Chronicles of Darkness: Shadows and Dust (4 page)

         "Do not
tempt fate, Andrej," a woman's low voice answered from the background.
"You only say that, because you know the letter's content."

         He turned
towards her, regarding her intently. "Why do you have to be her teacher?
It is utter insanity to accommodate a vampire! This is a small valley, you know
that as much as I do.

         She didn't
show the slightest inclination to answer.

         "Sadden,"
he stressed. "As your friend, I'm warning you to be careful. Please, don't
take unnecessary risks."

         The vampire
stepped beside him. Gazing ahead, she said, "Oh, Andrej. I greatly value
your concern about me, but I could not refuse Zephriel's request to accommodate
his daughter."

         "Why
not?"

         Sadden wasn't
willing to answer the question. Instead she said, "I want you to go to
your rooms, until I was able to speak to our guest."

         Andrej stared
at her, eventually agreed and left with a fleeting kiss to her cheek.

         After her
friend had gone, Sadden walked directly to the throne room. Slowly making her
way through the gallery above the main portal, she looked down. With mixed
feelings, Sadden watched the arrival of the carriages.

         They crossed
the small stone bridge, at a fast speed, and stopped below the gallery's stony
beams.

         Sadden turned
away and sat in her high, ebony armchair, patiently awaiting her guest.

         Foot-steps
echoed through the dark corridors, until they stopped in front of the throne
room's doors. Two ghouls opened it, a woman entered, and the door closed behind
her. Her head held high, she went across the bare, gray hall towards Sadden.
Respectfully, she bowed. "Lady Sadden of the honored Phoenix Clan."
Her voice was cold, while her gaze blatantly scrutinized Sadden, who had risen,
and strode down the stairs to greet her guest.

         "Lilith,
daughter of the proud Dragon Clan." Sadden's gracious appearance radiated
a high nobility, which was underlined by the exceptional paleness of her skin,
which gleamed softly. She was enclosed in the finest dark velvet. Her night
black hair fell in gentle waves over her naked shoulders, down to her small
waist. What really gained Lilith's attention was her face. Her beautiful carved
features and the incredible pair of sapphire blue eyes were, quite simply,
stunning. Her piercing gaze was torturing Lilith's psyche, forcing the girl to
turn away. It was unnerving of how quickly Sadden had managed to discompose
her.

         "Do not
try again to read my thoughts!" Lilith said, furiously.

         Unmoved, the
vampire regarded Lilith. Though Sadden towered over her, the younger woman was
just as slender and pale. The chestnut-brown hair fell in curls around her
shoulders. Her eyes sparkled, betraying a wild, untamed mind.

         "So, you
are my protégée. Heiress of the mighty Dragon Clan, whose education I am to
attend to."

         Lilith threw
her head back and replied arrogantly, "Phhh... as if I could learn
anything
here
. I am only here, because my father thinks he is in need of
protecting me from something. He himself does not even know, what exactly it
is."

         Sadden wasn't
impressed by this comment. "Tomorrow night, we will talk about the reason
for your sojourn. For today, it is enough. You may retire. You may take up
lodge wherever you desire."

         As Lilith
heard that, she was mollified and relieved.

         "Please
consider and respect the private chambers of the castle's inhabitants. Still,
there should be more than enough room for you."

         Lilith was
astonished. "Who lives here besides you? Father said you were the
last..."

         "My
oldest and best friend, Andrej," Sadden quickly answered.

         "Ah,"
Lilith said, but didn't ask further questions. Instead, she surprised her
teacher. "Dutifully, I brought a present." She clapped her hands one
time and the door opened.

         A young woman
with a pretty face entered and nervously dropped to an awkward curtsy.
"Mistress," she breathed, subdued.

         Lilith
beckoned the girl to come forward. "This is Madeleine. I met her during my
journey. It is her wish is to become one of us."

         Sadden
blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

         Lilith
encouraged the girl with a nod to speak for herself.

         Madeleine
knelt under Lilith's watchful gaze. "Please, Mistress," she begged
Sadden. "It is my only wish to become an immortal. For so long, I've been
thinking about ending my miserable life, because I have nobody to call my own.
I'm so unimportant as a human, but then I met Lilith." With shining eyes
she looked up at the young vampire, who smiled benevolently down at her.

         Excited,
Madeleine went on. "She told me about the great solidarity among the folk
of the darkness, and my longing was awakened. I... I would serve you
well..."

         "Vampires
do not serve each other. Also, I cannot heed your wish. Old rules forbid the
transformation." Sadden stared hard at Lilith. "Every vampire knows
that," she added.

         Lilith's lips
twitched. In that moment she could have cared less about the laws. She wanted
to tempt Sadden. Having noticed that the older woman must have refrained from
tasting blood in a while, Lilith wanted to use that fact to gain leverage.
"I will change her myself," she said. It was of no actual meaning to
her. She brushed Madeleine's hair back and tilted the girl's head. "You
cannot resist her. That would be against your nature." Lilith coaxed,
presenting Madeleine's exposed throat to Sadden. "Drink."

         Entranced,
the older vampire stared at the vein that pulsed under the smooth, youthful
skin.

         "She is
doing it of her own free will. She wants to be completely yours. There is
nothing wrong with your desire. This girl wants to satisfy your hunger! You
know you cannot survive without it."

         Sadden
listened enthralled to Lilith's words, but hesitated to follow through,
although the desire for the girl's blood became unbearable.

         "Please,"
Madeleine begged.

         So fast that
it was nearly impossible for the human eye to catch, Sadden slid to the young
woman and grabbed her. The hidden eyeteeth appeared and pierced the fragile
skin of her throat.

         A wail
erupted from the girl's chest, as Sadden extracted the life from her.

         The vampire
was lost in a haze of senses. That was what Lilith had been hoping for.
Greedily, Sadden drank too fast and too much. No drop of blood would be left in
Madeleine's body to keep her alive.

         The dying
girl arched one last time, before it went limp in Sadden's arms. Very
carefully, she lowered Madeleine to the floor and beckoned Lilith to keep her
promise.

         Unfortunately,
it had never been Lilith's intention to do so.

         Pain was
etched into Madeleine's face, while the girl squirmed in death's clutches.   Instead
of releasing her, Lilith looked down at her and Sadden, unaffected by what was
transpiring. "We exist between times, surrounded by darkness."
Flouting, she met Madeleine's eyes. "You waste your lives. Too willingly,
you fall victim to us. We will not cry one tear for you. You cannot expect
humanity from us."

         Madeleine's
breathing grew shallow and Sadden looked imploringly at the younger vampire.
Tears of rage began to gather in her blue eyes, which forced Lilith to
involuntarily take a step back. "Should you live long, you will come to
realize that immortality means loneliness," Sadden promised.

         Lilith
disdained to notice her prophecy. Unmoved, she watched the girl at her feet,
whose life was inevitably fading. "Recently, you heard from my
teacher
that it is against our rules to turn you into a vampire."

         A whimper
came from the girl's throat and tears streamed down her cheeks, as she realized
her impending fate.

         Lilith had no
qualms. She bent down to Madeleine. "I am supposed to kill you, to prevent
you from further suffering. I only do it to appeal to Sadden, as she seems
incapable to do it herself." She wrapped her hands around her neck. Not fighting
back, Madeleine relented, and with a powerful jerk Lilith broke the girl's
neck. Slowly the dead body slid out of Sadden's arms and came to rest on the
cold, gray stone floor.

         For the young
vampire, this demonstration had only been to test Sadden, to explore her nature
and to see how she would react. Clearly she was different than any other
vampire Lilith had ever met.

          But for
Sadden it was about the precious life of a human being, something her protégée
didn't understand.

         Fire gleamed
in Lilith's eyes and she smiled triumphantly. "We will get along just
fine." She turned to leave. "My journey has been very exhausting. I
will retire with my servants."

         "You do
not have any servants." Sadden's strict voice held her back.

         "What
did you say?"

         "You
heard me well. Your father stated that expressively in his letter. Tomorrow,
all your travel companions will return to the Dragon Fortress."

         Lilith was
shocked by the unexpected turn of events.

         "What
happened here today shall never happen again. I will not tolerate such behavior
in my presence," Sadden warned. "For this time, you are
forgiven."

         "They
are only humans, nothing more," Lilith answered, her back towards Sadden.

Before the young
vampire could leave the throne room, she was grabbed by two slender hands,
turned around roughly and pressed against the closest wall. Lilith wriggled in
Sadden's tight grip, but couldn't break free. "Let go! Right now!"
she screeched.

         "No!"
Angry blue eyes were staring into her own, and Lilith felt a small trace of
fear. Sadden's voice was dangerously low, as her nose nearly touched the one of
her student. "And now, you will listen to me, Lilith of the Dragon Clan!
Humans are more than just food for our kind. They are thoughtful, sympathetic
creatures, and you will learn to pay them the respect they deserve. Furthermore,
as long as you are here, I will ensure that you will behave properly!"

         Lilith was
completely caught off guard. She couldn't even talk back. Never before had
anyone dared to speak to her in such a manner. But then she lost control of her
fiery temper. "I will not be ordered around by you! Humans are property
and I can do with them whatever I please!"

         "Not
here. Here, you obey to my rules."

         Clenching her
jaw, Lilith groused, "It was not my will to be banished to this secluded
area!"

         "Neither
was it mine," Sadden responded and released her. "You are free to go,
anytime you want to. I am not going to force you to stay here."

         Lilith
sneered in response, "It was the wish of my father, I cannot oppose to
that. If I had known what would be in store for me, I would have protested more
strongly against this banishment!"

         "Zephriel's
letter binds you to my rules. If you stay, you will obey."

         While Lilith
wallowed in self-pity, Sadden sank to her knees, and pulled Madeleine into her
arms. Carefully and tenderly she closed the girl's eyes. "I am sorry,"
she whispered. "I am so sorry we betrayed you. You came to me hoping for a
new life, and what did I do? I brought death to you. Forgive me,
Madeleine." Silence fell in the hall as Sadden hugged the lifeless body to
her chest.

         Lilith could
do nothing but stare in disbelief at her new teacher.
'She actually feels
sorry for a worthless human?'

         "Human
life is not worthless," Sadden said, without taking her eyes off the dead
girl in her arms. "Yes, I feel sorry for her, and I am repulsed by what I
did. You should pay her homage, too."

         Furious, the
heiress of the Dragon Clan stormed out of the hall. During her hasty retreat,
she crashed into Andrej, who was about to enter. Angrily, she shoved him aside.
"Out of my way, you useless moron!" Cursing and muttering, she went
down the stone stairs. "I hate this place!"

         Lost in
thought, the young man watched her go and an oppressive feeling took hold of
his heart. This short encounter with the vampire had been enough to trigger a
memory of the fateful night, in which he had met his friend Sadden for the
first time. "She has the same aura," Andrej whispered and suddenly
shivered.

*****

         Filled with
unspeakable sadness, Sadden stared at the blazing flames of Madeleine's funeral
pyre that she had built in the garden of the castle.