Alexina
The door burst open and a seven foot tall monster in chainmail and leather strode through. She had a woman’s face with a wolfish muzzle, her skin black as old leather and her fingernails black claws, a sword in one hand and a hatchet in the other, which she hammered down on the Vampyr’s head. His skull split as the axe head buried itself into the Vampyr’s milky white brain. He slumped to the floor and went still as several ghouls swarmed over the wolf warrior, the rest shambling quickly towards the others.
An oval formed in front of the young man, vanishing as he stepped through it, then reappearing a moment later as he grabbed his katana with both hands and began attacking the ghouls swarming her, cutting down several before they realized he was there.
Alexina noticed this in passing as the remaining ghouls shambled towards her. Gathering her power, she chanted a phrase as she flung out her arms and it went out like a golden wave; a life enchantment, too broad to kill but strong enough to cause pain to anything undead. She dropped her hand to the familiar as the spell swept through the ghouls, several panicking and turning around while others staggered, her fighters taking advantage to rip into the monsters with their black bladed swords.
She changed the focus as she chanted again, drawing power and pulling the life enchantment into a tight, glowing ball, which she threw at an approaching ghoul. It hit the creature mid-chest, life meeting unlife, and blew it apart, the ghoul burning away into black char as the spell consumed it. Glancing down, her Daemo familiar eagerly nodded and she drew enough power to recast the golden wave and send it forth.
As the wave washed over them, the ghouls broke, shrieking as they turned around and ran for the kitchen and their nest down below. The young man and the wolf-woman followed through the open doorway, the smack of blades ripping through bodies and more inhuman shrieking continuing for a few moments as Alexina’s fighters let the monsters go to rejoin their mistress. “Domina,” Bron, her grizzled captain, said, “all well?”
Breathing heavily, Alexina nodded. “Well enough. Two greater spells, back to back, take wind from sails.” Her men chuckled as her voice grew sharp. “How fare my warriors? Wounds to heal?”
“Nay, Domina,” Bron replied as the others shook their heads. “Spells give weakness to enemies. Gratitude.” The others chimed in as well, motioning for Alexina to sit again as the sound of a door slamming shut came from the kitchen.
A moment later there was a rattle like a bolt being thrown. “Shite,” the young man’s voice snarled from the kitchen. “Monsters think trapdoor will stop destruction. I will grab axe—”
“Leave be,” a deep female voice said in almost a growl. “Lend shoulder in moving barrels over trapdoor.”
A moment later, sounds of heavy scraping along the floor began coming from the kitchen as Alexina sat down with a whuff. “Merchant Dominus,” she called out, “crisis averted. Men can rise again.”
The merchant lumbered to his feet. “Milksop myrmidons,” he snapped, glaring down at the guardsmen who’d been cowering on the floor with him, “with valor strong as snowflakes—”
“Good merchant,” Alexina said, switching to the Greco language, which most everyone in the civilized world understood, “before you turn these poor wretches out into the snow, give thought to putting them to use.” She pointed at the piles of corpses. “Once the unlife leaves their bodies, the stench will be horrible. Best to toss them outside and burn the bodies.”
The merchant bowed to her, his jowls quivering as he turned towards his guards. “You heard Domina. Set arms to task or find self tossed outside as well.”
The guardsmen all scrambled to their feet, grabbing the first of the bodies by the arms and legs as the servant girl rushed over to Alexina and knelt in front of her. “Mistress Daemo,” she said in Ruska with her head bowed, “please forgive my deception and take me into your service, I beg you.”
Alexina placed a bone thin hand on the girl’s head. “Forgiveness you had without asking; I knew as soon as I caught the smell of the Vampyres that you had to be in their thrall.” She wound a finger through the dark tresses. “But what use would I have for you?”
She looked up into the Daemo’s purple eyes. “Give me to your men, as the innkeeper did when he wanted a guest entertained. I can dance for them and give them carnal pleasure, without any worries about disease or my being with child.” Her gaze went towards the floor as an expression of self-loathing slithered across her face. “The Vampyres made sure of that.”
As the young man and the monster re-entered the common room, an idea began shaping itself in Alexina’s mind as the wolf-warrior, who she remembered from a long time ago, called out, “Leave bodies. Necessary to extract mana nodes before burning.”
The merchant’s guards stopped, looking at their master as Alexina whispered to the servant, “Remain where you are. Asena,” Alexina switching to Greco, “there’s no need to harvest something so nasty for your mana needs. I have a better solution.”
Dark eyes narrowed in her leathery face as she also switched to Greco. “How do you know my name?”
“How could I not, considering we both served at one time at the court of Macedonia.”
Asena gaped at her a moment before closing her mouth. “Alexina? It cannot be; you died when the Etruscans overran the Greco kingdoms, or so I heard.”
“And Wotan had you killed for defying him, or so I heard.” Alexina made an open gesture with her hands. “Yet, here we are. Now,” her voice becoming brisk, “instead of eating the mana nodes of these repellent creatures to replenish your own needs, I will let you absorb the mana my familiar gives off.” Asena hesitated, seemingly torn, and she added, “Familiars are much like goats in that they need to be regularly milked or they get cranky.” The familiar made a rude noise and Alexina gave it a mock glare. “They also share a goat’s nasty temperament.”
Her men chuckled as the young man said, “You should take her up on it. Eating undead nodes may keep you alive, but they make you cranky as well.”
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He dodged a cuff from her clawed hand, but only just. “Daemo don’t do anything out of the goodness of their heart,” she said, glaring at Alexina. “You want something.”
Alexina leaned back in her chair. “Of course I want something. Sit on the bench beside me; I will have the servant bring wine, and you and I can talk.” She smiled. “Everything’s on the house tonight.”
“Mistress,” the girl at her feet said, “there’s a cask of good wine up on the stone shelf in the corner, but I’m not strong enough to bring it down.”
“I can get it,” the young man said to her.
Asena whirled on him. “Wotan’s blood,” she said, also in Ruska, “you don’t know this language. Where did it bite you?”
“Asena,” the Daemo said, “the young man’s fine. He resisted the venom and it burned away without any lasting effects.” Asena still made him unbuckle the strap to his shoulder armor so she could inspect the wound, grunting as she probed the area. After a few moments, she motioned for him to re-buckle the armor as Alexina said, “Your guardsman has a strong will if he can resist a Vampyr.”
“Greywolf’s my son,” Asena replied as she motioned towards the kitchen. “Go get that cask down, and no flirting with the girl.”
Greywolf put his hand out to the serving girl and helped her to her feet, smiling as he said, “Yes, Asena.”
“I’m serious,” she growled.
“Yes, Asena.”
The wolf-warrior rolled her eyes as the two walked towards the kitchen, stepping around the guards who were beginning to move the bodies outside. The door opened, bringing the icy wind with it, Asena shivering as it ran fingers of frost through her mane. Ignoring the bench, she sat down in front of the hearth with her back to the fire. “I swear, winter gets worse every year.”
“Nothing to do with our getting older, of course,” Alexina said. She had shivered as well, and Bron, without asking, slid her chair a little closer to the fire. She looked up at him. “Bron,” she said in Greco, “would you mind taking your men and making sure the undead are properly burned? The Vampyres especially.”
Glancing at Asena, he frowned. “Will you be alright?”
“With the Wolf Mother? Safe as a lamb. Besides, if she killed me, who would she have to gossip with?” Bron gave her a dark look but said nothing, collecting the others as they grabbed their cloaks and headed for the door. Alexina watched them go before turning back towards Asena. “Now we can freely speak our minds. I have something you need, and you have someone I need as well.”
Asena’s eyes, looking across at the Daemo, narrowed. “You wish to feed off my son, both in blood and carnal passion.”
“I have no desire to die, at least not yet. Asena, human blood no longer has a taste; I only feed because my nursemaid guardsmen insist on it. Yet, the moment your son walked in through the door, his blood scent sang in my nostrils, sang in a way that hasn’t happened in hundreds of years. I need him the way you need my familiar.” Alexina glanced over her shoulder. “Pook, come here.” The small, misshapen Daemo scurried over to her chair and wrapped its arms around her leg. “Now, none of that,” Alexina unwrapping its arms and giving it a gentle push towards Asena. “Go on, let her touch you. It’s safe, I promise.”
As the little Daemo took a cautious step forward, a troubled expression came over Asena’s face. “What you’re suggesting is forbidden.”
“By whom? The Celestial Council? Wotan? How much more can they do to you that they’ve not already done.”
“I already draw the mana Greywolf naturally gives off—”
“Which isn’t enough, or you wouldn’t be thinking of eating mana nodes off a ghoul. Asena, please take what I’m offering you.” The troubled look remaining on her face, Asena reached out a black clawed hand and gently placed it on the familiar’s head.
After a few moments, her expression eased. “The aches and fatigue… they’re washing away. Your mana feels different but it’s working, the same as ours.”
“Mana is mana,” Alexina said, giving the Wolf Mother a gentle smile. “The difference is that ours must be freely given. You cannot kill a Daemo and take our mana nodes.”
“Because the instant you die, you dissolve into slime that seeps into the earth and disappears. I’ve killed enough of your kind to know that.” Pook squeaked in fear and Asena looked down at the little Daemo before patting its head. “Not you; I like goats.” Asena took her hand away as she gave Alexina a sharp look. “Greywolf’s gift must be freely given as well. I won’t coerce him into doing this, not even for you.”
Alexina’s expression turned sardonic. “Do you truly believe your son will turn me down?”
The sound of a female giggling came from the kitchen, one of the guardsmen poking another and grinning as he pointed at the doorway. “Greywolf,” Asena growled in a loud voice, “where’s my wine?”
The giggling stopped. “Coming, Asena,” Greywolf called back.
From the kitchen, the creak of a cask being broached began as Asena turned her glare on the two guards. They blanched and bolted through the door, hurrying into the storm as Alexina smiled. “Somehow I believe your son’s consent won’t be a problem.”
Asena snorted. “At least I’ll have someone else keeping him out of trouble. So… you propose we travel together for a time?”
“I’m actually thinking of something more than that. Did Ghostdog ever tell you I knew him when he served the emperor of Xian, before Lady Sword-son led the rebellion that ended their Daemo-influenced dynasty?” Asena froze, and Alexina’s expression turned sardonic again. “Asena, really. The Shadow-walkers are all dead and forgotten except for one, and I remember Ghostdog being an old friend of yours. Anyway, in those days he’d forgotten what he truly is, and believed himself to be human, trained to be a sword dancer for the imperial court. Do you think your son might have the same abilities?”
Asena shook her head like a baffled wolf. “I’ve no idea what you’re getting at. Speak plainly.”
“Alright. The world’s forgotten our struggle against each other for mastery of the world. I want to show it to them, combining sword dancing with Greco tragedy, with Greywolf and myself as the principal dancers.”
“You’ll turn it into a carnal romp. You Daemo always do.”
Alexina shook her head. “How can I, when you will be one of the actors representing the gods?”
“Me?”
“I can think of no one better. Imagine the stage: painted backdrops, illusions skillfully cast by myself and by others, misshapen Daemo playing the princes and Greywolf, along with other trained sword dancers, as the forces of mankind and the gods defending against us. The chorus will speak most of the story, meaning you will only need to remember a few lines. Just glower a lot.” Alexina reached out and laid her hand on the Wolf Mother’s shoulder. “Think of it. You, of all the people in the world, will be the one showing the triumph of the gods.”
Rumbling laughter began deep in Asena’s belly. “Wotan will throw a fit.” Alexina withdrew her hand and leaned back, watching as Asena thought the idea through. “No one will have ever seen such a performance before. They’ll line our palms with silver.”
“Permission, Domina?” Alexina nodded at the merchant, who’d been listening. He took a deep breath. “If trust given to humble servant,” the man placing his hand on his heart, “to make tragedy live, silver will snow like storm outside.”
Asena looked at him, then back at the Daemo. “So long as it remains a tragedy and nothing more, I’m willing to give it a go… provided Greywolf is.” As if on cue, Greywolf and the servant girl came out, the latter holding a tray of wine cups and a ceramic pitcher. Asena growled, “About time. Pour us all a cup and sit beside me. Lady Alexina has an idea I’m warming up to.”
As Greywolf and the girl began serving drinks, Alexina placed her elbows on the armrests and touched her fingertips together. Oh, the tragedy will remain exactly as you desire. But once I’ve initiated your son into the carnal mysteries, then after a performance, when you are deep in your cups, he and I will put on a private show men will pay gold to watch. She sighed. Eventually, you will find out. You will fly into a rage and kill me before anyone can save me, or I can save myself… never knowing how much I long for that day. Never knowing how much I long for my death.
As Greywolf sat down with a wine cup in his hand and looked up at the Daemo, Alexina lowered her hands and smiled. “Greywolf, your father was once a sword dancer in ancient Xian. How would you like to become the same?”
