Phyonix Nights
By:Lynn Osburn
Part Three: From Every Depth of Good and Ill
Duneals are no more immune to sunlgith then vampires.It is a fact that they tend to forget easily. Phynoix shaded herself with her cloak. 'And me being the genius that I am, wearing both dark cloathing AND armour in the desert!' she groaned and spured the horse onward. Her pale skin glistened with sweat and her dark cloathing clung to her body.
The horse raced onward, dune after dune. Phyonix was determined to get as far as possible before she absolutly had to stop. She had considered the Barbaroid route, but thought better of it. She was no D. She had no intention of mingiling with the crowd unless there were no other options. One of the marks of a good hunter was knowing your limitations.
The sun reached its zeneth as she discarded her long black cape, folding it up and putting it in her pack. It exposed more of her skin yes, but dehydration didn't do her much good either. And it wasn't as though she could just drink water for her thirst.
'Of course I knew my option when I made it. I wanted to differ from the others. I wanted to drink the blood.' All dunpeals, from birth onward, had the need for blood. Even suckleing at their mothers breask they draw blood, not milk from the nipple. It was a common fact. Some, who had the daring, quit, suffering the same withdrawl as one going cold turky off drugs. But to them it was worth it. To them a few days suffering was worth never having to drink again.
Phyonix had taken the next best thing. She had no love of humans. Not after what they'd done to her mother. But she had no real hatred for them either. So she chose to drink, and to hunt. It was a somwhat unorthadox method, hypocritical at worst, but it worked so far. Of course she knew she'd end up going long periods without the rich red liquor, so she'd built up her resistance.
Orange juice was a decent replacment for it. It was no real substitution, but helped when she was in a bad situation. It provided many of the same vitamins she gained from blood.
'But then again thats not the point now is it?' Phyonix thought bitterly. 'The point is that it's a curse. A need inside you. You don't NEED crack or cocain, but you become addicted to it. It's the same thing, except dunpeals only desier, vampires NEED.' She thought and brought a peice of cloth over her mouth to hide her nostrils from the sand. 'Thats the diffrence.'
Of course there was a very LARGE diffrence between magic and logic. Humans the stupid mistake of trying to explane one with the other, failing miserably at it and confusing those stupid enough to listen. They weren't worth bothering with.
The sun beat down against her, hard. Giving a slight moan, she turned westward and headed for a cliff edge in the distance. With even the smallest amount of luck she'd discover a cave to hide in temporarily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Apparently the smallest amount is all I have.' Phyonix groaned and walked inside, leaving the horse out. Cyborgs didn't need shealter or water. The cave was tiny, pathetically so, but it would have to do. She crouched back in a corner and slowly began pushing the sand aside, sinking into the ground as she did so.
A flash of lightning lite up the cave, revieling a shadow just outside that was most cirtanly not a horse.Tall...taller then she was, and very lean. It stopped for a moment as her cyborg wickered and took a few steps back, then walked on in.
'Wonderful! Just damn wonderful.' she murrmured and began pulling further to the corner, allowing herself to meld with the darkness. It was a simple trick and dunpeal was capible of. The figure was male for it walked like one, and she had little doubt as to their occupation in this place. The only others who would come along this desert would be other hunters.
She was right.
Phyonix had never seen the infamouse dunpeal before.And she wasn't getting much of a look at him now either.His rakish, wide-brimmed hat hid his face and his cloath covered most of his lean body. She could tell he was attractive though, more so then any man she'd seen before.
It was obviouse that he knew she was there, if not thanks to his vampire senses the the obviousness of a horse outside.Cyborg beasts were expensive and nobody just left one lieing around. He did not acknowledge her though, and she extended him the same cutousy, for a while.
"Phyonix." she said suddenly.
He nodded. "D."
"I figured as much. There aren't too many like us around." She smiled slightly and saw his face remain impassive.
"I wasn't aware that there was more then one."His voice was questioning, but bared no malice. He was curiouse, but not after a fight.
"Well there's at least two, unless I'm just a mutant with extrodinary powers." Phyonix got a little closer, sheathing her sword to show that she ment no ill. "Which side of the family?"
"Father."
She nodded. "Yes. Male vampires seem to be more prone then females do. Probibly a power issue." She caught a few strands of auburn hair curling out from his hat and smiled. He was most cirtianly handsom. " We are after the same prey yes?"
"I assume so. The vampire Lord Ulrich has begun collecting again." D turned slightly, looking her in the eyes. " I was hired by the town of Marrowtree."
"Garousha. Thats good news." She ment it too. This ment that she didn't have to worry about competing with the dunpeal for the capture, since they were both being paid by seperate citys. "It's been a long time since Ulrich tried this mess again. Do you think he'll truly attempt it a second time?"
"Ulrich is insane, but that doesn't make him stupid." Was all D said. The hunter was a silent type, as though he wasn't truly comfortable with her presence.He hadn't even put away his blade to show politness as she had. Of course she couldn't really blame him, if it wasn't from desier to get closer to him, she wouldn't have either.
And he was right anyways. There were several words that could be used to discribe the vampire lord, stupid was not one of them.Phyonix herself had not been around back when he'd first appeared, but it was a legend amoung the hunters of any species. A madman, forever thristing for more and more blood, had attempted to sate his hunger eternaly. He though that no one would question his attempts, after all, if he could find a cure for the drink then he would be hailed a hero. But his experaments in pursuing that dream would make even the strongest of stomaches vomit.
Then, just as it had seemed that the death toll would destory the world, Ulrich dissapeared. Some say he was destroyed, others say that the Vampire King himself had interviened with the mad slaughter. All anybody knew was that the kidnapping and murders suddenly stopped.
But that had been nearly four hundred years ago, not that four hundred years was an extream length of time for a vampire like Ulrich. It was roumored that D himself was somehow involved in the mad Lord's dissaperence, but he nither confiremed nor denied his presence there.
'If the rumors of his relation to the Vampire King is true...then that would explane it.' The female dunpeal sat down across from him and kept silent for a time. The rain continued outside, thundering loudly and bringing brillant flashes of light in on the two statue-like figures.
The night continued like that for somtime,both sitting in silence, both thinking their own thoughts.But then again, one of them had two thoughts to think.
'I dunknow D, I've kept close track of every single vampire/human mating for nearly three thousand years, and I can't remember a one of 'em she might be connected to. '
'I realise that, but the fact still remains...she is dunpeal...I can feel it.'
'Well I'm an old hand, and I may be wrong, but I doubt it. Keep an eye on her D. Don't trust her.'
'I never do.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the rain stopped at midnight, the two dunpeals mounted up. "Look, I know your famouse for working alone, but since we're on the same side and paid by diffrent citys, I figure it won't hurt too much for us to work together." Phyonix wrapped her cloak back around her and mounted.
D barly acknowledged the comment, just simple moved his eyes. "Come or go, I have no hold over you." He spurred his horse and took off over the dunes.As though daring her to keep up.
Phyonix spurred her horse, following the long black cape casting a shadow over the desert. 'This is bound to be of Hell of a ride.' she grinned, her fangs glinting in the moon light.
By:Lynn Osburn
Part Three: From Every Depth of Good and Ill
Duneals are no more immune to sunlgith then vampires.It is a fact that they tend to forget easily. Phynoix shaded herself with her cloak. 'And me being the genius that I am, wearing both dark cloathing AND armour in the desert!' she groaned and spured the horse onward. Her pale skin glistened with sweat and her dark cloathing clung to her body.
The horse raced onward, dune after dune. Phyonix was determined to get as far as possible before she absolutly had to stop. She had considered the Barbaroid route, but thought better of it. She was no D. She had no intention of mingiling with the crowd unless there were no other options. One of the marks of a good hunter was knowing your limitations.
The sun reached its zeneth as she discarded her long black cape, folding it up and putting it in her pack. It exposed more of her skin yes, but dehydration didn't do her much good either. And it wasn't as though she could just drink water for her thirst.
'Of course I knew my option when I made it. I wanted to differ from the others. I wanted to drink the blood.' All dunpeals, from birth onward, had the need for blood. Even suckleing at their mothers breask they draw blood, not milk from the nipple. It was a common fact. Some, who had the daring, quit, suffering the same withdrawl as one going cold turky off drugs. But to them it was worth it. To them a few days suffering was worth never having to drink again.
Phyonix had taken the next best thing. She had no love of humans. Not after what they'd done to her mother. But she had no real hatred for them either. So she chose to drink, and to hunt. It was a somwhat unorthadox method, hypocritical at worst, but it worked so far. Of course she knew she'd end up going long periods without the rich red liquor, so she'd built up her resistance.
Orange juice was a decent replacment for it. It was no real substitution, but helped when she was in a bad situation. It provided many of the same vitamins she gained from blood.
'But then again thats not the point now is it?' Phyonix thought bitterly. 'The point is that it's a curse. A need inside you. You don't NEED crack or cocain, but you become addicted to it. It's the same thing, except dunpeals only desier, vampires NEED.' She thought and brought a peice of cloth over her mouth to hide her nostrils from the sand. 'Thats the diffrence.'
Of course there was a very LARGE diffrence between magic and logic. Humans the stupid mistake of trying to explane one with the other, failing miserably at it and confusing those stupid enough to listen. They weren't worth bothering with.
The sun beat down against her, hard. Giving a slight moan, she turned westward and headed for a cliff edge in the distance. With even the smallest amount of luck she'd discover a cave to hide in temporarily.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Apparently the smallest amount is all I have.' Phyonix groaned and walked inside, leaving the horse out. Cyborgs didn't need shealter or water. The cave was tiny, pathetically so, but it would have to do. She crouched back in a corner and slowly began pushing the sand aside, sinking into the ground as she did so.
A flash of lightning lite up the cave, revieling a shadow just outside that was most cirtanly not a horse.Tall...taller then she was, and very lean. It stopped for a moment as her cyborg wickered and took a few steps back, then walked on in.
'Wonderful! Just damn wonderful.' she murrmured and began pulling further to the corner, allowing herself to meld with the darkness. It was a simple trick and dunpeal was capible of. The figure was male for it walked like one, and she had little doubt as to their occupation in this place. The only others who would come along this desert would be other hunters.
She was right.
Phyonix had never seen the infamouse dunpeal before.And she wasn't getting much of a look at him now either.His rakish, wide-brimmed hat hid his face and his cloath covered most of his lean body. She could tell he was attractive though, more so then any man she'd seen before.
It was obviouse that he knew she was there, if not thanks to his vampire senses the the obviousness of a horse outside.Cyborg beasts were expensive and nobody just left one lieing around. He did not acknowledge her though, and she extended him the same cutousy, for a while.
"Phyonix." she said suddenly.
He nodded. "D."
"I figured as much. There aren't too many like us around." She smiled slightly and saw his face remain impassive.
"I wasn't aware that there was more then one."His voice was questioning, but bared no malice. He was curiouse, but not after a fight.
"Well there's at least two, unless I'm just a mutant with extrodinary powers." Phyonix got a little closer, sheathing her sword to show that she ment no ill. "Which side of the family?"
"Father."
She nodded. "Yes. Male vampires seem to be more prone then females do. Probibly a power issue." She caught a few strands of auburn hair curling out from his hat and smiled. He was most cirtianly handsom. " We are after the same prey yes?"
"I assume so. The vampire Lord Ulrich has begun collecting again." D turned slightly, looking her in the eyes. " I was hired by the town of Marrowtree."
"Garousha. Thats good news." She ment it too. This ment that she didn't have to worry about competing with the dunpeal for the capture, since they were both being paid by seperate citys. "It's been a long time since Ulrich tried this mess again. Do you think he'll truly attempt it a second time?"
"Ulrich is insane, but that doesn't make him stupid." Was all D said. The hunter was a silent type, as though he wasn't truly comfortable with her presence.He hadn't even put away his blade to show politness as she had. Of course she couldn't really blame him, if it wasn't from desier to get closer to him, she wouldn't have either.
And he was right anyways. There were several words that could be used to discribe the vampire lord, stupid was not one of them.Phyonix herself had not been around back when he'd first appeared, but it was a legend amoung the hunters of any species. A madman, forever thristing for more and more blood, had attempted to sate his hunger eternaly. He though that no one would question his attempts, after all, if he could find a cure for the drink then he would be hailed a hero. But his experaments in pursuing that dream would make even the strongest of stomaches vomit.
Then, just as it had seemed that the death toll would destory the world, Ulrich dissapeared. Some say he was destroyed, others say that the Vampire King himself had interviened with the mad slaughter. All anybody knew was that the kidnapping and murders suddenly stopped.
But that had been nearly four hundred years ago, not that four hundred years was an extream length of time for a vampire like Ulrich. It was roumored that D himself was somehow involved in the mad Lord's dissaperence, but he nither confiremed nor denied his presence there.
'If the rumors of his relation to the Vampire King is true...then that would explane it.' The female dunpeal sat down across from him and kept silent for a time. The rain continued outside, thundering loudly and bringing brillant flashes of light in on the two statue-like figures.
The night continued like that for somtime,both sitting in silence, both thinking their own thoughts.But then again, one of them had two thoughts to think.
'I dunknow D, I've kept close track of every single vampire/human mating for nearly three thousand years, and I can't remember a one of 'em she might be connected to. '
'I realise that, but the fact still remains...she is dunpeal...I can feel it.'
'Well I'm an old hand, and I may be wrong, but I doubt it. Keep an eye on her D. Don't trust her.'
'I never do.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the rain stopped at midnight, the two dunpeals mounted up. "Look, I know your famouse for working alone, but since we're on the same side and paid by diffrent citys, I figure it won't hurt too much for us to work together." Phyonix wrapped her cloak back around her and mounted.
D barly acknowledged the comment, just simple moved his eyes. "Come or go, I have no hold over you." He spurred his horse and took off over the dunes.As though daring her to keep up.
Phyonix spurred her horse, following the long black cape casting a shadow over the desert. 'This is bound to be of Hell of a ride.' she grinned, her fangs glinting in the moon light.