tibba to punish them.

Remembering his father's words once more, Jarad started remembering his life, he had many regrets, and he was not able to achieve many things in his lifetime, but looking back, he has to say that he had lived a worthwhile life, he had everything from money to good wife, to great children, he couldnt have lived a more fulfilling life.

He then started feeling his body being pressed under weight, it was a little suffocating but it also felt good, soon his body started feeling his body getting warmer and warmer as time passed by, and he finally started feeling the coldness leaving his body.

Slowly he started feeling his legs and hands again, before they were numbed by the cold, but now the fire of the Lord Tibba was itself healing him and heating him up, and he started feeling at peace.

It is then he heard a voice, it was neither loud nor faint, it was as if someone was speaking beside him in a hushed tone. "Do you think he will live?"

Then came another voice. "He seems stable for now, but nothing could be said until the herbs take their action. There is a chance that he might live, or maybe he would die."

The conversation between those two men continued, they were talking about some sick man's situation, and there was a chance that he might die, which confused him because from what he had learned, after dying, the body becomes a soul and leaves for either heaven or hell and after that, there is no more dying. So what these were talking about, was beyond him.

As he started feeling more and more of his body, the voices around him started becoming more and more clear, along with those two men, there were several other people around him, talking and hanging out, which made him realize that something was wrong here.

He tried opening his eyes, but they were too heavy to open up, he tried speaking, and opening his mouth, but he could not, he tried moving his body, but the weight keep pressing on him, making him unable to move. He was not getting anywhere with his efforts, and when everything seemed lost, slowly he got exhausted and finally fell asleep…

The next time he woke up, he was able to open his eyes, the light around him was so bright that it was making it very hard for him to see clearly, but he was finally able to turn his head around, he was stuck under a number woolen sheets, and from he could feel someone had put something heavy on the sheets in order to completely pack in in the cocoon of warmth.

'Where am I?' he mumbled.

***

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NOI" No matter how many times she repeated the word, the scene before her could not be changed, Sara immediately ran towards the pale woman lying on the floor in her own pool of black color blood.

She started inspecting the wound, there were scratch marks on her stomach, while there were some bite marks on her face, Gizelle was in very bad shape, instantly she took out a red crystal and healed her with it, the wounds started closing, and the pace of healing was very slow, but still it was good to see that her wounds were healing.

'This useless bitch! I left her for an hour! JUST FOR AN FUCKING HOUR! And now look at that mess that she had made... ARGH! Kaisel is gonna kill me.'

After she had made sure that every wound on her body was healed, she immediately went inside the big iron door, where Gizelle was supposed to be guarding the Vampas. The area behind the door was covered in pitch-black darkness, but as she entered the area, she was able to see everything clearly as if it was daytime.

She ventured in, she was happy to see that most of the creatures were still bounded in chains, and were sleeping. She went further in to see that the eggs of the Vampas were still there, and no harm was done to them, she had heard from Gloria that older Vampas sometimes kill the eggs, which was very bad for them.

After she had made sure that everything in this gigantic area was fine, she started counting the creatures, and after the tally, she found out that out of 118 Vampas, 9 were missing…