Into a Familiar Darkness, page 1.
Into a Familiar Darkeness: Serapha's Tale. Serapha Rhiannon whooped with glee as she looped and spun through the clear afternoon sky. “You’re it!” she hollered as her outstretched hand just touched the tip of her brother Alan’s tail. With a laugh he spun effortlessly in the air and chased after her. She squealed in mock-fright and fled as fast as her wings could carry her. She spotted her other brother, Arthur Flash (who insisted that everyone use both parts of his name) just ahead and ducked behind him, tempting Alan into changing targets. Arthur executed a rapid power dive and just managed to escape getting tagged. Alan banked ruthlessly after him, the pair tumbling down toward the ground, and Alan tapped a paw firmly against his brother’s back as Arthur pulled up just in time to avoid slamming into the dry tundra grass. With a growl Arthur pumped his wings, seeking the advantage of altitude. “I’ll get you for this Flare!” he shouted, using his brother’s cub name. Above him the rest of the family teased and taunted, all of them enjoying the game. Aidan grinned wickedly and buzzed his grown son, just escaping being tagged himself. Flame Song laughed at her husband’s antics, and then attempted to imitate them, with the result that soon she was the one chasing errant firecat-aerians across the sky. Serapha managed to get the highest altitude and watched her family from above with a grin. She was too old for silly games like this, and she was the youngest, but none of the family had ever really lost their taste for such play, not even her parents. Not that you would know to look at them that Aidan and Flame Song were the parents of the other three. To a casual observer Flame seemed about the same age as her eldest daughter, Ariana, who was twenty-seven, and who was missing from the familial scene because she had gotten married and moved out only last year. And Aidan looked little older than Serapha herself, who was only seventeen. Suddenly Serapha noticed a thin trail of dust far off over the tundra. She squinted and could just make out a horse and rider. As she watched they came close enough for her to see that the horse was a blood bay and the rider had golden blond hair. “Hey! Damien’s back!” she shouted. The game of tag came to a halt as the rest of the family sought altitude to see the returning brother. Arthur Flash peered to the east with particular eagerness. He’d been impatiently awaiting Damien’s return for months now. The rider below grew rapidly, and soon he was close enough for the others to make out his wide grin as he looked up and waved. He slowed the blood-red horse to a trot and then a walk as he circled the low hill beneath which the Rhiannon family’s home lay. The stout corral on the other side of the hill was empty, its gate standing open for Damien to ride into it. Even before he dismounted from the horse Arthur had landed in a flurry of white feathers next to him. The horse didn’t shy, being well trained and well used to such antics. “Well, how did it go?” asked Arthur impatiently as Damien dismounted. Damien smiled back, his own enthusiasm showing as plainly as his half-brother’s. “We’re set. I got six of them! Six foals from this last year’s birthing. Five mares, one stallion, and every one of them looking to grow up every bit as good as Lady’s Heart here.” Arthur grabbed Damien in an impulsive bear hug. “Yes! It’s really going to work!” He let go, visibly bubbling with excitement and started asking questions. “How long until they get here? What colors, what breeds? Did Dark Heart sire them all or did you get several lines? How long do you think it will be before…?” The rest of the family had reached the ground by this time, and they were all grinning at the horse-crazy pair. Flame Song shook her head and then glanced at the sky. “Not long before sunset. We should go inside and start getting dinner together.” With a murmur of familiar conversation they drifted towards the low entrance to the underground home. Serapha lingered for a moment, watching the sun sinking toward the horizon. She had always loved this time of day. Many of her fondest memories were of watching the sunset with her father, having long discussions of anything and everything that came to mind. As if the memory had conjured him up, Aidan came up behind her, clearing his throat softly so his presence wouldn’t startle her. He moved with the trained silence of an ex-thief and warrior, not even a whisper of a footstep or a hint of a breath to give him away. She turned softly and smiled at him. He smiled warmly back, his eyeteeth, noticeably longer and sharper than normal for either humans or aerians, indenting his lower lip. “Penny for your thoughts?” he asked, an out-of-place statement in a world that called coins simply by their metal, coppers, silvers, or golds. “Nothing really. I was remembering the way we always used to sit up on the hill, watch the sunset, and talk.” Her father nodded softly. “Yes. You always loved sunsets and sunrises almost as much as I do.” She chuckled a bit. “Well, I have to say I like sunsets better than sunrises. I never was a morning person.” He chuckled with her. “No, neither was I, even before.” Serapha’s expression turned a bit more somber and she asked softly, “Lately I keep wondering… What was it like for you, when you changed?” “You mean the moment it happened, or learning to live with it afterward?” “Well, both, I guess, but more the learning to live with it.” Aidan’s eyes turned inward, remembering. “It was hard. There are benefits, but at first all I could see was what I’d lost, what was gone. And I’d always been taught that my kind--that vampires--are evil, that they’ve lost their souls. For a while I was afraid I’d lost mine as well. It was your mother who really pulled me through the first year or so, her and your older sister.” He looked back at Serapha, seeing her again and not the past. “What makes you ask all of the sudden?” “I feel like everything is changing, like I’m changing,” she said slowly. “I know it’s not anything like you went through, but… I don’t know, I’m just suddenly not a little girl anymore. And then there’s the magic too. I mean sure I’ve had it now for more than four years, but I still don’t know where it came from or why. Nobody else in the family has any mage talent at all, unless you count shapeshifting and being fireproof, which I don’t.” Aidan sighed softly, and a considering look crossed his face. Then he shook his head. “What?” asked Serapha, curiously. “Nothing,” was his reply. “Just… just nothing.” He looked at her with an unreadable expression that turned gradually into a fond fatherly smile that looked a bit out of place on his youthful features. He already looked younger than any of his other children, and in only a few years he would look younger than her as well, frozen forever by his change. “Is there anything I can do to help you, Shade?” he asked, calling her by her old cub name. “No, I don’t think so. I just don’t want to stop having moments like this. I like being able to sit and see the sunset and talk to you.” “We don’t do it as often these days do we?” said Aidan softly. Serapha shook her head. “And I can’t remember the last time we went rambling together.” “Would you like to go? Tomorrow perhaps?” Serapha blinked in surprise. “Well… yes, yes I would.” Aidan grinned. “It’s a date then.” His expression sobered a bit as he added, “Changes are hard, I know. But some things never change, and at least you can rest assured that you won’t have to deal with the kind of change I went through. And since you aren’t a vampire,” he added with a renewed smile, “you need to get some real food in you. Come on, dinner should be nearly ready by now.”
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