A Bargain

In the province of Jundura, within the region of Tanis Reach, lies the small village of Kuraak. The village of Kuraak was rather insignificant in the enormous expanse of Jundura. The only thing that anyone would remark about Kuraak was its amazing mountain scape behind it. It was what separated Kuraak from Jundura’s enemy, the queen ruling over the province of Meriaan.

Tonight, however, was not about the people of Kuraak or the brooding war between Jundura and Meriaan. Other sinister forces were at work as lightning struck off in the distance. Two men, cloaked in dark attire, strolled the edge of the village – taking full advantage of the empty walkways of Kuraak. The two men kept on the edge because they didn’t want to be caught up in any trouble with the village or the guards that may have been patrolling the area, even though the people of Kuraak were nowhere to be seen because of the coming storm.

“Thank you for meeting with me tonight. Our Lady expresses her gratitude for being able to get through the warring lines.”

“I am honored. While it was difficult to get through, our coven owes much to her. Were it not for her influence, the vampire’s foothold in Meriaan would have been eradicated.”

“We are all in this together, brother. If the vampires are to survive, we must be as one and cease the competitive struggle for power.” A flash of light pierces the night sky, soon followed by a loud rumbling, rolling over the clouds above them. “We must be quick less we get caught up in the storm.” The other cloaked man just nods. “You sent a letter a few weeks back speaking of a threat to our coven.”

“Yes, the information I have was too sensitive to be written in a letter. Even now,” The man looks around him. “I feel as if we are being spied on because of how sensitive it is.”

“Should we meet at a different time to ensure that no one hears of our conversation?”

“I fear it would do no good. A Hand of the Queen has caught scent of our presence.”

Lightning strikes once again, followed by an even louder crack with a roaring rumble. “Of your coven?”

“No, of all vampires. How we came to be, where the strongest vampiric lines are, everything.”

Placing his hand on the other man’s chest, he stops him. “That is not possible.” He said, with his voice trembling. “How is that possible?”

“It was a small thing at first. A few of our lower members went missing. When we sent our scouts to find them, they too went missing. Fearing that our coven was being hunted down one by one, we stopped our searches and focused on our protection. A day later, one of our missing scouts came back and gave us a note.” Pulling out the note, he hands it to the other man, who hastily opens it.

The Queen demands that you turn over the most powerful among you for trial and execution. If you meet with our Queen’s demands, we will humanly exterminate the rest of your kind. Failure to meet with these demands will be met with bloody and unhuman forms of extermination. You have one week.

His hands now trembling, he folds the note back up and pockets it underneath his cloak. “This… this makes little sense. Why would we be in the queen’s gaze; especially with the war going on?” Then it dawns on him. “Wait, it has been more than a week now. Your coven…”

“Might already wiped out, I know, but we had to get this message to you. The Lady is in great danger, and you must prepare yourselves.”

Rain starts to fall upon them, slow at first but quickly shifted into a steady fall. The man receiving the news looks up, then back to the other man. “We have been out too long already; you should come back with me.”

The other man just shakes his head. “No Dhaurine, I must know if my coven survived or not. My fate will be that of my coven.”

Dhaurine nods and pulls the other man in his embrace. “I understand, brother. Travel safe and I hope that your coven still stands.” After their embrace, they both went in opposite directions – Dhaurine, towards the nearby plains and the messenger to the mountains.

Dhaurine always felt that they were on the tipping edge of damnation. The raging storm that was coming down upon him didn’t help with that thinking either. The vampiric race was unfortunately caught within a whirlwind of an unpleasant history mixed with even worse superstitions. While the vampires were a bloodthirsty, aggressive people several hundred years ago, it all changed when the people of the world fought against them to near extinction. Nowadays, they live in seclusion. Purely focusing on growth and harmony with their kind and the rest of the world.

Off in the distance, Dhaurine could see an old, run-down barn. The home nearby looked to have been burned down quite a long time ago and deemed unfit for rebuilding. The reasons behind what caused the fire were no concern of Dhaurine’s however. With the storm worsening over his head, he knew he had to get out of it, and the barn was the best choice to rest in until the storm blew over.

As he drew closer to the barn, he couldn’t help but feel that someone was following him. In fact, he had been feeling that ever since he parted ways with the messenger. Nothing around him confirmed he was being followed, but his heightened sense of awareness told him he was. Most would have called it paranoia, but for a vampire, it was an early warning for danger.

Standing in front of the barn now, he looked at the large double doors in front of him. He debated with himself on whether he should stop or keep going. If his instincts were right, and mostly they were, leading whomever back to his coven would endanger it and the Lady, but staying here would endanger himself. Though, if this presence meant any harm, they would have sprung their attack by now.

Confident that no surprise attack was imminent, he slowly opened the door to the barn. The scent of old, potentially moldy hay assaulted his nose first as he peeked into the barn. While it was pitch black in the barn, his night vision allowed him to see the subtle shapes and interior of the barn. Hay was strewed throughout the floors of the barn, with small stacks of it in the corners of the stalls on either side. He couldn’t tell if the stalls were for cattle or horses, though.

Pushing his way through the entrance, he pulled off his cloak and laid it over one of the stall’s walls. “I know you’re out there somewhere.” He said in a calm tone. “You did well to keep your tracks hidden all this way. The problem, however, is that you can never hide from a vampire’s innate awareness of their surroundings.”

“Hmph, that has to be one of the biggest flaws with vampires. Your arrogance.”

“So, I was right.” He pauses for a moment. Recognizing that the mysterious voice sounded more feminine, he shifted his tone to be coyer. “Cannot deny what my instincts tell me. Why don’t you come out? Talk face to face with me.”

“Yes, lets.”

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of white light enveloped the walls of the barn. It was so blinding that Dhaurine couldn’t help but let out a hiss through his teeth. As the light dimmed, it revealed the woman who was following him. She too was wearing a dark cloak, crimson with a black lining. In her right hand was a wooden staff with a ruby red gem at the tip, which looked as if the staff was attempting to swallow the gem whole with its wooden tendrils.

As the light continued to dim, he could make out other features of her. She had pale white skin, almost as pale as his, though with her hood up he couldn’t make out what her face looked like other than a sharp, angled jawline with a small, almost pointed, chin. She stood almost as tall as him, nearing six feet and two inches, and had plastered on her face, a devilish grin.

“Do you know who I am?”

“You are one of the Hands of the Queen.”

“Pfft, I am THE Hand of the Queen. Though some would say I am the left hand, but that matters not. What matters is that you have something I want.”

“You or the Queen?”

She chuckles in almost a seductive tone. “Now that IS a very perspective question. By now you should have guessed that the note you got from your friend was a lie. If not, well then you are a fool. Luckily for you, I care not if you are a fool because what I need is simple. Your abilities.”

“Ha! Surely you jest.”

She tightens her grip on her staff. “I do not make a habit of making jests.”

“You are telling me you did all of this, just to get to me? I am insignificant, I am…”

“The second to the Lady.” The facade that Dhaurine was putting up quickly fell away. “Hmm… judging by the look on your face, you are more of a fool than I expected. Ah well, like I said it matters not.” Turning to the stall beside her, she unties the drawstring of her cloak, pulls it off, and hangs it on the wall.

“You are… not what I expected.” He said, enamored by her beauty.

“Hmm?” Looking back to Dhaurine, she instantly uttered a tone of disgust at how he was looking at her. “Oh bother. Divines, help me get through this.” She said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I am sorry. I did not mean for it to come out like that. With the reputation of a Hand of the Queen…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I do not have time for this.” In a quick motion, she lifts and then hits the bottom end of her staff onto the ground. A small pulse of energy shot out from her staff, and without warning, lifted Dhaurine in the air, throwing him into the roof of the barn – causing the building to creak and groan.

“Now, I’ve done extensive research and interrogations on vampires, and I know that the strongest vampiric lines lie with those who were directly turned by the Lady. I am certain that the Lady would not turn me, so it falls to those who were turned by her. If you do not give me what I want, I will hunt down any other vampire that was turned by her.”

She taps the end of her staff on the ground, releasing her magical hold over him. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing to break his fall and took the whole brunt of the fall.

With a loud groan, he slowly gets up and meets her gaze. “Very well. I’ll give you what you want. If only to save my people from your torment.”

“Good. Now,” She taps her staff on the ground once again, causing an orangish-red ring to form around Dhaurine’s neck. “I will not explain exactly what that is around your neck, but if you kill me, it will kill you.”

“Lovely.”

“I will dispel it after I have fully recovered.”

“You mean I am stuck here until you are better?”

“That is correct.” She soaked in the despair that was coming off Dhaurine. Everything went according to plan, and it pleased her greatly. “Oh, do not frown.” She said smugly. “Think of this as helping an initiate get through the pains of turning into a vampire.”