Quest

Chapter 1 - The Hunt

A chilling howl echoed through the midnight forest, bouncing from tree to tree until it reached Llmalda DeFang’s ears. She smiled slightly, and swung her legs under the branch she was perched on. It was moontime, and the packs were out in force. She listened carefully; catching the faint sounds of snarls and breaking branches carried on the night air. She glanced up. The moon was very clear tonight, a silver coin gleaming in the dark sky. She turned back to watch for the hunt. Idly she wondered what they quarry would be tonight. Last night it had been a luckless dwarf. She looked again for any sign that the pack would be coming through here. They normally did, if the prey had the sense to head for the river. If the hapless creature got across, the wolves wouldn’t often follow. Then again, sometimes they would. It was the luck of the draw; Fate sometimes had a cruel humour. The howling came again, closer this time, and Llmalda made sure her grip on the branch was secure. Any other night she would never have been so cautious, other than at moontime the wolves would go out of their way to avoid her kind. She smiled again, feeling her lips pulled back slightly over her two pearly fangs. She was a vampire, possessing enough hidden strength to easily deal with what would often be considered overwhelming odds. Still… An entire pack of wolves at moontime, the blood fury pulsing through their veins… Even she would be hard pressed to deal with. So she watched.

It was almost a game, and she often found herself rooting for the quarry. Not out of any sort of conscience, she probably didn’t own one, but out of spite for Kezal, the pack leader. Even without the moonshine he often dared to challenge her, both for prey and for amusement value. The amount of times Llmalda had sent him scurrying off, trying to look dignified with several clumps of fur missing, she would have though that he'd have got the message. He hadn’t, and this month he had been particularly irritating, interrupting three meals and trailing her for miles at a time. So she was planning something special for tonight. She smiled again. If there was one thing the wolves hated more than anything it was to loose a quarry. Her plan would be risky, but she was used to risks. Even if she did get into trouble, it was unlikely that the wolves would try too hard to kill her. She wasn’t the only vampire in this region, and even though her kind were never particularly loyal to each other, an attack against any vampire was still an attack on them all, no matter who the victim had been. The sound of snarls and cracking bushes reached her ears. She looked up, just in time to see a tall figure burst from the thick bushes and stumbled into the slight clearing under her tree. She noted the thin, intricately carved bow it was holding, and the small quiver of arrows on its back. Only one sort of creature carried a weapon like that. Elf. Her nostrils confirmed this. She steadied herself, if the elf ran the other way… To her surprise, he didn’t run. What…? The bushes rustled then exploded as the lead wolf burst through. Again to Llmalda’s surprise, it wasn’t Kezal, but a younger male she didn’t recognise. The wolf snarled and leaped for the elf. There was a faint musical twang and the elf let go the arrow he’d slotted into the bow in one single, blurred motion. Llmalda watched. A single arrow wouldn’t… Again she blinked. The wolf howled, this time in pain. Llmalda’s sharp eyes caught a glimpse of reflected moonlight from the arrow buried in the wolf’s chest. She hissed slightly, and pulled back a bit. Silver arrows. This elf knew what he was up against. This was never a good sign. If someone were armed against one type of creature, they would often be armed against another too. Llmalda’s hand flew up to her face and traced the faint silvery scar down the side; a souvenir from one of her previous run-in’s with some hero or other. He’d been more prepared than she’d first thought. Holy water burned. She hesitated, should she… No, she couldn’t abandon her plan.

Another howl came from the direction of the bushes, and the elf started to run again. Llmalda let go her hands and swung down backwards, clinging to the branch with her knees. Her outstretched arms grabbed the elf as he sprinted past and she swung back up, dragging him with her. Once upright, she was in a full position to take in the expression of shock on his face.
"Wh…"
"Shh! Come on, run," she grabbed his wrist and dragged him along the branch. It was a large one, and was within jumping distance of several others. She’d practised running over these until she was able to do it perfectly. The elf stumbled along behind her; the smell of the blood from his multiple wounds sending shivers down her neck. She shook herself as she leapt from the branch to another one; she’d eaten not that long ago, the elf was not a meal. They came to a tree near a small hill. Llmalda jumped down and beckoned for the elf to follow her.
"Come on."
He hesitated.
"Why are you helping me?"
"Perhaps you’d prefer me to leave you here? The pack is coming."
The elf jumped down. He landed badly, fell forwards and smacked his head on the ground. He lay still. Llmalda rolled her eyes. Useless. Grabbing an arm she effortlessly pulled him over her shoulders and set off towards the small cave at the top of the hill. Climbing up the slope, she heard the sounds of the wolves drawing nearer. She reached the cave, tossed the elf inside and rummaged round in her pocket for the match. She found it, struck it against a rock and tossed it into the small ditch in front of the cave, jumping inside before a wall of flame leapt up in front of it. A second later the wolves reached the opened, frantically back-pedalling away from the flames. Llmalda smiled as she looked out of the fiery curtain. There was a familiar snarl from behind the pack and a large black shape stalked into view. Llmalda smiled.
"Good night Kezal."
The wolf hesitated. Kezal always had had the best control over his two shapes in the forest, and seemed to be fighting against the moon’s pull to reach a shape where he could speak. His face twisted, and slowly became more Norn-like. The rest of him stayed wolf. He smiled nastily at her, displaying a mouthful of fangs.
"Llmalda," he growled, "I shvd have guessed frrrom ze smell."
"It’s always nice to be noticed, Kezal."
The wolf snorted.
"Vat do you vant?"
Llmalda smiled back.
"Nothing really, just too see the expression on your… snout when you realised you’ve lost this hunt."
Kezal growled.
"Ve have not lost."
"You have no prey. And you cannot reach him. It looks lost to me."
Kezal’s lips curled back in a nasty smile.
"Vat makes you zink ve von’t come in zerrre and get him?"
Llmalda waved a hand at the wall of flame.
"This. You don’t like fire."
Kezal snorted.
"Ve can vait." He padded over to nearby tree and leaned against it.
Llmalda smiled again.
"I think not. You see, this will doubtless last until the dawn, then… No more moonshine. When moontime ends I could deal with all of you. With ease."
Kezal stared at her, then his features twisted back into the wolf shape. He snarled, then howled to the rest. Growling softly, they began to slink away. Llmalda watched them go, and felt a small shiver of satisfaction. Kezal would almost certainly try to get back at her later; it was part of the fun but for now, she’d won. She smiled and turned at look at the figure lying sprawled on the cave floor. Now she had time to stand still, she took her first good look at the elf. He was tall, probably slightly taller than she was. His fur was a soft, mossy green and was longer around his head, twisting into thick locks of green hair that stuck out from under the patterned leather band across his forehead. He wore a golden torc around his neck, with delicately crafted golden leaves on the bulbs at the end. A similar, but smaller one adorned his ankle, and the fingers of his left hand each held two gold rings, one just above the knuckle, one just below. His clothing consisted of a pale brown tunic, belted at the waist, and a pair of half-length trousers. A small leather pouch hung from his belt, as well as the torn holster for a short sword, which was missing. Across his back hung a small quiver of arrows, plus an incredibly intricately carved bow she had seen earlier. Carefully, she untied the bag from his waist, and removed any other weaponry he had about him. As she dropped the bow to the floor, the elf groaned slightly. His eyelids gently flickered open, and a pair of earth-brown eyes focused on her. He stared at her for a second, then a flash of recognition flashed across his face. His eyes travelled from her face over to the wall of flames at the mouth of the cave. His brow furrowed for a second, then his eyes widened.
"The wo…"
"They won’t be back, it’s not long until dawn," Llmalda gestured to the flames, "And they don’t like fire."
The elf eased himself upright.
"I know," he began to check the wounds on his arms. Then he looked up at her, a curious expression on his face.
"Who are you anyway?"
Llmalda hesitated; she’d been wondering when this question would come.
"Llmalda DeFang."
There was a gasp of horror from the elf, and he scrambled backwards slightly.
"DeFang? You’re a vampire!"
Llmalda glared at him and smiled, exposing her teeth.
"What gave it away?"
The elf tried to struggle backwards, his hand groping for the pouch he’d carried at his waist. Llmalda was faster, and she snatched the bag away from his grasp. Carefully, she opened it. The smell hit her like a punch, almost knocking her backwards and searing her nostrils. She gasped and hurled the bag across the cave. She glared at the elf, rubbing her stinging nose. The inside of her nostrils felt as if they were on fire.
"Garlic!" She hissed. The elf didn’t even flinch under her stare.
"What did you expect?" He snapped back, "That I’d come into the Western Forest unarmed?"
Llmalda nodded grudgingly. He was right; he’d have been stupid to come into this forest without protection. Curiosity getting the better of her, she glanced at the bag again.
"What else is in there?"
The elf began edging towards it.
"I’ll show you…" He began, before Llmalda shoved him sideways again.
"Do you think I was born yesterday? I’ll look for myself." She crept over to the pouch and eased it open. The stench of garlic hit her again, but this time she was ready for it. She held her breath, trying to ignore the stinging in her eyes as she probed the contents. Sachets of garlic powder, three bulbs of the wretched stuff, sliver tipped arrowheads, small vial of what was probably holy water of some kind, matches, silver dagger and a small book. She lifted the book out and opened a page. Cramped, spidery writing covered each page; every now and then with a weird illustration mixed in. She squinted at the paper, trying to read the scrawl. A few words caught her eye, ones that she recognised instantly.
"Magic," she breathed, a tiny shiver of excitement running through her.
She’d always been fascinated by magic, stories of enchantments were always so much more interesting than others that she’d heard. Considering all that her father had every told her consisted of various painful things happening to the next meal, anything would have been more interesting. She glanced at the elf.
"You can do magic?"
Nervously, he nodded.
"A bit. It was my mother’s trade."
The elf’s gaze again flicked back to the cave mouth. Llmalda sighed.
"They’ll not be back, why don’t you just trust me?"
The elf stared incredulously at her.
"Why? You’re a vampire!"
"So? I haven’t bitten you."
"Yet!"
"Hah!" Llmalda snorted, "Not enough blood in you for a snack, let alone a
meal. I wouldn’t waste my time." She stared at him critically.
"So, what is your name, elf?"
The elf watched her for a second, then shrugged.
"Aven. Aven Marus. I’m… I’m a nomad, I look for work wherever someone
will offer it to me."
Llmalda looked hard at him.
"You’re very well equipped for a wanderer."
"I always believe in being prepared."
"I’ll say," Llmalda muttered. The elf, Aven glanced at the fire again.
Llmalda followed his gaze, and noticed that it was beginning to die down. The sky was still dark, but it wouldn’t be long until daylight. She sighed at the thought of dawn. Traditionally, of course, vampires couldn’t go out in the light of day. For most of her family this seemed to have been true, but she had decided that she was probably a bit of an oddity. She was sensitive to sunlight, but not in the crumble to dust way a few others she’d known had been. She was fine as long as she was in the shade; it just made her eyes ache. Direct sunlight was more of a problem, but even the strong stuff merely burnt her, instead of killing her outright. She was never entirely sure why, but it had certainly proven useful in the past.
Slowly, she became aware that she was being watched closely. She turned, just in time to see Aven’s eyes flick away. She stared at him for a while, wondering what to do with him. For once, she had no idea what to do next. Normally there’d be no problem, a sort of bite and leave, but this elf had piqued her interest. The magic book especially intrigued her, and she wanted to know more.

Stories

Chapter 2