Nightly Duties

A killer stalks new victims.

47.

Nightly Duties

 

She awoke as soon as the last ray of sunlight faded from the sky, and immediately smiled.   She still existed!   Closing her eyes, she became incorporeal and floated through the small holes at the bottom of the coffin, only to rematerialize in the attic room.  

 

Alleania paused for a few moments to make certain she was alone.   The body of the Dwarf was gone, along with the blood, and for that she was glad.   She had never fed like that before and did not want to ever repeat the act.   But days of travelling over the Mare Arctia had seriously weakened her, and as soon as she had entered her coffin, she had known she would have to kill as soon as she arose.

 

She had heard them - drunk, angry and stupid, using an axe to chop into the church in front of the parsonage.   Of course she couldn’t go inside, so she waited for one of them to take a break from his desecration and as soon as he came outside to urinate, she hypnotized him, then sent him back inside to attack his brother.  

 

He’d dragged the body across the yard and she’d dematerialized and floated under the door frame, then unlocked the door from the inside.   The Dwarf had pulled and pushed his unconscious brother up the stairs as she locked the door and stood by trembling with wolf-like hunger.   But she’d waited until he’d pulled him (with her help) up the stairs into the attic before she had attacked, ripping the throat out of the unconscious Dwarf while the other one stood there mindlessly watching.

 

Of course when she regained her senses, there was the mess and then the scheme came to her:   bite the other one and put him in one of her three coffins in the town, in the back of an old cart, and then send the horse out just before sunrise, where doubtless he’d be found.   Then this Dwarf would take the blame for the bloody deed and they would think their danger had passed.  

Chal would have been so proud of her.   But before she had done this, she’d bid the remaining Dwarf to tell her what had happened during her sleep.  

Lastly, she had asked him about the pair of rings that he and his brother wore, and was delighted to learn they were rings of non-detection.   It worked so perfectly; she took one of the rings and then she could sleep soundly without even the Paladins or Zeatt detecting her presence.

 

Of course, it had been Chal’s idea to place her coffins vertically, sealed up with only holes where she could escape as a mist.

Then placing crates from the attic all around it until it was hidden completely from view by several rows of chests, crates and old furniture, insured that none of Aurei’s companions ever found her, though they actually saw the top half of her coffin several times.  

Evidentially they mistook what they saw for a much smaller box stacked in the midst of others.   

Alleania could not have been more pleased with the outcome.   Yet her heart ached when she thought of Chal’s death.   She had heard Aurei come into the attic that morning, along with her sister and the others.   She knew Soric was destroyed, and the Necromancer’s Guild with it.

 

Now, for the first time in her unlife, she was free; no longer the minion of Chal, though it had been servanthood that she had greatly relished.

 

But what did she do now?   Return to the Underdark without Chal?    Could she be powerful enough to take back control of Ar’Rilla - or whatever name they called themselves now?

 

A strange longing came over her, a longing for her family.   She wanted to see her sister and especially her daughter again.   Yet she was still somewhat weak and needed to feed again.    The two murdering Dwarves had been easy, but she didn’t want to kill someone who would enrage Zeatt or Aurei, and that would probably mean that there was no townsperson who she could kill.  

 

Perhaps a travelling merchant had come to town while she slept.   Wrapping her cloak around her, she changed into a large bat and flew through the broken shutters of the attic window, then up and across the dark sky until she was flapping near two of the ducal guards who stood by talking to pass time.  

 

Within minutes she knew about the invading marauders and of the force of knights that had went out to meet them.   There would be a battle, and wounded men.   Her course was set, and a moment later she was flying across the dark sky to the southeast.

 

***

 

Later that night, in the crowded barn that served as a holding pen for the surviving bandits, a slow mist moved across the hay floor, unnoticed by the group in their misery and anger.   She weaved slowly around them like a snake, and then drifted upwards to the barn loft, where more men lay whispering of escape plans and thoughts of freedom.  

In the dark corner of the loft, a young bandit sat alone, carving on a large piece of wood with a knife he had managed to hide from the guards.   He seemed to be making some sort of weapon; perhaps a spear or a crude javelin that he foolishly thought he would use to escape.  

 

Alleania twirled around his form, but he did not notice; his eyes burning with his will to be free. By the time he realized that she was behind him, she had already clamped one hand tightly around his mouth, pulling his neck to the side with her other hand, then stabbing savagely with her teeth, which paralyzed him.   As quiet as a mouse she drained him of his blood and then found another angry young man, half-asleep close to the loft door.   He offered even less resistance and she bloated herself with his blood.  

 

It would probably be morning before they would be found, and she had already taken bat form again and flew back to Westmark with renewed strength from the lives she had taken.

 

***

 

She saw a battle; a group of knights attacking a force of well-armed bandits.  Bodies fell and the screams of men filled the air as her vantage-point turned and then advanced.   She saw Alis and Aeric, their bloodstained swords flashing with the lightning from an approaching storm.  

Alvis was surrounded by shadowy horsemen and seemed on the verge of defeat.   But her sight changed again and it showed Eleazar, covered in blood, unhorsed, wide-eyed in terror as he struck left and right at the bandits, who seemed to fade into shadows.   Shadows that bore low fangs and lunged at him from all sides, reaching, clawing, biting, and pulling him down as if the ground was opening up to swallow him forever.

“NOOOO!”   Aurei screamed, bolting upright in bed, the covers clenched as if they were the hilt of her swords.   She looked around wildly for an instant, her heart pounding.
“Laz?”   She called, and her voice echoed in the empty room, “Laz?   Eleazar?!”

He was gone, it was night and she was alone.    With a panicked groan, the Drow girl swept the covers aside and ran across the floor, just as the door to the bedroom was flung open, which caused her to cry out in alarm.

 

“Aurei?!” Pectros called, his sword drawn as he rushed into the room.   He jumped when he saw her red eyes glowing from a dark corner of the room where she had retreated, but she was moving toward him now, having recognized him.

 

“Pectros!   What has happened?!   Where is Eleazar?!   They are all in danger!   All of them!”   She grabbed him by the arms, pleading with her eyes for help or reassurance.

 “Aurei, it’s alright-“

“Where are they?”

“They’ll be fine, they-“

“Where are they?!”

“They’re riding toward Kendill’s Rest-“

“Bandits!”   The Drow girl added, as if she was seeing something that he couldn’t.   The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he tried to reassure her.

“They took all the Paladin recruits, and Alvis, Aeric and Alis are with him.”

“They are Vampires!”  She shrieked softly and her words chilled him, though he wasn’t sure if she knew something or was still lost in her emotional breakdown.

“Calm down, Aurei; just get back in bed and I’ll go get Matron-“

“NO!   I’ve got to go help them!   They’re in danger!”   She tried to pull free from him, but he restrained her, firmly, but gently.

“Aurei, listen to me!   They are alright!   Just get back in bed and -“

“I’ve got to go help them, Pectros!”

“You’ll put yourself in danger if you go and I’m sure the battle is already over.”

His words made her recoil in horror, her hands to her face as she stood there trembling.   He’d never seen Aurei ever look scared, and now she seemed almost numb with fear.

“Aurei, listen to me, please!   They are alright.   There were 14 Paladins in that company, all well-armed with magic.  

“W-what if h-he’s dead?”  She stammered, at that moment seeming like a lost little girl.  

“Do you trust in Yesh?”   He asked, holding her chin up so she’d look him in the eye.

“Y-yes…”

“Aurei, he has plans for you and for Eleazar.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s obvious to everyone.   I don’t know how we know, but we do.   Eleazar is not dead; he will come back to you soon.   I imagine he’s staying the night in Kendill’s Rest.”

“He’d come back… I know he would.”

“-And he will, but probably not tonight.   Why don’t you try to get some sleep?”

“No… I can’t sleep.   I had nightmares… at least I hope that was all they were.   Pectros, what has happened to me today?   I feel so strange…”

“Aurei, you’re emotionally exhausted, that’s all.   We all are, but we’re handling them in different ways.”

“Where is Aunt Zeatt?”

Pectros smiled, “Filling in at the Muddy Boot.”

“What?!!!”

“As a barmaid.   She’s wearing one of your dresses too.”

“You can’t be serious!”

“Oh yes, and she’s not alone.   Siris and the Queen are serving tables too.”

Aurei just looked at him, dumbfounded.

“It’s true.   They were short, Alis went with the Paladins and you were taken ill, so the three ladies decided it would be fun to try it.”

“The Queen too?!   Pectros, she’s the Queen!   And pregnant on top of that!   Siris has done it before a few times, so that doesn’t really surprise me, though I can’t imagine her rushing around while pregnant either!  And Zeatt!   She’s an Archbishop!”

“Well, you should see how packed the place is; everyone wanted to see it.   I was over there about an hour ago and there wasn’t even any place to sit.”

“I have to go see that!”

“I had orders to keep you here, resting, by Eleazar.”

“He’s not here now, and that very fact will keep me acting crazy until he gets back unless I get my mind off of it.   I’ve got to see it.    Where are my clothes?”

“You were in armor; they took them back to the Muddy Boot and brought bed clothes.”

Not to be deterred, Aurei rushed over to the chair next to the bed and found a robe, which she quickly put on to cover her gown.  

“Let’s go see this spectacle!”   She said with eyes that were now bright and clear, and though Pectros knew she probably needed rest, he was so glad to see her personality back to normal that he escorted her across the courtyard to the Muddy Boot.

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"...her sight changed again and it shown Eleazar..." I think you're wanting "showed."
"...ground was opening up to swallow him up..." It may sound better if the second "up" is removed.