A/N: As was said in the description, this was originally posted under another account (Saranii) I've lost my access information to. However, this isn't just a random copy-pasta of an old work of mine, no sir. I recently decided I not only wanted to finish this story, I wanted to do a major overhaul of the first six chapters that were posted back when I first started this fic. The original was okay, but it needed better grammar, better sentence structure, better plot progression, better everything. So if anyone who reads this revision read the original, be prepared for a lot of changes (hopefully all for the better). To all new readers, enjoy the ride :D.
Red eyes gleamed in the darkness…darkness so complete that even the cold was sucked from it. There came a growl, an animal growl, low and angry. A sudden flash of pink lightening lit the area up, revealing the hunched form of a werewolf. The huge beast gave a snarl as it eyed its quarry, a young girl no more than five or six. Her hair was deep purple, and looked black in the darkness as the light from the lightening flash faded. But then there was another bright pink flash, and the girl's gold eyes were glowing. She lifted both hands, chanting under her breath in a tongue not understood. The flare died again, but was once more revived as another brilliant flash tore open the night sky. The scene was horrible…the young girl suddenly charged forward just as the werewolf lunged for her…fangs flashed in the receding light as the two combatants met…
D sprung awake just in time to hear someone moving outside in the hallway. He paid it no mind; it was an Inn and people were allowed to roam the halls when sleep was being stubborn.
He had been having this same dream the past month now. Though it had never progressed past that critical point, the Dhampir was certain he knew how it would end. After all, such a young child facing a full-grown werewolf would have no chance. Even a Vampire would be easy prey.
Again, he heard the sound of movement coming from the hallway. This time he could tell someone was standing outside his door. Shoving the dream aside, he stood with silence and moved to the door, listening and grabbing his sword from where it was propped at the foot of his bed. Not a moment later the door abruptly flew open, and D had to nimbly move backwards to keep from getting hit in the face by it. As the door opened, a beautiful young woman rushed in before hastily slamming it behind her. She looked awful; her clothes, hair, and skin were covered with blood and dirt, and her hair was tangled something fierce. She was wild with panic as she leaned against the door and slid to the floor. She wrapped her arms around her knees and pulled them to her chest, putting her face in her arms and sobbing. Not once did she seem to notice the bemused Dhampir standing over her. He was about to speak when something finally alerted her to his presence.
The young woman, who only looked around nineteen, jerked her head up and stared at him in surprise. She then hugged her legs tighter to her chest in fear, though D was under the impression she wasn't scared of him. She swallowed thickly and started to ramble through her sobs.
"They…killed him…oh God….why? Why? It isn't fair…he would never hurt anyone…it isn't fair… They tried to kill me for trying and protect him…but…but…they didn't know…" She gave up trying to talk then, crying harder as she buried her face in her arms. Her shoulders jerked violently with the force of her grief.
D felt a twinge of pity for this girl in his heart. He moved to kneel beside her, noting that the blood covering her didn't seem to be coming from her. The girl began to rock back and forth as D quickly looked her over. He didn't see any obvious injuries, but there could be something under the tattered clothes she wore.
"Are you hurt?"
"No, but...they killed Christion! They KILLED him! Why? It was so awful…they made me watch as they killed him, and they made him scream so much, and all the blood…how…why…?" The girl dissolved into tears again, and D gently reached out to help her to her feet. He wasn't getting very much useful information at the moment; he needed to calm the girl if he was going to get anywhere.
"Your name?" he asked.
"My name…my name is Reen…" the young woman replied shakily. D steered Reen to his bed and gently pushed her down as she swallowed a few times and sniffed loudly. It seemed she was beginning to compose herself. Deciding to give her a few more moments, D turned from the girl and went to the window. There he saw the scene and briefly wondered how he'd slept through such a spectacle.
His sharp eyes spotted someone hanging from a rope in the middle of the city, several dozen yards away. Their stomach was sliced open and the innards lie strewn across the hard cold ground. Blood was everywhere. It truly was a ghastly scene, even from this distance. He heard Reen coughing a bit from all her crying and turned to see her curled up on the bed, sobbing softly now. She was looking at him, her ruby eyes taking him in. He went to the bed and Reen watched him as she sat up. Her hair, which was white, was stained red with her friend's blood.
"What's your name?" she asked softly. D was silent for a moment, not having expected the other to be ready to talk quite so soon.
"D," the Dhampir answered a second later. Reen didn't reply as she sniffed and looked to the window.
"He was a werewolf, but he was the only true friend I had," she explained. "And they killed him just because of his blood…it's not right…why couldn't they just leave him alone? They knew he'd never hurt anyone."
D was silent. Most people would offer their sympathies to someone who'd just been through such a thing, but the Dhampir wasn't so sure his unexpected visitor would appreciate a stranger apologizing for the murder of her friend. Despite the initial fear and emotional torment, something about her struck him as…strong. Independent. Almost otherworldly.
After a few moments, Reen's sobs died away and she sat with her chin resting on her knees, which she'd pulled back to her chest. She was humming softly as she gazed out the window; D knew she couldn't see the body from that angle, but he had a feeling she still saw it in her mind's eye. She gave a sniff and lowered her head, closing her eyes and muttering under her breath.
"Shein, zoila ondn poej dns, Christion. Meuan wudn'inne zaerhas. The Gods carry ye, Christion. May your soul be forever safe in their light."
"I hear someone coming," D said as he glanced to the door. Reen stood, facing at the door and narrowing her eyes, looking distinctly predatory for a moment. After a moment of intense staring, she abruptly whirled to face D and stepped towards him. Moving with unnatural speed, she gripped his shoulders before he could move back and pulled herself up, whispered something into the startled Dhampir's ear.
"You must help take back the Creatures of the Light, from the talons of black evil," she said in an urgent whisper. "They must not be tainted. They cannot be tainted. You are the only one I can turn to now. Heed these words, Dhampir, D. For they shall decide whether yourself, and all of existence, survive or perish." She moved away then, hastily shoving something into his right hand before darting to the door, stopping only long enough to turn back and give him a look.
"Wait-" D started, but the door was open and Reen was gone before he could say anything else. The door slammed shut behind her as she fled, and after a moment D heard people shouting, "There she goes!" and "Don't let her get away! She tried to protect him!" He went to the window and watched as Reen shot off with amazing speed. She was fast enough to be Dhampir, but her presence and scent hadn't marked her as one. Such speed was not something humans could achieve, though…
A few people followed her several steps, but soon realized they'd never be able to catch her now. Shouting and calling to each other, they turned their backs to the darkness which Reen had fled into.
"That certainly was unexpected," said the symbiot in his left hand suddenly as D looked down at whatever it was that Reen had given him. It was a small Dragon pendant, carved from white jade. It was glowing softly and warmth radiated from it. He studied it for a moment, then asked, "What do you suppose she meant by that?"
"You're asking me for advice?" said the symbiot, sounding shocked and pleased at the same time. "Well…I don't have any idea. Sounds like a prophecy to me. I hate prophecy, you know. How is it you always managed to get tangled in situations like this?" D ignored the parasite's inane complaining as he studied the pendant for another moment before pocketing it.
"We'll probably see her again," he commented instead, turning his gaze back out to the night beyond his room's window.
"Why am I afraid you're right about that?" the symbiot asked.
As it turned out, D was indeed right.
Two days after leaving the village, he was traveling across a barren stretch of wasteland, moving his cyborg-steed at an easy pace. He didn't currently have a contract or a potential client to meet, and nothing that wanted to devour him was currently giving chase. As such, he saw no real to rush; at any rate, his horse needed time to rest after the past weeks of running it had done. The metal joints and supports in the beast's legs and chest could wear down in no time if constantly pushed.
The sun was just beginning to set, and there was a pleasant breeze blowing. The blazing heat of the day was already giving over to the cool of night, and the hooves of his mount were beating against the ground in a rhythmic beat. It was a rare moment indeed when the Dhampir was able to appreciate such surroundings, since things were usually trying to kill him. He allowed himself to relax, just a bit, but remaining alert to the slightest change that might signal an attack. As it was, he became aware of the figure in the path of his horse when anyone else would have been oblivious to them. Even from this distance he instantly recognized the girl.
It was Reen.
He slowed his mount to a canter as they approached, then drew the horse to a stop when she was about five feet away. She stared at him for a moment, and D realized that even though he had recognized her before, she looked much different from the blood-covered wretch he'd met the other night. She was clean this time, not a speck of blood on her. She was wearing a tan shirt and white pants, covered in a light-gray overcoat. She had dark brown hiking boots on, and her ivory hair was neatly done up in a braid down her back. Her ruby eyes glittered in the dimming light as the two watched one another, and when it became obvious Reen wasn't going to say anything, D spoke instead as he dismounted. For some reason it seemed strange to address the girl from the back of his mount.
"You need a Hunter?"
"You know why I'm here," Reen answered. Her voice was confident this evening, strong and showing no hint of the sadness she was probably still feeling over her friend's death. D didn't answer, and this time Reen was the first to break the silence that fell. When she spoke, her voice had lost a bit of its strength and was softer. "I returned later the other night to bury Christion. Late, when none were up. They would leave him there till the demons and animals picked him clean. But I wouldn't allow it. They will be after me, no doubt sending another Hunter. Not a Vampire Hunter, of course. Just a normal Hunter."
"Another?" D inquired, not having missed the specific statement. Reen offered a faint, humorless smile.
"I was there the other night because Christion and I had been to that village before. During our first visit, Christion made the mistake of letting it slip what he was, thinking no one was around to overhear. The villagers managed to rally a Hunter to come after us. We were caught by surprise as we left the village; they shot Christion in the leg with a silver bullet to keep him from changing, dragged him to the center of town while the silver poisoned him. I wanted to stop them, but it was so sudden…by the time I could even form a thought to fight back, I'd been knocked over the head. They thought I was a demon or something…" Reen shook her head when she realized she was rambling. "It doesn't matter. What's important is that, as of now, I must accompany you."
D cocked an eyebrow at the sudden declaration.
"Unusual, for someone to willingly travel with a Dhampir," came his reply. Reen shook her head, suddenly looking impatient and a bit irritated.
"Let me see the carving I gave you," she demanded, and D drew it from the pocket he'd stowed it in. It was still glowing, a small beacon in the quickly-falling darkness of night. "The jade is blessed. It glows when in the presence of those with a pure heart."
"I am Dhampir-" D started, but was cut off as Reen waved a hand dismissively.
"It doesn't matter what you are. I have known demons of the lowest ranks to be nobler than humans of the highest."
"You've traveled much, then."
"You could say so," Reen agreed with a nod. D studied her for a moment, contemplating where the discussion was going to lead. There was something he needed to learn before anything else, information the young woman hadn't volunteered yet.
"What are you?"
Reen's eyes widened a bit at the abrupt question, something she was clearly not anticipating. Her ruby eyes flickered with some sort of inner fire that died before D could place it. She walked past him to his horse and absently patted the animal's warm neck.
"How… could you tell?"
"Humans can't move as quickly as you do." But there was something else, something niggling at the back of his head. Her presence was…strange. He realized with a fair bit of surprise that he'd never encountered anything like it, which was saying something considering how long he'd walked the planet.
Reen said nothing for several minutes, simply stroking the cyborg horse's neck. She was quite for so long D started to doubt she'd answer, but when she did, her voice was hushed.
"I am Dracolye," she said, not facing D to see his reaction. As it was, the Dhampir at first thought Reen was suffering from some mental illness. Claiming to be one of the Ancient Gods…but there was no denying that he'd never felt a presence like hers before. Yet if she were truly Dracolye, her story of how she and her friend had been caught made no sense. And what of the panic and fear from the other night? Surely no God would react in such a way to a situation like that.
"What, you don't believe me?" Reen suddenly asked in a heated tone, her words bringing D out of his musing. He watched as the young woman turned to face him with indignation in her eyes, but her ire drained away almost as quickly as it had appeared. "I…I wish I could prove it, but I can't." She raised her hands in a gesture of helplessness, dropping them as her body drooped. Something flashed through her eyes, a fleeting expression that spoke of ages come and gone. A sense of crushing longing and sadness radiated from the girl at the same moment; in the blink of an eye, both the odd expression and heavy emotions vanished. Reen regained her composure and straightened, facing D with a determined look etched into her face.
"Why?" D asked, though he'd witnessed enough to believe the girl's claim, despite how outrageous it was.
"An incident that happened when I was young," Reen replied. She shrugged in a manner that said nothing more would be discussed about the issue. Without another word, she turned to D's horse and hoisted herself into the saddle, settling down as D watched her.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm coming with you, remember? I told you the other night I need your help."
"One doesn't normally impose themselves on someone in such a manner," came D's response, "especially when someone is a Hunter who spends most of their time traveling."
"Well, I just have. If you don't help me, then you won't have anyone to give you a reason to Hunt, let alone anyone to Hunt. Everyone will be dead. Gone. No more." Reen's voice dropped a bit as she leaned forward in the saddle, a desperate plea in her eyes as she stared down at the Dhampir before her. "The Creatures…they are being gathered by a Vampire. You can't imagine the sort of power he'll have if he gets his hands on the essence of all of them."
D didn't reply right away, instead taking a moment to go over the information he had. This girl, Reen, claimed to be one of the Ancient Gods, beings that were said to have immense powers. She also claimed she was trying to save the Creatures of the Light, themselves rumored to be extremely powerful beings. D had heard many stories about them over the centuries; if anything, they were said to be as strong as the Dracolye. But why this one girl, and why did she seek his help so badly? Perhaps she'd heard of him, and while D wasn't so arrogant as to consider himself one of the strongest beings alive, there were plenty of others who did.
There were several questions that he currently had no answers to, but as he thought about it, there was really no reason to turn down Reen's request for assistance. He had a fair amount of money saved from his past few contracts, so he wouldn't need to take any jobs for some time. He had no other pressing matters to see to, either. As it stood, there wasn't anything he'd lose from this venture if it turned out to be some elaborate ruse or the (quite sanely worded) ravings of a madwoman. If it turned out to be a trap…well, he was used to people trying to kill him, so it wouldn't be anything new.
And if it was all true? Just as he'd heard rumors of what they could do, D also knew a good number of legends that spoke of the power one could obtain by collecting the Creatures of the Light. It was said that when the essence of each had been gathered together, it unlocked a strength one couldn't fathom. On top of that, being able to control the Creatures would make their master a force to be reckoned with, thanks to having such powerful beings at their beck and call. If this was indeed such a dire situation, there was no way he could ignore it.
"There are only three out of his grasp," Reen suddenly mentioned, a note of urgency in her voice. "He must be stopped. I can't turn to anyone else; there's simply no time." The young woman shrugged half-heartedly as she added, "Think of it as a contract, except I can't offer any money. But then, some things are more important, are they not?"
D could sense her anxiety as she waited for his answer. The Dhampir wasn't one to make hasty choices, though he'd already come to a decision. He stepped towards his horse and easily pulled himself into the saddle behind Reen, reaching around her to grab the reins. He heard Reen exhale in relief and sensed the tension drain from her as he flicked the reins, spurring his mount into a fast-paced trot.
"Well then, let's go save the world, shall we?" she commented as they rode towards whatever awaited them.