The snake bodied man suddenly stopped his attempt to flee as he sensed something approaching along the tunnel behind them. His forked tongue flickered over his vomeronasal organ located in the roof of his mouth, the bloody scent a curious combination that he had let to encounter and log in his memory. He whipped his head around and his suspicion was confirmed as his ability to detect heat, incredibly useful in the ‘downworld’, showed a warmer shape moving rapidly toward them. He attempting to swing his bulk around to face the on comer but in the cramped space of the tunnel that also contained and elf, he could only hope it was another lost soul like them.
With a plea the female human dropped to the floor the scent of her blood overpowering her natural human scent. The elf knelt before he could respond and the bite marks became visible. He’d seen many a mark like that before. The similarities between vampiric and naga bite scars were few but clear to those that learnt to detect them. Many a previous conflict between naga and vampire and othe species had erupted over a misread, or intentionally misidentified, bite mark. All naga were trained to identify their various cultural bite marks and those of vampires as proof of evidence in court, many of his kinsmen carrying an imprint of their own bite to ensure innocence in the face of false accusation. Ithnesi did not have such an issue as a constrictor, having no fangs but just rows of smaller razor-sharp teeth in the back of his mouth.
He looked back at the figure with a sense of sadness. The poor girl. She was obviously just dinner but decided to fight back. Her transformation already beginning explained why he hadn’t known her scent – he’d never met a newly transforming vampire before. And for good reason. Now with the venom inside her but not drained she was destined to become of the dark. Thrust into another world and unable to return fully to everything she’d known. He knew the troubled history of his peoples but couldn’t imagine the immediate future for this poor warm-blood. Either a swift death at the hands of her captors, a lingering painful one as her body failed to adjust to the biological conversion or a severe psychological shock and adjustment as she was reborn into the downworld. But she was about to find out which, as his sharpened senses picked up vampiric scents, along with a slight increase in temperature accompanying the vibrations of numerous footsteps. He turned to flee when the unconscious body suddenly levitated! What was the elf thinking?
He stared wide eyed at the ridiculous elf. How on Odox could such a successful and handsome elf be down here biting up on wolf saliva, talking to a naga and now using magic openly on a fresh vampire recruit.
"We need to take her out of here. She's the most vulnerable right now and about to change. In this phase she's not safe in the upworld nor the downworld. Could you please help me get her out of sight?"
Ithnesi replied by merely widening his eyes further. What was this crazy elf thinking? A political elf lawyer and a naga ambassador abducting a vampiric recruit for her own safety. The legal and political implications were disastrous.
"Haven't we all been in a vulnerable position once, grateful that we weren't left behind?" Well those were words you wouldn't expect from an elf, who generally hadn't seen darkness in their lives, but they sounded very sincere. This was no average elf, that was obvious now.
He pointed down the tunnel, “GO!” I’ll make sure they won’t want to follow.” He quickly sourced a vial of white ink from his satchel, unique amongst the races for scribing in white ink on darkened surface. He splashed it in two spots on the wall of the tunnel swiping the blotches down with his hands into two large curves that resembled a pair of sharp fangs. He connected the base of the fangs with a large ‘V’ shape before pouring the remainder on the tip of his tail to swipe a zig zagging line across the musty floor. As a light appeared down the tunnel he smiled in reassurance. With a torch they wouldn’t miss his handiwork. And that meant they definitely wouldn’t follow. The symbolism was that of a nesting viper pit. No naga would venture into anywhere that contained a brace of female viperish nagas guarding their eggs.
He quickly caught up with the elf and figure floating serenely behind him at speed. When they emerged, it was going to be a strange sight. An elf, injured human and naga was going to draw all the wrong kind of attention even at this time of night. Yet he couldn’t help but muse that they would look like a motley heroic troop from the tales of old. Maybe this was fate.
With a plea the female human dropped to the floor the scent of her blood overpowering her natural human scent. The elf knelt before he could respond and the bite marks became visible. He’d seen many a mark like that before. The similarities between vampiric and naga bite scars were few but clear to those that learnt to detect them. Many a previous conflict between naga and vampire and othe species had erupted over a misread, or intentionally misidentified, bite mark. All naga were trained to identify their various cultural bite marks and those of vampires as proof of evidence in court, many of his kinsmen carrying an imprint of their own bite to ensure innocence in the face of false accusation. Ithnesi did not have such an issue as a constrictor, having no fangs but just rows of smaller razor-sharp teeth in the back of his mouth.
He looked back at the figure with a sense of sadness. The poor girl. She was obviously just dinner but decided to fight back. Her transformation already beginning explained why he hadn’t known her scent – he’d never met a newly transforming vampire before. And for good reason. Now with the venom inside her but not drained she was destined to become of the dark. Thrust into another world and unable to return fully to everything she’d known. He knew the troubled history of his peoples but couldn’t imagine the immediate future for this poor warm-blood. Either a swift death at the hands of her captors, a lingering painful one as her body failed to adjust to the biological conversion or a severe psychological shock and adjustment as she was reborn into the downworld. But she was about to find out which, as his sharpened senses picked up vampiric scents, along with a slight increase in temperature accompanying the vibrations of numerous footsteps. He turned to flee when the unconscious body suddenly levitated! What was the elf thinking?
He stared wide eyed at the ridiculous elf. How on Odox could such a successful and handsome elf be down here biting up on wolf saliva, talking to a naga and now using magic openly on a fresh vampire recruit.
"We need to take her out of here. She's the most vulnerable right now and about to change. In this phase she's not safe in the upworld nor the downworld. Could you please help me get her out of sight?"
Ithnesi replied by merely widening his eyes further. What was this crazy elf thinking? A political elf lawyer and a naga ambassador abducting a vampiric recruit for her own safety. The legal and political implications were disastrous.
"Haven't we all been in a vulnerable position once, grateful that we weren't left behind?" Well those were words you wouldn't expect from an elf, who generally hadn't seen darkness in their lives, but they sounded very sincere. This was no average elf, that was obvious now.
He pointed down the tunnel, “GO!” I’ll make sure they won’t want to follow.” He quickly sourced a vial of white ink from his satchel, unique amongst the races for scribing in white ink on darkened surface. He splashed it in two spots on the wall of the tunnel swiping the blotches down with his hands into two large curves that resembled a pair of sharp fangs. He connected the base of the fangs with a large ‘V’ shape before pouring the remainder on the tip of his tail to swipe a zig zagging line across the musty floor. As a light appeared down the tunnel he smiled in reassurance. With a torch they wouldn’t miss his handiwork. And that meant they definitely wouldn’t follow. The symbolism was that of a nesting viper pit. No naga would venture into anywhere that contained a brace of female viperish nagas guarding their eggs.
He quickly caught up with the elf and figure floating serenely behind him at speed. When they emerged, it was going to be a strange sight. An elf, injured human and naga was going to draw all the wrong kind of attention even at this time of night. Yet he couldn’t help but muse that they would look like a motley heroic troop from the tales of old. Maybe this was fate.
