Emerald Nights

"Who the fuck was that?! Who the fuck uses magic in Limbo?! Nobody! Not even La M'ag himself!" Valko was enraged. For the first time in a great number of years he felt useless. Once the psycho girl had run out it was his job to clean up the mess. Three young vampires' heads had exploded in the middle of a dance floor spraying blood and brains over the shocked clientele. Not the kind of night you expect in Limbo.

Alexander said nothing, merely stood and stared into the great fireplace in the vast library in his infinite mansion. He took a sip of his whiskey and turned to his friend.

"I knew her father."

Valko sighed and walked to the nearby drink's cabinet and pulled a a forty year-old bottle of Laphroaig and poured it into a crystal tumbler. There was a slight tinkle as the amber liquid poured into the ornate glass. He took a sip, eyes closed, then sighed and turned back to his friend.

Alexander walked over to a a large leather armchair and sat down with an equally heavy sigh.

"It was during the war. He was a lord of the Bohemian territories, his pack was very old, well-respected, strong too. Had things gone the way they should have, the throne would be his. I'd seen his wolves kill their enemies like hot knives through butter. They were natural vampire killers if you'd ever seen one. Unfortunately, we were on the different sides and the respect I have for a man as an enemy is as far as it went. I never even met him but heard he was wise and strong and that he ruled with a kind of pride that only good man know how to use. But as I said, it was during war; Bohemia was one of the last places Viktor hadn't been able to control and one of the last refuges of the werewolf population of Europa. And since the Council then was non-existant, L`Mag missing and all, there was nothing to stop him from destroying everything Baranov held dear. So he sent me."

"You killed him?" Valko asked, breaking the moment of silence.

"Not directly, but yes, I was there. We had witches with us, it was a prettystandard raid, get the witches to seal the area, start a fire, go in and make sure everyone dies. It was bloody and tragic but everything during those days was."

He closed his eyes, remebering the screams and the sound of boiling blood. "It was the only time that Viktor came into the battlefield himself. I still don't know what his vendetta was with Baranov but it was enough for him go down there and kill him himself. How the girl survived I don't know but when we lefft there, there was not a soul alive, a body that was left unburned. We killed everyone and burned everything.

"Why does the girl think you killed her father then?"

"Because that is what we had to say during the Three Days of Treaty, the King could not be seen to be the instigator of such a violent massacre and I was immune from any consequences because I was deeply in Viktor's favour."

"The Destroyer..." Valko walked over and sat opposite him in a another over-sized chair.

"Yes, an unfortunate nickname that but I must admit the truth behind it. I was then and even know am, a killer" Alexander's face was stone.

"That sounds like regret in your voice, my friend" Valko lifted a blonde eyebrow. "There is no room for regret in eternity."

"Well, now I have the last living member of the Baranov line who is some kind of crazy withi magic powers trying to kill me. Excuse me if I regret the role I played in her family's death..." He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"..or perhaps it is the fact that I missed her in all that bloody mess that I regret." He stood up from his chair and downed his drink. "I need to speak to Gabriel, get him on the phone as quickly as possible. And get some sniffs on to that club I want to find this chick before she finds me."

He looked at his watch, almost dawn, and then as if an after-thought "I want her alive." He walked out of the room. Valko quietly downed his whisky and frowned into the fire.

Lia looked out the diner window onto the busy Main Street of Petitfette, distractedly pouring coffee into a customer's mug.

"Hey...hey!! Watch out" The man exclaimed as coffee poured over the sides of his coffee cup and onto the laminate counter.

"Oh, shit, sorry let me clean that up for you." She quickly mopped it up and mentally shook herself. She had woken up in the early hours of the morning from a disturbing dream she could not remeber and sweat covering her body. Her whole day had been on a downward spiral ever since. Running her hands through wavy copper hair she closed her eyes for a moment and tried to centre herself. She gave the customer one more apology and added a smile this time, to sweeten him up. He forgot all about the coffee.

"Hey, Lia? You ok?" Her boss, Lewis, called from behind her. Lia didn't turn around in fear that he would see her lie.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just going out for some fresh air" Lia removed her apron and walked out of the diner and out onto the busy streets of Lordstown. A truck drove past loudly honking at another car that almost collided into him. The driver showed some pretty elaborate gesture and continued drivbing. This made Lia smile. Everything was ok, normal. Pulling out a pack of cigarettes she kept hidden in her pocket for moments like these, she popped one in her mouth and lit it, inhaling the smoke and feeling instantly calmer. What was wrong with her? What was making her stomach twist so?

Lia's jade eyes scanned the street again and tried to find something in her surroundings that would explain her unexplainable unease. Just people, cars and shops. Nothing new, nothing exciting. She unconsciously fingered a necklace hanging on her delicate neck. It was hanging on a silver chain and had a coin-sized emerald pendant that twinkled in the early afternoon sun. She had always had it, since before she could remember and rarely took it off. It was the only thing she had from her past and had kept her safe through all the foster homes and bad experiences on the streets of Lordstown and beyond. She had finally escaped the dank, dismal gray and ran away, across the sea to Merrickk, finally settling in Petitfette after a bad experience with a man, a knife and a town called Sugar. It had been a while since she could rest her feet and get comfortable. Two years later, that unseasy feeling had come back, telling her to move on. She always listened to that voice, no matter what. Without a second thought Lia flicked her cigarette, threw one last look at the diner where Lewis and a customer were chatting animatedly and walked away from the diner without looking back.

Alexander walked up the ancient, creaky stairs of his cavernous and dark mansion. He let his hand slide up the bnniste as he walked up, not for support but rather to be calmed by the time-smoothened wood. The old cobwebbed chandelier whose candles were spelled to burn eternally swayed slightly as he ascended the stairs. He reached the top floor and looked down over the bannister and down the spiral staircase to the bottom where Valko was talking quietly into a phone. Valko, nodded briefly and turned to leave, Alexander mimicking his move, turning to face a set of large, ornately carved doors. With a sigh -- almost inaudible -- he placed his large hand softly agains tthe warmd wood and whispered "Concilium" and the doors opened silently.

He stepped into a large circular hall. In it were seven ornate wooden thrones, similar to the carved door, all distributed around an obsidian, round slab in the centre. Each of the thrones was occupied save one, his. He walked to the throne directly opposite L`Mag and sat down quietly, without a word. He looked around the room and his eyes finally rested on L`Mag who was slouched in his throne, apparently asleep. He looked dirtier and thinner than ever. his white beard was merging into his hair mattedly and what little of his eyes were seen under it all seemed wrinkled with time.

"Well, Alexander? I do have better things to do than getting splinters in my ass listening to you drone on" Lavinia De Rosaire, Queen of Bohemia said scornfully. She too was ancient, not that her translucent skin showed any signs of aging. She remained eternally beutiful with hair the colour of liquid gold and eyes that shone with the bright turqoise blue of the Meditterenean ocean. Her lips, red and sweet as cherries, where twisted in a sneer and Alexander was reminded of time he would have given anything in the world to kiss those lips again. Now they only produced anger and disgust within him. The Queen of Bohemia was no ally of his.

He said nothing but stood up from his throne and walked into the centre of circle, looking each of the members -well, except Lavinia -- in the eye before he spoke.

"I was attacked yesterday by a wolf-girl.." He began.

"So what? If you can't even protect yourself..." Lavinia insinuated.

"Quiet." This came from the strict-looking Gabriel Templeman. He, like a lot of members of the Council, found Lavinia's presence insulting. He was King of Angeland and unlike Lavinia, his place on the Council was rightfully earned. He had heavy, dark auburn eybrows over hazel eyes that seemed to peer straight into one's soul -- assuming one had one. He never rose his voice above conversational tones but when he brandished his large silver sword, rumoured to be forged by angels, his silence was deadly, his stroke true.

"She did magic" Alexander threw a look at Gabriel then quickly carried on. "She identified herself as a Baranov, the eldest daughter Selena" He paused for affect and watch Lavinia's eyes burn like blue fire.

"But that's impossible!" She nearly fell from her throne. . The Baranov line had been dead for almost twenty-five years.

"Which part Lavinia?" Alexander, not even glancing at her.

"All of it."growled, the fire in her eyes turning into pure hell. "Where is she? We have her put down like the dog that she is for disrespecing the code of..."

"Is it not strange that the only living heir to the Bohemian throne has just magically -- no pun intended - reappeared in our lives and the only person to be so personally insulted by the news is the currently sitting on it?" Damien LeBlanc's eyes were like liquid amber and shone dangerously with a mix of pure hatred and amusement. He was the King of Merrick but had asuffered Lavinia's destructive force and had the scar -- running from behind his ear down the nape of his neck -- to prove it.

"Am I the only one to see that she has broken code and needs to be punished?" Lavinia calmed herself and sat back down, putting on a reasonable tone and reigning in her anger. No need to start revealing secrets best left buried, she told herself. "If we allow it, just let it go,we would put all of the Seven Kingdoms at risk would we not? There will be war!"

"I think we can all accept that, I think the issue more importantly is, if the one daughter is alive, where is the other? And if they are both alive, where are the three Dragon Amulets?" Gabriel said calmly.

It was at the mention of the amulets that La M'ag finally stirred in his seat and like an old bear he rose slowly his robes flowing , a golden chain and pendant of pure ruby glinting amidst fur and silk and all manner of debris from over the years.

"I think perhaps it is time I had a word in. Lavinia?" He turned his grey eyes to her and she almost withered in her seat. He was the most powerful man in the room and could kill all of them without a second thought. He stepped off his throne and descended to centre of the circle where Alexander stood quietly watching the old mage.

"The girl?" La M'ag raised his grey eyes to Alexander's in question.

"It was her. I could spot the Baranov eyes anywhere. Green as the emeralds they wore" Alexander replied with a slight bow.

"And where is she?"

"My men are working on it, my lord"

"Then, return when you have found her and we can truly discuss the situation." He turned his back to Alexander and before he knew it he was outside those two oak doors once again.

"Alexander! My Lord, the sniff picked up a trail." Valko shouted from the bottom of the stairs. "She's in the West end"

Swiftly and with the fluidity of water, Alexander jumped over the banister and landed on the black and white chequered marble. Valko said nothing merely nodded. The King of Gregoria smiled; he loved a hunt.

Selena was preparing herself for the inevitable. She knew it was only a matter of time before they picked up her scent and found her. They would burn her out if they had to just like they did her parents. The Council and its illegitimate bastards and evil whores. She spat on the ground and checked the barrels of Metatron and put them into the holsters by her breasts. She checked an additional gun on her left thigh, a blade in her booth and a crossbow on her shoulders. She turned to Drake who was lying in bed, nonchalantly reading a paper.

"Apparently there was quite a scene at a local bar last night." He said to no one in particular but look up to see Selena's reaction. "Not quite under the radar Lena"

"My intention was never to 'stay under the radar' Draco, it was to kill Demetrius and run. I failed at the first part and now they are coming to get me. I can practically smell the dirty vampire blood heading our way." Selena spat again. She looked out the broken window to the street below where gangsters where selling dope and prostitutes their bodies for dope. All part of the cycle of life. If only the humans knew that they were not in fact the highest of the food chain. She smiled and looked back at Drake who had stood from bed and was standing naked before her.

"Master, what will you do?" Drake was worried. It was not like Selene to be brutal with her words. She rarely spoke so many. "He will not come alone."

Selena laughed. "Neither will I" Her eyes came alight and Drake stepped back in surprise.

Alexander stepped out of the black BMW and looked up the apartment block to the window in question. He too smiled, predatorily and then surveyed the bottom ground. He gave a brief nod to their house witch, Sarah, and within seconds all the human being in the area crumpled and fell into deep soulless sleep. He waited as his foot-soldier exited several black SUVs and prepared to enter the building. But before they could make another move, several arrows whooshed past and hit several of the men with astounding precision, sending them to the ground, turning them into ash before they even hit it. He took cover behind one of the cars and looked at Sarah, her dark black eyes already closed to enchant them. Within seconds the arrows turned to dust, allowing them several seconds to enter the building. Alexander ran in, followed by Valko, several men and Sarah.

They entered the building quietly and slowly, smelling and checking each corner. Guns poised and ready. He noticed the wards but was not bothered by them, they applied to magic and he was prepared with good old vampire sense.

He came to a door on the second level that was severely scored and marked with Latin and Bohemian words of spells. He looked behind him where Valko and the other vampires stood prepared with guns loaded with silver bullets. He signalled, and stepped back allowing Valko to kick the door down in.

Before he knew it bright green fire erupted and he had to stand back to avoid being turned into ash. Valko growled with anger and looked round the banister to see a bright green fiery figure emerging from the depths of the house. "Oh my God, she has a bloody dragon, Alexander thought to himself then looked at Valko. Valko knew exactly what to do. In one moved he drew out a long silver sword, thin but deadly, ancient writings down the blade and on the hilt. With his eyes closed he murmured something and the sword seemed to sing, ready to act. Its smooth watery surface glinted in the half-light of the corridor as Valko's body leapt through the doorway, narrowly missing another burst of fire. Faster than any mortal eyes could see, Valko managed to take a running leap at Drake and with one fluid swing he had slain the dragon, his head rolling on the tarnished floor of the apartment, the eyes once green now hollow and colourless.. A second later, the head and body both vanished in green smoke. Valko looked around the apartment and silently signalled for the rest to follow in.

Alexander walked into the apartment, guns outstretched. He whispered something quickly under his breath and was greeted quickly by the image of Sarah walking up the stairs. He looked around the barren house that consisted of an open-plan kitchen which was really just a kitchen with its connecting walls knocked down. He turned to the 'bedroom' area hidden partially by a door. He pointed his gun at it. Ready.

"Selena! We know you're in there! There's no point in hiding" He shouted out, pointing to the door.

"Who said I was hiding?" Selena stepped out from behind a corner in the kitchen, sexy as fuck, dangerous as hell. Alexander moved faster than lightning behind a corner as Selena began firing turning several of his men into dust. Valko took cover in one of the adjoining rooms and mouthed to his King.

"What now?" His icy blue eyes were wide with question.

Alexander, losing the interest in playing with the woman, ran of the room and began shooting back. Selena, attempting escaped the rain of bullets ran behind the only viable corner of the kitchen, pulling her knees to her chest as splintered wood flew around her and tangled in her dark hair. For a moment the gunfire cease and Selene took the opportunity to peak over to assess the situation. A bullet zipped over her head catching a few strands of her hair.

"Stop." She heard Alexander shout and Selena smiled. She pulled out Metatron and bashed them together. She heard screams and explosions and stood in one fluid move and began firing at dirty vampire foot soldiers. She almost laughed with glee, the rage in heart burning ferociously.

Several vampires were reduced to dust, what was left of the rest was a bloody mess on the floor. When there was no one left to shoot, she tentatively looked around. Where was their King? She stepped silently out of what was left of her kitchen and looked around. Not a soul in sight. She managed a small smile and began walking out of the apartment.

"Leaving so soon?" She heard a voice behind her say and she shivered. She turned and the instant her eyes met Alexander's she felt a shot at her heart. Looking down in surprise she noticed a feathered sedative.

"Seriously?" and with that she crumpled into darkness.

"Hey, girl, wake up now" The bus driver gently shook Lia awake. Lia woke up with a start and out of impulse grabbed him by the throat in a death grip.

The bus driver threw his hands up in surrender "Girl, we're here, you reached Toussaint. Was just tryin' to wake young thing up!" His brown eyes pleaded, quietly.

Releasing her choke hold on him, Lia stood up and walked out off the bus, tying up her hair in a ponytail and grabbing her duffel bag as she went. She entered the busy bus station where lovers were being reunited, family and friends forgetting grievances and coming together in relief. Lia walked past them, her eyes barely registering the sight, and headed to the public toilets.

In the toilets the smell of perfume, sweat and sex filled her nose as she scanned for a free sink she could use. Around her various sizes and shapes of women were in varying states of undress chatting loudly at each other, chewing gum and popping it. Lia found a sink and set her back down, looking into the mirror. Her face was gaunt from lack of sleep, causing dark circles in her translucent skin. Her normally pink and supple lips were dry and cracked and as she ran her hands through her hair it was tangled and messy. With a sigh she turned the tap on and splashed cool water over her face and under her arms. She removed her dirty t-shirt and threw it into a nearby trash-can, pulling out a new black top from her back and slipping it one. It fit tightly around her breasts, small and pert as they were. She tousled her hair, attempting to make it look like it was styled that way and applied some lipstick.