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He perused the sky, figuring what the weather was likely to bring hiround, he rolled up balls of light gray mud and stripped off his shirt to carry them When he at last rose and resu to reach the first series of rocks and gorges The red e was laid out aliant petulant child The hills into which the station had been built were an elevated, rolling plain, followed by another series of rocky red hillocks, soether, soed pillars and rounded hout the terrain Once he , which concealed him from the station, now a small block in the distance, he took a deep breath, cleared hishim

Laying down the shirt, he spread it out to reveal the balls of mud One rolled out and trundled into a crevice between another cluster of rocks He noted cracked pieces, sheared off by wind and weather, perhaps even by the odd ricochet of a bullet when the

Picking up one of the clay balls, Dev closed his hand on the coolness, felt the pastelike consistency Fifteen years he’d spent with the tribe who had shared his raising with his mum and dad A tribe that walked this land still, in even ions than this

He kne to find water and food, so that wasn’t a concern His challenge was going to be that pack of vampire children, with their superhuman ability to track, scent and find hi between hi part at least would beback up as if he’d never been through

Charles liked his sport, so Dev suspected he was being given the light of this day to get enough of a head start to provide a e But after that, if Dev eluded him, Charles’s sense of fair play, weak at best, would dissipate He’d use those heavily ar the day, the children to keep hiht, leave him exhausted

It was ti a deceptive one Squatting, he began to work the ball of mud into his flesh His face, his chest and shoulders, a sun covering and also a way to blend As he performed the task, he studied those broken rocks, their shape Lifting his gaze to the ranges, he considered the types of trees he’d find there

After the war, he’d walked with the clan again, for a time The Elders had told him he had to let the world back into his soulhe had to feel the earth beneath hiht of the sky and fire of sun above The ht To know the world provided The world understood There were sos that could not be explained, but the world was an ancient being that understood all pain, was fertilized with tears He had to know that, accept it He had to heal, or he would become a tool of demons

He couldn’t explain to that tribesman, perhaps was ashamed to, that he’d polluted his own soul He’d taken all the blood and pain, ja bloke he’d once been He’d buried hi that used to be his life That Devlin, his soul, was buried in a sealed casket he couldn’t open

A si sable hair, courted her in the sireen eyes and Tina’s sweet mouth He’d taken them to the picnic races that the reive the the sheep, he’d stopped as often as he couldthe day for a drink of le Rob had created out of rocks and sticks, small fortresses with soldiers and a pennant of a dry leaf

What you will not do, the world will force upon you That is its way, as well He recalled the Elder’s words, right before Dev chose to leave their company

It’s already done its worst to me It knohere to find me when it wants to have another round

It figured it would take its next shot through the cruel but irresistible touch of a blond va up several of the rock shards he’d studied They’d ood spear points, and he’d find branches or sturdy stalks up ahead for the shafts Charles had insisted he keep his large hunting knife in a spirit of fair play, but of course his stockmen had known that for the joke it was When he’d made it clear he expected his weapons and pack in the sah it was the ht, that he ht be back to reclaim it

Count on it, mates

A tool for deht be exactly as needed here While the Elder had given hie within hi free, Dev kne to let the rage forth when he needed it Since he was likely going to die in the next couple days, the ability to rein it in, reclaiht?

Shouldering the bundle of clothes, he proceeded toward the mountains, a darkly tanned ray-white mud on hiinal dwellers of the area The ones that had sent hi broken in hier was pressed

At dusk, he ell into the steep gorges, craggy peaks and varied forest terrain of the low ood for wild horses, sheep and cattle By the ti purple, evidence of the i torn strips fro the weapons at key points he scoped out for his first night’s strategy, he moved swiftly, mindful of Danny’s words about the speed of vampires He’d disseh a thicket of trees

A sharp crack Gunfire He dropped low and froze, close to a low patch of scrub An exuberant starting gun, perhaps? Danny would do wise to dismiss most of this lot, send them off to other places once all this was resolved Men needed things to do to keep them out of mischief, and these had had the scent of blood in their noses too long ’Course, she’d indicated Ian was an overlord What did an overlord do? Probably like a feudal landowner, she’d resolve squabbles, take tithes

He smiled inside, but remained motionless At least until the rabbit wandered into his reach,his presence due to his stillness and wind direction He caught the creature by ears andhis hand over the soft fur, he gave thanks and an apology at once “You don’t deserve this, mate” In a quickit painless and quick, but he couldn’t look as the life died out of the brown gaze