Vampiris Sancti: The Elf (19 page)

He made to
rise, but the Elf waved her hands at an extremely powerful Vampire
who was powerless in controlling his magical visitor. Zyre
interrupted him with a warm smile that left him whirling.

“Don’t get up,
I be finding him myself.”

Keeping herself
aloof from his reality she ignored the tinge of regret in his eyes
and the forbidden longing of a creature caught within the sterile
stasis of perfection. For what the Vampire could offer an Elf would
never want and she exited the room oblivious to the wake of sadness
she left behind.

The Elf roamed
the vast mansion silently appearing in rooms causing consternation
among those occupying what they presumed to be an Elf free space.
It was soon brought home to them that as silent, graceful, and
formidable a Vampire might appear to human eyes they were no match
for anything magical. Enjoying herself she quietly sat beside
unaware Vampires only to relish with naughty glee their startled
reaction to her.

“How be you
tonight?”

She enquired of
two women catching up on gossip with their baleful glares the only
response to her query. If she had cared she might have found their
unfriendly suspicion off putting but Zyre was only curious, not
enamoured, of the Vampire. The only one she really wished to find
out about was the girl sold at auction and the only problem with
that was the lack of contact between Houses. Zyre had learned there
were different ones, Old World and New World. With the snobbery
worthy of any demon realm they preferred to scorn rather than enjoy
close ties with Vampires from another bloodline. So she watched and
waited until the bit of information she required was dropped. She
discovered the Accord of the girl had been purchased by one Bryre
Rhain from the House of Cardei. Once in possession of what she
wanted she left to join her new best friend, who was unsuspecting
of his new magical relationship.

It took her
only a few minutes to discover Florian and a friend in a heavily
panelled room playing a game hitting balls on a large table. Set up
for obviously masculine tastes even Zyre noticed this world was
disproportionally male. She battled through an endless swath of
heavy velvet curtains and dark leather furniture to emerge beside
Florian. Compared to the silver ice of Estienne he was a pale
Vampire as the strawberry of his hair and pastel green eyes barely
offered warmth to his appearance.

He paused to
give her a disgruntled stare, but having surveyed the table his
companion blithely concluded, “You’ve been snookered.”

Conceding this
to be true to both the game and the Elf a resigned Florian ushered
her out into the twilight of the garden. She made herself
comfortable on a stone bench while her Vampire companion stood
twitching as night invaded the last of the sky, muting the hues of
sunset into dark. He stood fiddling with the leaves of a nearby
shrub while he waited for her to reveal what she wanted.

“Estienne,” she
started with the name of his Herald knowing this would rivet his
attention, “said you be helping me find a dress for the Ball.”

Florian gave
her an incredulous look. “Me, find a dress for the Velare
Ball?”

Zyre couldn’t
resist the obvious target. “Yes you, because you dress so well, who
else is best?”

His vanity, so
easily on evidence, had Florian pull down the sleeve of his
tailored shirt as confusion continued to flood his face. “You are
certain he said me?”

Zyre rose with
confidence, “Yes—yes, I am invite to the Ball and you are to get me
a dress. I want one with bits.”

His face blank
he repeated, “Bits?”

Her eyes
flashed like turquoise gems as she jumped up. “I show you a
wonderful place with bits.”

Florian shook
his head. “We have Zhismi who tailor for us and if you want a dress
I can take you there.”

Zyre tilted her
head for a second before nodding because an adventure had to start
somewhere and a Zhismi tailor was a good a place as any. Florian
appropriated a car and this time she appreciated the clean interior
from Zhismi cleaning, even if riding in the front was not as much
fun as the taxi. They drove in the dark towards the centre of the
city and the Elf watched the unappealing twinkle of artificial
light block out the natural beauty of the stars. A pensive Florian
remained silent while concentrating upon the road and she knew he
was wary of his new company since Vampires had no real friends from
the Reveal. Magical creatures had no friends, even amongst their
own kind, so she didn’t have the capacity to understand his
discomfort. True to magical form it was the moment that he relaxed
that the Elf suddenly grabbed the steering wheel and caused the car
to careen perilously across two lanes until it came screeching to a
stop in front of a large bridal complex.

“Bloody hell!
What do you think you’re doing?”

Florian lapsed
into a string of Giryg curses that fell upon deaf ears. Zyre didn’t
bother with the niceties of explanation and dissolved them both
inside the shop in seconds. Once there she found the shop had been
restored to its pre-Elf invasion and she threw herself with joy at
the rack of extravagant tulle and opulent lace. She turned to see
the Vampire move at a furious pace as he disengaged the new
security cameras that replaced the mistakenly faulty ones that
failed to capture the Elf of a few nights earlier. Once assured of
privacy he turned to confront the creature that he obviously
thought had no concept of discretion. His eyes were a pale glow and
his mouth a thin line of anger, but it was pointless because if a
Martyc didn’t bother an Elf there was little chance a Vampire would
do so.

She greeted him
with an affection that frightened him more than an act of
aggression. “Bits! These are the ones!”

Florian did his
best to conceal his alarm from her, but the Elf was unconcerned
over the effect she was having on him. Here were the gowns she
adored, their excesses of design and ostentation amused her. She
found herself unable to choose between one with an enormous train
and one with a giant skirt. His face grew even more alarmed when
she tried on two veils at once—making her look like a wedding cake.
She felt him before she saw him and she saw him before the Vampire
had noticed.

She suddenly
thrust the veils at a startled Florian saying, “Wait here!”

Zyre dissolved
to the roof of a small office building across the road because once
she felt his essence it wasn’t difficult for her to discover the
chameleon. The Poqir, unaware of his audience, shimmied swiftly up
the side of the building as his skin matched the silver grey of the
concrete surface. She didn’t know how the demon had found them, but
she knew who would have employed him so she watched as he reached
the roof of the adjacent office building. The Poqir focused upon
the shop sensing the Vampire, but struggling to find the Elf he
didn’t realise his quarry had quietly dissolved behind him. Her
aura overwhelmed the space between them and once the spy realised
the presence of his target he whirled around to face what all
demons feared—an angry magical being. Her skin was alive with
colour as if she had been dancing, her eyes sparkled sapphire and
her ruby mouth curved in a frightening smile. His fear ate in to
the air between them and before he could blink she crossed the
distance between them until her lips were a hair’s breadth away
from his ear.

“Tell Vryn
Dhaigre….”

She didn’t
finish her message in words as a small blast of Salvae burst from
her fingertips to scorch the ground near his feet. He leapt
backwards, falling through the large skylight that illuminated a
space reaching down the entire length of the building. The moment
the hapless demon fell out of view and crashed through the thick
plates of glass to the long drop below he was no longer of interest
to the Elf. Her blast had skirted the edges of the spell for she
was not allowed to attack him overtly, but creating a situation
where he tripped over his own feet was another matter. A myriad of
alarms disturbed the night air with their shrill warning of
trespasser. She promptly dissolved back to the shop where an
anxious Florian queried, “What was that?”

“Demon
insolence.”

She ignored the
blanching of the already pale Vampire content that her message
would be delivered. The echo of sirens in the distance had his face
grow dark with apprehension while a cheerful Zyre patted his
arm.

“Let’s go see
the Zhismi, but first pass by the doorway.”

Florian needed
no explanation as to what the doorway meant, with a creature from
the Reveal it was the portal back to their home.

“Planning to
leave?” his voice betrayed his hope.

Zyre winked.
“Maybe!”

Pacified by her
words Florian led the way back to the car and they made a brisk
exit just before several police cars pulled into the drive of the
building opposite. Zyre gave it a contemptuous glare while they
sped past and catching the tail end of her scowl Florian kept all
questions to himself. As they leisurely drove past the doorway her
fears were confirmed when Zyre took stock of the extra Gargoyles
and patrolling Varkja. Unnoticed by the flow of humans wandering
past they were obvious to one who spent her life reading the
atmosphere. She finally had to accept the Martyc was not going to
allow her to get off world easily.

It wasn’t only
the presence of the extra security that caught her attention since
there was another being attempting not to be seen. Just out of
reach of the Varkja the creature hid well, not well enough to keep
from her, but enough for the demons present. Even the Vampire
beside her had no idea what lurked in the shadows and Zyre gave the
area a deep scan as they drove by. She knew the feeling for she had
it once in the markets of Prakiesh, where trade was not controlled
by the Empire. She briefly wondered if this was Dhaigre playing one
of his Martyc tricks to capture her and decided he would have to do
better than this if he was planning a surprise.

They arrived
quietly at the Zhismi tailors stopping outside the inevitable large
gates that guarded all Vampire interests. The building before them
was true to their surreptitious world, the exterior deceptively
dark, the shabby exterior belied by a modern and well-kept
interior. An old caretaker guided the car through and after
parking; they entered the loading dock to walk past large bales of
assorted fabric into a waiting room. The Vampire servants greatly
admired their magical visitor as Florian discussed the creation of
a gown for their unusual guest. Surrounded by the Zhismi women she
waited for them to do whatever tailors did to create the
confections that amused her. She stood before a full-length mirror
the titian of her summer hair gleaming, kaleidoscope eyes clear as
a turquoise summer sea. Her slim Elf figure encased in a short
tunic of forest brown with olive leggings gave her the appearance
of a wood nymph of human lore.

The Zhismi
women kept a careful distance while Zyre waited for them to
commence their mysterious craft of gown construction. An old woman
entered and her aged face was lined with the crisscross of
experience. Instead of a frightened response to the strange visitor
she took Zyre by the hand while smiling at her magical guest. Her
relaxed greeting released the women into a flurry of activity as
the elderly woman spoke nonstop to the Elf in a language that was a
strange puzzle to those outside the Vampire realm. Zyre had not
observed the Zhismi at the house out of idle curiosity as she had
been busy learning their language. When the Elf responded in the
same tongue— the old woman beamed. Ordering the young women into a
frenzy of action as they brought Zyre all manner of fabrics and she
would choose the brightest of patterns for the joy of watching
Florian’s brows rise in alarm. Once sufficiently amused she settled
upon elegant chiffon that blended naturally into the rich colour of
her eyes. Florian followed the old woman to add his take on style
and Zyre left them to their tasks. She sat alone in the front room
with her eyes a constant merge between colours because she could no
longer avoid having to contemplate the impact the Folly of one Vryn
Dhaigre was having on her life.

The Servants
of Others

For centuries
the Vampire realm remained a situation observed, but considered
unimportant until the human world had evolved into a destination
the Reveal believed worth exploring. Although the human beings were
viewed with mixed reactions amongst demons, the human domain was
one of the most sought after destinations for hedonistic purposes.
As the human world evolved, so did the Vampire with the difference
being that Vampire dynasties remained intact through the longevity
of their Houses. Like all worlds the Vampire one required employees
and due to their unique place within the Reveal they needed staff
who could cope with both Vampire and demon issues. Vampires, while
stronger than humans, couldn’t match demons in strength until they
were Aunsin—Ancient and by that time they had usually moved off
world. The Empire brought with them the problems of
wealth—including deviants who would disturb the Veil. The ruling
Council decided that a mixture of employees would be required and
sought their muscle from outside the human realm.

Initially they
were suspicious of those demons that would offer their talents for
sale because overall demons considered themselves to be superior to
the Vampire nation. The negotiations with the Martyc of the Empire
now had the once isolated Vampire becoming aware of the peculiar
character of the demon universe. Unlike their own realm, which
provided a myriad of professionals each with their own expertise
within one domain, the demon universe consisted of entire worlds
devoted to a single specialisation. This afforded the Ghuvk the
opportunity not only to have demon allies, but also to combat
Vampire corruption by employing those that lacked agenda within the
Vampiric world. While the human world possessed weapons that could
match and often outdo demon armoury the Vampires didn’t relinquish
the possibility of warfare upon the streets. Discovering those
dispossessed because of the superior talents or intellect of other
worlds the Vampires quickly singled out the demons offering their
services to anyone willing to pay.