Chapter 56

Later that afternoon, just half an hour before sunset, Diana was awakened by the jolt in the concealed door above ground.

With her vampire senses, even underground she could feel the intruder and alerted her companions.

"Wake up, everyone," Diana uttered enough for the group to be vigilant. Outside, the village horn had called all the residents to the Twin Hollow courtyard.

The village courtyard was packed tight with human dwellers, most of whom had wandered to this little town from all over the hill region. There were the elders and the clan chiefs, all delegates embodying the attention of their peoples and their administered territories.

Gazing at the winter trees Diana realized it was hard to imagine them re-clothed in their finery. With roots buried deep in the frozen earth they sleep, their twigs moving in the breeze, swirling their wintry dreams. Ice forms and melts, snow barrages come and go; then each spring the first delicate blossoms and leaves send a frisson of joy through t