FATHERS IN MOURNING

Aunt Illyana brought me the news.

Rose - my little Rose - was dead. Killed in a brave battle to destroy no less than Dracula himself.

I nodded my head, thanked Illyana for bringing me the news, and walked away. A man my age doesn't show his emotions in front of youngsters.

Eventually, Anna found me and clutched me tight. I found out later on that she'd ordered my other two wives to stay away. There are bad feelings about that to this day. My wives are a loyal bunch but there is sometimes contention between them.

Rose was one of my two adopted daughters. I took her in long ago and we stayed together for years. At the time, I almost gave up on being a Seeker in the hope that I could stay with her forever. We had a small boat and we fished together, selling our catch in a local marketplace. She kept the ramshackle hut where we lived, cooked our meals, and tolerated the women who sometimes shared my bed. Eventually, Rose came into the power of her great ancestor and left me to become the hero and protector that she was fated to be. I had no choice but to return to being a wandering Seeker, finding and executing the will of the Old One.

However, I never forgot Rose. And fate sometimes brought us together.

But that was done now.

Done and gone.

The island where Rose died was a suitably grim place. After all, it had been a haunt of vampires for centuries.

Aunt Illyana's teleportational circle rose above us as we materialized amongst rocks, scrub, and sand. Surf crashed in the distance and we were standing on a low rise. I could smell the stench of undeath, flame, and battle.

There was a simple, stonewall-enclosed graveyard in the Spiderfolk style. A small hut and a newly-planted garden sat next to the graveyard. In the garden, an elderly Spiderfolk priestess was tending her crop. I recognized the tall woman who was helping her.

Illyana wordlessly stepped away, summoned another of her circles, and vanished.

"James!" Faye called to me. She leaned her hoe against a monolithic stone and advanced towards me, her arms held wide. The priestess also approached, but she was much more diffident. For a moment, I wondered if she had been granted this lonely post as a punishment. The Old One knows, we were far from civilization.

Faye hugged me fiercely - she's a powerful woman - and I returned her embrace. For a long moment we simply held each other. The priestess, not wishing to intrude, paused in her approach and watched us carefully.

"Where is she?" I eventually asked.

Faye released me and blinked away tears. Then she took me by the hand, as if I was a child, and led me into the graveyard.

Rose's grave was simple. It had a Folkish headstone, with a carving that was her name and her age when she died. It seemed impossible to me that she had been in her mid-thirties. The words "Hero and Vampire Slayer" were her epitath and that was a fine one for my little girl. I could tell that it had only been a few days since Rose was buried.

I don't remember falling to my knees, but that's how I ended up. My hands dug into the sparse, sandy soil. Faye was behind me with her hands on my shoulders.

And I finally wept for my lost daughter.

There were other graves. Two Nyack militia and a good twenty Spider Legion soldiers - all so far from home - had died in the battle against Dracula and his minions. A huge mass-grave held the bones of those the vampires had fed upon. I'm ashamed to say that none of those meant anything to me.

In a place of so much death - both in the final battle and during the long years of the vampire occupation - there were no spirits that I could detect. That seemed strange, but then I realized that Rahne had certainly helped the forlorn spirits of this place into their respective Beyonds. She had become a magnificent Seeker.

Faye helped me out of the graveyard. Then we sat by the hut, in the shade, as the priestess cooked us a simple meal of grilled vegetables and fish. I made a mental note to see that better food was brought out to her.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Faye.

She shrugged. "I'm helping out. But I can't stay here forever."

I nodded as the priestess handed us simple wooden platters and copper forks. I was able to remember enough of my manners to thank her.

"What happened?" I asked Faye.

Faye's eyes went distant. Then she told me the long tale that led Rahne's band to this damned island. Her description of the battle was simple, but I could feel the terror that still held her in its grip.

It had been bloody and horrible. And two of my daughters had been in the midst of it.

Some might say I'd raised them well. At that moment, I couldn't agree with that.

It was on my tongue to begin raging. To tell Faye that they should have called for my help. I would have called the entire Blood people to war! Dammit, destroying Dracula and eliminating the curse of vampirism would have justified that!

But would that have saved Rose? Or might it just have warned Dracula that he should flee?

I didn't know.

So in the end, I kept my silence.

Eventually, Illyana brought Rahne to the island. At first, I put my hands on her shoulders and examined her at arms length. She wasn't hurt or crippled. I silently thanked the Old One and the Goddesses for that. I still had one of my elder daughters.

"I'm sorry, daddy," Rahne told me through a mask of tears. "I'm so sorry. I should have done better..."

I hugged her. "The world is a better place because of you," I responded. And that was true.

But I still wanted my Rose back.

We stayed for a few more days. Rahne and I helped sniff out the remaining bones of the innocent dead and we respectfully added them into the mass-grave.

Eventually, Illyana brought Anna out to me. She put flowers on the graves and sang for the dead. Her voice immeasurably improved that cold and damned island.

Then she told me, "Husband... James... it's time to come home. The children miss you. Your wives miss you."

Over Anna's shoulder, I could see Rahne, Faye, and Illyana watching me. They were all worried about me and I could see it in their eyes.

I nodded my head and kissed my faithful Anna. There was no point in arguing.

The time of mourning was done.

The Old One came to me just before we left the island. He waited until I was isolated from everyone else. I was standing on a rocky outcrop, staring out at the sea.

He looked old. And there was something in his eyes...

"Your god-mother is dead," he told me.

I winced. Damn, was it ever going to end? Jubiliee was also gone?

It was then that I recognized the emptiness in the Old One's eyes. Like me, he had lost too much.

"I'm sorry," I said to him.

He nodded. "And I'm sorry," he told me.

There was nothing else to say.