The crash of the waves against the rocks of the Caledonian coast and the subsequent sound of the spray that came after were new to Myanna. She had always imagined what it might have been like to hear the waves and see how the water broke upon the rocks. She’d tried to imagine it by scaling up the experience of waves she had seen at various lakes, but it wasn’t the same. The ocean waves were just so much more in every conceivable way. The deep rumble as they rolled in, the crescendo of the crash, the freshness of the salt spray in her nose, and the way the foam churned and fizzled were all things that she couldn’t recreate anywhere else. She’d always wanted to see it, and now she was here.

The cuirizu leaned on the railing, taking in the peaceful moment to herself. The sun was warm on her bare brown skin as it drank in the rays, her plant-like physiology converting the light to nourishment as she gazed out over the ocean from the deck of the inn. A gentle salty breeze blew through the trees, creating a soft subtle chorus of rustling to join with the waves occasionally. Myanna brushed a strand of her emerald hair from her face and just let herself breathe for a moment, savoring it for as long as she could. Of course, nothing could last forever, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t try.

Behind her was the faint sound of patrons inside the inn enjoying conversation and drinks with one another. The soft clinking of glass reminded her of her drink held loosely in one hand. Myanna opened her eyes, brought the silver goblet to her mouth, and took a long, slow sip of the wine she had ordered before stepping onto the deck. It was rich and robust, vaguely Orpevan, she was sure, but she couldn’t quite place it. It tasted good enough, which meant she ought to be able to pin it down relatively quickly as to its origin, but she just couldn’t. Her scarlet eyes scanned the water far below the deck, which protruded out over open air from the inn fixed securely on the cliffside. Far below, she could see a few bare-chested mermaids sunbathing on rocks that jutted out of the water.

Myanna studied them carefully, having never seen one in person before. Even at this distance, she could make out the curves of their bodies, the glistening of their blue and green scales in the sun, and the fullness of their bare pink-tipped breasts. Along their ribs were fleshy pink gill,s and their bodies were adorned with a mixture of fine jewelry and found items from the beach or the bottom of the ocean. Drawings she had seen of the creatures did them little justice, and she considered dropping what she was doing to go down to them for a moment. One of them flicked her hair to one side, exposing a long, sensually slender neck, and Myanna felt her body surge with need.

The cuirizu stood upright and lifted the goblet to her lips again, never taking her eyes off the mermaids below as they lazed the afternoon away. She adjusted the strap of the green sling bikini she wore. The thing left little to the imagination, just the way Myanna liked it. She had obtained it from a shop specializing in Orpevan imports, where all the sexiest and slinkiest things seemed to come from. The craftsmen of the realm seemed exceptionally gifted at working with fine details and delicate fabrics. She didn’t know what this thing she wore was made of. The material was so delicate and light that the outline of her nipples and the rings pierced through them was unmistakable. The fabric had a bit of a shine when she adjusted her weight, which beautifully complemented the glow of her sepia-brown skin tone.

“Their beauty is captivating, innit?” a voice like a bell with a distinct lilting Caledonian brogue said from the inn’s doorway behind her, “But that’s part of the danger. They lure people close and then drag them below the waves, watch the light go out in their eyes.”

Myanna turned to look at the woman standing in the shade of the doorway. The cuirizu was immediately struck by her beauty and the paleness of her skin. She looked as though she had hardly spent a day in the sun, and her deep red hair that ran down past the small of her back only seemed to punctuate the creamy texture of her flesh. Like many patrons there enjoying their leisure time, the woman was also clad in a bikini, though it wasn’t quite as revealing as Myanna’s own. It was a darker blue, which starkly contrasted her skin. Her nails and lips were dark like the night, and her green eyes almost shone with their own light from beneath her long lashes.

The redhead seemed to notice the cuirizu’s wandering eyes but was unbothered. Myanna gave a brief nod as the woman took a long sip of something red from a glass in her right hand, “So I’ve read,” Myanna responded, her pierced brow rising slightly.

“Of course, that’s not of much concern to a cuirizu, is it?” The woman said with a smile curling the corners of her dark lips slightly, her eyebrows lifting almost playfully, “Especially the likes of Myanna of the Verdant Lust.”

Myanna’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she scrutinized the woman more. She had somewhat pointed ears like a half-elf but lacked many of the other attributes. She had a necklace coiled around her neck with a pendant that hung low between the swell of her breasts, it was riddled with dark red gems, and the large pendant itself had an almost oily sheen when it moved. With the faint hint of the woman’s smile, Myanna could make out more pronounced canines. The redhead was a vampire of some kind, and though she couldn’t place the bloodline, there was something very different about her. It explained why she hadn’t stepped into the light anyway.

The cuirizu ran through a short list of past vampire associates in her mind, and none bore even a passing resemblance to the woman in front of her. More concerning would have been the various vampire enemies she’d had due to her affiliation with the Abyssals during the war, but again she came up with nothing. She decided it was best to remain cordial, taking a drink from her goblet before placing her arm on the railing.

“I don’t think we’ve met before. And you are...?” Myanna queried.

“Taken aback by the beauty in front of me. Why don’t ye come inside so I can take a closer look?” the vampire replied with a slight purr in her voice, stepping back through the doorway as her eyes beckoned for Myanna to follow.

Myanna glanced around the deck that had been empty save for her, checked the windows to see if anyone was watching the exchange, and found no one. If this woman was with someone they had yet to reveal themselves, perhaps it was just her. Vampires were strong in a way that was hard to predict, but for one to challenge a cuirizu so openly in the middle of the day would have been foolish. This set Myanna’s mind at ease as she sauntered toward the door, the heels of her green shoes clicking gently on the mahogany as she went.

Inside the inn, the atmosphere was warmer, and the light considerably dimmer. The interior was decorated in the same fine wood as the deck but had been intricately carved along the walls and behind the bar and brought to a fine polish. Other patrons around the taproom conversed with one another quietly, most of them in similar swim attire, with only a few being fully clothed. As the vampire led her across the room to the bar to have a seat, one supple leg crossing over the other, a few of the patrons paused in what they were doing to watch her and then Myanna as they passed.

Myanna could feel their eyes on her, feel their want and desire for her body, but there was something strangely off about it. She’d experienced it many times before with countless individuals. Everyone had a different way of regarding what they wanted and coveted. Some had an overbearing quality. Others were like small animals peering from the dark; some made no particular effort to conceal their wandering eyes, while others became much more obvious with how drastic their actions were. Yet, the eyes she felt on her now, the desire that came with it, felt all similar.

Now that they were out of the open sea air, Myanna was able to detect the faint scent of blood in the glass the woman was holding, “I didn’t know they served that particular vintage here,” she noted with a slight motion of her head toward the vampire’s hand.

“Oh, it’s just a matter of knowing who and how to ask,” the redhead replied, setting the glass down on the bar top, “Can I buy ye a drink?”

Myanna glanced at her goblet and realized it was empty. She hadn’t realized she’d already drained it, “Perhaps. But I’d feel much better knowing your name, considering you have mine.”

“Kaethe Woodlock,” the vampire replied, producing a graceful hand that Myanna took gently. The cuirizu leaned down and kissed the back of her hand, keeping her eyes on Kaethe’s, who seemed to look on with approval.

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Woodlock,” Myanna said, “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this afternoon?”

Kaethe’s eyes flashed slightly with something Myanna couldn’t quite place, “Kaethe is fine. There’s no need to be so formal.”

Myanna was rather pleased with how the woman’s voice formed around the letter R. It was strangely alluring. It wasn’t as pronounced as the typical Caledonian accent. It was slightly more elegant and refined.

“Very well, Kaethe,” Myanna nodded, “If you’d like to buy me a drink, that would please me.”

Though she didn’t require a drink, Myanna took the moment Kaethe spent flagging down a bartender to take stock of those around them briefly. Again, no one seemed particularly interested in their conversation, though there were still those looking on with lust in their eyes. Both of the large taproom fireplaces crackled with small fires meant more for ambiance than heat. Various paintings of prominent and influential people who had stayed at the inn in the past lined the walls on either side above the intricate Caledonian carvings. Still, Myanna couldn’t place any of the faces. Indeed, she had difficulty making out some of the details, particularly the faces.

The bartender refilling her goblet brought her attention back to the bar and the woman sitting across from her. She had a subtle lavender perfume on, a habit typical of most vampires, even the males. Because vampires were undead, their bodies didn’t have all the same chemistry as they had in life. As a result, they lacked a scent of their own at the best of times and could reek like the grave itself at the worst of times. Anything that gave them a scent was prized highly within their culture. But Myanna noticed something else about it: a subtle undercurrent of pheromones that she would not have expected. This seemed out of place without the same body chemistry as the living. More noteworthy was how enticing she found the combination to be.

“I saw ye out on the deck and was waiting for ye to venture back inside, but when I saw how content ye were outside, the need to take bold action was required,” she explained as she gave a nod of thanks to the bartender.

“Is that so?” Myanna asked, picking her goblet up now with her other hand, which was covered in the array of black tattoos she had that ran up to the shoulder of that arm, “There aren’t many who would know what and who I am that would approach me when at such an apparent disadvantage.”

Kaethe smiled, her shoulder rose a bit girlishly, “Well, I’ve never been one for patience. So waiting until nightfall just wouldn’t do.”

Myanna took a sip of her wine and found it even more agreeable to her palette than before, “You might not be one for patience, but you are one for words. You’re flattery so far has not missed.”

As calm and level as Myanna’s tone was, she couldn’t help but feel the jump of excitement and arousal within. It wasn’t often that a woman approached her. Usually, Myanna made the first move with varying levels of aggression. This should have been a stark reminder that Vampires, like cuirizu and other fiends, were predators. But, instead, Myanna let it roll off of her without a thought.

“If flattery keeps yer beautiful eyes on me, I’ll gladly shower ye with it,” Kaethe said, a distinct look of desire bordering on hunger in her eyes as she spoke. As Kaethe spoke, the other sounds of the room seemed to fall away a little at a time.

Myanna couldn’t help but give a satisfied smirk. A woman who knew what she wanted and went for it always pleased her. Especially when the thing that the woman wanted was Myanna. Her fingers drummed on the goblet a little bit, her nails clicking on the silver as her other hand went up with fiddle slightly with the teardrop ruby that hung from her earlobe, “Surely you’re aware that the blood of a cuirizu won’t satisfy your hunger the way a mortal would,” she pointed out. Being that she was a plant creature of fiendish origin, the blood she had in her veins wasn’t precisely what vampires needed. They could make due, she was sure, but there were better targets for a hunt in this room alone.

“Sometimes one’s hunger is not tied to a need for sustenance,” Kaethe countered.

“And what is your hunger tied to?” Myanna asked, their eyes locked on one another.

Kaethe’s eyes moved down, like fingers over Myanna’s breasts and down to her pierced navel and the thin strip of emerald cloth between her legs before flicking back up to meet her gaze quickly, “Satisfaction.”

“Satisfaction,” Myanna repeated, taking a drink from her goblet briefly, but it couldn’t conceal the curl at the corner of her mouth or the pleased purr in her voice. It was like the vampire knew exactly what Myanna might be drawn to in a woman.

“You know who I am,” Myanna said, changing subjects slightly, “Is that why you’ve sought satisfaction from me?”

Kaethe shook her head, and a stray lock of red came loose from behind her ear and dangled gently along the side of her face, “No. Well, not entirely.”

Myanna’s chin rose a little, “No?”

“Yer reputation precedes ye, but seeing ye was an entirely different experience. I’m drawn to powerful women, and there is something that such women have in their body language that just can not be described. That exotic thing you’re wearing doesn’t hurt, of course. It’s as nice from behind as it is from the front. Gives a rather nice view of the number down your back.”

Myanna supposed that the corset piercings she had running down her back would have been quite the sight to someone who had not seen them before, even without the assistance of the sling straps accentuating her nearly nude form.

“Mmm, I’m pleased you like them. But again, you have me at a loss. You know of my reputation, but I know nothing of you. How you’ve heard of me narrows down who you may be affiliated with, however.”

“I am consort to Obsidian Morrigan herself, actually,” she admitted freely, blowing past Myanna’s subtle probing about her sources. If she was with the Obsidian Court, that explained how she knew of Myanna. They had warred with one another when Myanna had still been with the Abyssals. Kaethe’s smile widened at the look of recognition in Myanna’s eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Kaethe assured her, “I’m not here on any official business or acts of vengeance. We’re not really in the habit of hunting down the remnants of wartime enemies, and even if we were, you said it yourself...it wouldn’t be in the middle of the day like this.”

Myanna nodded in agreement, her composure still mostly intact, “So then, personal business? On vacation?”

“A little of both,” Kaethe answered with a girlish shrug, “I’ve not been with the court for long. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a chance to see home again.”

“I can empathize with that,” Myanna said, remembering a time when she was younger and that she’d be a whole world away from her home for quite a long time. “It’s not easy being away, and upon your return, your home never feels quite how it used to.”

Kaethe’s expression softened a little, and for a moment, the hunger in her eyes seemed to waver, but only briefly. The second it returned, Myanna felt a pull, like she was being drawn into the woman, fixed by her gaze. It was more overt than it had been before, which was why she noticed it. Many vampires of higher breeding and ruling bloodlines had the power to entrance people with nothing but a gaze. It was nearly infallible on mortals, but on other creatures with similar areas of expertise, like Myanna, it had to be used more subtly or risk revealing the power's nature. Whatever caused her to falter had also caused her to overcorrect only slightly. Myanna pretended as though she didn’t notice.

“So, a vacation with some personal business,” Myanna continued, “And you’d like to get your fill of exotic blood and sex while you’re at it?”

Kaethe craned her neck delicately to one side as she lifted the glass to her full lips, “If one were amiable.”

Myanna chuckled softly, “I admire how forthcoming you are. Most vampires would prefer to hunt than to be fed.”

Kaethe’s eyes glanced sideways at Myanna from beneath her thick lashes. Her gaze's fixating power washed over her mind warmly once more, but being aware of it helped her maintain control, “I suppose that depends on what’s being fed to me.”

The cuirizu leaned in more closely now, “And what you’ve heard of me through the Obsidian Court is of no concern to you?”

Kaethe tilted her head to the side, “What sort of things do ye mean?”

“The Abyssals and Queen Morrigan’s vampires fought one another rather viciously for most of the eleven years,” Myanna explained, “I saw my fair share of combat in the war, dusted a fair number of your people.”

Kaethe laughed a little bit, “My people? Nay, I hold very little kinship to such folk. Besides, it was a little bit before my time. I was turned in the last year or so of the war. And as I recall, the Obsidian Court was the one who won that conflict with the Abyssals, hm?”

“Is that what you think?” Myanna asked with a hint of amusement, “that victory was yours?”

“The casualties seem to speak for themselves. The end result, rather decisive.”

“And do you remember my role in that last battle?” Myanna continued calmly. Kaethe took a moment to think about it, her eyes moving slightly as if she was reading through something hanging in midair.

“You weren’t in that battle,” she said finally, “Nor was Olcaru.”

“Do I strike you as a coward?” Myanna said, her tone becoming just a little more authoritative. It appeared to catch Kaethe a little off guard.

“I would never accuse ye of..”

“That’s not what I meant,” Myanna cut her off, “I see no accusation in what you’ve said. But the question remains. Do I seem a coward to you?”

Kaethe turned her head a bit, and her gaze quickly moved over Myanna as if something was happening here that was unexpected, “No, I suppose not.”

“And do you think Olcaru was a coward? Based on all that you have heard?”

Again Kaethe paused before answering, “No, not based on what I know of her. But I never met her.”

“So if neither she nor I were cowards, but we were remarkable enough for you to have heard of or read of us, why were we not at such a decisive battle?”

Kaethe’s finger tapped the glass several times as she thought it over before she lifted her empty hand in surrender, “I don’t know.”

“Because every one of those who were sent to the battle were those who Olcaru had deemed unworthy. Rather than executing them herself or having one of her inner circle do it, she sent them to a battle she knew they could not win. She sent them to be slaughtered, to thin the herd.”

“A culling,” Kaethe said with a note of horror amid her understanding. “And you were not there because she had deemed you worthy of being spared?”

Myanna leaned back slowly, sitting more upright as she turned to show the tattoos on her arm. At the top was the mark of Olcaru in a wickedly stylized half-circle.

“Indeed she did. I and a few others went to another location to begin rebuilding anew.”

Kaethe bit her lip a little considering these new facts. Myanna was a little surprised that it hadn’t been known among the vampires how things had happened. Surely, if they knew Myanna was alive and walking around, they would have learned a little about the circumstances under which everything had transpired. Or so that was what Myanna had thought.

“So, are you still loyal to her?” Kaethe asked cautiously.

“No,” Myanna replied flatly, “No, Olcaru is gone. She was defeated and cast back into the Abyss after I learned what she..”

Kaethe raised her glass to take a drink, and there was a subtle etching depicting a butterfly on the bottom. Myanna’s brows furrowed, knowing she hadn’t seen it there before. The Vampire immediately noticed her change of demeanor and looked down, trying to see what she was looking at.

“What?” she asked, turning the glass a little to look at the bottom. When she inspected it, Myanna could see the butterfly etching was no longer there, “What are you looking at?”

Myanna’s eyes flicked around the room quickly, but nothing else seemed different from before. But this place wasn’t real. Myanna knew it now. It was as though something had clicked in her mind. There had been a time when she had been with the Abyssals, after the culling, that Myanna had drifted to sleep around one of the women she had taken captive, a half-vila named Gwendolyn. Cuirizu didn’t sleep for long and seldom did much dreaming. Hers had always been memory dreams. One night Gwendolyn had entered her dreamscape, something she had not known her capable of at the time. This was how the truth of Olcaru had been revealed. Gwendolyn had left a subtle thing behind in Myanna’s dreamscape when it had all been finished. Something that would show itself only to Myanna to signal to her that someone was in her dreams once again.

The butterfly on the glass had been the sign. It looked remarkably like the one that Gwendolyn often wore as a pin in her hair. Even if someone else could see it, it would be so unremarkable as to go unnoticed by anyone but Myanna. The cuirizu looked at the paintings again and still could not make out the faces. She glanced behind the bar, searching for a sign that gave prices on things, and found none. In dreams, writing and numbers typically weren’t clear. If someone had been manipulating a dream, they might have been clever enough to leave such things out. But everything else felt more real than she had ever experienced in a dream, especially one that was not simply a replayed memory.

“How are you doing this?” Myanna asked, her eyes moving back to Kaethe, whose expression had become slightly confused.

“Doing what?” Kaethe replied, setting her glass aside, which now appeared empty. But Myanna had not seen her finish her drink.

“This,” Myanna motioned around them. “All of this. How have you created this?”

Kaethe tilted her head to one side, her brows furrowed, “Created what? The inn? How would I have done that?”

Somehow her question being answered with a question made things more confusing. Myanna squinted a bit, feeling it was harder to focus.

“Perhaps ye’ve had enough to drink,” Kaethe said with a smile, reaching out and taking the goblet slowly to set it on the bar. When she took the goblet, her fingers brushed lightly against Myanna’s, and the cuirizu felt a twinge of excitement shoot up her arm.

“I’ve only had two,” Myanna argued, “And wine isn’t enough to give a cuirizu even so much as a buzz, let alone get us drunk.”

“Well, ye switched away from regular ol’ wine about two hours ago.”

Myanna stared dumbfounded as the original assertion she’d made only a moment before faded into a mental fog, becoming somehow unimportant, “What?”

The cuirizu stood from her chair, feeling a wave of vertigo wash over her even as she towered over the vampire sitting beside her at the bar. She looked at the windows and saw that most of the light had gone out of the sky, and the lanterns outside had been lit amid the twilight. Inside, the patrons were different. The sounds and smells had shifted to include an evening crispness that had come in through the open windows. The fires burned a little higher, stoked to provide heat against the evening chill.

Myanna’s eyes searched the room quickly, unable to remember what she had seen that had caused her to raise her question. The question itself was lost to her. She smiled a little and raised a hand to her head, “Maybe you’re right. It’s been a long time since I’ve been inebriated. Perhaps I am merely unaccustomed to it. My apologies.”

Kaethe looked up at her cheerfully and waved a hand as she stood. Even when standing, her eyes only came up to the level of Myanna’s chin. The vampire reached up brushed a finger across the taller woman’s bottom lip, bringing it down to the metal stud just underneath it, “Think nothing of it. Now then, what do ye say about going for a swim now that the sun has set?”