Attempted Vampirism

by L. G. Estrella

  The two of them made their way into the tavern’s dining hall. It was full of noisy people of all kinds. He could easily pick out the scents of vampires, along with the scents of elves, dwarves, humans, and others he was less familiar with. His brows furrowed. There was something similar to a dwarf nearby but less earthy – a Halfling or maybe a gnome? He wasn’t sure, and he would have loved to check, but he had business to attend to. He showed the letter Janice had given him to one of the serving maids, and the busty human woman pointed them in the right direction. There was a corridor down the back, and he and Miles followed it to a room. A frisson of nervousness ran through him as he lifted his hand and knocked on the door in exactly the way Janice had instructed him too. He almost laughed. Using a secret knock? This was wonderfully clandestine.

  A woman’s voice called out. “Who is it?”

  Jonathan winced and rubbed his hand. The door was normal wood, but there was powerful protective magic on it. It was tempting to use [Reveal] on the door, but it would be rude. Still, he could tell that whoever was behind the door was skilled. The protection combined Words with Signs and other methods to provide a broad but powerful effect. Even if he somehow managed to break the door, he would end up unconscious or worse.

  “Janice from the Adventurers’ Union sent me,” Jonathan replied. “Something about a job.” He stilled as he felt the icy touch of scrying magic wash over him. It wasn’t a Word. It was generic magic, the kind anyone could learn with sufficient effort. It was less powerful than something like [Scry], which he could use, but not everyone had main Words related to information gathering.

  The magic receded. “You can come in, but don’t try anything. I’ve got this room under my control. If you so much as blink funny, you’ll regret it.”

  Beside him, Miles bristled, and Jonathan shot him a warning look. “Relax, Miles. She doesn’t know us. Being cautious is only sensible. I would be too if I were in her position.”

  He opened the door. There was a young woman sitting at a table tending to a sword and buckler. As far as he could tell, she was human, with ash blonde hair and blue eyes. Her hair wasn’t cut short, but from the way it was curled, it was clear that she usually wore it tied up, perhaps underneath the helmet that was beside some armour on a nearby bench. He gave a mental nod for approval. He’d never been able to understand why people thought it was a good idea to go gallivanting around without a helmet. A pebble from a sling could easily prove fatal although he could understand why long-range fighters and siege mages often went without full protection. They could attack from ranges far beyond what a sling could manage. Only siege weapons like ballistae or catapults could match them, and a helmet wouldn’t help much against those. But melee fighters were different. If he was going to be swinging a sword around, he’d be doing it with armour and a helmet on.

  His vampiric senses also picked up other information, but he wisely kept it to himself. Knowing someone was a virgin was hardly relevant to doing business – at least, not of the kind he was interested in – although the fact that she oozed divine magic only added to his certainty she was either a paladin or a former paladin. His suspicions were confirmed when he got a closer look at the symbols on her bucklers, gambeson, and gloves. He grimaced. Even without using [Reveal] or [Discern Magic], he could tell that the room was filled with protective magic and traps. He recognised the magic on the floor since one of his co-authors on a research paper had run into it and mentioned it. It could bind people in place.

  “My name is Jonathan Charles Bloodhaven. I am qualified as an assessor of antiquities, artefacts, and relics.” He inclined his head politely. “I spoke to Janice at the Adventurers’ Union, and she said you might be interested in working with me.”

  “Bloodhaven?” The woman lifted her sword for a moment to peer down its edge. It was well taken care of, but there were also marks on it that could only have come being used to ward off powerful magic. She got up with almost careless grace and looked at him intently, testing her right shoulder. “I know that name. You’re a noble, aren’t you?”

  “I am a noble, yes.” He paused. “Does that help or hinder my cause?”

  Her lips twitched in amusement. “It helps – Janice knows me too well. All right. Have a seat.” She sat back down and so did Jonathan. Miles, however, remained standing, adopting a position behind Jonathan. He was far enough to seem respectful but still close enough to intervene if necessary. “Tell your friend to sit down. He’s got dangerous eyes.”

  Jonathan winced. “Miles.” It was troubling. Ever since they’d lost the castle, Miles had changed. There was a tension in him now that Jonathan had never seen. It made him wonder about his servant’s past. It wasn’t an issue of trust – he still trusted Miles with his life – but he was curious to know where Miles had learned such a menacing expression.

  “Very well, sir.” He sat, but looked no less dangerous than before.

  “My name is Aria Vanessa Ethelred, and I lead a team of adventurers.” She removed one glove and extended her hand.

  Jonathan shook her hand, as did Miles. He took careful note of the calluses she had. This was someone who’d spent many, many hours with a weapon in hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Now… about working together…?”

  “Let me ask you a question, Lord Bloodhaven, and I would appreciate it if you are honest with me. In my line of work, lies have a tendency to get people killed, and I will not allow my teammates to die because I failed to ask the right questions – or to get the right answers.” She paused. “You are a noble, right? What are you doing looking for a job with adventurers?”

  “I am interested in some excitement.”

  “I doubt that’s all.” Aria raised her buckler and tested its weight for a second before easing it back onto the table. “Let me tell you what I think. I’m a former a paladin living in a land ruled by vampires. I know better than almost anyone about trying to make ends meet, and I’m the last person who’ll judge you about needing money.” She gestured vaguely at his clothing. “Your boots are old and worn, and the rest of your clothing could use some work too. No noble vampire would ever dress like that willingly. So I’ll ask you again, why are you here?” There was real steel in her voice this time.

  Jonathan sighed and gave her a sad smile. “You’ve been very frank with me. I ought to return the favour.” He took a deep breath. “I need the money because the Department of Taxation repossessed my castle. I have a decade to raise the money I need to get it back, and I’ve recently learned that other avenues that were formerly available to me are now closed due to my… political leanings. Adventuring has the potential to pay very well, and I do possess some useful skills.”

  Aria stared at him for a long moment before her expression softened. “That’s… awful. I’d heard the Department of Taxation was tyrannical, but…” She shook her head in disbelief. “Well, I think we can help each other out.” Her gaze flicked to Miles and then back to Jonathan. She seemed to consider the butler a threat, which was absurd. “How much do you know about how adventurers get jobs and missions?”

  “Not a lot,” Jonathan admitted. “I’ve read some accounts written by adventurers, but most of those have focused on the missions themselves. I believe the Union handles the allocation of jobs and missions.”

  “You’re not wrong, but it is a bit more complex.”

  Aria ran one hand along the blade of her sword. Light shimmered along its length before fading away. It was [Reinforce], a popular Word amongst warriors and soldiers who could use it. It vastly increased the durability of anything it was used on, and it could even be applied to people with enough skill and practice. It made him wonder what her Words were. Now that he’d had more time to study her sword, he was more curious about it. It was a spell blade – a weapon that was only ever seen in the hands of an active paladin. They were usually returned upon retirement – or retrieved upon death – and whatever order she’d once belonged to would never have allowed her to leave with it.


  “The common belief is that adventurers form their own teams and then take jobs and missions from the Union directly,” Aria said.

  “That was my understanding, yes.”

  “For the most part, that’s correct. The majority of jobs are offered to adventurers by the Union on a combination of first come first served and suitability. It wouldn’t do the Union much good to lose teams on missions they’re not suited for, not only because of lost manpower but also because of how bad it would be for the Union’s reputation. We’d lose countless novices each year if they weren’t restricted to easier missions.”

  “Such measures seem reasonable enough.” Jonathan nodded to himself. “Most adventurers don’t start off powerful. It would take time to develop and hone their abilities, and they would be much more vulnerable at the start. A dead adventurer can’t improve or earn the Union money.”

  “Exactly.” Aria chuckled. “The Union takes a cut from the jobs and missions it offers, and they’re not going to get anything if everybody ends up dead. However, not all jobs come from the Union the same way. Some of the most lucrative jobs are private affairs. What happens is that certain individuals with… problems contact the Union privately. The Union handles things largely off the books. They don’t do anything formally. Instead, they connect interested parties with teams that can help them. If some money happens to be exchanged, well, that’s simply a coincidence. Discretion is everything, but there’s a catch. This is the Blood Alliance. How many rich, noble vampires are willing to deal with people unless they have someone – a sponsor – who can vouch for them? Not many. And in a nation ruled by vampire nobles, you can probably guess what sort of sponsor you’d need.”

  “You’d need a vampire noble.” Jonathan could see where this was going, but he needed to make something clear. “I’m far from what you’d call influential or powerful, and I’m not exactly popular with the ruling faction in this city.”

  Aria waved his comment away. “They don’t have to like you. These are the kinds of jobs where things like that don’t matter. All that matters is whether or not you can do the job. In fact, you being less involved with politics and less influential might actually work in our favour. You would need them as much as they need you, which would reassure them. They wouldn’t have to worry about you usurping their power or using knowledge of these missions against them.”

  “Do you really think so?”

  “I’ve seen it happen enough times to think it will work. Look, I’ll be blunt. There are reasons why my team has struggled to get sponsorship. We’re good, but we’re relatively new. We’ve all done well elsewhere, but we’ve only been together as a group for a few years. As you’ve undoubtedly noticed, I’m also a former paladin, so vampires have naturally been wary of hiring me.” Aria smiled thinly. “Oh, I’ve killed vampires over the years, but they deserved it, and none of them were from here. I’ve never killed anyone without a reason, but you can imagine how I might make people a bit nervous.”

  Jonathan could. The magic paladins wielded was very powerful against vampires. “So you don’t have anything against vampires in particular?”

  “No.” Aria shook her head. “I despise evil, and I’ve learned that evil comes in all shapes and sizes. There are evil humans and evil vampires, and there are good humans and good vampires.” She gave him another long, measured look. “I’m a good judge of character, Lord Bloodhaven. You don’t seem like an evil person to me, and one of the few people to help me get started as an adventurer in the Blood Alliance was a vampire. I owe her a lot. Vampires are people, blood-drinking people, but people all the same. They can be good, and they can be bad. Most of them are somewhere in between.”

  “I can’t offer much help financially,” Jonathan said. “As you know, my circumstances are not… favourable.”

  “I understand, and normally, a sponsor would offer financial backing, but we can handle that. You’ve put your cards on the table.” Aria rubbed her hands together. It was a mite chilly in the room, but vampires weren’t sensitive to cold the way humans were. “If you sponsor us, my team will be able to take on more lucrative jobs. We’ll be more than happy to pay you for that increase. Moreover, your skills may prove valuable. If we find something on a mission – and that happens more often than you’d think – getting it authenticated will only increase our profits. You’ve got magic too, which is always handy, and you are a vampire noble. Setting aside your skills, or lack thereof, your strength and speed are well above normal human standards. If you’re willing to come along on missions, you’d get a share, just like any other member of the team.”

  “Can I think about it?” Jonathan asked. It sounded risky, so he didn’t want to rush in, but he didn’t have many options. He needed money within the next decade, and he needed money even sooner just to survive. “And would I be able to meet with the rest of your team before I decide?”

  “Certainly.” Aria got up and donned her armour and helmet with the ease of practice. “They’re in the dining hall. We can have a quick chat before you leave.”

  Unfortunately, meeting the rest of her team would have to wait since the people in the dining hall had apparently decided that the night had been going far too calmly for their tastes. As they left the room, Jonathan heard the sounds of fighting, and by the time they had reached the dining hall, it had already transformed into a warzone. Even the werewolf bouncers were there, tangling with what appeared to be a giant golem made of rock and crystal. It was so large that its head all but scraped the high ceiling of the dining hall. Jonathan hastily cast [Discern Magic] on the golem. As he’d suspected, someone had summoned it with magic.

  “That’s handy,” Aria murmured. “There aren’t many people who can use [Discern Magic] so easily.” She sighed. “But I’m not surprised there is a brawl. There’s always a brawl. I really should stop staying here, but not only is it cheap but they also don’t mind me using my magic to protect my room as I see fit.” She shrugged. “Give it a few minutes. This ought to be done soon.” Someone shrieked as a screaming, nightmarish… thing made of roiling shadows and warped space appeared. “Or not. You can never be sure how long a brawl will take when there are multiple summoners involved. We might be here all night if someone doesn’t do something about them.” She paused and added, “A chair to the head usually does the trick. It’s not fatal unless you really put your back into it, and the first hit is usually enough to knock them out.”

  “I… I see.” Jonathan did not, in fact, see. The closest he’d ever been to participating in a tavern brawl was, well, right now. In the past, if he’d even suspected that a brawl was about to break out, he’d beat a hasty retreat. There was no telling what could happen, and he usually tried to avoid taking any unnecessary risks. He heard another terrifying roar and stared as a bear, of all things, picked up a drunken man who had been using a broken chair leg as a club. The bear tossed the man aside, and he thudded into one of the walls before sliding down it with a groan. “There… there is a bear in the middle of the brawl.”

  Aria’s eye twitched. “Yes.” She was about to say something but fell silent as Miles caught a mug out of the air before it could hit Jonathan. “You have excellent reflexes.” Miles nodded in reply. “And about the bear… she’s part of my team.”

  Jonathan gaped. “You have a bear on your team, an actual bear?” The aforementioned bear was now taunting one of its opponents, beckoning them forward with one claw.

  “Yes. No. It’s complicated.”

  “I see.” Once again, he really didn’t. On the upside, the bear was certainly very intelligent. Instead of simply ripping people to bits with its claws and teeth, it was taking obvious care to avoid inflicting any major injuries. Sure, people were being thrown around like sacks of wheat, but that was a lot better than being clawed or bitten. The bear was obeying the unspoken rule of tavern brawling – nothing permanent or fatal. “Out of interest, is it normal for adventurers to have a bear on their team?” He thought it prudent to ask. Perh
aps he was simply making a big fuss over something that was actually commonplace.

  “I… no. Like I said, it’s complicated.”

  Jonathan almost laughed. After the day he’d had, it was nice to see someone else faced with an awkward situation.

  Aria lifted her buckler and batted aside a knife that would have struck them. Jonathan winced. As blunt as the knife had looked, it was still a piece of metal. Someone rushed out of the crowd and ran toward them, and Aria stepped neatly out of the way to avoid his clumsy charge. As he turned to face her, Aria drove her buckler into his gut. He folded, and she shoved him back before introducing the point of his chin to the tip of her boot. It was done with the smooth, easy efficiency of someone well used to fighting, and Jonathan was tempted to clap.

  However, his attention was soon caught by the sound of rushing water, which should have been impossible indoors. A sudden rush of water carried several brawlers out the door, kicking and screaming, before they were dumped on the street. The source of the water was a merman – an absolutely gigantic merman. Oh, Jonathan had read about mermen. He’d even been fortunate enough to study several treatises written by their finest scholars, but this was the first time he’d seen one in the flesh. It was amazing, really, since Bloodmark was more than a hundred miles from the coast.

  “There is a merman in the brawl.” The merman shouted something in what Jonathan recognised as one of the languages spoken in the truly deep waters of the ocean before standing to his full height as a werewolf – not one of the bouncers – lunged at him. His scales were a mesmerising blue, and he had to be at least seven feet tall. His towering frame was so heavily muscled that the werewolf actually looked a bit scrawny next to him. He grabbed the werewolf and threw him aside with the same ease Jonathan might have thrown a small book with. “I’m not sure if that’s more or less surprising than the bear.” To his disbelief, the bear headed over to the merman, and the pair exchanged what appeared to be a high five.