Nightingale and Eagle (Quest 2); Into the Nighttime
This is the 6th offshoot story from the original Nightingale saga, based on the Royal Thieves character from the game “Evony; The King’s Return” by Top Games on mobile and desktop. Look for it in Google Play or Apple Play.
And it’s the 2nd quest story. Read the first to learn the origins of the quest.
Nightingale wasn’t sure about this place. Sure, the next stage on their desire to not only understand but, maybe, stop the invasions of undead armies across the whole of the world of Evony led them here, but this place...there was something kind of off.
There were servants in the palace, and plenty of enlisted military, but she hadn’t seen any royalty or generals. And, now, they were waiting for the empress to greet them. Here it was, nearly sundown, and she hadn’t shown up. Eagle patted her hand. “Don’t worry, it’s okay Night.”
She turned to him, glad he was there, but still not sure. “What’s with this place?”
Eagle just smiled. “That’s better learned than told. Let’s just say that it makes a lot of sense once you put the pieces together.”
As the sun set, a gorgeous woman, wearing very regal but dated attire, finally entered. “Sorry for keeping you waiting, old friend. I know you traveled far and must be tired.”
Eagle stood. “It’s okay, KJ.”
She embraced him, then turned to Nightingale. As a look of shock and even some slight revulsion crossed her face, Nightingale wasn’t sure why. The look recovered after just a brief moment. “And who is this beautiful traveling companion of yours?”
Nightingale had to get to the bottom of it. “Nightingale, I’m his personal bodyguard.”
KJ smiled and extended a hand. “Such lovely protection. Is she any good?”
Eagle patted Nightingale’s arm as she shook KJ’s hand. “The best.”
KJ smiled another smile but Nightingale noticed something. She hadn’t opened her mouth to show teeth either time. It might be something personal, but it was still odd.
As she invited them to sit and discuss it, Eagle told about their quest. KJ invited them to peruse her library, then bid them goodnight. One of the guards showed them to their room which, for some reason, again had just one bed. Still, she knew Eagle was a perfect gentleman.
Nightingale lay on her side, still wondering a few things. As far as she could see, there weren’t any mirrors in the castle. She’d used the washroom earlier, but no mirrors. And they had goldware, not silverware, at dinner. And she noticed that, among other spices, there was absolutely no garlic.
But there was something else. KJ told them that, in two days, it would be a full moon, which was true, but that their deadliest enemies would attack then, werewolves. Nightingale knew werewolves, knew that they wouldn’t just outright attack an entire kingdom, more than likely they’d attack rural farm communities for the livestock. But they attacked this city all the time.
She listened to Eagle’s breathing for a bit, trying to belay her thoughts, when, without any warning, he turned over and dropped his arm across her. It was okay, nothing provocative, but her heartrate bolted up so fast. She smiled, not even caring that he probably didn’t even know. Somehow the unconscious move quieted her thoughts and she snuggled in, feeling so peaceful. It meant so much to her.
Although she didn’t ask him to, Eagle stood beside Nightingale two days later, waiting. She knew she’d survive whatever would happen, but he was still mortal. Also, she figured out what was up with KJ and her court.
It seemed so obvious now, the attack from the werewolf, the absence of garlic and anything reflective and the reason they seemed to only be around at night. Also, there was the suspiciously pale skin and the fact that, the one time she saw KJ smile, she had some rather pronounced incisors.
KJ admitted it earlier. Vampires. It chilled Nightingale, but then she knew they’d never go after her or Nell or Duke. KJ told her as much when she told her she knew what they were. She had no idea immortal blood was anathema to vampires.
But they did find something interesting. The tombs where the dragon artifacts were kept happened to be golden pyramids, something lost to the ages. There had been rumors of relics that came up once in a while, but, after excavation, they provided nothing.
A howl ripped the air, sending Nightingale into a chill. Eagle seemed to panic. “No, get out of here. You won’t come back if it kills you.”
Eagle looked at her, imploringly. “But what can you do?”
Nightingale pulled out her secret weapon, a very shiny dagger. Eagle looked at it. “Silver?”
She nodded, indicating he should get out of there.
Hesitantly, he obeyed. No, this was her fight. She wasn’t a vampire, but, maybe, this werewolf would go after her as well. She hoped so.
A snarl ripped through the brush as she heard branches breaking. She turned to the sound to see its form.
About ten feet tall, and, as expected, completely covered in fur, but everything else wasn’t like she thought. Its head, which should’ve been wolf-shaped, seemed far to large for its body, more sinewy and darker. The eyes seemed to glare pure flame, burning with the intensity of its growl. And the snout grew out at least thirty percent larger than before, dark stains on the sharpened teeth.
Nightingale took a deep breath. “HERE I AM!”
It looked to her, approaching, sniffing the air around it, then yelped a little. She reasoned that, if immortal blood was a bane to vampires, it might not be too pleasant to werewolves either. Still, she had a job.
“No, you mangy mutt, I’m right here!”
She picked up a rock and hurled it at him. That caught its attention as he turned, snarling, all its demonic fangs showing. Nightingale swallowed, hoping she knew what she was doing.
As it grabbed her, picking her up, she had a brief thought. Although they knew of quite a few deaths they had survived, what if there were things that could actually kill one of them? As she rose into the air, though, she felt that familiar sensation as it tore a part of her body off.
She screamed in pain, but then grunted. No, not yet.
She pulled out the silver dagger, screaming in triumph as she plunged it into its neck as it brought her closer for a tasty bite.
She felt the blood splatter on her back as it dropped her, then felt the thing fall onto her.
The sensation was there, that feeling of good things as she could feel the life draining from her….
….Nightingale woke up three days later, back in their room. Eagle sat there, beside her. “Welcome back. You’re now a hero here.”
She looked around, feeling the breathing in her as she sat up. “So it’s….”
Eagle nodded with an appreciative smile. “Dead.”
It was later that same day, as they were packing up and leaving, that KJ approached Nightingale. “Wait, I thought that your kind couldn’t be out in sunlight.”
KJ laughed. “Common misconception. We prefer night, but vampires can travel during the day as well, no problem. You had a question?”
Nightingale nodded. “Yeah...uh...what would happen if you tried to make Eagle like you?”
KJ smiled and laughed. “No, not possible, not even likely.”
Nightingale felt so put out until she went on. “I can see what he means to you, and, yes, if I could, I’d make it so he could spend that forever with you, but I would not condemn him to it. You see, vampirism is sort of a curse. No matter how long I live, I’ll always need to feed on others. Sure, here, I can take a little from my peasantry at a time, just a donation, but the hunger doesn’t ever die.”
She looked Nightingale up and down for a moment. “Besides, even though I can tolerate having you beside me here for the moment, eventually I’ll have to get clear. And I know you’d want Eagle beside you all the time.”
As she hugged her, KJ whispered to Nightingale. “Just be patient, thief, and know that, when the time is right, you’ll be with him forever.”
Those words hung in the air, haunting her as they started their journey back home.