Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

deeper into the earth. The tips of her boots sank, too. A second view of the
     mob appeared, and it was like she had two sets of eyes, watching from two separate
     angles. Then a third pair of eyes expanded her vision, and a fourth. It was difficult
     to adjust to the multiple visual inputs.
    Breathe, Riley, you are doing great. Let the fear go. You can do this. I’m right beside
     you. And he was. She could feel him under her, around her, inside her, sharing her mind.
     At the moment, it didn’t feel creepy or disturbing. She wanted him there, wanted him
     with her. Good, now focus on what you want. Trust your gifts to do the rest.
    There are so many eyes. Where do I focus? Her head hurt. Images were pouring in now, dozens of different wildlife feeding their
     vision into her mind, each with a different perspective of the advancing threat.
    His voice was steady, reassuring, as if they had all the time in the world and this
     was simply an exercise, not a matter of life and death. Pick a single image and then focus on one small detail.
    “Okay, I’ll try.” She chose the first “screen,” the one that came in from the tree
     frog.
    She was once more looking down on the tops of the people as they moved past. One head
     caught her attention. A woman. Her straight, thick black hair was covered with leaves
     and ash, like most of the others, but she had something stuck in her hair. An ornament
     made of bone, carved and painted. Riley could make out the swirls of red and white
     paint beneath the streaks of ash. She locked her focus on that hair ornament, and
     as the woman continued on the frog tracked her with its eyes until the hair ornament
     disappeared from its view.
    The image of the woman immediately changed to a different perspective. Now she was
     watching the woman from a spot ahead of her, but she still had a clear view of the
     ornament in her hair. Riley could see part of the woman’s face but she didn’t want
     to get lost, so she stayed focused on that single detail. As the woman walked, Riley’s
     vision began switching from view to view. The viewpoint switches started coming faster
     and faster, until Riley thought she was going to lose herself.
    Dax poured waves of reassurance into her, and as if blinds had opened to let sunlight
     stream in, her mind expanded, using the eyes of every insect, bird and beast nearby
     to form clear, three-dimensional images of the party.
    The entire party of the hundred or so villagers advancing on Riley’s encampment were
     bent on killing her and everyone with her.

11
    R iley was shocked at the clarity of her new, stereoscopic vision, which was so far
     superior to her own, unenhanced eyesight. All of the details and color, the ability
     to magnify images and see multiple locations at the same time was incredible. It should
     have been overwhelming, but miraculously, she was fine. She could do this.
    Mitro’s minions were making a straight line for the encampment, destroying everything
     that attempted to slow them down. It was clear they had come from a local village.
     And even though everything about them felt evil and wrong, she found it hard to believe
     all of them had willingly succumbed to Mitro’s foul control. Some of the women had
     baby cradles strapped to their backs!
    Dax, wait. What are we going to do to these people? Kill them? There are mothers in
     that group!
    They were mothers, Riley. Were. The men and women coming toward us are already gone from this
     world. Only their physical husks remain. Vampires take pleasure in digging out the
     insides of what they despise and can no longer be, replacing it with the foul evil
     they have become.
    Can’t you save any of them?
    I wish I could, sivamet, but it is not possible. Those people are truly gone. The only humane thing to do
     is put their bodies to rest. I am sorry. Empathy radiated through their connection.
    There were no children in the mob, and Riley’s heart broke at the thought of what
     might already have happened to them. Their parents clearly had not given up without
     a fight. Almost all of the oncoming villagers bore signs of brutal struggle, including
     deep furrows scratched into their bodies and faces.
    Riley could feel the plant life trying to bend away from the taint of evil the group
     carried with them. Suddenly her vision went blurry, as if the eyes through which she
     was watching had lost their focus. She pulled back, closing off all but a few of the
     viewpoints