Chronicles of Darkness: Shadows and Dust (12 page)

         "Hey, Andrej!
Say, you poor fool, are you talking to yourself? It seems like the loneliness,
up there in the castle, finally caught up with your head, huh? No wonder the
whole village thinks you're crazy," the drunken man slurred.

         Andrej took a
deep breath and turned around. "Rouven," he acknowledged. "What
a joy to meet you."

         The mayor's
son was much younger than Andrej, but made up for that with insolence.
Scrutinizing him up and down, Rouven asked, distrustfully, "What are you
doing here, at this time of the night? Are you stalking somebody?"

         Andrej rolled
his eyes. "That would be something you would do, don't you think?" He
had other problems and thought about Lilith, especially about the things she
could be doing right that moment. "I'm sorry, Rouven, but I've got no time
to waste with you."

         Staggering,
the mayor's son took a step toward him. "Is that so? The master of the
bewitched castle thinks the soon-to-be head of the valley unworthy of his
presence?"

         "Not
really. Besides, it is a position one has to be elected for."

         Threatening,
Rouven pointed his index finger at Andrej's nose, and looked into his eyes with
great hostility."I will keep you in my sight. Never forget, you are only
tolerated here, as was your dead father. Only thanks to the kindness of my
father are you allowed to stay in Ardeal. Keep that always in mind,
Andrej!"

         "I'm
sure you will remind me every chance you'll get," he replied, unimpressed.
"The chunk of gold, which the Dimov family received from my father,
probably helped ensure the
warm
welcome we got. Actually, do the
villagers know about this?" Then he just left the fuming Rouven standing
there, turned around and went back to take care of his much bigger problem.
Somehow he had a feeling where he would find the vampire.

         Andrej hurriedly
crossed the market place, which was the only paved place of the village. A
square-shaped well made up its center. It was surrounded by a group of figures
carved from beech, showing a shepherdess and her animals. In her hands she held
a pitcher, fresh water flowing out of it and into the well.

         Andrej's
thoughts circled around Lilith and the moment when she had been standing in
front of the tavern. Except for Sadden, he had never met another vampire, but
Lilith was obviously more than different.

         Meanwhile, he
had reached the place he thought he might find Lilith. An old, austere church,
built of grey stones, witness to the hard life of the people, who lived here,
in the seclusion of the mountains. Its tiny bell tower rose defiantly against
the hostility of nature.

         Andrej made
sure that nobody had followed him. He looked to the little vicarage, which was
not far from the church. He was relieved to notice that no light was on.
"The old priest is sleeping tightly in his bed, probably dreaming of the
sermon he will give tomorrow, while I'm about to creep to the graveyard, in the
middle of the night."

         At that
moment a door creaked, and Andrej turned in the direction of the sound. He
noticed that the church's door was open just a crack. With his heart pounding
hard, he slowly walked to the entrance. Carefully he peered inside, but his
fears that somehow the church's interior had been violated were unfounded. He
released a heavy sigh, as he heard a long, drawn out "Meow". A grey
cat came out and nestled against his legs.

         Andrej smiled
and stroked the cat's head. "Hey, you little loafer. Are you searching for
mice?"

         After the cat
went on its own way, the tall man stepped onto the graveyard, apart from the
church. The area was hilly and difficult to perceive. Simple
wooden crosses and
roughly hewn stones adorned the majority of the graves. Most names were
weather-beaten or covered by moss, so they had become unreadable. The grassy
ground was slippery because of the dew, and Andrej had to hold on to an old, gnarled
tree to keep from falling.

         Fog came rolling in, and
he could hardly believe his eyes when he discovered Lilith. There she was, like
a dream, not burdened by mortal concerns or fears, wandering between the
tombstones. Faced with this sight, Andrej's heart nearly ceased to beat.

         "Is she floating
above the graves? Or is it just my imagination?" he mumbled,
disbelievingly.

         Just after the words had
left his mouth, Lilith literally vanished into thin air. The patches of fog
faded. Andrej rubbed his eyes, but the vampire was gone.

*****

         Visibly exhausted, Andrej
entered the room and Sadden looked up from her book. Mutely, he removed his
gloves and cloak, put both carelessly on a little table near the wall, and sat
down in an armchair, next to Sadden.

         Seeing that he didn't
show the slightest inclination to begin, Sadden's first question was,
"Where is Lilith?"

         "She has..."
his voice faltered as he tried to explain, but didn't know how. "She...
uh... disappeared... somehow... I don't know."

         Immediately the vampire
noticed his grumpy tone. "Your voice is full of glum."

         "Give me a bag of
fleas. That will be much easier to guard." Andrej ran a hand through his
hair, leaned back and put his legs on the little foot stool in front of him.
"You never told me anything about this part of your family. I mean... you
know what I mean. The vampires. I've always respected your wish to not talk
about them, but..."

         Sadden set her book
aside, got up, walked to Andrej and embraced him from behind. "I never
expected to reconnect with the world of immortals ever again. But as you can
see, even I can err."

         Cheek to cheek, they
regarded the burning fire. Sadden sighed, absentminded, the blazing flames
reflecting vividly and dangerously in her cool, unapproachable eyes.

         Andrej broke the
suppressing silence. "She is so... so different. Not at all like
you."

Greatly irritated he looked at
Sadden, who returned to her armchair.

         "It is not Lilith,
who is different," she said in a sad voice. She covered it with a light
smile and remarked, a tad amused, "Be lenient towards Lilith, Andrej. She
was brought up by kindred souls and does not value the company of mortals like
I do."

         Her friend groused,
"But still... I do not understand her behavior, nor will I tolerate it.
Because this..." He was searching for the right words to describe Lilith
without hurting Sadden's feelings. "... this... um...
brat
didn't
follow my instructions at all."

         "I think Lilith
never had to obey a human in all her existence."

         "I know it is
difficult for her to adapt. The situation isn't easy for me either," he
continued. "What I also don't understand is, I'm sure your powers are far
greater, but..."

            'That was a long time
ago, Andrej,'
Sadden thought.
'A long time ago.'

         "...when I'm in your
presence, I never feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, I feel respected as an
individual and loved. I can trust you with my life. As far as Lilith is
concerned, I only trust her as far as I can throw her."

         Both chuckled as the
words formed a picture in their minds.

         After that, Andrej grew
serious again. "Since she will stay here for an uncertain amount of time,
I'm deeply concerned for the people of Ardeal."

         Sadden didn't take his
objections lightly. "There is no doubt that you are right. I will not
tolerate her rude and thoughtless behavior towards you. Although this is not a
matter of trust, more a matter of obedience towards both of us. Lilith was
entrusted to my care. I am her mentor and therefore responsible for her. In the
end, everything will be on me."

         Andrej shook his head,
scornfully. "That's really no honor, it's a punishment."

         His friend changed the
subject to lighten the mood. "Would you like to play a game of chess to
end this night?"

         The man declined and
rose. "Don't be mad, but I'm totally exhausted and wouldn't be able to
think straight."

         Sadden looked at him with
compassion. "Good night, my friend."

         Andrej's hand already
rested on the door handle as he paused and said, "Family ties set aside,
please don't forget the horrible thing Lilith did when she first arrived
here."

         "I will never forget
my family," Sadden responded in a low voice. "You are my
family."

         Andrej didn't need to
look her in the eye to know that she spoke the truth.

         Sadden went back to her
reading, after her good friend had left the room.

         The peaceful atmosphere
of a new morning filled Helena's sun-bathed bedroom. She stood behind her
daughter, who sat in front of a dresser. "So? What did you plan to do
today?" Helena asked with a soft smile. Reaching over Skylar's shoulder,
she grabbed the brush and tried to get some order into the girl's wild, untamed
mane.

         "I don't know,"
she replied faintly, unable to contain a long drawn out yawn. Tired, she gazed
at her mother's reflection in the large mirror that set atop the dresser.
"Kyrian is being very cryptic again. I always get a weird feeling when he
doesn't want to tell me what he got planned."

         "Why is that, my
precious?" her mother inquired, brushing Skylar's hair with long strokes.

         "Every time, it
reminds me of the occurrence with the stinky river mud. He honestly attempted
to make me believe that this was our lesson about concealment." Her nose
crinkled in disgust at the thought of that unfortunate experience.

         Helena knew what her
daughter was talking about, but the memory of that particular day made her
chuckle. It had happened in the past year's summer. The huntress herself had
been sitting in the tall grass, smiling, watching the
drama
unfold.
Then, Kyrian had not been much taller than Skylar.
'Maybe now, I should
entrust him more,'
she thought.
'He's grown so much and is more mature
than a year ago.'
In her memories, Skylar squeaked, because Kyrian was dead
set on challenging his sister's sense of balance. Standing on a fallen tree
trunk, both arms stretched out, the girl loudly complained about her brother's
methods. Bending at the knees, he bobbed up and down, which put the trunk into
motion. Only with wildly flailing arms was Skylar able to keep her position. To
cap it all, Kyrian jumped up cockily to land after a boisterous somersault on
the swinging tree. Unfortunately his feet didn't find purchase after the daring
leap. He stumbled, slipped and fell prone into the mud, which splashed smelly
in all directions. Kyrian sat up, covered in glob from head to toe. Only a pair
of dark eyes looked stunned from the foul-smelling gray matter.

         Quick-thinking, Skylar
had sat down on the trunk to keep from falling off. In vain she tried to clamp
her arms and legs around the swaying tree. Slowly her body toppled to the side,
until she could no longer hold on and slipped off, squealing. She found herself
next to her brother, also covered with the stinking, sticky substance of the
riverbed. Disgusted by the horrible stench, which seemed to crawl into every
pore of their bodies, they looked at each other, noticing the flies that had
begun to buzz around their heads. Enraged by the plight her brother had caused,
Skylar's eyes shot daggers at Kyrian.

         He rose, cursing loudly,
reaching out a hand to help his sister up.

         Laughing so hard she had
tears streaming down her face, Helena had joined them, asking if this spectacle
was a new method to practice concealment. The scowls of her children had made
her laugh even harder.

         Slowly the memory faded
and Helena pensively regarded her daughter's golden, gleaming hair, gently
stroking it. "Please, if you think it will once be useful in your life,
I'm all for it." She quirked a smile. "As long as you don't rub
yourselves down with manure to practice sneaking up against the wind." The
huntress sighed. "You really have to promise to refrain from that."

         "We already did
that, Mama," Skylar teased, her face serious. "Did we forget to
mention that to you?" She was overcome by another hearty yawn, her eyes
halfway closed from exhaustion.

         Faced with that, Helena's
smirk quickly faded. She stopped brushing and bent forward. Her concerned gaze
met Skylar's in the mirror. Carefully she asked, "Did you have... dreams
last night, sweetheart?" She hesitated at the word
dreams,
but didn't
want to call it visions. It wasn't her intention to scare her child. There had
been times when nightmares had upset Skylar so much, it had taken hours for
Kyrian and Helena to calm down the frightened girl. She knew, eventually she
would have to tell her the truth about her dreams and what they really meant,
but now was not the right moment.

         The girl shook her head.
"If I did dream, I don't remember."

         Relieved, Helena nodded,
ran the brush one last time through the long hair and divided it into three
equal strands. With practiced fingers, the huntress began weaving the strands
to tame the mane and hold it in a fancy braid.

         "Is that bad,
Mama?"

         "Huh?"

         "I mean that I don't
remember if I dreamt. That's not bad, is it?"

         "No, precious,"
her mother responded and leaned forward, kissing the girl's pale cheek.
"Only if it was a beautiful dream. Then it would be sad if you had
forgotten it."

         Helena chose a bright
red, velvety ribbon from her casket and tied the braid's end with a bow. After
she was done, she brushed Skylar's nose with the braid's tip. "There, all
pretty," the huntress announced, proudly regarding her work.
"Granted, the strict braid isn't exactly the newest fashion..."

         "...but, it will
serve our purposes well. Now her wild mane can't get stuck everywhere,"
Kyrian finished the sentence. He had just entered the room. "Are you
finally done, Skylar? I've been waiting an eternity for you to grace me with
your presence." Impatience was evident in his voice.

         Excited, the girl hopped
off the chair and dashed to her brother's side.

         He found himself
confronted with a scrutinizing gaze from their mother. "Why are you
looking at me like that?" he asked, taken aback.

         "No crazy
experiments, Kyrian. Do you understand?"

         Perplexed, he looked from
Helena to Skylar, who shrugged her shoulders and grabbed his hand.
"Experiments? Honestly, Mama. We would never lower ourselves to that
level. You should know me better than that."

         Helena crossed her arms
in front of her chest, cocked her head and raised one eyebrow. "That's
exactly it. I do know you all too well, my son. That I give to you the lore of
our ancestors doesn't mean you have to carry out every brazen exercise that is
there."

         Kyrian looked at his
mother with innocent eyes, shrugging his shoulders.

         "Who knows what you
have concocted," she suggested, shaking her head in concern.

         Contritely, Kyrian
admitted, "We were going to dust ourselves with flour from head to toe.
After that, we will run screaming through the woods. That should scare off any
vampire. If not, well then... I'm out of ideas." He winked at his sister.

         Skylar pressed a hand to
her mouth and snickered.

         Kyrian grinned broadly.

         Although Helena tried to
keep a straight face, she couldn't suppress the laughter that bubbled up.
"I think it would only irritate the vampires instead of scare them."
She shook her head, still chuckling. "Now go, and don't get up to
nonsense. These lessons are supposed to prepare you for life as a hunter. They
are not meant simply for your amusement."

         "You mean there
really were hunters that put on flour and ran through the woods?" Kyrian
asked with pretended shock.

         Mutely, Helena pointed at
the door.

         Still giggling, Skylar
dragged her brother along.

         "And don't forget to
be back before nightfall. Did you hear me?" the huntress called out after
them, warning.

*****

         Far from curious eyes,
Kyrian had led them to a little forest. The siblings stood facing each other on
a clearing. Two wooden staffs lay next to them in the grass. Kyrian had brought
them along for their exercise purposes.

         "Hunters must always
rely on their instincts. Therefore, those have to be specially trained. Again
and again," he explained. From his pocket he pulled a black blindfold,
letting it dangle between thumb and index finger of his right hand. "And
now, I'm going to cover your eyes."

         Skylar wrinkled her
forehead and took two steps back. "I'd rather see what or whom I attack
when a fight begins."

         "Now and then, it is
possible to lose a sense."

         His sister eyed him
suspiciously.

         "For example, your
sight. Imagine this. You are attacked during a moonless night. You can hardly
see your hand in front of your face."

         "Can I not light a
torch?" she murmured.

         "You are lacking
time and material. Besides, you have your hands full," he answered
impatiently. "You are being attacked. You have to defend your life. In
such a case, a hunter has to make use of the remaining senses."

         "Sense of
hearing?"

         "For example, little
one."

         Skylar recognized the
exercises' necessity and gave in. Still, she agreed only reluctantly to be
blindfolded. "What if I hurt you?" she asked in a small voice.

         "Don't you worry,
you won't," Kyrian replied confidently, stepped behind her and tied the
folded fabric around her head. He made sure that she really couldn't see
anything, gave her one of the long staffs and grabbed the other.

         Immediately, Skylar took
on the defensive stance. Legs slightly apart, feet firmly connected with the
ground, bending at the knees. She listened intently with bated breath. At
first, she concentrated on the sounds of her close surroundings. Blatantly
obvious was the chirping of birds. Their voices differed and she could make out
several kinds of birds. There was the whispering of the wind, blowing through
the trees, making their leaves rustle. Buzzing insects passed her by. Suddenly,
another noise caught her attention. A dull, constant pounding, which caused
light vibrations under her boots.

         "Kyrian? Are you
hitting the ground with your staff?"

         He smiled. "Very
good. That's the sound of wood on forest ground. Memorize it."

         A sudden muffled whir
followed. Intuitively, Skylar lowered her head quickly and brought up the
staff. Wood clashed on wood.

         "First strike
successfully fended off," her brother praised.

         The girl only had time
for a small triumphant grin. The next attack followed, this time struck from
the side. Kyrian knelt and aimed at her feet to sweep her legs out from under
her. Skylar jumped and the staff whirred harmlessly through the air below her.
Kyrian continued to circle his sister. From different positions he started a
sequence of further attacks, sometimes quick, sometimes slow. Skylar either
dodged them skillfully, blocked them or tried to counter them.

         To the silent watcher,
who observed the siblings from a safe distance, hidden in the undergrowth, the
whole thing seemed like a weird dance.
'A rather strange spectacle,'
Chalice
thought. She could hardly believe her luck that she had been able to find the
hunters' whereabouts so quickly and easily. She had been on her way to the
castle to spy on them for her master, as she had happened upon the children,
observing them while they left the house, and then she had followed them here,
unseen.

         Since her conversation
with Azrael, she wanted to know more about the hunters. For a long time,
Chalice had been pondering how to find the Leosol family.

         In the early morning,
after her master had retired, the defining idea had formed. Dressed in
threadbare clothes, unwashed and with greasy hair, she had gone to the market.
Chalice was sure that there she would quickly find the much needed information
she was seeking. People from each class gathered at the market place, not only
to buy or sell goods, but also to trade the newest gossip. Her expression was
the epitome of suffering as she walked between the stands, pretending to
examine the goods, but all the while eavesdropping on people's conversations.
One of the market women became aware of her pitiful appearance. Feeling sorry
for the poor girl, the woman gave her a quarter loaf of bread.

         Chalice took advantage of
the opportunity and engaged the woman in conversation. Pretending to be
searching for work outside the city walls, she questioned her.

         Beaming with happiness,
the market woman told her news she had received from a maid, who had been
working at the castle of the Count Bouchardon. According to rumors, a terrible
tragedy had come to pass and the noble family had left. But new people had
taken up residence in the castle. The market woman didn't know much about the
new family, only that they were foreigners. Still, she was sure that Chalice
should introduce herself there. Maybe they had some work for such a
poor
thing
. That was how the market woman saw Chalice, and she felt very sorry
for her, repeating that over and over.