Vampiris Sancti: The Elf (52 page)

Though she
might have had ample warning that this betrayal of her superficial
existence was imminent the Elf never confronted an issue until it
had set her world alight. Like all magical beings she was on the
whole unaffected by the threat of external harm, had adequate
defences against attack, enough composure to remain unconcerned by
the pitfalls of sentiment, and a healthy disregard of social
stigma. The downfall of the magical was that they were often the
instigators of their own demise, either an emotional tumble into
the Despair, or an organic response to the allure of an unexpected
seduction. Demons caught in the thrall of an Elf tended to use the
smash and grab response to romance preferring to take what they
wanted in an aggressive and sometimes surprisingly successful
manner. This unexpected amorous confrontation left the unsuspecting
Elf prisoner of emotions and reactions she had until then only
observed in others. From a detached distance she observed the
behaviour of those governed by attachment and though aware of the
murky depths she possessed she never made a conscious decision to
discover the reality of her own interior.

The Elf once
exposed to contact of a physical nature, if not ready would
dispatch her admirer with gleeful force, if ready to her dismay
would engage in a healthy response. After the initial exchange if
he found himself still in one piece then the courtship of an Elf,
though she might believe herself unwilling in thought, would be
pursued with diligence. The possibility of an entanglement with an
Elf warranted that not a moment passed without consideration of how
to attach this much sought after and valued creature to a
relationship. In their charmed life Elves managed to ignore their
education, the experiences of those older, even the signals of
their own lives, until they were forced by the betrayal of their
own being into finally establishing an intimate relationship

**********

Whatever is
begun in anger ends in shame.

Benjamin
Franklin

Once empty of
anguish Zyre dried her eyes and moved closer to the doorway to
discover there were only a few single and not several units of
Varkja guarding it. She reasoned the fighting had ended and with no
Raiders left the Martyc must have withdrawn his intense presence.
Even if she didn’t have her unique ability to read the atmosphere
the area was easy to scan because there was no real night in the
centre of the city. Every building was awash with illumination,
signs, security, or decoration and the display of artificial
dominance left her indifferent. None of the technological marvels
before her impressed her as much as the petals of a pale gold rose
and she ignored the perpetual blink of information.

She waited with
uncharacteristic caution since the last few days showed her that
very little on this world was as it seemed and she had enough of
Martyc surprises. Battle weary she sat motionless while her
kaleidoscope eyes swirled back between blue and green. Zyre was
frazzled by grief, betrayal, and the fact that Vampires seemed to
be as brainless as their demonic cousins. If she had not let her
anger drive her then sadness would have her teetering upon the edge
of the life threatening Despair. She would have liked to blast Galt
into dust, but the whirl of unrest on the world made it easy for
him to hide. Searching for him would bring her back to the
attention of Vryn, so she decided upon another plan because she
wanted as much distance between her and the Martyc as possible.

That Taryst
Janeb was safely off world was a fact that required no
verification—she knew it—everyone battling the Raiders knew it.
Zyre was not interested in pursuing the renegade because it would
take energy she had no wish in expending. It would also be a sign
to others that she was pursuing the interests of the Empire, but
since she was no longer aligned to Vryn, so it wasn’t going to
happen. She concentrated on convincing herself that he held about
as much attraction as a Goblin right then. Anyway, she had other
places to go and she thoughtfully touched the cerilort in her
pocket.

A slight change
in the air had her turn around and she could see three Perhk demons
approaching from several roofs over. She groaned inwardly before
addressing her unwelcome company.

“Blinkity,
blinkity bother,” she cursed aloud, “you really doing this?”

The hulking
demons paused for a second before one edged forward on his roof to
where it nearly touched hers. She met the cold black lizard eyes of
the demon as he rolled out words with the chilling purr of his
race.

“We have
information maybe some you might like to buy?”

This was new—a
Perhk thief demon selling information, this was usually Poqir
territory, usually all Perhks ever had was stuff they had stolen
from others. She gave the large demon a glare and his skin flushed
a darker shade of mauve nearly obscuring the visible black veins
underneath. They were of impressive size, slightly shorter though
wider than Varkja, but they didn’t worry her in the least because
they were nearly as hopeless as Verkja. He stretched his lips in
the grimace that resembled a smile setting the white of his sharp
alligator teeth on display, but Zyre wasn’t buying anything from
them.

“Maybe I be
dangling you over the side until you tell me what you have?”

The threat of
being dropped off a building didn’t faze a creature who could well
suffer the fall without harm. Annoyed that he was unafraid of her
threat she decided to pump it up with a few lies since her temper
wasn’t improving much by this interruption.

“Bah, too much
effort, maybe toss you through Reveal—oh wait—tell Vryn you bother
me.”

The use of the
first name of the Xatn had the thief colour until his light mauve
skin became a dark purple.

“Yes, that be
the one,” she concluded with violent satisfaction.

“We know where
the Vampire has gone—the one who plays with renegade,” babbled the
terrified demon while his friends scowled at him for giving away
their booty.

“What Vampire?
This world be foul with them.”

They fell for
her pretence of boredom while they exchanged nervous glances.

“The one you
seek—Galt! Everyone knows the Xatn wants him for all think he
helped Janeb. He has left for settlement off world, so no Ashre for
him.”

Zyre shook her
head. “How he get through the doorway—he not be Aunsin yet?”

The Perhk
grimaced in another attempt at a smile. “He took the haluh, so it
makes an old Vampire strong enough to travel the doorway.”

She had heard
of the rumour that haluh helped those too weak to survive the
doorway to travel, but until now it had only been part of Pixie
ramblings and not an actual possibility.

Zyre yawned
while her mind raced, so the demons didn’t know it was really the
Myruj that had helped Taryst and the Vampire had only a small part.
He must have learned she was after him, because Vryn already knew
the truth of Taryst. Often in the universe the bad soul won but not
this time—not when she had a cerilort. The Perhks didn’t seem to
understand she wanted them to leave and they stayed close while
their strong smell added another bad moment to an already terrible
night. She sat staring at the doorway to the Reveal struggling with
the reluctance edging her heart because surely it wasn’t the Martyc
that was holding her back—not after his games! It must be the
humans and their beautiful world filled with so much potential as
even the stupid Vampires could be amusing. Her face became set with
determination and she made her choice because this was not time for
the softness of reminiscing—this was a time of action.

She turned
around suddenly snapping a brisk, “Fisgubble!”

Releasing a
sharp yelp the hapless demons leapt in fear and all three managed
to fall off their roofs at the same time causing Zyre to smile for
she was after all an Elf. Once hitting the ground they gave her a
cranky look before scampering away leaving her to implement the
rest of her plan. The disturbance alerted the Varkja who separated
in order to investigate, so she used the diversion to her advantage
as she took the bear from her pocket to hurl the nearly full bottle
at the head of the demon guard. The bear bounced off his skull and
as he checked out the missile he was distracted for only a few
seconds, but that was all she ever needed.

And so Elfzyre,
curious magical being, helper of Vampires, friend of cats, comrade
of Pixies, somewhat fond of locals left the human domain that was
supposed to be her sanctuary.

It had taken a
few stops before she came to her destination—not that many would
dare step foot inside the world of the religious assassin the
Lazulul. The world was a stark contrast to the human one in so many
ways with the most striking feature the blaze of their blue sun.
Everything else was fawn, the buildings, clothes, people, and even
the vegetation appeared to be uniform in colour. It was an
uninspiring landscape until discovery of their temples. The Lazulul
did not abide by any religious premise of demons and the Moons of
Bornak left them uninterested as they invested all their devotion
into their pets. The four legged feline known as kahat was one of
many variations of cat across the Reveal.

Their cities
were divided carefully into symmetrical sections of unimaginative
constructions as if their homes were a casual rest stop on the way
to somewhere grander. For the Lazulul it was because each section
had an enormous, beautifully constructed temple devoted to the
appreciation of their kahat. Every section of the city jostled the
others for grandeur as all their luxuries were poured into the
temples adorned with every precious jewel and metal available
throughout the Reveal. Neighbourhoods rivalled each other as the
citizens scoured the universe for anything that made their temple
more striking than their fellow worshipper. This was the vanity,
the vice, the luxury, the weakness of the Lazulul, and one clever
Elf knew this well. Her arrival would not cause consternation as
the Lazulul were halfway between magical and demon, belonging to
neither, and never wishing to be were not disturbed by any other
beings. With natural talents that no other demonic beings possessed
they mystified the entire Reveal. The Lazulul confused their
targets by utilising several unique abilities, such as casting
their reflection, and to give them the element of surprise they
could hide within their own shadows. These seemingly magical
attributes were exploited in true demonic manner and the creature
that was neither quite one nor the other used them to become
assassins.

Their fearsome
reputation as eternal assassins of an unfathomable ethos had the
Reveal leave them mostly alone, unless sought out to arrange the
elimination of another. This was done at the potential peril of the
instigator. If the request didn’t meet the mysterious philosophy of
the Lazulul, then the requester would be removed for daring to
ask.

Zyre had been
on this world before she had arrived out of curiosity wisely
bearing gifts, which had been taken without much comment and they
left her alone to explore the otherwise boring city. It was her
affinity for the kahats and their affinity for her that had her
tolerated as the animals enjoyed her attention. Zyre had been a cat
lover of many worlds long before she had met the arrogant garden
cat of a Vampire house, because animals from every world had a
natural affection for Elves.

The Lazulul
were not ones that could be approached directly since they tended
to avoid conversation with strangers and would continue walking
away if accosted. Attempting to force dialogue had the transgressor
ejected from either the world or dead, which ever seemed easiest at
the time. If one wanted the attention of the Lazulul the best way
was to have something to get their attention, something highly
prized, something beyond the grasp of the ordinary being, and a
cerilort answered this description perfectly.

She stopped in
the middle of the city and she knew it was this as it was marked
out by a dull round disc of paving surrounding a single beige tree
of vast proportions. She sat crossed legged leaning against the
tree while tossing the gem into the air and amazing colours
radiated above the opalescent stone as it twirled. She soon had an
audience and it grew as the normally reticent creatures murmured in
admiration for though they cared little for interaction with others
from different areas this was the sight of a lifetime. None
attempted to attack or steal the stone as while Lazulul had
abilities beyond demonic they were still demonic enough to be
affected by the Seal of Sere. She could have decimated the entire
crowd without effort if any had dared, but they did not need to
because any who visited their world always came with an agenda.

She kept
thoughts of the Martyc out of her mind as he had lost the right to
criticise her lack of sensible behaviour and had she thought of him
then she might have considered the foolishness of it herself. She
tried to keep thoughts of the girl out of her mind. It was not her
fault if the silly creature decided they were friends as it was
nothing the Elf had encouraged. If the dresniq Vampires lost their
Tyro that was not of concern either, because she was not the
babysitter for the entire universe. She was best staying in the
safety of her emotional desert since a suspended heart was one that
could not be broken.

Some of the
Lazulul bold from affluence and position threw offers into the
air.

“Come to our
Temple pretty Elf.”

“See our
wonderful kahats—trade with us.”

The chorus grew
as many tried for negotiation, but the Elf waited because she had a
very specific task and a very specific Lazulul in mind. Soon enough
the official force dressed in beige uniforms approached and asked
with unusual demon politeness if she would accompany them. Her ruby
lips curved into her Elf smile and her eyes shone bright sapphire
while she followed the unit back to the large square building that
served as the seat of government.