Vampiris Sancti: The Elf by Katri Cardew Read Free Book Online Page A

filth of
stale garbage and vermin carcass. Little did the distressed Vampire
know was that her path had been under observation by several
interested parties. The Elf watched from the entrance, the Varkja
watched the Elf from the corner, the scent of the Vampire almost
Aunsin played upon the air, and on the roof the Oric fumbled while
the young Vampire heaved into the gutter. For a few seconds time
suspended as all focused upon a creature unaware of the fragility
of her continued existence, or of the complexity of worlds
interacting around her.
    The Oric were
unable to see the magical creature hiding in plain sight, but Zyre
felt their obvious presence assaulting her senses. She turned
towards it in time to see them leap from the rooftop with lightning
alacrity, their leather clad bodies tied to ropes. Their movements
were symmetry of precision, honed by years of practice, except they
were still the limited abilities of humans. As proficient as they
were, they were no match for the rest of the girl’s audience and
Zyre felt the tremors in the air the second they left the roof.
Before they had fallen even centimetres downwards the Elf had
ignored her philosophy of live or die and intervened. She dissolved
to appear beside the girl and grabbed her arm in a firm grip. Once
landed the Oric ran towards the girl ready to strike, but their
knives shattered against the protective shield of the magical Vesi.
The clang of the metal had the Varkja move away from his corner
observation and into the entrance of the lane, ready to act if the
humans tried again. Faced with both the formidable power of Martyc
security and an unknown magical being the Oric removed themselves
with the same swift efficiency they had appeared.
    Shivering in
shock the girl seemed unaware of the Varkja slinking back into the
shadows, though her saviour had noticed his presence. At that
moment, Zyre was torn between emotion and alarm while she puzzled
over her reaction to the attack of the girl because usually she
left things to be what they were. It wasn’t Elf nature to engage in
the rescue of another, sometimes the destruction, but rescue would
mean bothering about something. The other problem was the presence
of the Varkja because where there was a Varkja there would soon be
a Martyc, and she didn’t want any other interactions than what
already happened. She would have left, but the girl with her
mixture of fragility and incomparable ignorance intrigued Zyre
enough to have her interact even more with the pitiful
creature.
    She complained
with the indignation of one refusing to accept the reality before
her while she shouted at the Elf.
    “What the
hell’s going on, why did they attack me, and how did you stop
them?”
    The young
Vampire crumpled to the ground trembling as her belligerent words
were at odds with her pathetic response to the violence. Zyre could
feel the wave of panic sitting on the air between them, pungent as
the scent of demons approaching from behind. She knew that in a few
moments it would not matter. Or else all her questions would be
answered. She gave the girl the full benefit of her kaleidoscope
Elf gaze while her senses kept watch on the Varkja in the
shadows.
    “You be a
Vampire now and the ones who come will tell you all.”
    Zyre knew of
the coming Aegai, the demon servants of the Ghuvk, their job was to
keep order on the streets while gathering up lost Vampires like
her. The seven foot monsters with their greenish snake like skin
and dull yellow cat eyes were enough to scare anyone at first
glance until you realised they were dumb as well—demons. They also
had this annoying habit of repeating what the last one said until
it wound up a chorus of endless nonsense. She would have happily
blasted the lot into another universe but, unfortunately, even the
most dim witted of demons were protected by Sere.
    She believed
the girl’s fate was not death, at least not with the Old World
Blood coursing through her. There was also the