Chapter One

“My group has need of a particular skillset. Your name passes many lips in Praza’s underworld and we could use you,” his voice carried easily in a quiet corner of the heady, raucous bar. He was an unfamiliar sight in the dark substructure of the city, dressed like a courier of the paladins, those smiling wretches from the northern nations. But his frame, laced with muscles, was moulded by years of fighting, she could see that just as easily as she noted the discomfort in his tone. He didn't want to be there and he stood as if he was used to having many weapons on him, which he did not as of that moment. He wanted to be inconspicuous.

“Is that right?” she didn’t bother looking up from her lightly bound forearm, making sure he was very aware of the black blade laid atop it. She rest lax in her chair, feet up on the edge of the table with ankles crossed. If she paid enough attention she would notice the slight shift in his shadow, cast over her table from his standing on the other side of it. “You hunted their kind before and I’m very willing to pay you,” he leaned on the table, beige cloak shifting over his thick shoulders and arms.

She finally lifted her head, staring at him with a pair of white, pearlescent eyes. His lip’s thinned in a grimace, uncomfortable with her gaze. Her reputation preceded her; the Blind Slayer of Praza. Gifted with magical eyes that allowed her to see the world bare of its physical trappings, she was a prolific assassin known to many. But Praza was a haven that protected its own; she had nothing to fear from an outsider such as him.

A smile turned her lips. “Who do you want dead?”

He seemed to relax, “her name is Valia. She was an elf before turning, she has long blonde hair and dark eyes, like ink. We chased her to Praza after dealing with her clan. We are unfamiliar with this city and we need someone who knows its shadows best.”

Her eyes drifted back to her blade, “I've noticed your people wandering the streets for a few weeks now. Is it really that hard for hunters to find one little vampire?”

His lips twisted, “she avoids us expertly. I was hoping your sight would prove better at finding her.”

Chuckling softly, she sat up, planting her feet firmly against the floor. “What are you paying?”

Just as she finished talking he dropped a fat pouch onto the table, forcing her brow to rise in mild interest. She looked up at him, questioning, and he crossed his arms. “There will be more when the job is done,” he said tersely.

She moved quietly, getting up from her seat like a prowling panther, and took the pouch as if it were an afterthought. “She will be dead before this cycle finishes.”

The glare he sent her way almost made her laugh, “a week?”

She looked at him, standing eye to eye but appearing very willowy by comparison, elves were not often stockier than humans. “Do you expect me to just know where she is from the off?” she smiled coolly, “she might be dead by tonight if I'm lucky. But she will be dead before the week is done. Try to trust that I know how to do my job,” her voice lowered to a growl on her last words and she walked by him with little else said.

The air outside the bar was wetter, cooler; bearable. People of all kinds walked among the streets of Praza’s under city, called the Crawl by its denizens. No one ventured below the civilized levels unless they were looking for something, the only exception was if they were intrinsically part of it, much like she was.

Walking through the crowds she passed by like a ghost, her dark clothing keeping her body otherwise vague and unassuming. A hood kept her fierce-featured face all but obscured in shadow, leaving only the pale grey expanse of a nose tip and sharp jaw in the light. Even that was hidden when she pulled up dark wrappings to further hide her face, leaving only her eyes exposed.

She had work to do.

*

Praza was left blanketed in snow this time of year and all but the most expensive streets of the city had it moved away for the sake of the residents. The upper levels - the Silver and Palace districts - housed affluent merchants, bankers, nobles and the like; it was where she would start looking.

Darting across the snow-capped rooftops she muttered a few words incantation, power dancing along her fingertips like fragments of glass fire. In a second her clothing shifted, black turning white to match her surroundings. The few unfortunate guards posted in high places would see her otherwise.

She hurried along, jumping from building to building and sticking to the quickest path. Reaching the walls that separated Praza’s populace from one another she jumped, scaling it like a spider on the ceiling. Again she shifted, white to black, matching the dark stone Praza was built from. She reached the top and promptly jumped down the other side, wind tearing at her body as she plummeted. There was no fear, no catching of breath in the throat, merely calm certainty even when the buildings rushed up to meet her.

When she landed, black smoke birthed from her feet, touching down first. The rest of her body followed in a tumble to temper the landing and the otherworldly smoke cushioned her, completely negating the force involved. She sprang up and continued running without a halt in her step, leaping to the next rooftop with snow scattering from the building edges.

She gave herself a week just to make room for mistakes, but she wasn't lying when said she could be done by the end of the night if this vampire followed the usual behaviour of its species. They liked to try and hide in plain sight, an excellent tactic for sure, but utterly pointless against her. They could look as normal as they liked, she would see what they truly were regardless. The veins of their body glowed a sick shade of orange to her, marking them clearly.

Each creature of otherworldly origin had different appearances to her, their insides glowing or marred with a colouring she could scarcely describe. Sometimes it was scars on their soul she was seeing, other times it was their physical body that carried the markers of the unnatural. Magic, demons, monsters, undead; nothing could hide from her eyes.

Even someone as unassuming as the hunter, she could tell somewhere in his line his family was tainted by unclean blood. It leant to his bright amber eyes and overabundance of hair. But he was little more than a human with questionable blood and no power to him.

She started with the bars and ball rooms, any place a social gathering could be held for the affluent people of the district. Normal people appeared as little more than black shapes with white lines detailing their shape and few features like their hair and face. A small, pulsing white light at the centre of their chest told her they were still alive.

As she looked through the buildings, working her way from one end of the district to the other, she saw plenty of creatures and people with mix blood among the normal populace. Wraiths in possession of a body, werewolves, other shapeshifters, those with magi blood and some still with demon blood, from traces to direct descendants using illusion to hide their otherworldly features; even a little bit could taint a bloodline for centuries.

Praza was a city of differences and an unspoken law was the acceptance of any so long as they would fight as one to protect the city should outsiders think to take it. But segregation seemed to be a silent necessity, not all in the city were so welcoming to the truly strange and otherworldly.

Finally landing above a busy lounge she could smell the tea and incense on the air. The soft rumble of a many chattering voices, the golden glow of light escaping the misty windows, it was a very cosy place.

Pressing her hands to the roof she focused her eyes and ignored the frost against her fingertips, seeing through the thick material in a flash of imagery. There were many humans, some elves, some tainted like the hunter, and something else that brought a cold smile to her face. She looked again to make sure and saw the orange veins of her target, their frame that of a female elf. “It’s a shame, you couldn’t have guessed they would turn to me.”

She moved across the rooftop until she was positioned directly above the target. Focusing her energy again, the black smoke rose up around her, enveloping her like a living shadow. She sank through the ceiling and dropped down on her target like a hawk.

Pointed ears, blonde tresses that were almost white, and dark eyes that turned up to face her when people screamed at the shadow wreathed killer dropping from the ceiling. Valia's only reaction was to smile at her.

She dropped on the vampire and immediately teleported them both outside in a swirl of smoke.

Valia’s knee shot up but she moved out of the way, avoiding her ribs being crushed. Whirling around she pressed up against Valia’s back and wrapped an arm around the woman’s neck, readying the blade of her right forearm.

A hard crack to the back of her skull and the world became a dizzy blur of noise and motion. Valia’s elbow rammed into her gut and she flew back, landing with a harsh thud on the open street.

“Elanna, that is your name is it not, blind slayer?” the vampire’s voice was soft, her figure leisurely wandering into the assassin’s fading vision.

Valia knelt down, scowling, “Oren fails to comprehend how clever I actually am. Did he think I would not keep my eyes and ears open? I prefer to live, no matter how subjective that term might be to your kind.” She grasped the front of Elanna’s leather armour, “allow me to leave a message for your friend,” she hissed and knocked the assassin out with a quick punch.

*

The cold damp of the lower city did nothing for her upon waking, dumped in a thin alleyway near the market square. Her head pounded and she was thankful for the lack of noise, not much time had passed.

Sitting up forced a painful moan from her throat, Valia could have shattered her ribcage from the sternum outwards but nothing was broken, just very sore. Elanna frowned, touching her ribs hesitantly, and looked out towards the empty, snow laden street. Why was she alive? Valia could have killed her. She made a point of killing vampires quickly before they could react; she knew she was not stronger than them so she had to rely on surprise and trickery.

Why was she still breathing?

Staggering to her feet she tried not to focus on the pain too much, moving to the mouth of the alley to see if she could get her bearings. The buildings were sturdy enough, but they were old and looked as if they had seen much use.

The Grey Quarter was the oldest section of the city and got it the worst during the wars. Such violent times had long since passed but the beaten down quarter stood as a reminder. If she looked down her right, to the north, she could see the walls of the Silver District where she fought with Valia. Though with a bitter grimace she admitted to herself that it hadn’t really been a fight, she wasn’t a fighter and it had been over before any blood was drawn.

Soreness in her neck made her hand dart up to cover the affected area but she froze. Valia spoke of sending a message to Oren, the hunter who gave Elanna the job. What kind of message if she didn’t leave anything on the assassin to bring back to him?

Her fingertips brushed over her neck, tentative and unwilling to find what she was dreading.

There was a pair of subtle depressions in her skin, directly over the jugular, like healing punctures.

Elanna’s face fell, “shit.”

Chapter Two

There wasn’t a cure. Elanna knew there wasn’t a cure. She’d spent an unwilling number of her years hunting the unnatural and in a few short minutes she’d been forced into their ranks.

Racking her brain to find her next course of action she walked out of the alley and started making her way to a Crawl entrance. They were usually hidden in the darker, secluded corners of the city. She needed to think, she would at least have the time to think. The vampirism wouldn’t set in fully for a few days, she could regroup and prepare.

She’d had the bitch by the spine, Valia should have been dead by now and she should have been collecting her money. Something hit her however and she could still feel the soreness at the back of her skull. Vampires could enthral those around them, but usually only the strong ones could control large masses of people. One of the patrons must have been under her sway and hit Elanna from behind. She thought of that and acted accordingly, teleporting them outside away from any potential thralls but Valia had clearly thought ahead and left at least one outside, just in case.

Elanna hated that.

Muttering to herself, she made sure the wrappings around her face and neck properly covered her skin. The last thing she wanted was anyone spotting the bite. News could spread quickly, if it reached Oren and his group that Valia turned her…

She did not relish the idea of having an entire gang of hunters after her. It was problematic for business and added unnecessary stress to her life.

Elanna supposed she should be far more worried about the fact that Valia had bitten her, but she was only incensed that the woman had gotten the better of her. She could let the full gravity of her situation hit her when she was somewhere more private than the Grey Quarter’s market street.

Reaching the main square of the quarter she looked around, noting there was no one else around. An old, abused statue stood in the middle of the square, once an immaculate incarnation of Maloma, Goddess of mercy and courage. One in a pantheon of twelve, but she had devout followers all the same. Elanna herself couldn’t admit to any strong belief, even if it was known that their deities existed, their power and blessing proven many times. She simply felt no calling or allegiance to anyone, least of all someone who couldn’t pay her.

Turning her head she spotted a familiar bar, a single lamp glowing in the smoke stained window. There was a thin little alley leading down into the ground right next to it and that was what she needed to see. Walking over she descended the narrow incline, plunging herself into darkness but never troubled in the slightest by it. She could see just fine while almost anyone else not accustomed to it would turn back. Even during the day the shadows prevailed, wrapping any curious individual in unwelcoming, threatening murk.

She pressed on until she came to a door and stepped into a dank tunnel. Already the scent of the Crawl’s bazaar reached her and she sighed quietly, thankful for the familiarity.

Eyes were on her as she navigated her way down the winding stairs, the noise of people trading, moving, bidding and arguing growing steadily louder the deeper she went. It felt almost too loud, like clamouring reverberations in her skull, but she brushed it off.

The bazaar was haphazardly built into the underlying structure of the Grey Quarter, its streets curling around shops and stalls like a mess of snakes circling unlucky prey. It was the driest of the Crawl’s sections, meant for housing goods of all kinds; damp holdings would not do for such things.

Moving through the crowds she made her way to the other end of the bazaar, feeling the eyes of mercenary guards on her as she passed through the gate leading into another section. The scent of incense and alcohol was thick on the air and Elanna quietly breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t far from her safe house.

The Lodging Quarter was more organized than the bazaar in layout, but no less chaotic with all the shifting bodies and noise. She could be easily lost and none would be the wiser, just as she wanted.

Her slight form slipped through, dodging any errant hands or watchful eyes. Again the noise of the place seemed too loud, it was starting to distract her. Silently cursing she found her way into a dank alley way and crouched behind a stack of crates, out of sight. Focusing a second she was wreathed in oily shadow and sank through the ground, dropping into a near pitch black room. But again she could see in the murk and straightened to reach above her head, turning on a lamp that hung from the ceiling with a spark from her fingertips.

The room around her was large enough to house everything she needed, from a bed to a modest training space, weapon storage, various supplies and a bathroom. One could do almost anything with the right contacts and enough money.

There was a conventional entrance, but Elanna wasn’t exactly inclined to waste the time. Her stomach was churning and she quickly stripped off her gear, hands checking for wounds in likely places. A few bad bruises and her head still hurt, but no other injuries aside from the bite. Valia could have been a lot messier; it wasn’t hard for a vampire to rip someone into pieces.

Soon enough, it wouldn’t be hard for Elanna either.

She tried not to focus on it and walked over to the bath, running the hot water so she could wash off the grime and sweat of the night.

Oren didn’t need to know, no one did. She barely went out during the day anyway, it wasn’t as if she were losing something, in fact she was gaining a lot from this pleasant little disaster.

Aside from the everlasting thirst for blood and the ever present threat of quick, violent death from extremists.

What was she thinking trying to rationalize it as a good thing? She spent a decent number of years killing vampires and working with hunters. But that hadn’t been her choice and that in itself should push her away from revulsion, she had no reason to feel loyalty to the ideals of hunters and their fervent hatred of the unnatural. That detail of her life hadn’t been of her own doing. She should be relishing the opportunities this gave her. Besides, she lived in a haven of freaks and unnatural things; what difference did it make if she was truly one of them now?

Shaking the thoughts away she noticed the bath was almost full and turned off the water. She climbed in with a hiss and reached for the soap, getting to work on cleaning her body. The situation could be dealt with when she wasn’t feeling like she’d been left in a gutter.

She would have to ‘thank’ Valia for that.

*

She woke groggy, bleary eyed from the bad night. She intended to just go back to sleep, after all it wasn't like she was in any immediate danger, no one knew of this place. But something caught her attention rather quickly.

Valia was straddling her. And smiling.

Elanna surged up, tackling Valia to the floor with a growl. Valia was quick to grab Elanna's wrists, holding them away from herself and wrapping her legs around Elanna to keep the assassin from going anywhere. Elanna snarled, eyes narrowing, "what do you want from me, bitch?"

"So hostile, very rude," Valia commented as if they were talking over tea.

Another snarl left Elanna's throat, struggling against Valia's hold and trying to get close enough to at least head-butt the smiling vampire. "Stop delaying and I'll show how hostile I can get!"

Valia chuckled, then unwrapped her legs only to shove them against Elanna's stomach and let go, throwing her back onto her bed. Elanna landed with a sharp grunt and Valia just got to her feet, brushing the dust from her coat and smoothing out the creases with a cool patience. "Are you hungry yet?"

The question caught her off guard and Elanna lifted her head, looking at the other woman as if she'd been asked for her hand in marriage. "What."

Valia didn't even look at her, just adjusting the cuff of her coat sleeve, "are you hungry yet?"

The words finally processed and Elanna cleared her throat, "no, not yet anyway," she murmured, hand slowly drifting to the knife under her pillow. Valia just nodded, even if she looked disbelieving of Elanna's answer, "of course not. But I would take care, little slayer, you can only hide your fangs for so long before instinct replaces reason."

"Yeah, and how long is that?"

"It ultimately falls to the individual. Some can go for months without a drop, others start to suffer after a few days. Control is everything."

"Really? That's interesting."

"You urged me to stop delaying, Elanna. How effective do you think that blade will be against me?"

She froze, her fingers just finished curling around the knife hilt. Valia finally looked at her, there was no anger or mirth on her face, simply a look of mild confusion that spoke a silent 'why bother?'

Elanna scowled, "I don't know. But I'd love to find out."

Valia smiled then, "that would require getting close enough to use it, would it not?"

Elanna's lips parted, baring teeth in a cold reflection of Valia's smile, "all I need is a well-placed ambush."

For some reason the look on Valia's face changed to something that made Elanna's stomach churn with unease. The vampire chuckled again, "oh, that can be arranged. In about five minutes. You should probably get dressed." Winking, Valia turned on her heel and walked out the door, leaving it half shut as Elanna didn't so much as twitch to go after her.

Five minutes. What was she talking about?

Oren.

Elanna rolled her eyes with a longsuffering sigh, "son of a whore."

Rushing to get her gear on she kept counting down the time Valia had given her with increasing frustration. When had it ever taken her so long to get dressed? She needed her leather armour, her cloak, her blades, everything that let her do her job and do it right, she needed. But it took time to put on and she didn't have that.

The last strap of her gauntlet blades was pulled into place just as her door slammed open from the force of a burly male rushing in. Several other figures followed but Elanna focused on the first, whirling to meet his gut with her blades. The dark metal pierced the leather guarding his torso like melted butter and she stepped aside, letting his weight and speed carry him to the floor.

She turned to face the other hunters only to have one of them splash her with what looked like water, but as soon as it touched her skin she screamed, recoiling. It felt like it was burning her. Instinctually she hissed at them, baring the fangs that were permanently settled amongst her teeth.

"It's true! She's one of them!"

Elanna growled, aggravation twisting her features, "you weren't sure and you still charged in here like an attack squad!?"

They didn't answer her and she didn't honestly expect them to. Nevertheless they fell one by one until their blood was pooling on her floor and she was left short of breath, just staring at the red liquid with an intensity she hadn't felt before. Shaking her head she forced her eyes up, "no. Forget them. Just go after her. She's still the target, remember that. Having a few extra bits and pieces doesn't change that." She shook her head one last time and grabbed the last of her gear. She wouldn't be able to stay there anymore; Oren would definitely keep sending hunters now that she'd killed some of them. With a resentful growl she supposed that was another thing to thank Valia for.

The tunnels leading to her little safe house were dank and kept in pitch darkness, just like the Crawl entrances. At least they would be if not for the trail of glow dust leading right to her door. The hunters would have gotten completely lost without it but Valia had no trouble finding Elanna; she must have been the one to leave the trail. Elanna muttered some choice words to herself and followed the glowing whorls of dust until she stepped out into a broken and disused dock in the Grey Quarter. Much still needed repairing in that part of the city, not that many cared enough to invest in such things. It left space open for people such as herself to take advantage.

Snow was beginning to fall and Elanna pulled her hood up, making sure her wrappings hid her face. Cloak pulled tight around her frame she walked up the old, creaking steps of the dock and onto an icy walkway. There were no footprints to follow, Valia knew how to move around without leaving anything useful to a normal tracker. But Elanna could see things no typical hunter could. She focused for but a moment and suddenly there was a trail in the air, like whispers of Valia's otherworldly essence left behind in her absence, red and orange strands of soft light like cotton fibres. Such leavings were normal of creatures, living or dead, but Elanna could thankfully shut out everything but what she needed. She did not need to be inundated with a rainbow.

Following Valia's trail lead her through the narrower streets in the Grey Quarter, but the noise of life, people going about their day regardless of the weather, was hard to ignore. Until night fell it wasn't cold enough for anyone to permanently retreat and Elanna found herself growing ever more distracted by the people around her.

She shook her head, trying to focus on Valia's trail. It felt like her throat was constricting around itself and her gut twisted.

A thin man jostled her as he walked by, barking over his shoulder at her not to stop in the middle of the street. She didn't recall stopping but looking down her feet were planted firmly on the ground, legs straight and unmoving. When did that happen?

The drying of her throat spoke volumes and Valia's question seemed to burn into her mind. She couldn't be hungry so soon, she was better than that wasn't she? Apparently not.

Stumbling away from the street Elanna walked into an alley and tried to push the sudden hunger from her mind. She had a job to do, she had an annoyingly resourceful bitch to stab in the spine for...

She supposed Valia hadn't really ruined her life. What life was there to ruin? No. Valia had interfered with her job, made it difficult and complicated. That alone warranted a quick death.

Valia's voice filled her ears like cold honey, "you lied, little slayer."

Elanna whirled but in her distracted state Valia grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the alley wall before the assassin could respond properly. Elanna glared at her, "that glow dust back there? That was childish."

Valia raised a coy brow, "I sincerely have no idea what you are talking about."

"Cut the crap! What do you want from me? Or do you just like screwing with your enemies?"

"If I thought of you as an enemy, I would have simply killed you when I had the chance. Yet here you are, still breathing."

"Well I'm definitely not your best friend. And you didn't answer my first question."

"What do I want with you? A good question, straight to the point."

"What did I say about delaying!?"

Valia tutted at her, "so impatient."

Elanna's lips parted in a very unfriendly grin, "talk fast or I get very serious about killing you."

Valia smiled calmly, not in the least bit perturbed, "it is almost admirable how set you are on carrying out your task, no matter how fruitless an endeavour it is. But no matter, you wanted an answer." She let go of Elanna's wrists, backing off to the other side of the narrow alley only a couple of steps away. "I need your help."

Half way through brushing some wall mould from her gauntlets, Elanna blinked and looked across at Valia. "I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong. Did you just say you need my help?"

Valia nodded, "did you have other plans? I doubt Oren and his ilk will still pay you even if you did manage to kill me. They would likely repay your service with a bath in holy water."

"That's a little over the top isn't it?"

"You never did that?"

"Watch a Vampire practically boil alive? No. I like clean kills, straight to point remember?"

"Hm. That makes sense."

"What does?"

"Your reputation among my kind was something of a coin toss. There was always another voice to counter the claims of you being just another murderer of our species. Some spoke of you as a worthy opponent, said you did not take the pleasure so many do in our deaths."

Elanna looked away, disgust pulling at her lips, "yeah, well, none of it was my choice. Do you mind telling me what you need my help for?"

Curiosity dominated Valia's face for a moment, "does this mean you will stop trying to kill me?"

Elanna glared at her, "I'm not trying to stab you am I?"

A sickly sweet smile turned Valia's lips, "that could change the moment my back is turned, but you do have a point. I have no doubt you could make an attempt on my life whenever you wished, not that I am worried. You have failed thus far to even injure me," she turned and gestured for Elanna to follow her, walking deeper into the alley.

Rolling her eyes, Elanna followed with a deep frown, "you're not really making me feel like I want to listen."

Valia didn't speak, walking until they stepped out onto another street, "I will not tell you in the open. But tell me one thing, little slayer, do you intend to stab me in the back and leave yourself with no one to understand what you are now? No one to guard you in your sleep? Our kind is hunted for the rest of their existence."

The snow was becoming thicker, a driving wind picking it up and trying to push over the frailer in the passing crowds. Elanna watched them for several long moments, wondering how difficult it would be to finish her job and evade Oren. She knew how hunters worked, how they thought, what they did to track their prey; it wouldn't be too hard. She wasn't going to be paid but Valia was the reason any of this had gone sideways in the first place. Valia was the one who bit her.

So what was she going to do, kill Valia and run for the rest of her life? Or unlife. Whatever she was supposed to call it now.

Praza was a good city to be in, the Crawl gave her plenty of work, she had a reputation to keep as the city's 'Blind Slayer.' Being a vampire wasn't truly such a curse, was it?

With a low sigh, Elanna looked aside at Valia with tired resignation, "why bother? My safe house is gone, thanks for that by the way, and Oren has likely started preparing to kill both of us. I won't try to kill you, but the whole understanding and guarding and whatever? Not for me. Once whatever you need is done, we're finished, alright?"

Valia peered at the assassin from the corner of her eye, "are you so fond of being alone, Elanna?"

The use of her name was more disconcerting than anything and Elanna avoided Valia's gaze, "can we just get on with this?"

Valia was quiet a moment and then walked into the street, "as you wish. Follow me."

Taking a deep breath Elanna steeled her nerves and tried to shut away any doubts. As they walked through the Grey Quarter and into the Silver District, Elanna watched Valia through the snow. The wind was catching her pale hair and flakes settled along the creases of her blue coat, she seemed unperturbed by the cold and Elanna absently wondered if she could even feel the chill of the weather. Would she become numb to it as well, with time? What else would change?

For having spent a decent number of years killing vampires, she knew very little in the ways of intimate details. She just knew the best ways to track them and kill them. Ambush, hit the spine or heart to paralyze them and take off the head. They could withstand the sun but it weakened them to the level of the common mortal. Fire and holy water could kill them in large enough volumes.  Otherwise, as long as the head remained attached they could regenerate from almost any wound, given enough blood. Along with their strength, speed, other enhanced senses and blood magic few survived tangling with a vampire without extensive training and preparation. Fewer still survived an elder vampire that could take on a monstrous form…

Valia came to a stop at the entrance to a short side street, there was only one building and it was boarded up. Not an uncommon sight in the Silver District, shops running out of business or simply being put out of it by larger players. This particular building looked like an old tavern, sturdy masonry with dense wooden beams holding up the two floors and topped with well-fitting tiles. A sign hung above the door but whatever image used to be on it had long since faded, left to the elements. Elanna could still make out the name however; the Smouldering Oak.

She looked at the vampire with a raised brow, "you live here?"

Valia just smiled and walked around to the far side of the building, to the narrow space between it and the wall keeping the Silver District and the Grey Quarter apart. A few old barrels that had seen better days were scattered around, along with a sack of what could only be fermenting potatoes, but there was a door in the side of the building that Valia unlocked with a steel key. She looked at Elanna, standing at the other end of the narrow passage, "well, are you coming or not, little slayer?"

The assassin rolled her eyes, "stop calling me that," she muttered, walking over. Valia seemed to ignore the request, since she merely stepped inside without giving any kind of agreement or even attention to Elanna's words. Elanna grumbled and followed, not even blinking when Valia shut the door behind her. The click of a lock made her uneasy but she reminded herself that Valia was supposedly an ally now and they needed to stay hidden and safe. The lock was for security.

With the key safely in her pocket, Valia reached up and pressed her hand to a small stone panel set into the wall. A gylph lit up on its surface, the colour of the sun, and when she pulled her hand away the light followed her fingertips for a few seconds before fading. Several lanterns glowed to life with the same colour, illuminating the room in a soft light akin to that of candles.

Despite its battered appearance outside, Valia seemed to take very good care of the old tavern's innards. The wooden floor was worn smooth but clean and there wasn't a cobweb in sight. They must have been standing in the main room, because there was a bar set against the wall opposite the main door. Most of the tables were pushed aside for a larger one that looked like it belonged in a dining hall. An archway to their immediate right lead off to what used to be the kitchen with another on the far side of the bar leading off to some other room Elanna didn't care about right now.

Stairs built for taking the weight of drunken mobs lead up on the opposite side of the room to them and instead of using up the space the air directly above them was left empty right up to the rafters holding the roof up. There were rooms no doubt, but Elanna couldn't spot them over the banister that used to keep patrons from falling and breaking a leg.

Valia walked by her and spread her arms, "welcome to my home. It might not be a compact little armoury like yours was, but I think you will find it comfortable at the very least." She turned and settled into a chair, crossing her legs as she did so.

Elanna moved around the room, observing all the little details she could and idly running her hand across the table, "yeah, thanks." She frowned and glanced at Valia, "how long were you there before I woke up?"

The smile on Valia's face didn't make her feel much better, "not long. You had many weapons back there, many things for maintaining them." Her expression softened, "you kept so little in the way of personal things however."

Elanna stopped and turned to look at her fully, leaning on the table, "why do you care if I kept personal things or not?"

Valia's head tilted, still with a look of sympathy, "it is not a desirable thing, to be a creature that feeds upon others and retain one's heart. It would be easier to simply not care."

It wasn't the answer she expected and Elanna shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, "you were supposed to explain things to me. So explain."

A thought seemed to arrive suddenly to the vampire and she got out of her seat, "yes, I was. But first you must feed."

Elanna blinked, "we just got here and now you want to go hunting?"

Valia chuckled, turning away and walking to the kitchen, "silly little slayer, I have a meal in the cellar."

Elanna just stared blankly after her, "of course you do," she muttered, following the other woman.

The kitchen was clean but obviously unused, not even the faintest scent of food or fire. There was however a narrow set of stairs leading down and Elanna could easily pick up the smell of blood as soon as she began descending them.

The floor was packed dirt with many barrels and crates of supplies, she could see a lot of movement in the ground so Valia must have used the place quite often. Several lanterns lit the room, giving plenty of light wherever it was needed.

There was also a half-naked man strapped to a chair in the middle of the room. He was a burly man, with the marks of someone who got into a lot of fights, but such things did little to help against a vampire's strength. There was little more on his person than a pair of canvas trousers, dark hair a wet mop on his head with dazed eyes and frigid sweat on his skin. He likely didn't even know what was going on anymore.

He was mostly clean so the blood she could smell was likely in the dirt and from the stains in the canvas, Valia seemed to prefer tidiness in her meals. Elanna couldn't help but give the vampire a curious look, loosely gesturing at the man. Valia shrugged, walking around behind him and laying her hands on his shoulders, he didn't so much as twitch. "Why make a mess when I can take my time?"

Elanna crossed her arms, "you claim to care about others but you've got this poor bastard down here as your meal?"

Valia's eyes narrowed and her nails, sharpening, dug into the man's skin enough to draw blood. "He is a wretch who defiles those who do not bend to his desires," she forcibly relaxed and her nails returned to normal. "He deserves this slow death."

It made sense, even though Valia could be lying for all she knew, honestly Elanna didn't care and looking at the man all she could think about was how his blood would taste. It should've been more disturbing than it was.

Drawing her hands up to his head, Valia smiled at Elanna and tilted his head aside, further exposing his neck, "feed. It will come naturally to you; the instinct is there for all of us when we are turned."

She wanted to doubt that, she wanted it to be difficult and she wanted it to make her gag. But the closer she got to his neck the more her heart raced with excitement, the more she could hear his pulse, soft, slow, almost tentative in her ears. He would not live through it and she didn't care.

Her lips finally brushed his neck and they immediately pulled back over her teeth, sharps points ready to sink in over the old wounds of Valia's previous feedings. Elanna growled and locked her jaws onto his neck, drawing a pitiful grunt from him but no struggle, he was too weak to even try.

The taste of blood wasn't unfamiliar to her and she remembered it being salty and slightly metallic, like copper. Always from a gut wound or a good few strikes to her face. But it was nothing like that. The blood from him was like drinking sweet, molten metal. He was healthy, close to death but nothing was physically wrong with him, no disease, no poison, just clean and fresh and far too delicious. Her nails dug into his shoulders, causing another pathetic mewl of a noise and she vaguely felt hands stroke through her hair. The fingers were slender and soft, brushing the back of her neck before retreating to the top of her head and sliding down again.

When she finally pulled away from the slumped body she felt breathless, licking the red from her lips like left over honey. A fingertip drew along her jaw and lifted her head to meet Valia's red gaze; watching the assassin feed must have excited her. "You see? That was not so difficult."

It took her a moment to order her thoughts into something coherent but Elanna straightened, pulling away from Valia's hands. "Are you going to talk now?"

The question garnered a gentle sigh from Valia and she nodded, "yes. I will dispose of this refuse later, for now we shall talk in the bar."

Chapter Three

"First things first, we need to kill Oren and his hunters else they will continue to pursue us both," Valia said, settling into the same chair and crossing her legs.

"Oren mentioned that you were split from your group, what happened to them?" Elanna spoke lightly, fully aware of the most likely answer. But she was curious about how Oren managed to take out an entire group.

The discomfort was clear in Valia's dark eyes, which fixated on the far wall, "they have a spell at their command. As far as I know it can only be used during the full moon and reduces our kind to an unrecognizable mess of burnt flesh, blood and bones. Oren used it to kill my entire clan in a single use."

That wasn't like anything Elanna had heard of before, it certainly would've been the interest of every hunter worth their salt. She frowned and sat down directly opposite Valia, "how did you survive?"

Ink coloured eyes slid towards her but Valia did not otherwise move, there was no calm mirth in her gaze, "I was hunting. Our stock was running low so I left during the early night. We knew there were eyes on us so I used the aqueduct tunnels; they ran beneath the old fort we were using and opened out into the wilderness. I am certain Oren did not see me leave else he would have waited until I returned." Her hand tightened on the armrest, nails sharpening and drawing lines in the wood, "I had just caught our refreshment when I saw a pillar of light cut through the darkness of the night sky, as if the moon itself had struck down against our world. I raced back but found nothing but Oren and his hunters picking over the bodies of my clan. They saw me and gave chase, but I evaded them. Until they tracked me to Praza."

Standard behaviour for hunters, as far as Elanna was concerned. But she could see the effect it had on Valia, even if she tried to ignore it. She was an assassin, attachment and empathy were little more than burdens that got you caught, made things messier than they had to be. She preferred being a weapon, a tool for someone else’s plans; it made her life simple.

Clearing her throat, Elanna laced her hands together and leaned on the table, "why Praza?"

"I believe this is where Oren learned of the spell. The knowledge is somewhere in its depths and I plan to destroy it."

"And then what, kill Oren and his hunters so no one knows of it?"

"Exactly. Or at the very least stop anyone from being able to learn it again."

"And you need my help for that?"

"I do not relish working alone, little slayer, and I know this will be difficult. I need someone to help me."

"You know you could have just tried to make a better offer."

"Do you think I have the wealth to do so?"

"I take more than coin."

Valia's eyes sharpened on her, "you are lucky I was not that desperate."

Confusion made her frown deeply for a moment before Elanna balked, "no! Like a weapon, or an item of value to me, something like that! Not-" she shook her head, "really not what I meant."

The chuckle from Valia made her glare at the vampire. Valia only shrugged, "you are easy to toy with, do you know that?"

In a smooth motion Valia got up from her chair, brushing imaginary dust from her coat, "you help me and I will help you master your powers and give you somewhere to belong. Is that agreeable?"

Elanna couldn't help but scoff, "I'll settle for killing Oren, thanks."

Valia lifted a brow, "you do not wish for a place to belong?"

Elanna gave her a derisive look, "it's not for me."

The room was silent for a moment, white eyes fixed against black, and Elanna could have sworn that she would have been able to hear a mouse coughing if it happened. A place to belong was a laughable offer to make to someone like her; she wasn't supposed to belong to anywhere or anyone. She was far too used to being alone to start thinking she could actually have home and kin.

Valia finally sighed, "if you wish." She moved towards the side door and took out her key, but another question came to Elanna's mind, "why hasn't Oren used the spell again?"

Valia stopped and looked over her shoulder, "yes, the full moon was only a few days ago was it not? Preparing an entire city for the spell would be too much for Oren and his group. They know I am in Praza, but they do not know where. They would need to be precise and lure me into a trap. But they have no means with which to lure me."

It was enough and it gave them time at least. Elanna nodded and got out of her chair, gesturing for Valia to finish opening the door. They had a lot of ground to cover.

*

The Diamond Valley was another part of Praza steeped in history, but it was a far cry from the tattered Grey Quarter. Built around and on the Volune River it was a mix of docks, balconies, winding streets and suspended walkways, making it difficult to tell when one was standing on solid ground. It was the main trading hub of Praza, filled with docked ships and shops that were riddled with exotic goods, antiquities and most especially secrets that didn't belong in clumsy hands. The Crawl may specialize in the illegal and unnatural, but the Valley was where they surfaced, seeding merchants to gain knowledge of the market and trade in hard to obtain commerce.

Incense carried on the air with the smell of tea, escaping from the carelessly ajar window of a nearby bar. Elanna idly wondered if they could stop by after they'd found what they needed to; she did often enjoy tea.

The boots of travellers and dockhands crunched the snow flat around them but no one paid the pair any mind, their cloaks made them forgettable figures in a crowd that was wrapped up to stave off the cold.

They turned down a narrow walkway overshadowed by the dripping planks of an upper level. It smelled of sodden hay and Elanna guessed there had to be at least one rotting fish left discarded somewhere in the dark. A single oil lamp hung next to a sturdy wooden door, illuminating only a small area; its only purpose seemed to be letting potential customers know a shop was there.

Valia stepped inside and held the door open for Elanna, prompting a raised brow from the assassin, "very polite of you."

Valia just smiled and gestured for her to come inside, to which Elanna shrugged and walked in from the frigid, fishy alley. The shop was a stark difference, warm and dry with the faint smell of sandalwood, though Elanna felt like she had to stoop as the ceiling was quite low.

"Customers?" called a low, growling voice.

A hunched over figure wrapped up in layered robes of mixed greens and browns walked out from behind the counter, with clawed hands, a sweeping tail and the face of a black panther. His four white eyes settled on the pair with suspicion. "I hope you don't plan on using those marvellous weapons, mistresses?"

Valia approached him with sure steps and an easy smile, "not at all, my friend and I are merely looking for something."

"What precisely might you be looking for, night mistress?"

"Clever little Jurkah, I am looking for a spell. A very dangerous spell to my kind that mortal men should not carry. Do you know anything like that?"

He snorted, one hand scratching at the longer fur on his chin, and turned away towards the back of the shop. Valia followed after him but Elanna stayed put, preferring to keep watch in case Oren's hunters came looking for them. Hunters often marked themselves with protective charms that stood out as white sigils lining their skeletons to her vision. They were supposed to protect them from being turned and sometimes that worked, but once a determined vampire figured out how to break the charms it wasn't long before others knew how to do it as well. It didn't stop the hunters from trying to keep themselves 'pure.'

After rifling through several chests and no small number of scrolls and books, Valia emerged from the musty depths with several tomes bound in dark, battered leather. The Jurkah followed after a moment, brushing dust from his face, "I am sorry there is so little to give you, mistress. But I managed to find these, they might help as well," he handed over a roll of old parchment sheets, kept together with a string tie. "The writings in those books speak of many old and obscure spells, as do these papers, but with as little as such a spell is mentioned I believe every shred of knowledge would be useful to you, night mistress."

Valia held the papers and the tome to her chest with a grateful nod, "your help is appreciated. But I doubt you would part with your knowledge freely, what is your price?"

The Jurkah smiled then, his teeth damaged and stained, "you may walk unburdened by debt, night mistress. I do indeed part with these freely," his voice lowered to a growl, "I would delight in seeing Oren and his kind put in their place."

Now that didn't surprise Elanna in the slightest. Hunters being the zealous type didn't often practice acceptance of the less human looking species, elves like herself got by without too much contempt, but beast races like their Jurkah friend were treated like filth.

She sighed and looked at Valia, "shall we return then?"

Valia put the papers and tome away in a satchel she'd brought with her and nodded, "let us leave in haste."

Elanna turned on her heel and made for the door, but she froze with her hand hovering an inch away from it. There were two figures poking around the entrance to the narrow alley leading to the shop with white sigils all over their bones. Their movements suggested they were talking, the direction of their heads told her they were looking at the shop door, they were curious, suspicious even. Surely Oren's people were aware of the Diamond Valley's reputation? It would be the first place to look for a pair of vampires trying to stop them.

Valia's hand on her shoulder made her tense, "Elanna?"

She reached over and covered Valia's hand with her own, the other still inches away from opening the door. "Hunters outside."

"Are you certain?"

"My eyes don't lie to me; I'd make a poor assassin otherwise."

"Well, you did fail to assassinate me."

Elanna slowly turned her head to glare at the smiling vampire out the corner of her eye, "do you want me to help you or not?"

"Oh, I do. I am merely pointing something out."

"Point out other things, you'll live longer."

"If anyone should be giving advice on how to live longer, it should be me, no?"

"You're not exactly showing yourself as an expert in survival instincts right now."

The Jurkah cleared his throat, making both women look at him, "mistresses, if you might focus on the danger? I would loathe seeing them gain the upper hand so soon."

He had a point and Elanna frowned deeply, looking at the hunters again. They had started to move down the alley and were making their way towards the door. "I'm going to release a cloud as soon as they're on the other side of this door," she murmured. Valia squeezed her shoulder as an affirmative.

Three seconds passed in silence before the mens' boots thumped just outside and Elanna pulled open the door, surprising the one with his hand on the door handle. In the same movement smoke rushed from the depths of her cloak and engulfed the shop and alley in a smothering cloud. The hunters swung wildly but the two women had already moved through the cloud to flank them.

Blades sliding forwards, Elanna rammed them into the spine of hunter and managed to lift him off his feet a few inches with an ease that surprised her. It was short lived however as she watched Valia effortlessly break the other man's neck. They were vampires; they were stronger than mere mortals.

Realizing she still held the man on her blades, Elanna retracted them and let the body slump to the icy ground, already cracking softly from the heated blood pooling upon it. She dispersed the cloud and looked up from the corpse to see Valia peering at her oddly, "what?"

"Nothing, I have merely been remiss, I should have shown you more than feeding before our first venture."

"I'm not a clueless child, I know your kind."

"You know our kind through hunting them. That is not the same as being one of us."

"Hey, don't get snippy with me; you don't know anything about me."

"Then do not presume to know everything of our kind when you are still a child in the blood."

"Be quiet."

"Elanna-"

Elanna grabbed Valia close and covered her mouth, but the assassin's marble like eyes were shifting all over the place, "there are more hunters. Be quiet."

The wooden planks above creaked and Elanna looked up to see another figure with a white etched skeleton and a big frame. Others were steadily moving closer to their position; they had to have some way of knowing when their friends were in trouble. She looked at Valia, staying perfectly still and silent even as she frowned at the assassin. Elanna tried not to notice the curves of Valia's body even when they were pressed so closely.

Clearing her throat, Elanna moved her hand away and spoke in murmurs, "I'm under the impression you don't want to draw attention to us and frankly neither do I. Even if we can take them all I doubt it'd be the kind of subtle approach you're trying to go for here."

To her credit Valia appeared unperturbed by the closeness, "no, I would suggest using the boats as an escape route. I believe we are both nimble enough to do so. Unless you know of any Crawl entrances nearby that would take us home?"

Elanna shook her head, "the closest one would have us go up a level and back through where the hunters are thickest. I'll go first."

Valia nodded and Elanna finally let go, moving by the other woman until she was at the mouth of the alley. The hunters were getting closer.

Gesturing to Valia, she bolted out into the open and jumped from the nearest balcony onto a passing boat below. It was a passenger ship, certainly large enough that two people dropping on it wouldn't do much to capsize it, and they were quick to move to the prow, jumping to another ship. An unfortunate peddler fell overboard out of shock when the two leapt by him but neither paid it any mind, more concerned with the voices getting stirred up behind them.

"Shoot them!"

The sound of crossbow bolts thudding into hulls was pierced by an errant yell as a bystander took a shot to the chest. So much for subtle but it was better than starting a fight and showing any onlookers just how monstrous they could be. Now the hunters ended up looking overzealous and cruel as they'd injured an innocent, no matter how accidental, whilst chasing a pair of women who had done nothing as far as anyone watching was concerned.

With a final leap they landed on one of the walkways connecting to solid ground in the tail end of the valley, startled onlookers quickly went about their business again and the two disappeared into the crowd before the hunters could even start to catch up.

*

Getting back to the Oak was a relief. Much as Elanna enjoyed running and climbing all over Praza she preferred to do so when not under threat of harm or death.

Valia was in a rush to get started on what the old Jurkah had given them, setting the books and papers down on the main table, muttering about stopping Oren and something about misbegotten spells. Elanna paid it little mind and just let the vampire work uninterrupted.

Walking upstairs, she looked down either end of the landing and went left towards another set of stairs. They creaked underneath her despite trained steps and lead to a small, snow encrusted balcony overlooking the broad curving street that led into the rest of the silver district. People were finishing up business, the sun sinking into the horizon with its heat almost blocked out entirely by cloud cover in the first place. Gusts of wind brought small flakes of snow spiralling down upon the city in gentle droves and Elanna sighed, wondering how it was all going to end. If she was lucky, Valia would stay true to her word and they would remove Oren and his spell as a threat. But she hadn't ever considered herself a lucky person before; she didn't feel that open to starting. Still, there was something about the vampire that compelled her to trust, at least a little. Maybe, just maybe, this time would be different.

When the sun finally disappeared, she turned away and ventured back down to the main room. Valia had gathered fresh sheets of parchment and was already making notes of her own, though that wasn't what made Elanna talk. "Have you fed recently?"

Valia blinked, distracted, "what?"

Elanna frowned at her, "do you need to feed soon?"

"No."

"Valia."

"I do not. I am fine."

"I'm not that convinced."

"This is more important."

"Now I'm really not convinced."

"Shush!"

The irritation made Valia's voice drop into a growl and when silence persisted for ten seconds she returned to her work with an almost feverish concentration. Elanna rolled her eyes, "can I at least have the key? I want to go outside."

Valia muttered about extra keys and waved her hand in the direction of the bar. Elanna felt she should probably consider herself lucky that she hadn't annoyed the other woman into an attack, thankfully it would be the last time she would bother Valia for the moment.

Walking over to the bar she found a copy of Valia's key behind several bottles of exotic liquor and used it to unlock the side door. The frigid air still pinched at what little skin she left exposed to it and she eagerly took to scaling the building to warm herself; it led to climbing more quite easily. With Valia more or less incapable of focusing on her, she didn't really have much of a guide to teach her about the new powers that little bite had given her. She could hazard a few guesses though, being a former hunter of Valia's kind did give her that much.

Their escape from the Valley had shown her the strength and speed she'd been granted. More than once she'd felt herself push too hard for a jump, unused to the extra power her body could harness. Elanna had to wonder how else she could utilize her new abilities with her existing skills.

She had never been much of a fighter. She had to be underhanded or precise, catch her enemy by surprise and then extract herself from the danger as quickly as possible. She was an assassin, not a warrior. But the strength and speed of a vampire coupled with the ability of an assassin? She knew they were durable bastards as well, so she would be harder to hurt and kill as a result.

She could possibly put any other operating assassin in Praza out of business. She wasn't the only one, but they were a handful at best. The city guard tried to root them out from time to time but they rarely succeeded. The Crawl provided a safe place to hide and few but the Crawl's inhabitants and those permitted to enter knew how to reach it.

Leaping from the rooftop of a bar, the air swelling with heat and burning incense around it, she landed on the lower levels of Silver District's temple. It was ancient, one of the first things to be built when Praza was constructed. The city was meant to be a hub of cultures, first founded by those running from the wars of hostile nations. To show there was to be no bias, they built a temple that resembled no single house of worship and housed wings for all religions of the time.

That was the story of it anyway, but it had been a thousand years and time had merged the beliefs into a single religion that created a diverse pantheon of deities to worship. They hung the colours of one goddess or god throughout and around the temple and changed them every month, following the change of seasons with the temperament and purpose of each deity. In front of the temple lay Empress square, where the twelve statues of the gods were arranged with five in half circles at the sides and front of the temple stairs with the two statues of Taruna and Sunkari in the middle, facing each other. Taruna represented winter and strife, whilst Sunkari represented spring and renewal.

Not many approved of Praza's peculiar religion, the hostile nations of old having challenged the city before, but by the time any chose to attack Praza was fully capable of defending itself.

Elanna cast her gaze in the direction of the Grey Quarter, remembering the fires of war and how many screamed that night. Praza might not openly approve of the Crawl and its denizens but they would never be removed from one another; if one was threatened both would react in force. When the Grey Quarter and its people were caught up in the flames, the Crawl opened its doors and sheltered those still alive, fighting to douse the fires and push back invading forces.

It was a strange relationship, but one that had served them well thus far. Elanna hoped it would continue to do so, even as people like Oren began to permeate their carefully built society with a zealot's beliefs.

She frowned, trying to push the sudden patriotism away. She wasn't supposed to care, but Praza had been her home for a long time and it was hard to imagine being anywhere else; it was hard to imagine it being any other way.

With a clenched fist she turned and jumped back across to the bar, landing with a soft grunt against the top edge of the roof. She scrambled up and paused upon hearing the drunken singing of a man directly below. Looking down revealed a young elf, unaware and happily stumbling down the walkway between the temple and the bar. It lead down into a residential court, he was likely going home. It wouldn't take much to overpower him and take him back to Valia's. She was likely strong enough to carry him while she climbed and ran across the rooftops.

Movement further along the path drew her attention to an alley behind the bar. A crouched figure poised to leap as soon as the young elf was in reach. Focusing her sight for a moment revealed the bar's basement stretched beneath the alley; the alternative wouldn't take much either. She moved to the edge of the building and just before the young elf was in reach she dropped down on top of his would be attacker.

Smoke sloughed from the insides of her cloak and wrapped around them both, pulling them through the ground and into the basement below. Elanna grunted as her back slammed into a whiskey barrel, tumbling onto the hard paving stones of the basement floor. The mugger tried to struggle away from her but she curled her legs beneath her body and sprang forward, tackling them to the ground again. He was a slender man, bearded, middle-aged. His armour was decent quality, not the rags of a desperate person, no, he was a practiced mugger, shown even more by the lean muscles that strained against her unnatural strength. He was healthy, she could smell it, no disease, no foul quality to his bodily makeup.

"I didn't mean to mess up the job! Tell them it wasn't my fault!" he sputtered, still struggling underneath her.

Elanna blinked, gathering her wits, "I'm not here to assassinate you."

He went still then, staring at her in confusion, "you ain't here to kill me? You got them pearly eyes, I know who you are."

The thump-thump-thump of his heart was loud in her ears, the rushing of his blood and his panting breaths of exertion. She couldn't tell if she was hungry, she'd fed not long ago. She would have to talk to Valia about it. Regardless, they did need a new meal ready for them when they actually got hungry and this man certainly shouldn't bother Valia.

Of course, why Elanna cared enough to accommodate the vampire's odd choice in victims eluded her and she preferred it to stay that way.

She didn't need to explore why.

Chapter Four

Elanna stretched and walked out of her room, ready for another night of spying and testing her abilities. The smell of soap still clung to her skin but was largely smothered by her gear; she did so enjoy baths.

Walking down to the bar she rolled her eyes upon seeing Valia hunched over a veritable sea of paper, some of it was even on the table.

"Valia," she called, confident steps carrying her to the opposite side of the table. Valia didn't so much as blink, scrawling feverish notes with her eyes darting back and forth over a book and the parchment she was writing on. "We've been going over this for a week and you're starting to worry me."

No response. Elanna shrugged, "well, maybe not worry me. But it's getting a little creepy."

Again Valia ignored her in favour of writing down more notes. Crossing her arms, Elanna wore an expectant but unimpressed look, "I know where some of Oren's men are hiding."

"Where?" Valia's head snapped up, fierce eyes fixating on the assassin with a near animal intensity.

"Glad I got your attention."

"Were you lying?"

"No."

"Then where are they?"

"They've actually got a little hidey hole near us, a few streets away. We're lucky they haven't found us yet."

"What?"

"You didn't know?"

Valia got up from the table without another word, papers displaced by her movement fluttered through the air and landed with soft scuffs on the wooden floor. She made for the door and Elanna rolled her eyes again, following the other woman quickly. Once outside Elanna took the lead, scaling the nearest building and flitting across the rooftops.

The week had gone by without incident and that was part of the problem. The book and scrolls were cryptic at best, speaking of the sun and moon and how a great power could be harnessed. But nothing that pointed directly to the method, whatever spell Oren had learned, it wasn't in the book. But the directions to it were and that was what they were trying to figure out. They took turns between resting and trying to figure out what they were looking for. Most of the time Valia kept pushing forwards and left Elanna time to venture out and test her new abilities some.

She was gaining in strength, she knew that much, but sooner or later she would actually need Valia's assistance and that wasn't going to happen any time soon if they didn't have a breakthrough.

Still, breaking some hunter heads was a nice diversion.

They stopped on the edge of a brothel, the alluring coos of women and men alike drawing in clients in the early hours of the night. Thin, whispery snow trickled down from the sky, adding a dusty layer to the white blanket of the city. Across the street through the throngs of people Elanna focused her eyes to see the figures of black with their white marked bones. Outside it was just the one woman standing guard, leaned against the wall with arms crossed and idly watching the crowds. Inside was another matter, there were five milling around inside what was suposed to be a weapon merchant's shop. A cellar acting as their little camp was where they retreated to when the day brought in customers unaware of the shop's real purpose.

Elanna looked aside, noting the tenseness in Valia's posture. "Hey, we'll get them. I'm not going to roll over and let them kill me."

Valia finally turned her eyes away from the hunter and fixed Elanna with a hard stare, but she said nothing. Elanna raised a brow, "where's the playful, mild-mannered woman I met the first time? You're not going to help anyone getting frustrated, least of all yourself. Need to something to vent all your anger and hate on? Well here, we've got six of the bastards in front of us. All we've got to do is get in," she smirked then, "which I can help us with."

They moved across the rooftops, crossing the street by using one of the massive arches that littered the district. Moving back up they came to the shop, jumping over to it and landing as gently as they could. The hunters inside seemed not to have heard them, there was no sudden flurry of activity and none of them froze as if something alerted them.

Elanna cleared her throat and motioned for Valia to hold onto her, "if you lose your grip when we're half way through it won't be pretty. So don't be timid about it."

She almost regretted saying that when Valia's arms locked tightly around her waist and the vampire's form pressed up against her back. But it was practical. She had once killed a target that way by dragging him half way through the marble floor of his home; the displaced material tried to integrate with his body and shredded his chest cavity. Another time she pulled a swimming target down until their legs were trapped in base of the pool.

Moving into the middle of the shop's section of roof Elanna reached down and gripped Valia's wrists. "There's two on the floor below us, you go right and I'll go left." That was all the warning she gave before the smoke billowed out of her cloak and enveloped them. They sank through the ceiling and dropped onto the wooden boards of the second floor - a bedroom and a small storage area - with a muffled noise, not that it meant much in the small space; the two hunters didn't have their backs turned either. Valia's arms fell away from her and Elanna immediately rushed her target, ramming her foot into his knee hard enough to make it instantly bend out of shape. The pain made him crumple to the floor with a scream and she sank one of her blades into his neck, slicing through his larynx and turning his screaming into a wet, feverish gurgle.

The second hunter's body hit the floor without its head and Elanna smiled just a little when she turned to face Valia. Thankfully the other woman returned it. Elanna found herself grinning, "see, I knew this would cheer you up."

As soon as the words left her mouth the four hunters from below were rushing up the stairs. Elanna nimbly dodged the first swing of an axe near her head, slotting both her blades between the hunter's ribs. He gurgled with the blood filling his lungs and she shoved him off, not even watching him slump to the floor as she had another angry hunter to deal with. It was the human woman from outside and Elanna ducked to avoid her swing, another axe. A favoured weapon by hunters for its link to executions and decapitation.

Sweeping the hunter's legs out from under her, Elanna all but pounced on the human. Using one hand to pin her head down Elanna rammed one of her blade's into the hunter's throat, deep enough to pierce the spinal column, and she finally stopped moving.

The noise of Valia's claws ripping through the other hunters made Elanna get up from her kill, turning to watch Valia break one of the men over her knee and decapitate the other with a single slash of her hand. Once their bodies hit the floor Valia leisurely licked at the fingers of her right hand, temporarily shaped into talons and coated in blood. It was something Elanna had been trying to learn how to do, it was a minor form of shapeshifting that lent to a vampire's lethality and she found it curious. Right at that moment however Elanna found she was fixating more on how Valia's tongue caught the blood from her skin than the practical uses of such a weapon.

Valia's reddened eyes turned towards her and she smiled, "has something caught your eye, little slayer?"

Affrontment roused itself within her and Elanna coughed, looking away, "I'm just impressed. I still don't know how to do that."

A chuckle slid from Valia's throat and she licked away the errant drops of red on her lips before smirking, "of course." She cleaned the rest of the blood from her hand on one of the dead hunter's coats, then moved to the stairs. Elanna followed in silent irritation at herself, she should be focused on the task at hand not whatever pointless detail of Valia's caught her attention.

The ground level looked like one would expect. Worn wooden counters, racks to hold the weapons, locked display cases for the pricier merchandise and a crystal lamp hanging from the centre of the ceiling. There was a backroom behind the counter opposite the door, either side of them where they exited from the stairs.

Vaulting over the counter, Elanna picked through the shelves beneath, not worried about the clinking of ink wells and lockboxes. She could have searched silently but there was no one to find them out now. The noise of Valia barring the door and drawing the curtains of the one window was a vague detail that Elanna filed away at the back of her mind. She finally found what she was looking for a grabbed a heavy pouch that jingled with coins.

The sound brought Valia over to her and earned her a raised eyebrow. Elanna shrugged and tied the pouch to her belt, " you never know when we'll need this. Besides, these bastards clearly don't need it anymore."

Valia seemed to accept the logic and brushed by her into the backroom where a fireplace was crackling, beset by a coffee table and four very well worn chairs. Cards were spread across the table and some were on the floor, clearly dropped when the hunters heard their entrance on the second floor.

Just playing a game like most people would when passing the time until a couple of monsters came and killed them.

Elanna tried to push the idea of hunters being like other people out of her mind. They weren't like other people. Most people would balk at the idea of fighting things like her, like Valia. What they'd done upstairs was but a fraction of their potential and certainly just a fraction of what Valia in particular was capable of. Hunters chose the life out of self-righteousness, vengeance, misguided heroism or just straight up malice. It gave them a way to kill without being reviled by 'proper' folk and it left a taste of bitter contempt in Elanna's mouth.

She was an assassin and she was paid to kill whoever the target was. There was nothing romantic or heroic about what she did with her life. She was a tool for whoever her employer happened to be. She didn't go off on a tangent about how she was somehow cleansing the world or claim how she was actually helping people by doing what she did, like so many hunters she'd known. All they did was kill and wrap it up so nicely that people didn't question it. Hunters might start differently but they all eventually ended up the same way, fanatical butchers with no reason or mercy left for those they deemed unnatural.

Valia's voice yanked her back to reality, "Elanna, look here."

Blinking, Elanna turned to where Valia had moved one of the chairs to uncover a trapdoor. Of course, she should have been looking for the way down already. Shaking her head she walked over and knelt, pulling it open and revealing a sturdy ladder. They climbed down to find themselves in cellar, outfitted with all manner of weapons and items, sanctified and magical alike to deal with creatures like them. And anything else the hunters found threatening.

It was dry and clean, they didn't want damp to damage any of their belongings. Especially the tomes they kept on strong but worn shelves. Valia moved over to the books, taking one and flicking through the pages. Elanna walked up to a table at the other end of the cellar, that had a lamp hanging directly above it. Nothing else was on the table but a sheet of paper but as she got closer she realized it wasn't something to just pass over, "Valia! Come look at this."

Putting the book away, Valia turned and hurried over, "what is it?"

"It's a map of the city."

"That does not surprise me. What are these?"

"The red symbols are places they think house unnatural things. If they put a black line through it it means they searched but there was nothing there. A black cross means there was something there but they took care of it."

"A lot of red, they suspect much."

"Praza is a haven for any who'll fight for her."

"Hunters have never been here before?"

"No, they're recent."

"Perhaps they are only here because they followed me."

"Not your fault."

"You may say as such, but I am not convinced. What are the blue marks?"

"Well, that's the best bit. They're all hunter dens. And these lines connecting them all? Tunnels they use to travel between dens."

Valia chuckled, "clever little mortals."

Years ago Elanna might have felt pity for the hunters, but all she could manage was a shrug, "not clever enough. Now we know all their hiding places." She took the pins out from the edges of the map and rolled it up, handing it to Valia and putting the pins in a belt pouch. "Even if their friends come to check on them and they see the map gone, it'll be time consuming and frustrating for them to relocate everyone. They're going to be pissed but there weren't any red marks near where we actually are, so it's not like they can do anything yet."

It was completely unexpected when Valia's arms looped around her waist, much gentler than last time, and she felt the other woman's form press up against her back again. "You were right," warm breath fluttered against her ear and she could hear the smile in Valia's voice, "this did cheer me up." Then a kiss to her neck, just below her ear where her jaw started, and Valia let go. "Thank you, Elanna."

Heat flushed to her face and Elanna sputtered to clear her throat, "right, you're welcome." She turned her head to see a very smug look on Valia and tried not to be irritated by it, "we should get going, don't want to get caught by more hunters or they might track us back to yours."

Valia just nodded, still with that little smirk on her lips, and climbed up the ladder. Elanna took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, and let it out slowly. If it wouldn't be Oren, Valia was certainly going to be the death of her, she just knew it.

Chapter Five

Their fight with the hunters certainly seemed to ruffle Oren's feathers.

Elanna observed and listened in the depths of the Crawl, hearing about agitated behaviour from the hunters through the haze of smoke, booze and laughter on the air. People so often believed if they spoke in a loud, crowded place they would not be overheard. They at least hoped their small voice would be drowned out to everyone but the person meant to hear it. Not so for one experienced in detecting such things.

The week had gone by with Oren changing some of their base positions, but many were still situated where the map pinned them down and the two women had taken to 'evicting' the hunters stationed in them.  An agreeable pastime to keep them from going stir crazy.

Still, Elanna lounged in the Banshee's Haunt, a bar infamous for its spectral phenomenon, long after her unwitting accomplice had said his piece and left. It wasn't the knowledge of Oren throwing nothing short of a tantrum that occupied her however.

Valia was in her thoughts more than she felt the other woman should be. Friendlier than she expected, for sure. Most everything Valia was she hadn't expected of a vampire. She had to mentally smack herself for that one. The part of her that had been forced into being a hunter roused itself every now and then, trying to make her see Valia as a monster instead of a person but...

A slight flexing of her jaws and she felt her already sharp canines extend a little. Really, if Valia was a monster then what did that make her?

It wasn't the only thought that swirled around her mind however and that was the most troubling aspect of it all. Idly she would comment to herself that Valia was quite easy to look at. She had a soft, elegant and curved build that belied the unnatural strength afforded to her by her status as a creature of the night.

Glancing down at herself Elanna huffed quietly. She was built for agility and flexibility, for wrapping her legs around someone's neck in order to break it or choke them to death. Seduction wasn't a tool available to her. At least not one she had ever considered herself capable of and certainly not since her eyes were taken from her. The white orbs serving as her eyes unnerved most people.

Inane thoughts were a distraction. Elanna shook her head and got up from her table, idly checking her belt to make sure her coin purse hadn't been stolen. It was out of habit but honestly if a theft on her person had gone unnoticed she would hang up her mantle as an assassin right then and there. The shame of it. Not the mention the high likelihood of Valia never letting her live it down. A chance to tease her even more than usual? Valia wouldn't be able to resist.

An amalgam of forms filled her vision as she walked the Crawl's streets, but she could tone them down enough to not be overwhelmed. So many of the under city's denizens were much more interesting to look at than the surface dwellers, at least to her.

Veins that glowed all colours of the rainbow, beings that hid in human forms but were wreathed in the energy of their true selves, scars on the soul, bones marked with all manner of magic and protection not unlike the hunter sigils. Only theirs glowed white however, thankfully making them stand out to her. The Crawl was for the unnatural and the freaks and much like Praza above had its own rules. Sure, there was some infighting, but should someone outside the Crawl or outside Praza itself try to interfere it was more than likely the enemy would find itself outnumbered by a united people.

Elanna supposed it was like a family in that regard. Or at least what she heard of a family. Fighting and poking fun at one another until a stranger thought they could join in only to be rebuffed.

Praza and the Crawl were strange places in their own rights; but it was why she liked staying there.

*

"Heard anything?" Valia didn't look up from the table, scrawling down a few more notes next to the quick sketch of a symbol that kept showing up. They were sure it was supposed to be a solar eclipse.

"Well," Elanna sauntered over from the door, hands propped on her hips, "Oren is pissed, his hunters are trying to relocate but as we've seen they haven't been quick enough to move everyone. Guess he didn't have extra bolt holes."

Valia set her quill down, meeting Elanna's gaze with a questioning look, "anything else?"

"There's been hunter activity in the lowest levels of the Crawl. That's where the real 'freaks' live, the kind that don't get to venture upstairs to the city proper."

"I was unaware there was a hierarchy in the Crawl, my times there have been brief at best."

"They can go wherever they want in the Crawl, but walking out in the streets of Praza when there's still Humans about would be...let's say ill advised."

"Just what exactly is living down there?"

"Well, there's the Naga and their Kushini cousins, they like the water logged areas and tend to the Crawl's waterways for the rest of us. Your average person doesn't react too well to seeing snake people, so they stay in the crawl for safety. There's weres who've shed their mortal appearance forever, I'll never understand why. People who are dragon-blooded and have so much of it they look like vaguely humanoid dragons. Again, bad reaction. Basically all manner of beings that don't look like something normal."

"What else?"

"...it's also home to the unfriendly kind of 'unnatural.' There's a bottom level, we call it the Pit, that almost no one goes to, for good reason. Night shamans, pure-blooded and thin-blooded demons alike gone feral, wizards and witches gone insane or corrupted. It's dangerous and infested with creatures either lost to dark magic or actively tampering with and trying to control them."

"Has there ever been problems with them trying to overtake the rest of the Crawl?"

"There have been a few attempts. I was here for the last one twenty years ago; lots of bloodshed and messed up sorcery like you've never seen. Wielded by the violently insane, magic can do terrible things. But give it to someone who's lucid and cruel? I remember one woman, thin-blooded demon, treating her victims like test subjects. Rounded up people and took them back to her lair in the Pit for experiments."

"Do I want to hear the rest of this?"

"No. You really don't. But yeah, there have been attempts. Before that they hadn't tried in over a hundred years. It's violent down there, none of them can really form a coherent alliance with one another for long before someone schemes and betrays. So it doesn't happen often. You'll never find a place that more accurately adheres to 'survival of the fittest.'"

Valia shook her head and set aside her quill, "well, I suppose I should be thankful that Oren and his pets have not ventured there. Though it would be a gift if they blundered into such a deadly place unprepared."

A scoff left the assassin, "no kidding."

Dark eyes turned on her and Elanna quirked a brow, "what now then, little slayer?"

She gave Valia an unimpressed glare, "what have I said about calling me that?"

Valia got up from her chair in a single smooth motion, walking across to Elanna with calm, deceptive steps. It put her on edge and off balance just looking at Valia's dark eyes, so unlike her own. For a brief second she felt like a mouse instead of a cat. Then Valia simply passed her by, idly running the fingers of one hand across her stomach as if it were an afterthought, "I suppose we should investigate their little expedition into the water serpents' territory then?"

Elanna swallowed hard, shaking off the buzz in her nerves, "yeah. Let's go."

*

The Naga and Kushini paid them little mind, only vaguely interested in why they were venturing beyond the Crawl's 'civilized' spaces. Elanna was quite obviously of the Crawl herself, so they had no issue letting the pair walk through.

Light was hard to come by but that didn't bother either of them, managing to avoid the deeper pools and traversing water worn paths of rock. The Kushini in particular often harvested the moss growing all around and kept the paths clear of it. It kept anyone travelling through the area from slipping and falling into the water.

Some of the Naga were quite helpful when prompted however, quickly divulging any information they had about Oren's hunters. There was little Elanna could offer them that they didn't already acquire for themselves and the hunters did not take kindly to beast races such as their own. Briefly Elanna remembered the old Jurkah in Diamond Valley. Hopefully the hunters hadn't paid him a visit.

Pointed in the direction of winding caverns the pair pressed onward, moving beyond the underground lakes and water tunnels that the serpents called home. It would have been pitch darkness if not for the water and moisture providing an excellent place for glowing moss to spread. The Kushini cultivated it amongst themselves, having poorer night vision to their Naga cousins, but it often found its way out of their gardens. All the better for Elanna and Valia, it provided enough light to keep the shape of the tunnels and caverns from becoming too indistinct to traverse.

Along the way Valia kept painting X's on the walls with an mixture of glowdust and rejuvenation tonic. The blue glow might not differentiate it from the moss but the magical elements would make it stand out to Elanna's eyes.

Not far from the next bend in the tunnel they froze, the vague inflections of a voice reaching them. Moving low to the ground they inched closer and began to see the orange light of a torch.

Elanna stopped at the edge of the bend, turning her head enough so she could see the three hunters ahead. She didn't need to move forwards until the rock wasn't in the way.

"This is ridiculous, we come all this way down here passed those dumb snakes and for what? So Oren can tie up a loose end that no one's gonna find?" one of the men complained with a growl, arms folded across his chest. He was soaking wet, unlike the others, and shivering. Probably fell in one of the pools. The woman holding the torch glared at him.

"We do what he says whether we like it or not," her voice softened a little, "just think of all the warm mead we can drink when this is over with."

He smiled broadly and nodded, "yeah, that'll fix me up just right."

"Would you two shut up? I'm trying to concentrate here," the second man grumbled, fiddling with a heavy looking door in front of them.

The woman shrugged, "I wonder why he didn't mention the door was locked?"

The shivering man shook his head, "who cares. Can't you just break it down?"

The second man sighed and twisted at the waist, glaring at them both, "with what, you arse? You want me to use your head as a battering ram?"

Elanna leaned back against the wall of the tunnel and looked to Valia, "three of them. You take the woman, I'll take the wet dog and the wanna-be lock picker." Valia just nodded, flexing her right hand.

Smoke slid out of Elanna's cloak and wrapped around her, making her entirely indistinct to any would be attacker. She vaulted around the bend and charged quickly into the soaked hunter, trusting in her new strength and ramming her hand through his gut. Her fingers quickly found is spine and twisted sharply to the side with a wet crunch. He slumped to the ground and she vaguely heard Valia dealing with the woman, torch light flickering madly along the tunnel walls as a pair of shadows briefly wrestled and one was impaled on the other's arm.

The last hunter tried to charge them, swinging his axe in hasty, enraged chops. The edge sank into Elanna's smoke but it bit into nothing. Smoke wrapped around his arm, partially engulfing him and his elbow was quickly broken out of shape by obscured hands. A foot kicked him to the floor by his stomach and quickly pressed against his throat, pinning him there.

The smoke retreated and Elanna stood over him, giving him just enough air to talk. "What does Oren want with this place?"

He tried to move her foot with his one working arm but he might has well have been pushing against the pillars of the High Palace. He glared up at her, "to blazes with you, monster!"

Elanna sighed, "it's never just 'sure, here's everything I know' with people is it?"

Valia chuckled, coming up at her side and peering down at the man with an amused look to her red eyes, "that would be far too easy."

Elanna pressed down a little harder, making the man gurgle, "it'd be nice. Just the once, for a change of pace."

The hunter switched his attention to Valia, still struggling under Elanna's foot, "you!"

Elanna lifted her foot slightly and Valia knelt down, grasping the man's jaw, "yes?" she was smirking now, her nails narrowing into sharp points that dug into his skin. He struggled as much as he could but it was fairly pointless with two vampires holding him, "Oren warned us about you! Traitorous slattern! Slaughtered your own clan to get away! You're worse than regular fangs!"

What?

Valia hissed and swung sharply at his head, an audible crack rendering him silent. She slowly got to her feet, rage painted across her face, "lying dog of a man!" she spat out, stalking towards the door with stiff steps.

Slowly removing her foot from the body, Elanna eyed Valia without moving another step in any direction. Oren could be telling worse stories about Valia to spur his newer recruits into action. But Valia could be lying, acting. Many times Elanna noted her acting so differently from what she expected of vampires. Perhaps that was to make her more pliant for Valia's plans? Make her feel sympathetic rather than angry about her situation. Her mind flooded with a hundred different possibilities and none of them pleasant.

Valia seemed to notice the silence and turned around from inspecting the door. For a moment she looked hurt, "you do not believe him do you?"

Elanna blinked, "no," she said abruptly.

The silence felt heavier than it should have and Valia did not look away for the longest time, her expression unreadable. Finally her eyes lowered to the ground, "if you believe nothing else, please believe that I will not harm you." She then turned back to the door, pressing her palms to it and testing its strength. She could do what the hunters were incapable of and simply break it down.

Elanna wasn't sure what to make of her situation or Valia's words. She could trust Valia and get herself killed because the vampire truly was just stringing her along or she could run away and leave Valia to her fate, heartbroken and alone.

Strangely she didn't find herself balking at the 'heartbroken' thought. Why did Valia's affection for her seem so genuine? When had she gotten so...soft?

Shaking the thoughts from her head Elanna frowned and tried to focus on what they were doing. For now she would trust Valia; hopefully it wouldn't end with her spine getting separated from the rest of her body.

The door flew off its hinges with one solid kick, collapsing onto the floor beyond with a crash. Elanna raised a brow and walked up beside Valia. The floor was made up of neatly arranged paving stones that still appeared fresh and untouched by elements, with clean cut bricks making up the walls around them in a similar state. The roughly hewn and water worn tunnels had quite abruptly melted into advanced masonry.

Who would build such a place? Why? Elanna proceeded into a hallway, the orange flickering of torch light and Valia's footsteps quick to follow her. She tried not to grow tense with Valia behind her, pushing her more cynical and paranoid thoughts away. Just once she'd like to be wrong about things like that...

The air wasn't musty and didn't have any kind of magic lingering upon it. The walls themselves were a different story, she couldn't see beyond them. Large, sweeping symbols were stringed together to form an impenetrable chain, leaving only the hall and Valia as distinct shapes to her. It made her uncomfortable. "Don't expect a warning," Elanna murmured, "I can't see if there are rooms around us, let alone enemies."

"Magic?"

"Yeah."

"I did not know there was magic that could block your sight."

"It's rarely. Thankfully."

"I suppose that would make your job difficult?"

"Living in general would be made more difficult if everyone used it, but my abilities are unique as far as I’m aware and barely anyone knows about this kind of magic. So it never really warrants use or interest."

The hallway twisted into a spiral staircase that descended further, but as soon as Elanna moved down the first step torches along the wall snapped to life with eerie pale blue fire. Elanna glared at the nearest torch, a little off-put, "this place needs to learn there are other colours."

Valia moved by her, still carrying the hunters' torch, "consistency it not so terrible a thing."

Elanna shrugged and followed, paying attention to any potential noises behind them. She could still only see what her natural line of sight would afford. Aside from the symbols blocking her vision, she could see other sigils meant to guard against demons and other creatures of corruption, but no wards against vampires yet. Odd.

The staircase finally reached its end at another door with no lock in place. Valia pushed it open and revealed a much larger room, circular with pillars set in a tighter ring at the middle around something that looked like a pedestal. Torches lined the walls, providing some illumination but leaving plenty of shadows.

Elanna walked towards the ring of pillars, peering through them to see the pedestal and frowning. It was ablaze with power in her eyes, golden and and bright, like the sun. It was also riddled with wards against vampires, sigils of angry red meant to burn and torment them. If they got close enough they would be violently rebuffed.

She fought down the urge to move away when she felt Valia move up beside her, looking at the pedestal as well. "Can you see what that is?"

"There's no item or anything there, it's more like energy collected in a basin. It's also covered in wards to keep things like us away from it. It might be what taught Oren his spell."

"Like a fount?"

"Like a fount. I'd heard of them but I've never actually seen one."

"The magi who left this must have been powerful indeed. They not only harnessed the sun and the moon but could still impart such gargantuan knowledge onto others after death."

"I wonder why this has only come about now. Why in Praza?"

"Your city is one of freedoms. Perhaps it gave him to space to pursue his research into the matter?"

"Maybe. The surface city isn't completely aware of just what lives down here. And hang on, why are we assuming it was man who discovered this?"

"A good question, but I suppose we cannot know for sure."

"Not unless one of us learns from that thing and I don't think that's an option."

"The wards?"

"We could try but it might kill us. Safer bet is to just destroy this thing, somehow."

"Founts are created where ley lines cross, they siphon raw magic and use it to fuel the fount, if we managed to break the pedestal it would disrupt the redirection."

Elanna nodded and looked up at the pillars; they were protected against vampires as well but not as thoroughly. If they could just push through the pain they might be able to topple one onto the pedestal. She jogged over to the outer walls of the room, earning a quizzical glance from Valia, then turned and sprinted at one of the pillars. Jumping she slammed her boot into the stone with all her strength, forming a crack in the pillar but not enough to dislodge it. It was thicker than her and Valia put together. Immediately it felt like her skin was on fire from her foot all the way up to her hip and she cursed, landing awkwardly and shuffling back from the pillar. She shot Valia an expectant look, "a little help?"

Valia just nodded and without another word said her body started changing. Almost silken skin turned dark grey and granite like,  the elegant coat melted away along with everything else into a bulky but genderless form. Wings spread, talons flexed and a pair of red eyes settled on Elanna, staring out of a monstrous face.

Swallowing, Elanna failed to remember she was still on the floor, "Valia?"

Another nod. Valia walked over to her, much taller now, and pulled Elanna to her feet as though she weighed nothing. Valia was surprisingly gentle though, very aware that her current form could do damage if handled improperly. "You will learn how to control this later, for now your blood is too weak, it strengthens with age," Valia's voice was deeper, it almost seemed to rumble in Elanna's chest. She shook her head and edged out of Valia's way, "guess I'll look forward to that."

Wasting no more time Valia charged at the cracked pillar, slamming into it with all her strength. It toppled inwards and broke off the basin of the pedestal with a clap of thunder. The air immediately snapped with the sting of released tension, the hijacked energy of the fount reasserting itself and buzzing for a moment before it returned to its rightful place. Then the flames went out.

Elanna bent and picked up Valia's torch, dropped when she shifted form, and walked over to the broken fount. It wasn't glowing with sigils anymore or at all for that matter. The wards restricting both of them and her vision must have been powered by the stolen energies because she could see again. "Much better."

Valia looked at her, torch light playing on her strange face. Like a cross between a bat and a snake. The brows were spiked, the chin adorned with odd barbell like extensions. Valia's ears were still prominent, but hardly the elegant tapering points they had been. They were sharp, thick and curved, pointing up at the end and almost giving her the appearance of horns. When she opened her mouth it was crowded with sharp teeth. "Can I presume you are able to see again?"

She was about to respond when Valia snarled and pulled her out of the way of a glowing golden blade trying to slice her in half. Elanna stumbled and whirled around, almost blinded by how bright the form in front of them was. An ethereal creature, bound up in solid armour to keep its form consistent and whole. It charged them again and Valia met the creature with powerful blows from her claws, leaving gashes in its armour but burning herself in the process. Valia snarled and wrestled the thing away from her, "what is this creature?"

She scrambled for thoughts, information, memories of reading about constructs like this. Think, think, think! Elanna blinked, "its an Attaga! Magi sometimes bind them into places important to them as traps. But they're pissy little bastards so they have to be trapped by something the Magi thinks might get destroyed. The damn pedestal must have been its prison!"

The Attaga turned its head towards Elanna and let out a hollow groan. One powerful step and it shot across the room, almost upon her with its burning sword held overhead. Again Valia interceded and crashed into it with a flap of her wings, smashing the Attaga into the far wall. "How does it die!"

Elanna hurried through her memories, trying to ignore how hard her heart was beating, "break its armour! Underneath it's just a cloud of magical energy that formed a consciousness, without the armour it'll dissipate!"

Valia growled against the straining Attaga as it tried to push her away, the smell of burning flesh sickeningly heavy on the air. Grasping the front of its helmet in one hand she smashed it into the wall again, loosening several bricks and causing no small number of cracks. "You will not dare go near her again, creature!" she hissed, slamming it into the wall again and partly breaking open its helmet. The Attaga groaned, like the straining of a ship's hull, and the brighter orbs that served for its eyes turned red. It pushed back against Valia and managed to get her off her feet, throwing her across the room. Her body broke through one of the pillars and she didn't get up. Elanna's throat closed.

The Attaga moved in her direction and Elanna hurried to flood her immediate area with smoke, making her entirely too indistinct for the Attaga to hit. It howled and swung wildly, seeking her out with its blade, but it never landed. When she was sure it was thoroughly lost in the cloud she sprinted over to Valia. Thankfully Valia was still breathing and slowly started to rise, a low rumble of a growl leaving her throat. Elanna grabbed Valia's arms and pulled her out from under the pillar with the help of her smoke.

Finally getting to her feet, Valia hissed and charged towards the Attaga. She disappeared into the cloud of black smoke and flew out the other side with trails of it running off her wings, tackling the Attaga into the ground. Straddling its breastplate she balled her hands together and slammed them down onto its helmet, breaking the stones beneath it.

Fumbling with a pouch on her belt, Elanna took one of her smoke bombs and cracked open the casing. Pouring out half the mixture inside she dug through another, smaller pouch and took out a small crystalline shard. It had a slight glow to it and started to sizzle when it came into contact with the mixture. Closing the case she rattled it about so the mixture got nice and agitated, just in time to hear the Attaga's helmet shatter.

It howled and finally managed to dislodge Valia, a sweep of its blade opening a shallow cut across her chest. She backed away quickly, black blood dripping from the wound, and the Attaga advanced.

Elanna sprinted behind it and jumped onto its back, able to grip the rim of its breastplate without the helmet in the way. The Attaga's eyes shifted back through its amorphous face and glared at her, but Elanna managed a blithe grin, "too late." She dropped the casing inside but failed to move quickly enough. The Attaga swung and slammed its arm into her, sending her flying.

It turned around fully to chase after her but froze for just a second before it exploded, split down the middle by the improvised bomb. The armour rapidly lost its glow and seemed to become little better than raw clay, crumbling under its uneven weight and shape. Screeching and thrashing the Attaga drifted free of its protective shell and faded quickly until nothing was left and its final dying howl echoed off the chamber walls.

Well, they certainly wouldn't be doing that again if Elanna could help it.

Valia falling to her knees quickly snapped Elanna back to reality, so she got to her feet and staggered over, trying to regain what air was knocked out of her.

The monstrous form receded and left Valia kneeling in a visibly weaker state but she smiled up at Elanna nonetheless, "a minor wound. I need only blood."

Elanna shook her head and bent to help the other woman up, finding that Valia needed the support to walk. Her clothes were still spotless, if a little rumpled, and she wasn't physically injured. Apparently the physical punishments of one form would not directly transfer to the other. But the exhaustion and pain would, so Valia would still need to feed.

They slowly made their way back to the Crawl, able to follow the marks Valia left behind, and stepped out into the cold night air of the city proper. The sky was clear and Elanna had never quite felt so thankful to see the stars.

Valia leaned back against the alley wall, bent over slightly with her hands on her knees, still breathing a little heavier than she should be. Elanna sighed, "well if nothing else I'm glad I wasn't the only one getting knocked on my arse down there."

A sharp smirk tilted Valia's lips, "I was unaware you were paying attention to mine."

Damn it. Elanna tried to fight off the rush of blood to her face but ended up grumbling and pulling up her mask. "Just stay here and I'll find you something to eat."

Valia chuckled, sliding down until she was sitting, "mmh, you do that, little slayer."

Chapter Six

"Elanna! You did not tell me there was a festival this month," Valia's voice drifted in from the side door and Elanna looked over their assorted mountain of notes. Valia was brushing some very powdery snow from her shoulders.

"I didn't think it mattered?" she said slowly, confused.

Valia walked over to the table with a broad smile, "well, I am feeling festive. We should attend!"

Elanna was quiet for a moment as she tried to decipher any kind of hint that Valia was joking, but with a mix of dread and amusement she realized the elder vampire was indeed quite serious. She set her quill down and crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair, "it should start tonight, if you really want to go, but I thought stopping Oren was more important?"

Valia nodded, "oh, it is, I have not forgotten. I simply wish to clear my head of him for a night. We have crippled the source of his knowledge and his hunters still have yet to track us down. Among the crowds we will be difficult to detect, no?" she tilted her head, shifting her weight back and forth in a near playful manner.

The festival of Taruna, bonfires would be lit, music would be played, many a hot drink would be imbibed, made with special blends of spices and syrups meant to bring warmth and tingles to whoever drank them; most of them were alcoholic as well. If nothing else Praza was lively in its celebrations.

Elanna sighed and got to her feet, "I guess it'd be good for us to focus on something else for a change. Just for tonight though, then we're back to work. I don't want to push our luck."

A nod and a giggle from Valia brought her another feeling of dread and the next words out Valia's mouth certainly didn't help, "wonderful! Now if we could just find you more suitable clothing..." she tapped her chin, looking Elanna up and down. The assassin balked, "oh no, no. You're not dressing me up."

Valia smirked, "come now, little slayer, your gear is hardly the outfit one wears to a celebration. Unless you are planning to murder the revelers."

"Funny story, I did crash a wedding once-"

"Deflecting will not help you escape this."

"How about a smoke bomb?"

"And risk being seen as a petulant child? I think not."

"...you're evil, you know that?"

"Mmh, terrible perhaps, but not evil. Now come with me, I have a number of tailors in mind."

"Oh goody."

*

She never had felt that comfortable in formal clothing and looking at herself in the tailor's mirror she still felt the same. A red tail coat hugged her willowy body, contrasting the soft blue encasing Valia, admittedly comfortable and polished black leather boots reached her knees with cream breeches tucked into them. A belt kept a knife resting on her hip, the rest of her gear left somewhere safe. She felt a little naked without the rest of her weapons but she managed to hide some smoke bombs in her pocket.

With a sigh she turned on her heel to face Valia, leaning against the wall next to the hopeful looking tailor with a smirk on her lips, "much better," she said, appreciation clear on her face as eyed Elanna. Elanna propped a hand on her hip, "great, does that mean I can change back into some real clothes?"

Valia shook her head, approaching Elanna with excitement in her step, "not at all, the festivities will be starting soon."

Honestly the passage of time shouldn't have surprised her, it had certainly felt like an eternity. "Of course they are."

After paying the tailor they set off towards the centre of the Silver District, to Empress Square outside the temple where festivals to the deities were held. The main attractions, dancing, re-enactments and the like would be held in the square, but the wide streets leading out from it would play host to individual entertainers and stalls selling drink and food made especially for the festival.

People gathered and swirled around them like a living river of noise, music and voices mingling on the air just as readily as the scent of spiced bread and honeyed spirits.

Bonfires lit up the square and streets, staving off the cold even as a small snowflakes fluttered down from the clouds on a sleepy wind. Children ran from place to place, chasing each other with snowballs or toy swords decorated to mirror the weapon of Taruna herself. Either that or someone was chasing a pack of the little buggers for stealing confectionary.

Elanna ran a hand through her hair, black locks brushed into compliance so she'd look neater, and huffed. She wanted to be bitter and irritated about being dressed up but honestly she enjoyed the atmosphere so that made it a little hard to be difficult about the whole thing. Really she wanted Valia to stop getting under her skin - that hunter's words still rattled around in her head. Maybe Valia wasn't who she seemed to be, but the unprofessional side of her wanted to believe otherwise and the sheer existence of it terrified her. The possibility that Valia could just be as she appeared was unusual in its normality to her...

Though normal to her could just as easily be someone turning out to be a backstabbing arse, so it came down to a matter of perspectives that Elanna frankly didn't care for. All she wanted to be clear about was if Valia was going to turn on her in the future.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Valia's arm snaked around her own, fingers interlocking before she could organize her thoughts. "See? This is not so terrible," Valia murmured into her ear, close enough to warrant her arm moving around Elanna's waist but it stayed where it was for now. Elanna tried to ignore the heat in her face, "I guess I was wrong," she said evenly.

Valia chuckled and started tugging her towards a throng of people dancing to the music in front of the temple. Elanna only half-heartedly dug her heels in, "okay you dressed me up but I do not dance."

"Mmh, but you could be fighting harder than this, little slayer."

"Wouldn't want to ruin these new boots would I?"

"I hardly believe you would care if you truly wished to avoid this."

"You're still evil."

Valia smiled in triumph and pulled Elanna to her as they reached the crowd of shifting bodies, finding a rhythm that had them moving quick and close. Elanna knew how to dance, of course she did, one of several little things gathered up over time from infiltrating parties and noble gatherings, learning how to fit in so it looked like she belonged there. She could look like a completely different person if she put her mind to it but running around as the infamous Blind Slayer had an odd appeal to it.

There was a push and pull as they moved to the music, stepping in time with each other, recognizing what the other was doing until they settled into a style that fit both the music and their growing familiarity. Valia felt inexorably close, often with her hands either touching Elanna's waist or drifting to her shoulders, either just as easily sending tingles down Elanna's spine.

They twirled and shifted, dancing around each other before just as quickly moving close as if parting meant death, their pace caught up in the liveliness of the music. When it finally came to a rather abrupt halt, they stumbled, too focused on each other than the actual tune, and fell with Elanna pinned against one of the temple pillars. Valia's warm breath fluttered against her neck, pressed close with a comfortable pressure against her stomach, chest and shoulders. She wasn't in a hurry to push Valia away and less so when Valia lifted her head, barely an inch between them. Valia's eyes were red and half-shut in a look that sent a tremor through Elanna's core.

Without thinking she pulled Valia close by the back of her head, meeting her lips in a fierce kiss. Valia tasted sweet, no doubt the honeyed drink, and she neither tensed nor struggled but rather pressed closer, her hands roaming down Elanna's sides, to her hips and finally taking a near possessive grasp of her backside. Elanna gasped at the brazen move and Valia took the opportunity to plunder Elanna's mouth with her tongue, drawing a low groan from Elanna. She could feel the points of Valia's fangs grazing her tongue but nimbly avoided them, all her mind seemed to focus on were those fangs sinking into her neck the night that seemed so far away...

Screams wrenched them back to reality with the care of a choke chain being yanked.

Elanna growled and disentangled herself hurriedly, looking around to see what was happening.

Valia slammed into her, taking them both to the icy ground, "look out!"

Air rushed over her head and Elanna craned her neck to see anything but the paving stones. A figure disappeared amongst the ground, slashing left and right with claws that most certainly did not belong to a human. Their veins flickered intermittently to her, from purple to green and red, all sickly, all wrong. It was one of the demon-blooded driven mad.

People screamed and rushed to get away from it but as the pair got to their feet they could hear the screams of people that were well out of reach of the one they'd seen. There were others.

Guards stationed to keep the festival from getting out of hand rushed to protect their citizens but unprepared to face such creatures they were ripped apart just as easily as the panicking crowd.

Elanna frowned, the demon-blooded, whether thin or full, made great efforts to keep up their mortal masquerades. Some of them simply enjoyed mortal creations and comforts, even company. Others had plans and liked manipulating mortals. Either way, it was best to hide their true nature. This shouldn't be happening.

A tugging at her arm made her look to Valia, who pointed towards something with a grim expression. Turning her head Elanna swore under her breath; she could see hunters starting to filter through the crowds towards the crazed demon-blooded. "Highly convenient that they're here just as this happens," she muttered, carefully backing up through the crowds until they were under the shadow of the temple entrance.

Wielding swords treated with holy water, the hunters cut down the demon-blooded with minimal losses until there were none of them left. The crowds were still and silent, staring at their apparent saviours, and the grand finale showed up in the form of an all too familiar figure climbing on top of a stage built for re-enactments.

Valia hissed beside her, fingers digging into Elanna's sleeve, "Oren."

He observed the crowds, still garbed in his cloak but with the hood pushed down. The markings on his skeleton were different though, golden and unfamiliar. He finally lifted a bullhorn to his mouth and started to speak in loud, authoritative tones.

"People of Praza, too long have you allowed the Crawl to exist in all its decadence! How many times has someone in this city suffered because of its denizens? Mugged, murdered or worse? I hear murmurs of the Crawl being an ally to Praza, that they helped you in times of war and struggle. But look at what they allow! Creatures of unnatural, unpredictable powers. I came to your city little more than a month ago and I have found it wanting, in desperate need of true allies. Guardians who will clean away the filth that has been permitted for far too long! These brave men and women you see before you, courageous like no soldier or guard and trained to deal with monsters like the ones you've seen here tonight, they would give their lives for you. Some already have tonight. I would simply ask one thing, that the people of Praza trust us to purge these unnatural beasts from your midst, so that you may sleep safe knowing there is nothing to fear!"

There was a second's pause, then the crowd started to cheer, slow at first but building to a crescendo of excited yelling and clapping. Of course they would take to it so easily, they were terrified and confused, something Oren had relied on heavily in order to manipulate them. At least she hoped she could think of it so artificially. Something had to have made the demon-blooded go mad, but what and how?

Wracking her brain for anything useful didn't help, she would be able to notice a magical item and it would have given off some kind of visual residue. It had to be something ingested, something she wouldn't have noticed herself.

Valia grabbed her shoulder, "Elanna, we should leave."

Indeed they should, with so many hunters around and Oren himself riling up the crowd about monsters in their midst - it was a bad place to be.

They weaved their way down the temple steps and into the crowd, passing by several hunters, one of which took notice and tried to follow them. But Elanna was an expert at disappearing into a crowd and Valia was no slouch either, so they managed to avoid the hunter and slip into an alley. Climbing to the tops of the buildings was little effort and they started making their way back to the inn with no one to see and stop them. On the corner overlooking their hideout however, Elanna paused with a frown.

Valia stalled and looked back at her, a step away from climbing down the side of the building they were on. "What is it?"

Elanna shook her head and turned around, "we should go to the Crawl. Oren knows how to get in and I don't know if they've been warned or not but he clearly knows more than just a spell that kills people like us."

"What are you thinking?"

"We need to spread word down there about what we know and what his intentions are as we know them now."

"So we split up as soon as we arrive?"

"Yeah. I'd go to the bars, lounges and the like first."

"I will take the social gatherings; you inform the more organized groups."

"I'll work my way through the gangs and guilds. As soon as we're done, meet back at the Smouldering Oak?"

"Assuming we are not roped into a resistance group, I will be there."

"Unlikely, the Crawl will organize itself. We need to stay up top where we haven't been discovered yet."

"Lead the way then."

*

The organizations found in the Crawl were various bands of thieves, career killers and mercenaries, hardly unexpected in such a place but always quietly competing with each other. Independents such as herself were regarded in both favourable and unfavourable lights. On one hand they tried to recruit Elanna and on the other they'd rather she drop dead and leave the fat coin purses for them. Still, she could walk into their bases of operation relatively unimpeded and find herself listened to when she brought news of Oren and his hunters. Many of them were not fully human, or human at all, like so many of the Crawl, so they listened well to her recounting the events of the festival.

It was officially a time of strife, so they would organize to work with one another and safeguard the Crawl until it passed and they could go back to trying  muscle each other out the way.

Valia managed to grab the attention of the smokers and drinkers, informing them of the situation so they could spread out into the streets and other districts of the Crawl to pass on the warning.

The Naga and Kushini withdrew from the city proper waterways, retreating to their caverns until they felt it safe enough to emerge. They would continue tending to the Crawl's water system but frequently hunted fish in the Volune river at night. With an active presence of hunters however they would have to rely on what they could hunt in their waters underground.

With the Crawl entrances shutting out anyone not explicitly meant to be there, they returned to the Smouldering Oak along their own routes, keeping as low a profile as they could. Morning was starting to creep over the horizon by the time they finished spreading word and hunters were moving through the streets in pairs. No longer were they trying to blend in, they moved openly and patrolled like the guards themselves. It wouldn't surprise Elanna if Oren was speaking the Captain of the Guard already about how the Crawl should never have been given any breathing room.

Damned hunters.

Finally reaching the inn she stepped in the side door to find Valia dragging a body into the kitchen by its leg. It was a hunter. "What are you doing?" Elanna hissed, eyebrows raising. She locked the door behind her and hurried over, eyeing the unconscious lout. His temple was bloody and his axe was still holstered at his hip.

Bending down, Valia finally pulled the man onto her shoulder, and gestured towards the basement stairs. "Bringing a meal and an informant home, rolled into a single healthy package. I was not seen, and he was roaming the Valley. I am not so hungry that I would be foolish enough to hunt close to our home."

Elanna wanted to say something but really there wasn't anything she could argue against. They did need a fresh meal and the hunter might know something useful, if they were lucky. "Fine, I'll go get some rope."

Chapter Seven

The state of Praza rapidly escalated over the week. Just as she'd thought, Oren pressured the Captain of the Guard to answer for the lapse in safety by publically agreeing to work with Oren's group. Some people raised objections to an outsider group having any influence in a city that always prided itself on its independence, but the more 'attacks' foiled by Oren and his hunters, the more those objections died down. It was more obvious to people like herself, at least with some of the attacks, that the creature in question was provoked.

She had figured out the day after that a lot of the festival drinks had been spiked with a poison specifically meant to unbalance those with demon blood and drive them to frenzy. Anyone else would be unaffected and the fact that it possessed no discernable smell or taste, nor did it have any magical qualities that registered to Elanna's vision, just made it entirely too good at slipping by her notice.

Having no proof of it however made the working out redundant, unless she could concretely show Oren and his hunters as manipulators they could twist Praza how they pleased until the Crawl and the other worldly denizens of the city were wiped out. The general masses were ignorant of the true nature of the Crawl's people, those who did know usually kept it quiet as a vaguely uncomfortable secret unless they were actively involved. Implying the Crawl was a den of monsters just waiting to explode understandably sent the beige, day-to-day plebs into a panic.

She knew for a fact that the Captain of the Guard was aware that the Crawl was more than a home for the lawless and vagrants, during his time as Captain he'd made several trips to speak with guild leaders just as she had done not a week ago. They kept their activities at a manageable level and the guard didn't crack down on them any harder than necessary. It made sure things remained smooth in the long run, actual escalation of hostilities between the city guard and the Crawl would become violent and brutal very quickly, benefiting no one, least of all the city itself.

But if Oren armed them with teeth capable of actually hurting the otherworldly hides found in the Crawl...

Maybe there was more to the Captain openly supporting Oren and his group than she first thought. It always had been an uncomfortable realization on the Captain's part that he couldn't wipe the Crawl out without doing irreparable damage to Praza. Something of an irregular occurrence, he was the first in years to be truly indifferent to the importance of the Crawl to Praza's safety, he believed the city could stand by itself without the Crawl to support it.

Trust an idiot to see something that worked and think they knew how to make it better.

Their pet hunter was gracious enough to share what he knew after some encouragement on Elanna's part. Mainly that Oren had learned a lot more from the fount than just a spell specifically tailored to wipe out vampires. It had filled his head with all sorts of useful information about how to kill, torture and poison all manner of unnatural things with the kind of accuracy only the things in question had themselves.

Oren had initially planned to make a habit out of contracting Elanna, knowing enough of her history to know she would be a blessing to his operation. Had she gone along with it in the first place. If she'd known what he planned all along, she never would have taken the job and would have actively worked to oust him from Praza. It was her home and she'd prefer it not being turned on its head for some fanatic's beliefs.

Aside from avoiding being seen while keeping tabs of Oren's activities things had been almost awkward around the inn. Elanna tried to push that impulsive kiss from her mind but kept thinking about it every time she talked to Valia. Really any time she wasn't occupying herself with something else. Why had she done that? She was certainly no stranger to sex on its own but romance, all that love and affection business, that was distinctly unfamiliar. Valia wasn't some one night distraction to be completely forgotten by the end of the week and she'd feel insulted if anyone thought of Valia in such a manner.

When was the last time she actually felt anything for someone else? Over a hundred years of life and she had nothing to show for it in old flames, just encounters in beds that never belonged to her and were abandoned as soon as the sun touched the horizon. And why would there be anything else? She never felt like she belonged, just as though she were out of place, trying so hard to only be a tool, a weapon for someone else to wield and direct. But as much as she tried to hammer herself into that mould, parts of her just wouldn't fit.

A knock at the door distracted her.

"Elanna?" Valia's voice was quiet, mindful if Elanna was asleep.

She supposed she should leave her room at some point; she spent the afternoon listlessly staring at the ceiling trying to understand precisely what she thought she was doing.

With a sigh and some swallowing of pride, Elanna eased off of her bed and went to the door, pulling it open to see Valia pause and turn around. She'd been about to leave Elanna to whatever she'd been doing and gave a concerned look.

"Sorry if I worried you, I was just a bit tired," Elanna said, trying to sound convincing and running a hand through her hair. She wasn't in her full gear, just a loose shirt and dark leggings for sleeping.

Valia nodded, "I thought as much. Our hunter friend is looking a tad anaemic; I doubt he will survive another meal."

"I'll see about grabbing another of them."

"There is something else. I keep hearing of people in the Silver and Palace districts being singled out by so called friends and allies, taken by Oren's people because they are 'unnatural.' He is making examples of them."

"Public executions?"

"Indeed."

"Shit..."

"We need something that will expose Oren for what he is, a manipulator."

"No kidding. Did you have an idea?"

Valia smiled, "I have no doubt that he will have recorded his plans and thoughts, we simply need to find them."

Resisting the urge to look sceptical, Elanna crossed her arms, "we'd need to find where he keeps those records and presumably that'd mean finding where he holes up," she frowned then, "even if we do find him, getting in and out will be difficult and at this point we can't just kill him. He'll be the martyr who tried to protect the city from monsters."

Another nod from Valia and she gestured for Elanna to follow her downstairs, "indeed, we need to eradicate his image first and for that we need his records. But we need to know where he is."

Elanna sighed, "well, our hunter friend doesn't know. I've wrung everything I can from him, he doesn't know anything else."

"Oren is smart to keep his people in the dark about such things."

"Irritating. The word you're looking for is irritating."

"Believe me, the man is little more to me than a pig to be slaughtered. But I will respect his strengths, denying them would only invite fate to frown upon us."

"Trust you to get flowery about tactics."

"I feel it plays off your bluntness, little slayer."

That smile was there again, warm and strangely inviting; enticing. Elanna cleared her throat and settled down at the main room's table, "so we need someone he'd trust with that information."

Valia's smile widened, "oh, I believe I have found such a one. He is called Dael and he seems to accompany Oren the most. I have seen him travel alone through the city however, carrying messages back and forth. He is trusted with information and well respected enough for his prowess that he walks without his fellows. He believes he needs no protection."

Elanna tilted her head, "we're just going to have to prove him wrong then."

*

Becoming a white shadow on the snow laden rooftops of Praza had a comforting familiarity to it. Elanna made short work of tracking Dael down, watching him as he went from point to point, entering and leaving buildings in no discernable pattern. He could be moving in such a way deliberately if someone was watching, the buildings could be safe houses, or merchants willingly sharing what they could to new so-called Guardians of Praza.

Valia was off finding them another meal, Elanna having insisted on working alone. The split second of hurt in Valia's eyes was swallowed up by her usual calm and playful smile, but it had been there and it made Elanna's stomach churn in ways she felt it shouldn't. She shouldn't care. There were a hundred different ways for it end badly, she knew every terribly way a hunter could kill or torture a vampire and it set her blood alight thinking of Valia at their mercy. All of it could end and she'd just be alone again.

Since when she grown to be so afraid of what could happen?

Huffing to herself, Elanna shook her head and paid attention to where Dael was on the street. It was relatively quiet, the nights were alarmingly so the last couple of days, and the tension was so heavy Elanna felt her lungs would turn to stone if she breathed in too deep.

Sure enough though, Praza remained with its outlets, ways to relieve such tension, as shown by Dael walking into a brothel at the corner of the street. Another hunter was leaning near the door and Dael patted his shoulder, prompting the other man to follow him inside. Odd. Either he thought the man deserved a break or...

Taking a better look Elanna swore under her breath, the place was riddled with the demon blooded and inhuman alike. Certain creatures liked to feed on mortal energies, emotion eaters in particular enjoyed feasting on passions and lust was easy to invoke and feed upon, given the right place.

Did they know?

Screams reached her ears and Elanna vaulted from her spot, landing in a fount of smoke on the street and rushing to the door. She could see several figures inside, a lot of them huddled away from Dael's form and one being stabbed through the chest by the other hunter's sword. Several were already dead on the floor.

With smoke billowing from her cloak, Elanna kicked the door off its hinges and sent it flying into the hunter, knocking him down.  Dael whirled, an amulet clutched in his hand that glowed like a star to her. He immediately started chanting words of power but Elanna rushed him, cutting off his words and forcing him to parry her blows.

His leg swung up but she stepped out of the way and rolled under a slash of his blade, moving behind him she leapt and pushed him to the floor. He struggled but she managed to get his sword arm in a hold and pulled just enough to hear it snap out of shape. The pain made him a little more hesitant to fight her but he still squirmed and tried to get out from under her, amulet still tightly clutched in his fingers.

Spitting out a single word, Dael let off a kinetic blast that flung Elanna several feet away, partially knocking the air from her, and staggered to his feet.

"You won't have me, you animal," he growled, turning and running for the door.

Having none of it, Elanna sank into her shadows and teleported to the door, kicking him square in the chest. He went flying through several tables and chairs, landing in a heap near his would-be victims. Elanna looked at them, "don't kill him. I need him alive," she walked over, eyeing the man. He had a satchel on his person and an assortment of tools to use against the unnatural, but little more.

"We would have killed him, but he disabled us with that trinket of his," one of the women stood, her dress more glamorous and yet strangely reserved, perhaps she was the mistress. Elanna was only vaguely familiar with this particular brothel. The woman had the tell-tale signs of demon blood in her, the strongest of the lot, but whatever Dael had been doing it didn't reveal her true appearance. That level of demon blood changed how a person looked, yet the mistress appeared as a human to her.

Distress played across the woman's face, looking over Elanna's shoulder, "stop him!"

Elanna turned her attention back to Dael. He was holding the amulet up with a grim smile on his face and a bloody glyph scrawled on the floor next to him. She reached for his satchel, cut it loose, and rushed towards the mistress, "grab me!" she then disappeared into her smoke just as the amulet exploded, shattering the building from the inside out and bathing it in fire.

The cold snow of the street made her face numb and her ears were ringing, but she was aware of arms pulling her towards an alley. Something sweet slid own her throat and she felt her awareness quickly come back to her, her sight finally focusing on the face of the mistress. "Are you hurt, vampire?"

Elanna grimaced, "I'm fine," she muttered, rubbing her head; it was pounding. There was a reason she didn't teleport often. "How many did I get out?"

The mistress looked over her shoulder, gesturing to the handful of her people that made it, "only some heard you, fewer had the time and clarity to grab you," she looked down at Elanna, "but I appreciate your effort. Many would have gotten what they wanted and escaped with their hide."

Getting her feet, Elanna waved her off, "don't make it sound heroic."

The mistress tilted her head, "regardless of if it was out of good intentions, you saved me and some of my people. All of us would be dead had you not arrived. Those hunters had no intention of letting anyone out, even those of mine who are untouched by our kind."

That didn't surprise her. Elanna shook her head, "yeah, they're kind of like that aren't they?" she looked down at the satchel, silently hoping that something useful was inside. She would've liked to have Dael himself but one couldn't always have what they wanted.

They'd just have to make do with the hand they were dealt.

Chapter Eight

As it turned out, Dael's satchel was full of notes and maps of the city, each different from the last. Codes and symbols interspersed with shorthand, noting different places on each map with different markings. It was a clever system, but unfortunately for the hunters, one Elanna could decipher. It was a modified version of coding that hunters commonly used, but it hadn't been changed enough to make it indecipherable to her. Still, the changes made deciphering it take longer and for a few more tense days she and Valia stayed inside the Smouldering Oak, watchful and waiting.

Their walking blood bank passed away the same night Elanna finished. The two had been feeding carefully, restraining from a full meal as they couldn't risk hunting as often as they used to; not with all the hunters roaming the streets.

Oren upped the number of them with recruits from the populace, citing the explosion at the brothel as another sign of rooting out the evil infecting the city.

Other brothels were quick to usher their workers into the Crawl during the quieter hours of the night, leaving those untouched to avoid drawing too much suspicion. Some closed down entirely as the whole of them had to go into hiding. It wasn't long before attacks started.

People were starting to demand answers from Empress Sanra, how this had been allowed to happen, demanding her to take official action against the Crawl, to publically support the hunters. Some were fighting for the values Praza was built on, arguing that the Crawl was still essential to Praza, that Oren and his people were outsiders and shouldn't be trusted.

The first riot started the night before Elanna finished her deciphering and set one of the streets in the Silver district ablaze. People taking sides and killing each other over the ideals of an outsider, over the deaths his manipulation caused. The fact that they were oblivious to his machinations made Elanna work that much harder.

"Shit," Elanna muttered, head sinking into her hands and leaning on the table edge. Trust Oren to be a bigger thorn in her side than should be strictly necessary.

"What is it?" Valia approached from the bar, arms crossing as she peered over Elanna's shoulder to eye the maps.

Elanna sighed and sat up, gesturing to one of the symbols of the hunters, accompanied by her own label to identify it. "Nothing here actually points to where Oren is hiding. Dael just noted safe houses, decoys and suspicions. This is the same bloody thing we had before!"

She could tear it all to pieces for what good it did them. Valia however seemed to think differently, "not quite. These look different, do they not?"

Elanna huffed, waving her hands, "yes, yes, they're different. There are new safe houses, what I think are training grounds for new hunters, see the white circles? But that doesn't give us Oren."

"True. But it tells us where our enemies are."

"I don't need a map to tell me where they are. They're all over the streets turning my home upside down."

"So you do care for this city?"

She did. She wasn't supposed to. But she did and it infuriated her to see it being fragmented by a fanatic. Elanna growled and rose from the table, "this city is my home, I won't let it fall to someone like him."

Scrabbling against wood pulled their attention to the kitchen. They shared a look before nodding and approaching the arch leading in there with caution, before looking inside. There was nothing, aside from a large rat climbing the last of step leading up from the basement. Elanna frowned, it was giving off a glow it shouldn't. "What do you want, shifter?" she asked in a warning tone, stepping out from the arch. Valia quirked a brow and followed suit, crossing her arms.

The rat paused and rose up on its hind legs, sniffing at them momentarily, and then it quickly stretched out of shape, growing taller and taller until a scruffy, dark eyed man stood in front of them. He wore little more than a pair of trousers with a very worn out belt tightly clinched around his hips, his skin dirty and scraped.

"Thought you should know," he started, voice tense and angry, "the bastard's startin' an execution in Empress square. Got a crowd gatherin' an' from what I 'ere got a nice line up for em too. I don't expect you to do somethin' about it. But maybe you can follow the bastard and do us all a favour?"

Valia frowned, "killing him now would make him a martyr, why do you think we have not struck yet?"

The shifter growled, "well doin' nothin' ain't gonna help us!"

Elanna held her hand up, "we're not doing nothing. We can follow him after the execution, see where he goes. Hopefully he'll lead us right to his base. I can infiltrate, get his records, journal, whatever it is he keeps track of everything with, and get out before I'm noticed."

Valia shifted, an uncomfortable tenseness to her posture, "you speak as if you will do that alone."

Elanna looked at her, "I need someone to keep watch outside and act as a distraction if I mess up." Truthfully she just didn't want Valia with her where the vampire could potentially rid herself of two threats in one strike, but part of her bucked against the very idea of it happening in the first place.

The look in Valia's eyes was unreadable for a moment, then she smiled harmlessly, "as you wish. I am sure I will find some way of catching their attention if need be."

*

The closer they got to the square, the louder the cheering got. The stage so often used for festival performances was left for the use of Oren and his hunters to publically execute hidden 'monsters,' justifying their presence and turning more people towards their beliefs.

Wrapped up in brown cloaks like so many around them to stave off the cold, they could enter the crowd without drawing attention to themselves, moving close enough to observe. Four individuals were restrained on the stage, a werewolf, a female demon-blooded, a vampire and startlingly a young dragon kin, he didn't look far into his teens and he was the quietest of the lot, shaking and staring at the stage flood. The others struggled visibly, the demon and wolf making the most noise while the vampire snarled.

"It warms my heart to see so many of you here tonight," Oren started, walking across the stage with bullhorn in hand. "To see these creatures get the fate they deserve, for so callously disregarding your lives. They are each guilty of crimes against this city, murder, debauchery and violation as dictated by their inhumanity!" he pointed to the prisoners, "they are the poison in Praza's veins, the rot in its flesh! Do you not wish to cleanse your city?"

The cheer from the crowd brought a smile to Oren's face and a chill down Elanna's spine.

Moving to the first prisoner the demon-blooded woman, Oren walked behind her and took out his sword, the blade shining with an enchantment Elanna had never seen before. But knowing what was about to happen, it couldn't be anything good.

Oren looked down at the struggling woman, her teeth clacking together as she twisted around to try and get at him. "Creature!"

She paused momentarily, looking at him. "Do you regret your crimes?"

She shrieked and continued struggling, puling at the chains keeping her wrists locked against the stage floor. Oren shook his head in disgust and rammed the sword into her back, piercing through her chest. She froze and her eyes shone with golden light before they burst into fire and burned out of her skull. Golden flames spilled from her mouth and when he wrenched the sword back she slumped to the floor, blood leaking from her nose.

The crowd roared.

Oren moved next to the werewolf, the thump of his boots slow and methodical, his eyes watching the crowd, watching for any waver, any flicker of doubt in their belief of his actions. He stopped behind the werewolf, the chains thicker and heavier on the beast's frame. "Unfortunately, people of Praza, this beast is mindless and cannot answer in any way but killing." Again he thrust forwards, flames burst from the wolf's eyes and mouth, and it slumped to the ground when he withdrew, blood draining from its nose. Another cheer from the people.

Next Oren walked behind the vampire, a bony looking male, probably starved in advance so he would be little better than a feral one.

"Let me go, mortal, and perhaps I will drink you quickly! Spare you the pain of a slow feast to the death!" but far from incoherent, it seemed. Still, the hunger would leave him too maddened to think clearly, feeding would be the only urge, all his mind focused on. He wouldn't be capable of being anything other than an eloquent animal.

The disgust returned to Oren's face, "a vampire, people of Praza, it is parasite that wants nothing more than to steal the life from you in a bid to live longer than nature dictates. They kill to sustain themselves; it's all that matters to them. They can look civilized when it suits them, but this is what they really are. Leeches." He didn't even have to kill the starved creature for the crowd to cheer; they bellowed encouragement, throwing insults at the struggling vampire and taunting him. Oren smiled and drove his blade through the vampire's back, letting him slump forward when the flames died out.

Elanna tensed when she felt Valia grab her wrist. She looked at the other woman, but Valia was fixated on the stage, her face stricken with guilt and anger; she knew they couldn't do anything. They couldn't risk standing out and being seen.

Despite herself Elanna linked her hand with Valia's and gave it a comforting squeeze. It might not do much, but the unspoken reassurance that this wouldn't go unanswered might soothe Valia's heart.

Finally Oren walked behind the boy, but the crowd was too riled up. They were cheering and goading, ignoring the fear on the boy's face and the tears sliding down his cheeks. Grey skin, a black crest of horns, white hair, spiked chin and yellow eyes; he looked nothing but a monster to them. He was as dangerous as all those who came before and worthy of the same fate.

Having no need to convince the crowd, Oren levelled the sword between the boy's shoulder blades and rammed forwards. The boy shuddered, the fires burning the tears away, and he slumped onto the stage floor just as the others did.

The crowd all but exploded.

Elanna's blood boiled. If they didn't stop Oren soon, such displays would be the norm. Valia's hand tightened around hers and she narrowed her eyes, fixating on Oren. The man was smiling, lifting his arms and provoking greater cheering from the crowd, even as blood still dripped from his blade.

He gestured to his people to start cleaning up the mess and faced the crowd once more, "brave people of Praza, this is far from over, so I bid you all a safe night. Remember that if you see anything suspicious, report it to one of my people, do not try to engage the individuals yourself. It would break my heart to have any more of Praza's good people slaughtered by these monsters." He tied the bullhorn to his hip and walked off the side stairs, accompanied by two of his people. The rest worked to deal with the bodies and usher the crowd away.

Elanna and Valia slipped into an alley and went around. They scaled the buildings, darting across the rooftops, and quickly caught up to Oren. He walked swiftly, taking shortcuts and side streets, winding around on himself again and again but certainly moving in a particular direction. Anyone else may have lost patience with his constant backtracking and twisting but Elanna knew what he was doing; he was trying to throw off any potential stalkers. Unfortunately for him, Elanna could be a very patient woman while working and Valia trusted her judgement to stay back until they knew for sure where he was going.

Eventually he stopped at the Palace district and stepped inside a house at the edge of it. The masonry was clean and sharp, carved embellishments dotting the surface of the house in the form of pillars, it had two levels and solid double doors, small square windows emitting the glow of oil lamps. The Palace district was always well looked after and in the distance once could see the actual palace looming up over the rest of the district where Empress Sanra presided over a cadre of advisors and politicians vying for validation of their ideas.

The two hunters followed their master, closing the door, but Elanna could see them stopping either side of it and standing to attention. Oren himself moved further inside and down a spiral staircase. There was another hunter standing guard at what could only be a back door.

The roof was flat but the masonry extended upwards into a small half wall, she knew the buildings of the city like the tools of her trade; there would be a trapdoor. Even if there wasn't she could still just sink through the roof, but the existence of it would make getting back out through the roof much easier for her. Turning her attention to Valia, she started to remove the inconspicuous cloak from her shoulders, "right, I'll go in, get what we need and be out before anyone notices."

Valia gave her a concerned look, "should I draw attention away from the house now, create a better opening?"

Elanna shook her head, "no. Maybe if I'm lucky he keeps his records on the top floor."

With little more said she teleported across the gap and landed on the roof with a faint crunch of snow beneath her feet. Carefully moving about she brushed snow aside in likely places until she found the trap door. With no one on the floor beneath her she opened it and climbed down, leaving it open for a quick getaway if running through a wall wasn't an option.

Taking the first door she came across lead her into bedroom. Sizable bed, wardrobe, desk, chest...

She padded over to the desk and searched the contents of its drawers, finding only parchments, inkwells and fresh quills, nothing written however. She could see evidence of use on the desk itself, stains in the wood, small scratches, but again nothing written in sight. Turning to the chest at the foot of the bed she found it locked.

Hardly a problem for her, picking a lock was one of the first things she learned. Some patience, the right tools and it clicked open. Inside was a collection of fine leather amour, decorated with treated silver embellishments in the shape of holy symbols, and a few knives, but no journals. Silently closing the chest, Elanna looked around, noting the two guards were still keeping watch. The one at the back door hadn't moved either.

She crept out of the bedroom back onto the landing and moved along to the next room, closer to the railing of the stairs. The landing itself was dark, with light filtering up from occasional gaps in the wooden floor and of course the stairs themselves. But it was solid enough to avoid creaking under her and she would have hoped her skill would prevent that in first place. But good construction was always a blessing to her kind of work.

The next room was just a supply closet, extra blankets, whetstones, weapon oil, holy water, various other things. The third room just to the side of the stairs looked like a room for Oren's personal guards, several beds arranged haphazardly. She counted four but she could only see three guards. Perhaps the fourth had been for Dael?

Moving back along the landing she pressed her hands to the floor and focused her vision. An image of the room below her went through her mind, shelves, books, another desk; stairs leading down. With no one below her she slipped through the floor and landed with a whisper of noise, not enough to travel through the door and alert Oren's men. She could hear the two at the front talking, the third occasionally chiming in, talking about playing some card game later.

The shelves around her were packed with books, most of them publications by people she had never heard of, but a lot were names and titles she recognized. Compiled knowledge about werewolves, vampires, wraiths, the demon-blooded, dragon-kin, Naga, Kushini - all kinds of inhuman beings. Such knowledge was usually ridiculed by those who didn't understand how real it was, refusing to believe. So often books specializing in that field found themselves pushed to the edge of libraries and other literary collections, left amongst the written ramblings of lunatics, not so for hunters, they prized the things, and rightly so. They knew the truth.

Elanna just didn't care for what they did with it.

Oren's figure was in a sitting position below, his arms resting as though in a chair, lifting something to his face, possibly a pipe. She could smell the smoke.

Slowly moving down the stairs revealed the extent of the cellar, Oren was in a walled off room, she could hear the crackling of fire and moved around the corner, eyeing the large supply crates and barrels stacked up against the walls. Weapon racks lined the wall near the stairs, opposite the door leading to Oren. Three thick wooden pillars supported the weight of the house in the absence of walls, oil lanterns hanging on hooks from them, unlit. The only light was drifting down from the study upstairs and from beneath the door to Oren's little room. Not that she particularly needed the light to see.

Moving further around the corner she came upon another desk, but different from the first two. A pair of thick shelves were set on either side of it, inundated with paper, writings, scrawling, notes, most of them frantic and rushed like someone trying to make sense of their thoughts but thinking too fast to be totally coherent about it. Ink long since spilled was clear on the woodwork and broken quills lay discarded on the floor around the desk.

Hopefully she would find what she needed.

Straightening up Elanna looked over the shelves, containing lots of empty journals ready to be filled and several books relating to what she and Valia had been looking for. Likely the books they acquired in the Valley were not the only copies. Turning to the desk she looked through its drawers and held her breath upon seeing a well-worn, thick journal at the bottom. She pulled it free of the papers stuffed in there and tugged open the leather tie keeping it shut.

The pages were filled with Oren's rambling thoughts, what he encountered when he first came to Praza a year ago, how much things had changed, how many things had stayed the same; how much it needed what he liked to call a revolution. Flicking through the pages she scanned them as quickly as she could, trying to find the one thing that told her it was the journal she needed to take.

-will change this city-

She paused abruptly and turned the pages back, searching for the line she almost missed. There, middle of the page; I will change this city even if I have to cut out its eyes. It wallows in its decadence, its partnership with the Crawl as if that's something to be proud of. These people are lazy, too complacent to change what is wrong. But they will learn. I'm sure seeing first-hand what those tainted ones can do when they lose control will frighten them. I just need to get my hands on some irrion powder, riles the beasts right up.

Elanna narrowed her eyes, smiling coldly; they had him.

A scuffle on the floor behind her and she moved, avoiding the punch to the back of her head but not the knife in her side. Snarling Elanna kicked her leg out in a wild backwards swing, connecting with someone's hip and dashing forwards.

Fingers dug into her cloak but fell through it as she flooded smoke from it and stumbled, clutching her side. The journal was still tightly grasped in her other hand.

Looking over her shoulder revealed Oren, his face disdainful, blood dripping from the knife at his side, "how long do you think you'll stay useful to her, creature?"

She blinked. Was he talking about Valia? She had expected some insults, caustic words about what a monster she was. He was trying to scare her, she had to remember that, but part of her was afraid and his words didn't help. She glared, slowly getting to her feet, "long enough to get your beliefs out of my city at least."

He smiled then, "Valia isn't even her real name, assassin. I know her history and I know she'll betray you, just as she betrayed her clan to us. All she cares for is her own god's forsaken existence."

Elanna tried to calm her mind, a flurry of questions and doubts swirling and fighting each other for dominance. Focus, enemy in front of her, wounded, escape. "I'll take my chances," she hissed and rushed to the stairs, leaving a cloud of smoke in her wake. She heard Oren run after her, coughing in the cloud, but tried not to think about it. The wound in her side stung more than it should and she could feel a weakness setting into her limbs; poison.

She burst from the study and ducking by the two guards she ran through the front door, leaving them to fumble with the lock. Valia straightened atop the building across the street and leapt down, clearly noticing something was wrong. Without a word spoken she picked Elanna up and by the time the guards got the door open they were out of sight and already running back to the oak.

At least they got what they wanted this time.

Chapter Nine

It wasn't an unfamiliar experience, she'd been poisoned before. But after so many times surviving it, getting antidotes time after time, Elanna had grown resistant to a decent handful of the most popular ones. Oren's poison was different however and it made her feel like every fibre in her body was trying to burn itself, a slow, stinging ache that drained the strength from her piece by piece.

Looking in his journal provided some answers, he noted a lot of what he'd learned from the fount, including a poison tailored specifically for vampires. Beyond that point reading became difficult and Elanna lost the clarity to concentrate on his messy writing. There was a cure. Oren had made use of it to torture vampires for information, cured them to keep them alive, and then poisoned them again. Valia ventured out to get the ingredients needed and promised to be careful. There were more hunters on alert than ever. Oren had to be looking for them.

She wondered if he was scared of what they would do with his journal. Was he hoping she would die and Valia wouldn't be able to fight him alone? She doubted Valia couldn't do it by herself, but the elder vampire seemed far too attached to do it willingly.

Elanna scoffed, turning onto her side and burying her head into her pillow. Her bed sheets were tangled around her legs and sweat had long since soaked them. She had a pail of water next to the bed so she wouldn't sweat to death but really the only thing that was going to help her was that damn cure.

And Valia was out there risking herself to get it.

For her.

Why?

She didn't want to think. Not about Valia and certainly not how her heart warmed when she looked at the other woman. It wasn't helpful, it wasn't important; it wasn't supposed to be important; she wasn't supposed to care.

Yet she worried. She twisted and turned, trying to sleep, only to find herself worrying about Valia. What if Oren captured her? Her mind could vividly conjure any countless number of things he would do to her and her half-asleep dreams - or maybe they were hallucinations? - were plagued with images of Valia being tortured and executed to a cheering crowd. At one point Elanna jolted to awareness with a wail and to her endless frustration found her cheeks wet and her chin dripping.

She didn't want Valia gone; she just wanted to know that Valia was who she said she was. That Valia wouldn't turn around and kill her when she least expected. Elanna needed to know that her trust in Valia wasn't misplaced. Regardless of what she tried to think or tell herself, she did trust Valia.

The thumping of a patrol went by and Elanna groaned, rolling over. The poison heightened her senses to a painful degree, making them detrimental rather than useful; Valia put up a thick blanket to block the window once it kicked in and started speaking softer than she usually did. The bed sheets felt unnecessarily bumpy, like she could feel every irregular thread, when before they had felt perfectly fine.

By the twelve if she didn't get that cure soon she might tear off her own skin to stop feeling every minor movement and shift in the air like a grindstone against her body.

"Why did you look for me?"

Elanna shivered, cracking her eyes open. She knew that voice. A memory, decades old, that still tugged at her heart. It wasn't real. She had to keep reminding herself that most of what she'd see while poisoned wasn't real.

"Who told you I was here?"

The voice seemed so much louder that time, like it was in the room with her. Against her better judgement and at the protesting of her body, Elanna sat up. Her tired eyes met the bright golden eyes of an older, eleven woman. She had the same grey skin and dark hair, the structure of her face was very similar. She wore a surcoat and simple leggings, flour on her hands. Just the way Elanna had found her.

"Hello, mother," the title sounded foreign on her tongue, she'd only spoken it once before.

The older woman flinched, "don't call me that!"

Just as she remembered, though her own words were different. She'd been so hopeful then, but hesitant, scared of what might happen. "And what would you have me call you? Assassin carrier?"

"I never intended to have you. You were never wanted; you were forced!"

"Ah, yes, I remember that the most over everything else you said. Well, what little else you said."

"I...I didn't have the strength to kill you. Nor myself."

"I know this part. I wasn't supposed to live. To be. Guess I should've figured you wouldn't want me around if you gave me up in the first place."

"I couldn't stand to look at you. It just...it still brings everything back. I can't..."

"But I guess I was still thinking like a stupid kid at the time."

"Get out! Get out and never come back!"

The hallucination ran away, face covered by her hands and disappeared like a fading cloud. Elanna remembered she ran into the back room of her small cottage on the edge of farmlands. She'd spent weeks tracking her mother down from the bits and pieces gathered from the village she was left in.

Just like a child to think everything might turn out well.

Her ears all but exploded with the smashing of doors, heavy slabs of wood crashing to the floor of the main room. Elanna howled and clutched her head, curling up from the pain in her skull. Voices. Feet thumping into the stairs. Hunters!

She struggled out of bed and grabbed one her knives, quickly crawling under and shifting her body closer to the wall. Dust stuck to her skin and the wood felt like it was rubbing her raw but she clenched her teeth and strangled any noise into submission.

The bedroom door was kicked open and several sets of feet hurried in, looking around.

"Bitch's gear is here. Search the place! Doubt she'd go anywhere far without it," one man sounded like he was yelling. He was probably just growling. Elanna squeezed her eyes shut as if that would help but forced them open again as the air shifted near her head. A pair of feet were standing just at the edge of the bed where she was hiding. The mattress creaked above her.

"Hey, this is still warm. Damn sweaty too."

"Look under the bed. Rest of us will search for the other one, might be hiding down below."

A few of them left. Two remained. Elanna clutched her knife close. One of the hunters knelt down, "come on out little vampire, we just want to know where you put the journal."

As soon as his face came into view she sliced at his eyes, cutting a line across them both. He bellowed and flailed onto his back, clutching his rapidly bleeding eyes. The other scrabbled to grab her ankle but she was already crawling out, dashing through the door and jumping over the railing. She landed on the main table with a crash and tumbled off it. Something pulled in her leg and she swore, staggering to her feet.

There were two more hunters on the stairs, the one closest to her ran at her with an axe and she barely moved out of the way of his swing, but she was unable to avoid the knee in her ribs. She stumbled, hands brushing the floor, trying to stand again even as her vision blurred and spun. Where was Valia?

Feet thumped behind her and she snarled, whirling about and swinging wildly with all her strength. Her knife slashed across the second hunter's throat and she followed it up with a kick square to his chest, knocking him over. The third hunter made it down the stairs and rushed her, fist connecting to her jaw faster than she thought it would. Her world spun again and she toppled, knife clattering a few feet out of her grasp. She could hear the other hunters hurrying down the stairs.

"Monsters had one of ours in the cellar!" a female voice called from the kitchen.

A hand wound into her hair tightly and pulled her head up, sending a fiery wave through the rest of her and a pained yowl tumbling from her throat. The hunter grabbing her forced her to look at him, his face blurry at best. "Where's the journal, bitch?"

The roar was indescribable in its anger. A winged, grey form charged in through the broken doors and sliced through the first of the remaining hunters like melted cheese.

Elanna was dropped to the floor and she curled up, covering her ears as the noise of a slaughter assaulted her, blood peppering her skin like the impacts of shrapnel. When it finally subsided she was gathered up in arms that felt like gravel and held in a painful groan, knowing at the back of her mind it was Valia and that she was safe. She was vaguely aware of Valia moving upstairs and grabbing the assassin's gear. Then they were away and the cold air of Praza's night felt like icy lashes against her form. She huddled against Valia and just tried to block everything out.

Passing out certainly helped.

*

The bedding actually felt soft against her skin when she next woke, the dim illumination of a single lantern doing little more than make her eyes twinge momentarily. She felt cool and dry. She was comfortable.

With a frown she sat up just enough to get a better look around. To her surprise they were back in her old safe house. It was only a little worse for ware, Oren apparently hadn't had much interest in her equipment. The tools of her trade were of little use to his particular breed. The scent of warm, soapy water lingered on the air and she sat up further. "Valia?"

"I am here," she turned her head at Valia's worried tone, finding the vampire sitting not far from the bed. Oren's journal was half shut in her hands. She was without her coat, only dressed in her shirt, boots and leggings. It was hard to tell from the poor lighting but there was genuine concern on the other woman's face, her brows pinched together. She got up from her chair and put the journal aside, moving to the edge of Elanna's bed and settling down. "How are you feeling?"

Far better than last time she was awake, that was for sure. "Better. I guess you got the cure then?"

Valia nodded, "urvi powder, tuun extract and the blood of a healthy mortal. The last was the easiest to obtain."

"Really? Blood?"

"It is a poison tailored to our kind. Little wonder the cure would involve blood somehow."

"Huh. Guess that makes sense then. Can't imagine the face Oren must have pulled when he saw that part of the cure."

"Elanna, I apologize for not returning sooner."

"Don't worry about it. It's not the first time I've nearly died. Probably won't be the last."

"It will be if I have any say in it. I will not lose you."

Elanna paused, struck by the reddening of Valia's eyes. She looked so serious. Frightening doubt welled up inside her again and Elanna frowned, "why do you care so much?" it came out harsher than she meant it to.

That seemed to dispel Valia's anger in favour of confusion, "you mean much to me." She almost sounded uncomfortable saying that. It didn't help.

Averting her eyes, Elanna fidgeted with her hands curled in her bed sheets, "what do you want with me?"

Valia's frown was clear, "Elanna, what-"

She shot the other woman a glare, "did you betray your clan?!"

Valia flinched back, hurt clear in her eyes and stabbing at Elanna even as she tried to stifle it. When the other woman didn't say anything Elanna shook her head and looked down again, resting her head in her hands. "I need to know. I need to know if you're going to kill me when this is over. Because you might as well do it now," she looked up at Valia, trying to ignore the pain in her eyes. "Did you betray them?"

It took far longer than was comfortable, the silence stretching until Elanna felt it would snap with an audible, palpable crack like a whip striking taut flesh. What would she do if her fears were valid? She couldn't see a weapon in easy reach, not without trying to go through Valia. Would she be able to fight Valia? She didn't feel quite strong enough to fight, certainly not strong enough to fight Valia, an elder vampire. Could she even bring herself to hurt Valia in the first place?

Finally Valia swallowed, trying to steady herself with a shaky intake of breath, "my history is long and storied. Oren is a descended of a bloodline that came from the country of my birth. When I was first turned I lost myself in a power hungry craze, I became a terror to the people of my home. But fate saw fit to humble me and when I was struck at my lowest point, to my shame I turned my back on those I called kin and fled, leaving them to Oren's ancestors. This, however, happened centuries ago. The clan Oren killed when I was out hunting? I had changed; the hubris was burned out of me. I loved each of them, they were my family, and Oren killed them. His bloodline has done nothing but hunt me since my escape, it does not matter if I have changed, and it does not matter if I love or care just as they would. They will paint me as I used to be because it suits them. I do not know if I have yet paid for what I did in my youth, but death would surely silence any hope of that."

With a sad smile, Valia hesitantly reached out, her fingers brushing Elanna's hand, "please, believe me when I say you are precious to me. I-"

Elanna tightened her hand around Valia's, making her pause. It was enough. She could almost cry from relief. "The past catching up with you is something I can understand," she murmured, staring down at Valia's fingers grasped between her own. "Why do you think my eyes look like this?"

Valia's free hand drifted up to her face, lifting her jaw so she'd look at the other woman. Valia wasn't that far really, but she didn't feel close enough and it tugged at something inside the assassin. "Can you...can you see me as I would?"

It stung. It was strange that not once had she cursed how odd her sight made everything look. She could see the details of Valia's face, see the colours the made her if she focused, but it was still odd, it was still- "I can see you just fine," she murmured, an inexorable urge to pull Valia close dominating her senses.

Her fears were, after all, for nothing.

Chapter Ten

Their hands moved quickly, lips meeting in a kiss, hard and desperate at first but softening enough for tongues to snare each other again. There was no taste of honey but Valia was warm and welcoming, the shifting of her tongue sending shivers down Elanna's spine.

Pressing close, Valia slipped her hands under Elanna's shirt and worked her out of it. The air was cold against her skin and she groaned into Valia's mouth when the elder vampire found her breasts. Her hands slipped into Valia's hair, one wound tight, the other moving back down to wrap around the other woman's shoulders. She could almost hear the smirk in Valia's head, a gasp escaping her as Valia pressed her knee up between Elanna's thighs.

Elanna growled and pushed until Valia was on her back, going for her throat and drawing a low moan from her. Slender fingers caressed their way along Elanna's stomach and sides, moving around to her back and shoulders.

It was more than just desire, the pale lust of past encounters that felt so pitifully weak and intangible to the passion boiling inside her. She wanted to feel Valia, how warm she was, the smell of sandalwood on her skin from her coat and the noise she made when Elanna bit at her collarbone. It sent a thrill down to her core and she all but ripped Valia's shirt from her. Not that Valia seemed to mind, arching beneath Elanna and digging her fingers into slender muscles until they found her arse again and kneaded another groan from the assassin.

Bowing her head, Elanna quickly relieved Valia of her bra and took the closest nipple into her mouth, the lashing of her tongue earning a shamelessly loud moan. Valia's nails dug into her skin, her name leaving the elder vampire in a gasp, breath hitching and growing heavy.

Elanna switched sides and slid her hands down to Valia's hips and up along her thighs, inadvertently prompting Valia to wrap her legs around Elanna and pull her close. She released Valia's breasts and straightened only to freeze as she found herself caught in the gaze of rich, bright red eyes, half shut in a look that caused a pulse of heat between her thighs.

Then Valia was upon her, pushing, turning and pinning until Elanna found herself quite unceremoniously on her front with Valia's admittedly comfortable weight pressing against her shoulders and backside. She couldn't really find the energy to complain as Valia suckled on the tip of her right ear, biting gently and causing a tremor in the assassin.

"Should've known you'd never just lie down," Elanna muttered breathlessly, earning nothing more than a sultry chuckle and another gentle bite to the ear.

Slender fingers hooked into the waist band of her leggings and worked them down until Elanna twisted to lift her knees off the mattress and finally slip them from her ankles. Again Valia pressed close, the material of her own remaining clothing rubbing against Elanna's skin. She kissed the back of the assassin's neck and moved down her spine to lay a kiss between her shoulder blades, hands running over Elanna's hips and down the insides of her thighs far too slow to be accidental. Elanna groaned and curled her fingers into the bed sheets, one hand sliding underneath her pillow to grip the edge of the mattress in what would otherwise be a death grip.

Valia's hands moved back up, firm and slow, stopping so close to the juncture of her thighs she could all but hear Valia's grin and tried not to whimper. Those slender fingers slid across her stomach, muscles tense, and finally went to her breasts again. Elanna buried her face into her pillow, groaning with barely enough room to take a decent breath. She pushed her hips back against Valia, trying to get her point across despite the heat in her face, and groaned again as experienced fingers turned their attention to her nipples. Valia chuckled at the noise she invoked and bit down a little harder on Elanna's ear, earning a louder groan and another insistent push of the hips. Elanna silently cursed; Valia really was going to be the death of her but certainly not in the way she thought.

Seeing fit to cease her torture of the assassin, Valia slid her right hand down between Elanna's thighs and grinned as her fingers found slick warmth waiting for her. Elanna shivered and arched her back so her hips lifted a little more, biting her lip as if that would help alleviate the tension in her body. Valia's fingers were quick to tease and stroke, seeking out spots that made Elanna squirm and whimper like a freshly enlightened farm girl rather than an experienced, hardened assassin. As soon as Elanna gave it away through noise or movement, Valia chuckled and focused her attention, drawing out one moan after another, her fingers delving inside Elanna only to pull out with almost searing warmth to spread over her folds.

Elanna panted, her skin growing hot and sticky with sweat, and bit down on her pillow, her fangs fully extended and piercing the pliant material easily. Valia's fingers slid deep against just the right spot and she whined, rolling her hips back towards the elder vampire's hand. Another chuckle and Valia curled her fingers, hitting the same spot and sending a tremor through Elanna's nerves. Elanna twisted her head, ripping her pillow as she felt the tension come so close to breaking it was all she could do to not scream.

But Valia had other ideas and started to curl her fingers over and over, stroking Elanna where she needed it most until the fabled assassin wailed beneath her, body shaking as spasms assaulted Valia's fingers. Mercifully Valia let the tremors subside before she pulled her fingers out and tenderly kissed the nape of Elanna's neck.

Panting softly, Elanna pushed herself up and managed to turn around until she was facing Valia, only to reach up and pull the other woman in for a kiss. It was brief and Elanna quickly pulled away, her fingers brushing down Valia's jaw, collarbone, chest and finally to her leggings. A smirk curled her lips and she helped Elanna get her out of them, finally leaving them on equal footing as far as clothes were concerned.

Elanna smiled in an almost predatory fashion as she senses picked up Valia's arousal, distinct from her own and the scent of sweat on the air. She laid back and tugged at Valia's hips, earning a curious look that turned into a grin when she finally had Valia's knees either side of her head.

With her senses almost overwhelmed, Elanna slid her hands up to grip Valia by the hips, her fingers dipping inwards to dig into pressure points along the top of her thighs. She lifted her head and teased her tongue along the edges of Valia's folds, earning an appreciative moan and fingers curling into her hair. Elanna glanced up, continuing her ministrations, and mentally smirked at the pleasure etched across Valia's face, how her lips parted, how her tongue moved slowly to wet them as if too distracted to do it quickly. Her cheeks were flushed and she closed her eyes, leaning her head back as Elanna reached a hardened bundle of nerves that served only to delight her.

Locking her lips around it garnered a shamelessly loud moan. Elanna couldn't help herself and flicked her tongue back and forth, reducing Valia to pants and squeals. She curled her tongue and swirled it in circles, moving one of her hands beneath Valia's squirming hips and delving her fingers into waiting depths. Valia clenched around her with a gasp, her grip on Elanna's hair tightening with an involuntary tug.  Elanna just focused on what she was doing, pumping her fingers at a slow, deliberate pace to fan the flames dancing along Valia's nerves.

A hand left Elanna's hair and she briefly glanced up to watch as Valia caressed one of her breasts, biting her lip with eyes shut in a look that spoke volumes about how close she was. Quickening her pace, Elanna sucked particularly hard on Valia's clit and stayed exactly where she was as Valia went stiff and cried out Elanna's name.

Slowly, Valia relaxed enough to climb off Elanna and sink down next to her, a sleepy smirk on her lips. Elanna rolled her eyes with an amused smile and turned on her side, pulling Valia to her so they could find the most comfortable position to sleep in together. Finally they settled and lulled off to sleep, quietly bathing in each other’s comforting warmth.

*

It was an odd thing, to wake with a body curled up against her and feel no need to leave as soon as she could free herself without waking them. Elanna watched Valia sleep, idly stroking her hair and wondering if the day would be theirs. Oren was still out there, turning Praza upside down. Even if they could get his journal to the right people Oren would never go down without a fight. There would be a lot of blood, a lot of death. Praza would endure his dying blows, there was no doubt, but she had no interest in seeing it happen. His presence had marred the city enough.

Valia shifted beneath her hand, nuzzling Elanna's shoulder. It brought a smile to her lips and she leaned across, kissing Valia's forehead. Dark eyes fluttered open and Elanna paused, caught in them just as easily as ever.

"Were you watching, little slayer?" Valia murmured, a light smirk curling the line of her mouth.

Heat flushed to her face and Elanna averted her eyes, resting her head back on her pillow, "maybe."

The chuckle both warmed her heart and sent a shiver through her, as Valia climbed atop her and crossed her arms, resting her chin on her hands with her elbows either side of Elanna's neck. She tried not to pay attention to how Valia felt against her, a warm, silken weight pressed against her chest, stomach and thighs; it was difficult to ignore. She didn't think they could afford another delay now that she had recovered and her doubts were alleviated. "Are you all right?"

Valia arched a brow, "is there a reason I would not be?"

"Well, not that I can think of right now."

"Your concern is welcome, Elanna."

"Wow, my actual name?"

"Is not unpleasant on my tongue."

"I noticed."

She could've sworn she was seeing things but Valia actually seemed to blush and avoid Elanna's gaze. She couldn't help but grin, "and here I thought making you blush was impossible."

Valia shook her head and sat up from the assassin, "a minor victory, little slayer."

Elanna's grin widened and she laughed, "I don't care. I made you blush." The bed sheets were thrown at her face not a moment after she finished talking and Elanna only laughed more.

She pulled the sheets away to find Valia getting up from the bed, stretching with a shameless groan that was surely supposed to be revenge on the amused assassin. It was certainly working. Trying to shake the distraction out of her head Elanna forced herself to look elsewhere and noticed Oren's journal on her bedside table. "Right...still have to deal with that," she muttered, frowning.

Valia turned and followed the direction Elanna's head was pointing, she sighed, "unfortunately. But the sooner we show him as a manipulator the sooner this can be put behind us."

True enough. Elanna picked it up an flicked to the page Valia had been at last, noted by a strip of black cord. "Did you find anything while I was out of it? What he's aiming for?"

Valia shook her head, "not yet but I presume it is there. Regardless we have his word that he is twisting the people's view of him."

Elanna nodded, scanning the pages, "we'll take it to Empress Sanra, but having his goal in mind would be helpful. Outline the scope of the threat and all that. Get cleaned up and I'll see if I can't get through this quick enough to find whatever it is he's planning."

Simple as it was to say, it was a trying matter to keep her eyes on the pages instead of Valia, her ears somehow more sensitive than they had ever been in her entire life to the sound of water running off Valia's body. Reminding herself of the threat Oren posed seemed to help her focus however and she skimmed through a few dozen pages, noting mentions of other spells, secrets and things he had learned.

Finally she turned a page and saw it: Praza will make an excellent starting point. After all, if I can turn this pit of a city into a haven for us, we can wipe the filth from any corner of the world. Once we have eliminated the crawl we can turn this city into a fortress, train new hunters. We'll no longer be scattered, I can contact the other groups; we will become an army. Our soldiers will destroy every inhuman creature that dares show their face.

Elanna growled, pulling the cord into place and shutting the journal. "I've got him."

Valia stepped away from the bath with clothes in order and her hair uncharacteristically tied in a low tail. "Good. Now I suggest you clean up while we have the time, it just would not do to meet the Empress of this fine city while not at our best."

A scoff left Elanna and she set the journal aside, "right."

Chapter Eleven

The Imperial Guard were a group Elanna tried not to bother with, being several cuts above the average guard walking the streets and better still than most decent mercenaries. They were almost exclusively comprised of a select few families that served the Empress's bloodline with absolute loyalty, devoting their existence to the protection of their Empress. Mashadri, Vulon, Hidiri and Aurenel; they could trace their blood back to the first founders of Praza along with the Empress herself.

That they hadn't acted yet, that the Empress hadn't acted yet - Elanna could only presume they had their suspicions of Oren but could not risk openly opposing his actions. It could inflame the situation for nothing and spark riots. If however, they knew for a fact that Oren's intentions were twisted...

Elanna hoped they would take action.

Getting onto the roof of the palace was an exercise of her talents, the Imperial Guard being far more thorough with its presence at key points. They were aware of the people who could potentially harm the Empress and Elanna was most certainly at the top of the list; not that she'd ever take a job asking her to kill the Empress. She liked Praza's status quo nice and comfortable.

When they finally slipped into the palace they stayed quick and low, moving by patrols until they were in a walkway passing over the throne room. It was meant for guards to keep watch but the slumped bodies either end showed how much that meant when the right person came in. Elanna had only knocked them out however; she had no intention of undermining herself when trying to convince the people of the palace to accept what she was saying.

The Empress was seated in her armoured regalia, a mix of white cloth, brown leathers and steel fittings to protect her. It played nicely against her dark skin and the sharp amber of her eyes that regarded each of her advisors with a measure of respect if only for the sake of it.

Said advisors were arguing amongst themselves, slinging heated words across the room from their seats, some in favour of Oren's presence and some against it. Others argued for some kind of middle ground to regulate the supposed 'monsters' living in Praza. Elanna could only shake her head; no wonder they hadn't heard anything from the palace.

She looked over her shoulder to Valia, crouched next to her, and the elder vampire nodded. Elanna waited for Valia to slip her arms around her waist and dropped through the walkway like a smouldering rock. The advisors yelled almost unanimously in shock as they landed in the middle of the throne room, black smoke rippling across the floor from the pair's landing. No sooner had they straightened, standing back to back, the Imperial Guard rushed in weapons drawn. The points of several blades were inches away from them in a circle of glinting steel. The Empress hadn't so much as twitched. Elanna would have smiled if she didn't feel so uncomfortable with so many weapons pointed at her.

"Empress Sanra, I am the Blind Slayer of Praza. I was not born here, but I have lived here for many decades and feel this city is a part of me. In accordance to Praza tradition, its entire people are supposed to pull together in times of crisis. I take this very seriously. So I appear before you now to bring you the proof you need to justify driving Oren and his hunters out of this city," she spoke loudly, firmly, making sure no one misheard her.

Sanra held her gaze for the longest moment, the slight arching of a brow all the reaction she gave before rising from her throne.

"What is this proof you bring, assassin?" she spoke calmly, walking down the few steps of her throne towards the circle of Imperial Guards surrounding the pair.

"Empress! You cannot possibly think this thug is genuine, she-"

Sanra only turned her head an inch in the direction of the outspoken advisor and he immediately went quiet, sinking into his chair with embarrassment. The Empress brought her attention back to Elanna, "what do you bring, assassin?"

Aware of the eyes watching her every move, Elanna pulled a satchel from underneath her cloak, moving carefully so as not to invite a sword to her throat. Loosening the ties she opened it to reveal the top of the journal, making sure the Empress and her guards could see what she was about to take out. With an almost imperceptible nod from the Empress, Elanna pulled the journal free and held it out for Sanra to take.

The guard nearest took it from her instead, sheathing his sword as he did so. He looked it over while the Empress and the rest of her guard kept their eyes on the pair. "Why drop from my ceiling, assassin? Do the hunters at my gates concern you that much?"

"They would cut us down at first sight, Empress," Valia spoke up, "we do not wish to die just yet."

Sanra's eyes flicked briefly to Valia, "does anyone?" then she looked to Elanna again and held out her hand for the journal. The guard obliged and took out his sword to brandish at Elanna again.

Opening the journal at the cord and her eyes swiftly took in the words, a look of contempt growing on her features. Elanna tried not to get her hopes up, "if you turn back, there's a page I saved with a bit of folded linen. It's quite damning really."

Sanra didn't look at her but turned back to the correct page, removing the linen briefly to uncover the words Elanna needed her to see. The contempt blossomed into disgust. A soft noise of derision left the Empress and she handed the journal back to her guard. "Give this to the council and lower your weapons. They have fulfilled what is expected of them as denizens of Praza," she about-faced and returned to her throne, settling down with crossed legs and hands clasped.

The journal was passed from each advisor to the next and as they saw what they needed to, Sanra took a breath. "Council," her voice raised with a blistering authority, "Oren thinks to make an army from our people. He seeks to break and mould Praza into his weapon, for his war. This is against the very foundation of Praza. We have always protected ourselves against the influence of outsiders. Perhaps some of you believe this out-dated, our trade with other nations has certainly been profitable, but there is a vast difference between trade and ruling. I will not let this fanatic destroy everything Praza was built upon. We have never been a helpless city, but we have allowed this poison to sink deep. If the streets must be washed in blood to free ourselves of this rot, then so be it. What say you?"

The council shared a multitude of looks with each other, worried, angry, grim; but all resolute. Each of them stood and knelt to their Empress, one after another.

Relief flooded through Elanna.

Then the Empress looked directly at her and she froze, "you, come forward."

Swallowing, Elanna approached with careful steps and knelt before the throne, "yes, Empress?"

Sanra regarded her quietly and then got to her feet, hand resting on the hilt of the sword on her hip, "I am tasking you and your companion with killing Oren. My guard will take to the streets and drive back his people with every able bodied city guard willing to fight.”

Elanna lifted her head, "the Crawl has been waiting for this moment, Empress, they will fight for Praza."

Sanra nodded, "as it should be. Now go. Cleanse our city of this rot."

A smile tilted Elanna's lips, "it will be my extreme pleasure, Empress."

*

The moment the Imperial Guard met with Oren's hunters, the doors to the Crawl opened and every able bodied creature and mortal poured out to deal with the outsiders. It was bloody and brutal, yet the hunters managed to hold their own, knowing how to drive back some of the more unnatural fighters and outright kill others. But still they fought, cutting Oren's forces down and those that would fight for them. The streets all but exploded into a mess of bodies bludgeoning, kicking and slashing at each other, citizens believing what they would and fighting for it.

Elanna and Valia ran across the rooftops, trying to find Oren's distinct figure with Elanna's vision. If they were lucky he'd have already been killed during the initial clash.

Pillars of smoke rose from several sections of Praza, telling of fires and the escalation of the chaos. Occasionally a flare of magic would light up Elanna's vision and she'd swear under her breath. Both hunters and Crawl denizens were using it. A few of the Imperial Guard wielded it but the former pair were deadlier with its secrets.

"Slayer!"

Elanna paused at the edge of the building, a bar in the silver district. She and Valia turned to find the same shapeshifter who told them of the execution climbing up to meet them. "What is it, shifter?"

He reached them and tried to catch his breath, pointing towards the Grey district, "Oren released some demon crazies, they're rippin' people apart!"

Damn it. Elanna glanced towards the district in question, the noise of weapons meeting and screams releasing into the air was a dull chorus from their position. She shook her head, "we're after Oren, we can't afford to let him continue."

The shifter fidgeted, "we don't know where he is! But them crazies are gonna tear up a lot'a people. I can search for 'im! None'll notice me! Jus' please help 'em!"

Valia started moving towards the district, "it is a better option than running around blind hoping to find him. This way we can do something for this city until we are certain."

It made her feel uneasy, she wanted to slit Oren's throat as soon as possible but Valia had a point. "Fine, go look. And what's your name, shifter?"

He smiled, relief in his eyes, "Rikkel. Thanks! I'll find 'im quick, promise!" with that he turned and jumped into the air, his frame flattening and twisting into the shape of a raven. He banked to the east of the city and set off in a low swoop across the streets. Hopefully it would prove useful.

Turning, Elanna moved to catch up with Valia, traversing the rooftops towards the grey district were the howling of crazed demon-blooded sent a chill through the air sharper than any snow storm. The cracked and muddy streets were already staining with fresh blood and the bodies of victims were sprawled all down the main street to the square, some left it alleys, others half eaten already. Packed snow was making it difficult to keep stable footing.

Valia shifted into her other form, her granite like skin tough enough to withstand demon claws. She jumped down into a throng of the crazed things and immediately released one from its lower body with a swipe of her wing. Another tried to attack her from behind and found itself knocked back by a quick snap of her wings.

A higher pitch of screaming drew Elanna's attention to the square and she raced along the edges of the buildings until she saw it. An elf boy had climbed the statue, trying to escape the dog like demon-blooded circling the base, occassionaly trying to climb it and reach the child. Its smoking claws dug gashes into the stone, sending chips of it clattering onto the ground and dust into the air. The snapping of its jaws was accented by sharp, wet growling and the boy’s whimpers as he tried to hang onto to topmost part of the statue away from the monster.

Another elf, older, female, screeched and charged the dark thing with sword in hand, swinging and opening a cut across its back while it was preoccupied with climbing. It howled and jumped down, facing her with a snarl pulling its muzzle out of shape. Desperate anger may have been obvious in the female's expression but fear dared not show itself.

Elanna jumped down and sprinted across to the pair, smoke trailing from her cloak in a growing cloud that soon enveloped them all. The noise of the monster all but drilled into her skull and Elanna charged it from behind, jumping onto its back and ramming both wrist blades into the back of its skull where the spine connected.

With a wet gurgle it slumped forwards and Elanna climbed off, dispersing her smoke. The elf woman was still holding up her sword, looking around until she saw the beast dead at Elanna's feet. A thankful look flashed across her face but she quickly ran by her to get the boy. Elanna moved on without word, rushing to meet another crazed one terrorizing an injured man. His leg was a mess of fleshy rags and no doubt it was his blood on the thing's claws and teeth.

Another veil of smoke, a kick to the side of its head and it was disoriented enough to swipe blindly into the cloud. Elanna ducked under its arms and her blades found home between its ribs. Her smoke faded again and she knelt in front of the man, a terrified grimace on his face. Taking out her knife she cut the leg of his trousers into strips and wrapped them tightly above what remained of his leg. Making sure it was secure she helped him to his feet and moved him over to a group of Imperial guards who seemed to be holding a line against both the hunters and the demon-blooded.

She left him with them and returned to the more chaotic parts of the district, taking down hunters along the way with quick, efficient stabs to vital areas. Sometimes not even that, she'd cripple them and leave them to the monsters they unleashed, the demon-blooded forced into being mindless weapons for Oren's use. Anger mounted in her and Elanna viciously broke the jaw of one particular hunter, a sharp kick to the groin sending him to the ground in a painful heap.

Rounding a street corner she saw a pair of hunters standing back to back, fending off a crowd with the fire from their torches and their axes. Strangely, their figures weren't yet marked with the runes most hunters had. Elanna hurried over and pushed her way through the crowd.

The woman hunter turned towards her when she emerged from the drab menagerie of angry bodies, clearly a much bigger threat than the rest. Elanna frowned at her, "why aren't you marked like the rest of them?"

"That's what we've been trying to say!" the woman yelled over the angry crowd, fear in her eyes. "We're not like them! We joined up because we thought...we thought it was the right thing! Please! We didn't know they'd do this! We just wanted to protect our home!"

"And look what that's gotten us!"

"We're never supposed to trust outsiders!"

"Don't you remember what our city was founded on?!"

"Traitors!"

Elanna growled and lifted her arms, "enough! We have more important things to worry about than this, go and help the Imperial Guard!" she glared at the crowd and they grudgingly dispersed until it was only Elanna and the two hunters left.

The woman swallowed and slowly lowered her axe, "thank you."

Elanna turned her glare on the woman, "shut up. Go change out of that armour before someone else decides to string the two of you up for treason." Shame and guilt was clear on both the hunters faces, prompting a shake of the head from Elanna, "you can't focus on things that can't be changed. You made a bad decision; so do something about it. Get moving!"

They hurried off and Elanna took a breath to gather her wits. The howls of the demon blooded were growing less frequent, that was something at least.

Claws scraped into the ground behind her. "Elanna, move!"

She rolled to the side and the noise akin to meat being tenderized and a dog whining was all the indication she got of something dying. Lifting her head revealed Valia standing atop the body of a crazed one, her feet planted firmly on its collapsed neck and shoulders. Her grey body was covered in dark blood from toes to wingtips, but she didn't appear injured herself. "Are you well?"

Elanna had to laugh a little, "oh, yeah, I'm great."

The rasping cry of a raven made both of them look to the sky just in time to see Rikkel swoop down and land as a human again. The smile on his face was vengeful, "found 'im!"

Chapter Twelve

The city was almost unrecognizable by the time Rikkel guided them up to the temple. It reminded Elanna of the attempted take over from the Pit all those years ago, bodies and blood decorating the streets of the Crawl like the smashed toys of a moody infant. They avoided fighting by running across the rooftops, but the occasional arrow was fired in their direction, not that any of them landed but it was a minor danger.

Upon reaching the temple, Rikkel alighted on Elanna's shoulder and cawed, his head pointed towards the front of the temple where Oren was kicking over a city guard. Two swings of his sword and the guard's head rolled down temple steps.

"Thanks, you can find somewhere safe now," Elanna murmured, checking her weapons.

Rikkel cawed again but instead of flying away he glided down into Empress square and just as he was about to touch the ground his form expanded, the feathers were replaced by fur and he landed with the bellowing roar of an angry bear. He charged the nearest hunter and swatted them aside claws digging into their throat.

"It seems the little shifter has greater heart than I thought," Valia said with a smile.

Elanna nodded, "your home falling apart brings out a little something in everyone I guess." Not wasting another moment she leapt down and landed with a ripple of black smoke, lunging at the nearest hunter in her path and perforating his ribs. Valia was quick to follow, ripping through any that dared block their path to Oren, be they hunter or citizen.

No sooner did Oren spot them he retreated into the temple and Elanna snarled, ducking over the swing of a hunter and kicking him in the ribs so hard they turned concave. She vaulted up the stairs two at a time and rushed through the doors, entering into the main hall of the temple. Carvings and murals decorated the walls and the high ceiling uncovered how many floors the temple had, all overlooking the main hall with intricate stone railings. Torchlight played across the masonry and she slowly walked into the middle of the hall, her eyes seeking Oren's distinct shape. She scowled when she saw him standing to the side between two of the pillars holding up the floor above. "You can't hide from me," she murmured, moving towards him with her blades extending.

"No," Oren didn't move, "I suppose she fooled you then?"

"Your lies aren't going to work anymore. This ends tonight, Oren."

"Does it? Do you cherish this cesspit that much?"

"It wasn't made for people like you, people who think things should be just so, that people should be a certain way to be considered normal and worthy of not getting an axe to the neck. How old was the dragon-kin boy, Oren?"

"He was a monster."

"Did he even do anything?"

"He would have."

With incandescent rage she charged, meeting his sword with her wrist blades. Oren growled and withdrew, swinging for Elanna's midsection. She dodged and released her smoke in a smothering cloud, eventually flooding the lower areas of the main hall. Oren swung wildly and Elanna moved behind him. Wrapping her arm around his neck she cut off his air supply and rammed her fist into his spine, blade sliding forwards and severing it. He struggled for all of two seconds, the strength rapidly draining from his body until he slumped to the floor when Elanna released him.

Odd. That seemed far too-

Her vision exploded with light and something heavy slammed into her, sending her flying down the length of the main hall and right out the doors. The momentum carried her down the stairs and finally to the square where she rolled to a halt. Gods if she hadn't been a vampire that would've certainly killed her but it didn't make her feel any better about the pain. Her entire body felt like an abused ragdoll and she could barely take a breath without something hurting. A wet warmth trickled down over her lips and chin and she noted the blood dripping onto the ground.

Valia was at her side in seconds and helping her to her feet, trying to be gentle about it, "Elanna? What happened? Where is-"

The doors to the temple flew off their hinges to make space for something Elanna hoped she'd never see again. "This has to be a cosmic joke of some sort..." she muttered, watching with Valia as a god's be damned Attaga walked out of the temple. Valia's grip on her tightened, "is that-?"

Elanna sighed, wincing at the pain in her ribs, "Oren? I wish it wasn't. Damn it I knew something was different when we saw him at the execution," she grunted as Valia slipped a supporting arm around her waist. "All the hunter sigils, the ones they use to protect themselves - his were gold that time. They looked different from the usual ones. Should've - ah! - guessed."

The Attaga looked down at its gauntleted fists, fingers curling and flexing slowly, before it lifted its head to look directly at them. Elanna felt a chill run through her, "oh you have got to be joking." If she was right-

A laugh left the Attaga, like if someone laughed inside the empty hull of a great metal ship, "did you know these creatures were first intended to be protectors against things like you, slayer?" Oren's voice echoed from the Attaga's body and he started walking towards them. "Ancient hunters would mark themselves as vessels and become guardians after death. A lost art until now."

They started shifting back, trying to keep some distance from Oren. Elanna winced and spat away some errant blood, "that damn fount taught you all kinds of tricks didn't it? Shame we didn't destroy it before then."

Oren's eyes narrowed and turned red, "oh yes. Such a shame." The ground beneath him cracked and he surged forwards, snow rippling away from him with a threatening crackle in the air. The Attaga's blazing sword materialized in his hands and he swung down to demolish the pair in an overhead strike. Valia flapped her wings to get them out of the way and Oren sent shards of paving stones flying. Wrenching the sword free released a small flood of water from a broken pipe and Oren whirled only to find Elanna had released another smoke cloud, taking up half the square and shrouding the lower front of the temple. The statues of the city's deities rose above the smoke, their figures dusted with a fine layer of snow.

A chuckle left him and Oren slowly walked into the cloud, passing through the statues of Taruna and Sunkari. "This city is so proud of its origins," his voice dripped contempt, "you're a mess, built on an amalgam of beliefs that lay the foundations for flaw and corruption."

Elanna spoke to his left, "it wasn't built for people like you. It’s our haven, our home. You're not welcome here."

He snarled and swung, his sword meeting the base of Sunkari's statue. The stone cracked and gave in, toppling with a resounding crash. "This city is a pustule; you don't leave such things to grow worse."

The assassin's voice came from the direction of the temple, "a pustule to you perhaps. Call it a difference in values, Oren. You want to kill everything that doesn't conform to what you think is allowed. I'd rather let people be judged by their merits."

Elanna spoke from directly behind him, "I may be a killer but I never executed a child. One would think if your point was really that great you wouldn't need to manipulate people."

Oren roared and swung around, but his sword met nothing. "Just like a monster to support those of your ilk!"

"See, that's your problem. You think because I got turned that I'm suddenly okay with all the things you fear. But I always was. A little uncomfortable maybe, but I think that's understandable given my history."

"You could have been at our side and cleansed this city. Now you're just another beast to be put down."

"Speaking of which. Valia?"

Out of the murk Elanna rushed him, foot slamming into his breastplate so hard it forced him to stumble and tip over onto his back. He struggled to get up but the noise of stone cracking made him pause. The smoke above him rapidly parted with the movement of air as Taruna's statue collapsed atop him, her great stone sword landing first and breaking through the middle of his breastplate. The rest followed and completely cracked it open. "No! No! I haven't cleansed this place!"

Elanna's voice sounded off near him, a wet cough accompanying it, "you were never meant to."

The smoke dispersed with Oren's wailing, screaming form, the golden cloud making up the Attaga's body drifting away on the breeze until it was no more. Elanna lay on her side, just staring at the crumbling, clay remains of the Attaga's armour with diminishing clarity. She managed a smile just as consciousness escaped her.

*

The morning after Oren's attack was an especially cold and quiet one, a mist falling over the streets while an overcast sun struggled to shed light on them. The city guard spent most of the night clearing bodies but that went on well into the afternoon. People came out to clear the blood away and it was slow work, but for once all denizens of the Crawl came out openly to help. The less human of them no longer hid and while some tension was clear, no one raised a fist against another. The Naga and Kushini cleared the Volune river and helped to wash the docked boats of blood and bodies, working to make sure the water didn't become tainted with rot.

Empress Sanra had the Captain of the Guard stripped of his position for treason. At any other time he would have been executed but instead he was given to the people of the Crawl. His fate was not a public one but quiet murmurs spoke of him being thrown into the Pit. A cruel and undesirable fate, but the people of Praza and the Crawl in particular were slow to forgive betrayal. If the Captain had stood by Praza's values, he would have driven Oren and his poisonous beliefs out. Instead he allowed it to harm the city he was supposed to protect.

It took a few days and a decent amount of blood before Elanna could walk without hissing curses between her teeth, but the moment she could they met with the Empress again. She and Valia were commended for safeguarding Praza from outside intrusion and embodying the very essence of the city. They were not guards, or nobles, or even the common citizen. They were not human, or even mortal, and at any other time the law of the guard would be at odds with them - but upon seeing their home in danger they stood up and refused to let it fall.

In the weeks following, they were approached by a small group from the Crawl who offered to fix up the Smouldering Oak. People from the Crawl were slowly branching out into the city proper. Not necessarily the more criminal people, but the less human looking, like their Jurkah friend in the Diamond Valley. The Oak could serve as a nice starting point for people like them to gather without being relegated to the depths of the Crawl.

It took a month before the Oak was ready, the floors refitted on the lower levels after the mess the hunters left, a new bar carved to replace the old one, tables, chairs, new supplies for food, drink and bedding. They just needed people to work there. Rikkel was more than happy volunteer the moment he heard. He'd survived the night of Oren's attack with a nasty scar across his chest and side, but he was smiling. Apparently he used to work for a small but profitable bar in the Valley before hunters shut it down and killed the less human working the, he only got away because he shifted into a mouse and escaped under the floorboards. Elanna assured him it wouldn't happen again.

A few more people to serve the drinks and food and they opened for their first night nearly two months after that wretched attack. The same evening for the festival of Handalo, god of the hunt and bounty. The streets were alive with light and noise, the weather slowly growing warmer with the months of winter falling behind them. Great roasts were held in Empress square, along the streets and at taverns just like the Smouldering Oak.

It was a fine night to start anew.

Watching the people sing below, Elanna nearly jumped when Valia's arms slid around her waist, though she quickly relaxed and smiled as a soft kiss was placed against her cheek. She remained leaning on the banister, enjoying the feel of Valia against her back. "Where have you been?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, I have been watching. And waiting. Tonight is another festival and you have yet to dress appropriately."

"And here I thought at least getting out of my 'work' clothes would suffice."

"Tch. Silly little slayer, do you know nothing of me?"

"Possibly, I do have trouble focusing around you."

"Mmh, is that a fact?"

"Well, you do have rather distracting qualities."

Valia chuckled and kissed down the side of Elanna's neck, "so I have heard. But do not think I will allow you to escape your fate so easily."

Elanna raised a brow, turning in Valia's arms to look at her with challenge, "my fate? What are you going to do, chain me to the outfit?"

The smile on Valia's lips made her laugh. She wouldn't put it passed the elder vampire to try it in any case. "Okay, here's the deal. I'm going to put my gear on and run and if you catch me, I'll wear the damn thing for the whole festival, tomorrow night included. Sound fun?"

Valia's smile curled into a smirk, "very much so."

There was that look Elanna savoured, the glint in Valia's dark eyes that made a shiver run through her. Her heart quickened and she grinned, slipping away from Valia to her room. Once her gear was on she immediately slipped out her window however, garnering a surprised yell from Valia about cheating. Elanna simply laughed as she saw the elder vampire give chase and sprinted across the rooftops. They ran circles around each other, Elanna leaping to safety and rolling an inch away from Valia's grasp with a laugh that echoed through the streets and mingled with the noise of celebration.

Praza was a city of differences, born of a desire to step away from the expectations and assaults of the outside world. Their people were tough and lively, enduring what fate decided for them with a bristling defiance. Despite finding themselves at odds with each other, they pulled together when threatened to defend that haven they built for themselves.

The Twelve would look down upon them and smile each month they celebrated the result of their founding. So long as they remembered what Praza was built upon, they would survive as they always had, a city strong in its diversity. And Elanna, so long ago arriving in this city of differences adrift and listless, felt a fire burn in her heart towards anyone who dared think to harm it.

She was the Blind Slayer of Praza, vampire and infamous assassin, and she would die before she allowed anyone to ruin her home.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve