Roland could hardly believe the words. Doubt still lingered inside him, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. They were on a timer, and it seemed the group wouldn't stop until they found a safe place to hide from whatever was chasing them.
They marched for hours, nearly fifty people alongside the King and his daughter, Stella.
Both looked depressed as they walked.
Only the King spoke now and then, offering quiet comments about the terrain, the kingdom's problems, or distant hopes for the future. The oracle occasionally joined in, speaking of the past or the present—explaining what had happened to this world.
Roland glanced upward. The sky above was not natural. It looked bloated, as if something was blotting out the sun.
"I see you noticed," the King said, following his gaze. "Maybe in your world the sky is blue, but here… it has been altered—to suit the vampires who wish to keep us as cattle."
