The man nearest to Nim snorted then sneered at her, smoothing his wild, dark hair with one hand.

“You said it would be no problem,” the man said. “You said it would be a simple job.”

“And I meant that,” Nim replied, eyeing two lanky women with elven features, bows at the ready, over his shoulder.

They stood calm but prepared next to the man’s enclosed wagon, which held his wares. Nim recognized the pair's cool, frowning attention they paid to her dagger hand. They knew their skill and how fast they could utilize the deadly tools, and they had gauged they could strike faster than her. Most likely true. Not that she planned to fight them. She had no desire to engage in combat.

“You have to understand, Mat,” Nim said. “He’s a vampire. It would have been a simple job but for that fact.”

The traveling merchant shook his head, unimpressed.

“Doesn’t come into the deal at all. You said you could steal it right from under the Lord’s nose.”

“That was when I thought his nose was human,” Nim smiled, attempting an innocent charm. “You know vampires are much more capable than mere mortals like us.”

“Perhaps we should ask why you didn’t tell us he was a vampire,” Toby said from behind Nim. Her backup didn’t hold a weapon. He simply glared.

Toby had never been fond of Mat, who hired them occasionally to locate rare goods.

“How was I to know?” Mat said defensively. “This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

Nim saw his sharp glance to the right as he spoke and highly doubted that, but she kept that information to herself.

Toby huffed loudly and turned on his heel, walking off a ways down the path. Mat watched him go with equal disdain.

“Look,” he said to Nim, still watching Toby’s retreat. “I’ve already promised the Globe to a customer. And one that won’t be kept waiting. If you don’t have it by tomorrow afternoon, I’m afraid it will come to violence.”

As if on cue, the two elven maids pulled the strings on their bows tight, flexing the limber wooden handles before fitting the weapons with arrows.

“I have no choice. He’ll have my head if he doesn’t get it.”

“I see,” Nim said. She breathed in deeply and released the air before responding, taking her time. Thinking through her options.

“Well, I suppose we must obtain the Globe of Mourning, no matter the consequences.”

Mat smiled, relieved. “Yes, yes. I knew you’d come to your senses. You’re plenty skilled to take on a vampire.”

Nim smiled back at her fence. She had no plans to take the vampire on. She would slip in and out as a shadow plays against the wall. And with luck, the vampire, a fellow named Thom Strictor, wouldn’t know she’d been there at all… until he missed the Globe.

And Toby wouldn’t have to be involved. At least, not very involved.

***

“Shhhhh. You’re distracting me,” Nim whispered to Toby. He’d been grumbling under his breath for the last half mile. “We’re trying to approach covertly, you know. Presence unknown.”

“You’re welcome to approach without me,” Toby said.

“All you have to do is keep watch, my friend, and keep the hound distracted,” Nim said. “You don’t even have to go inside.”

“I wouldn’t if you asked me. Vampires have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves.”

Nim held a hand up, stepping noiselessly over the forest floor, which had been bathed in orange and golden leaves. Fortunately, still wet with late autumn rain, the leaves didn’t crunch, but squelched into the mud below them, absorbing light impressions of Nim’s small feet.

“Just through the last copse of trees,” she said.

Toby crouched and removed a carefully wrapped package from his worn leather bag, holding it at the ready.

“I’ve got another one if he goes through this one too fast,” Toby said, his voice low.

They knew where the vampire’s hound slept from earlier scouting. And where the fence could be scaled out of view of the window.

“I’ll leave you here and circle around the fence toward the back.”

Toby nodded his agreement and crept forward, toward the back of a small shed, within easy reach of the fence. Nim saw his hand snake through the fence’s iron bars, holding a raw, dripping piece of meat.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

She stole away softly as Toby whispered to the beast on the other side of the fence.

A short distance away, she found the ideal spot to climb over and scrambled into the vampire’s home territory before she could change her mind.

Like the forest floor, the ground squished beneath her feet, making soft sucking noises as she crept toward the manor. The hulking structure looked as though it’d seen better days, which was fine with Nim. It made breaking in easier.

The window she’d chosen on the North side of the building held a thick film of dust. Nim scrubbed at it with her sleeve before peering in.

The dark interior betrayed little about the manor’s occupant. The mahogany frame of an old desk, not used recently, with a stack of tattered books in its center set just in front of the window. A cold, empty fireplace decorated the wall to Nim’s right and a closed door stood opposite her, about thirteen feet away.

Nim wiggled the window, trying to gauge its sturdiness, considering the tool she’d use to open it. But no one tool was required. At her firm insistence, the window rattled and popped open, as though it had tired of its frame and welcomed the escape.

Nim clambered inside quickly, not wasting a moment. As she stood, wondering where the Globe might be located, she heard a shout outside followed by a guttural growl.

And she saw Toby, one sleeve shredded into ribbons that fanned behind him, streak past the window, a look of absolute terror on his face.

Nim stared, amazed at this turn of events. Unsure, even, how Toby managed to pull it off.

“Toby,” she yelled, through the open window. “In here!”

Toby’s long legs took him around the enclosed manor yard and toward the window in mere seconds Nim stood back, realizing . He simply leapt at the window, the beast on his heels and landed sprawled over the desk, sending books and dust flying. The beast would have followed had Nim not snapped the window shut, clouting the hound directly on the nose.

“You were supposed to distract him,” Nim whispered fiercely, helping Toby into a standing position. “Not bring him right to me.”

“He got right through the fence. Climbed it like some sort of supernatural beast,” Toby breathed deeply, gulping in air, then frowned as he assessed his torn blouse. “And he mirrored my every moment. I didn’t stand a chance running off into the woods.”

“Well, I’m surprised Lord Strictor hasn’t welcomed us yet,” Nim replied angrily, walking stealthily toward the inner door.

Toby folded his arms. “I told you this was a mistake.”

Before Nim could reach the door, it opened, revealing a tall, somber-looking man with dark hair and waxen skin. He looked hopefully through the door, wincing at the light coming in through the window.

“What do you want?” he asked in a voice lacking all energy.

“We’ve woken him,” Toby said, annoyed, as if they’d been bad houseguests instead of a pair of thieves.

“No,” the man replied, “you have not awakened. For who, in such a condition as I, could ever sleep? Speak. What do you seek? To kill the vampire?”

He sounded defeated. Resigned. And he made no move to attack.

Nim paused. Something strange was going on.

“Lord Strictor?” she asked.

“The same,” he said.

Toby glanced at Nim. “We’ve no interest in killing you,” he said. “If you’ve no interest in killing us.”

“None at all,” Lord Strictor replied soberly, “for it won’t bring Trissia back. And I’ve no appetite until she sits next to me at our dinner table once again.”

“Trissa?” Nim questioned.

“My lover, my one, my only.” The vampire collapsed onto a maroon sofa, gesturing Nim and Toby into the inner chamber. He placed the back of his hand over his face. “Please close the door. The light does hurt my eyes.”

“You’re looking for your lover,” Nim guessed, shutting the door awkwardly behind her, enclosing them in darkness. “Where did she go?”

She glanced at Toby as their eyes began to adjust to the dim light. Keep him talking, her eyes said. We’ll get out of this.

“Trissia left only last week. I thought you might be my love, returning to me.”

“I’m sorry,” Nim said, truly sympathetic to the vampire, whose distraught countenance seemed entirely genuine.

“We had a disagreement, you see,” Lord Strictor explained. “So small it’s not worth mentioning. But she left. She left to see the Hideprine witch, near the Evermore Swamp. An old friend of hers.”

“When she returns, the anger will have faded,” Nim offered. “No need for melancholy.”

“That’s just it. She doesn’t mean to return. Mine was an empty hope.” He sniffed. “She said she wouldn't return unless I agreed to undergo an experiment by the witch. An experiment meant to cure my vampirism.”

At this, he shuddered, his hand fluttering.

“And you don’t wish to become… mortal?”

The vampire removed his hand and stared at Nim, his dark brow furrowed. “It’s not that I’m afraid to die. It’s just that… I’ve been a vampire for so long. How to adjust?”

“Do you love Trissia greatly?” Toby asked.

“Of course.”

“Sometimes,” Toby said, “great love requires a great adjustment.”

Nim nodded. “And great bravery.”

“Lord Strictor-” Nim began.

He held up a hand. “Call me Thom.”

“Thom, what if we promised to find Trissia for you and relay that you’re willing to try this… experiment. For her.”

“You would do such a thing?”

“For a favor,” Nim admitted. “We need the Globe of Mourning, a trinket we’ve been told you possess.”

“Ah, the Globe,” the vampire sighed. “It pleased Trissia. It glowed beautifully when either of us entered the room, but with a light that didn’t bother our night-friendly eyes.”

“I suppose you won’t need it if you're both mortals. You’ll be able to enjoy the daylight,” Nim said.

“I guess that’s true.” Thom thought for a moment, staring into the empty darkness of a hallway across from his sofa.

“It’s a deal,” he said finally. “Find Trissia. Give her the message. And you’ll have the Globe of Mourning. I promise it.”

Nim sighed, relieved. “Thank you, Thom. You won’t regret it.”

The pale creature slumped forward on the sofa in a pose of despair.

“Restore Trissia to me, brave but foolhardy adventurers,” he said, sniffling softly, looking them up and down with a measure of doubt, considering their entrance to his home. “End the curse of unrequited love and my life as a vampire in one blow.”

“It will be done,” Nim said, hoping Toby would find a way to work her noble words into a song about this encounter.

***

TO BE CONTINUED