Taintis got back to his feet, and scanned his surroundings. He realized that he was in a savannah, a new territory where he’d never been to before. Taintis attempted to fly, but his wings were badly damaged, so he had no choice but to resort to walking. After walking for hours and hours in the scorching heat of the desert sun, Taintis was overcome with fatigue, racked with hunger and thirst. Succumbing to the cruelty of the blazing sun, Taintis finally collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.
When he woke up, he found himself surrounded by strange new faces. It intimidated him at first, but later, he realized that these people had actually helped him, nursing him back to health. These were the Urukan people who had found him lying unconscious and brought him to their home so he would recover. The Urukans fed him Urukan blood, so Taintis would recover fast. Taintis was wary about drinking any form of blood at first, but deep in his heart, he knew that he could trust them so he decided to do as they’d asked. He drank Urukan blood, and he recovered soon enough, and all his injuries healed. Even his wings had healed, and Taintis was able to fly again, but he decided to spend a few more days with the Urukans, trying to blend in and learn about their way of life as he grew intrigued of their culture. As days passed, he grew fonder of the Urukan people.
There was one particular Urukan girl who attracted his attention. She was in her late twenties, and she had the most beautiful pair of eyes he’d ever seen. Her black hair had a blend of beautiful brown highlights, accentuating her features and making her look very unique. Her name was Sophine, and she spent most of the time in the kitchen helping to cook for her family.
Gradually, Taintis developed some feelings for her, and decided to win her heart. In the beginning, he made kind gestures for her, opening the door for her or offering to help her out in the kitchen. One day when the Urukans had their Rest Day, which was the day that they would all take a break from work, Taintis brought Sophine to a large clearing in the savannah near the foot of the hills. He wanted her to experience something new, hoping to share part of his world with her.
“Why did you bring me here?” Sophine asked curiously, gazing at Taintis, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“I have a surprise for you,” Taintis responded, rubbing his hands in anticipation. “I hope you’ll like it.”
“What surprise do you have in store for me?” Sophie asked, her mouth curving into an adorable smile which sent Taintis’s heart throbbing.
“Climb onto my back,” Taintis said gently, and titled his body forward so Sophine could climb onto his back.
Sophine gasped, her eyes wide with amusement. “Are you asking me to … fly with you? Is that even possible?”
Taintis nodded. “Yes, I’d like you to see the view from above. You’ll like it.”
“I can’t believe this!” Sophine cried, flipping her hair around. “I’m going to fly!” Joyful laughter escaped her throat.
She scrambled onto Taintis’s back, her heart pounding with excitement.
“Hold onto my shoulders tight,” Taintis said, and Sophine did as she was told.
Taintis began to flap his wings, and soon, he soared up high into the sky, ripping cries of excitement from Sophine’s throat as he accelerated.
He glanced around, and saw the excitement bubbling across her face. He’d never seen her this happy before, and it pleased him.
“Are you happy?” he asked, even though he knew the answer to that question. Sophine’s bright smile was infectious, sending Taintis’s heart into cartwheels.
“Of course I am!” Sophine shouted into the sky, feeling as though she could conquer anything in the world.
Everything below her shrunk into tiny miniatures, and she felt as though she could reach out her hands and grab them in her palms. She had never seen the bird’s eye view of her village before, and seeing how small it was made her realize how vulnerable her village was. If one day those Birdmen were to form into a vicious army and launched an aerial attack on her village, she knew that they wouldn’t stand a chance against them. Seeing the vulnerability of her home made Sophine suddenly feel vulnerable. She flicked a glance Taintis, whose face was gleaming with unadulterated joy. Would Taintis turn bad one day and turn against her and her people?
For generations, the Urukans had to evade attacks from greedy and evil vampires and wizards who were hungry for power and territorial expansion. Some of her relatives, who had stayed in different parts of the world, had their villages conquered by those ruthless vampires and wizards. Some of them were killed in the process, and some of them were made slaves. Some were even turned into vampires to help increase the vampire population.
These thoughts bothered Sophine, and she didn’t want that to happen to her village in Jasaica. Her village was situated in a remote place, far from the reaches of those greedy conquerors. And now that Taintis had stumbled upon her village, would he return to his clan and inform them about Jasaica, and then hatch a plan to conquer her village?
If he did that, Sophine would be utterly heartbroken. Her people had treated him with great hospitality, and to betray their trust would shatter her. Sophine was also beginning to develop certain feelings for Taintis, and those feelings created a warmth within her which she’d never felt before. She liked Taintis, and grew fonder of him as each day passed. She couldn’t ever imagine Taintis turning his back on her, and her people. No … he would never do that.
Just more glance at Taintis’s face gave Sophine the assurance she needed, and that made her smile from ear to ear. He would never do such a heinous thing. Looking into Taintis’s eyes was like looking into his soul, and she could see a degree of purity in it. That was what made her like him in the first place. Not many outsiders could earn her trust that easily … but Taintis could.
“Are you OK?” Taintis asked, interrupting Sophine’s train of thoughts. “You seem preoccupied.”
Sophine flashed him a grin and laughed. “I’m alright. I’m just thinking of how beautiful it is to be up here with you in the clouds, gazing at the expanse of land below. It’s really … breathtaking.”
“I’m glad that you enjoy it. Have you seen anything like this before?”
“Nope, this is my first time. And I’ll always remember this exhilarating experience in the skies with you.”
“Exhilarating?” Taintis gave her a mischievous smile. “I’ll show you exhilarating. Hold on tight!”
Instinctively Sophine clutched Taintis tighter, feeling as though they were meld as one. Taintis swooped through the air in circles, drawing excited screams from Sophine, whose world literally turned upside down when Taintis did a 360-degree twist through the skies. Sophine’s heart pumped fiercely as adrenaline rushed through her. They went around in spirals as Taintis zoomed through the air with intense acrobatic skills, sending Sophine into a dizzying but exhilarating state. Sophine had never experienced such thrill before, and even though Taintis made precarious moves which made Sophine fear that she might slip from his grip at any second, she knew that she would be safe in his arms, and no harm would come to her as long as he was in control.
Taintis flew over the long stretch of the savannah, offering Sophine an amazing aerial view of the wild animals roaming freely in their territory, and the sparsely scattered plants. The strong wind whipped Sophine’s hair, sending them into tangles, but she didn’t care. She felt so wild and so free, and she wanted to fly in the skies with Taintis forever.
The first memorable experience which Sophine had shared with Taintis led to many more beautiful ones over the passing months, and eventually, the two lovebirds decided to tie the knot. Taintis and Sophine had their first newborn son, which they named Glaze Borealis. Glaze had both Birdman and Urukan blood within him, so he possessed both supernatural abilities of both sides. He was half-man, half bird, and could fly like his father, but he also had the ability to heal others with his Urukan blood. Glaze spent most of his childhood with the Urukan tribe, but occasionally Taintis would bring his son to meet his Birdman relatives. Du
e to the Urukan Tingle which Glaze was blessed with, he felt more bonded to the Urukan tribe than his Birdman family. Glaze grew up to be a strong and respected warrior of the Jasaica village, and he married a human girl whom he encountered and fell in love with during a solo expedition to the Himalayan mountains. They bore children with both Urukan and Birdman blood in their veins, and these children also had the best of both worlds by possessing dual abilities from each side. Children who were born with both Birdman and Urukan blood were known as Wingmen. The term was coined by Glaze himself, who referred to his children as Wingmen, as wings represent the ability to fly and also sacredness due to the supernatural power of healing.
The number of Wingmen increased during the course of time, but their powers became diluted with each passing generation. Some Wingmen had wings and the ability to fly but did not possess the supernatural healing Urukan powers. Some Wingmen had this healing ability but were born without wings, rendering them useless in flying. What was worse … there were some Wingmen who were born without any of those abilities at all. They had Wingmen blood flowing in their veins as they were all descended from Taintis, who was the first Birdman to ever co-exist with the Urukans and went into marriage with one, bearing children of mixed supernatural blood. Also, due to the Great Battle executed by the wizards and vampires throughout the centuries, the Wingmen population started to dwindle as they were either killed by them or turned into vampires by vampires themselves. In modern times, Wingmen still existed in some parts of the world, but most of them lived in seclusion from humans, vampires and other supernatural beings. Most modern existing Wingmen in the new generation did not have dual powers like their ancestors had in the beginning, as the passing course of time had diluted the magical properties of their blood, causing some Wingmen to have wings and some without wings. Some were even born without any powers at all. Some had even lost the Urukan properties in their blood due to generational dilution. Many considered modern Wingmen to be another race of mankind, completely separate from their Urukan and Birman origins as most of them did not possess either of those abilities anymore. However, in some rare cases, there were some Wingmen in modern times who possessed both abilities of flight and healing. Many thought that full-power bearing Wingmen didn’t exist anymore in the modern world.
Kalista let the thoughts slowly trail off as she gazed at Lipton, who was staring curiously at her.
“Kalista … what are you thinking?” Lipton asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
Kalista didn’t respond, but she continued gazing at Lipton, trying to make sense of all her thoughts. Could Lipton be a full-power bearing Wingman? Did he still have Urukan flowing in his veins? After all, he was descended from the Borealis line, who carried both the mystical Urukan and Wingman abilities. Kalista had read about Wingmen in the Urukan Bible when she was a little girl, but she forgot about the part where Wingmen had Urukan blood in them. As she had never encountered Wingmen before throughout all her life until now, she soon forgot about all the facts she’d read about Wingmen. And one important fact that dashed back into her memory was that all Wingmen were partially descended from the Urukan line. Now she remembered, and the mere thought that Lipton was partially Urukan slammed right into the core of her heart, causing her to involuntarily tremble.
So Lipton had Urukan blood in him, and maybe all the feelings she had felt for him was due to the Urukan Tingle. The more she thought about it, the more distressed she felt. No, this couldn’t be real. Kalista tried to deny that Lipton was partially Urukan, but her memory wouldn’t relent, making her recall clearly about what she’d read about Wingmen in the Urukan Bible.
As the full rationality wrapped itself around her brain, Kalista reluctantly accepted the fact that Lipton was just like her, because he had Urukan blood in him. Maybe not completely, but partially. And he was part of her family, and that explained why Kalista had felt so attached to him.
As the turmoil of thoughts finally cleared and Kalista was able to compose herself, she flicked a glance at Lipton, and gazed deep into his eyes, and saw the reflection of her stricken face in his eyes.
“What is it, Kalista?” Lipton placed a hand on Kalista’s shoulder, trying to read her mind as he studied her face. “I can see that you’ve been thinking a lot. What have you been thinking?”
Kalista sniffed, feeling as though the dam of tears would break but she used all her willpower to restrain, knowing that she’d to steel herself and accept the cold truth about Lipton.
“Lipton,” Kalista finally spoke, after what had seemed like eternity. “I-I …” She trailed off, not quite knowing what to say.
“Is it about the earlier assumption that you made about me being Urukan?” Lipton’s face started to twist into a defensive mode again, but he mellowed out a bit when he saw how distressed Kalista looked. He didn’t want to upset her more than she already was.
Kalista let out a long suffering sigh, nodding. “Lipton, there is something I need to tell you. But it won’t be pretty.”
Lipton chuckled as though it was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard. “Pretty? Come on … I’ve been through worse scrapes than this. I can handle it, OK?”
“I’ve read about your race in the Urukan Bible when I was a little girl. The Wingmen race. They’re a group of special race, descended from the Borealis line. Taintis Borealis was your great ancestor who bore a new race known as Wingmen after he married an Urukan woman. The Wingmen population increased as generations passed, but their numbers fell to an alarming rate during the Great Battle when wizards and vampires attacked them. But after the Vampire Courts of Justice passed the amendment which forbids vampires from attacking humans or any other supernatural beings, the Wingmen race was safe again, and their numbers started increasing steadily, but slowly. It would take a few more generations again before their population would match those of the human and vampire races. And you’re a Wingman, Lipton … but you are also part Urukan. I’ve completely forgotten about that part, and if I knew that earlier, I’d have told you. But now I remember all over again.” Kalista finished the last sentence with another sigh, studying Lipton’s facial expression.
Lipton digested everything Kalista had told him, and every word slammed into his mind and shattered his senses, making him speechless for a moment. How could this be real? But looking into her eyes, Lipton knew that Kalista was telling the truth. He’d seen those steely eyes of her, and when she meant it, she really meant it.
“I-I …” Lipton couldn’t get the words all. “Well … you said that you read all about this in the Urukan Bible. Where is it? I want to confirm what you’re saying is true.”
“The Bible is at my grandmother’s house in Tavernance, about four hundred miles away from here,” Kalista responded, shivering as the night breeze rippled across her skin. “She’d stashed it away in a secret place in the cellar of her house. Currently, nobody is staying there, and it has been left abandoned for years since her death. I don’t even know where the key to the cellar is.”
“We’ll find a way to break into the cellar. I don’t think that the cellar lock would able to withstand the damage I’m going to inflict on it.”
“I’ll bring you to my grandmother’s house one day and we’ll find a way to unlock the cellar.” Kalista wasn’t too keen on using brutal strength to open the cellar. She’d rather look for the keys instead, but she had no idea where her grandmother had left them. She was killed by a ruthless vampire before she’d the chance to tell Kalista where she’d hidden the keys.
“So what do we do now?” Lipton asked, his eyes running across the length of the river which was shimmering in the glow of the moonlight.
“We have to find Rellie and make sure that she’s safe. I’ll never forgive myself if something bad happened to her. She just doesn’t deserve this … she’s a good reporter.” Her mouth was set in a grim line, as eerie shadows of the swaying branches danced on her face as the moonlight filtered through the trees.
“Yes, we will,�
� Lipton assured her, holding Kalista’s hand firmly.
Kalista felt a strange tingle run across her body, and her heart suddenly beat in an erratic rhythm. But when she realized that it might be the Urukan Tingle and not the natural feeling of falling in love, Kalista’s heart sank and she tried not to ponder so much about it. She wanted so much to believe that Lipton was the one, the man who would fit into the missing jigsaw piece of her life … completing her. The truth had devastated her, and she wasn’t sure if she would ever recover from that stabbing pain that threatened to shatter her from deep within.
“And we also have to look for Ken,” Lipton continued, when Kalista didn’t utter a single word as she seemed lost in her own thoughts. The image of Ken’s face had suddenly slipped into Lipton’s mind, and it filled him with the urgency to look for him. He couldn’t just leave Ken out there unattended. God knew what kind of danger he’d pose if he were to be left alone with unwary innocents.
“Who’s Ken?” Kalista asked, curiosity blazing in her eyes.
Lipton began to launch into an explanation about how he’d left this newborn vampire in his unconscious state when he had to look for Kalista earlier that afternoon. He also explained that this vampire was Ken, Jesse’s husband, and Lipton’d recognized him through the photos he’d seen at Jesse’s house.
In Love With A Vampire Page 22