Night on Pandemonia: The Divyne Vampires, #1

By Bloodwitch Luz Oscuria

In ancient times, Goddess Ivy created a world in which She allowed all kinds of creatures to coexist. But the creatures of the night caused a great deal of concern to mortals. Perhaps a young girl’s metamorphosis into a Vampire would be a game-changer. Kate-Lynn had the distinction of keeping her soul when Vampire Valek made her his infanta. At his side, she fought in the defense of mortals to whom she still felt so close. Was she going to achieve her goal without losing what made her so different from her peers? Explore Pandemonia and its surroundings with her, still beware if you are a mortal yourself, and discover the journey of one who wanted to change the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloodwitch Luz Oscuria
• Release date: Dec 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201187088

Book preview

NIGHT

ON

PANDEMONIA

Translated by Saleem Rustom

The Intellectual Property Code prohibits copies or reproductions intended for collective use. Any full or partial representation or reproduction made by any means whatsoever, without the consent of the author or his successors in title, is illegal and constitutes an infringement, under the terms of articles L. 335-2 and following of the French Code of intellectual property.

© 2013 Bloodwitch Luz Oscuria

Table des matières

HUMANITY

METAMORPHOSIS

PERSEPHONE

AONE & WOODSTOCK

WELCOME TO PANDEMONIA

DEATH TO LYCANS

THE LUZ OSCURIA

AUDRIC

ILLEANA & KERESKA

FROM NIGHTWITCH TO BLOODWITCH

LUZ OSCURIA, WITH OR WITHOUT HEART

BLOOD, ALWAYS BLOOD, UNTIL...

HUMANITY

It was a day of Depaïr 1085 after Ivy which saw the birth of Kate-Lynn, in the village of Dorelys, at the very center of the Vampire sphere. Dorelys was a tiny and very poor village, made up of people who had nowhere else to go, and who ultimately stayed there by default. Despite the existence of dangerous creatures in the vicinity, no vampiric presence was to be deplored within this village. They were mortals amongst mortals, but always watched over by creatures of the night which did not live so far from the walls.

Kate-Lynn’s immediate entourage consisted of a coachman father and a baker mother, a rather mundane life. Life in the family home was not the best, as the three members of the household could not always have enough to eat. They were penniless, and Kate-Lynn had to grow up in this world of poverty and misery.

Until the age of 5, she did not realize the nature of this world she was growing in. But when she began to understand what surrounded her, she realized she could not spend all her life in such a place. She would one day have to leave this cocoon which seemed so secure to her but which in reality was not. She had tried to build a little life that was as quiet as possible, yet she could only make one friend, whose name was Elonia.

She spent a lot of time with this friend, and grew up with her. They learned everything there was to learn together, reading, writing, singing. They were like two sisters, had the same tastes, always thought the same way. The whole village was aware of this so close bond that reigned between the two little girls. And they were known to everyone. Everybody greeted them when they walked the streets, always arm in arm.

Elonia was a very lively little girl. She did not really know discretion, and therefore stood out wherever she went. She had made a bad habit of speaking very loudly, always speaking her mind. Kate-Lynn, on the other hand, was a calm little girl, very calm. She didn’t like to be spotted in the street. However, she loved Elonia so much that she decided to come to terms with her friend’s odd behavior. And then again, Elonia was her only accomplice, her only confidante, the only one she could spend time with after all.

Kate-Lynn’s parents didn’t like Elonia so much because of her overly exuberant demeanor, a million miles from theirs. They were worried that their daughter would become the same, and that would get her in trouble. So they tried to prevent the two sidekicks from seeing each other too often. But the two had found a way to see each other regularly anyway, because Elonia’s parents liked Kate-Lynn very much, and always welcomed her with open arms.

If Kate-Lynn’s parents didn’t want their daughter to stand out, it was mainly because of the threat beyond Dorelys’s walls. At night, a presence could be felt on the outskirts of the village. Sometimes a scream could be heard tearing the nightly silence. It was still the scream of a mortal who had just been caught in the clutches of one of those dreaded creatures – the Vampires. It wasn’t good hanging out after the sun went down, and many of the villagers stayed away from the streets. They weren’t sure the Divyne hadn’t given Vampires the power to walk around in broad daylight. And yet, none of them could ever testify to having seen one of these creatures during the day.

Legend has it that bloodsuckers could not stand the sun setting on their skin. That was, in any case, the rumor that had been going around for decades, since their existence was discovered. But ultimately, what could confirm this to mortals? Nothing, or so little in the end. No tangible proof anyway.

Until one day Kate-Lynn’s mother simply disappeared from circulation. No one had seen or heard anything. She simply vanished. Vampires were on the prowl. Everybody had known that for a long time, and they got even hungrier over the years. No one would have been surprised if it turned out at one point or another that one or more of these creatures had entered the village to kidnap this woman.

Everyone was therefore careful to avoid leaving Dorelys. So the only possibility was that the attacker had somehow got in. The village was not defended for lack of resources. Although it was completely surrounded by a low wall, the protection that this rampart offered to the inhabitants was simply ridiculous. It was made of stones awkwardly placed on top of each other. The worst part was that in places this semblance of defense was just over a meter high. A five-year-old could easily climb over it. So what about the nocturnal creatures that lurked not far away, sniffing the scent of the fresh flesh holding out their arms to them each time they went out, as soon as the sun had set?

Apart from this ridiculous wall, the village was made of a single straight street, around which proudly stood about twenty households, and the few local businesses. A fishmonger, a bakery, a post office. No butcher’s shop. The inhabitants were too afraid of the consequences that such a blood trade could have in their region. It was not very advisable to work with comestible animals around here, especially when it came to fresh remains. And besides, most Dorelyens had chosen to be vegetarians, giving up any form of meat which they would have eaten with gusto.

The disappearance of Kate-Lynn’s mother caused a stir. All the surrounding newspapers had made the event their headlines, emphasizing the worry that was gnawing at her husband. Much less was said about their daughter, who refused to elaborate on the matter with the authors of these articles, wanting to believe that her mother would return soon. The lines laid on the paper, of very poor quality, spoke at length about security breaches at Dorelys. The design of the wall surrounding the village was being questioned, people in the streets were heard starting to talk about it, newspaper in hand, although they had never paid it attention before.

This was the first real disappearance reported here. But days, months, years passed, and no one found the slightest trail leading to Kate-Lynn’s mother. The girl and her father thus had no choice but to come to terms.

Kate-Lynn grew into a pretty young woman of twenty, short, hair immeasurably long, as black as ebony, framing a pretty face with fine features. Her eyes were brown, but turned earnestly green as the sun set on them. Her cheeks were dotted with some pretty freckles to the best effect. One could also occasionally see the moles adorning parts of her body, especially on her stomach, near her navel.

She was reputed to be the best party in the whole village, but her poverty, which was known to everyone, did not working in her favor. She was one of those families which, according to general opinion, were not to be going around with. In her entourage, she could always only rely on her father, as well as on her friend Elonia who was always by her side, even more so since the disappearance of her poor mother.

Elonia’s thatched cottage had become Kate-Lynn’s home by dint of going there. Her father was reassured when his daughter was there, because he felt she was more secure there than within his own four walls. And yet he thought otherwise when she was younger and his wife was here. The disappearance of his companion changed his perspective on many things. He had lost the taste for life since he found himself alone with his daughter. He no longer believed in anything to find the trail of the one he loved. He still went to pray to Ivy every day at the village temple, to no avail.

The Divyne never answered him. He wondered more and more if it was not better to turn the page, leave his wife in the twists and turns of his memories, and forever stop believing that she could return one day. Kate-Lynn was no slouch. She also addressed a prayer to the One every night before falling asleep, alone, lying in her bed, tears rolling down her cheeks at the thought of the one who had given her life.

Her mother disappeared in 1096. It has been nine years. Too much water had flowed under the bridges for any hope that she was still alive. So Kate-Lynn was seriously starting to think that she was definitely motherless, that the latter could only be dead now. This idea, as it emerged more and more clearly in her head, helped her character to develop even more with each passing day, with each passing year.

One evening, as she had once again gone to her faithful friend Elonia’s house for a game of cards, Elonia fainted and suddenly passed out. A panicking Kate-Lynn hurried down and rushed through the streets of Dorelys, in search of help for her comrade. She ran breathlessly, looking for someone, until she came face to face with a man whose features she couldn’t quite make out. But this was someone who maybe could help her, so she stopped abruptly in front of him.

He seemed like being in his late thirties with an unshaven beard, which she could barely see in the light of the lamppost, which dimly lit him. He wore a suit largely masked under a dark-colored hooded frock coat. He looked like he was coming out of a high society party, which did not exist in Dorelys, the village being so small and insignificant that no personality, even a little rich, could pay any attention and stop there. Wealthy merchants, who roamed the roads daily to sell their wares, avoided any passage through Dorelys.

The village’s poverty reputation was so strong that they knew full well that there was nothing they could get out of such a place, for no one had enough to buy their trinkets which were sold for ten times their real value. No rich family lived there. They were only penniless onlookers.

Kate-Lynn was impressed by the appearance of this man who seemed so rich to her. Putting her shyness aside, she tried to explain to him what had just happened to Elonia, and begged him for help. She forgot that her father forbade her to talk to strangers, that this man could be dangerous. She needed immediate help no matter who it came from.

The man, whose face she could not see in full due to the large hood he wore on his head, nodded at the girl’s words, and followed Kate-Lynn who started running again towards the house of Elonia. He too had to run to follow her, which he did without flinching.

Arriving at the door of her friend’s house, Kate-Lynn had a hard time catching her breath, but the man accompanying her seemed as rested as if he had just woken up after a good night’s sleep. sleep. Once they got inside the modest building, Elonia was gone, and so were her parents. The place was hopelessly empty.

Kate-Lynn still tried to find her friend for a long time, followed by the mysterious stranger who followed her like a dog behind his master. Until they stumbled upon Elonia’s lacerated corpse in the kitchen. Kate-Lynn let out a cry of pain. She was so affected by this death scene. The man remained perfectly peaceful, as if he saw nothing of the horror of the scene.

After a few long seconds of literally dead silence, he tried with simple kind words to appease Kate-Lynn, to dry her tears, but she was inconsolable. After several attempts, each more unsuccessful as the previous, to console the young woman, he suggested that she leave the house. He had a very strange way of speaking, and Kate-Lynn grew suspicious, especially thinking about her father’s words about strangers, whom you shouldn’t trust. But she accepted his proposal all the same.

She felt completely lost. She had just lost the only person who really mattered to her except her father. It was then that she realized she did not see Elonia’s parents when she left the house to seek help,. All the lights were off when she came down the stairs after her friend passed out.

She did not try to find out if they went to sleep in their bedroom. She had even completely obscured the fact that they were the ones she should have been looking for first. In fact, she simply had no idea what had happened to them.

The man walked her endlessly through the streets of the village. She did not realize the many miles they had covered. She was too lost in her thoughts of Elonia and her parents. After walking for a while, he invited her to his place. Kate-Lynn found it hard to accept his proposal, however considerate it was.

She thought of her mother, the origins of whose disappearance she did not know. What if the same happened to her? What if she had followed a stranger just like herself, Kate-Lynn, was doing it right now?

She was so lost, so sad, so shaken by what she saw in her friend’s kitchen that she accepted the stranger’s offer without thinking. The man then led her through the darkest alleys of Dorelys, areas so scary that Kate-Lynn had never ventured there before.

Then he took her across a dilapidated bridge until he reached a small isolated building, arguably the most miserable in the whole village. He lifted a heavy purple curtain that served as a door, and invited the girl to enter. A draft of cool air crept inside along with her, sweeping away an unbearable musty smell.

Kate-Lynn discovered a simple room that couldn’t be bigger than her own bedroom at her father’s house, with no water or electricity. Only a few candles placed on the rare furniture in the place, and left lit despite the owner’s absence, could give a glimpse of the state of the room. The stranger invited Kate-Lynn to sit on one of the only two chairs that surrounded a single table. He settled in front of her. They then started to get to know each other.

His name was Victor. He clarified that he has resided in Dorelys for so long that he was unable to say how many years. He described himself as a solitary, discreet being, only going out at night to feed himself. Kate-Lynn found this last detail very astonishing, because the few businesses in the village closed as soon as the sun went down.

He spoke at length about himself, revealing that his family, which were nevertheless large and noble, had passed away, and that he had been alone for many years, which had forged a lonely character in him. He said he was used to people coming to him for help, because he was lucky to always be in the way of the people who needed it, just like Kate-Lynn was tonight.

He made her uncomfortable. She kept twisting her fingers as she listened to him speak, wondering when would be the best time to take her leave, and return to her father. Her tears had ceased, the memory of Elonia gradually left her mind. She was so obsessed with this man she had in front of her and whom she did not know, whom she had nevertheless followed blindly, without thinking and that maybe she could never go home.

She didn’t know