Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 154: Her saving grace

Her blood was her saving grace. Since they were human, her abductors wouldn’t notice its scent. Not immediately, at least.

The only predicament that stood was its visibility; they seemed to have gone through a lot of trouble to keep her unharmed. Surely, they wouldn’t be pleased to discover that their plans were foiled and that her injuries could easily cost them their freedom, thus the need for discretion.

Anywhere on her arms and hands wouldn’t do as it would be the most instantly noticeable of places and as thick as her vest was it remained too thin should blood flow out or trickle uncontrollably. Her thighs were a no go which left the lower parts of her legs and feet.

The thick leather boots would contain it long enough for Silas or someone to catch onto it.

"That’s enough boys!" the blond man stood first, "Get the horses ready," he addressed another guy among the rest.

They were going to move again, meaning Arabella was left with a small window of time to act. The young woman fumbled on the ground, behind her back for anything that would tear through her skin.

It was against the harsh tree trunk that luck finally smiled at her.

Fingers curled around a piece of a jagged and partially separated wood, she Gave it little tugs until it disconnected from the tree, then quickly brought it between her right calf and boot before rubbing it against her flesh incessantly, only stopping when a sharp sting shot up her entrails, followed by burning around the area of effect.

Arabella made sure to bury the piece of wood deep among the napiel blades right as the biggest man in the group knelt and took her by the waist, raising her over his shoulder as though she weighed nothing.

He wasn’t careful either for he practically threw her on her stomach over a horse, almost knocking the wind out her lungs.

Blood rose to her flipped head as it dangled over with every second that passed. It didn’t help that each step of the horse assaulted her guts up and down.

But through the tears blurring her vision, Arabella still managed to note that the men headed in a specific direction, their destination seemingly clear in mind.

As humans they should have been thrown off and aimless going through the forest of lost souls. None of that was, however. The line continued and they all appeared calm as millponds.

"Move it along! The mountains aren’t that far," a familiar voice had risen, though the young woman had no way of confirming its origin in her position.

Considering their words with care, Arabella had the knowledge that the closest mountains to the lost forest were the ones from the eastern chain branching from the border that connected the kingdom with their neighboring, cold country, otherwise known as Vetah.

That was, of course, assuming they were threading the forest nearest to the Fata village.

They’d planned it all so meticulously, understanding that walking straight south wouldn’t do since word of the attack would have spread out by the time they’d have reached it.

Rummaging through her memories, a clear recollection about an underground tunnel close to those mountains rushed back to the front of her mind.

That was their way out!

They were basically returning her from whence she came through the same means used to cross over from Lustris safely. The irony of it was not lost on her.

"Stop!" the first man in line grunted, tugging at his reins and holding a hand up to signal the others behind him.

"What is it, Vali?" another asked. frёeweɓηovel_coɱ

"Shh...," the so-called Vali made not another sound, "Stay still," he practically whispered those words.

Everything went dead quiet after that. Well, as quiet as nature allowed it until Vali’s voice reached her ears again.

"We are not alone," there was something in his tone. A minor, barely noticeable shiver.

Indeed, the instant he’d uttered the last word in his sentence, a new, guttural voice blared from... Sort of everywhere.

"Oh, you couldn’t know just how right you are at that if you tried,"

The tussling of leaves came in stronger from the front of the line the nearer that familiar voice drew.

The calm painting the men’s demeanors was shattered as they frantically grasped at their reins, their panic reflecting in their mounts.

The horses screamed and gesticulated in response to their riders’ states.

"Don’t bother turning around. You are surrounded," he growled, "You know there is this misconception that all of us night walkers are out of commission under the sun, but the truth is," He paused, dragging his words, "While we, of course, prefer moonlight, sunlight treats me and my folk just fine,"

The wrestling of leaves and cracking of branches completely took over as more figures appeared through the trees. One of them, a feminine one, quite tall and only covered around her intimate parts with fur, stood in place as the closest, towering over Arabella’s bent frame.

The young woman did her best, but many features on the stranger remained a blur due to the haziness overwhelming her.

"Take her," that same voice ordered.

The tall woman’s hands extended around Arabella’s waist and hoisted her off the horse, again, like she was nothing.

Immediately, laying her on her own feet seemed to be a mistake as she wavered, nearly falling to the ground, but the woman quickly caught her before it happened.

"This isn’t your territory," Vali’s voice had finally returned to him. It turned out, Vali was the blond man that had given Arabella water, that was why his voice sounded familiar, "So how did you know we were here?"

"Well, word travels faster in Umbraria," a chuckle came from the responder. The man with a timbre so deep it gave the impression of blaring right in Arabella’s ears, "That and, you should have been more careful when handling her. Our sense of scent is far stronger than that of vampires. Once we’ve clocked the smell of someone, there is nowhere they can run to or hide that we’d have trouble finding them, and I can’t say the scent of her blood didn’t help,"

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