Daughter of the Night

While I’d like to say that we made it back to the Summer Palace without any difficulties, I’d be lying. In fact, I’d be lying if I said that we made it off the damned roof without something going wrong.

It took a few seconds for the impact of Aerrin’s words to fully sink in. Morhiannara’s daughter? And she was in a position where Dracula’s Court was ripping off parts of her wings?

“She’s a hostage,” I breathed, and with the realization came a rush of horror. While it was one thing for him and his followers to make me suffer, I was a vampire, and as such, I was technically his subject. He might be a dictator that needed to be overthrown, and as a vampire, it was my responsibility. But for him to extend his cruelties to another race besides his own people, beyond the boundaries of his rule... Disgraceful.

And for him to target one of the Fae, a people more cultured and far more noble than his own, only emphasized the monstrosity of vampirekind.

And, of course, I could empathize with the Queen’s daughter, wherever she was. If she was alive, it was only because she was only being subjected to horrors and humiliations enough that she wished she were dead.

“How long has he had her?” I demanded, my fists clenching.

Aerrin’s expression became one of profound sorrow. “About three and a half years,” he said. “Her capture was the reason why Morhiannara sent me to find you.”

I felt myself stiffening in anger. “She never tried to get her daughter back?”

The Summer Knight shook his head. “Not when the cost was so high.”

“Cost? You mean the Queen was being blackmailed?”

Aerrin was about to respond when he and I both heard the sound of metal cutting through the air.

I shot up into the night sky, spreading my cape so as to catch the air and hang suspended. Aerrin rolled towards the center of the building while unsheathing Wildfire, all in one smooth movement.

The grappling hooks hissed as they skidded across the concrete until they hit a solid weight and stuck. I counted fifteen of them. Why me? Vampire luck was so shitty.

“Battle strategies?” Aerrin hissed at me as Wildfire swayed back and forth between potential enemies.

I hissed as I heard the Van Helsing hunters winding their way up the building at an impressive speed.

“Run away, kill them, knock them out, try and parley, or injure them enough that they don’t come back.”

Aerrin exhaled, exasperated. “That’s a fairly long list, Cross.”

“You have lots of options, then,” I snapped. “But you’ll want to make a decision relatively soon.”

At that moment, twelve out of the fifteen Hunters landed expertly on the roof, coming up with guns loaded with silver bullets.

“Damn,” I spat before disintegrating my form into shadow. While the silver could harm me no matter what form I took, it would make it difficult for the Hunters to spot me.

As if on cue, the Hunters slid heat-seeking goggles onto their eyes, relocated me, and aimed at me as one.

I flexed my right hand experimentally before swinging my arm up and then downward into the ground, hitting the concrete roofing with all my strength. It disintegrated into a thousand pieces as if made of a thin sheet of ice, and I fell through the resulting hole just as I heard the guns firing.

I heard the silver bullets slicing through the air millimeters above my head as the roof collapsed in a cloud of rubble and dust. Several of the Hunters had fallen with me, and I was on them in a heartbeat. I was about to crush their skulls together when I remembered Aerrin’s request, and I had to go out of my way to make sure that they were merely knocked out.

Another Hunter fell through the roof, aiming at me as she fell. I ducked under the bullet and grabbed her by the throat before realizing that if I squeezed, she would die. In my second of hesitation, the woman brought her gun up and pulled the trigger at point blank range, the muzzle aimed at my heart.

I flung myself sideways while heaving her in the opposite direction, and my speed was enough that I managed to escape the bullet’s path. The Hunter went flying into the wall with a grunt, and before I thought of what I was doing I threw myself after her, fangs extended.

I was unprepared, to say the least, for the vial of holy water the woman had uncorked. The contents were thrown at my face, and although I swayed backwards to avoid them several droplets landed on my collarbone. I immediately felt my flesh smoldering as if the water was acid.

With a furious growl I knocked the woman’s dagger out of her hand and slammed into her head with my fist, knocking her into the far wall. With any luck, she’d awake in a few hours to a persistent migraine.

I grimaced at the thought these were only three Hunters, and above Aerrin was dealing with the other twelve, if not more.

I leaped through the hole just as I heard Aerrin yell, “No! Don’t-“

The suffocating pressure of the holy water surrounding me was enough to force me to my knees, although by some miracle I merely staggered until I settled for a crouch. How could I have been so stupid? I had just sprung the very trap that I had warned Aerrin of earlier.

The Hunters aimed their guns at me again, and this time I knew my movements would be too sluggish to avoid the bullets. Still, I had a few more tricks up my sleeve.

I brought a corner of the cape around my body and hardened it into a shield just before the Hunters emptied their chambers at me.

The bullets ricocheted off the hardened material of the cape, and as soon as the shower of silver ended I dropped my cape and rolled back into the hole in the ground, which thankfully was within the parameters of the holy water. I broke through the wall in the room below, chunks of concrete and steel framework falling below me.

I rose above the building and threw myself into the fray, although Aerrinaekaiyan had taken out a fair share of them already.

In close quarters, I had an advantage over the humans. My speed and power was far superior to their own, and without time to ready their weapons or prepare their other devices they were next to powerless.

Yet they weren’t like humans. One woman nearly staked me with a wooden cross, and it was only with a desperate lash that I knocked it out of her hand, breaking her hand in the process before striking her open-handed in her sternum.

A silver blade cleaved the air at the height of my neck, and I bent backwards to avoid it, landing on my hands. I followed the backbend through, kicking my foot into the jaw of the Hunter wielding the blade. He flew several feet backwards before crashing into the ground.

I was just starting to think that we were winning when a second wave of Hunters swarmed over the lip of the building. How had I missed them?

Guns blazed, and this time I used the gauntlets Aerrin gave me to deflect them before grabbing a chair-sized chunk of steel framework and heaving it at the oncoming Hunters before sprinting forward towards my enemies.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power,” a Hunter before me began chanting. I hissed with annoyance when I felt a great weight descend upon my shoulders, making it harder for me to move. Although I didn’t want to admit it, that would have been a nice time for Aerrin to intervene, but I spotted him across the roof deflecting bullets off his katana.

“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes,” the voice continued, and another added to it. The weight upon my shoulders grew greater, and my movements sputtered to a stop as it consumed all of my strength just to stand. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms…”

I felt the Hunter circle me and approach from behind, but I was almost paralyzed with the exertion of merely standing. It was a verse from Joshua, I remembered. Aimed directly at monsters like myself.

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand…”

I could smell the sweat coming off of the Hunter now, the waves of suppressed fear and overwhelming hatred. And I could feel the crippling power of the wooden stake that the Hunter was holding.

The distance was closing rapidly, Aerrin didn’t know what was going on, and as much as I struggled, I was unable to move.

I heard the rustle of cloth as the Hunter raised his hand, the wooden stake grasped tightly in his fingers.

The annoying thing, I thought darkly, was that I wouldn’t even be able to stare death in the face when it finally caught up to me. This is what I got for being so damn overconfident. I felt regret too, for what was unfinished and what wasn’t even started.

“…Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace…”

I heard the wooden stake whistle as it came through the air, aimed at my heart from behind. And there was nothing I could do besides accept it.

A shuriken cut through the air and hit the stake with enough force to rip it from the Hunter’s hands. In rapid succession several more shuriken cut through the air towards the Hunters who were reciting scripture.

While they managed to get out of the way, the shuriken disrupted their verses and the power of the holy words was lost over me. Freed, I immediately tackled the two Hunters who had been reciting the scripture, grabbing them savagely by the backs of their necks and slamming their heads together with enough force to jar even my own teeth. I dropped them to the floor, struggling not to follow through with the finishing blow.

Once that had been accomplished, I turned to my savior. I only knew that it wasn’t Aerrin; I had never seen him use the Japanese weaponry beyond his katana, and I knew that he was only armed with Wildfire and a few daggers tonight.

A faerie maybe two inches taller than me returned my gaze levelly. Her hair was military-short, wiry, and a brilliant shade of snow white. Her skin was a deep almond color, and her eyes were a pale green. She had a scar through one eyebrow and was dressed in a finely made light cuirass and greaves. What gave away her identity was the silvery blue longsword that she had planted in the concrete beside her.

“Opheliannere?” I heard Aerrin say from across the roof. At this point the Vampire Hunters were all either unconscious or retreating to fight another day. No thanks to me, I thought darkly.

The woman turned and grinned wolfishly as Aerrin came slamming into her in what I at first mistook for a body slam but belatedly realized was a hug.

“I missed you!” Aerrin exclaimed.

“It’s been a while, kid,” the Winter Knight agreed. While she sounded gruff, the pleasure in her voice was unmistakable.

Aerrin stepped back and turned to me, grinning as if he had just won the lottery. “Cross, meet Opheliannere.”

I tilted my head in acknowledgement, but it was difficult for me to remain amiable when I wanted nothing more than to retreat to a hideout where I could sulk over my recent humiliation in solitude.

After all, how exactly was I supposed to repay the Winter Knight for saving my life? I detested the notion of finding myself in debt to anyone, yet my own idiocy had brought me to this.

“Greetings,” Opheliannere returned, a small smile playing around her lips. While I wanted to detest her for her self-assured stance and calm demeanor, I knew I was just trying to salvage my wounded ego. Whether I liked it or not, if not for her actions I would be dead. Well, more dead, at any rate.

“It appears I am in your debt, Winter Knight,” I said after swallowing enough of my pride that I could say it without grimacing. “You have my thanks.”

The lean faerie chuckled as she pulled her longsword out of the ground and returned it to its sheathe at her hip. “Glad I could be of assistance,” she replied easily. “Although I have a feeling you would have come up with something. Wild animals are most dangerous when trapped, after all.”

While usually I would take offense at being referred to as a wild animal, the way she said it carried the weight of a compliment. Although we both knew that I had been defenseless, her effort to brush off my debt made me warm up to her a bit more.

Aerrin, who had been following our exchange with sharp eyes, crossed his arms. “So what should we do with the Vampire Hunters? Is it a good idea to leave them on a rooftop?”

I shrugged. “If we were to take responsibility, what would we do with them? Where would we take them?”

The Winter Knight scanned the surrounding buildings. “As long as the runners don’t follow us back to the Summer Palace.”

Aerrin sheathed Wildfire. “I doubt they would when so many of their comrades need assistance. Still, we should take a more circuitous route back.”

Which we did. I followed behind the two Knights who exchanged stories and jokes as two best friends would. I couldn’t smother the pang of jealousy, and when Aerrin tried to draw me into the conversation I brushed him off.

I might have been a bit bitter about having had to be rescued by a stranger. I had grown used to Aerrin covering my back, but another? And now the warrior undoubtedly thought me weak. I had wanted to make a good impression on the Summer Knight’s mentor.

For once I was actually relieved when we made it back to the Summer Palace. The two Knights and I headed straight for Morhiannara’s throne room, where she would be discussing something or another with her advisors.

Sure enough, Morhiannara was in her place on the Summer Throne, clad today in a flowing gown of pale yellow.

“My Queen,” Aerrin said, bowing. Beside him, Opheliannere did the same. I tilted my head downwards a degree.

Morhiannara turned and scanned us briefly, her eyes stopping momentarily on the Winter Knight.

“It pleases me to see you, Winter Knight,” the Queen began, “yet if I could request a quarter of an hour more with my advisors, we are almost done discussing-“

“We have a message from Dracula, my Queen,” Aerrin interrupted. Their eyes locked and the Queen blinked once, slowly, before turning to her advisors.

“I must ask that we postpone our meeting to a later date,” she told them. “I request privacy at this moment.” The advisors obeyed. Lemariastra was among them, and she shot Aerrin a questioning glance before leaving the chamber.

“Well?” the Queen demanded, her face made of stone. Now that I knew her relation to Dracula, I was less suspicious of her and I did feel guilt for her predicament. Why had nobody stopped him? Why must innocents suffer so? I felt pity for the Queen, too, but I did my best to quell that emotion. People like Morhiannara do not respond well to pity.

In short words, Aerrinaekaiyan conveyed what had happened. Morhiannara’s mouth tightened infinitesimally, but beyond that her expression was unchanged. Even when Aerrin revealed to her the piece of faerie wing that belonged to her daughter.

Opheliannere contributed that she had been given orders to aid the Summer Court in any way she could as the Winter Court was in recess. She had felt the presence of the vampires and had rushed to our location in time to help us out with our battle against Van Helsing.

Morhiannara listened to them without comment, and when the Winter Knight finished her story the Queen turned to me. “Do you have anything to add, Daughter of the Night?”

“No,” I responded. “Aerrinaekaiyan’s description was accurate.”

“Very well,” she said before leaning back in her throne and knitting her fingers together. Her brow furrowed ever so slightly as she stared at an unknown object in the distance.

Aerrin and I exchanged glances before returning our gazes to the monarch, unsure of her reaction.

Morhiannara maintained that pose for almost a whole minute before she moved again.

“Aerrinaekaiyan, you should inform the Guard Captain of what has transpired,” she ordered. “Winter Knight, I have no direct orders for you at the moment, but do as you see fit and stay close. Both of you are dismissed.”

Opheliannere and Aerrin nodded before turning and leaving the chamber. Aerrin winked at me as he passed, and he got an elbow in the ribs from the Winter Knight for his efforts. I had to bite back a smirk before turning back to the Queen, who was watching me stoically. My amusement withered away.

“It is time I have explained in full exactly why the Fae requires your aid,” the Queen said. “Clearly, the Summer Knight has told you a part of it.”

“He told me that your daughter is held hostage,” I replied. Morhiannara’s hand tightened reflexively on the piece of wing that had rested in her lap.

“That is true,” she agreed. “It happened a few days before the Spring Equinox three years before. Riornahara was traveling back from a tour she had made in the Old Cities, across Europe. And she was ambushed by Dracula’s Court.”

I blinked. I had never seen Morhiannara outside the Summer Palace. I hadn’t given it much thought before, but now I realized that it was probably due to heightened security. Signs of the princess’s absence were subtle, but they were there.

“Her Guard was slaughtered, all except for Tristanarium,” Morhiannara recalled bitterly. “We received the news from him during the Equinox.”

Three and a half years. That was a long time. A very long time. There was no telling what kind of information the princess had been tortured into providing. The secrets of the Fae would remain secret for how much longer? If they hadn’t been spilled already. I didn’t doubt the princess’s strength, if she was anything like her mother, but I had been witness to Dracula’s methods. Hell, I’d been victim to a few of them.

“What motives would he have for doing this?” I demanded. The King of Vampires was bloodthirsty and ruthless, but he wasn’t stupid enough to make powerful enemies without reason.

Morhiannara’s gaze grew distant again before she focused on my face. “We still don’t know how, but somehow he discovered on a project our technologies branch was working on. We were keeping it top secret, as well. Only the twenty Fae working on the project knew of its existence, beside myself. Yet somehow he heard.”

“And exactly what was this project?” I asked, arching one eyebrow. If it was something Dracula coveted, it had to be pretty impressive.

“Our scientists were furthering the advancement of light technology,” the Queen explained. “They were testing processes that would make Fae lighting more durable. Yet they miscalculated their experiment and instead produced an accidental technology. A shield, of sorts.”

“A shield?” I repeated.

“The scientists created a means of annulling high quantities of heat. Instead of finding a way to make light more durable, they discovered a way to make other things more durable to light.”

“Other things, as in…” my eyes narrowed. “As in vampires?”

Morhiannara’s lips pursed ever so slightly. “That was not the original intention, I assure you. And it’s never been tested, so there is no foundation to that theory. But this ability was discovered when some fruit was left exposed to high light intensities for over a week. It was discovered that the fruit had rotted instead of withered, the way fruit will when it is exposed to heat.”

“And how exactly did Dracula connect that to protection against light for vampires?” I demanded.

“More tests were done. Dry timber that had undergone the procedure was exposed to levels of heat that would easily set other wood ablaze, and yet nothing happened. Other experiments were done as well before the scientists revealed their discovery to myself and the head of the Science department.”

“And now Dracula wants the procedure for himself?” It would make sense. The greatest weakness to high-level vampires like him and myself was the daytime.

If our curse against the sun were lifted, we would have an easy time overpowering the other supernatural races. Werewolves could maintain their lupine forms for only so long without the full moon. The Fae were physically weaker than the vampires, and if we found a way to overcome their technology they would fall easily. Magic-users among the humans were too unorganized to be a threat.

To maintain the balance of the supernatural world, it was vital that the vampires retain their weakness. If Dracula could shed his Achilles’ heel, he would very likely become the most powerful being on the face of the planet.

“So he tries to use my daughter as leverage,” Morhiannara hissed. It was the first time I had ever seen a true break in her posture, and I found the Queen of the Fae to be a terrifying figure.

“He will feel the wrath of the Fae,” she swore to me. “He will burn in agony for his actions.”

I believed her. It occurred to me, not for the first time, that I was not the only grave mistake Dracula had made. His enemies were numerous and powerful, and he was only now coming to realize their potential.

He had known for decades that I was out there plotting against him, and he had found it amusing. But when I joined with the Fae, he had cause for alarm.

He knew we were coming for him, and he felt the seeds of uncertainty. His shell of invincibility was cracking.

That was the cause for the message. He wanted to reassert his authority, because he felt it crumbling through his fingers.

I told this to Morhiannara, and she looked pleased. Then the mask was back on, as if it had never been removed.

“I trust this explanation has sated any questions you had,” she said to me, the passionate hatred once again neatly locked behind her mask.

“It has,” I assured her. “Except, why did you alert the Captain of the Guard first of all people?”

Morhiannara was silent for a long second. “He is her betrothed,” she finally said. “It is his right to know first.”

I blinked. Tristan? Betrothed to the princess? I was only beginning to realize that there was far more to the people of the Fae than what first met the eye. Without any further questions, I dipped my head low to Morhiannara, who returned the gesture. Then I turned and left, my mind awhirl with the events of the night.

The sun was to rise soon. I could feel it coming. So, without further options, I returned to my makeshift home in the cellars of the Summer Palace.