The Death of a Vampire

1. Airy Girl

"She's having fun," Orri said.

"Shush, we don't want her to hear us," the older goblin said quietly.

They lay on their stomachs, camouflaged by the forest. As long as they lay still, no one would see them. As a child, Orri had read about chameleons and wondered if they were related to goblins, as they took on the colours of their surroundings in the same way. He had been told that goblins and lizards were definitely not related. Evolution had simply given them a similar skill.

The little girl flew around the tree trunks, giggling. She was holding her favourite doll in her hand – a little goblin with long, green, messy hair. Orri had developed a liking for the little girl. He was still young enough to remember what playing and having fun was like. Some of the older goblins were so serious.

He'd watched the two sisters playing together on many occasions. The other one, Nana, was a Walker. And this little one, Susan, was an Airy. Together, they were quite a handful for their mother. It was difficult enough keeping up with an ordinary lively toddler, never mind one who could vanish at a snap of the fingers and reappear who knew where next. Not to mention another child, who could easily escape up into the air. The deep lake right next to the Healer House must have been another problem for an alert mother – and the Diver was not always near.

"Wheeee!" Susan yelled, somersaulting in the air.

As she did this, the little goblin doll fell out of her hand, landing right in front of Orri and his uncle.

"Close your eyes," his uncle warned. "They are the only things the forest won't hide."

Orri squeezed his eyes shut. But he didn't really need his eyes. The forest talked to him through his hands and feet. When Susan landed on the mossy forest floor in front of them, he could see it in his mind's eye. The moss also told him when the small weight of the girl had lifted up again.

But there was something else there too... Orri looked at his uncle, worried.

"I can feel it as well," the elder goblin whispered.

A cold presence. The forest felt it and told the goblins the direction it was coming from.

"There. Behind that old birch..." Orri whispered.

The vampire was observing the little girl intently, making it clear what her intentions were. She crouched down when the girl approached in the air, unaware, without a care in the world.

Orri's uncle stood up and his movement caught the vampire's attention. She hissed softly.

"You are not to hunt in our Queen's lands," Orri's uncle said quietly.

He didn't raise his voice, but the vampire could hear him well enough.

"And you are not to intervene in our hunting," the vampire said.

"We do not interfere with your... hunting... unless it is on our land. This land belongs to the Goblin Queen and she and the ruler of the Meri Clan have an agreement that this land is out of bounds for vampires on the hunt."

The vampire's eyes darted toward the little girl, who now had her back to them, standing on a branch of an ancient birch. Its trunk was dotted with chaga mushrooms. The vampire hissed again. It wasn't the food-hunger that drew her. She was hungry for skills.

"In the name of the Goblin Queen, I command you to leave. You are free to roam these forests, but you must leave anyone living here alone. If you don't obey, we will send word to the ruler of the Meri Clan. I doubt you will want to face his punishment."

The vampire hesitated. Then she spat in their direction, turned and was gone in a blur of movement.

The girl glimpsed the motion and turned to look their way. They waited until she turned away again before speaking.

"Do you think she would have killed the girl if we had not been here?" Orri asked.

"I think it's most likely. If she thought there was no danger of being caught, she would have drunk her blood to gain the skill of flying."

"Good thing we were here, then," Orri said.

"That is exactly why we were here," his uncle said. "Creatures draw vampires to them like magnets. And we are close to the castle of the Meri Clan. There are too many vampires active around here, if you ask me. We don't trust them – have you ever heard the saying: 'Opportunity makes the thief'? And so, that's why we're keeping an eye on the healer woman and her children. The Diver helps too."

The girl jumped into the air and flew off.

"Come on. Let's get back to the cave. The Queen needs to know about this," Orri's uncle said.

Quietly, they walked away towards the hidden ravine.