Chapter 12 War with the Vampaneze
It was just after sunset when I heard the news about the traitor Kurda Smalt and what he had done to the clan. Kurda Smalt was preparing for his investiture as a Vampire Prince but he had betrayed us by secretly being in league with our enemies and as a result of Kurda's treachery we were now at war with the vampaneze.
The vampaneze had invaded our mountain using a secret underground tunnel which had lead to the storage rooms where I stumbled across them by accident.
Kurda had made maps of the tunnels and he knew where they lead so it was easy for him to find a hidden entrance into the mountain where the vampaneze had entered by. Discovering the vampaneze hoard had not been part of the vampaneze's plan but it was just as well that I had found them and raised the alarm or they could have overrun the central part of our home. I now had no choice but to fight with the other clan members on the battle field to protect the clan and our mountain.
I quickly found Larten and a few other vampires; some already had blood on their swords where they had killed. I had my own weapons which I used and I also had a horse which I had been given as a welcome gift when I joined the clan. I had trained my horse to run far and at speed which would prove to be a great advantage on the field of battle.
Despite having a war horse I was petrified of going into battle. I had not had any training for war at all other than hand to hand combat and basic skills with a bladed weapon. I could not face it but as a clan member and as a hater of vampaneze I had to fight.
I found Larten who was already prepared for war in full armour and he had a long double edged sword in a scabbard by his side. I had to wear my Bars armour because I had no other stuff that would fit me. Everything was too big in the store room. I did however find a small shield that I could use and my horse had some armour that had been made for it. I should have been safe on a horse or at least safer but in war there are no guarantees about anybody or anything.
I was put near the side of the middle ranks and my job was to spot things and to relay messages back and forth. I was lucky that Larten was also in the middle ranks with Arra and Vancha as well as Gavnur and a few others who were good fighters. We were being kept back as reserves in case the front line faltered or failed in its duty to defeat the main vampaneze force or if it needed back up in any way.
I had the idea of putting metal points onto the ends of the Bars staves and making a wall of spears to stop the vampaneze from advancing. We had no metal points but we tied daggers on the end instead, they were longer and stronger anyway. It took a while to prepare, we needed to create a diversion and that is where Madam Octa and the cave came into play.
There was a large cave that was separated from the main hall by a few yards. Larten's plan was to drive the vampaneze in there where they would be trapped and send in Madam Octa and her offspring which numbered the low thousands. The spider lings were as deadly as their mother but they had their father's markings and they were small enough not to be seen before they could bite and release their deadly toxins.
The plan worked like a charm but disaster struck and we lost a few vampires in the cave as there was not much room to manoeuvre in there. The main force remained intact and our spear wall worked well until the leader of the vampaneze got through it and went into the cave.
We were still fighting viciously and there were dead vampaneze everywhere. I thought that we were close to victory and we were but we paid a high price for our eventual win. I had let somebody else use my horse because I could not enter the cave where the main fight was taking place whilst I was riding it. I was needed to fight on the ground, my horse was used by another vampiress called Anna who used it to relay messages, and she also used it to transport injured vampires to the medical wing. My horse turned out to be very useful.
Arra had been in the cave holding her own and fighting like a demon and she had slain many vampaneze who crossed her until the leader himself Glalda took her on and there she fell victim to his blade. The wound was deep but Arra held on to life for ages and I thought that she was going to survive but alas it was not to be and she passed away into vampire Paradise in the medical wing with Larten at her side. I heard what Arra said to Larten and I was seething with anger but I forgave her as she was dying. This is what Arra said to Larten that made me angry;
"Larten please look after Darren. Do not let them kill him and please take care of Sarah as you took care of me when we were mates. I would ask you to kiss me one last time but I am in no shape for it..." and to that Larten had replied;
"There will be plenty of time for kissing later but you must get well first"
This comment by Larten had made me cross but I understood and I would ask him to explain his actions later when I had calmed down.
After a few hours of fighting for her life Arra no longer had the strength to hold on any longer so she let go and she died.
Back in the cave the battle was raging and it was getting more violent. Blood was everywhere; corpses littered the cave although most were the enemy and all around me I heard the clashing of swords and the cries of the wounded who were trapped. I swore revenge in Arra's name so I very boldly took Glalda on as Arra had done. Larten saw what I was doing and he darted over to be my back up but he need not of worried because I struck him in his ribs with my dagger and he fell down to the ground. I then sliced his head off and put it on a spear to have as a trophy. I retrieved my dagger from his headless corpse and then the vampaneze who could escape got out of the cave and they all flitted but we chased them down and killed them.
The injured vampaneze and their leaders were held in the dungeons for execution or release depending on their sentencing that would be given in due course.
We had been victorious but at a cost. Arra had died and Vancha had a deep wound on his arm but Larten was unscathed and I had not been hurt that badly. I had a few scratches and a graze or two but nothing major and the others were ok. Even Madam Octa had survived being in the cave and as she had done her job so well we thought that we had to thank her for our victory as much as every other brave vampire and vampiress who had fought for us.
I was of course extremely sad to hear of Arra's passing but she had fought so bravely and with such courage that she had made some of the Generals almost envious of her skills on the battlefield.
It did however mean that we never got to have our rematch on the Bars so instead we left it as a draw and the score was carved onto the wall behind the Bars as:
Arra VS Sarah = Draw
RIVP Arra
The "RIVP Arra" was added afterwards as a mark of respect. RIVP stands for "Rest In Vampire Paradise" it's a vampiric way of saying rest in peace.
The whole clan mourned for a week after the battle as was the custom. We all missed our comrades and though I did not know them all personally I felt connected to them and I felt the Clan's pain at their passing.
Larten was inconsolable. Nobody dared to go near him or even speak to him whilst he was in this state of mourning. Larten took to looking after Darryl who had been badly wounded, he was often in the medical wing with him as they both shared a link to Arra and Larten felt that it was his duty to do what Arra would have wanted which was to make sure that Darryl was ok as he could do nothing for Arra now.
I visited and I took a pot full of fresh game stew and I shared it out with everyone in the medical wing who wanted some, some of the injured had broken jaws so they could not eat it. Instead I made soup and I took it to them when it was ready.
I popped in to see Darryl after I had handed out the soup to the patients as he was in his own room; everyone else had to share a dormitory type room. Darryl got his own room because he was in mourning and he wanted to be alone with the exception of myself and Larten.
We were allowed to visit Darryl as that was his wish and it helped him to deal with his loss. As we had all been connected to Arra having us around him was like having a part of Arra still with him. I was still scared of Larten. I think that he wished to be alone as well but he had duties to attend to and he was not one to show his emotion but one look into his eyes told me everything. I could see how deeply Arra's passing had hit him and I did not know what to do.
The battle and the death of Arra had hit me hard too but the Clan had supported me and because I had killed Glalda the Clan had more respect for me than what they had for me previously. I did not like what I did, I regretted it but I had no choice. I had to defend the clan and I had to avenge Arra for Larten's sake if nobody else's and he knew it deep down inside him.
However I think he would rather have killed Glalda himself. I had killed Glalda and I was not sure how Larten would react to it because he did not avenge Arra as he should have done. Darryl felt like he should have done it but as he was already being treated in the medical wing when Arra was brought in he did not get the chance to avenge her. Larten had been my back up during the fight with Glalda but I struck the fatal blow by sticking my dagger deep into Glalda's ribs, then I watched him collapse and I called him "Vampaneze scum" before I cut off his head. Then I left to finish off the stragglers and the enemies who were still on the field. I remember what I did and it stuck in my brain like superglue sticks broken china together.
I remembered how we had slaughtered the remaining enemy force. I recalled that we had chased the escapees until they were caught and killed, it did not matter how far away they had flitted. I also remembered how some of the vampire Generals had captured the Vampaneze Leaders to gain information that we could use in the future and I watched them being dragged away into the dungeons to be tortured and then executed.
I remained in the medical wing for treatment as after the battle my back had started to hurt. My vertebrae were clicking and it was painful when I walked so I went to get some physiotherapy which was a new treatment that had only recently started in the mountains. When I was better I plucked up the courage and I confronted Larten about his conversation with Arra on the night that she had died.
"Hey Larten, can I ask you something?" I asked.
"Of course you can my love. What is it that you wish to know?" Larten replied.
"Why did you say to Arra that you would kiss her when she was better after the battle?" I asked with fire in my eyes.
"You heard me say that Sarah? I was mixed up at the time and I was trying to make Arra feel better as she was dying that is all" Larten explained.
"So if Arra had not of died would you have kissed her?" I asked.
"I cannot answer that Sarah. I may have done if I am being honest but it would not have gone any further" Larten admitted.
"What would Darryl have said about that Larten? By saying that you have just proven to me that you love Arra more than me or you would not even think about being unfaithful to me" I said angrily.
"I am sorry. I did not mean to upset you my love I was not thinking at the time when I said what I said. Can you forgive me?" Larten asked.
"I guess that I can forgive you because of the circumstances but I was hurt by your words Larten and sometimes words can hurt more than a blade" I replied.
"Again I apologise for that. Can we forget it and move on from this unpleasantness?" Larten asked me.
"I think so we are both adults and old enough to make our own choices and I am choosing to let it go and get on with more important matters in life" I said.
"That is fair enough Sarah. I will come and see you later but I have duties now and so do you" Larten reminded me.
So we both left the hall where we were and we went our separate ways to complete our duties. I had to stretch before I did my jobs because my muscles were hurting.
I had to exercise regularly to keep the joints mobile but I also had to take it steady afterwards which meant that I could not fight and it meant no excessive game play or duelling until my back was fully healed. I was quite disappointed but I knew that it was for the best as I could not afford to get hurt again.
I had the task of organising Arra's funeral. It was horrible because I hated having to say goodbye but Larten was in no fit state to do it and Darryl was still too injured and upset to leave his room so I took it upon myself to organise it. I knew that Arra was not one for pomp and ceremony but I knew that she would want a good send off so I did my best to do what I think she would have approved of.
I organised the hall where she would be cremated as it was vampire tradition, I hung flowers up and I tried to make Arra look presentable as I had to prepare her body as well. I hated it and I was hurting but I had a job to do and I could feel some kind of presence where I was, I believed that it was Arra's restless soul waiting for her body to be burned so that she could enter Paradise. I washed and dressed Arra's corpse and I gave back the bracelet which I had borrowed from her and I put it on her wrist along with a few other items that she had loved like her personal staff which I placed beside her. I covered the pyre in flowers and she was surrounded by them as she loved flowers.
When all was prepared I sounded the mourning horn which is blown to let the clan know when a funeral is about to begin. It was a small affair but every able vampire paid their last respects and as it was tradition Larten and Darryl set the pyre alight before we all left to hold a celebration of life for Arra which was like a wake. It was meant to be a happy event to give thanks for her time in the clan. It was also a time to reminisce and tell stories and anecdotes about Arra so that everyone could share in something and show how much they cared in case she was watching them.
I was still worried about Larten for he had not been to our quarters and he had not spoken or eaten anything for a while. I guessed that he was mourning in his own way so I did not question him about it out of respect as it was not really my place to do so.
A few nights later I found Larten inside Arra's quarters sorting out her meagre possessions. Arra had not owned much and what she did have was what she had been given as gifts. I helped out by emptying the draws in her desk and I found two letters, one was for Larten and the other was for Darryl which I delivered.
The letter to Larten said:
My dear Larten,
If you cannot read this get somebody to read it to you. If you are reading this it means two things, one you can read and the other is that I am no longer around. I hope that my passing has not caused to too much pain and distress. Remember that I have given up my life for the clan which is an honour. I know how much you will miss me and I know what we meant to each other but you have Sarah now so I want you to take good care of her and to treat her in the same way that you treated me. I love you and that will never cease, I love Darryl too but not in the same way. I have left Sarah my jewellery and I have left her a set of instructions for duelling on the Bars so that she may learn a few combination moves. I have left you what is in my money bag, I hope it is enough to buy Sarah something to replace the necklace which you sold to release her when she was abducted.
I am at peace now but a part of me is inside you forever so we will never be apart. Please do not mourn for too long as I do not want you to be sad for me but instead be joyful and remember the good times when we had one barrel of ale too many and we awoke with sore heads.
Goodbye my dear friend
Arra
Larten read his letter and he smiled wryly although he was still in shock. Larten was not one to show his emotion but I could see that he was a lot better for reading his letter. I guess that by writing the letters to Larten and Darryl Arra had tried her best to help them heal and it had worked although it took time. I was still upset by the whole situation but Darryl was the worst. He obviously found it hard to cope with the loss of his beloved Arra but slowly he returned to normal and a few months later he found himself a new girlfriend. She was a human when he met her but that was soon changed and we welcomed Raven into the vampire clan with open arms.
Raven looked like a teenager and she followed a gothic style. Raven was in her mid-twenties and she was quite a rebel, she answered to no one and she did not take criticism kindly but deep down she had a good heart and she had a fierce loyalty to Darryl which he liked.
Raven was originally named Beth by her parents, as the name Raven was darker and as it was better than the name Beth it was deemed more suitable for a vampiress. In order to fit into the clan better Beth changed her name to Raven. I had often thought about my name and whether my name was suitable but as I liked my name I kept it.
Larten was still missing Arra; I could see it in his eyes although he did not admit it. Larten had followed Arra's instructions. He looked after me well just as Arra had asked him to and he had also bought me another piece of jewellery that had his crest on it.
This time I got given a bracelet but this one was mine and it was not borrowed. It had an engraving into the inside of it and it was sapphires set into silver with a couple of diamonds hanging from its clasp.
It had Larten's crest hanging from it also, it looked like a charm bracelet but it was much more expensive and it was dazzling in the light with the cornflower blue sapphires, the stones were almost the shade of Larten's eyes, those same eyes that had made me transfixed the first time I looked into them.
I read the inscription that said:
"For my beloved clan member forever yours L.C" and it had a symbol of infinity after it that looked like the number eight but it was sideways.
I thought it was really sweet; I wore the bracelet all the time and I never took it off. I showed it off to my friends who were of course jealous but they saw how much it meant to me and they admired it. I had to give Larten something in return as he did not have anything with my crest on it although I had no crest; it was sort of like when a lady would give a knight her favours before a joust. I had to think about it carefully.
As I had no money to speak of and I was miles away from a town I could not buy anything so I had to make something. Larten had made the bracelet himself after pulling in a few favours and he paid them with Arra's money that she had left but I could not do that so I searched the store room for some things to use.
I decided to make him a token of some kind using my embroidery skills. I got some thread out of my mini sewing kit and I stitched onto a piece of linen our initials entwined with Larten's crest on one side and a bat on the other which would serve as my crest. I made it into a favour that could be carried with Larten in his pocket or on his person somewhere.
I wrapped it up when it was finished and I gave it to him.
"I have something for you. It is my gift to you in return for the bracelet" I said as I handed Larten the tiny parcel.
Larten un-wrapped it and pulled out my embroidery, and then he said:
"It is really well made; I can see that you have put a lot of effort into it. Is it a handkerchief?"
"Not exactly, it is meant to be a favour. It has my bat crest on it you see so you can take it with you and that way you are carrying my crest as I wear yours" I explained.
"Oh of course, I see now. I had quite forgotten about favours and ladies. It was not done so much when I grew up but it is very thoughtful of you to give me your crest in this manner, if you think of me as your knight then it makes me think of you as my fair maiden but of course you are no maid" Larten replied with a slight smirk.
"Well I do not see you as my knight, I see you more as the one I love with the whole of my heart and soul and to be apart from you is absolute torture. By the way I was a maid as you put it until you came along and I am glad that you did because you are so good at what you do" I replied.
"What do I do? If that is the case then we must not separate for too long a period. I feel the same way about you but I am no good at showing my emotions as you know" Larten responded.
"Well you make me feel everything you do. It gets better every time and I love it when you touch me and what you do to me when we are in bed is just amazing" I said.
"Well I did tell you right at the beginning that it would improve. I had to see if you could take it and if you were suitable to join the clan" Larten replied.
"Oh right well I think I have proven myself more than worthy to be here" I said.
"Yes I would say so but the big thing is whether the council like you. You have only met a few councillors, most stay in their chambers and I can tell you that they are quite cold and not very welcoming but the others are ok" Larten said.
"Ok then, I am sure that everything will be ok. I hope to make a good impression on them all" I responded.
We had finished clearing out Arra's quarters and though Darryl had also slept there he wanted new quarters for him and Raven as he did not want to stay in a room where Arra had been as it was too upsetting for him which was understandable.
I poked my head out of the sky light in my quarters before I got into my hammock as it was daylight outside and I was tired after moving a large amount of furniture around to help out.
I got a good sniff of the air when I poked my head out of the sky light, I could smell a bonfire which was not unusual as many vampires cooked outside or burned their old linens to stop infections spreading too much, that was often done by the medical staff who had to deal with everything to colds and coughs to broken bones and infected wounds and they did a good job of it using what little equipment they had available to them.
Larten and I curled up together like we usually did and normally I would snuggle up close to him and fall asleep in his arms but not tonight. I could not sleep for some reason so I got under the cloak and I got on top of Larten who kissed me with vampiric lust. The hammock was quite large so it was ok to roll around in but I preferred the bed so we got on it and proceeded to have some fun since we had not done anything for quite a while.
I missed kissing so badly that when we did I made it last as long as I could. I began to rock on top and I did a lot of pulsing my tongue in Larten's mouth and biting his neck but not hard, it was more of a playful thing.
I then let Larten take over and of course he went inside me and then he got rough but it felt good so I did not mind. I loved it when I had Larten inside my body almost flooding me with his fluids as there was so much of it.
I loved it when he would completely consume me which was when he would kiss me and caress me and the same time as being inside me, I could not do anything but lie there and enjoy it as it was so much fun.
I normally ended up with scratches on my back and bruises on my neck but the best thing was when I was able to curl up next to Larten and I loved it when he would hold me close to him whilst we slept as it made me feel so special and loved.
I knew that Larten cared deeply for me but whether he was totally in love with me as much as I was in love with him was hard to tell. I hoped that one night Larten would prove his love for me in some way or he would publically confess how he felt to the clan but that was unlikely as Larten was a private individual who keep his deepest feelings concealed. Not even I could tell what he thought about me.
I assumed that he loved me because he told me often but he never said it in public and he never talked to any of his friends about me. The other vampires would sing their partners' praises and say how great they were.
I knew that Larten hated boasting but saying to his close friends that he loved me was not boasting. I wished to confront him but I was scared of doing so in case I upset him but one night I plucked up the courage and I publically confronted him about it.
"Do you love me Larten?" I asked
"Why do you ask? In public as well" Larten replied.
"Because you never say it in public and you never talk about me to your friends, am I unworthy or something?" I asked.
"Of course not, I love you deeply but I do not need to tell people that. I see it as a personal thing" Larten said.
"Ok, you would tell someone though if they asked you how you felt about me though would you not?" I continued.
"I would say that it was not their concern because it is not but if you wish me to I will tell them in future" Larten explained.
"Oh right. If you could it would make me feel better. I get asked all the time how I feel about you and I am always honest about it, I hope you can be the same" I said.
"Of course dear as you wish. We had better go as the council is about to gather" Larten said.
At that point we left for the first of many council meetings.
I sat down on one of the long, wooden benches in the hall and I joined Vancha and Vanez whilst I waited for the meeting to start. Larten stayed by my side the whole time, he had to present me to the Clan and the Council formally as tradition stated.
Then the meeting started, the twelve council members entered the hall and they all sat down on their table which was on a slightly elevated platform so that they could see us and we could see them.
To start with the councillors read out the names of the vampires who had died and the names of those who had fought in the battle, there were forty four vampires in total who had given their lives in battle and another sixteen who had either died on the way here or who had been killed by other means. We still had a fair few hundred in our clan so we were doing quite well numbers wise. To each vampire and vampiress who had died we said:
"Evan in death may you be triumphant." after their name and after we had done that we got on to the main council business.
"Would Larten Crepsley and his partner come up here please?" One of the senior council members asked.
I walked up onto the elevated platform with Larten close behind me.
"Larten, you have taken this girl as your partner correct?" The senior councillor asked.
"Yes I have my Lord. This young vampiress is Sarah" Larten said.
"Step forward Sarah" The councillor said.
I stepped forward.
"How old are you Sarah?" The councillor asked.
"I am twenty four my Lord, I am a fully blooded vampiress." I said.
"Very well, you seem suited to this life. Is Larten good to you?" The councillor continued
"Very good to me my Lord, he spoils me rotten which I do not deserve. Have you seen this crest he gave me?" I asked.
"No, that was my next question. Let me see it" The councillor said.
"I took off my bracelet and I handed it over. Larten also handed over the favour which I had made him to be examined.
"This is a fine crest; you have obviously put in a lot of effort to find it. The embroidery is good too. These are fine" Said the councillor and he handed them back.
"One more thing before we move on, how much do you love Sarah Larten? Sarah how much do you love Larten?" The councillor asked us both.
"I love Larten with every part of my heart and soul, to be without him is to be without life because he saved it and I owe him mine in return" I explained.
"It is true; I saved Sarah from a bear that had been infected with vampaneze blood. I love her with a burning vampiric passion" Larten explained.
"I understand, Sarah if you owe Larten your life then clearly he loves you or he would not have saved you and I can see in your eyes how much that you love Larten. I am content. Let us move on now to our next item on the agenda" The councillor said as we took our seats once more.
The meeting dragged on until all of the items on the agenda had been discussed. It took ages because the council had not held a public meeting for years so there were a lot of things to talk about. The most difficult thing was what to do about our defences as we had been breached. It would take a long time to repair the damage that the vampaneze had done to our halls.
The vampaneze had not just fought in there they had put blood on the walls and they had carved obscene messages and symbols into the rock.
We decided to have a major decorating challenge to see if we could repair the damages before the winter, in the winter those halls were needed for animal houses and nothing could live in them at the moment as they were filthy and infected with the stench of vampaneze. Their blood was poisonous to animals, one lick would make an animal mad and dangerous like that bear had been and we could not risk that.
