Vero finally had enough coin to leave the city of Whitegate, and to her mind the moment couldn’t have come soon enough. She had come to the Most Serene Republic hoping that a city of its size and wealth would give her ample opportunity to gain employment in her chosen profession, but that had not been the case. Her code forbade her from hunting bounties or hiring her sword as a mercenary, so she had spent the past two seasons working at a laundry.
Every day in the city had been miserable but this night was even more miserable than most. The night wind blew cold. She found it refreshing, even as it passed straight through her thin summer, actually threadbare, dress. Just wearing a dress was felt strange after becoming used to traveling in men’s attire. Her legs ached from walking, but worse was the constant noise and the stench of fish which hung over the city like a miasma which refused to dissipate.
All of those troubles were inconsequential to her, however. Vero hated having to earn coin washing whore’s bed clothes, but after two months trapped in this hellhole, she had finally earned enough money to buy her horse back from the pawnbroker and could leave the city. Leave towards where, she didn’t know yet, but no destination could be worse than where she resided currently, so it didn’t matter.
Vero left her troubles behind and walked home with bonny gait in her step. Home in Whitegate was a horribly cramped little room, on the top floor of a large building in the brothel district near the docks. She shared the abode with a prostitute named Theodora, a bright-eyed young woman, and remarkably naive given her profession.
The room had been cheap even by the standards of single room hovels. According to Dora, the rent was due to its elevation. She had arrived in winter, but during the summer months Vero discovered that the city was unbearable hot at any elevation, but the higher one’s the room, the worse it became.
Vero entered her building and ascended the long and creaking stair case which led up all the way to her level. She walked down the hallway until she found her room. The neighbors’ doors were all open to try and allow some movement of air. The other residents were all women who worked in the district, so they had very little privacy from one another. A small group of their children played in the hall, it was too hot to bear during the day, so they often slept and came out at night.
Vero found Dora laying out a small meal of fish with garum on the table. It was probably the most common meal eaten in the city. Vero speculated that was probably one of the reasons for the city’s distinctive odor. She closed the door behind her. It made the heat worse, but she was too modest to undress herself without at least some privacy from the city, if not Dora.
Dora was dark haired and blue eyed; she was beautiful and innocent looking in a way her customers, or perhaps only Vero herself, found very attractive. She was shorter than Vero, but had a body which was smooth and feminine in all the ways Vero’s wasn’t. Sometimes Vero even found herself envying Dora for it, but she was still very fond of the girl.
“Oh, you’re home early; I haven’t finished with dinner yet.” Dora was stripped to the waist and covered in sweat, frying the fish with a small brazier stove near the only window which made the room even warmer. She was a mousey little thing, and seeing her flushed red and puffing from the heat, Vero could hardly resist embracing her and kissing her cheeks.
Dora was the daughter of a prostitute who had worked in Kitty’s Theater, one of the local brothels, and had been practically raised by the proprietor, the eponymous Kitty, after her mother disappeared. The madame gave her room and board, and provided for her education, even teaching her to read and write. Where her mother had gone? Dora had never said and Vero had never asked.
According to Dora, when she had been a girl, and still too young to work on the main side of the brothels business, she had worked in the kitchen and developed a talent for cooking. Since they had begun living together, she had always insisted on cooking meals every night for the both of them.
Dora squirmed free of Vero’s grasp. “Well, I see you’re feeling very bright and gay this evening.”
“I am.” Vero sat down on the patch of straw which served as the room’s bed and let out a long sigh of relief. “I’m finished.”
“You have enough coin to leave?”
Vero nodded. She had already told Dora of her intention to move on as soon as she had the finance weeks ago.
Dora face grew into a wide smile and she rushed forward and belatedly returned the embrace after putting down the last of their supper. Vero laughed and Dora joined her, but after a few moments, Vero felt something wet on her shoulder.
Dora turned away and tried to hide her face. Vero took her by the chin and turned her head only to find tears streaming down Dora’s face. Quickly the girl restored her wide smile with effort and wiped away the tears. “I’m only crying because I’m so happy for you Vero.” She managed through sniffs.
Vero took Dora in her arms and rocked her back and forth. She ran her hands through Dora’s hair and whispered soothing words in her ear. “I’ll miss you as well.”
After a few minutes of comforting, Dora had regained herself enough to speak without her voice breaking. “Look at me crying when we should be celebrating.” Dora walked over to a small trunk which contained all her worldly goods. “I have some wine; it was given to me as a gift by a nobleman who fell in love with me.”
“You have an aristocratic lover I don’t know about?”
“He wanted me to move into his palazzo, and make me his mistress, but I couldn’t bear to move to castle hill and leave all my friends here.”
Vero laughed. “Of course not.”
Dora found her bottle and Vero had already set out wooden goblets onto the table. Dora poured, and Vero realized she felt a reluctance to leave that she hadn’t expected. She hadn’t had a real friend for a very long time, not since Antoinette and years later the memory still pained her. Her only true companion since then had been her horse Papillion. She had never remained in one place long enough.
The animal was her only constant since the death of old man who had trained her. The thought left her feeling lonely. She no longer hated her master as she once did, but her memories of him were still not fond, and their relationship could hardly have been considered friendship.
Vero and Dora sat, ate, and enjoyed a first glass of wine, and then a second, and began making preparations for their third. Unfortunately, they found there wasn’t enough left in the bottle to accommodate them both, so they poured the remainder into a single glass, sat close to one another, and shared it between them.
Dora pestered Vero with questions about all the places she could go next. “Lusitan?”
“It’s beautiful prosperous country, but I’ve only just come from there, so I think not.”
“The Imperium?”
“Only if I have no choice.”
“One of the Oasis Cities?”
“I’ve only just bought my horse back- or I soon will- This heat is making my head spin…”
Dora finished the wine and fetched them some water, while Vero lay down on the straw. The water was lukewarm, but still very welcome. Dora lay down next to her.
“What was I saying? Ah- I don’t intend to hire a ship.”
“One of the free cities, in the borderlands?”
“Probably.”
“How dull, even I’ve visited some of them before. What about the elven steppe?
“No.”
“Velois?”
Vero yawned; the wine felt very strong. “Perhaps. I took a lord there as my lover once.”
“Really? Tell me about him. Was he very rich?”
“The richest man in the kingdom. Even the king owes him money.”
“Is his family very noble?” Dora was too effected to doubt her assertion despite how ludicrous it was, or perhaps she thought they were only playing a storytelling game.
“One of the oldest, tracing their lineage back to when the Imperium ruled the entire world. They have lands and titles in Velois, Umbria, and Teutonia.”
“Is he very beautiful?”
“Oh yes. His features are very comely. He keeps his auburn hair long and tied back in a band, but he often shaves his face. He has lots of fine clothes of course, but beneath them he’s broad shouldered and strong. He’s so athletic and tall that most find him very intimidating, but his eyes are very soft.”
“Is he very kind?”
“He’s very jovial at rest, very serious and disciplined when at action, but always gentle towards me… Turn around.”
Dora did as she had been bid, and Vero began to massage her shoulders.
“When we were alone together, he would massage my back just as such.”
Dora relaxed completely in Vero’s hands and she leaned forwards to kiss all along the line of Dora’s spine. Then, when she was sufficiently disarmed, Vero mercilessly began to tickle her sides, while Dora squealed and tried in vain to elude her.
“Oh Vero, he sounds just as bad as those fellows who come to visit me. Now tell me, does he have a very large-”
A sharp scream split the night. Dora jumped at the noise and Vero was instantly at full readiness.
“-estate?” She looked to Vero for some reassurance. “Vero, what do you think that was?”
“I don’t know.” Vero was already moving to the window. She stuck her head out and found a couple of other residents below her doing the same. Then, all the way down on the ground in the alley the window overlooked, she could make out a pair of forms. It appeared to be a figure standing over a prone body.
Vero immediately moved to the trunk which contained her own belongings. She didn’t have time to fully ready herself. She pulled on pants and a tunic, hoping that whores would ask no questions about a woman dressed as a man. Finally, she withdrew her longsword and her chain shirt. She left the rest of her armor behind; she didn’t think she would have long before the figure had fled.
“What are you doing?” Dora watched her in horror. Vero had been very careful to be sure that the young woman never looked through the things in her chest.
“Someone’s been attacked down there. Stay here and bolt the door after I’ve gone. Don’t open it again for anyone who isn’t me.”
Vero left the room and began the long trek down the stairs. On her way she ran into no one else. While a few had been curious enough to look out the window, no one had any intention on investigating in person besides her.
She reached the ground level, and moved around the building to the mouth of the alley where she’d seen the form. It was still there lying face down a few feet away. There was no sign of anyone else nearby, but Vero was not about to lower her guard. Cautiously, she approached the body. It was a young woman, and, by her dress, she was one of the prostitutes. Vero rolled the body over and checked for a pulse, still scanning the environment all around her with her eyes.
There was nothing, the girl was dead. Satisfied that her killer had fled, Vero put down her sword, but within easy reach, and began to examine the body.
“Vero!?”
Vero grabbed her blade and whirled around. She sighed and shook her head before looking up to see where Dora was shouting down to her. “Fiend! If the creature hadn’t been long gone that distraction could have killed me, girl!”
“I’m sorry. Are you coming back up?”
“Yes, get dressed Dora! We’re going to meet with your Madame, she can help us arrange to burn the body!”
“Body? She’s dead?”
Vero smirked although from her distance Dora wouldn’t be able to see it. “For now.” There were two fang marks on the girl’s neck, and not a trace of blood left inside her.
***
Despite the innocence of her nom de Guerra, Kitty had a reputation as a woman not to be trifled with. She was well-known to be the most powerful Madame in the brothels district. She had a great deal of influence, and an even greater amount of gold, which was of more immediate interest to Vero. Dora had gone ahead to arrange the meeting, and Vero was left alone in the servants’ areas behind the commons room.
She took the opportunity to check her appearance in a convenient mirror, no doubt intended for use by the in-house girls. Her hair was still long, but she had tied it back. Besides that, she had put on her armor and otherwise done her best to obscure her feminine features. She had done this before, and knew that she would easily pass as a teenaged boy unless examined closely.
Dora popped her head out through a doorway and waved her forwards. “She’ll see you, come on.”
Vero followed after her friend, up a staircase, and through a hallway, into the Madame’s office. Vero found Kitty’s appearance almost breathtaking. She was dressed in the absolute height of fashion, and looked like one of the noble ladies in the mansions on Castle Hill. A woman of mature beauty, her gaze and posture spoke of confident experience, but her body had not felt the sting of age quite yet.
Vero realized she was staring, and that she was probably still under the effects of the wine.
Besides its owner, the office featured a number of pieces of white marble statuary, each of which, Vero calculated, was worth several times more than she had earned in the entire time she had spent in the Republic. The anatomy of the subjects was very explicit.
Kitty appraised her coolly and took a draw from a long pipe she held up to her mouth. There was a sound of cloves crackling, and then she let out a plume of smoke.
“My little Dora says that it’s urgent you speak with me.”
Vero tried to curtsey, but through her nerves the movement was less than graceful. “Yes, Madame.”
Kitty blew another puff of smoke in her direction. “You live in my district. My accounts show you pay the tax on time every week. So, I don’t see why I shouldn’t hear you out.”
Once she had permission to proceed Vero began at once. “Madame, there’s been a murder of a girl working near our room.”
“A pity to be sure, but these things happen from time to time. Girls who work on the streets take that risk.” Kitty was already using some kind of negotiating ploy, the streets of the brothel district were quite safe, at least in comparison to the surrounding slums or the docks.
“This is more serious than a simple murder I’m afraid, Madame. I found marks on the body that suggest she was exsanguinated by a sentient undead.”
“Are you talking about a vampire?”
“Yes, Madame. We need to incinerate the body.”
“I don’t see why it’s my responsibility to dispose of the body; doesn’t the city handle these things?”
Vero didn’t care for Kitty’s games, but she didn’t feel she had any choice but to play them. “The city won’t see to the disposal of the body in time. Tomorrow night she wakes up hungry, and she’ll come back here, where it seems, her master has already begun to establish a feeding ground. Vampires are like rats. If this is the first body that’s been found, you can bet there are more that haven’t, and I don’t think letting a vampire set up his coven in the area will encourage patrons to frequent your establishment. We can get rid of the body, and then I can destroy the vampire, and whatever spawn he’s created already.”
More smoke. “And what does a whore’s laundress know about hunting vampires?”
“I’ve been trained as a Slayer, in the methods of the old academies.”
“The last of the old academies closed over a hundred years ago.”
“My master, who trained me, was himself trained by an elven warrior, who himself was an accomplished Slayer and taught in the last academy until its closure. I know the old techniques, and the ancient Slayer magics.”
Kitty appraising her much like her namesake would appraise a particularly juicy mouse. “Ancient Slayer magics? More like blood magics, not that you have license to practice any form of magic in this city.”
Vero’s face felt as though it was burning and she felt certain she must be showing a beet red. “Yes, Madame.” She shifted her gaze downwards. “I’m offering my services for hire, if you choose not to accept them, then I will depart.”
“Academy Slayers accepted no reward for their work.”
“As you so correctly pointed out before Madame, the last academy closed a long time ago. I work for payment.”
There was a long silence, and Vero thought she might have overplayed her hand. Then, at last, Kitty laughed. “Very well. I will see you provisioned for your hunt, and if you survive, I will provide ample reward.”
***
Kitty had sent them back for the body with a cart, and arranged the use of a furnace for the disposal. One of her bouncers drove the vehicle. Vero and Dora rode on the back of the cart beside the body, which had been since covered by a blanket. Dora sat on Vero’s lap to stay well away from the cadaver, and Vero had to keep an arm around her waist to keep Dora stable. The girl had been quiet since they left the brothel.
“That weapon,” Dora inclined her head towards the longsword which lay on the cart beside them. “it’s not an ordinary sort of sword, is it?”
The scabbard was ordinary enough and the grip was well worn leather. Vero drew the weapon and held it out in front of them. The blade was in perfect condition, as though it had never been used, it had been forged of pure adamant and held a vorpal edge. Along both faces of the blade ran runes, carved in a language Vero didn’t understand, embossed in silver. After taking the time to examine the sword, Vero returned it to its scabbard and put it away. “No, it’s not ordinary.”
“If you have an enchanted weapon, you could sell it.”
“No, I couldn’t.”
“You could! Any noble or wizard would pay you a fortune for it.”
“It’s not that Dora, the sword can be sold, but I can’t sell it.”
Dora sighed and shook her head. “Why didn’t you tell me about this, Vero?”
“Would you believe it’s because you never asked?” It was a pathetic answer, and Vero knew it, but she didn’t have anything better to offer.
Dora continued her brooding for another few minutes. “If you know how to fight couldn’t you make more money working as an enforcer or a mercenary?”
“Slayers hunt monsters, we’re not murderers. I won’t kill a man unless he gives me no other choice, and certainly not for money.”
“So that’s why you work as a washer woman?”
Vero sighed. “I suppose that’s what it comes down to; I didn’t tell you what I was because I was embarrassed. Slayers were well respected once, I’m surprised Madame Kitty knew as much of our history as she did, most people have forgotten. In the days of the academies, we asked no money and hunted to keep all civilized peoples safe, in return we could count on being given a soft bed and a hot meal at whatever house we came upon.
Now as the cities get bigger, the things that hide in the dark become rarer, and we’ve become an anachronism. My master worked whatever odd job he could to keep us fed, and most of the time we still didn’t eat. Every time he’d do some menial task for a pittance, I could see the humiliation in his eyes. He thought he was a disgrace to an honored legacy. My only trade is combat, and I’m forbidden to kill for gold and so I do whatever I must just as he did. I’m sorry if I hurt you by not telling you, that was not my intent.”
The ride passed in silence for a few moments. They both watched the road behind them. “We just moved a dead body onto a cart.” A sour look passed across Dora’s face. “That’s disgusting.”
“You should ask Kitty for some rooms inside her theater at least until this business is over, it might be dangerous being near me if this thing learns that I’m hunting it.”
“But I’m helping you, aren’t I?”
“To move the body. Afterwards you should stay away. Vampires are predators, if it learns it’s in danger, its first instinct will be to attack.”
“We found the body together. If you’re going to do this, then I want to help you.”
Vero laughed and began to kiss her friend along the nape of her neck. “As you wish, my love. I only hope you don’t come to regret it.”
Dora tilted her head to give Vero easier access. “Oh Vero, if I didn’t know you were only pretending to be a man to tease me, I think I’d be very cross with you.”
The cart came to a stop outside what looked to be an abandoned building, the location of the furnace Kitty had arranged for them.
Vero carried Dora down from the cart. “First thing you’ll help me to do is get this thing inside.”
Burning the body was an unpleasant task, but it was likely to be the easiest part of Vero’s contract. By the time the girls had returned to their apartment, it was just short of dawn. They slept the remainder of the day away.
Vero roused herself and Dora as the sun had set. After a quick breakfast of stale bread, they returned to Kitty’s Theater. Arrangements had been made for Kitty to call in each of her girls, on the context of an examination for venereal disease, which wasn’t entirely a lie if one defined vampirism very loosely. If an undead was trying to establish a coven, then it was possible he had already turned a number of the residents.
Vero felt practically naked preparing to face vampire spawn without her weapons or armor, but it was particularly vital that her prey not know her for what she was until they had been identified.
She and Dora established themselves in one of the rooms Kitty kept upstairs available to rent for private parties. The Madame had her men clear it, aside from a sofa and a dresser, inside of which Vero had hidden her blade and a stake made from fresh pine. Two of Kitty’s most competent bouncers stood outside, but they were necessarily kept in the dark regarding what they might have to face to prevent any information leaking out.
The examinations began slowly to give the girl’s a chance to relax. Vero checked each of their complexions, although considering it was how frequently their profession called for night work, most of the subjects were pale, and that could hardly be considered conclusive.
From there, she proceeded to watch their chests carefully for the rising and falling of breathing, as well as feeling their skin for the touch of warmth. These measures also remained inconclusive, a vampire still possessed the capacity for breathing, although it was no longer necessary, except for speaking. An undead could also heat themselves through a number of means, the simplest of which being a hot bath.
Finally, the examination moved to the last phase. Vero ordered the girls to undress and examined their major arteries for puncture wounds, the neck, wrist, and inner thighs. The fang wounds which killed the new vampire would never fade, and were impossible to hide if one knew what to look for. Still, Vero and Dora went through every girl staying at the brothel, and found nothing.
The last girl left the room and Kitty herself quickly replaced her. The Madame walked around the room, examining it critically and smoking a long pipe. Vero considered asking why Kitty was there, but when she opened her mouth, she thought better of it. Instead, she pretended to help Dora look through the list of streetwalkers who paid tax to the Madame, they were the next for examination.
“Couldn’t you just use a mirror.”
The Madame had opened the conversation and so Vero felt confident enough to turn her attention back to Kitty and speak. “I’m afraid vampires show up in looking glasses just the same as you or I, unless the mirror is backed by holy silver and blessed to show souls, a device which we seem to lack at the moment.”
“Have you found anything yet?”
“Not yet Madame.”
Kitty must have picked up on the disappointment in her tone, because she pounced on it. “But surely that’s a good thing?”
“Good and bad Madame. Hopefully this is a sign that the coven remains quite small, but there’s no proof of that.”
Dora finished marking the last of the girls they’d cleared off the list and turned to face the other two. “And until we find a confirmed vampire, we have no leads.”
Kitty walked over to Dora, and Vero reflected that the Madame’s movements were as graceful as a dancer’s, she seemed to glide rather than walk. “You seem to be taking to all this rather well.” Kitty ran a finger along the side of her ward’s cheek and Dora flushed a bright red.
“I’m just trying to help, mother.”
“Of course, you are, duckling. I’m sure our friend Veronique appreciates that. I just want to make sure you stay safe.”
Vero took a step forward. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”
Kitty turned to face the intruder and held Vero’s gaze for a long moment before replying. “See that you don’t.” Then all at once the Madame seemed to lose interest in both of them and walked out of the room. “The next group of girls is coming. Find something, before I reconsider our arrangement.”
The next set of examinations went quickly. They were beginning to approach the end of the list. Their latest was just beginning to redress, a chatty woman approaching middle age. “I’ve seen you at the laundry; how did you come to know about medicine?”
“I was an acolyte of Vedio, before they found me with a priest.”
“I thought that was grounds for promotion, not dismissal.”
“Not if it’s a junior cleric you refused the high priest for.”
“Oh well, the gods have never done anything for us, I don’t see why we should do anything for them. Take care darling.”
The talkative woman left and the next entered. Vero found her much comelier than most of the street walkers they had seen that evening. She had olive skin and her features suggested that she came from the southern continent. She was tall with long legs and bountiful breasts, and her gorgeous raven-colored tresses fell in curls around her shoulders.
“Shall I undress now?” The woman spoke Imperial but with a slight twist; the barest hint of an accent from south of the White Sea.
Vero bit her tongue to refocus her attention on the task at hand.
“Yes miss…” Dora checked her records. “…Fatima, take off your clothes and lay down on the sofa.”
Slowly and sensuously, the woman began to divest herself of her garments, and Vero wondered whether she did so for her examiners benefit or by simple habit. Her ruby red dress was new and expensive. When Fatima had finished with her clothes, she began to remove her jewelry, a pair of fine ruby earrings to match the dress, a bracelet of beaten bronze, and lastly a blue pendant resembling a butterfly.
Vero reached out and stopped her, the woman’s skin cool to the touch, but most of the girls who worked outside felt cold. “You can keep your jewelry on if you like miss.”
Fatima smiled back at her showing brilliant white teeth. “Very well, you’re the expert so I’m led to understand.”
Vero ran her hand along the woman’s arm, from the bracelet up to the necklace, which she held up before the light to see it sparkle. “This is beautiful craftsmanship, where did you get this jewelry?”
“It was a gift from a man I know, I’m sure you understand.”
Vero ceased her examination of the jewelry; no puncture marks beneath them. “You can lay down now miss.”
Fatima did as was bid, laying back languidly, but kept her charms hidden with closed legs and a deliberately-carelessly laid hand.
Vero kneeled down and began her examination. “Spread your legs, please.”
Fatima smirked and gave Vero a wanton look as she did as she had been bid. Right leg, femoral artery, fang marks.
Vero kept her voice even. “Dora, fetch the conifer device please.” She tried to continue to play at being a nurse, but felt a hand placed on the top of her head.
Fatima smiled down at her; fangs distended. “Found what you’re looking for?”
Vero smiled back. “Absolutely.”
Instantly, she felt the hand on her head turn into a fist, and then wrench her head backwards by the hair, exposing her neck. She screamed and fell backwards, pushing Fatima away. The vampiress roared and snapped at her, trying to reach her neck.
There was a sound of movement outside the door, followed by a crashing opening, and the bouncers stumbled inside, before standing dumbfounded by what they saw. With blood red eyes and fangs protruding, Fatima hissed at them. Then turned her attention back to Vero.
“Help her, godsdamnit!”
Dora’s shout finally brought the men out of their shock. The first one rushed forward and tackled the vampire off of Vero. The second man quickly followed, and together they attempted to hold the monster down with their combined weight. Still dazed, Vero crawled over towards Dora, who helped her to her feet.
When Vero’s senses returned, she saw the man who had rescued her sent flying across and room and crashing into the back wall. He slumped to the ground unconscious and his companion was receiving the worst end of a grappling match against the creature. She realized that Dora had placed the stake and mallet into her hands.
The vampire rose to her feet, slowly drawing her combatant’s limp form to her mouth with a look of the most sublime anticipation on her face. Too caught up in her own bloodlust she took no notice of Vero until the stake was planted firmly in her back. Fatima fell limp to the ground.
Dora fetched smelling salts to revive the guards. Vero ordered them to haul the body up to the roof. She followed them, but sent Dora to inform Kitty of what had transpired and bring the props she planned to use for the interrogation.
Vero felt exhausted from the long night, but thankfully it meant they wouldn’t have to wait long until dawn. The men held out each of Fatima’s hands, and Vero separated them at the wrist with her longsword. The dead flesh parted like soft butter, but didn’t bleed. Finally, they bound her in heavy ropes until they were certain no movement was possible.
With their prisoner suitably disabled, each of the men readied their weapon, and Vero removed the stake.
The creature looked up at the three armed mortals standing over her. She hissed and spat at them with her nature fully revealed, she exposed her fangs to them and her eyes glowed a baleful red. Vero brought her blade up underneath the monster’s chin, which stopped her fit at once. Instead, the monster gazed up at her with absolute loathing.
“That’s better, leech. Now perhaps we can talk civilly about the thing that did this to you.”
The creature laughed, but the sound was hollow. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with, mortal.”
Vero smiled with more genuine humor. “I’m afraid I know more about this than you, spawn.”
The creature considered her position a moment, then abruptly changed her tact. Her fangs receded and her eyes dimed to a smoldering auburn. “You’re right. They turned me a week ago, I don’t know anything yet… or ever will I suppose…”
Vero lost her smile. It was only too obviously a ploy, but she felt she had to give the vampire at least one chance to cooperate peacefully. “Who turned you? Who did this to you?”
“I don’t know. He attacked me… I awoke- hungry…! I was so hungry… and scared…”
“It was a man? Where were you when he took you?”
“I was working- on the street. A man attacked me; I never saw him before… never saw him again… will you help me?” A drop of blood welled up around her eye and slid down her cheek.
“I’m going to help you,” Vero directed her eyes to the moon barely visible on the absolute edge of the horizon. “I swear. Now, tell me about the man. What did he look like?”
“He was strong, you’re obviously not a normal woman, but he’s stronger than you. He was dressed well, he’s rich, rich enough he can give you more then you’ve ever imagined.”
“He gave you the jewels, didn’t he? And the dress? Was that before he killed you or after?” Vero felt her stomach churn.
“I… don’t remember.”
“Where is he, Fatima?”
Fatima craned her neck out towards Vero. “Release me and I can take you to him… Have you ever felt the pleasure of the vampire’s kiss? It’s like drowning… in love. I can show you, if you’ll only… let me.”
Vero returned her gaze and then forced herself to smile. She stepped back and turned to her two allies. “She just tried to entrance me. Don’t meet her gaze.”
“Where ah- where should we look?”
“Anywhere else, it shouldn’t be difficult.” Vero turned her attention back to Fatima. She was relieved to see that the vampire had resumed her antagonistic posture. “Tell me where he is, now.”
“I’m not telling you anything, cunt.”
“I think you will, because if you tell me where I can find your master, I’ll give you something in exchange.”
“All I want from you is what flows in your veins-” The vampire must have felt her point was too subtle, because she further clarified by raving. “Blood! Blood!”
Vero waited for the creature to regain its composure. She could hear Dora ascending the stairs onto the roof behind her. “You’re close, it won’t be mine, but I’ll include something else to compensate you.” Dora put down a heavy blanket and a cage containing a rat. Seeing the monster on the ground, the animal instinctively shied away to the farthest edge of its cage.
“I would never degrade myself by consuming that disgusting thing.”
“You’d be surprised how difficult it was to catch this. Well- It may look more appetizing to you sometime soon.” Vero motioned to the east where the sky was beginning to grow pink.
The vampire looked and her eyes widened with fear, but she said nothing, so Vero continued. “I’m not a mathematician or architect that might understand angles precisely, but I think you’ll find that, even with my limited knowledge, we’ve arranged you in a place that the buildings further up the hill should keep in the shade for some time. So, that will give you time to consider your best interests. Then…”
Vero took her sword and used it as a pointer to indicate. “the sun will begin to creep forward, starting at your feet. Then it will continue forward, burning you to ash as it goes. You’d be surprised just how little of their body a vampire needs to survive. I once saw- Well- you don’t want me to spoil the surprise, you’ll see it for yourself very soon.”
The vampire screamed and raged for some time. Then, the sun appeared over the horizon, and she became torn between the abject exhaustion the day caused in a vampire, and the absolute horror at her fate. She appeared to desperately desire to sleep, and yet her body was clearly in rebellion, demanding that she flee.
The sun reached her undead flesh and the screeching reached a new intensity. Dora had since placed the rat cage inside, and stood off to the side holding the blanket at the ready. She watched, totally mystified at what was taking place in front of her.
It was a credit to the vampire’s loyalty that she held out until the beam had nearly reached her knees, but she broke all the same. Vero motioned for Dora to throw the blanket over the vampire as she shrieked, over and over. “The King’s Field, he stays at the King’s Field!”
They dragged the covered vampire back inside where Kitty was waiting for them. They let the rat loose in an empty storeroom and, despite her feeble state, the blood sucker launched itself at the tiny vermin.
Kitty watched the bound vampire viciously tear into the rat with her bare teeth impassively. “I’m familiar with the King’s Field, but you may have difficulty infiltrating the establishment. They don’t hire locals; all their girls, and boys, are slaves sold by the elves, or sometimes pirates.” She sounded bored by the whole matter.
“That would explain how they came to possess Fatima in the first place. But slavery is illegal in the Republic.”
Kitty shrugged. “The whores don’t know that, most of them don’t even speak Imperial.”
“Isn’t it unusual for a brothel to offer both men and women?”
“Very. But gender isn’t really the determining factor drawing their clientele. They have a reputation for allowing the clientele to take ‘liberties’, shall we say, with the staff.”
Vero nodded. “I’ll get inside.”
“What shall we do with this one?” Kitty indicated Fatima who had curled up into slumber around the drained corpse of the rat.
“Keep her for the time being.” Vero closed the storage room door. “I’ve heard it said that sometimes killing the elder of a coven can sometimes cure his spawn.”
“I don’t see how that could work. Have you ever actually seen it happen before?”
Vero shook her head.
***
Vero and Dora slept most of the day, and woke about an hour before sunset. Upon awakening, Vero enlisted Dora’s aid in cutting her hair short.
“It’s such a shame to cut it, it’s so pretty.” Dora said, standing over Vero’s crimson locks on the floor.
Vero pulled a long strip of cloth out of her trunk and began binding her breasts. “Don’t worry, it’ll grow back. It always grows back. And then I just have to cut it all over again.”
“I’ve never been in a fight before, at least not before yesterday.”
“Did you enjoy yourself?”
“It was terrifying, and I didn’t even do any of the fighting myself.” Dora was evidently feeling contemplative. Vero finished with her binding and started to pull on her breaches and tunic. Suddenly Dora looked up at her. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“Well, we could borrow some men’s clothes from Kitty I suppose…” Vero stopped dressing to press her face into Dora’s locks, they smelled like jasmine. “But then we’d also have to cut your pretty hair.”
She traced the plunging bust of Dora’s dress. “You’ve also got quite a bit more chest to bind than I do.”
Vero stopped and returned to her trunk to pull out a small crossbow, which she handed over to her friend. “If you want to come with me, wait outside for me with this.”
Dora held the weapon as though she feared at any moment it might try to bite her. “You want me to shoot someone with this?”
“Definitely not. Because I’m certain that if you try, the only thing you’ll wind up hitting is me. I want you to wait outside and keep it hidden, my armor too. I may need it, and while a gentleman carries his sword with him to drink, he rarely takes a crossbow and chain shirt unless he intends violence. Do you think you can handle that?”
“I think so.”
“That’s settled then.”
Vero finished getting dressed and they left. The King’s Field was busy, but not well advertised. It seemed to just blend into the surrounding block, which was so tight the buildings were put up wall to wall. It was also directly across from an open sewer, and Vero was very glad to go inside. She had left Dora to follow her from behind so they wouldn’t be seen approaching together.
Inside, the lighting was low to distract the patrons from the fact that many employees were not that attractive, the alcohol was cheap and plentiful for the same reason. Most of the girls looked as though they’d been roughly used recently and frequently.
The customers looked mostly as she had expected, none of them dressed ostentatiously or seemed obviously lecherous, instead the entire brothel had an air of quiet desperation. The obvious feature of the establishment was that few of the patrons seemed to have bathed in the past fortnight, because the whole place reeked of fornication and stale sweat. A few of the more upscale clientele smelled of lavender, but it only mixed with the bodily odor of the more impoverished to create an alloyed stench Vero found even more oppressive.
A number of stares followed Vero as she walked into the bar. She’d brought her appearance to a point she was pleased with, dressed in tan breaches and a blue tunic with her long sword belted to her waist. The clothes were old, but they had been washed since she had last worn them. She could feel in her mannerisms that she was still behaving more feminine than she would have liked, a result of the role she’d been forced into over the past couple months. She shook the tension out of her muscles and moved further inside.
The decor was no doubt intended to be richly anointed, but was in fact, more garish than anything else. The place was loud and crowded, and Vero had to elbow her way through the crowd to reach the bar. She sat on a stool upholstered in worn velvet and marred by stains she didn’t care to speculate on. At the bar she ordered a glass of wine, but when it arrived, she was disgusted to find it sour.
“Hello, my friend. I don’t believe I’ve seen you here before.” An elven half-breed took a seat next to her, he was comelier than most and quite athletic besides. His age looked like a median between the young waifs and the more experienced veterans. He had short brown hair, was well shaved and dressed in plain cotton pants and a shirt that while not ostentatious were clean, which stood in stark contrast to the surroundings. What really drew her attention however, was the sapphire butterfly on a gold collar which hung around his neck.
“No, indeed I’ve just arrived in the city. My name is Virgil.” Vero graced him with a smile and took another drink of her wine, trying not to wince as she did so.
He returned her smile and clearly saw her disapproval of the wine “You needn’t try to be polite; the drinks are awful and we all know it. Virgil’s a very unique sounding name, mine’s Lucien. Your accent… Velian? What brings you to our city?”
“I’m the secretary for Caius of house Dace, I don’t suppose you’ve heard of them.” Vero felt the man’s hand on her knee, and it began to work its way along her inner thigh. She did her best to slow his movements without raising suspicion, while still preventing him from moving far enough to make an unfortunate revelation.
“They’re one of the merchant houses, I take it?”
“One of the smallest.” Vero leaned forward, under the pretext of offering a kiss, and found what she was looking for, a very precise pair of puncture marks along the nape of the neck.
The man broke away from her and looked very intently into her eyes. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any House Dace on the docks.”
Vero refused to flinch or give any other sign of suspicion. “No, I don’t suppose you would have. We’re very small, and mostly deal on the overland route between here and the northern cities. Can we maybe continue this conversation in private?”
The man cocked his head to the side quizzically for a few moments and then broke into a broad grin. “Of course, friend, you’ve got coin to rent a room upstairs, I suppose?”
Vero patted the coin purse affixed to her belt. “Certainly, will you lead on?”
“Follow me.” The man stood and took her hand. He led her through the crowd and towards a doorway with two sets of staircases inside, one leading up, and the other leading down. In front of the staircases, stood a massive man whose features bore a great deal of similarity to a castle wall. The man Vero had hired patted the Wall on the shoulder as they passed, although the bouncer himself gave no response whatsoever. Vero saw the telltale butterfly, this time in the form of a badge sewn onto his clothing.
Here the gaudy decor fell off, leaving only bare termite-undermined wood behind. It was also quieter. The man led her past a number of rooms, already occupied from the sounds emerging within. The lack of soundproofing in the rooms would be troublesome, but not insurmountable. Vero’s attack would need to be swift and definitive.
Finally, they reached one at the end of the hall and entered the last room. It was even darker inside than at the bar downstairs. The decorations were sparse, and the room was unfurnished, aside from a single small bed, and a nightstand off to the side with a candle atop it. The bed had a small tear in the side, and straw had begun to spill out onto the floor. The man approached the nightstand and lit the candle, before going to the window and opening the shutter. Even with both these methods to provide just a bit of light, it was still dark enough to render fine features indistinct.
The man sat on the edge of the bed and beckoned Vero over to him. She did as she was bid and sat down next to him. He placed a hand under her chin and gently directed her face towards his, bringing their eyes into contact. Immediately, she could feel the force of the vampire’s will attempting to batter its way into her mind. The power of this fiend’s personality was so much greater than the last creature she had encountered that it was clear that he was far older, and more powerful, though not quite the elder that she was looking for.
Slowly, Vero allowed the monster to worm its way inside her consciousness, all the while compartmentalizing her brain to keep her motor control and decision making deeply hidden, bringing superfluous false surface thoughts to the fore as a shield. A glazed expression fell over her face, and offered no resistance as he began to run his hands all along the length of her body. The vampire leered his face near her neck, but was stymied, for the moment, by the high collar on her doublet.
The thing reached between her legs, before recoiling in surprise. “My, my! What have we found here? You’re certainly full of surprises, my dear.” He spoke to himself and Vero simply continued to stare at him dumbly. “We’ll have a very long discussion about just who you are, and why you’re here, but first why don’t we have a drink. Undress yourself, my dear.”
Vero stood up from the bed and began to undo the buttons on her top. The vampire stood as well, and walked past her towards the door to leave the room. The moment his back was turned, Vero’s sword was in her hand. The moment after that, she had struck home, and the enchanted blade had rended the creatures head from its body.
She grabbed the now completely dead form, and dragged it over to the bed. She shoved it underneath, into the space between the mattress and the floor. She took Fatima’s necklace and placed it around her own neck. Returning her sword to its scabbard, Vero took a moment to compose herself. Once she was certain that she would give no sign to cause suspicion, she returned to the hall. The sounds in the nearby rooms gave no indication of interruption and she went back downstairs.
Vero held forward the pendant as she approached the bouncer. “Lucien told me to show this to you.”
The bouncer grunted and examined her as though she were something he was encountering on the underside of his boot. “Gods, what’s he doing that for? He hasn’t blooded you, has he?”
Vero supposed he wouldn’t respond well to aggression. His posture suggested that he didn’t view her as much of a threat and she made the decision to play to this assumption. Meekly she assumed the mannerisms of freshly blooded vampire. “I woke up once the sun had gone down and he- He had made me like him… is that’s what you mean? He told me to go below and present myself to his master… our master… I suppose.”
“He hasn’t permission to create spawn.”
“Perhaps that’s why he left me. And why he’s sent me down below alone.” She responded miserably.
“What has Lucien told you?” The bouncer leaned forward as he questioned her. Vero recognized that that he was looking for puncture marks on her neck, with less subtlety than she had done.
“Almost nothing.” She replied, her persona only just coming to terms with his unfortunate circumstances. “He didn’t bite me on the neck.”
“Where?”
“I could show you… I’d like to go someplace a little more private if we’re going to do that.”
The bouncer just grunted and waved her past. She went down, and down, and down. The basement was all bare stone and earth, but with lit torches affixed into the walls. There were twisting and turning hallways leading off in a number of directions, but Vero could hear the sound of voices coming from only one of them. She started off in that direction, trying to appear as though she had every right to be there.
She walked forward, taking care not to appear to be trying hiding her presence, while at the same time being quiet enough not to announce it either. The voices, which had begun in a lower murmur, gradually began to coalesce into a form that she could understand. They emanated from a chamber which lay off to the side of the hallway she had followed.
A man’s voice. “She would have told me.”
A woman’s. “Would she? I think perhaps you overestimate her.”
The man’s again. “I created her. The blood ties her to my will.”
A second man, his voice was much lighter and more effete than the first. “Oh, she’s loyal, I have no doubt. But the blooding does not grant wisdom to a fool.”
The first man once more, but his tone, which had begun combative, now held great reverence. “My lord, I tell you it is not like my spawn to vanish like this. I swear to you that something has happened, and beg you to take measures to protect yourself.”
A third man’s voice, but this one was slow and sounded very learned, perhaps even a touch aristocratic. He sounded like a man accustomed to command and having those commands obeyed. “Jon, we take this matter very seriously. At nightfall, if your wayward spawn has not presented herself, we shall have-” A pause, and Vero felt her heart stand still. “Ah but what is this? We have an unannounced visitor.”
Vero stepped forward into the entryway. Inside was a circular chamber, decorated as a sitting room, and inside were four figures. A younger man, dressed in armor like a mercenary, and built like an ox. An old man, dressed as a noble or rich merchant. The woman looked to be in her mid-fifties, but she still dressed provocatively and was showered in jewels, she looked every bit the aging palace courtesan. The last man was dressed in monk’s robes, he was completed by gray hair and a bushy beard and eyebrows.
All four appraised her, but the woman spoke first. “I’ve not seen this man among our coven before.”
The monk spoke, and it was evident that he was the master of the coven. “She is not of our blood; she is still among the living.”
The mercenary inspected her more closely. “She?”
“Aye.” The monk continued. “We can smell her blood. Her heart beats, and it sings to us, and tells us her nature. Tell us child, how do you come here bearing our sign?”
Vero drained her emotion and kneeled before the elder, addressing herself solely to him. She kept her eyes downcast deferentially. “My lord, I was discovered by Lucien in the brothel upstairs, and he sent me to speak with you.”
“I see, and why is that child?”
“He discovered that I came here to hunt your coven my lord. I hired him in disguise to destroy him, but he discovered that I was a woman and became suspicious. He questioned me, and after I told him why I was truly here he sent me to you.”
“Of course. And did you come here alone my child?”
“Certainly not, my lord. My companions were all frightened to enter a brothel of sodomites. I was tasked with finding any vampires within the bar, and then going outside to summon them after I had done so.”
“And of course, if I send just a few of my men outside with you, you’ll point out your allies to us, yes?” The rhetorical irony in the ancient’s voice told Vero that things weren’t proceeding to plan.
She felt the force of the vampire mind pressing against her own with a potency that totally dwarfed the two she had faced previously. Her muscles tensed and her breathing became shallow, she bit her tongue and focused on repeating mantras in her head. The monk continued to bore into her with his eyes and it became difficult just to remain standing.
“She’s blocking me from her mind. Grab her.”
Vero heard the sound of a footfall behind her, she spun, pulling her weapon as she did so. The cocky mercenary felt the blade as it passed unhindered through his mail. It skirted through his torso just between his ribs, and he fell backwards howling in a mixture of pain and indignation. Vero continued her spin and threw her weight to the side, sending her sprawling through the door she had first come through, out of immediate arms reach.
All attention within the room remained focus on the injured leech who continued to screech. Apparently, he had long ago become unaccustomed to pain. Not waiting for him to finish, Vero scrambled to her feet and began a sprint for the exit. Her sword still in hand, she passed her left palm over the edge, while chanting a working over the drawn blood. As she passed one of the many branching hallways, she tossed a glob of congealed vitae down one way before continuing on the other. Even with her limited human senses, she could detect the metallic tang in the air from the lure, and she hoped it would be utterly overwhelming to the vampires.
She followed the path back to the ascent above ground as well as she remembered it, though, as she ran, Vero began to fear that she might have forgotten her way. Then she saw the light streaming down through the staircase. Her heart rose and then fell again as she saw the silhouette of the bouncer against the light.
Not thinking much of her chances in a direct fight, with at least three more vampires somewhere behind her, she turned down another hallway and began running as hard as she could. There was no sound of any pursuit behind her, but Vero refused to assume that was the case, she continued to press her legs onwards as her chest burned from the exertion.
Vero ran for what felt like hours, but what was in all probability only a few minutes. The halls she had taken twisted and turned, and she had taken a number of cut offs, leaving further blood lures behind to distract her pursuers. At last, she slowed, and then stopped completely. She desperately tried to gulp down as much air as possible, while still remaining silent. All the while she expected her enemies to emerge from the shadows and fall upon her, but the attack never came.
She realized that she had completely lost her way, now Vero found herself in a tunnel completely devoid of light entirely. She considered performing another working to grant herself night sight, but she had already shed a great deal of blood casting her lures. Presumably, she might also need further workings when she returned to destroy the coven. Turning light headed in combat would almost certainly be fatal.
Instead, she strained her other senses. At first, she listened for any sounds of the blood suckers in the dark, but heard nothing. Even if they were there, they would almost certainly be too quiet for her to hear, which didn’t make her feel any better. Her sense of touch was the more useful. Holding a hand out in front of her, she could feel a draft of air from somewhere nearby.
Following the cold gust from its origin, Vero rounded a corner and, at last, could see a small shaft of dim light descending down from above and in front of her. Moving closer, she could see that it came from a storm drain on the street above her. There was just enough space for her to crawl her way through. She stowed her sword and jumped up to grab the edge of the drain and pull herself through.
Vero found herself halfway out when something took a hold of her leg and began to jerk her back down into the sewer. Kicking frantically, she loosened the thing’s hold and bolted through. Horrifyingly, she saw the form of the fop crawling up after her. He pulled himself out far enough out to catch her leg again.
Vero drew her sword and cut the vampire across the face, along the bridge of the nose. He released his grip to hold his face and screamed in agony. She scurried back, as he tried to follow her and attempted a few blind swipes with a clawed hand.
Once she was far enough away, Vero returned to her feet. She hoped to have gained some kind of advantage with her first attack, but the vampire had also regained its senses. Its eyes were red with blood and it had its fangs distended as a snake’s. It lunged at her like a feral beast and tried to reach her with its claws.
Vero moved back, but stopped to meet his attack with a diagonal slash. The monster’s hand was severed, but no blood fell from the wound. The thing was still eager to fight, but too eager. It repeated the same maneuver and she repeated her counterstroke. This time she removed finger tips, but it pulled its hand back in time to save most of the hand.
It didn’t stop it’s advance, but instead charged forward to tackle her to the ground. She brought up her weapon just in time so that he impaled himself on it, even as he succeeded in knocking her onto her back and pinning her underneath him.
Vero took a moment to regain her wind, then began to buck her hips to try and roll over to reverse their positions. The vampire didn’t try to resist her and she accomplished her goal without too much effort by using the hilt of her sword as a lever.
Once she was in the top position, Vero tried to rise to her feet so that she could pull out her sword, but as she was nearly upright, she felt someone catch her in a waist-lock. The second attacker pulled her back, away from her weapon, which remained lodged in the first vampire. Fortunately, the fop seemed to have fallen into a deathlike state of suspended animation to heal itself.
The second attacker was inhumanly strong, but didn’t seem to have any formal training at wrestling. She kept her head forwards, and hopped that the creature would release its unbreakable grip around her waist to try and grab her higher, to pull her in and bite her neck. Once the grip was released, her superior grappling training would be enough to allow her to get free.
Unfortunately, the vampire must have been the female, because their feet became tangled in her dress and they both fell backwards. The hold stayed in place and the undead had no wind to lose. Vero heard the gnashing of teeth behind her.
“Let her go!”
Vero looked over to see Dora taking aim at them with her crossbow.
“No! Don’t-”
Dora fired. The bolt flew inches away from Vero’s face, and planted itself harmlessly into the wall of the building, immediately adjacent to her and the vampiress.
Vero thrust her head backwards to smash her foewoman’s face. It wasn’t enough to actually damage the creature in any way, but vampires still felt pain as a living person. If the bloodsucker didn’t have any practical experience in fighting, it would be stunned the first time Vero really hurt it. As expected, the grip released.
Vero was ready and immediately turned over into a mount. The monster had the same wounded look a novice has the first time he’s truly struck in a melee, but it wouldn’t be long before it became aware that it wasn’t actually harmed. She grabbed the bolt Dora had fired by the shaft and snapped it off. The thing had just realized the necessity of continuing to defend itself, when Vero plunged the thin length of wood into its chest. The creature began to go into fits like an epileptic, so she must have only grazed the heart.
Vero rushed back to her sword and yanked it free, but as she did so she felt a grip on her ankle. Now the first vampire had begun to recover. It tried to pull itself into a position to bite her leg, but Vero pinned it back with her other foot and decapitated it.
“Vero! The other one!” Dora pointed towards the second vampire, which had jostled the shaft loose in its seizures and was returning to its feet.
It charged at her and ducked down to attempt to take her down by the legs, or perhaps it simply tripped over the long hem of its gown and grabbed for what it could hold. Vero sprawled her legs to defend herself, and brought her sword around to plunge it down through the base of the vampire’s spine.
With its lower half paralyzed, Vero was easily able to position her enemy in such a way to allow her to separate its head from its body.
“Oh Vero, you’ve done it!”
Vero looked anxiously towards the drain, but nothing else had yet emerged. “Stay quiet.”
She put her sword away and relieved Dora of her crossbow. The watched in silence for a few moments until the nerves began to fade.
Vero led Dora by the hand and the two of them ran as fast as possible across the brothel district back to Kitty’s theater. They were allowed into her office where the madame sat smoking, as usual.
Dora was winded from their retreat and practically fell into her chair; Vero remained standing to give her report. “The coven’s haven has been established in a basement beneath the Rooster Pit, but it’s connected to the sewer system and allows access to the whole district.”
Kitty nodded and sucked on the end of her pipe, considering the news before replying. “So, what do we do now?”
“I would prefer to wait until I’ve had the chance to heal from my wrestling matches, but there’s too much risk. They realized I was infiltrating them and we had to flee. Fortunately, it’s a summer night so it’s too late for them to leave tonight, they’ll need shelter from the morning soon. I can deal with them once the sun is up, they’ll be groggy during the day, and I should be able to finish them all.”
Kitty just continued to nod in silence. Dora looked up at Vero and spoke while still breathing heavily. “Even weakened, are you sure that you’ll be able? Do we even know how many of them there are in the coven?”
Vero chuckled and shrugged “A lot. There’s no way to know exactly how many are down there. It’s dangerous, but at this point the sand is dwindling. If we wait until night falls, they’ll vanish and we won’t find them again. Until they’re behind us with their fangs in our throats, that is.”
At this point Kitty interposed again. “Should I hire men to help you?”
“I could use assistance clearing the civilians, but once I’m below ground sending mercenaries, who are subject to vampiric influence, would cause more problems than it would solve.”
Kitty rang a bell on her desk to summon one of her servants and then began rummaging through her desk drawers. “I’ll arrange for men to meet you there, what time will you attack?”
“High noon, it’s when they’ll be at their weakest.”
“I took the liberty of arranging this for you.” Kitty produced a small vial of a clear liquid which looked like water, and pushed it across the desk where Vero took it. “It’s salt water. There’s a priest of the Sea Lord who frequents my establishment and I asked him to bless it for you.”
“This priest knew what he was doing?”
“He should. He’s a senior priest, and I caught him before he’d had more than one drink. Still, it is holy water made in a whorehouse for services rendered.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Vero stored the vial away in a pouch at her belt.
***
Vero stood back, while the men of the vigil kicked open the door. It was midday and the brothel was practically deserted by comparison to her previous experience, but there were still a few desperate looking customers lingering behind. These degenerates were easily rousted by the guard, and it wasn’t long until the entire establishment was abandoned.
She and Dora had tried to get at least a few hours rest, but Vero had snuck away without waking her. She didn’t want bring Dora near danger once again when they had already tempted fate twice before.
Two vigil-men busied themselves by nervously hanging cloves of garlic and spreading handfuls of rice along the ground. Vero didn’t bother to inform them that neither would do any good. Even if she failed, she didn’t suppose any of the surviving vampires would be keen on staying in the city to trouble them.
Vero strode forward into the room in her chainmail shirt and leather guards. Against her better judgement, she had left the crossbow back with Dora. She didn’t expect to be able to use it effectively in the mazelike sewers. The Vigil-Sargent followed her most of the way to staircase leading down into the coven’s haven. “We’re not getting paid enough to go down there and rescue you, I hope you understand that.”
“I don’t expect you to; I’ll either be fine or dead.”
“Well, that’s no problem then. We’ll stay up here, and if you flush any up to us we’ll pull them into the sun, but that’s where our involvement ends. If it’s getting near dusk, and you haven’t come back up, we’ll set the building on fire and collapse the way out on this end, so if you’re not out by then you’ll be stuck down there with those things.”
“I understand, I don’t plan on letting any of them getting away, but keep your eyes open anyway.”
The Vigil-Sargent pushed open the door leading into the darkness. “Good luck ser, be safe.”
Vero slung a brace of sharpened greenwood stakes over her shoulder, keeping one in hand, and began to march downwards into the dark. She descended down into the blackness, barely able to see a foot in front of her until she lit a lantern the vigil had provided for her. Trying to remember her way through the maze as best she could, she proceeded forward as quietly as she was able. She directed herself towards the central room she had fled from.
The underground tunnel stank of the sewers even more terribly during the day. They were cooler than the city above ground, but still very warm. The heat excited the smell and attracted foul buzzing insects everywhere. She doubted the vampires noticed, they had no need to breathe unless they desired to impersonate a living person, but she didn’t have the same luxury. She pulled a cloth anointed with herbs and oil over her face to find some relief.
The further she ventured, the more her nerves began to wear on her. She stopped and took a small draught of poppy milk as a tranquilizer to rebalance her humors. She had long summer hours of daylight ahead of her, and quick wits would not be as valuable to her as steady hands and methodical thoughts.
At last, she came upon the sleeping chamber she had seen during the night. All along the walls, and in each sleeping creche, lay a spawn of the coven, lined up like a catacomb. Vero pulled one of the coffins out of its place in the wall. It was heavy and she didn’t bother to try and lift it, instead allowing it to fall to the floor and simply crash open. The vampire inside fell out limply, like a creature fully dead. It was evidently too newly spawned to muster strength enough for even the slightest movement during the daytime.
With steady workman like efficiency, Vero began to drive stakes through the heart of each vampire in turn, before using her blade to strike them off at the head. A few of the more potent blooded, like the mercenary she had split open the previous night, summoned up the will to try snapping at her, once the first pound of the mallet drove them out of their day sleep. However, repeated driving blows to the stake quickly robbed them of even that resistance. Most of them never moved at all.
She was fairly certain they were all dead after taking off their heads, but just to be certain, she also spread lantern oil over the first body an incinerated it. Then she repeated the process with the next, and then the next, until the ground was covered in the ashes of destroyed blood drinkers. But even after her labor, she still wasn’t finished. Neither the leader of the coven nor the brutish bouncer was in the main chamber, so they must have had a private room, or rooms, somewhere in the maze.
Reluctantly, Vero left the chamber and mentally readied herself for more killing. She was just considering how to go about finding them when she heard pounding, stomping footsteps charging directly for her. From out of the darkness the brute emerged. When he entered the radius of her lantern light, he was already horizontal and executing a flying dive directly towards her.
Vero tried to duck to her side, as far as the cramped confines of the corridor would permit, but even so the tips of its outstretched claw took her in the hip. The monster flashed past her, carried by its momentum, and whipped Vero into a spin as it went past her like a rip cord.
Her blood splattered across one wall, while her hand holding the lantern smashed into the other, leaving a smear of flaming oil leading to a burning pool on the ground. Vero stumbled back behind the fire and beat out the sputtering licks of flame along her own arm, before moving to hold her bleeding side. She’d just managed to avoid the main thrust of the assault. If she hadn’t, the claws would have pulled out her intestines in front of her, and she’d have been dead very shortly thereafter. As it was, she was alive, although oozing blood, and her hip felt as though it might be dislocated.
Her opponent swung around to face her, and she could see it licking the blood from its talons. Fortunately, it could not seem to see her in return. It shielded its face to hide away from the blazing fire which Vero endeavored to keep between them, while she removed the flask of holy water from her belt.
The monster moved drowsily, first to the splatter on the wall, before following the trail that led from it and greedily lapping up the blood along the way. She would only have the one chance, so she took it. Vero splashed the water directly into the creature and it fell to its knees howling. Its hand had protected its face, but the salt water ate into the undead flesh like acid. Its fingers dropped off as its hand melted down into boney stump.
Vero lunged out to grab the creature before it could recover and used all her might to wrench it off its knees and down into the flaming oil and shattered glass. The thing shrieked and tried to lurch back, but Vero interrupted by hacking its legs out from under it with her sword. The burning creature rolled back and forth for a moment, desperate to smother the fire engulfing it, before Vero put an end to it by taking off its head.
She rolled it back into the flames and set off again the way the vampire had come. She no longer had a light, so she had to feel her way along. It wasn’t easy for her to walk, but she no longer had the luxury of time. Sunset was still several hours away, but she would bleed to death much sooner than that if she didn’t finish the job and get back to help soon.
She was beginning to feel very faint when the corridor opened up into a larger chamber. She nearly fell into the water when she tried to rest her weight against a non-existent wall. The sound of running water moving through an aqueduct could be heard nearby. It was lighter there than in the corridor, but only just. In the center of the room, and looking as imperious as ever, was the master of the coven.
“Impressive, slayer. You’ve come closer to actually threatening me than any human in over three hundred years. I believe I’ll make you the first of my new coven, would you like that?”
Vero didn’t feel that she could manage a response, but a brief wrack of coughing had filled her mouth with blood so she spat it onto the ground.
“You can barely stand. Go on. Fall to your knees. If you hold out your wrist to me and submit, I promise you it will be painless.”
Unsteadily, Vero began to make her way forward. The figure of the vampire smiled and beckoned her onwards.
“Yes, come here my pet. Make your final heroic attempt.”
Vero stopped directly in front of the thing, although still several steps shy. It was standing on a precipice which, in her condition, would certainly be a mortal fall. The edge was, she expected, much closer than it appeared. She looked at the fanged grinning face in front of her. She felt herself being pulled towards it, and one last desperate maneuver.
Vero pulled herself away, away and towards the blinking and bleary-eyed vampire huddled collapsed in the corner. She started moving towards it, and the illusion of a proud figure began to scream and rant behind her. “Stop there! I command you! You cannot run from me, you coward! Turn around this instant! I am your lord and master! You will obey me!”
The feeble creature in front of her was too weary and day-weak to even raise an arm in its own defense. Vero took off its head at the neck. She had no more oil, and seemed to have lost her remaining stakes somewhere, so all she could do to be sure it was dead was to hack at the body a few more times with her sword.
After only a couple of strikes however she felt too dizzy to continue. She stopped but found that she was also too dizzy to stand, and fell directly onto the body which broke like ashes under her.
At least I can be sure it died too. Vero thought just before the darkness enveloped her.
***
Despite her previous assumption, and not for the first time, Vero woke up surprised to still be alive.
She was lying on a mattress. It felt wonderfully soft, so it must have been filled with feathers rather than straw. She heard the sound of girls speaking and laughing nearby, so she tried to sit up and see who it was until she found herself going lightheaded.
“Oh! She’s awake!”
“Someone go- Fetch Dora!”
Vero’s vision cleared, and she saw two perfectly formed breasts in front of her, attached to a yellow-haired woman of exquisite beauty. Vero looked around and found that she was in a lavish bedchamber, and surrounded by half a dozen women of all different types and in different states of undress.
“I’ve been swept out to sea… rescued by nymphs…”
The comely woman nearest to her checked Vero’s forehead for fever. “I knew that dirty old priest gave you too much poppy milk. I shudder to think of what he would have tried to do if we hadn’t insisted on staying during his examination, the way he was leering.”
“You’re as beautiful as a nymph.”
“Thank-you.” The woman didn’t seem to take the compliment very seriously, and she continued her own monologue without breaking her stride. “With a little rest your head should start to clear. One of the girls has gone to find Dora.”
“She’s as beautiful as a nymph too. Or a dryad, which is much the same thing as a nymph, only inhabiting the land rather than the water.”
“I thought there were no such things as nymphs and dryads.” Her nurse remarked casually as she filled a goblet with water from a pitcher.
“There are, only there are very few left in the world. Say, why are we talking so morbidly?” The woman returned with the goblet and helped Vero drink from it. The water was wonderfully cool. “You know in stories heroes are awakened by nymphs with a kiss on the lips.”
The woman obligingly bent forward and kissed Vero, but only lightly and without much passion. Vero didn’t have time to register any disappointment before Dora rushed into the room, crossed the distance between them in an instant, and threw her arms around Vero and showered her in kisses.
Vero struggled a moment until she found Dora’s mouth and returned one of her kisses. She felt Dora suddenly tense in surprise, but she didn’t pull away. In her drugged state, Vero’s pawing was more clumsy than erotic, but she seized the moment regardless and began to move a hand along Dora’s inner thigh. Dora quickly climbed off while blushing brightly and adjusting her dress.
“Well, you certainly seem very… vigorous, Vero. I’m glad to see you’re well, truly. I- we feared that you would die.”
“I thought I was dead. Why aren’t I?”
“I saved you.” Vero motioned for Dora to sit down next to her. Dora did so, but just out of Vero’s reach, and she did check. “I was furious when I woke up and saw that you left me behind, and I got even worse when I arrived.”
“It’s all that garum you eat, it’s unbalanced your humors.”
“Did you know that they were planning to set that entire place ablaze, without even checking if you were still alive?”
“It’s what I told them to do.”
“Well, that was rather foolish, wasn’t it? You’re fortunate I was here then. I gave them such a tongue lashing- but once I told them they’d now let two women go where they were afraid to follow, and called them all cowards, they followed me down after you. You weren’t moving when we found you, I was terrified we were too late.” Dora moved closer and put a hand on Vero’s shoulder.
Vero put her arms around Dora’s waist, but did no more so as not to frighten her off again. “Then you really have saved my life it seems.” The priest must have given her a very heavy dose of poppy milk because she was feeling very blissfully sleepy. “I must find some way… thank-you… love to-” And Vero was gone.
***
Vero entered their apartment to find Dora waiting for her. Dora looked up at her and watched as Vero deposited her weapons in her trunk and sat down next to her. She laid her head against Vero’s shoulder. Vero put an arm around Dora’s waist and pulled them close together.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone quite like you, Veronique.”
“I feel the same about you.”
“You’re only being flattering, I’m sure. There’s nothing very special about me.”
“Not true.” Vero picked up Dora and placed the girl on her lap. It had been days since her injury, but she still felt a sharp pain in her hip until she adjusted her weight. She kissed Dora’s neck and took long breaths of jasmine. “You saved my life, no one else in this city would have followed me down into the sewers like you did.”
“You’ve already saved my life often enough. Watching you fight those evil things…” She felt Dora shudder. “I was so frightened for you, but you were so wonderful and strong.” She was silent for a little while. “You’ll be leaving soon now, won’t you?”
Vero nodded and kissed her cheek. “I suppose I will.”
Dora sniffed and looked away. “I’ll miss you.”
“You could come with me.”
“What would I do for you.”
“You could cook… and I’ve had enough of laundry work for a lifetime.”
“Like a helpmate?”
“I travel in men’s clothes; it would be simple enough to pass you as my wife.”
“I’ve always dreamed of seeing other lands.” Dora gave her a coy look and bit the knuckle of her index finger. “Are there any other duties I would need to perform for you?”
“Perhaps you could find some other little ways to please me.” Vero pulled down Dora’s dress and began to massage her breasts. It wasn’t the slightest bit cold, but Vero couldn’t help but notice that her broad nipples felt very hard between her fingers.
“When the slayers taught you to disguise yourself- how fully do you commit to your new identity?”
“Completely- the best way to tell a lie is to make it the truth.”
Dora reached a hand behind her and slid her fingers down Vero’s trousers and through her navel hair. Vero’s body felt like it was afire and she could feel heat radiating from Dora as well. “Ah, Vero… Veronique, I-” At last Dora reached her sex and she felt as though she might explode at any moment.
Dora pulled her hand away. “I’m sorry Veronique, I can’t. Forgive me. I don’t know how to- with a woman I mean.”
Vero pulled Dora’s hand right back. “Call me Virgil.”
“Virgil?”
“My- It’s the name I travel under.”
“Oh Virgil.” Dora continued on with further moans and sighs.
Vero turned Dora around and they pressed their lips against one another.