Chapter 9 – Raven

Mioko watched Azrael sleeping. She listened to the steady, soft sound of his breath and studied his frozen, unchanging features, appreciating for the first time how much the first born resembled their sire. She sighed as thoughts of Raziel flooded her mind and she wondered if her father would approve of their crusade. Would he have wanted them to stay with the others? Would he have wanted them to fight? Mioko's face fell as she remembered, on the third day into their escape, how she had heard the last screams of their comrades, as Razielim finally fell.

Something jerked her from her terrifying thoughts of the death of her kin. Her vampiric ears heard something. Something or someone was clambering through the ruins, in a hurry to reach the scavenger's hut. She heard the person stumble on the floor beneath them and begin ascending the steps to where Azrael and Mioko had taken temporary residence. Mioko didn't feel the need to hide, she sensed no hostility from the intruder. Instead she fixed her eyes on the doorway to the chamber and waited, until the intruder revealed itself.

Mioko stared at the person before her. It was a young woman, dressed in what would once have been considered fashionable dress for the human slaves of Nosgoth. With her long, black hair and pale features, she looked almost like a vampire. Mioko studied the woman and was surprised to see that she was in no way armed. The woman approached cautiously, but a glare from the conscious vampire stopped her in her tracks.

"My name is Raven," the woman introduced herself, "I assure you, I mean you no harm." Mioko looked at her with suspicion, "What are you doing here?" she asked. Raven thought for a moment, considering her answer, "I came to see you," she said eventually. Mioko raised an eyebrow, "Me?" she asked, "what business do you have with me?" The girl shook her head, "not just with you," she corrected, quickly, looking over at the sleeping vampire, "both of you." Mioko watched as the girl reached into one of her dress pockets and pulled out a bottle of blood. "My offering, to prove my intentions," she took a cautious step toward the vampire and placed the bottle at the vampire's feet before backing away in case her offering was rejected.

Mioko regarded the bottle for a moment before picking it up, keeping her eyes fixed on the girl. She uncapped the bottle and let the smell waft under her nose. To be fair to the human, despite it's temperature, the blood was relatively fresh and there was no hint of toxins or anything harmful present, the girl's intentions, so far, appeared to be trustworthy.

She didn't down the blood, she didn't trust the girl enough yet. Instead she beckoned the girl to come and sit nearer her and explain why it was she had come to see them. "How did you know we were here?" she asked. Raven looked around the room,

"We heard from the guy who lives here that vampires had been seen near here," she hesitated, realizing what fate that man must have met if the vampires had taken over his home. She took a deep breath and told Mioko her story, "I come from a village not far from here. When our ancestors moved here to escape the empire they thought that if they were to keep their children here, rather than exploring Nosgoth, they would have to tell them the truth about the danger of vampires, unfortunately it had the adverse effect. Some of the young people they told became curious about the forbidden lands and fascinated by the vampires. When they would not stop questioning about the vampires and after a few attempts to actually reach them, the elders told them to leave the village. They did and since then, more and more vampire lovers have gone there. We haven't got the means to leave these lands, otherwise we would have left for the empire years ago." Mioko listened patiently up to this point before she interrupted,

"But you knew that if you reached the empire it would mean a life of slavery for most of you and death for the others?"

Raven nodded, "We knew. We didn't care. We wanted to see the vampires for ourselves, we wanted to serve them, rather than live a pointless existence here. More and more of the young people are becoming fascinated by the vampire race and most of them would kill to find a way to the empire...you don't know how boring it is here, having to listen to the 'evils' of the vampires day in day out. We don't think the vampires are evil..." she hesitated, "which is why I came to ask you to come to our village." Mioko was taken aback, "Why?" she asked.

"The others, they would love to meet you, both of you, maybe you can take us back to the empire with you?"

Mioko shook her head, "We're not going to the empire," she sighed, "ever." Raven looked confused, "Why not?" Mioko summed up the story of why they had left as briefly as she could lest the pain of Raziel's death catch up with her. Raven listened to the story with horror and perhaps more disappointment. Her village wouldn't see the empire after all. Then she looked up at the vampire with renewed hope, "Stay with us," she said suddenly, "You have nowhere else to go, you can stay with us!" Mioko frowned for a moment, but then her face broke into a smile, it was certainly possible, "I'll think on it," she answered. She opened her mouth to speak again but was interrupted. Azrael's eyes snapped open and in a flash his hand had shot out and grabbed the human by her throat.

"Azrael!" Mioko shouted, pulling his arm from the girl's neck. Azrael glared at her as Mioko gestured for the girl to run for the moment. "Go on," she urged, quietly. Raven stood up and fled from the enraged vampire. Azrael would have pounced on her, had Mioko not been holding him, firmly.

"What was a human doing here?" he demanded, "why did you stop me?" Mioko sighed and recounted the girl's tale. When she had finished, Azrael stared at her in disbelief, "You aren't seriously considering this?" he demanded, "live among humans?!" Mioko glared at him, "Don't shout at me," she warned, "besides, what choice do we have?" Azrael shook his head, indignant, "I refuse to live underground like some animal," he said, firmly. Mioko sighed and shook her head, "We stay here? Alone, with nothing to help us survive?"

"We do not need the humans to help us survive!" he shouted, as if the very idea were inconceivable. Mioko looked away as she remembered how stubborn the first born could be, a trait he had not shared with his maker. Azrael softened as he realized his attitude was upsetting her, "I'm sorry," he muttered, "but I refuse to live in the mountains, hiding away..."

"We are hiding," Mioko muttered, softly. Azrael looked down at her, the pain of Raziel's loss and their situation because of it finally catching up with her and he was pained to see tears starting to form in her eyes. He slipped off the bed and joined her on the floor, holding his arms out to her. She fell into them, sobbing silently, "I miss him," she whispered into his shoulder. He held her tighter and buried his face in her hair. He would never admit to her and she would never know, the first born had tears falling too.

TBC