Chronicles of Darkness: Shadows and Dust

by Andrea F. Thomas

  "Mistress is impolite to Veljanov," he hissed offended. "Even though he knows her so well."

  Lilith didn't miss the wicked glint in his eyes, even if it was only there for a tiny moment before it disappeared.

  When he realized she wouldn't reply anything, he demanded roughly, "She shall go! She disturbing Veljanov!" His hand making a rude motion, he wanted to return to the corridor where he had come from.

  The young vampire held him back. "First you will answer my question."

  Veljanov ground his teeth, and Lilith wondered how he was able to do that, since he seemed to have only three. "No time!" he whimpered tortured, rocking from side to side.

  Lilith snorted impatiently. "You do not look as if you have an important date tonight."

  He turned back to her and sighed heavily, like it was very hard for him to speak. Finally he answered her question. "Veljanov, the ghoul."

  "Impossible!" Lilith exclaimed. "You lie!"

  Again, Veljanov sighed heavily. "Veljanov, the ghoul."

  The vampire was reluctant to believe him. Shaking her head, she repeated, "That is impossible! Ghouls are mute. They are mute servants."

  "Your belief." He shrugged his shoulders. "My truth."

  Lilith fixed him with a piercing glare, but she couldn't see that he lied. "On the assumption that you speak the truth... why are you able to talk?"

  "Oh, bad story. Veljanov forgot."

  "Now you are lying. Do not try to play games with me. You would lose," the vampire threatened blatantly.

  Veljanov hesitated for a tiny moment. "Mean experiment. Long time ago."

  "That is all you have to say?" Lilith growled, disappointed about the short answer.

  "Wine?" Veljanov suddenly asked, chuckling happily.

  "Wine?" Lilith repeated exasperated at the sudden change in topic.

  "No? Eww," the ghoul replied grumpily with a sullen face.

  Lilith became angry. "What is this about? Are you trying to play me for a fool?"

  "Always lacking self-control. Always."

  "I never met you before! How..."

  Again the evil gleam appeared in his eyes and Lilith guessed what was to follow.

  Veljanov explained openly, "I good observer... since arrival of mistress. Mistress also observer... not Veljanov, but..."

  "How dare you? You dirty, little dung beetle! How dare you talk to me like that?" Lilith raved and screamed at him.

  Uninterested, the ghoul shrugged his shoulders. "Veljanov knows ways. Useful ways."

  "Hidden corridors?"

  "Everywhere. Castle labyrinth."

  "Just made for a rat like you, am I right? You are worth less than scum! Disgusting and evil. If I ever catch you spying, I will make sure that your eyes will never ever see anything again. Is that understood?" the vampire demanded.

  Concern was written all over Veljanov's face, but deep inside, he knew, 'Never will catch me.'

  Lilith was still waiting for an answer that would satisfy her, but instead the ghoul confronted her with a new riddle. "Master... Mistress D'Azoon knows," he said and smiled. Then he disappeared through the hidden corridor he had come from.

  It hit the vampire like a lightning bolt. The whole time she was struggling to get her composure back. She had not been prepared for the ghoul. Lilith could hear Veljanov's giggles echoing from behind the thick walls. She left the catacombs to go back upstairs. The vampire only had one wish: to get answers to all her questions.

  *****

  Brightly burning candles framed the golden edge of the big oriental mosaic, which had been made from many, small, glazed stones. The colorful mosaic formed a complete circle, showing the five heraldic animals of the big vampire clans. The clan symbols were orientated to the cardinal points. The snake's head of the Serpentes pointed to southwest. The fire-breathing dragon to northwest, while the manticore pointed to northeast. In the southeast was the griffin. Only the rising phoenix had been placed directly in the center of the mosaic.

  On this unique picture, in the midst of the candle ring, Sadden sat, her legs crossed. She was highly concentrated. Her palms rested on her knees and her eyes were closed. Quietly, she mumbled some words of a long lost culture, of a long lost time. Suddenly the vampire stopped, a frown forming on her beautiful features. Her eyes fluttered open. "How is that possible? Why am I not able to get access to my past?"

  She could feel someone approaching and spun around.

  A short moment later, Lilith entered. "Sadden, may I have a word with you, please?"

  Sadden rose gracefully, looking at her protégée questioningly. "Lilith? Is there something wrong?"

  "Why did you not tell me anything about Veljanov?"

  If the question took Sadden off guard, she didn't show it. "Did he give you a scare?"

  Lilith shook her head. "Scare is not the right word. Let us say... he surprised me and..." She searched for the right words to describe the strange encounter with the weird, ragged creature. "He is disgusting!" she finally spat in disdain.

  Sadden's eyebrows lifted.

  "You have to admit," Lilith tried to explain herself, "he stinks to the high heavens and he is not exactly attractive. When I think about that this... this... whatever he is... that he creeps through the castle, I am getting shivers down my spine."

  The vampire walked to her protégée and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Veljanov is harmless, he..."

  "What is he doing in the castle?" Lilith interrupted her, impatiently. She wanted some answers to the questions caused by her unintentional meeting with the weird creature. "He claims to be a ghoul, but ghouls cannot speak. Why is he able to? When I asked him, he babbled something about an..."

  "Experiment," Sadden finished the sentence. "Yes, that is true. Veljanov is the product of a cruel experiment."

  "Who did this?"

  Sadden lowered her gaze. "One of the First, the builder of this castle. He wanted to give the ghouls a voice. You saw the results on Veljanov."

  "He said, Mistress D'Azoon knows. What does that mean?"

  "The castle had been empty for some decades, before I chose it... as my estate. I think he meant to hint at the fact that I took on the name of the former inhabitants. Veljanov has been here the whole time, alone, hidden in the vaults and catacombs. I never asked him why he had been abandoned. Or how he was able to survive for such a long time, without any help, and only spiders and rats for companionship..."

  "You should have killed him."

  Sadden was taken aback in the face of those cold and unfeeling words. "Lilith! You cannot be serious! Veljanov has a right to exist, just like you, or me, or anybody else in this world. He is the victim of a horrible experiment and deserves to be treated with kindness and compassion."

  Lilith gazed deeply into the azure eyes of her mentor. "There is something inside him... in his eyes... something threatening... something dangerous. I cannot say what exactly it is... but you should not trust him blindly. I will not tolerate that he spies on me! He had better stay with his rats and spiders!" the young vampire stated angered, turned on her heel, and left her teacher standing there.

  Sadden shook her head. She turned back to the still burning candles, reached out an arm, palm pointing forward and fingers spread. Blue eyes closed and a moment later the flames extinguished, darkness falling across the room.

  *****

  Days and nights passed on the castle without any remarkable occurrences.

  One night, haunted by anxiety, Andrej climbed the last steps to reach one of the large, hidden roof terraces. Warm candlelight shone from big windows. The light fell on the flat stone roof, which was covered by moss and dried grass. The stone was weather-beaten, due to rain and wind. A sharp wind blew strongly around the corners of the pinnacles.

  Andrej gazed into the distance where the valley lay. He walked along the roof's edge and glanced down. Impenetrable blackness spread out in front of him. The wind pulled strongly at his clothes. Andrej struggled to keep standing, so he wouldn
't tumble into the abyss.

  He gasped and the icy wind pushed harder against his face, robbing the young man of all air to breathe. Andrej turned on his heel and froze as he recognized Lilith, who stood right in front of him.

  Unmoving, she looked at him, her pale face gleaming eerily in the darkness.

  Unconsciously, he took one step back. Unable to form another thought, he lost his balance and was dangerously close to fall. Flailing his arms wildly, Andrej tried to find something to hold on, but his body tilted backwards. Even though it was only for a second, to Andrej it seemed like an eternity.

  During all this, Lilith didn't move once and still wasn't about to help him.

  Andrej fell.

  His plunge was stopped and sharp pain ripped through his right shoulder and arm. The blonde man bit his lip to keep from crying out. It felt as if his arm had been forcefully torn from its socket. Slightly dazed, his feet found hold on a small ledge and he looked up, right into Lilith's eyes.

  She held his right arm in a strong grip and helped him climbing up.

  Exhausted, Andrej slid onto the terrace, rubbing his sore arm. He rose with a groan and was about to say something.

  Lilith cut him off, shouting to be heard over the howling wind. "If you are even thinking about to be grateful, I will throw you right back into the abyss!"

  Andrej swallowed what he wanted to say and retorted annoyed, "Don't you dare sneak up on me like that ever again!"

  At the moment as both wanted to walk down the stairs, they heard a nearly inaudible croaking and spun around.

  It was Hraban, who had tried to land in this stormy wind.

  Lilith reached out one of her arms to welcome the raven, but Hraban flew directly to Andrej's shoulder. Wrinkling her forehead, Lilith watched on, a bit surprised.

  Embarrassed, the young man tried to shake off the completely disheveled bird. "Hey. Come on, go to your mistress. Go on!"

  Hraban just dug her claws deeper into his shirt to keep her place on his arm.

  "Well, it seems that she prefers your company over mine," Lilith muttered, scowling first at her raven then at Andrej.

  "The bird escaped when I wasn't paying attention. I became worried and looked for her. She shouldn't be flying around when she is still so weak."

  "Great, now she is perched comfortably on your arm." Lilith spat, clearly offended.

  No less offended, Andrej replied, "Don't put the blame on me. Maybe you should think about your behavior."

  Fury burned hotly through Lilith's veins. "What would I gain with that?" she demanded.

  "If you don't know that, you really can't be helped!"

  The vampire was completely flabbergasted about the way Andrej talked to her. That he also left her standing there rendered her utterly speechless. Angry, she followed him and the words of their argument were reverberating through the whole castle, until the early morning hours.

  *****

  Lost in thought, Sadden sat on a chair in the music room. Her practiced fingers ran over the strings of a richly decorated ebony harp. The gentle strumming elicited the most wonderful tune. The vampire added her smooth alto voice, so beautiful, it would have made even angels weep.

  "It has been awhile since

  I lay alone in the dark

  heavy thoughts burdened my soul

  but then I had a vision of emerald eyes

  a sparkle of hope

  illuminating the night

  These eyes

  will I ever get to see them again

  these eyes

  which were shining with love for me

  these eyes

  Not so long ago

  I sat on the shores of a stream

  thinking about the vision

  the images began slowly fading

  but I still had hope and kept on waiting

  for it to appear again

  These eyes

  will I ever get to see them again

  these eyes

  which were shining with love for me

  these eyes

  Here and now

  tears are running down my cheeks

  I am nearly drowning in my sorrows

  and still longing for the vision that is long gone

  despair is gripping my heart firmly

  making my soul weak

  These eyes

  will I ever get to see them again

  these eyes

  which were shining with love for me

  these eyes"

  Slowly, her slender fingers slid from the instrument's strings and wrapped around the ebony frame, clinging tightly. Tears rolled down her pale cheeks. The vampire leaned her forehead against the harp and squeezed her eyes shut. "Only once... only one time, I wish to see these lovely, sparkling emeralds for real," Sadden whispered into the silence of the room, her voice choking. A barely suppressed sob of despair escaped her chest. Tears, seemingly not wanting to dry up at all, were still running from beneath her closed eyelids. "I only have this one ardent wish."

  CHAPTER TEN

  DECEIVER OF HEARTS

  Kyrian spurred Nightshade on. He was in a hurry. Anxious, he looked to the east, where the sun rose on the horizon, greeting the new day. The dark stallion snorted irritated through his nostrils. Foam started to form around his mouth and Kyrian could feel his sweat-soaked skin. He patted his horse on the neck and said, "I'm so sorry, my loyal friend, but we have to be back before the others get up. Mama must not know I spent the whole night in Paris."

  At the break of dawn, Kyrian reached the castle and galloped across the pebbly way to the stables. Quickly, he leapt off his horse. His nervous gaze darted to the windows of the main building, but everything remained calm and silent. "It seems that everybody is still asleep," the young man whispered into Nightshade's ear and released a relieved breath.

  The stallion scraped his hoof impatiently across the pebbles and butted Kyrian with his head.

  "Easy boy, easy. I will take care of you." He took Nightshade's reins and led him to his box. He removed saddle and bridle and rubbed the horse down with some straw. At last, Kyrian filled the trough with fresh hay and gave him water, which Nightshade guzzled greedily. After the black stallion had quenched his thirst, Kyrian awaited him with a special treat. "There you go, my friend. I cut some carrots for you." One piece after the other, he fed the vegetable to his horse.

  While Nightshade was happily munching, Kyrian stroked his broad back, but his thoughts were on something else. "I have been to the Quartier Latin, as was written in Mama's notebook. I'm sure, I have explored every angle. Still, it was an unsuccessful search. But Mama is never wrong. Therefore, I will have to keep on searching, until I have found the vampire's hideout. I am going to impress Mama with my success." The young man smiled at the thought of his plan. "And the best about it all, I can combine searching for the vampire with meeting Christine."

  He didn't notice how time flew by. A familiar voice brought him out of his deep thoughts. "What are you grinning at?"

  Startled, his eyes went to the box's entrance where his sister leaned against the boards. She looked at him, questioningly. "Are you thinking about Christine?"

  "Skylar?" Kyrian replied in surprise. "You are up already?"

  "It's a miracle that you are up already," she responded cheekily.

  Her brother patted Nightshade's neck one last time. Then he left the box and went to Skylar. "Well, I just wanted to take care of Nightshade a bit earlier today."

  "Ah." Skylar wasn't convinced and said, "That does not exactly answer my first question."

  Disgruntled, Kyrian buried his hands in his pockets, while they left the stables together. He took a lot of time for his response, but eventually said, "No, I'm not always thinking of Christine. I wonder what the world would be like... if there were no vampires." To Kyrian this answer seemed honest enough, without telling his sister the actual truth.

  "Oh," Skylar responded, drawing her brows together. Then she laughed softly. "That would be g
reat."

  Silently, they walked next to each other, until Kyrian queried, "Why have you been to the stables anyway?"

  Skylar slapped her forehead and said, "I was sent to look for you... breakfast is ready."

  "Mmhhh, breakfast... who arrives first at the kitchen will be the winner!" he announced and sprinted off.

  "Hey!" his sister cried out and chased after him. "That's not fair! You had a head start!" She could hear him laughing loudly from the distance.

  In his hurry to reach the kitchen before his sister, Kyrian almost collided with Jean, who was about to leave the house in order to fetch some wood from a nearby barn. "Good morning, young Master," he greeted him warmly. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

  Gasping for breath, Kyrian answered, "To the kitchen. My stomach is demanding a big meal. I'm hungry like never before."

  "Well, well. I'm sure, Monique will be more than happy to hear that."

  Meanwhile Skylar had reached the two, jumped on her big brother's back and wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him. "Ha ha!" she crowed triumphantly. "I got you now, dear brother! Did you think you could escape me, huh? Remember, nobody can escape Skylar Leosol, the greatest huntress of all times!"

  Jean just shook his head, smiling about the words Skylar used. He left the siblings and went back to carry out his work. "Until later, you two."

  Kyrian hooked his arms underneath his sister's knees. "Oh, I am trembling with fear. Tell me, oh greatest huntress of all times, now that you have caught me, what do you intend to do with me? But please, be merciful."

  Skylar giggled. "Alright, I will show you mercy. Bring me to the kitchen and I will grant you freedom," she declared and Kyrian carried her the rest of the way to the kitchen.

  Monique was waiting with breakfast. She looked up as the door opened and a big grin appeared on her face as she saw Helena's children enter. The image was very amusing.