Vermilion Dreams (Book One of A Vampire Fantasy Epic)

by M. U. Riyadad

  “I’d have to find a priest who specialized in studying Saythana?” I asked.

  “I’m afraid so,” Father Clairmont said. “There are many who are interested, but not many you could consider knowledgeable. It’s a rather curious subject. A lot of interest, but there’s not much to write about. Not much written about it. The Dream Weaver doesn’t appear in history often, and when he does, it’s quick and sudden, and then he’s gone.” He puffed up his chest, and then proudly proclaimed, “But luckily, I do know someone.” He studied me closely, as though considering if he might be able to barter the information for something, then continued, “Father Ernest would be able to tell you. He doesn’t live too far from here. In Jidarth. I could send word to him. Maybe even have him visit. He hasn’t been to our Cathedral in a while, nor I to his.”

  “Could you?” I asked.

  “Of course, of course. I’ll speak to your mother about it.”

  “No need, let me,” I said. I peered around the room suspiciously. “It’s a rather delicate matter, you see. She doesn’t want others to know she’s been asking around.”

  “Ahh,” Father Clairmont said, in perfect understanding. He brought his chin up higher, imagining my mother was entrusting him with the deepest of the kingdom’s secrets. “Of course, of course. Speak to her then. Let me know how she would like to continue.”

  “I will,” I said, turning around to leave.

  “Dina, wait,” he said.

  “Yes, Father?”

  “I just wanted to let you know, you’re doing a great job. Well on your way to making your father proud. It is rare to see someone so talented with alchemy. Powerful magic runs in your blood.” He nodded his head solemnly. “Powerful, powerful magic.”

  “Thank you, Father,” I said, bowing politely. I left to attend Mother Mendhi’s class, debating whether I should feel good or bad about his compliment.

  CHAPTER 5

  The day passed quickly, and with no more mention of Saythana or anything to remind me of my dream. I was waiting for Elsa at the meadows after the last of my lessons. The rain was heavier now, but a welcome complement to the heat. You could see the entirety of the Cathedral from here—a gothic citadel with four spires that twisted to the left, and then curved upward like stone scimitars. The Cathedral is the oldest building in all of Chaya, surpassing even the palace. Built to worship Yuweh more than twenty-five hundred years ago, most of the original construction had been replaced or rebuilt. Only a few ornaments and sculptures remained to suggest that it was once a place of worship for Dh’hpur’s first followers. Paintings of sea creatures, a broken fountain of witchwater, and remnants of our first ships. When my ancestors fled Adhib with the prophet, they left behind everything they had.

  Anasahara meant from the depths in Old Emelim. It translated to from the bottom of the ocean in Emel. As a language, Old Emelim had the kind of regal charm you could find in ocean artifacts and underwater tombs. It was more nuanced than Emel or Emelin. A single word could have three variations in meaning depending on if you pronounced the end of it as ah or eh or ahh. One of the reasons why it was no longer spoken in Chaya or Panbin.

  The meadows outside of the Cathedral were always crowded with pumpkin patches. They grew year round regardless of the weather. In Frostfell or Wintermist, they came out pink and half frozen on the inside with chunks of sleet coating the seeds. In Palemoon or Goldleaf, it could get hot enough that they lost all their color, turning a chalky white, as light as milk. Those were the sweetest, and you could make pie that tasted like cloves and honey with their pulp. I had memories here that went all the way back to when I was five. With Elsa, my mother, my sisters. Early winter, we’d pick out the biggest pumpkins and carve them into sunlamps to use for the palace. When you lit them, the smell of alchemical oils mixed with the pulp to create a sweet, honeysuckle-like odor that could last for days after the lamp itself went out.

  Elsa was almost never late meeting me here. She got out earlier than me on Kettleday.

  From the southern gates of the Cathedral, a priest rushed out, leaped onto a saddle, then sped away toward the palace in a puff of road dust. His horse nearly threw him off as his robes snapped against the wind.

  I spotted Elsa running toward me from the other side of the meadows. Jahlil was running next to her, both of them sprinting so fast they had to be using alchemy. I walked toward them, trying to figure out what could have happened. It had to be news they received at the Cathedral or something that happened here. The priests and mothers had not said anything publically, so it was something they had witnessed themselves. They were running fast, and nearly out of breath. It was something urgent.

  My sisters. They were here today. Something had happened to Yephi and Iris. My parents didn’t know or they’d be here already. It was something that had happened between one and two hours ago, when Iris and Yephi were leaving for home. That priest must have been rushing to the palace to deliver the news.

  “Dina!” Jahlil panted. “We—”

  “What happened to them?” I asked, before he could finish.

  They exchanged a glance with each other. Jahlil gestured to Elsa.

  “Dina, your sisters,” Elsa said, between breaths. Her hair was spread wildly across her shoulders. She grabbed a fistful to tie it back together, moving her wrists in rapid flicks. “I saw them. We saw them. Less than a half-hour ago. They were in a carriage. Leaving for the palace. Then—the woman—they’re being taken toward the Dwah Forest! They’ve just left to the marsh!”

  “Taken by who?” I asked. My heart was racing already. I couldn’t make out the possibilities clearly. It couldn’t be someone from Chaya. We were hosting the Royal Court in the palace tonight—it could have something to do with that. Or the woman. The vampire from the Vannadray family.

  “The woman, Dina,” Elsa gasped. “The vampire they saw go to the Vannadrays. The one that Arad followed. She took your sisters.”

  “During the day?” I asked. A cool prickle bit at my fingertips. Sweat and rain crept down the back of my ears. It was going to be a blue moon tonight. It was already six in the evening, and Eio would begin to rise in just another hour. The forest would start to wake after that.

  “During the day.” Elsa nodded nervously, placing a hand over her chest as her breathing calmed. “I told you. She’s not a regular kind of vampire. Out in the daytime with no thought of the sun.” She pointed toward the city. “Jahlil and I snuck out of history to go back to Chaya for a bit. We tried to run after them when we saw. I think she knew she was being followed. They were walking toward the forest. Through the marsh.” She swung her head toward the Cathedral, then the marsh, as though my sisters might suddenly reappear there. “Her and these… a bunch of these… things.” She made an abnormal shape with her hands. “These half-men kind of creatures. They had stitches and all these marks all over their bodies. They took them. The guards, the armored caravan—” Her voice trailed off.

  I tried to think of why first. Why would she take my sisters? Revenge. Revenge for the Vannadray’s house burning down. She was taking the king’s daughters. She should have taken me. I cursed aloud, pacing quickly between Jahlil and Elsa. The rain was beginning to make the grass soggy.

  It had to be more than revenge. She was taking them alive. She wanted the boy back. Avisynth.

  I bit my lip. “Did she hurt my sisters? How was she carrying them to the forest?”

  Jahlil shook his head. “Your sisters were holding her hands, but they weren’t resisting. They were hypnotized or something. I’ve seen it before. Sunset is in two hours. And the rain is getting harder.” He pointed to the skies. Storm clouds were approaching over the eastern horizon, and the smell of rain, of wet grass and humid air, was getting heavier. “It’s a blue moon tonight.”

  “Have you only told me so far?” I asked. I shifted on the balls of my feet, trying to clear my head. I had to make a decision quick.

  Elsa shook her head. “I told Mother Mendhi. She was planting
something in the meadows out front. She was with Father Zakif. She sent him to the palace to tell your parents, and she said she would go and find your grandmother herself.”

  “Good,” I said, nodding vigorously. “Good. Mother will know what to do. And Taa. She’ll be there. Nothing will happen to my sisters.” I began walking down the meadows. Wet soil and loose blades of grass clung to my boots.

  “You’re going?” Elsa asked. “Right, of course.”

  “Did they ask about me?” I asked. “In the Cathedral.”

  Elsa nodded. “Everyone is asking about you. I said you were inside the Cathedral still. They’re looking for you right now. If they find you, they’re going to send you back to the palace. They’re pulling all the other kids out just to look for you. It’s a bit of a panic in there.”

  “I have to hurry then,” I said. “Before they think of searching here.”

  “We’re coming with you,” Jahlil said. “Nikhil and Mawlik are coming, too.” He slipped his glasses into his pocket, unable to keep the rain from blurring the lenses.

  “Nikhil?” I asked.

  “We saw him on the way here,” Elsa interjected. “And Mawlik. I told them to get whatever they could from the armory. Holy water, banefire, weapons, anything, and then to meet us here.” She looked toward the Cathedral, holding a hand over her brow to block the rain.

  “The water might help,” I said. “And ornaments or symbols of Yuweh. Anything from any of the gods. Weapons won’t do much. What could we manage to fight in the forest on our own?”

  I looked up, feeling a bit out of my depth for wanting to speak to Yuweh. I spoke anyway, toward the rain and sky, with my hands clasped and my eyes closed. “Yuweh, please keep my sisters safe and sound. They aren’t at fault for my sinful behavior. Keep them safe for tonight against daemons and Narkissa’s servants. Keep the light of the blue moon away from them and let the sun stay up for as long as it can.” I didn’t pray frequently, and certainly not as desperately as I was now. I felt silly, imagining that Jahlil and Elsa might suddenly burst out laughing. Instead, they followed suit, muttering under their breaths. It wasn’t that we didn’t believe in Yuweh or the other gods—it was just rare to so desperately and so suddenly need them.

  “The forest will be dangerous,” Jahlil said, glancing at both of us. “We should go before we lose daylight. If we’re lucky we could make it back not long after sunset.” He laced his boots tight, squeezing water out of his soles.

  “You guys don’t have to come,” I replied. “I don’t even know what we’ll do, but I can’t not go.” I started tightening the drawstrings of my trousers, more because my hands needed something to do than because they were loose. The forest was a long way from here, and the rain would make it harder to get through the marshes.

  “There will be more people there soon,” Elsa said. “I doubt we’ll be in there alone for long.” She turned to me, her olive eyes full of hope and reassurance. “Your father will send hundreds to the forest. Hundreds. There will be an army at our heels. Every man in the city that could bear arms. We’ll be safe. And we all know enough alchemy to hold our own for a little while.”

  I shook my head. “No, they won’t do that. There’s a Royal Court being held tonight. All five kingdoms are meeting to declare war on Rhauk. They won’t want word of this to get out. At most, Father will send the King’s Guard, and then they’ll pretend this never happened. If Taa gets word fast enough, she’ll take care of this quick, and we won’t need soldiers at all.”

  I looked west, scanning the horizon up and down to chart a way through the marshes. I knew this place by heart through maps, but it was a bit different seeing it under the sun. I had never gone to the forest with less than three-dozen guards, and never at all on a blue moon. At the very least, this would be a learning experience.

  “I don’t know what we can do, but you understand I have to go?” I asked. “No matter if it’s a blue moon or a red, or if it’s the Dwah Forest or somewhere else.”

  “Of course we understand,” Jahlil exclaimed. “We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t.”

  Mawlik and Nikhil appeared in the distance. They kept checking over their shoulders as they ran. No one was following them, but there was shouting coming from the Cathedral now. A pang of guilt bubbled in my stomach. The priests and nuns would have to explain to Father and Mother how they managed to lose all three of Chaya’s princesses in a matter of hours. Father was not the executing type, but he didn’t always think straight when it came to his daughters.

  “Anyway, My parents would be proud I was acting like King’s Guard already,” Jahlil said, holding his hand to his chest in a warding gesture. Pinky to thumb, three fingers sticking out in the sign of Yuweh’s triton.

  “Queen’s Guard,” Elsa corrected.

  “Right. Yes,” Jahlil mumbled. “This is what we’ll do later for you, Dina. I’m just starting a bit early. Honor grows at the roots, not the leaves, Father says. He’ll be telling this story to all the other blacksmiths in Chaya for weeks.”

  “And I’m not leaving you,” Elsa intoned. “I would never.” She kicked her boots against the grass, then turned to lead the way through the meadows. “Let’s get going.” She pointed at Nikhil and Mawlik, who were still running toward us in a clang of weapons and leather satchels. “They can see us. They’ll know to follow.”

  CHAPTER 6

  We waded through the marsh slowly. It was already getting dark, and we had to avoid the deeper parts of the water. You’d run into leeches once the shallows got knee high. The woods were getting closer. You could see them as soon as you entered the marsh, but if you gave it a few minutes you could smell them, too. A faint, licorice kind of odor, like sweet root doused in rice wine.

  The smallest of the oaks, near the outer edges, stretched to three hundred feet, with diameters as thick as the obsidian pillars that held the Cathedral up. The biggest ones, deeper in, reached vertigo-inducing heights. The altitude stripped them of their leaves, turning their flecked branches into sterile limbs and forked boughs as barren as dust. Rain polished their mottled bodies with a leaden glint. During Goldleaf and Lastsun storms, their arms swayed treacherously in the air, moving wherever Raya commanded the wind. The dark spaces between the trunks, hiding the depths of the Dwah Forest, surged and flowed between narrow thickets. In the summer, they invited travelers into the tender embrace of a warm hypnosis. In the winter, they pulled them into a cold sleep as deep as a drug-laced coma.

  “Why don’t we take a moment to clarify the plan?” Mawlik suggested, breaking the silence that had grown between everyone. “This vampire woman has taken your two sisters into the Dwah Forest—and you want us to escort you there to make sure she gets the full set?” He shuffled sideways as he spoke, his dark eyes roving through clusters of pondweed and algae-infested water.

  “She’s not a vampire,” I said, throwing warm water in his direction. Even in the winter, the marshes were always hot. Beds of fungus that grew from underneath the soil gave off heat in waves of steam, while algae and weeds kept the warmth trapped inside.

  Mawlik leaned in from behind me. “If you’re saying she’s not a vampire to convince us it’s not dangerous to go—”

  “Of course it’s dangerous,” Nikhil interrupted from the front. “But we’re not leaving Dina to go on her own.” He looked over his shoulder while pointing to the forest ahead. “Yephi and Iris are in there. It’s your duty to Chaya to go, dangerous or not.” He moved slowly, careful not to poke anyone with the sword he was carrying. Without a sheath, he would have to rest it over his shoulder for the next few hours.

  “I’m not King’s Guard yet,” Mawlik retorted. “And none of us are noble blood like Nikhil, so technically we’re not bound by duty.”

  “Queen’s Guard,” Elsa corrected, once more. “You’re not going to be King’s Guard, you’re going to be Queen’s Guard. And technically, I wouldn’t use the word yet so confidently if I were you,” she jeered. She wiped her hands on her shi
rt as she spoke. The rain had dampened her golden hair to a dull yellow and rusted the sheen from her nails. She tried to keep off as much dirt as she could, but wasn’t finding much success.

  “Wait,” Jahlil said, turning to me. “Dina, you’re serious?” He slowed his pace, gliding through the water with heavy strokes. His arms were long enough that they reached the shallows even when he stood straight.

  “I am,” I replied. “She’s not a vampire. Trust me.”

  Elsa paused, holding onto a handful of reeds as she lifted her boots to examine their sides. “What do you mean she’s not a vampire?” she asked. “Didn’t I tell you what Arad saw when he followed her?”

  I nodded. “That’s why I think she’s not a vampire. Also… I think the hairless werewolf that’s been ravaging Chaya isn’t a werewolf at all.”

  The five of them slowed, drawing closer to me as we continued. Now the smell of the woods began to overtake the frothy scents of the marsh. Toads and arm-length long lizards watched us from the waters, catlike in their poises.

  The Bidetha Moor stretched south of Chaya, reaching all the way to Jidarth and the Sorcerer’s Sea. Only a thin strip of the marshes separated Chaya and the Dwah Forest, and it was cleared regularly of growth, but if you looked south down the new continent, you could see toadstools in the distance disappearing behind clouds of brown and green fog—poisonous excrements from the fungal colonies that grew throughout the wetlands. There were mushrooms there the size of mountains, with crowns that eclipsed the sun and roots that split the earth open as they crawled down the molten stomach of Stala’s kingdom. Fields of translucent moss that swam for miles past the horizon like liquid glass, and blankets of lush mildew teeming with insects and snakes. In Jidarth, there were truffle hunters that travelled into the wetlands with more prudence than daemon hunters took to the Shaed. More than six hundred different poisons had been discovered in the wetlands, and not all of them waited for you to come to them.