The evening air was heavy with the honeysuckle scent that entwined the run-down barn where two shadowed figures waited in the dying light of the day. The female, the greying brown hair cropped short in a boyish fashion, lounged just outside a break in the rotting boards, letting the last of the dying sunlight soak into her scarred, leathery skin.
Her weapons were not far away as she watched the distant tree line wearily and listened to the voice coming from a shadowed figure just inside the structure. The aging woman gave a tired sigh and pushed her body off of the soft grass with a light shove, the grass leaving barely an impression where her lithe, leather-clad body once occupied.
"I can't make the sun sink any quicker, Joshua, and I do not think the sun to be kind to your blood."
A hushed whisper came from the building's deepening shadows as the sound of cracking wood could be heard. Out of the portal, a shaft of splintered debris lanced out towards the dhampir. The guardian sidestepped it, letting it continue onward another hundred yards to embed itself into a large oak with an audible thunk. Glaring into the darkness, the fury burning inside her, every fiber wanting to lash out at the perceived threat but also, her loyalty to her Master restraining her hand from slaughtering or just possibly maiming the impertinent youth. He did not deserve her respect or loyalty, not yet.
"Need I remind you that you need ME more than I need you on this mission? I can travel when and where I wish. I am not vulnerable to silver or garlic. Sure, a wood stake can kill any when struck in the heart, but sure as hell a toothpick is not going to be more than an irritant to me. You might find the concept of dhampir too old-fashioned at the moment, but without one, you will never be a whole vampire. Without it, you will never be an heir."
The shadow sped towards the portal as the last remnant of light hit the broken wall. The man inside recoiled as smoke rolled briefly as he retreated into the shadows. Karen looked with satisfaction at the waves of smoke as they drifted into the west upon the warm summer winds. It could not have been more satisfying than if she had held that brat's head in a fire herself. Sure, she would pay for it. Yeah, Joshua would make her life more of a living hell than it already was, but at least for the next week, she could look at the singed face and know that she got under his skin again.
She looked back in the hole with the satisfaction clearly written on her face, "Besides, I am a simple dhampir, protector of my Master Lord Gerald. Whether we catch this lost sheep and slaughter, it matters not to me. The Master is already planting another seed in some other unsuspecting woman's belly. Soon, I will have my replacement and train my brother or sister to Protect our Master. You, on the other hand, your honor is at stake before all of vampire kind. A true blood, allowing a bastard to rebel and escape, it says something about how little control your blood has. Your honor and power are at stake."
The sun was now down over the little valley in which they had stopped for the day. The shadows now concealed the bard, and her keen hearing picked up his slow steps toward the portal as his pale skin came into view. The light pink hair and pale grey irises helped mark him as a true blood or someone born from a line of vampires and not turned from being human. The left side of his face was charcoaled, some places burned to the point of exposing the bone, which made the grin he gave her even more hideous. Joshua was not a kind soul and drew pleasure from torture and pain. His entertaining smile could only mean something horrid had come this his sadistic mind.
"Then I guess you better not let me fail," He rasped, his vocal cords seared from his foray into the sun, "but even so, I will remember this day when I get to kill you. Whether it is on the day you fail me or on the day when your bastard sibling takes over either way, I have time to look forward to the many ways to kill you before I get the honor of draining your blood from your corpse."
Karen tried not to show her horror at that statement, but from the hideous laugh that echoed around the hollow, the middle-aged woman knew she had failed.
(Note from the author: I keep the chapters short as I am a parent of four amazing children. I want to give my readers something they can pick up and put down easily!)
