Vampiris Sancti: The Elf (3 page)

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A person often
meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.

Jean de la
Fontaine.

A magical
creature from an enchanted life the Elf would appear to lead an
existence devoid of troublesome issues, but even she had her
problems. Zyre wandered through the Reveal to escape the bubbles of
irritable discontent bursting in pockets of her world. It had been
like this since the Seal of Sere for despite the treaty giving them
peace with the demons unity didn’t sit well with a group of magical
creatures more suited to local squabbles than inter-world
diplomacy.

Her proper name
was Elfzyre, for all Elves had Elf in their name, which often led
to some strange appendages added in search of a wider name base. Of
all their populace the Elf dealt with the confusing aspects of new
worlds with relative ease. So it was the young Elf who was
encouraged to travel extensively and, unfortunately, often not
harmoniously throughout the Reveal. Elfzyre, known as Zyre to
family, and whatever creatures finding out her name, had promptly
absconded the moment she was able. True to her nature she was
searching for nothing and everything because the Elf remained ever
aware of how obsession, external or internal, could affect her
wellbeing.

Zyre knew of
the strange structure of the human realm, the surreptitious world
within a world, where those on the surface had no clue of others
protecting the veil of secrecy. She sat watching the humans as she
learned the local language in days, a very handy Elf talent, while
wondering how they could be so oblivious about those that lived
amongst them.

Sensitive to
the shifting nuances of life around her she felt the impact of the
energy of the mutants of the night even before dusk had touched the
edges of the sky. Their urgency added to the vibrancy of life
dancing upon the atmosphere and announced itself to her long before
they started to arrive. From a careful distance, she watched the
influx of Vampires unnoticed by the commuters who brushed past them
in their hurried departure. Their figures and faces were beautiful
examples of the human form as they glided without effort between
the gaps, a contrast to the wall of disparate humanity set on their
determined path.

Zyre usually
hid in plain sight because she liked inspecting the strange lives
of those around her and then again, there was always a demon
waiting to profit on something. In this case it would be her
presence, for knowledge of an Elf on world would be worth something
to someone. Curiosity, the mainstay of cats and Elves, had her
watch with interest the altered humans called Vampire. If they
truly were of demon roots, then they behaved like higher caste ones
as their civilised behaviour had them blend into the human
landscape without effort. She wanted a closer look since her
experience was only of the Aunsin, the ancient Vampire who lived
off this world, and were as boring as any old demon. It had taken
several days before opportunity arose when she found two Vampires
wandering about in a manner less discreet than their comrades. Both
blonde replicas of each other, their pale blue eyes echoed with
silver glints as their smooth hair shone under the city lights.
They moved with the grace of accomplished predators while their
cheerful faces belied the danger of their heritage. Jaunty and
obvious with their noisy conversation their voices echoed down the
narrow street.

“Where to play
tonight?” asked one.

“Let’s go to C
of V, I heard Ribeni is giving style advice again,” suggested the
other while his friend rolled his eyes.

As they
sniggered at their thoughts she was led down the twisted paths of
inner city lanes towards their secret destination. Unused to an
uninformed society, especially concerning the importance of leaving
an Elf alone, she did little to hide her presence. It didn’t occur
to Zyre that such an action could put her in jeopardy as little
tended to harm magical beings and so the inquisitive Elf followed
the two into the dark. If she had more knowledge of Vampires and
their Council she would have known it was forbidden for them to
attack anyone in public. As with any group within a society, there
were always the few deviants who believed themselves not subject to
the laws. Those who abused their power, those who no longer cared,
those who murdered for the fun of it, and Zyre soon discovered she
was in the midst of two such beings.

They led her
deeper into the crevices of the city until she found herself not
only at a dead end, but also suddenly face to face with eyes that
glowed eerily from faces lost to the shadows. She felt the Vampires
on each side of her and their movements, synchronized in silence,
had her assume that like the magical creature they could feel
thoughts in the air about them. Both their appearance and attitude
fascinated her for the gild of demon had taken the human beyond
their mortal façade into a physical perfection reminiscent of her
own realm. They carried themselves with arrogance that she knew
well for she had often removed the conviction of superiority from
many a demon.

“So, what’s
this following us about? Come for a closer look, have we darling?”
one of them asked as his eyes glittered in anticipation.

“Yes, no, don’t
know, might be, could, should, would, maybe.” Zyre replied as she
scrolled through her new list of human words.

“So many
choices, your head must be spinning,” added his friend.

Intrigued by
the ballet of their movement she didn’t answer or dissolve when the
Vampires grabbed her. If she had perhaps they wouldn’t have
progressed to their sudden demise, but then again with an Elf any
outcome was possible.

“Maybe we
should introduce ourselves,” said the first one.

There was no
warmth in their being to warn her, no hot breath on her neck, and
though she knew they were coming she wasn’t worried. Not even when
the sharp cut of their fangs were on her neck, and curious to their
motive she didn’t dissolve while allowing her blood to flow. If the
Vampires had realised she was an Elf who could kill them in a blink
and if they saw her kaleidoscope eyes change from emerald into the
stormy teal of danger—they might have left her alone. None of this
mattered for fate had them suddenly explode into balls of dust, to
be carried away on the stink of an industrial wind. At first she
was perplexed because she had not employed the Salvae against them,
as the Seal didn’t include Vampires—not even when Ancient. If Zyre
had bothered to pay attention to the warnings of the Elders,
instead of relegating them to an annoying drone in the background,
she would have known that Elf blood was poison to Vampires.

“Blinkity bah!”
She shrugged at the dust swirling at her feet.

She wondered at
the motives of strange creatures that attacked for no reason as
even demons tended to have an agenda of sorts. Returning to the
main street she was as unconcerned about their death as she was of
informing anyone of their sudden absence. The Elf had never been an
involved creature and to her there was no reason to start
bothering.

The episode had
her ignore the blood-drinking mutants for a while as she had
discovered the even greater pleasure of human children. With their
combination of wisdom and innocence, she surveyed them from a
distance until curiosity got the better of her. It could have been
the sun shining through the rustling leaves of the trees, the noise
of simple joy, or the fact that she simply could, that had Zyre
hide in her favourite place—plain sight.

She sat in a
park under the green canopy of a shrub happily watching the mad
gallop of unrestrained children until one stopped playing to stare
directly at her.

“You’re sitting
in dirt.”

The little
girl’s statement was nothing more than an observance of reality and
Zyre gave her a dazzling smile.

“So I be,” she
replied in her best human before opening her hand to reveal a small
leaf beetle.

The girl
squealed before running away, leaving a puzzled Elf to examine the
mosaic of colours on the back of the beetle.

“She not see
you be pretty,” she comforted before carefully putting the insect
back onto a shrub.

Zyre
scrutinised the park inhabitants for several hours before deciding
that young humans seemed to be born knowing everything about the
universe because they knew she was an Elf without introduction. As
she observed the difference in ages she worked out that the
constant assertion by their elders that their youth knew nothing
had them forget their knowledge. It was only returned to them once
they became elderly and remembered what had been forced out of
them. This left her visible to the very young, the very old, and
imperceptible, unless preoccupied or wishing to be seen, to
everyone in between. She would have stayed in her leafy den if an
enticing scent had not distracted her and the Elf dissolved to
reappear within an open-air fruit market. The street was filled
with trestle tables canopied by barely functioning tarps while
vendors hawked their wares with brisk shouts. People pushed by each
other as they sought the finest produce for the cheapest
prices.

“BEST NEW
SEASON POTATOES.” Shouted a bulbous man his round face glistening
with sweat as he heaved bags onto the table causing it to wobble in
an alarming fashion.

“CARROTS! GET
YOUR CARROTS HERE!” His competition bellowed next door.

Zyre stood
still for a moment as she ignored the cacophony of sounds, the
offensive artificial scents of the consumers while she embraced the
wonderful mix of fresh food. It was a table chock full of apples
that begged her attention as they glowed under the sun, red, green,
yellow, pink, their irresistible smell suggesting something
delicious. She wandered unnoticed within the throng for it was easy
for a magical being to exploit the human lack of attention. This
seller was not shouting like the others and the downturn of his
mouth told Zyre everything she needed to know. Here was the soul of
a malcontent, because she had seen enough of them on demon worlds
to understand the mindset of one convinced the universe was out to
cheat them. He sold his tasty wares with a disagreeable frown
pausing only to bark orders.

“Get more
delicious,” he snarled at his unhappy assistant who dashed off to
return with a box.

“Not those
idiot—the golden ones.”

Zyre
contemplated the table before her without empathy for the abused
employee because she wanted apples, and a disagreeable creature
stood between her and them.

“What the!!!”
Shouted the angry man as his table collapsed sending his wares
rolling into the dirty lane.

Zyre quickly
stuffed her pockets with the gorgeous smelling fruit before looking
up to discover her glee was shared by the assistant, who could now
see her. It was always the way of Elves, invisible until they found
a partner in crime.

She dissolved
to a nearby roof and sat munching on another scrumptious human item
as she viewed the passing of the day into night. A small sparrow,
unafraid of the magical miscreant, landed close by and she tossed
the bird a crumb of apple that was quickly snatched up.

“You know,” she
confided, “they be dirtier than demons, but humans have better food
and more flowers.”

It was the
unexpected entrance of a Tyro—a young Vampire—that changed her
focus of attention once again as she viewed the surreptitious world
within a world. She discovered the Vampire being tormented by two
humans, ignorant of the risk they took, and a curious Elf waited
for the outcome. The Tyro was still clean since she didn’t have the
stench of the blood drinkers, or the great strength that came with
drinking it. However, she still would have been powerful enough to
prevent the actions of both those who waylaid her. Instead, she
froze with her grey eyes stark with confusion and fear making Zyre
wonder just what would terrify a Vampire. The two men were not big,
barely taller than the girl was—one with green eyes of avarice—the
other with brown eyes of greed.

Her initial
encounter with Vampires had been adversarial with them winding up
as dust, so she had no overwhelming urge to help the hapless
victim.

“She be dust
soon,” the Elf mused, “live or die tis the way of it.”

What made her
stay and watch was the pathetic response of the girl who seemed
unable to defend herself in a world where violence was the norm.
Perplexed, she bit into another apple moving closer as she watched
one of them grab the bag from the Tyro.

“Why so
unfriendly?” asked the assailant. “All we want is a little
look.”

Zyre could
sense both the anger and the fear of the girl as it paralysed her
into inaction and the Elf, though master at hiding in plain sight,
didn’t care to at that moment. Unable to resist tormenting a bully
Zyre gave the half-eaten apple a last bite before pelting the
green- eyed one hard on the forehead. She wasn’t trying to harm
him, just get his attention, or maybe annoy in giving lots of
bruises sort of way. It got their notice and the duo leapt into a
defensive mode while the friend of the victim shouted into the
dark.

“Piss off, if
you know what’s good for you.”

With their
superior veneer gone, the two glared menacingly at nothing, which
made her giggle at their low threshold.

“Even Varkja
take more bother than this!” She snorted to herself.

Her response to
the threat was to heave another apple, this time hitting the
brown-eyed one in the jaw causing him to drop the bag. Zyre watched
as they came together for protection with the strategy of shouting
curses into the dark lane. To her surprise the girl abandoned the
bag and tore back into the main street while leaving her noisy
assailants behind.