Page 58 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

* * *

We rode south for two days.

I would have left Larisa behind so she could stay warm by the fire, but leaving a human with such exquisite blood in the company of predators was a stupid idea. She didn’t complain, because my company was always preferrable to monsters. This time, we shared the same horse so my body shielded hers from the cold.

The snow eventually disappeared from the ground, but it was still freezing. The air was dry and crisp. With every breath, it hurt the lungs.

Rancor was in the lead, and he came to an abrupt halt. His men stopped behind him.

I looked around, expecting to see a glint of gold in the stalks of grass. I guided the horse forward and came to his side, along with Aurelias.

“We go no farther,” Rancor said. “You’ll need to continue your journey alone.”

“Why?” Aurelias asked.

“Because this land belongs to HeartHolme,” Rancor said. “If we encroach on their lands, it’ll be construed as an act of war.”

“I see no sign of civilization,” I said.

“It’s very far away,” Rancor said. “But their lands, nonetheless. If you continue south and approach that mountain you see there in the distance, the serpents reside in that forest. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see the golden pinecones.”

“How do you know this if these are HeartHolme’s lands?” Aurelias asked.

“They weren’t always their lands,” Rancor said coldly. “They took more of our territory for reparations.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t eradicate you altogether,” I said. “Considering your food source…”

“They lost a lot of people in the wars,” he explained. “They wanted no more bloodshed, and we’ve remained quiet ever since in the hope they would forget about us and move on rebuilding their kingdoms. It seems to have worked. We’ve subsisted on animal blood, but it’s like eating rotten meat. It does the trick—but makes you feel like shit.”

I’d done the same in the past, but I couldn’t imagine doing it for decades. It would make me wither like a flower in winter.

“Aurelias will stay with us,” Rancor said. “Take what you need. We’ll wait here for you.”

“How are we going to do this?” Larisa asked. “Take only the venom? Or take the serpents?”

“They won’t survive the return journey.”

“Then how do we get the venom?”

“Fang.”

“You think he can talk them into it?”

“It’s either that…or we force them.”

* * *

We rode to the mountain, and we knew we were in the right place when we found the pinecones. They weren’t gold, but they had small gold flakes across the surface, casting a shine when the sun struck.

It was significantly warmer in the forest than outside it, containing a humidity that filled the lungs. Our horse was tied to a tree, and Fang slithered across the ground as he joined us in the hunt.

Do you feel anything?

Not yet.Fang went ahead, slithering between the grass and bushes on the forest floor, disappearing almost instantly.

Don’t go too far ahead without us.

Alright, Dad…