{"sf1_id":814872,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Nighthawk Chapter 0-Prologue","author":"TheGrandPuppeteer","words":3907,"posted_at":"2015-02-03T20:51:00.000Z","tags":["Dark","Fantasy","Human","Intro","Plot Development","Series","Vampire","Violence (not In Yiff)","blood","fight"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/814872-nighthawk-chapter-0-prologue","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/814872","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=814872\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"Alright, here is the Prologue of \"Nighthawk\" and my very first uploadweeee\nI had it lieing around on my harddrive for a while now and I thought \"might as well upload it\". Yes, I am already working on the first \"real\" Chapter.\nI'm not gonna go into detail about the contents of the story as my profile description pretty much serves that purpose. So you might wanna read that first. Anyways, read and enjoy!\n(And leave a comment. I would like your opinion.)Update 08.02.-Fixed some mistakes","content":"PrologueNight\nwas dangerous in the uppercity of Talientral City. Monsters were\nlurking in the night, feasting on the ones careless enough to walk\nthe streets and the ones keeping their houses alight. But two months\nago the Clan of the Black Dragon had taken over the undercity and\neven all the walls and guards parting the two sections of the capital\nof the Talientral empire could not keep the monsters dwelling in the\nundercity at bay. Every night another nobleman, another rich\ncraftsman was killed in his house, drained of all blood, every new\nday a group of guardsman was found with opened throats, for vampires\nwere now in control of a once safe city.Caul\nsat on top of the balcony卒s ledge, watching over the sleeping city.\nThe uppercitys inhabitants were all locking themselves in their\nhomes, a futile effort, and even the simple craftsmen, merchants and\npeasants of the undercity were not stupid enough to leave their homes\nat night. Where once would've been a few drunkards on their way home,\nor shrouded figures making deals they could not dare to make in\ndaylight, there now was only dead silence. 'Talientral had its chance\nto enjoy the night and they have wasted it,\" Caul thought bitterly\n'glossing over it as something natural.\" Nowadays the nights\nbelonged to the Hunters in the Dark, to the Children of the Faded\nMoon, or for the common people, vampires. Now everything the night\npromised for those who didn't pay their tolls was bloodshed and\nslaughter, perfected with spoon of maniacal laughter. And that was\nwhy Caul loved the night. \nAfter\npondering for a few more minutes Caul leapt down from the balcony to\nthe street below, his bones protesting as he landed, his dark cloak\nflapping behind him in the night's cold air. This close to the upper\ncity the houses and the space between them was growing rapidly. The\nwall of the uppercity was now towering above him and he could spot\nthe moonlight reflecting on a guards helmet peering over the edge.\nNot that he could see Caul nearly a hundred yards below him. \"Someone\nwanted to make one hell of a wall.\" he thought. Climbing over the\nwall surely wasn't the best of ideas. Sure, you could find a hole in\nthe guardsmen' patrol routes or cause one if you could get close\nenough, as even half a dozen well-armed and well-trained humans\nweren't an enemy for a vampire up close. But if they were to spot\none, the way down would be displeasingly fast and displeasingly\nbolt-filled. Most Vampires could survive a fall of one hundred yards\nat night, but crossbows and arrows would decrease that chance by an\nunpleasant number and Caul wasn't eager to meet the cobblestone of\nthe ground in such a fast pace. Therefor he卒d made preparations.\nTime to meet an old friend.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Friend\nprobably was very inappropriate description for Teklav. As Caul\njumped down to the streets he smirked in memory of his first\nencounter with the old smuggler. Before he Clan of the Black Dragon\nhad taken over the undercity of Talientral the bald man wearing a\nshort brown beard, way past his thirties, was supplying the nobles\nand royals with cheap stolen goods and illegal substances through an\nunguarded dry sewer-hole. Now pretty much all he did was not calling\nthe guards to close this precious little hole in their oversized\nwall. Broad enough to let four men walk next to each other without\nproblems, bringing down the wall would have been as ridiculous as\namusing to watch. Furthermore, simply undertunneling the wall was way\neasier to climb it and risk getting shot by guards. Caul had been\nlooking for something exactly like this as it had become clear that\nthe Clan wouldn't be able to take the uppercity as easily as the\nundercity. He卒d scared the hell out of Teklav when he first broke\nthrough the makeshift wooden barricade. Caul gave the smuggler a\nsimple choice: take his coins and tell no one of the uppercity about\ntheir little mouse-hole or end face-down in the dirt. For man like\nTeklav the choice between his own life and the ones of royals was\neasy enough. He would just be sitting in his home under the wall and\nreport Caul of every trespasser, as he had no illusions about him\nbeing the only one knowing about the sewer-hole. In return Caul would\npay him and protect him from some of his too-hungry brethren.As\nCaul slipped through a crack between the planks he could already\nsmell Teklav. That smell of Lucky Herbs and sheer dirt was\nunmistakable. With catlike grace Caul put down the planks which\nserved as door and strode towards the little campfire illuminating\nthe greasy tunnel. Luckily for Teklav the sewer made a little\nserpentine through the wall, or else he would've been even more\ncramped than he already was. Caul couldn't stand up without banging\nhis head on the low ceiling, and if he stretched out his arms he\ncould touch both mold-stained walls. The smugglers possessions were\nall scattered over the place, blankets, food-crates and other things\nmade the walk through the tunnel tricky even for a Vampire. Caul\nspotted Teklav sitting over his campfire simmering a soup including\nvegetables and something that could be called meat with a lot of\nfantasy.\"You卒re\nlate, Vampire\" Teklav spoke up with his rusty voice \"Enjoying the\nnight, eh?\" \"If it wasn't for mouthy old bastards who were\nbetter to keep their mouth shout, it might be\" replied Caul in an\nangry tone. \"Ha! You卒re not scaring me Vampire! If you卒d wanted\nto kill me you卒d done it long ago. And who would keep track of your\nmates going in and out of this tunnel, eh?\" Caul could not help but\nchuckle. No matter how much he tried to scare the old man he couldn't\nget him to crawl on his knees and beg for his live as he卒d done on\ntheir first encounter. \"If\nit wasn't for that horrible odor of yours, one of my 'mates' would\ncome here for you after you were a bit too mouthy. They might still\ncut you open, just to shut you up.\" Teklav gave him an angered\nlook. \"That is the odor of a man working hard for his pay, so hard\nhe doesn't have time to bathe. You just severely hurt my pride.\"\n\"All you do for your pay is lean back and steal honest monsters\ntime. Alright, alright I will stop poking at that crusted thing you\ncall pride, no need to hurl cutlery at me. But speaking of mates, any\nactivity?\"\"Indeed\nmy insulting friend.\" Teklav waved his hands as if speaking to\nlarge crowd. \"Just half an hour ago, some guy with a helmet and\nweird blades came through here. You should卒ve seen those, curved\nlike a sickle! Maybe he wanted to reap some goods in the upper city,\neh?\" Blades\ncurved like sickles? That could only have been Vexeter, also known as\nthe Screaming Storm, the right hand of the Patriarch. The real\nquestion was, what did he want in the uppercity? Surely he wasn't\nhunting, he only did so on new moon. \"He didn't tell you what he\nwanted, no?\" \"Oh\nsure,\" Teklac theatrically waved his hands over his head \" he\ntold me everything about him and his secret love with the princess.\nHow he would flee with her from this wicked city and ride with her\noff into the sunset. How they would live happily forever after on a\nlittle cottage in the mountains.\" \"If you could tone down your\nsarcasm just a bit you卒d be an even better liar. Besides as far as I\nam informed your king doesn't even have a daughter.\"Teklav\nmade a face as if the city guard came to inform him about him being\nexecuted in public. Naked. \"That\nis the second time you have insulted me tonight Vampire. First my\nsmell, now my stage performance. I demand an apology immediately!\"Caul\ngave a short laugh. \"Good luck on that one. As much as I would like\nto go on the whole night chattering about the pride of a man living\nin a drainage hole, I have to attend to some drainage myself.\" He\nstepped past the old smuggler. \"May I ask who you intend on\ndraining this night, Vampire?\" This\ntime there was something else in the old mans voice. Something that\nsounded like concern. Caul locked back over his shoulder. Coldly he\nsaid: \"Some noble called Valendine. Or was it Velentine? Volatile?\nHonestly I don't really care.\" He turned back to Teklav. \"The\nquestion is Do you care?\" \"No\" the aged man said, staring into\nhis soup \"Not really anyways. Let them see how it is to fear for\nmere existence day for day. It's just...... I can't really explain.\"Caul\nknew exactly what gnawed at the old man. He felt responsible for all\nthose deaths caused by Vampires he let into the uppercity. After all\nhe once had traded with these people, the same people he was now\nsending to their demise.\"You\nshould not mourn for things you can't change. You'll get over it\neventually. Believe me everyone has their own sins to deal with\"\nCaul said without emotion. He balled his fist. Yes, everyone had\ntheir sins.Everyone.The\nVampire turned sharply and marched towards the grate at the end of\nthe sewer channel. He looked at it for moment. Three mortals would\nhave been required to heave the rusty steel. Caul took it in one hand\nand pulled sharply. The grate gave an ear-stinging moan as he slipped\nunderneath it into the uppercity. He gave Teklav one last look. The\nold smuggler sat hunched over his campfire, absentmindedly stirring\nhis soup. Caul wanted to feel sorry for him.But\nthen he thought about the blood he would claim tonight. And the\nVampire inside him took over. Slowly a broad grin crept across his\nface. The grate clanged behind him as he closed it.Time\nfor the fun only a hunt in the dark could provide.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The\nsewer-hole was located underneath a walkway of the inner side of the\ngreat wall. Luckily it was far away enough from any stairs leading to\nthe top of the wall, and hidden behind some abandoned building or\nsome curious guard might have noticed the small, but severe hole in\ntheir precious defense system. Caul pulled the hood of his coat over\nhis head, then he drew his dagger. Slowly he traced a finger over the\nblade, causing a small drop of his blackish, sticky blood to slide\ndown the razorsharp edge.Almost\nas long as his forearm but only slightly thicker than a few layers of\nparchment and made of the legendary Shadowsteel, this dagger had\nbecome trusted friend of him. The Shadowsteel would never break. It\nwould pierce through armor as easy as through parchment. And he would\nnever find any bloodstains sticking to it. Its former owner thought\nhimself invincible because of this blade. At least until Caul proved\nhim otherwise. Looking back, that was probably the luckiest day he's\never had. It\nwas a beautiful blade-curved like a scimitar and with small spikes at\nthe bottom of the edgeless side, all in a tone of black that\nshimmered in the moonlight. It was filled with a breeze of ancient.\nNo one could guess how many centuries this dagger had seen, how many\nbattles it had fought, how many lives it had taken.Caul\nsnapped back to the present. There was still a noble to be killed,\nstill blood to be taken.He\nheld the blade in his fist, the tip facing the ground and carefully\nskulked around the house. As expected the streets were dead silent,\nsome sole lanterns casting dancing shadows across the ground. Only\nsingle lights shone through the windows of the houses lining the\nbroad streets, their inhabitants hoping for safety in darkness, which\nwas a foolish idea, or hoping for ignorance in their seemingly\nabandoned homes, which was just as futile. A vampire could easily\ntrack down the scent of humans, and if a building was truly abandoned\nthe scent would be much weaker.As\nhe strode through the shadows Caul inhaled the scent of the\nuppercity. The smell of fear was present at every corner-the smell of\nsweat, a hastily extinguished candle, a rusty key turned inside the\nlock.Boarded-up\nwindows looked down onto the street. The houses of the wealthy\nupperclass if Talientral looked as worn out as the spirit of their\ninhabitants likely were. Pretty carvings framed the windows, petty\nfigurines watched down from rooftops and ledges. It could have well\nbeen a ghost town if it wasn't for the faint clanging of metal on\nstones,caused by the fearsome patrols.It\nwas a childsplay for Caul to avoid the patrols as he snuck deeper\ninto the uppercity, the rattling of their armor giving them away\nmiles ago. Not that he was afraid of them, he simply had no interest\nin taking their lives. He was simply here to collect the toll,\nnothing more, nothing less.Finally\nhe got in view of Volatiles' house. The merchants that used to trade\nwith the noblemen from time to time had given Caul an exact\ndescription of his house as well as the fastest way to get there.\nThey'd described as stuck-up, snotty and as an overall unpleasant\nappearance. That was probably also the reason why they had been so\ninformative about him.To\nhim the house didn't look to different than any other nobles home.\nSmall garden with a few exotic plants, sculptures and other\nmeaningless accessories. Two floors. Many windows. A large two-winged\nfront door. The only things of interest were the latter ones, as they\nallowed easier entrance.The\nVampire walked towards the front door and raised the Shadowsteel.\nCould as well take the most direct way. The dagger cut through the\nlock with little 'tink'. Certainly quieter than tearing the door out\nof its frame. If he would ever meet the creator of this little\ntreasure he'd build him a shrine. Well, only small one.Caul\nslipped inside the building. The door creaked behind him as he closed\nit. Damn nobles buying the most useless , most expensive stuff they\ncould find, but to nitpicky with a little oil. He slowly strode\nthrough the dark halls, just as door at the end of the hallway opened\nand a man in a leather armor and a short sword tied to his waist\nstepped out.\"And\nI tell you I heard something.\" \"You're just drunk again and\nimagining things\" another voice from inside the room spoke\" Those\nthings rarely come up here when it's not full moon. Now get back in\nhere before you wake Mylord Volandine.\"Volandine.\nDamn. Volatile hadn't even been that far-fatched.\"I\ndon't care if I wake that old wineskin. He pays me to protect him, so\nI'm gonna do my best to do exactly that.\" Then he walked towards\nthe entrance. Exactly the way Caul was coming. The\nguardsman nightvision was still obscured by bright room he just left\nso he couldn't see the vampire standing in the middle of the hallway\nyet. But he would if he kept walking. Caul had no option to escape,\neven a deaf would hear him in these silent halls. Forward then.Caul\nsurged forward, his boots thudding on the stone floor.\"Who goes...\"\nwas all the guard could say before the vampire was upon him.Besides\nan excellent scent, perfect nightvision, immense regenerative powers,\ntheir catlike agility and incredible grace, a vampire also had\nimmense strength, easily matching the ones of young dragons and\nlesser demons, there was little the overeager mortal or his leather\narmor could do against the Child of the Faded Moon.Caul\ndrove his right arm through the poor mans' chest, just above his\nheart, exiting the body painted in deep red. The man gasped in shock,\nas if he could not believed that there just had a vampire appeared\nand slew him with a single stroke of his hand. His shrouded eyes\nslowly turned towards his killer, a pleading look in their fading\nlight.\"You\nwere a good bodyguard\" Caul spoke softly as he eased the man\nimpaled on his hand to the ground. \"You deserved better than that.\"\nAs he softly laid the man to the ground he was already dead.The\nvampire looked at his bloodstained hand. Might as well just take an\nappetizer. As he made his way to the stairs licked the blood from his\nhand. It had strong, earthy taste of iron. A common man, but\nnevertheless brave, working hard to earn his coins, maybe even\nmarried and a father.Very\nwell, another scratch on the board of crimes. Another\nscar on the soul.As\nhe arrived on the second floor, Caul inhaled the scent of the house.\nThe sharp smell of dust on the tapestry. The iron smell from below.\nAnd the sweet scent of the householder. Where did it come from? That\ndoor? No, the next one. Yes, there. Bloodlust slowly filled his mind.\nHe shouldn't have taken that appetizer.Alright,\nno time to dally now. The dead guardsman comrades would probably find\ntheir dead friend any second now. So he simply kicked door leading to\nVolandines sleeping chambers out of its hinges.As\nhe jumped up in his bed, Caul registered at the edge of his mind that\nVolandine wore a silken nightdress in a deep blue color, a woman next\nto him dressed similarly.He\ndrew the Shadowsteel. Go forward.Get\nhim.There,\ndon't let him escape. Ignore\nthe screaming woman.Now\nyou have him.He\ncaught Volandine as he tried to make a run for the window. He spun\nthe noble around so he was looking right into his fearful eyes. As he\nraised his blade to the nobles throat, he spoke with trembling lips:\n\"W-Why?\"That\nwas a good question. Why did he murder this man he didn't even know?\n\"Because\" Caul replied. Before Volandinde could say another word\nhe dragged the Shadowsteel over the nobles' throat. Hot blood flowed\nout of the cut. Sweet delicious blood. He just had to stick out his\ntongue and....No.\nFirst, collect the toll.He\nsummoned a small flask from his cloak, about as long as his middle\nfinger and held it under the nobles' ruined throat. As the light\ninside the mans' eyes grew weaker, a long buried memory came up\nthrough the crimson coat of bloodlust, something he'd wished to\nforget.\"Sleep\nnow ,my baby dear, do not fear the night.You\nwill see, joy will come, after the nighthawks flight.So\nwatch your head and go to bed, but remember:Do\nnot fear the night.\"Just\nas he filled the second flask Caul could hear boots tromping on the\nstairs. 'Still enough time to take a bite myself' he thought and\nplunged his fangs deep into the dead mans' throat.Whoever\nhad spun the tail of gentle vampires leaving tiny holes on their\nvictims' necks was either completely drunk or knew less about the\nHunters in the Dark than the common man did. First of all, while only\nthe corner teeth were true fangs, all of a vampires teeth happened to\nbe almost twice as big as a normal mans' ones, and all of them had\nsharp points. Furthermore, vampires made little difference between\nblood and bloodied flesh, making them to some extent cannibalistic.\nSo, instead of leaving tiny pointy holes in their victims' throats,\nthey usually just tore the whole neck apart.Caul\nrose to his feet just as two guardsmen charged into the dead\nhouseholders' sleeping chambers. They stopped in an instant as they\nsaw him. He sure gave a menacing sight, gleaming red eyes, the whole\nmouth painted in red.\"How\nvery rude of you to interrupt a gentleman's meal. I'm thinking about\nmaking you the dessert, but looking at all the leather you're\nwrapping yourself into, you'd be far to stringy.\"He\nspun his dagger around in his right hand until he had the tip between\nhis fingers. \"But you still must be punished for disturbing me.\"\nAnd with those words he flung the Shadowsteel at the first man. Even\nif they had any intentions to flee, they had no time to do so, as the\nDagger hit the guard right in the forehead. Before his knees even had\ntouched the ground, Caul had already drawn the Shadowsteel from his\nface and plunged it into the second mans' temple. No sign of the\nwoman.So\nfar, so good. His tasks here were done, but it would be day soon. And\nhe wouldn't like being in the uppercity during daytime at all.\nBesides, soldiers would be swarming this place any moment. Time to\nget moving.Back\nonto the streets Caul quickly made his way back to the wall. Already\nwas a red shimmer on the horizon. Damn. It was later than he'd\nanticipated. 'No more time for secrecy' he thought and started\nrunning.He\ndidn't get too far before he could already hear the first patrols\nshouting. Well screw them, they had no chance outrunning a vampire.\nArrived at the gargantuan wall he started sprinting up the stairs,\nnot even slightly winded. On the top side of the stairs there were\nalready two men with halberds waiting for him.In\nfull sprint Caul grabbed each of the halberds just below the blade\nand yanked them aside. As the two soldiers stumbled aside he dashed\nover the walkway, arrows and crossbow-bolts soaring left and right.\nOne of them hit his arm. Ignoring the pain, he made the last two\nsteps and leapt over the balustrade, about hundred yards between him\nand the ground.A\nvampire had mediocre chances of surviving a fall like this when being\nshot from the wall and tumbling downwards. With a controlled jump\nhowever they usually had no problem even when being shot at in\nmid-air. The tricky part was not to crash into any buildings.Caul\napproached the ground fast. No, he wouldn't crash into a building.\nThe air boomed in his ears. He stretched out his right arm the one\nwith the arrow in it. Then came the impact.The\nfirst thing that gave in were his ankles. The rest of his legs\nfollowed. Then the arm snapped. And with the rest of velocity, his\nright side slammed against the streets. Vampires\ncould ignore most injuries crippling or lethal for common men. That\ndidn't mean they couldn't feel pain. It was an advantage as much as\nit was a disadvantage. Caul once had been burned alive, healing his\nbody faster than it was melting away. THAT was pain. But Caul still\nfound it hard to enjoy haveng half his his bones broken. At least his\nskull wasn't fractured right now. That would have taken some time.\nAlready his wounds started healing.An\nintense tingle crawled through his body, splintered bones mending\ntogether, torn flesh regrowing. Seconds after the impact Caul lifted\nhimself to his feet, some stray, bad-aimed arrows clattering against\nthe streets. He limped off, ribs jumping into their usual place. His\narm still stood off in an odd angle. As his steps grew steadier he\nyanked out he arrow sticking out of his arm. It was coated in sticky\nblack blood. The\nblood of a monster. The\nblood of a vampire.At\nthe next corner he took a deep breath. All in all a productive night.\nThe toll was collected and his hunger was satisfied. 'Time to give in\nthe toll and meet with the Patriarch' Caul thought just as the sun\ndawned, and brought light back to Talientral City."}