So yet again they settled in to wait. Aidan returned to his tree, and Flame Song went with him. Before long she was again sound asleep. Aidan remained awake, thinking. He could hear every motion of the others as they variously slept or didn’t sleep. He could even track the invisible Belak by the sound of his footsteps, as the dwarf was anything but quiet. I guess there are a few benefits to this whole mess, he thought to himself. Strength, speed, inhumanly keen senses, that’s all good. But there’s plenty of downside to go with it. I really wouldn’t like to be stuck this way. Drinking blood isn’t going to be pleasant for one thing, and what about when morning comes? Do I have to find a coffin to crawl into? I really ought to talk to Lavasida, find out how this all works. He’s been out in daylight lots, but then he’s a very, very old and powerful vampire. Me, I’ve been one for a couple of hours. In some of the stories that makes a big difference. I hope all that about crosses and garlic doesn’t turn out to be true either, but with my luck it will. Looks like I’m going to be finding out about the sunlight thing pretty soon. The sky is already starting to get lighter.

And indeed it was. Toward the east the invisible sun was beginning to approach the horizon. Aidan realized that he could actually sense it. He knew exactly how far away the sun was from rising. Pretty soon he didn’t need any unnatural senses, because the edge of the sun inched above the horizon. Immediately he felt it, like a blow. It was as if a giant, scalding weight were pressing against every inch of him. He could feel his skin burning everywhere the sunlight touched.

“Flame, get up!” he said, urgently. With a sleepy murmur she opened her eyes.

“Hrm?”

“The sun is rising,” said Aidan. “I need to move.”

“Oh!” Flame sat up quickly, and Aidan instantly scooted around to the shaded side of the tree. The trunk was wide enough to shield his body, though his wings stuck out. They didn’t feel burned the way his bare skin did, so he wasn’t going to worry about it.

Freed from the immediacy of his own problems he was suddenly aware of the stream of inventive cursing coming from just a few yards away. When he looked over he saw Lavasida likewise huddled in the shadow of a scraggly tree. Lon, looking less hairy and more human now that the moon had set, was crouched next to him with a concerned expression on his face. “I thought your amulet protected you from sunlight?” asked the cleric.

“It used to,” snarled the Dark Lord. “Apparently it doesn’t work on this insane world.”

“Maybe I can…” Lon reached out toward the vampire.

“Don’t touch me!” snapped Lavasida. “Idiot. You’re a cleric, I’m a vampire. You couldn’t heal me if you tried. You’d just hurt me more.”

“Oh. Sorry, I forgot.”

“I guess we’re not going to go anywhere today,” said Brianna with a sigh. “We’ll just have to wait until sundown.”

Sundown was a long time coming. Finding the little patch of shade offered Aidan some relief, but not much. He could still feel the hot hammering of the sun. He squinted against the intolerable brightness, almost totally blinded, and tried to wait with patience. He tried to rest, but couldn’t do more than doze fitfully. The worst came at noon. With the sun directly overhead there were no more solid shadows. Bits of direct sunlight filtered down among the leaves and shone down on the huddled vampire. However much he tried to protect himself, folding his wings around him and curling up as tightly as he could, some little bit of sun still managed to find bare skin. When at last a patch of deeper shadow appeared on the opposite side of the tree he moved into it with a little sigh of relief.

Aidan heaved a much bigger sigh when at last the sun went down. He heard a matching sound from Lavasida and looked over to find the Dark Lord looking back with a wry smile. “Being a vampire isn’t always a bad thing, Aidan. But it’s not always a walk in the park either.”

“I’m beginning to see that.”

“Well,” said Brianna, “now that we can all move again, let’s get going.”

They quickly gathered themselves together, making sure everyone, even the invisible Belak, was with them, and set off with Michael in the lead. They made their way down the hill and through the woods, moving away from the village. By the time the waning moon rose they had reached their destination.

In a clearing amid the trees was a gypsy encampment. There were no tents. Instead a dozen brightly painted wagons circled around several huge bonfires. Sitting around the fires were the gypsies, men and women alike colorfully dressed, and all regarding the little group of Clan members with wary suspicion. Aidan and Lavasida received the brunt of the suspicious looks. Vampires were obviously not welcome here.

Aidan tested the air, smelling smoke, sweat, and somewhere the faint taint of spilled blood. Somebody in the camp was injured. He pushed a recurring spasm of hunger out of his mind and looked ahead to where an old lady sat by the central fire.