Above, D continued in his task of trying to move stone from the place he thought to be the entrance to her lair. It was here the surface showed the scrape marks of stone that had moved upon sand.
Normally, such a task deemed monstrously impossible for even the strongest of human men should have been a simple task for him. But in the heat of day, he was not at the peak of his prowess, no matter how odd that prowess was even among dhampirs. Sweat dripped down the length of his brow in the hot sun.
"You know," mumbled the hand parasite as D paused to examine his work, "we could knock."
D remained silent and set back to examining the stone. He was certain he was above the entrance, for the rock had not rung solid.
"Then again, you're right. We could have to wait forever for her to come out." The Hand let out a sigh.
"No, I say knocking would be the better choice." A soft voice replied from behind.
D whirled around to meet the owner of the voice, his hand ready at the hilt of his weapon. Sneaking up on him was no small feat. "You have come."
"Your stead makes quite a ruckus that is felt even through sand." The mysterious woman sat leisurely on a smaller boulder behind them, her form completely engulfed in long white robes that floated in the occasional breeze, and her face was hidden. "I assume you choose not to give up your bounty?"
"Hear that D? You were loud." The Hand chuckled.
D clenched his fist and gave her a quiet, calm look. Then he shook his head.
She sighed. "I see. Then what other options have we?" She slid almost soundless from her perch to stand upon the warm sand. "Any treaty with the grandfather would soon be forgotten by him, for his reasons to make that treaty he will sooner forget. All he will ever know is that is grandchild was taken by something or someone he will never understand, and for reasons he cannot remember for understanding."
"Give him another reason then. As long as he accepts it and I am paid for what work I have done, then there will be no trouble." He answered from underneath the dark brim of his hat.
"The grandfather wishes to rear the child, which I understand. But word of the child mysteriously surviving has already reached a few vampires lords' ears, I am afraid." She raised her head, the layered hood still low over her face. "The boy's mother protected him with wards, and almost survived herself." She turned her face into a light breeze that was passing through. She became quiet, as if searching for a scent carried on the wind. "I would be more concerned about protecting the man who hired you right now. Foul things shall be afoot soon."
D also turned his head in the same direction, but kept her in the corner of his vision, lest she vanish again. "Even if you speak truth, the child still needs to be returned. Protection of the child should not be your responsibility alone."
She smiled beneath her hood. "It is nice to hear that. But you know as well as I what it is like to bear responsibilities on one's own, especially when the other choice is a betrayal of our promises." Her fingers emerged from beneath billowing sleeves and smoothed over the light silver embroidery on the hem. "Can you not be persuaded to let this matter go …with…money perhaps?"
"Harmph tharth, D? She saith mani," the Hand's muffled voice piped in.
"I do not sell my sword to anyone that may be in league with the Nobles or anything supernatural made by them."
A most astonishing sound erupted from her. She laughed. It was like the rise and denouement of the tone of a bell. "That is a most interesting thing for a dhampir and a son of the Vampire King to say." Her hand rose to the trim of her hood and pulled it back, revealing a white lovely face. Her hair was nearly as white as her face, but had a shine like pearl to it. It was wrapped neatly in many braids wound and woven around her head like a crown, leaving her long ears with the slightly fuzzy tips exposed. She had the same unworldly pull in her countenance as he, but hers rich in mystery of life and light. "Supernatural? Supernatural in comparison to what? The same for you, dhampir. If human is normal, natural as you say." She gestured toward the city outskirts, where a few farms lay. "Maybe to cattle, the humans are supernatural. Perhaps? But you haven't struck conversation with them lately. What a pity."
D looked straight at her in surprise. He had never really thought of such a thing in that light before. Surely humans were not supernatural to something such as a beast of burden? Humans cared and feed those animals. But again, vampires could say the same for humans. However, humans had expression and soul.
She laughed again. "You can understand speech and feeling of things that share language and thoughts with you. But what if I were to tell that there are those who can understand bird and beast in a way that you cannot? I am sure you have heard those claims before." She shook her head. "So focused upon your hunt, your past, and the path ahead of you. There were older things there before your path was made."
D did not know how to reply.
With one fluid motion she withdrew a long gleaming sword from a scabbard strapped to her belt beneath the robes.
D withdrew his in response. For some odd reason, it only brought more laughter from the woman.
"I do not intend to harm you with this, dhampir." Instead of bringing it forth in a warrior's stance, she undid the crown of her braid with one hand and cut the braid with the sword, leaving her with only half the hair she had. "Take this to the grandfather. It is my promise that the child will see him again. Once every year at the high noon on the summer solstice. This is so only if he has this woven with the threads of a cloak that he should wear when he enters the desert." She tossed him the long rope of silk white hair. "This is his last opportunity to accept those terms with my protection."
"You protection?" asked D as catching the rope of hair.
She gave him a grave stare. "The grandfather is not an innocent. The daughter that had returned to him after twenty years under my hand was still an outcast within her own home. He thought her to be under the sway of something evil and did nothing to protect her from the Noble's creatures that came for her after hearing of her skill in protecting and leading caravans into the city. How could he protect something polluted? That is his way of thinking. I loved her very much, and I will not forgive him. I protect this city. But I can make an exception for him."
D nodded. "I understand." He turned away and left her standing behind underneath the vast starry night sky watching him ride away.