Bloodlust (Morathor x Vesta)

[Morathor]

Evendale was a modest city--it was no great metropolis like the Capitol or any of the major ports, but neither was it some rural village. The river that ran through the city brought in goods from across the country, and took away the produce of the land surrounding Evendale. To the north of the river, there were wide plains where wheat and barley were grown; to the south, orchards dotted the rolling hills, producing apples, figs, and persimmons. It had once been a very pleasant place to live.

That was before the new taxes. It had been almost a century since the Lord of Evendale had declared that he would no longer take payment in gold or in goods. Instead, the taxes were to be paid in labor. Every daughter, when she turned sixteen, was to be taken to the Lord's manor. She would be returned to her family after ten years of service, or at least, that was the bargain. A number did not return, and those that did were broken. No matter what their personality when the Lord took them, he always gave them back quiet, docile, and terrified to speak of him or anything that went on in the manor.

And so, there was almost no news of the manor. There was no news, for example, that the Lord had passed on and passed his title on to his heir, or even that an heir had been born. Of course, everyone assumed that the man who ruled Evendale now was not the same one who had made the decree a hundred years ago, but the decree was carried out just the same.

 

[Vesta_Goddess_Of_Flames]

Aurora had spent the better part of nineteen years in Evendale, her parents travel to modest city when she was but eight years old. Her father hoped to find good work there, and managed to eek out a sufficient life for his wife and child working in the fields for a wealthy farmer. Two years after arriving they lost her mother in child birth, the infant survived. Aurora was the one to name her sister, giving her the name Angel. It left the house to just her father and her, she was left alone most of time. He wasn't a bad father, quite the opposite, he work hard daily to make sure she lived comfortably.

The day his daughter turned sixteen was the second worst of his life. He could only stand by as they dragged her away, the girl put up a fight though. By the time they reached the manor two of the men had broken noses. The men were furious with her, throwing her into a dark cell for two weeks before presenting her to the Lord of Evendale. By this point she had been an extremely thin girl, but it still hadn't broken her. She kept the fire that burned with in her, in fact she could swear it burned brighter after those two weeks.

She had only been away from home for just over two weeks before she was able to escape. She had caught wind of a conversation about bringing her before the Lord of the Manor. When two men came to get her the next day, she lifted a knife from one of them. Her desperate need to survive is what drove her quickness and strength. Those two weeks she saw a great deal of things, things that would have frightened girls her age. Both men dead, laying in their own blood she stole the keys. Managing to free a few of the newest girls on her way out of the large manor.

In the night she ran home, throwing herself at her father when she entered the door. The reunion didn't last long, her father began packing two bags with everything they would need. "You leave and take your sister with you," he pushed her towards the small room Angel slept in, "don't ever come back here Aurora, I couldn't bare if they took you again." That night she and Angel ran as far as they could, never looking back. While on the run they found a band of gypsies, who over the years educated them on the things Aurora had seen. They taught her and her sister the many ways to fight vampires and survive them.

 

[Morathor]

As the last rays of sunlight spread across the sky, a small cart drawn by a pair of horses made its way into Evendale. The vehicle shuddered violently on the rough cobblestones of the little city, but it didn't seem to bother the man at the reins, whose clothing proclaimed him a gypsy. His iron gray hair stood out sharply against his tanned skin, and the wrinkles around his black eyes gave him a kind, grandfatherly appearance. Of course, that was only the side of himself he had shown to the public. The two girls hidden in the back of his cart knew him as their stern teacher, and even they had only seen shadows of his former self--a ruthless hunter of legendary skill.

And yet he acknowledged that Aurora had surpassed his legend, at least in terms of skill. But she still lacked one thing, one thing he could not teach her: experience. And so he had brought her and Angel back to Evendale, for training, for closure, and for vengeance.

As they approached the inn, he muttered into the back of the cart, "How you girls doin' back there?"

 

[Vesta_Goddess_Of_Flames]

Aurora and Angel sat in the back of the cart, each bump in the cobble stone road set them slamming into the hard wood sides. Aurora cursed under her breath each time her shoulder hit. There was of course nothing to hold onto to keep them steady. Angel had it worse being the small of the two girls. It was the reason she was mostly left behind, when it came to older vampires. Her older sister wouldn't allow for her to put in such a dangerous position. Eight years ago she had been put in Aurora's care, and she meant to keep her safe.

Another bump and they were once again jostled, they both rolled their eyes at the silly question. "We are doing great it in here, it's like riding on a cloud." Another bump and Aurora hit her head slightly, "I could swear you are finding the biggest stones on purpose, old man." She rubbed the small bump on the top of her head. Angel laughed quietly at her sister, she was known for having a sharp tongue. On more then a few occasions she had been warned it would get her in trouble.

 

[Morathor]

"Hey, it's not much better up here. At least you two are young. I'm an old man with aching joints." That fell somewhere between exaggeration and flat-out lie; although their mentor was no longer the man he'd been in his prime, he'd taken good care of his body, and time had not been as hard on him as it was on most. "You'll just have to endure... not sure if they'd try to collect their 'tax' on outsiders, but let's not take any risks, yeah?" Granted, being collected as a tax was an easy way into the lord's manor, but it was on the enemy's terms. It would be very hard to slip any equipment in that way.

After a while the cart came to a stop; presumably, they had reached the "I'll try to get a room with a window," the old man said, "so you girls can slip in. I'll be back in a minute to point out the window."

 

[Vesta_Goddess_Of_Flames]

Both girls laughed, "aching joints my ass," they both knew the physical health and strength of their mentor. Aurora laughter stopped as he continued, "that sick bastard would take any girl that came through this town, I have no doubt about that." Instinctively her hands checked the blades strapped to her thighs. The metal glinted glittered from the dim light of their lantern. Her mind wandered back to the memories of the short time she spent in the manor. It was sheer luck that she didn't join the rest of the girls in her group, what helped was the broken noses of the Lords guards. Aurora smiled to herself, as she remember the shocked look on their faces and blood pour freely from their nose.

Relieved when the cart finally rolled to a stop Angel shook her sister from her memories. "I don't know if you heard him or not, but he is going to get a room with a window so we can sneak in." Aurora mentally shook herself as she nodded towards her sister, "lets hope he hurries, my ass hurts from all those fucking cobblestones."

 

[Morathor]

It was about a quarter of an hour before their mentor returned to the wagon. "Here, have a look." He waited for a moment so the young women could get into position to look out of the cart before continuing. "Got us a good room. Second floor, that window all the way in the back." He pointed down the alley. "See it? I'll be waiting." He went back inside, exchanged a few pleasant words with the innkeeper, and hurried up to the room. Even though he was taking the stairs, he wondered if his pupils might not reach the room before him.

 

[Vesta_Goddess_Of_Flames]

Aurora was getting impatient, the time it took him to get the room seemed like forever. Soon she heard the familiar footsteps of their mentor, and his hushed words. Both girls looked to where he was pointing, the second floor was a little easier to get to then the others. The windows location in the alley was perfect, they could slip in and out with out being seen. "Yeah yeah, I see it, piece of cake." When he walked back into the building, both girls made quick work of getting inside. This had always been a little game they played, see who got to the room first. Angel was always slower, but not by much. In the darkness they scaled the wall and pulled themselves in through the window. Aurora sat smiling while Angel stayed by the window. Their mentor almost always lost, unable to resist even the smallest conversation, then again gypsies weren't known for their silence were they.

 

[Morathor]

The old man sighed to find the girls had beaten him to the room yet again. He hadn't outrun them in years, even when he hadn't stopped to talk to anybody--not that he was going to let them know that. Aurora and Angel were talented to say the least, but he would be failing them as a teacher if he let them get cocky about it.

"Seems my tongue has gotten the better of me again," he said cheerfully before sitting down on the bed. There was only one bed, since he had to appear to be travelling alone, and he intended to keep it for himself. His old joints needed all the help they could get; let the young ones sleep on the floor. Not that they were likely to be sleeping tonight. Tonight they were hunting.

"So, we're finally here... back where it began, at least for you two. Do you feel ready, Aurora? Angel?"

 

[Vesta_Goddess_Of_Flames]

Aurora laid back on the bed smiling, "when will your tongue ever not get the better of you?" Rolling over to her side she propped herself up with an elbow. Angel stood sweetly by the window, she only offered their mentor a comforting smile. "If I had the time I would have stopped to chat too, there is nothing wrong with it?" It was this attitude that worried the oldest sister. Angels name fit her too well, she would never be ready for the vampire they were up against this time.

Taking a deep breath Aurora looked from her sister, into their mentors eyes. They were begging him to keep Angel behind, to recognize that she was too soft for this. "Mentally, yes I am ready, I am only slightly worried that I'm not physically ready though. Do you think we waited long enough?" Angel only smiled nervously, she was trusting the judgment of the gypsy. If he said she was ready then she would be...right? "You wouldn't have brought us here if you didn't think we were ready for this right?" It was both a question and reassurance for herself.

 

[Morathor]

"I think you're ready physically. Mentally, well, that we can never be sure of, not until you try it. But since you're so confident, Aurora, I'm going to let you run this show." Of course, he would be quick to shut her down if she did something stupid, but for now he would let her call the shots. "What's your plan, kid?"

 

[Vesta_Goddess_Of_Flames]

His faith in her abilities was comforting, she knew he had taught her well but she always worried about failing him. Now this time he was letting her take the lead, she took a deep breath then let it out slowly. Aurora sat up in the bed and looked towards her sister. Getting off the bed she walked the few steps to stand in front of Angel, smiling she tucked some loose hair behind the girls ear. Turning back towards he mentor, "I think I will go scope things out alone first, just to see exactly what we are dealing with." She didn't want to look at her sister now, she knew Angel would be upset about the decision.

"what do you mean, you're going alone," Angle quietly complained, not wanting to bring attention to the room with loud voices. "I am just as physically ready for this as you are Aurora." He attention went to their mentor, she knew he would take her side on this, why else would he have put her in charge.

 

[Morathor]

"I just told you, Angel, Aurora's in charge this time. If she feels confident scouting alone, well let her." He suspected that Aurora was planning to do more than scout, but as long as she did take the time to properly scope out the situation, she would be fine. He didn't think there was a vampire in the world who could take Aurora if she were thinking straight. As long as she didn't get reckless, or sloppy, as long as she kept her guard up, she would be fine.

 

[Vesta_Goddess_Of_Flames]

Aurora knew her mentor knew what she was up to, but she would let Angel risk herself in this. In reality this was her own fight anyway, Angel had escape her fate long before she was of age to be taken. She looked once more at her mentor, then again at her sister. she smiled, "I'm coming right back, I just want to see how many there are," she lied, hoping Angel would fall for it. Slipping out the window, through the shadows to the cart. Pulling what she needed from the hidden compartment, she kept to the shadows again. The Inn was pretty close to the large Manor, one of the closest building anyway. If she kept to the trees she should be able to slip by unnoticed.

Twenty minutes later Aurora found herself outside the stone walls surrounding the Manor. As if they would keep her out, she scaled them quickly. The court yard was surprisingly empty save for a few guards nearest the building. A slight feeling of unease slipped through her, she tamped it down quickly. The feeling would only distract her, she had to push her fear aside. She had never seen the Lord of the Manor, but a vampire would be easy enough to spot.

She found a low window, glad that she wouldn't have to scale yet another wall to get inside. Silently she scrammbled inside, when she heard two voices coming closer. The room she was in was dark, she couldn't see where she was at first. As her eyes adjusted she could see a large wooden table, telling her she was in the kitchen. 'Like this has ever been used' she thought to herself. Staying against the wall, she made her way out into the hall. Thinking herself lucky when she spotted a vampire at the end of the hall.

 

[Morathor]

Although Aurora had never met the Lord of the manor, this vampire was very lordly. He appeared to be in his early thirties, although that was hardly any indication of his actual age, and rather tall. His broad shoulders and muscular arms were apparent even through his fine clothing, and his dark brown hair was neatly trimmed, as was his beard.

He didn't seem to have noticed her presence at all, or if he did, he thought nothing of an attractive young lady wandering the manor. After all, he had quite a collection, didn't he?

 

[Vesta_Goddess_Of_Flames]

Wrapping her fingers around the hilt of a dagger, she pulled it from his sheath on her thigh. Instincts should have told her it wasn't going to be this easy. Her adrenaline blocked this information from getting to her brain though. She crouched lower to the floor as she slid along the wall towards him, ready to plunge the blade into the vampires chest. She would be doing the town a great service, releasing them from the monster before her. She was but feet away now, Aurora pulled her hand back, she then lunged at him. She had planned to sink the blade into his back.

 

[Morathor]

Her approach, though stealthy, did seem to catch the vampire's attention, and he dove out of the way. The blade still found flesh, cutting a deep gash in his shoulder, but that was little impediment for a vampire. "Foolish child," he muttered. "Surrender now, and your life will be spared." He looked at her with appreciative eyes, and a nasty grin spread across his features. "Though your body will be forfeit."

 

[Vesta_Goddess_Of_Flames]

He dodged her as the blade arced to wards him, it only cut him deeply though. She immediately took a defensive stance, the blade held firmly in her hand. "There is no child here," she smiled at him," her confidence had been boosted when she made contact. "My life or my body will be quite safe I assure you," holding the blade out to him, "it is you who will be begging to live."