The Monster Inside: The First Vampire

The Crow had woken early. Early enough that it was still dark when it went to fetch it's meal. The dark had never bothered it before though. In fact, the short times of the day when the moon gave way to the sun or vice versa were the best for hunting it's prey. Perhaps it could still catch a few crickets before they all settled in again. The Crow liked crickets. Crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside.     

The Crow spread its beautiful black wings. It was proud of its feathers. It pruned and cleaned them every day to shed itself of any unwanted grime and to shed the heaviness of the old oil that coated it's pitch-like plumage. But it would eat first. It would eat, then it would settle somewhere high to watch the life below it as it cleaned and pruned.     

Flapping and soaring over hills and past a small village, the Crow eventually came upon the farm that it had found to have the most crickets. It was large and extended to at least a quarter of the Island they were on, so there were plenty of crickets to go around. There were a few other farms on the surrounding Islands, but with such abundance the Crow had little reason to visit them apart from leisure, which it of course had little time for in its busy schedule of pruning and cleaning and of course ensuring that plenty of shiny things found their way into its nest.     

The Crow alighted onto a tree branch, cocking its head to the side to observe the crops below. There was some movement, though mostly from those small meaty animals that liked to hide in their burrows. The Crow always left those to the creatures that hunted on the ground, it had an easier time if it settled for it's crickets. Some of the other Crows were not so patient. They had met a much worse fate than the burrow creatures they tried to hunt.     

As the Crow's eyes scanned their way across the crops, it noticed something out of the ordinary. Had the Farmer come out early? The Crow turned to get a better look at the dark figure standing among the rows of tomato vines. No, it didn't look like the Farmer, it was too still. The Farmer moved too much when he was standing in the crops.     

Just as the Crow was about the write off the figure as some tool of some sort that the Farmer had left behind, it suddenly thought of that human full of straw it had found with a few of its friends a few weeks ago. The group of them had been terrified of coming to the farm with the figure constantly on guard. But after one of them got brave and decided to sneak close enough to catch a particularly juicy looking lizard, they had discovered that the figure was in fact not guarding the crops at all. Just a bag of straw that looked to be in the shape of a man. Was that what this figure was?     

The Crow puffed its feathers proudly for having worked it out. That Farmer couldn't trick him again. The Crow cawed in triumph as it flew over and landed on the shoulder of the still figure. It shifted, noticing that perhaps the figure was slightly more solid than the straw and wood it had landed on previously, then reared back to peck a hole in the cloth so it could pull out the straw.     

Behind the Crow, right where it wouldn't think to look, a thin rope of shadow rose up from the ground, it reared back slowly, swaying languidly. Then, quick as a flash of lightning, the shadow whipped forward, snapping right upon contact with the Crow.     

The Crow cawed in surprise and pain, flapping its wings but unable to right itself as it tumbled down into one of the tomato plants, it's beautiful ebony feathers flowing in every which direction. As the pain from the shadowy whip burned on its behind, the Crow noticed that it was perhaps a little breezy on its rear end.     

It turned…only to find most of its tail feathers littered on the ground around the figure. The Crow looked up in outrage, only to have its always proud caw freeze in its throat.     

Red eyes stared back at it through the darkness, amused, yet not in the way one is when joking. Amused as if a god was staring down at a mere slave as if to say, 'What? I did nothing, and I dare you to say otherwise'.     

The Crow considered itself pretty smart. So instead of meeting the challenge, it hopped over to the free ground then took off, a little wobbly, but at least it was headed far from this strange figure.     

Rassa's red eyes followed the Crow as it flew towards the orange horizon in the east. Dawn was mere minutes away, and Rassa had yet to hear about the success or failure of Ebony's solo hunt. He'd always hunted with her when he had trained her on the Southern continent, and during the trip across Whaler's Strait they hadn't had to hunt, feeding from the other passengers of The Moon Voyager as necessary.     

As they'd come close to the Southern Isles the previous evening, Rassa had instructed Talo to make for Port Leis then taken Ebony towards one of the smaller Islands. Even if she had yet to have access to the allure ability, there were plenty of alternatives. Feeding on animals was one, though he particularly disliked it despite his initial years. Human blood had just become so much more appealing.     

The ever so slight morning breeze alerted his senses to the smell of that less-than-delectable alternative and he turned away from the dawning sun. His shadows shrinking and curling back now that no threats, nor petty annoyances, bothered their master.     

Ebony appeared at the end of the crop row, she had drops of blood smeared a little on her chin and neck, as well as a bit of goat fur. Rassa's upper lip twitched in distaste. She was remarkably better at keeping clean in her feedings than when she'd first fed. That had been, for all intents and purposes, a bloody disaster.     

"Full?" asked Rassa, his tone low as he appraised her, offering her a handkerchief from his pocket. She looked somewhat sheepish as she took it from him and cleaned herself up.     

"And the Goat sufficiently mauled to make it look like a wolf or a fox did it," said Ebony.     

Rassa raised an eyebrow, "Was it a baby goat?"     

Ebony frowned as if offended by the insinuation, "No".     

Rassa stepped past her, "Then it must have been a very skilled fox to take down an animal at least twice it's size – there aren't any wolves in the Southern Isles after all".     

"I…I'll do better next time," Ebony sighed in defeat.     

Rassa looked over his shoulder at her, "Don't look so put out. You had enough intelligence to at least attempt to disguise the kill when it happened. You weren't expecting it after all, were you?"     

Ebony jogged to walk next to Rassa as they made their way away from the farm, "How did you know?"     

"I know because you kept asking me how I stop so easily on the way here," Rassa replied, "It's normal to not want to, you know. If I don't have to I don't. Luckily for Talo and the others, I consider them useful".     

Ebony sighed, "Still, you make it seem so easy".     

"Yes, you mentioned that once or twice," Rassa said, "Our path is that of Gluttony, by denying that path we deny what and who we are. To kill is not a bad thing. Not for us".     

Ebony paused. She had heard this plenty of times since Rassa had turned her. But it had never overwritten her human morals. She'd taken her first life as a human, but that had been self-defense. Either her or them. This wasn't. This was practically a boot stepping on an ant. She had all the power, all the time. She didn't need things like self-defense anymore. At least against anyone except Rassa and Aegin, but she was pretty confident they would never hurt her.     

"I get it," Ebony said, a little sullen, "I will get it".     

Rassa wasn't so sure, though he didn't voice his opinion. He had a feeling that just like himself, Ebony would need to fall to understand just how high she could climb…and the price of climbing always had to be paid.     

"Let's go. Talo should be close to Port Leis by now," said Rassa.     

***     

The Moon Voyager was quite the sight amongst the docks of Port Leis. It was obvious the ship was still relatively new from the shine of its timbers, but it wasn't the ship itself that drew attention. No, what drew attention was the deep red sails, and the white symbol on the main sail that everyone on the Island of Rouke would be able to name in a heartbeat.     

The Crescent Moon inside a Full Moon. The symbol of the renowned Moonshadow Trading Company. But Moonshadow didn't have its own fleet of ships…did it? It certainly must have been rich enough by now. Anyone could see the success of that business plainly, and not just those at Moonshadow, but anyone along Charm Street.     

Word of the ship had travelled rapidly through the Port, so quickly in fact that by the time Iah heard word of it at breakfast, it had barely been docked.     

"There's a ship with the Moonshadow symbol on it's main sail?" asked Iah as she looked over at Mathius, the man whom she had hired several months ago to be her assistant. He had shown a lot of promise, and was more than capable of living up to her expectations. The staff adored him as he always took their needs into account, and their clients were quite accommodating whenever Mathius served them tea or addressed them with the manners he would a high noble. He was an older man in his fifties, but he still had the energy of one in his twenties.     

"Aye, Lady Moonshadow," Mathius nodded, "That is what I've heard. I sent someone to investigate right away. We can't have someone parading as the Moonshadow Trading Company".     

Iah frowned, "No…"     

She reached into her pocket, clutching the Tracking Charm in her hand. It had been over a fortnight since she'd last held it, but the lines leading to Ebony and Rassa were now far brighter that even Falla's. They had to be in the Port, likely on that very ship if the southern direction of the line was any indication.     

"I'd hold off on any hostilities, Mathius," Iah smiled, "What is the progress on the Moonshadow Apartments?"     

"Three of the five buildings have been fully completed and occupied, my Lady. The fourth still has half of its apartments without tenants and the fifth is just a few days from completion," stated Mathius proudly, "Though I have not yet advertised it as you requested".     

"Good, have the key on my desk momentarily, I'll shall be needing it later today," stated Iah.     

"Later today…My lady, your schedule is still fully booked with appointments for the day," stated Mathius. Iah just waved him off as she rose up, "If it's important, reschedule, if not, put in an apology. I have other matters to attend to today".     

"My lady, you had a dinner appointment with the other business owners of Charm Street at the Willow's Bend Restaurant," stated Mathius.     

"Oh," stated Iah, pausing in thought, "Add two more seats then".     

"Are Lady Startree and Mr Trevor joining you?" asked Mathius.     

"No, no," Iah replied, "Just add the two seats, the rest will be explained later".     

"Ah, yes, my lady," replied Mathius, clearly confused as to who these two extra guests would be.     

Iah had a skip in her step as she left the dining hall and made her way across the living area and then out into the hall of the third floor of the Ruin. It may by no means have been a Ruin anymore, but the name had stuck at least to those who had once lived there. Those who worked on the floor below called it the Charm Shop.     

Iah crossed briskly to her study, throwing open the door and bee-lining her way to the safe where she kept the business reports that she had dedicated herself to compiling under lock and key.     

Iah retrieved them and placed them neatly on the desk before she gave a relieved smile.     

Finally, she could show Rassa all she had done in his absence, all she had achieved without his help. She spared a small thought for her sister who had not been so confident in her own abilities, then she paused. Was this it?     

After everything she'd done for nearly three years, was this all that would become of her? To pass over the business like a good little servant? It felt so underwhelming. So, insulting to all of her efforts. She'd always known that Rassa was the true owner, but his absence, and supposed death, had meant that nearly all of the staff at Moonshadow believed that she was the owner. Mathius included. How would they take the shift in leadership? Because surely Rassa wouldn't just let her continue in the role she had been doing.     

Suddenly unsure of her purpose, Iah sat back in her chair behind the desk and stared at the reports before her.