Vampiris Sancti: The Elf Read Online Free PDF Page B

at the last moment into a parallel lane and the
fledgling soon pursued him with desperate urgency. Unaware of her
location the Tyro soon lost the powerful Vampire, but Zyre was not
held captive by geography. She relocated to the roof of a building
where she found him speaking intently to a cloaked figure. The
presence beside the Vampire told the Elf it was demon and though it
registered as something important, she was too unwilling to risk
detection to investigate further. She returned to following the
girl and the Vampire moved hurriedly away from approaching carriage
lights. Zyre noticed the flicker of other Vampires moving in the
same direction as the preternatural group followed each other down
into the inner reaches of the city. Faced with more than one of
these strangers the girl panicked and once again hid herself in a
doorway keeping out of sight of those obviously disinterested in
her plight. She stayed glued to the protective darkness of the
alcove and Zyre detected another player on the scene. Their scent
was as obvious as the perfume of flowers in a garden. She looked up
to the surrounding roofs to look for the humans that kept their
distance while watching the progress of the Vampires.
    Curiosity, the
undoing of cats and Elves, had her dissolve behind the interesting
group whose concealment was a poor attempt to Elf eyes. While
humans overall interested her, their lack of concern about anything
beyond their own narrow lives had her relegate them to less amusing
than Vampires. Though Vampires were just as self-absorbed they were
also privy to the existence of the Reveal, which left them open to
all sorts of mischief.
    The group
didn’t notice the magical visitor watching them from across the
roof since she was disinclined to engage them. She didn’t want
anything to interfere with her Vampire stalking. Zyre was intrigued
by their warrior garb and assorted weapons for while they looked
ready for battle they hid amongst the eaves as they peered into the
street below. The grizzle of his hair and stern authority singled
out their leader as he instructed the younger group surrounding
him.
    “Leave the one
almost Ancient alone because he can kill you in a flash. See the
girl in the doorway that’s a Tyro, too young to know her own power.
When you find one that looks lost then probably they are unclaimed
and being unprotected makes them so much easier to remove.”
    One of the
young men interjected, “There’s a whole group of us and only one of
him. Why not take out the more powerful Vampire?”
    Their
instructor turned his focus back onto the street below. “Because
even though he is not quite Aunsin he is now more demon than
Vampire, there is no humanity there and you might as well try to
take out a Varkja.”
    Zyre realised
these must be the famous Oric, the human hunters of the Vampire
upon their own world. She wasn’t about to let them remove the Tyro
she had been following and since she found the Vampire first she
decided to lay claim to her amusement. Picking up a handful of
pebbles she used an Elf form of travel—the dissolve, which allowed
her to move distances and reassemble at will. She reappeared on the
opposite side of the roof where she threw them at the backs of the
humans. They turned en masse their faces torn by ferocious scowls
as they scrambled across the area with drawn weapons. All they
found were a few rocks because the Elf had dissolved the second the
pebbles had left her fingers.
    “Tis almost as
much fun as making Gnomes chase shalur,” chuckled an unrepentant
Elf who was already back following the erratic Vampire.
    The Tyro
continued following the Vampires down the dark lanes that snaked
between old buildings whose interior secrets were kept by those of
the night. When Zyre saw the slight neon glow of the light above
the doorway of the club she knew that this was the only unexplored
path left open to the girl. The young Vampire fell behind a group
as they entered, which left the Elf