Beyond the Veil (Book 1 of the series, Beyond Valwood)

Chapter 1 ~ (Continued) ~

The vampire acted first. Without warning he began to run. He was smoothly cutting a path through the woods, so fast it was only a mere moment before Natalya lost sight of him. She returned to her horse and pulled herself into the saddle again as the gap between them began to close. She urged the mare into a frenzied gallop, inwardly relishing the challenge of the hunt.

Back at the tree, the owl took flight again after her. Swiftly they ran, froth running from her horse's lips at the bit, and still Natalya pushed her to run faster. Fallen leaves and dust flew into the air after her pounding hooves as the trees flew by, but the vampire continued to elude her.

It was another hour before they had caught up to their quarry. He had finally stopped running and was kneeling on the ground, his back to Natalya. She pulled sharply on the reins and her horse began to slow, sweat glistening on the mare's chest and legs. Her nostrils flared and she was breathing heavily.

As quietly as she could, Natalya followed the vampire, anxious to know why he had suddenly stopped. She snapped on the horse's reins, but Methea did not move.

The mare had stopped, snorting anxiously and refusing to go any further. Natalya tried coaxing the horse into a trot, but she knew the smell of blood was in the mare's nostrils, and it was only by leading the horse on foot that Natalya was able to make any more progress.

When she had neared the vampire, Natalya secured Methea to a nearby tree and unsheathed her stake. She could hear gut wrenching noises from the hunched over vampire, and she crept closer. It was clear the vampire was feeding, though it was impossible to tell how long the victim had been dead.

Natalya swallowed the bile that rose in her throat, silently willing herself to not be sick. The smell of blood was also heavy in the air, concealing Natalya's scent. She knew his thoughts were consumed with quenching his insatiable thirst and of nothing else, and so she was able to get quite close behind him.

She raised her stake above her head, prepared to drive it through his heart. Instead she gasped, nearly dropping the weapon in shock as she saw the weathered face of the dead victim.

"No!" she moaned aloud before she could stop herself, and the vampire, alerted to her presence, whirled around with inhuman speed.

The victim was Anesa. Her age and slowing reflexes had finally failed her after all of these years. Blinded with grief, Natalya lunged with her stake, but the vampire had already fled with blood still dripping from his fangs. Natalya merely watched him go with tears coursing down her cheeks, unable to summon the will to follow him. No. Not her. The mantra repeated in her head until the words had lost all meaning.

The body was already showing signs of decay and had been partially drained of blood, but Natalya couldn't be mistaken. She studied the woman's face, from the innumerable lines that weathered it to her wispy white hair. Her neck was absent of her amulet, and it was clear that she had fought without its protection. What had befallen the woman that she had been forced to remove it?

Anesa's lips were parted slightly as if she had still been speaking, longing still to impart her knowledge to Natalya even after her death. Natalya tried to imagine her final moments, but she couldn't reconcile the raw, uninhibited strength her former mentor had so easily demonstrated with the frail, defeated woman beside her.

One of her triumphs lay next to her though, the bloodied and broken body of one of the vampires. Anesa's stake was protruding from his chest, and Natalya wrenched it from the body, ignoring the sickening crunch of his collapsed chest as she slid it from between his broken ribs. How many others had she faced, and how many others had this stake felled? In her prime the woman had been a formidable force, though Natalya knew bitterly that all life must someday yield to the failings of age.

She circled her mentor, searching for clues to her demise. It was clear she had been dead for at least a few hours, and it was likely the vampire had returned to this place many times in the night to replenish the fading strength that the chase had taken. Her rounds in the surrounding woods revealed three more dead vampires in varying degree of injury and decomposition.

One thing had struck Natalya as strange though; Anesa's body did not exhibit the classic two pronged bite to the neck as most vampire attacks did. Instead her body had been unnecessarily mangled and precious blood allowed to flow into the earth from multiple wounds. Natalya looked to the surrounding scene, though her suspicion that this had been a newly created vampire had begun to grow.

Many footprints that pointed in erratic directions filled the scene, hinting at a struggle. And as Natalya counted the sets of prints, she realized she and Anesa had walked straight into a trap.

She returned to Anesa's body and began rummaging through her pack, searching for the thing she had picked up a few days earlier on a whim. At last her fingers closed on what she had been looking for, careful to avoid the thorns. She pulled out a single red rose that had been perfectly preserved by one of Valwood's shopkeepers and arranged it carefully, closing Anesa's hand over it. The woman instantly seemed more serene, though the ruse still could not hide the old woman's blood.

It was the closest thing to a decent burial Natalya could provide now, though she knew it wouldn't be long until someone else discovered her and a proper funeral would be held. The vampire she left to the coming sunlight that would render his and the other bodies to dust.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you," Natalya murmured aloud. As she had leaned over the woman, her amulet swung downwards, nearly touching Anesa's body. The fog shifted and began to swirl very fast until it faded into a cloudy gray. Natalya clasped the pendant in her hand, for it seemed as if it too were mourning the woman's death. She entwined her hand with the dead woman's in parting before standing up once more.

She began to shake as pure rage began flowing through her veins. The adrenaline lent strength to her body, fueling her desire to avenge the woman. She knew the time for grief would come, but now was not that time. Her only thought was to avenge Anesa's death. With cold blooded focus she untied Methea and studied the prints the fleeing vampire had left behind. Her eyes widened in surprise as she connected his footprints to his destination in her mind.

It couldn't be. Confusion forced itself through her sadness. He seemed to be heading straight towards the Ruins—the territory of the Werewolves. It made no sense for the vampire to seek out his bitterest enemies, though the footprints were clearly travelling in that direction. Natalya shook her head and looked at the woman sadly for the last time. Now that Anesa was gone she remained the only person in Valwood capable of defending her people from the ever present threats of the Vampires. Their numbers were thriving with the abundance of human blood her city provided them, and Natalya was determined to break the cycle.

"I promise I won't sleep soundly until the last vampire dies," she vowed to her fallen mentor with a shaking voice. She sheathed her weapon, mounted her horse and continued towards Claw Haven. No matter how many vampires her mentor had faced, Natalya would kill them all and avenge Anesa.

As the night deepened and Natalya followed the fleeing prints of the vampire, she allowed the rhythmic gait of the cantering horse to soothe her terrible thoughts. She rode, numb and nearly unfeeling to the trail's end, until she could see a looming gray wall before her-- the fabled wall that had divided the citizens of Valwood from the territory of the werewolves for over one hundred years.