CHAPTER 02: A LESSON OF THE HUNT
As I stepped back into the castle courtyard, I found myself replaying the unexpected end to my evening. It was the first time I'd truly spoken with a human. All my life, I'd been taught that their words were meaningless, and there wasn't any point to listening to their pleading. Until now, that had always proven true. The people dragged before me had nothing to say at all, or they would cry for mercy or make impotent threats. None of it mattered. They were food. And from my earliest memories, not one had ever said anything of value.
This evening had been different. It was my first hunt alone, and it had been an abject failure. I found not a single lost soul in the forest until after I'd given up. Even then, when I'd stumbled across the party of adventurers, it had been entirely by chance. I had thought I'd find the templars that I'd heard the coven talk about so many times in the past; strong, wise warriors on a quest to bring purity to the land. Or perhaps dedicated silver or gold rank adventurers, here to chase after a great bounty and ready to give any vampire they found a perfect, masterful hunt.
I was no fool; I knew I could not take either of those groups on alone. But I did know enough about splitting a target off from the herd, something manageable yet worthy, and how to evade pursuit. That was how things were done here, after all. There was a toll for trespassing in the dark forest, and unless you went too deep, most visitors were allowed to escape. That was important. It kept the others coming back.
My first encounter with humans in the forest had been nothing like I'd expected, nor anything like I'd experienced before. My father was overprotective of me. It wasn't a fatherly instinct, I knew, but the protection of an investment. I was sure he did care in his own way, but my potential was not something he would waste, and my blood was important to him.
Since the earliest days of my childhood, as far back as I could remember, he would have my food brought to me. They were always in chains, weakened, and often broken. They knew they were doomed, and nothing could save them. When I was young and didn't know any better, I hadn't cared. They were food and sometimes a lesson in how to use my abilities and grow as a vampire. As I'd gotten older, I went through a phase where I'd wanted to prove I could hunt on my own, that I was strong, and that I didn't need to be fed like a pet.
That had never completely faded, but now, I was more curious than rebellious. I'd heard enough of their pleas to know there was more to the world than the forest. So, when I'd stumbled into this group of half-baked adventurers about to step directly to their deaths, I'd stopped them before I could think of what I really wanted to do.
Initially, I wanted to ensure that monsters didn't take away my chance at my first meal, but I hadn't really thought past that. Then, they'd just talked to me like I was another human. It had taken me completely by surprise. I had expected anger, fear, or perhaps to immediately be attacked. Their attitudes had been careless and foolhardy. I hadn't known they could be like that.
The stories had said they were brave and courageous, if misguided. My own experiences had led me to believe they'd always be fearful at the sight of me. But as I considered it, I realized my own experiences were entirely unreliable. In the real world, in a real hunt, there were no undead minions or thralls attacking and capturing wayward adventurers or merchants. They would not have experienced being dragged through the forest to their doom or being locked in the dungeon awaiting their fate. The humans I'd met before could have all been like the ones I encountered in the forest at some point.
But the older woman was different. She knew the danger and was appropriately afraid, but she was ready to face her fate. In different circumstances, I imagine she would have been one of those brave adventurers I'd heard about. I'd never tasted blood as strong as hers before, either. But then, she'd done as I'd asked, and her stories were so much more than I'd hoped for. It opened a doorway up to a much bigger world than I'd expected. I knew that there were other kingdoms outside the forest and that they were full of prey, but I'd never cared much before. After hearing how she spoke of them, though, it was almost tempting enough to leave the forest and see them for myself.
Of course, that would never be permitted. The forest was more than just our home. It was our protection. The Dark Forest was surrounded by four kingdoms and was part of none of them. The two largest nations were human, the Kingdom of Aranthor and the Republic of Lysandra. The incursions into the forest were almost exclusively from these countries. Their borders wrapped around from the northeast of the forest all the way to the west.
Then, in the northwest was the Elven kingdom of Elarith. There was no true border between their lands and ours, but you could tell between one step and the next when you were leaving the enchanted forest of the elves and stepping into the darker gloom of our home. It was impossible to miss. Their patrols frequently walked that line, but they did not cross it.
To our north, the forest abutted a mountain range, and while not a truly shared border, the dwarven hold of Thalgarim was present under those stones. They did not venture into the Dark Forest more than enough to gather the fast-growing trees along its edge. They wanted nothing to do with us, and they wanted nothing more than to be left alone.
The humans I had encountered this evening were from Aranthor. I recognized where they had come from. Angelshade was a common place for adventurers to begin an expedition. I hadn't thought to ask the woman her name nor to offer proper introductions, but I was certain she knew who I was. It was rare for the other seven vampires of the coven to visit, but when they did, they shared stories and news.
Somehow, rumors of my existence had gotten out, and now the so-called legend of the Princess of Darkness had become a popular, if fanciful, story for humans to scare misbehaving children. When Victor had told me about this a couple of years ago, I had thought it was a joke he had made up to tease me. I obviously did not eat children, and I was certainly no princess. But when that woman spoke to me, it was clear that she had put things together and knew that I was Mirela, daughter of lord Dragomir, Lord of the Dark Forest.
My thoughts were interrupted as the sun came over the horizon. It couldn't reach me through the canopy, but its presence was still always known to my kind. Every bloodline had a different reaction to it, and I knew most of them. For my part, I felt the power of my bloodline weaken, leaving me barely more than the average human.
It was far less debilitating than when I was younger, before my first bloodline evolution. Back then, I would immediately fall unconscious, too weak to awaken at all during the day. Now, close to my third evolution, I was more than capable of making it back to my bedroom even with my late arrival. I knew my exhaustion was more from spending the entire night stalking the forest than any side effect of the sun, even if the sudden loss of strength made it feel worse than it was. I walked inside, past the watching eyes of father's familiar, and moved directly for my chambers to sleep.
Hours later, I rose at sunset to find Father waiting for me.
"Your hunt was a success." His words were not filled with pride or judgment, only a statement.
I swung my legs from the bed and stood. "I am not certain I would call it success, Father. My hunt failed, and by chance I found a party of adventurers stumbling into a deathworm nest. One of them escaped to run directly into my arms. I fed, but I do not feel as if it was a hunt."
He gave a single, curt nod, "That is the way of things. Do not expect a thrilling adventure every time you step out of the castle, Mirela. They are food, nothing more. You will understand this better as you grow older. Never let the excitement of the hunt overtake your senses."
"Yes, Father." I gave a curtsey, understanding this to be the end of our conversation as he turned to leave. When he reached the door, however, he looked back over his shoulder.
"Mirela, you are close to your next evolution. You will hunt again this week. Do not risk yourself at the edge of the forest." He stepped out of the room and was gone.
And with that, I was alone. I wasn't disappointed by his words, only in how things had gone with my hunt. Perhaps it had been nothing more than poor luck, but I had nearly failed to notice prey dropped right into my lap. That was unacceptable. It would not happen again.
I changed out of my nightclothes and into a more suitable dress for moving about the castle, tying my hair back with practiced motions. Today, I would be in the library.
I had studied humans some in the past, but I was beginning to understand that was not enough. There were books taken from adventurers, such as their journals and the guides from their guilds, that I'd always ignored. The journals seemed little more than sentimental, self-important rubbish, and the guides only proved how little they understood about the forest.
Now, after actually trying to hunt them, I realized something important. I could track humans in the forest, but only if I was near enough to detect them. Those that I'd encountered the previous night had come from a direction I'd not anticipated. I wasn't sure if that was intentional on their part, or bad luck on mine—but I was going to find out.
It took me only a few minutes to reach the library. I had moved my chambers nearby when I was younger to make the night-long study sessions more practical. The grand entryway opened before me, revealing stacks that stretched into the distance—hundreds of meters long and several stories high. And that was only the visible portion. There were some areas I couldn't quite get to. Not yet. Unlike Father and the rest of the coven, I still couldn't take the form of a bat, even after my second evolution. It was unusual, but abnormalities were to be expected.
I walked between the shelves and gave a polite nod to Irene, the revenant librarian. Undead tended the library, as they did much of the castle; Father's class was Necromancer, after all. That was another thing I had yet to attain. Most people unlocked a class between the ages of twelve and fourteen, some sooner, some later. Each class required a minimum level, certain attributes, and knowledge skills before it would reveal itself. If you failed to meet those conditions by your eighteenth birthday, you received a random class, often an undesirable one.
For mortals, that risk mattered. For a vampire, this was usually irrelevant, as they would have a class before being turned. Father had once been a Sorcerer, but he'd stolen one of the Church's Echelon Catalysts ages ago. With one of those orbs, a person who met class requirements, or someone wishing to reset their class entirely, could do so and begin again at the minimum level.
I was already level five, higher than any class required, yet I remained classless. I excelled at basic necromancy and sorcery, brewed competent alchemy, and fenced well enough. And still… something was missing.
That was simply another book to find. I made my way to my preferred study area and waved a hand to gather several of the undead servants. They wore robes, a subtle hint to their former humanity. As revenants, they retained their memories, and not all of them were pleased with their fate, but their loyalty was absolute. They had no choice. More importantly, it made them exceptional at their duties; they understood my needs with little instruction and always knew how best to serve.
"Last night I encountered adventurers in the forest. They did not come in through a direction I expected them to. You two, please find me the most relevant journals and guides from past adventurers that will help me better understand this so that my future hunts will be more successful."
The two older revenants bowed with a simple, "As you wish, Master," and moved quickly to their task.
I looked to the last of them, Maeyke. She was the one I trusted most. Before my birth, she had come to the forest seeking death. A sorceress and newly retired adventurer, she had left that life behind to start a family… only for monsters to kill her husband and infant child soon after. Grief-stricken, she entered the forest unarmed, wishing only for an end. Instead, she was captured and brought to the dungeons.
It proved fortunate. Unlike most vampires, I had been born, and as an infant, I needed more than blood to survive. I never learned what became of my mother, but without Maeyke, I would not be here. She fed me milk to supplement the blood and doted on me as though I were the child she had lost. Father kept her on as my nursemaid until I was nearly two.
I do not remember the exact moment it happened. Only the aftermath. She had been feeding me when I somehow got hold of her neck and drained her dry. Father raised her as a revenant, of course, and she served with the same unwavering loyalty as before. Now, she was sometimes my tutor, sometimes my assistant… but always the one I could turn to when I needed help.
"Maeyke, I need to put more effort into discovering why I cannot unlock a class. We have already ensured that I have met every requirement for several. I think it is time we looked for a new source of information. Can I count on you?"
She closed her eyes and slowly dipped her head in a nod as she curtsied, "Yes, Master."
As she walked away, I looked down at the work I had before me. My recent research into alchemy seemed so unimportant just then. My mind was focused in an entirely different direction. I had some time before I expected anything I'd requested to be returned, and I didn't want to sit still while I waited. I stepped away from my desk and set off in a different direction.
I did not often visit the dungeons. There was rarely a reason to, unless I was testing a Skill or a ritual that required a human component. Still, there were always a few prisoners kept on hand. We didn't feed frequently, and we usually had more than enough.
At the bottom of the stairs, I paused. Eight captives were present—seven men and one woman. Their clothing and equipment had been taken, replaced with plain robes meant more to keep them from freezing than to preserve modesty. Six of the men were locked in cells. The woman and the remaining man hung from shackles in the center of the entry chamber, wrists raised above their heads. They were likely intended for my next meal.
Father always made sure they were weakened before being offered. These two were still healthy and fresh, and after my last feeding… the sight of them was far more appetizing for it.
The woman saw me first and tried to back away, but there was nowhere for her to go. Her companion noticed her movement, looked up, and wasted what little moisture he had left to spit in my direction.
"Go on and kill us, monster! Get it over with!"
I stopped a few feet away and blinked at him, genuinely puzzled. "Do you want to die? Is that why you came here?"
He tried to kick at me, managing only to make his chains rattle as he swung helplessly. "We came to kill you vile creatures! The Church will never let this stain on our world stand!"
I sighed. "So, you're a templar?"
"I won't tell you anything, beast!" His voice strained for strength, but he was already fading. I doubted he'd had food or water in days.
The woman beside him, however, broke far more quickly.
"Please… let me down. I'll tell you anything you want to know. Just please don't kill me!"
The man roared, thrashing in his bonds to kick at her. "Traitor!"
That was enough out of him.
In a blink of Celerity, I closed the distance, seized him by the hair, and wrenched his head back before sinking my fangs into his throat. He gasped and trembled, but his resistance to my venom was pitiful.
His blood hit my tongue like a surge of lightning, far richer than the woman I'd fed on the night before. I knew templars were captured from time to time, but this was the first I had ever tasted. The magic in his blood wasn't like a mage's at all. It was… different. Brighter. And it filled some hollow place in me I hadn't realized was empty.
Without meaning to, I pulled harder. Too hard. By the time I came back to myself, his heart had already stopped. I released him and stepped away, licking my lips as I studied his exsanguinated corpse.
The woman hanging beside him had shrieked at the initial attack, but now she held herself perfectly still, as though any movement might draw my attention again.
I turned my gaze to her.
"Are you also a templar?"
She nodded, "Yes.. please don't! I don't want to die."
I straightened, annoyed, but then I remembered how different it was to actually talk to someone. "Fine. I will not kill you, but you will come with me, you will behave, you will do what I ask, and tell me what I want to know. If you fail at any of these tasks, you will die. Do you understand?"
The woman began to frantically nod, and I remembered this time, "What is your name?"
"Coralie. My name is Coralie," she answered in a rush.
I nodded to the bone warden guarding the prisoners. It wordlessly shuffled to the winch and lowered Coralie to the ground. Once her feet touched stone, the Warden unhooked the chain from her manacles. Her arms dropped limply to her sides, trembling as she fought to stay upright.
"Come now," I said, turning and leading her toward the library.
She shuffled after me, her ankles chained as well—something I hadn't noticed until now. After a few steps, she gathered the courage to speak. "Where are you taking me?"
"To the library," I said, much to her consternation.
"You have a library? What do you need me there for?" The fear in her voice sounded oddly misplaced. Why would anyone be afraid of a library?
"Last night, several adventurers entered the forest in a way that I did not expect. I will be studying journals and records to help me understand why. You will help."
She did not object again, obediently following me to my desk. We arrived shortly before the two revenants returned. As we sat down, they began sorting the new books on the table for us.
"Coralie. We will study these tomes to better understand how the adventurers and templars choose their paths into the Dark Forest. This will help me with the hunt in a few days' time. You should begin with that stack there. It is all material from previous templar assaults. Take care not to damage anything."
"You want me to help you hunt more of my own people?!" Her outburst was more startled than angry, but I only shrugged.
"Yes. I must be prepared to hunt any invader. Are you backing out of our agreement?" I asked, leveling a flat look at her. I wasn't sure if I was disappointed or not.
"I… I… No, I—" she stammered, struggling for words.
I seized on the word I wanted to hear. "No? Good. Begin, and take notes."
We worked for six days. Twice, Coralie panicked and froze, unwilling to translate some bit of church code, and twice I bit her for it. That was better motivation than I'd expected. She was terrified of death, and almost as much so, she was terrified of being turned into a vampire or revenant. My obvious delight in the taste of her blood pushed her in the right direction. After the second bite and the second time I'd used my own blood to heal her, she was much more obedient.
Maeyke helped me to work on uncovering the issue with my class, but she was careful not to specify what we were researching with Coralie around. As my time ran out, I'd learned many things.
First, no one had any answers regarding my class. Not as far as we could tell. Most classes required no more than fifteen in one or two attributes, level two or even three for more difficult classes, and apprentice-level knowledge for related abilities. I exceeded every requirement. I was level five. I possessed multiple skills well beyond the apprentice level. Yet the class window remained shut.
At this point, I was forced to consider the possibility I would be stuck with whatever random class awakened on my birthday, now only weeks away. If it proved intolerable, I could always find a way to change it later… but the thought left a sour taste.
More pressing to my immediate concerns, we mapped out several routes adventurers and templars used to enter the forest. Their methods showed a surprising amount of research into the forest's ecosystem and workings, yet they still stumbled into Father's traps often enough. Some of the markers he'd created for our own use had been discovered, but there were just as many decoys, and both factions fell for them regularly.
We learned that the Church and adventurers followed their own systems for choosing when and how to enter, based on the time of year, the cycle of the moon, and the type of mission, all of which affected their paths. With that knowledge, I now had a clear idea of where I would hunt next.
Father had not shown himself, but observed my work with Coralie through several of his familiars. He deemed my handling of her acceptable. During the day, she was locked in a private room in the West Tower. Tonight, she would remain there until I returned from my hunt.
I spent little time preparing. I did not need to carry much, only myself and my side sword. I dressed the same as before and prepared to leave. I paused only long enough to grab my enchanted cloak on the way out. With a momentary fretting over the lingering concerns of my missing class, I took a moment to look over my status as I stepped out into the forest.
TO BE CONTINUED...