Red Flame

The tale of Ela-Lenora. The Red Flame.

A short story from the world of Celdaryia. Introducing a main character from my book.

Concept art of the exact look of Ela-Lenora.

Chapter one: enter the Red Flame

The castle was quiet, when the servants went home for the winter. The halls were always lit by fires, that hung on the wall, and that never dimmed unless commanded to. All that was needed was a simple command, no special words. Words were power in this castle, and in the most part of the world. But it was not magic as you and I might know or think of. Magic was not Ela-Lenora’s way of keeping her castle, alight with flames or otherwise, it was more of a kind of command. Sorcery was not her companion, she despised it in all its forms. In the world of Celdaryia, sorcery and witch craft and magic was all mostly condemned for its deceptive powers and temptation to influence and hurt the innocent. Lenore, which was her nickname the servants gave her, was loved by all she oversaw in her small land. Her castle was situated on the highest peak of Mount Raven Crown, a mountain that overlooked a wide stretch of land, and in the distant west was Raven village. At the foot of the mountain was a small village that was completely independent of most other villages, and supplied and taken care of by Lenore. The castle stood tall, almost looking like an eternal monument to the world of a proud and great people. And it most assuredly was.

If ever there was a part of the world that seemed at peace with itself, it was this land that Lenore oversaw and stewarded. Her castle, and her servants village was quaint and serene in spring, as bright and radiant and full of life in the summer, a painting of pure beauty with the orange, brown, and red strokes of colours in Autumn. But in winter, this was Lenore’s favourite time of year. It was a time of silence and cozy habitation in the castle. A time of warm fires in the hearth, roast chicken and turkey and rabbit for lunch and supper. Pork on Sundays, with apple sauce and mashed potato and gravy. It was a time of comfort.

Lenore loved the view she had from her lounging area where she sat with a thick fur blanket, on a comforted soft tailored chair, watching the Ravens fly through the peaks with the snow owls and the eagles. They all competed with one another to see who was the fastest and bravest of the mountain birds. Further down the mountains she would watch small peoples move around in the village where most of her castle care takers and servants dwelt with their families.

Lenore would be more than content to keep things this way, as perfect as it was, if it was not for one small problem. She had the entire castle to herself in the winter. No one to sit with and read large books about stories and histories of old. No one to share a meal with, and plan daily and weekly activities with. No one to smile and joke with, and laugh and play board games. She especially loved her board games, she loved a specific game she had a hand designing herself (she called it Willow), it was a kind of game that required a lot of cards and small wooden placements on a board that acted as worker placement type pieces. It was a game set in a forest and all the players had to build little animal homes and cities using the cards and the little wooden pieces. She often played with her servants when they were around during the evenings, but winters there was no one. Even if she wanted to play with someone from the village, she couldn’t expect them to walk up the dangerous road that wound its way up the mountain to the castle.

Though the loneliness was hard for Lenore, it was more than necessary. For in winter the hardest time of the year for her was now, as she battled with a part of herself that she despised and dreaded. Ela-Lenora was a Vampire. More specifically a Vampire Royal. Not a nasty and dreadful beast of the night as some stories would tell you, she could eat normal food if she did not want blood for its “sustenance”, she could walk in the day, silver was not a weakness to her, she did not have a pale complexion because she was dead (she was more than alive, as she lived eternally). She did not lust after men and neither was she sensual, she did not have inhuman uncontrollable emotions. She was nothing like the books would paint her to be, she was in so many ways normal to most folk. It was only when she struggled with her desire to feed on human blood that her entire demeanor changed. Lenore knew it was wrong in all sentiments of wrong, in-fact she called it an internal battle with sin. The desire to do what she out naught to do, yet she at times could not control her desires, and she gave into them with a complete guilt and tragic sadness after she drank from the blood bags kept in her kitchen freezer section. Her heart would tell her that she was doing the right thing by not drinking from actually humans, but in the past, the more she would give in the more desire she would have for fresh blood.

I loath it, but it pursues me, the “pleasure” is beyond what a normal creature of the world would know, but it is what evil says, sin being that which is rebellion and transgression against The One, promising pleasure but evil at its core, loving the darkness more than the Light is something I cannot let be my reality. He will give me the grace and strength I need to endure, the delight in His Light and eternal grace far outweighs my desire for evil and to do what is not good. It is like a law in my heart that demands I do what it wants, without consequence, with promise of feeling good, feeling desired, feeling loved, feeling needed, feeling what no one could give me. But in the end it is death, and I will not give into its power, nor will I love what I know is evil. I will fight, so long as I live I will fight. If for no one, but the Eternal One Himself, I will fight. Grace, Grace, Grace…

Diary entry, December 2nd Year 2837 – Lenore

Lenore found that writing was something that gave her a voice, a place to share her thoughts. If not for herself, than for the Eternal One to know that she was doing what she could to strive for what was good and right. He knew her heart, He knew all things, but she still felt it helped to put words down.

It had been a good long while since Lenore gave into her temptation. She was excelling in her war against herself, and was winning the daily fight. She found keeping herself busy helped. And she was busy indeed, with much planning and traveling. She had to find them, and destroy them. Lenore was not just any Vampire Royal, she was a Vampire who hunted other Vampires, and she would not stop until all of them were eradicated from this world.

No other Vampire she knew was like her, they were the monsters that people wrote about. Those who were Vampires like her, elegant and poignant in their appearance but monsters when given a chance to indulge in blood drinking. Vampire Royals were also rare, and far more powerful and stronger than what many believed them to be. They were in-fact, a force beyond what any normal mind can fathom, and when given the chance to do evil, there were few that walked the known world that could stop them. Their power did not originate in some kind of magic, or supernatural source, it was just as they were, beings of immense abilities, each abilities unique to each Vampire Royal.

There were blood gurgles, monsters that crawled around in bogs and swamps and icy dams and pools in winter in the wilderness. They were the lowest of the Vampire kind. They were called blood gurgles because they would make a terrible gurgling sound right before they would strike at their victims, drowning them in the water first so that they bloat. They would drag victims to the darkest part of the wilderness before they were killed and drank dry.

There were the commons, human vampires turned by another human vampire. Half breeds if you will. These were dangerous, night stalkers. Deceptive, fast, cunning, and caring none but themselves.

There were also the blood born, a kind of shape shifter vampire whose true form resembled that of a very large bat creature, that walked on two legs, but had the face and nose that resembled a bat. They had wings on their arms and could fly swiftly and quietly if they needed. They were abominations if anything, crawling from and out of dark holes and caves in the subterranean worlds long ago before much of Celdaryia was inhabited. Their intent was that of their original masters, hunt and kill.

The last of the vampire kind were perhaps the worst of all. The winter fell vampires, they stalked the winter times in the far north areas, like phantoms of the blizzard, cold and icy in nature and appearance, and showing no form of personhood, only a desire for death and blood. They were abominations of fowl necromancy and sorcery, from the works of necromancers who lived in the far north with cult followings.

Lenore had dedicated herself to an eternal life time of hunting down all known vampire kinds and eradicating them off the face of the earth. She knew them as they were, as she was one of them. She would hunt them down, and because of this she was feared above all things amongst her kind. Though those she hunted did not know her, they knew of her name shared amongst vampire kind, she was dubbed The Red Flame. This was because of the weapon she wielded. A sword that was ignited from the hilt with a command, and it resembled a red hot iron that was beaten by a black smith. Transparent, and light in the hands of Lenore. It cut through vampires like a knife through butter, and set them alight like kindling.

The vampires were the dread of the night, but she was the night. She was the shadow to the shadows, she hunted them, and she made sure no one would be hurt by them if she could help it. She also wore an armour that was light and easy to move in, though she did not need the simple elements of armour for just simple battle protection, but to keep herself from being destroyed by any weapon that the enemy may have. Her armour was forged by her grandfather, a master blacksmith, who shared the same views and she on the vampire world. She wore it with pride. She was fierce, and she was ready for her first hunt of the winter. And so she readied herself, and set forth to her first quarry.

Raven Village, past midnight – a time of silence. A time of the darkest intents, but also a time of justice.

Glub was a normal gurgle. He felt so, yes a good little gurgle he was. Nothing, but delight and love for flesh and bone and blood. Nothing else mattered, save perhaps his masters desires. Glub and master would walk the night together. They would… eat them. It had been long since Glub had his fill of flesh. Glub knew that each time they went out they would hope to get a fat one.

“Quiet you beast… must you always be so insufferable…” Teron telepathically communicated to Glub, whose nostrils leaked an endless amount of slime and muck and he could not help but splutter and pop booger bubbles from his nose as he waddled along after Teron. They were quite the pare. Glub would do Terons’ dirty work and in tern they would both have their feast of blood. Teron was a local farmer and butcher, and no one in Raven had discovered that he was a common. A human vampire that is. “Stop! Glub there’s something out there… wait here…”

Glub observed from afar as his master moved closer to the village and halted behind a broken wagon. Out of the forest came something Glub in his small little life would never think to imagine, a large black beast of immense height, holding a church bell over his shoulder, walked with a hairy bearded man with an axe and what looked like a baby in hand, and a women who held a double barreled shot gun. The three stopped and the women seemed to motion to the beast to go back to the forest. He did, and within a few moments he was gone. Nothing but the forest was there, but he was there too, but no one would have known. The women and the hairy bearded man walked into the village.

“Master… what see’s you… see’s you what I see’s?”

“Yes…” Teron was frozen to death by the trio; a black upright walking beast, axe wielding man dwarf, a baby, and a scary women with a large black gun. What on earth had he just seen? He had an idea who the women was, and if she was who he think she was, they needed to wait till long after those two had disappeared into the village, before he and Glub could go in. The last thing they needed was Kaiora Snow-Strider aware of their presence. And bloody hell, was that Faris Knight Hammer the Pine Reach arena champion? He couldn’t tell.

“We better wait here for a bit Glub… danger lurks in this village tonight…” Teron needed to get his drink of blood in before winter started, it was going to be a long fast every few weeks between meals, as people were not so easily available during winter times, huddled up in their houses.

He sent Glub in after an hour of waiting. Glub crawled in like some dark slug out of a hole in the ground, leaving a trail of ooze and slime. He crossed the field and didn’t go too far into the village before he found his quarry. A girl lay in her bed in the upstairs of a house. He slid down the rafting’s like a master vampire gurgle he was and placed his finger nail near her ear lobe and injected a small toxin that would stop her from waking initially, as he carried her. She was not heavy. When he reached Teron, he was not met with a delightful scratching behind the ear, but a heartless unthankful back hand slap.

“You complete fool of a swamp slug maggot, you crawling little slime, you imp!!!” Teron was nearly screaming, but in his telepathic way. Glub, horrified, kissed his masters feet in repentance but was kicked with a hard boot. “You cannot bring children Glub, they will notice, they will find us, they will hunt us down! You idiotic, bird poop splat! I cannot believe I ever…” the girl got up and began to run. Screaming at the top of her voice. Teron ran after her and grabbed her arm, hissing with bitter rage. “Shut up you little brat!” He opened his mouth and fangs shot out like two needles, but before he could bite her arm, his heart dropped as a momentary part of his being left him as he heard the death cry of Glub. He turned to see nothing but his friends pile of ash on the white snow. The brisk wind already began to blow some of it away. Teron forgot the girl and ran to the ash pile of his only servant. Vampires had a unique bond with their servants, they were almost like kin to them.

Teron used the last bit of life essence left surrounding the pile of ash to dry get a past reflection or vision of what happened, all he got was a vague interpretation of fire and pain. And then he heard it. An intense flapping, wings, many of them, wings upon wings, small wings. He turned and looked towards the sky that was lit by the full moon and in the circle of the moon was what looked like a dark swarm of bats and smoke. The bats immediately descended to the ground and a swirl of snow, and dark smoke, and bats dissipated and formed into a humanoid. A women. Long red hair, with piercing eyes of blue and crystal and white stared back at him out of the chaotic storm of bats and elements. Vampires rarely felt fear. But he did now.

There rose to her full height, the Red Flame. Her long dark membrane like coat, her armour gleaming in the moon light, her red blade glimmering after having its first taste of vampire for a good long while. She had a presence like no other creature or animal or force Teron had ever felt, fear was not what he felt, but absolute icy dread that gripped every part of who he was. She was terrible to behold, a Vampire Hunter, a Vampire Royal at that, menacing beyond description, and filled with a white hot wrath. Few could stand before the wrath of a Vampire Royal.

Ela-Lenora brought the blade to the fore, and pointed it at Teron. She almost teleported it seemed, as she moved with an unnatural speed towards him, he was quick to react, and tried to flee. But was met with a white hot blade to his back. He turned and hissed, his instinct kicking in to fight back. He met her with ferocity, but her cool disposition and elegance and absolute force of thousands of years of Vampire strength crushed any sort of confidence he had. If he was a box, she folded him with complete expertise and with little effort. She plunged the sword deep into his heart, and before he dissipated, she whispered “…go now to the black pit, you creature of darkness…” and with that his ashes faded into the night.

Lenore watched as the Raven villagers came pouring out the gate. They saw her, and all stopped in their tracks. A large man stepped forward and beside him was the girl that was kidnapped. He nodded at Lenore, and she have a small wave, and burst into a cloud of bats as she sore through the night sky with speed, back towards her home. Justice was served this night. She will be back to serve the people of Raven this winter, she knew for sure. But this night she had done her duty to the people.

From the forest edge Sigfrid the Bell Hand watched the entire show, in complete awe. He could not wait to tell Kaiora this story!

Back Home. Lenore. Creature of comforts!

Nothing wrong with a little hot chocolate. What a night. Gurgles working with commons, they must be getting desperate. I’ll note this strategy down.

Lord, thank you for the strength you gave me tonight. Thank you that i can serve you and fight evil in your name.

I walked down towards the bedroom. It was so large it could have been a throne room. Grandpa designed it for me specifically to make me feel like a queen. Every time I see his picture on the wall I am almost tempted to take it off, it hurts. I miss him.

Lenore, she loved her grandfather. She knew a kind of eternal love only with him. He was a father, and a friend, a fellow warrior, and in so many ways he reminded her that there is something worth fighting for in this world. He was a man of honour and integrity.

She came across something she had not noticed in many years. A small heart necklace that her grandpa held. It was a necklace with a small picture of her grandmother in it. How they loved each other.

She then felt something she had not felt in many a long age. A small prick in her own heart, a desire, not influenced by loneliness, but something more. A desire for companionship, a desire to know and love someone. A desire for a husband. One of the most feared vampires in all the land, stood tall and proud and… blushing. Her thoughts, as her face went red and warm (a rare thing for a vampire); had she just finally gone mad?

To be continued…