The radiant queen was looking down from the balcony, tears rolling down her face.

In front of her, the once lush gardens were now burning and uprooted. So many of her people lay still where they had fallen.

She twisted her body to look behind her. The throne room had been used to shelter the ones without battle training, those that had found pleasure in the more mundane things of life: providing for the others, keeping the garden, playing music.

Many of the men and women were sobbing. Some were holding and soothing their children. So precious few were born each cycle.

The queen looked back at the massacre. Each time one of her angels fell, shadows started to coil around them, transforming them into monstrosities like the ones in the air already fighting against their own brothers and sisters.

What have they done? She thought. Why send her here?

The last of her own children approached her. ‘Mother… what do we do?’

The queen remained silent. She knew there was nothing to be done. The veil was thin enough to cross in only one place. The ancient portal that had been built there was no longer visible through the smoke and shadows.

More angels rose from the dead, their burned, broken and plucked wings barely holding their weight as they took flight. Blood was raining down.

At the bottom of the castle’s steps a dark figure appeared.

So, she had already made it here.

The queen turned to the young angel beside her, giving him his final mission. ‘The portal, Amiril. You have to destroy it. We cannot let her return with these powers.’

Amiril looked at the ground. He clenched his hands and jaw.

The queen brushed his cheek with the back of her fingers. ‘I know you are angry, my love.’

Amiril looked up again. ‘No, I understand. Our innocents cannot be saved, but theirs still might. It is the right thing to do.’

She gave him a kiss on his forehead. ‘I am proud of you, my son.’

Amiril didn’t look at his mother again as he rose to the sky, his strong, white wings easily carrying him through the air.

The queen walked back inside to spend what she knew were her final moments with the last of her beloved people. The end did not come quickly.

⭒⭒⭒

‘...man...ake….’

The people around me were screaming as their bodies were ripped apart.

‘Hu.. wa...up’

Children’s cries were cut short, ending in a wet, gurgling sound.

‘Lit… one...’

I slipped on the bloody floor, trying to make my way through the sweaty, panicked bodies running in my direction.

‘Dam…. why….she...up?’

I crawled up and pushed on. Finally, she stood before me.

‘Human….wake...’

For a short moment, our eyes met. Then she charged.

‘LYNN!’

My eyes shot open. I was back in the bedroom. Nikolai was standing over me, holding my shoulders, his face tense with worry. ‘Dammit woman, you woke half the garrison.’

Moonlight shone through the little window. The bed was drenched in sweat. Nikolai helped me sit upright. I noticed he was wearing pajamas.

Aoife and Alexander were standing in the door opening, she in a nightgown, he in dirtied armor. The captain wasn’t wearing his cape.

Aoife had her hands cupped. A softly glowing ball was floating above them. She handed the ball to Alexander and walked up to me.

‘Come.’ She said gently. ‘Let’s get you cleaned and put you in something dry.’

We walked towards the door. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Nikolai had started to remove the bed sheets. It surprised me to see a big warrior do something so… mundane. He looked like he considered it the most normal thing in the world. Alexander stepped aside to let us through. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and closed it again.

We entered the bathroom. Aoife touched a white crystal next to the door that I had missed previously. The crystal lit up and near the ceiling, beneath matching gems, three glowing balls appeared.

Aoife walked up to the bath. Like the toilet, it had three water gems. In addition, two larger oval crystals had been placed in the wall, one vertically, the other horizontally.

Aoife reached for the vertical one first. She trailed her finger over it, starting at the bottom. The crystal’s color darkened. Water started flowing from the gems in the bath. Then she moved on to the vertical one. This time, the color changed from blue to purple to red.

I put my hand under the streams. Hot, as I had expected.

Aoife opened the drawer in the console and took out a little pink ball. She dropped it into the bath and immediately it started to fizz. The bathroom filled with a pleasant flowery scent.

She told me to get into the bath, before leaving to get me a new nightgown.

I undressed and got in. The temperature was perfect. I enjoyed the bath for a little while, trying to calm down from the nightmare. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I couldn’t remember what it was about. Only that it had been terrifying.

Aoife returned with a nightgown and a heap of towels. She placed the towels on the side of the bath, and the nightgown on the console.

‘Take your time.’ She smiled, and left the room again.

After I was done bathing, I got out and dried myself. The towels were clearly meant for someone twice my size. I considered putting one around my head, but out of consideration for my neck, put it over my shoulders instead.

I realized Aoife hadn’t only brought a nightgown, but also underwear. I didn’t have much choice in putting it on, as she apparently had taken away mine. Sneaky lady.

The panties were just what you’d expect, although instead of a bra, I had been given a supple corset that covered the breasts and ended at the midriff. The material was soft and comfortable. I didn’t particularly feel like sleeping in it, though, so I took it with me instead.

When I entered the hallway, I noticed Alexander was still standing next to my bedroom door with the light ball. I walked over to him.

It was nice to not have to fumble around in the dark, but had he been waiting here all this time? He could have given me the ball when I passed him earlier.

‘Are you feeling better?’ he asked.

I noticed he was trying hard not to look at what I was holding in my hands. I held the corset behind my back, and he visibly relaxed.

‘Yes, thank you.’

‘Alright, go back to sleep then.’

He handed me the ball. It was warm. In my hands, it didn’t float.

‘Just squeeze it to turn it off.’

‘What about you?’ I asked.

He turned his hand palm upwards, spread his fingers, and a second ball appeared. He turned to walk away.

‘Good night, captain’, I hurriedly said.

He paused, but didn’t turn around. ‘Good night.’

He started walking again, and I entered my room. I thought of what Aoife had said earlier that day. He’s shy. I smiled, and went to bed. Luckily, the remainder of my sleep was a peaceful one.

☾

The sound of swords clashing woke me from my slumber.

I jumped out of bed, but soon realized the sounds were coming from the window, not the hallway as I had feared.

I tried to see where the fighting was, but the window was too small to see the ground next to the building. As I listened more closely, I noticed the noise was more likely to come from training, not fighting.

My body relaxed. It wouldn’t be unusual for the men and women around here to spar.

After getting dressed, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. The hallway was very quiet.

When I was on my way back to put my tooth-sponge in my room, I noticed Nikolai walking my way.

‘Good morning, moonbeam. Sleep well?’

Moonbeam?

I nodded and asked him if he managed to get some rest as well.

‘After you stopped screaming I slept like a baby.’

I blushed.

‘Did I really...wake half the garrison?’

He chuckled. ‘Well, you woke most people on this floor, but no one blames you for having a nightmare. Ready for breakfast?’

Still a little embarrassed, I nodded again.

He spun on his heels. ‘Mess is this way.’

I quickly put the toiletries back in my room.

Nikolai walked casually in the same direction we went in yesterday. In fact, we passed the captain’s office on the way. During our walk, Nikolai tried to make small talk. Well, he opened and closed his mouth a few times, reconsidering what he was about to say. When he raised his hand to scratch his neck, I decided to help him out.

‘So… what is it that you do here exactly?’

He seemed relieved to have something to talk about, and started to explain enthusiastically:

‘We’re part of an institution called The Guard. We’re tasked with keeping the peace. It’s a worldwide initiative, although rules and methods tend to vary per country. You’re currently at the Sinniov garrison. The headquarters of the Athicor branch is in Belfor. Athicor is the name of this country, our beautiful kingdom of vampires.’

I stopped.

He noticed, and turned around.

I took a small step back and had a hard time keeping my breathing steady.

‘You’re… vampires?’

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He nodded, a little confused by my sudden change in demeanor. Suddenly, his eyes went big.

‘Oh don’t worry, we don’t drink from people. Too much risk of illness.’

He winked. When he realized his words hadn’t calmed me down, he turned serious again.

‘We need blood when we go beyond our normal physical limits. It’s more easily absorbed, because the nutrients have been pre-metabolized. But we only drink from animals. Drinking from people is strictly prohibited, because in the past it led to numerous epidemics. Nowadays, people frown upon it. Attacking people in general is already prohibited, but to do it like a wild beast, tearing into them… It’s not something most people feel comfortable about. Blood also isn’t the most pleasant thing to taste when you're not in Frenzy.’ His face scrunched up, as if he just ate something awful.

‘Really, no one here will want to eat you.’

He brought his face close to my ear. ‘In the literal sense at least.’

I felt my cheeks turn red. Before I could push him away, he had already stepped back.

‘Come on, little one. Let’s go have breakfast.’

When we got to the mess, I realized why it had been so quiet upstairs. The room was filled with members of The Guard, some lined up at the food counter, some already enjoying breakfast at the long and hefty wooden tables.

Nikolai led me to the counter. He grabbed a metal tray and handed it to me.

I looked at the breakfast options. Eggs, meats, different dairy products; seems they too had figured out the importance of protein. There even was a small selection of fish. Bread was presented here and there. Next there was a big assortment of greens, as a side dish, for sandwiches, and mixed in varying types of baked dishes. Then came the drinks, mostly very healthy looking smoothies, including the disco drink from before. Finally, there was the dessert section, with a number of high-protein cakes, sweet porridges and pancakes with fruit.

Nikolai recommended some things, and I ended up with a tray that could last me the entire day, and probably the next.

We sat down at a table, opposite of each other. He started picking from my plates.

I sipped on my happiness-in-a-glass while I took a look around the room. I didn’t see Alexander or Aoife.

The people around us were chatting away. Everyone was already dressed. Some seemed to have even done some training, as they looked a little disheveled. Others still looked a little sleepy, yawning every once in a while.

‘Here, try this.’ Nikolai held up a piece of cottage cheesecake.

I opened my mouth and he shoved the cake inside. It was delicious.

‘Hmmmm!’ is all I managed with a full mouth.

‘Told you.’ He took a piece himself.

The Guardsmen next to us were staring at me. Nikolai waved at them. They cleared their throats and turned their attention to each other again.

A few minutes after we started eating, a woman slithered up to us. Yes, slithered. Her bottom half was a beautiful yellow snake tail, with brown specks at the backside. Topside? The part on the ground was twice as long as the rest of her. She was wearing a long sweater that would have reached to her knees, had she had those.

She gave Nikolai a friendly pat on the back, before sitting down next to him. The force made him almost choke on his pie. The woman had cool, dark brown skin, which made her stand out even more from the vampires around us. Her nose was covered with scales, which continued over her forehead and into her hairline. She also had two little horns, which rose up from between the scales at the top of her forehead. Her dark, curly hair was put up in a ponytail. Her pupils were small, vertical slits, drawing extra attention to her yellow irises. She, too, started picking from my tray.

‘So, Kolya, word goes, you found yourself a little girlfriend. I assume this is her?’

Like the vampires around me, she had extremely sharp canines. Hers were considerably thinner, though.

Nikolai was still coughing. When he finally could breathe again, he answered with an annoyed voice: ‘Good morning to you too, Nadali. Lynn, meet Nadali.’ He took another bite.

The woman looked at me and smiled. ‘Nice to meet you, Lynn. I hope this idiot hasn’t given you too much trouble? He’s very good at that.’

‘Hwey!’ Nikolai exclaimed halfway a bite of eggs.

I smiled back at her. ‘Nice to meet you too, Nadali. And no, he hasn’t been too much trouble.’

Nikolai gave me a playful glower.

Between his bites, he spoke to Nadali. ’Shouldn’t you be teaching right now?’

She raised her arms above her head and stretched her back.

‘I am. I told them to run laps until I finished bathing. Can’t help it that your people’s baths are so small. I’ll go get dressed in a few minutes. By the time I get back they should be nice and warm for training.’

Nikolai stared at her for a few moments, shook his head and went back to eating.

Nadali turned her attention toward me again. ‘So, Lynn, where are you from exactly?’

Nikolai started coughing again. He tried to signal something to me. Nadali raised an eyebrow at him, but did ask if he was alright.

That’s when Nikolai noticed someone behind me. His face turned serious.

I turned around and saw Alexander. He looked tired.

The captain beckoned us to follow him. We said goodbye to Nadali, and followed Alexander to his office.

When we arrived, Alexander said in a grave voice: ‘Sit, please, Lynn.’

I did as he asked.

The captain sat down behind his desk, rested his arms on the table and folded his hands. He fiddled with his thumbs and for a little while, stared at the table.

‘Lynn. Yesterday evening, I wanted to tell you...’

He looked up at me. ‘After you went to rest, we went back to the forest. We found the trail. It led to an abandoned house, not far from the portal you came through.’

He scraped his throat.

‘There was a spell circle. For another gateway,’ he continued, not giving me a moment to interrupt. ‘We went back this morning with a portal smithy. Unfortunately, he couldn’t trace it. We… we don’t know where they went.’

I waited for him to continue, but all he said was: ‘I’m sorry, Lynn.’

As his words registered in my mind, my chest tightened and a rock hit my stomach. Tears started to push against my eyes. My vision blurred. My mind blurred.

I felt my hands grab my head, as the tears finally pushed through. I started to sob, harder and harder, until it got hard to breathe in between the weeping.

Nikolai came up to me to soothe me, but I pushed him away. I got up to walk somewhere...anywhere… but there was nowhere to go.

I collapsed on the floor. My sobbing turned into wailing.

I put my head on my knees and my arms around it, as if to shield myself from the sadness welling up inside me.

She was gone. She was gone and there was nothing anyone could do.

I don’t know how long I sat there. When the tears finally stopped coming, my eyes and cheeks were burning and my head felt like it was about to explode.

Aoife came in. She sat down in front of me and handed me a glass of water.

The men had left the room without me noticing.

‘Lynn...’ Aoife’s voice was so soft and gentle, it almost made me cry again.

‘All hope’s not lost. The royal family has replied. They will do everything in their power to get your friend back. An emissary will arrive soon to discuss what to do next. Everyone believes she’s still alive. The effort her attacker put into hiding his tracks is just more reason to have faith. All we need is more time.’

She caressed my head. I looked up at her.

‘Why are you willing to help us? Help me?’ I asked in a small voice.

She gave me a weak smile.

‘Let’s just say that our realm has a strong desire to keep itself hidden from yours. And two humans getting spirited away through a magic portal doesn’t exactly aid that goal. Also, dimensional travelling is a capital crime. The authorities have much interest in bringing the perpetrator to justice. They wouldn’t want other people getting the wrong idea.’

She got up and reached out a hand. ‘So, will you put your faith in us a little longer?’

I stared at it for a few moments. Could she truly still be saved? I didn’t have much choice; there was nothing else to cling to. I took her hand and got up.

‘Alright.’

‘Good. Now, how about you go for some fresh air? Being cooped up in a place like this for too long is good for no one. Nikolai is waiting outside.’

She gave me a handkerchief. ‘But perhaps first clean up that nose of yours.’

I laughed and gratefully accepted the beautifully embroidered cloth. It seemed like a waste to wipe a snotty nose with it, but I didn’t have the energy to mind.

After freshening myself up, I entered the corridor. I found Nikolai a little further down the hall. He was studying what must have been a particularly interesting spec of dirt on the floor in front of him.

I walked up to him. His face brightened when he noticed me.

‘I was starting to look forward to seeing Sasha having to swim to his desk, but I’m glad you stopped crying.’

His face softened. ‘Feeling better?’

I nodded. ‘A little.’

‘Good. Then let’s go see The Guard’s magnificent gardens. Aoife gave you a heads up, yes?’

I nodded again.

He put his arm around my shoulders, forcing me to walk faster than I felt like. I let him drag me through the hall.

After a short walk we entered the main entrance of the fortress, appropriately coined the Grand Hall. The large room had a high ceiling, reaching at least to the fourth level. A stately staircase led to what must have been the third level. Nikolai explained that the Primary Chamber was up there. As it had only one entrance and no windows, being situated in the middle of the fortress, it was difficult for assassins to enter. This made it the safest location for welcoming important guests. Below it was the Secondary Chamber. This room was used for discussing internal operations. It too had no windows, but contrary to the Primary, it had several doors for easier access. The fort was a large building to walk through, after all, and leaders should be able to react quickly in case of an attack.

The Grand hall wasn’t accessible directly from outside. It’s magnificent double doors, opposite of the staircase and reaching at least to the second level, opened to an entree. Instead of going there, however, we simply crossed the room and entered another corridor.

At the end, a hefty door was flanked by two Guardsmen. They gave Nikolai a friendly greeting and opened the doors for us.