Well, hopefully someone out there is still reading this, I had some good feedback with the whole Zombie thing so I thought I'd keep going. Hope you enjoy it.

D.

I had barely settled myself against the headboard when there was a faint knock at my door. I swung my legs out to the floor again, wondering what had brought Jankin back, he had seemed more pensive than normal that night, he usually took my jabs considerably better than he had; he reminded me of Alcide in that way in fact. But his blue eyes had not been as alive as normal; they stood out against his dark hair in a way that could not fail to draw attention; but not this night. I did not normally worry for people, but Jankin was different, his fairy nature, (that he did not think I knew about,) was likely the cause for my out of character concern. Just the proximity to Fairies could heal a Vampire from mortal poisoning, that innate aura could even affect the old ones. I was pleased that he had returned as I went to greet him.

"Jankin?" I opened the door, but it was not he standing there, but rather a she.

"Hello?" I offered to the newcomer.

"Good evening." She bowed her head demurely for someone was wasn't exactly the most elegantly built girl. She was comely, don't misunderstand, but she had solidly built arms, and hips, and a bosom that sort of vibrated as she spoke, not quite the dancer physique, but a woman who could get things done, a lot of things it seemed. I vaguely recalled seeing her around the castle on other occasions, but generally in the company of the Weres. And then it began to make sense why she had arrived.

"May I help you?" I asked, though I had a fairly decent idea what she was there for. Damned Alcide.

"The Captain of the Weres has asked me to attend to you this evening good Sir."

"Has he now?" I raised an eyebrow, half of my mind working on a plan to exact a proper revenge on Alcide, the other half looking her over, none too subtly. And that made her smile. "You had best come in then." I stood back and ushered her in with my outstretched arm.

Her walk was determined, she didn't scan my room for any dangers but strode in as if she owned it, or at least was quite in charge of it. She turned back, waiting for me to close the door, practically compelling me to do it with her deep brown eyes. So I did. For the time it quite amused me to do so.

"You know what I am don't you?" I asked.

"I do," she paused with a grin on her lips, "you are a hero."

It wasn't quite what I had meant.

"If not for you and your men, and those of Captain Alcide, my home and my kin would have been overrun by the undead by now. So you are a hero."

She certainly did have a way of endearing herself to a person as she brought herself quite close to me. Pulling the laces on her bodice didn't hurt matters either, her large breasts falling naturally against the cotton of her shift.

"How may I thank you properly sir?" She asked with a grin that was none too innocent.

Well now, a few thoughts came to mind just then, which is just what Alcide had in mind I imagined. I swept her up in my arms and laid her down on my bed. There really was no need for her to tease me and undress further. I lifted her skirts, listened to her giggle, and then drove myself into her depths with great gusto. She knew how to move, she knew how to do a great many things, and despite my earlier insistence to Alcide that I did not need the company he had provided, she was a pleasant distraction. She knew just when to moan, and just when to buck her hips against my thrusts, her motions against me were very pleasing. The soft globes of her breasts received ample attention from my hands as I built within her, and then from my mouth as I came, and took the mounds to fulfill my other needs. Her laughter was a very different sound within the walls of my room. And her warm hands wrapping my back as I fed were also a delightful treat, not that I was about to admit any of that to Alcide.

When we were done, she tidied herself up quite efficiently, smiling at me the whole time. I have to admit wearing a bit of a smile myself. I had fed, twice, and though her blood was not as delicious as Jankin's the accompanying activity certainly had its pleasures. All in all, it had been a reasonable night; some carnage, some coitus and some blood and by the time she left the sun was nearly ready to rise, and I was tired enough to sleep, dreamlessly, which was pleasant in itself.

Jankin had returned my things, cleaned as they always were before the sunset, I had sensed his arrival, but had not fully wakened. I knew he was watching me; perhaps his senses were sharp enough to smell the lingering scent of sex that hung on the linens of my bed. He seemed to hang back in the room, but sometimes that was his way, when he fell into his moods, the ones of silence, he would take his time, no less efficient, but prolonged. He lit my fire, left me water to warm, and finally closed my door silently. I lay for another hour, pondering my situation, until the fire required further fuel lest it die down. It was a throwback to my humanity, keeping the fire lit, and I watched the flames lick at the new wood, thinking about what this new night would bring. A new hunt, perhaps finally some answers? It was easy enough to fight these creatures as they lumbered across the Queendom, they were stupid, and mindless, and really only dangerous in hoards, but we still had no idea where they were coming from.

The castle sat nearer to the coast, on the westernmost edges of the Queendom, easily defensible by sea, and an accessible port for bringing in goods from abroad. The sea did not provide a great deal in the way of fish, not enough to create an industry, but enough to provide an addition to the peoples' simple diet of grains, and fowl, and the occasional larger beast, those usually brought in by the Were hunters, at least now that the Zombie threat had risen. I had not been the only one to notice that the fishermen remained virtually unmolested, but it made sense, the Zombies certainly did not arrive by boat. No, they lumbered across the farmers' fields and the forests, menacing the populace. I wanted to make the journey, to see what lay at the fringes of the realm, but the hoards demanded more of our attention, and the Queen was not yet prepared to give us the leave to go. I continued to defer to her wishes. No one could understand how they kept coming, especially since fewer and fewer seemed to be the citizens of our villages. Our patrols certainly had to be a major part of that fortunate happenstance, but whatever population was being decimated was unknown to us.

As I pondered all of these things, in front of the flames, I felt a sudden weariness settle on my shoulders, the repetition was getting to me, and I wondered if it wasn't time for some type of change. And so I dressed and went out to the hall, intending to distract myself from the questions by looking over the maps of the day and any recent intelligence reports. Action always settled my disquiets.

Alcide was waiting for me, a stupid grin on his face as I entered the room. I did not meet it, and simply went to the table that was always set up for me.

"So Eric?" he goaded me, "Did you meet my friend Maizie last night?"

"Was that her name?" I asked casually. "I didn't get a chance to ask." He laughed, straight from his belly; I kept my eyes on the table and the maps.

"Well, I shall have to go and see her myself tonight and hear all about it."

"You may want to give her a day or two to recover." I said, as deadpan as I could manage. He laughed again, and smacked me on the back.

"Ah Eric."

"I am quite serious."

"Of that I have no doubt my friend."

"And what have we heard this day?" I wanted to be right into work, for some reason I still felt unsettled, the feeling from in front of the fire had not dissipated. Alcide seemed disappointed that I did not wish to spar with him just them.

"Perhaps I will next have to send Maizie and her sister." He mumbled. I gave him a laugh for that one. It lightened the mood, I was willing to give him that. He set in to telling me about the day's intelligence reports, which continued to be meager.

Hoards had been noted from the east again, a few stragglers from the north, but it seemed that they might have broken off from the initial group, they had a pitiful sense of direction if that sense could even be ascribed to them, and if they happened to get caught up in a thicket, or muck, or even one of the mortal makeshift traps, like the pits they dug, they could be separated and end up either stuck and hungrier, or wandering off in any which way. Once again no local persons were recognized, and in a good day, none had been lost.

A group of handymen had been dispatched to an outlying farm, to reinforce a fence to ensure that a flock of goats remained safe in the night; not everyone could afford a barn to house their animals in the evening, when the watchmen and bowmen could not be counted on for their accuracy in spotting the walkers. The Queen was quite vigilant in keeping her subjects protected. They had reported the straggler, who had been beheaded and burned on the spot. These daylight teams also dealt with the walkers who had been trapped and reported, when the villagers or famers were unable to. Though those farmers were getting better. Necessity had turned frightened mortals into angry ones, and pitchforks and scythes made effective weapons. Often our teams simply found the bodies to burn, the mortals dared not deal with the blood.

"And what do you think about all of this Alcide? Where do your instincts tell you we need to go?"

He pointed at a natural ridgeline, one that swept downwards into a canyon instead of upwards.

"I have often wondered if these creatures are able to ford this gap, or if they are running parallel to it. It would seem to be a natural barrier, so they have to be coming from beyond it somehow."

"So you would send troops to the north and south of it?" I gestured along the hand drawn map.

"And some directly into the middle." He stuck his finger right over the sepia line that demarcated the change in topography.

"I see. And may I assume that the troops going straight down its throat would be you and I?"

"You could."

"I like the way you think Alcide. Shall I go and present this to the Queen?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

Suddenly I felt just a little more alive.