There were moments during their journey that Little Ant suspected the crows had no idea where they were going and just led them around in circles. But after many days of hard march, the crows finally took them where they had promised.

To the village called Cobbler’s Hold.

The murder of crows sat together on a large tree branch and looked lovingly at the dreary village.

“That place is the ultimate banquet. You will see it soon enough.” The crows said.

“Hopefully not but thank you for your help.” Old Badger said.

The crows cackled.

“No. Thank you, Old Badger. We will be with you both when you’re cold and breathless.”

The crows flew off while laughing amongst each other and turned into a black cloud on the sky.

“I don’t like them.” Little Ant said.

“No one does.” Old Badger agreed.

Looking at Cobbler’s Hold, it felt more like a graveyard than a place where people would live. Before they had even crossed the gates to the village, Little Ant could feel something was very wrong. Terribly wrong. The houses could have been gravestones to mark where the inhabitants had been buried.

“Where is everybody?” Little Ant said.

Grandmother didn’t answer and just looked around with a grim expression on her face.

The town square… the community’s beating heart… stood empty. They couldn’t have been more alone if they had stood on the face of the moon. At first, she thought that the village was abandoned. She had heard about the Twelve-Year-War and how men in uniforms would order every man of fighting age in a village to put on a uniform of their own and join the fighting.

Sometimes none of those men came back and a village without its men would fade away quickly.

Another possibility was the plague. The black death would eat a secluded village like this alive in weeks. Perhaps days or even hours. All it took was one cough.

But…

But the village didn’t feel abandoned. She could feel eyes on her, and it had signs of life everywhere. Hungry eyes peering at her from the shadows. Homes started dying quickly if no one lived in them but there was no sign of decay. There were even fresh footprints on the ground. People had been walking here mere hours ago and then just… vanished.

“You don’t think that… the whole village has been…?” Little Ant whispered.

Grandmother just glanced at the sun that still stood high.

“Look for tracks.” Grandmother told her.

When she studied the ground, she could spot a trail heading to one direction. Like a pilgrimage. They were all heading towards a house on a hill. Little Ant looked at the trail and then at the sun. They still had four hours of light left. More than enough time to investigate the house on the hill and then get out of this cursed place. She did not want to be found here after nightfall.

“Let’s go.” Grandmother said.

They headed towards the hill house. A small fence surrounded the house and by the gate there was a mailbox with faded letters. You could make out the name just barely.

“Capello…” Little Ant read.

The stench of warm, worm-infested dirt slapped her across the face when she entered the house. Unlike the rest of the village, smell of wet decay lingered here. Like someone had hidden corpses under the floorboards. This house had stood abandoned for a long time but for some reason people were still visiting it regularly. Little Ant covered her nose and looked around. There were abandoned toys left lying around. Children had lived here once.

Then there were the photographs.

A handsome but serious man in a uniform standing next to a smiling woman in a wedding dress. The man was nowhere to be seen in all the other pictures, but she still recognized the woman. Older. More solemn. But still beautiful. In the pictures she was accompanied by two children who looked a lot like the disappeared soldier. Their hair was thick and their eyes dark. A small spot like a black tear grew under their left eye. There was a story to this house, and it had ended in tragedy.

“It started here.” Grandmother said and looked around: “This is where the rot set in.”

“What… do you mean?” Little Ant said.

Grandmother just shook her head and then looked at the stairs leading upstairs.

“Wait here. If I don’t come back, flee from this place. Do not wait for me. Do not look for me. Run and tell everyone what you saw here.” Grandmother said.

“You… you’d have me… leave you?”

“To make sure the truth comes out.” Grandmother said.

“But… but everyone will think I was a coward who abandoned you.” Little Ant said.

Grandmother was quiet for a moment and then smiled.

“Ant, it’s more important to be honorable than look honorable.” Grandmother said and then kissed her forehead: “People with honor don’t have to brag how honorable they are.”

The floor creaked when grandmother walked up the stairs. It sounded like the last groan of something that should have died a long time ago. The house had become a stinking corpse. Her heart was beating so fast it felt like someone was hammering her chest. Moments like that could spread to eternity. When Old Badger opened the upstairs door, Little Ant said a small prayer to the Spirit of Wyrding.

Fury of the Wild drives us

Light of the Balefire guides us

Shade of the Dark hides us

Might of the Storm protects us

Fruits of the Soil nourishes us

Wisdom of the Mountain consoles us

Knowledge of the Deep advices us

Touch of the Quiet nurtures us

Don't let the jaws of the Screaming devour us

And welcome us to the Green Lands

“Great Grandparent, let us get out of here alive.”

Once grandmother had entered the room, there was a moment of silence and every muscle in Little Ant’s body tensed. Had something happened? Was she alright? Had the monsters gotten her? What was she going to…?

Grandmother ran out of the room like all of hell was after her and jumped down the stairs two or three at a time. Little Ant had never seen anyone with so many wrinkles move so fast.

“Run!” Grandmother yelled.

Every goblin, anyone who worshipped the Quiet, learned at a young age that if someone told you to run, you ran. They burst out of the rotting house and when they were out in the sun, grandmother threw up like she was trying to purge her body of the things she had seen.

“… grandmother?” Little Ant whispered.

Grandmother spat out yellow water and wiped her mouth. Her hands were shaking and there were tears in her eyes.

“… altar… the monster had built an altar for his gods in that house…”

A cold wind blew through the yard that sounded like the hissing of a snake den. It was then she felt the eyes on her. The unflinching gaze of a hungry predator.

“I see you.”

Little Ant shivered when she heard the voice. Deep and commanding with all the playfulness of a cat tormenting a mouse coming out of the ruined house that now looked like the skull of some ancient monster. When they turned to look, they saw the dark shape of a man standing by the door. His body had been formed from darkness and the only part of him that looked real were the glowing, red eyes, and the sharp, white fangs.

Grandmother crossed her arms and looked the projection in the eyes.

“Pietro Capello, I presume.” Grandmother said.

“Oh? You’ve heard of me?” The master vampire’s shadow said.

“No. I haven’t, and I doubt I will remember you once you’re gone.” Grandmother said.

The master vampire hissed, and Little Ant raised her spear like the shadow was something she could slay.

“You think you can kill me with a stick?” The shadowy figure said.

Little Ant took a deep breath and then looked defiantly at the shadow. The rays of the sun on her skin made her feel bold.

“Come out. Face us. Or are you afraid of the sun?” Little Ant said.

Laughter followed her words. It was not the sinister cackle of a monster but the laugh of a supremely confident man. But while the vampire’s shadow laughed, she could feel worms crawling all over her mind.

“Afraid? I fear nothing. Unlike you. I see everything about you… Little Ant.”

Little Ant shivered when she heard the unseen monster say her name. She started backing away from the house. She wanted to run but invisible hands were clinging to her legs and spiders were crawling over her thoughts.

“You think you can run? After trespassing on this holy place? I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way.” Pietro Capello said.

Grandmother drew a sharp breath.

“Holy place? You have defiled this house with the blood of children, and you dare to call this place holy?” Grandmother said and walked up to the shadow: “I will see to it that this place is pulled to pieces and everyone here is dragged into the sun.”

The master vampire laughed again.

“You think I am afraid of you, old goblin? Someone whose mind and body are about to fail her?”

Little Ant let out a mocking laugh.

“You think we’re afraid of someone who can’t even step into the sun?” Little Ant said.

The glowing eyes looked at her and she could almost make out a mocking grin in the darkness.

“You’re right, Little Ant. Why don’t we do something about that sun?” Pietro Capello said.

Suddenly a drop of water ran down Little Ant’s neck and when she looked up, she could see thick storm clouds forming above them and then cover the sun that kept them safe. Clouds brought together by the power of a master vampire.

“… oh… no.” Little Ant gasped.

Down the hill, denizens of Cobbler’s Hold rose from their graves. Pale hands broke the earth they had been resting in safe from the sun. They shook the dirt off their clothes and looked around. Hungrily. They had heard their master’s call.

“Not so brave in the dark, are you?” Pietro Capello said.