The Vorbing Read Online Free Page B

evil eye as the procession moved out of sight. Their absence was noted. When the noise receded, they continued where they had left off earlier.
    Whenever Vlad thought of Ula, he saw her smiling face instantly; her long, golden hair, light green eyes and the ridge of freckles across her turned-up nose. Ula was seventeen and in the full bloom of youth. She had such a vibrant personality. She always made Vlad laugh. He hated being apart from her. The villagers had noticed how Vlad and Ula had been spending so much time together and talk of marriage crossed everyone’s lips. Vlad feared marriage. Living in a land of vampires, it was good not to become attached to anything. No one knew where they would strike next. Survival in Nocturne was sheer luck. As certain as death itself, the vampires would hold the life of all Nocturnians and their loved ones in their gnarled claws eventually.
    However, there was another reason why Vlad did not want to become too intimate. If he was going to avenge his father (something he planned to do), it was best not to present the vampires with an Achilles heel to exploit. The vampires would find whatever someone loved and use it against them. If they were unable to blackmail someone through loved ones, the vampires would kill them. An isolated individual was fair game for the vampires. They were using divide and conquer tactics.
    Deadulus had a mate, Votona, but she was a mere physical convenience. She was infertile and never would give Deadulus progeny. Votona needed Deadulus for power and protection within the group. Vlad assumed he could kill her and Deadulus would find another willing female with ease, but he knew little about vampire mating patterns. He had to be careful, though. Anyone associated with him would be a target for vampires, and Vlad loved Ula too much to put her through that.
    Vlad wondered why he should allow the vampires to control his life. To Hell with those evil beasts, Vlad decided. They already had caused him enough pain. Besides, Vlad found Ula irresistibly attractive. No matter what his mind told him, one look at her, and separation was out of the question. However, if he committed himself to Ula and something happened to her, he would find it unbearable. Vlad loved his father, and he had lost him forever. The road stretched out before Vlad Ingisbohr. It simultaneously enthralled and terrified him. Whatever he decided, marriage was a long way in the future. Until then, he and Ula enjoyed each other's company, free of pressure.
    Vlad and Ula went to their favourite meeting place, beneath a tree beside the river. The tree was in full blossom, and in the sunlight, with Ula beside him, it felt like Heaven itself. Vlad’s eyes scanned her voluptuous form as she finished tossing stones into the water. He quietly watched the teasing rhythm of her unhindered breasts and the graceful movements of her long limbs as she got nearer to him. Vlad had not seen her for a while. Ula and her family had suffered a hideous run of illness. Ula and her younger sister were the ones chiefly affected mostly by diseases of the respiratory tract. Vlad asked many detailed questions regarding her illness. Surprisingly, Ula did not take offence and reassured Vlad as best she could.
    Ula sat down beside Vlad and went to stroke his hair. He flinched and got to his feet.
    “H-How are you feeling, Ula?” he stammered, smoothing his hair back, “better, I hope.”
    “I have fully recovered, Vlad,” she said with a beaming smile, “my sister is also better.”
    “The illness is gone?” Vlad asked enthusiastically.
    Ula grinned and nodded. Vlad smiled and eased himself down beside her. He wanted to believe her and took her at her word, pressing Ula against him in a passionate embrace.
    “You are a strange man, Vlad Ingisbohr,” Ula said passionately, reciprocating Vlad’s desire.
    Vlad liked that the apparently demure female form bubbled underneath with feral passion, and with the merest kiss or