Lilith Thornveil's Arc

Chapter 9 of 11

The girl with ink-stained hands slid off the bat and stood in the lantern light. She looked hungry. Her cheeks were sharp, her eyes dark and dull. Lilith knew that look. This was a refugee, the first stranger her trail had brought. Lilith glanced toward the pool, where the red fruit basket sat by the wall. It was empty. She had gathered the last of them for Selene that morning. Nothing was set aside. "Sit," Lilith said. "You need to eat." The girl sat on a pallet. She clutched her cracked compass and watched the two vampires in the shadows with wide, tired eyes. "I'm Lyra," she said. "I've walked three days. I finished my water yesterday." Her voice cracked. "I mapped this place, but I never thought I'd need it myself." Lilith crossed to the wall and checked the basket again, as if fruit might appear. It did not. Selene stepped from the dark. "There's none left," she said quietly. "I ate it." "Then I gather more," Lilith said. "Now." Shade caught her arm. "The ravine trees are picked bare on this side. You know that. You'd walk half the night to the far slope." She nodded at Lyra. "She can't wait half the night. Look at her." Lyra had started to shake. Her hands trembled around the compass. She was human, not vampire, but three days without food had hollowed her out. Lilith knelt and felt the girl's cold fingers. "The far slope," Lilith said. "There's fruit there. I've seen it hang thick." She stood and whistled low. The fat bat waddled forward, wings dragging, and pushed its warm head against her leg. It squeaked and looked up, playful even now. "You've flown all night," Lilith told it. "One more." She pressed a scrap of dried pulp to its nose so it knew the scent. Then she climbed onto its back. The little gray rat scrambled up beside her, ready to fetch. "Keep her warm," Lilith called to Selene. "Wrap her in both bedrolls." The bat lifted through the arch and out into the dark ravine. Wind tore at Lilith's hair. She clung to the fur and watched the black slopes rush below. The far ridge came fast. There, in a fold of stone, the trees hung heavy with red fruit. She filled her satchel until the straps groaned. The rat stuffed two more in its cheeks. Then she turned the bat home and flew back hard. Lyra was still shaking when Lilith knelt and put the first fruit in her hand. The girl bit into it. Color came back to her face by the third one. She ate until she slept. Lilith looked at the empty satchel on the floor. She had saved one refugee tonight. But she had emptied the whole far slope to do it. Tomorrow another bead-follower might come, and now even the far trees were bare.