Lady Dhampir
Chapter 45

Ellias was confused. Where had Milena gotten such a treasure?

The Lunar Republic was the ancient name of this same Solar Kingdom both of them were born in. That was long before the Ice Age had f****d a complete shift of the political system and thrown the whole Country into disarray, over three centuries ago. Old maps had shown that during the Golden Age, this country had once been fifteen or twenty times bigger, with vast forests, rivers, and many, many cities... probably in a warmer climate, too. The Lunar Republic had a Capital in the south, a flourishing economy, and... much fewer Vampires. The Great Catastrophe was known as the event that had changed their world.

All the children learned about it in school. Twelve years of heat, a terrible heat. It had decimated countless species, spread diseases all around and chased the Vampires, who couldn't stand the scorching heat, to the north of the country, as far as they could go up North. The fires had appeared everywhere, drying the soils and bringing famine. After the last five years of horrible heat that had almost killed all living Vampires, the Ice Age began.

Ice and snow for years and years. As if they had used all the sun's warmth in those last years, suddenly the temperatures dropped drastically. The rivers that had almost dried previously were suddenly full again, then flooded, and started to freeze one after another. The burnt soil was slowly covered in more and more ice. Countless natural disasters had followed, one after another.

Ironically, the northern part of the Country where the vampires had fled was the one that survived the Great Catastrophe. The Ice and snow that had won over everything else stopped right in this area surrounded by the mountains. However, the Lunar Republic had drowned. With most of the Country gone, including the Capital and bigger cities, the survivors were in utter despair...

Then, one family of nobles stood among the others. The young man who would later become King Silvius the first, along with his Human and Vampire siblings, worked like crazy to put what was left of their country back on its feet. Maybe because they were a mixed Family, they managed to gather Vampires and Humans together, and despite the Ice Age, built a new Capital, a new country.

To bring hope to the people, on that myth that the Ice Age would end someday, they named themselves the Solaris Family. Persuading people that Vampires and Humans would survive if they worked together, they buried the remains of the Lunar Republic and opened new trades, a new economy, a new system.

Because most of the Lunaris Republic had disappeared in such a short time, most of its culture had disappeared along with it. Hence, the book Milena had was definitely a national treasure! Ellias couldn't keep his eyes off it, completely stunned. "Milena, how... where did you get a book like that?"

The Duchess sighed while she kept turning the pages, visibly looking for something precise.

"I had forgotten about this book. A few years ago, when I was young, my older brother took me to see a painting in the Royal Gallery. It was the first Solaris royal family, their family portrait. Back then, I became obsessed with Princess Silvra." "Princess Silvra... You mean the first King's sister, the Dhampir?"

"That one," nodded Milena. "I... I wanted to know more about the previous Dhampir before me, so I started researching anything I could replace about her. She was the only one who still had anything about her put in records, anyway... My brother would take me often to the Royal Library back then, remember? Once in a while, he had access to the Royal Archives, and I... I found this book, and took it home to read it."

"Lady De Crescent, did you just admit you stole from the Royal Archives?"

Milena clicked her tongue, a bit embarrassed.

"I was much younger and very stubborn. Moreover, it was so hard to get any information about Princess Silvra..."

"One could argue you're still just as stubborn, but we'll leave that to another day. Anyway, why would that book be related to both Princess Silvra and our case...?" "Look at the author," said Milena.

She raised the old and corny cover, to let him read the name on it. The surprise, once he found it, left the Prince speechless, staring at it and Milena in awe. "Prince... Sleverin de Solaris? Wasn't that..."

"Their third brother, right. King Silvius and Princess Silvra had three younger siblings, Sleverin was the third one and only other human. He was an alchemist, most of this book is about all his thesis and everything he wanted to experiment on..."

"I know!" said Ellias, excited, rushing to her side to see the contents of the book. "Prince Sleverin is known to have revolutionized the scientific world as it was back then! A lot of his ideas were known as nonsense until he proved them and was recognized as a genius! That prince is a legend for any modern scientist... and you're telling me all this time you had his... his anthology stored here?"

Milena shrugged.

"I didn't think it was so important, most of those concepts were too advanced for me... and it's not really an anthology, more like... a sketchbook or a notebook. He may have had a few theories right, but there was a lot of nonsense too. Like how to create synthetic blood, time travel, body conservation, the power of the Sun, the Moon controlling the sea, artificial wings, and so on... I think he went a bit nuts towards the end."

"I guess so," sighed Ellias. "At the end of his life, he became crazy about bringing the dead back to life and went as far as to kill one of his own younger brothers... I think he was arrested and the King confined him or something."

It was a bit sad to think most of those five siblings had met a tragic end after they saved this country from its ruin, but it was a story for another day.

Milena finally found what she wanted, suddenly stopping at one particular page.

"At, there it is! So, Wendigo was the name of a creature born from a legend of a Vamp..."

Milena stopped talking, too disgusted with the words she was reading after that. She covered her mouth with her hand, feeling sick. Ellias, just as shocked, kept reading in her stead.

"A legend of a Vampire who would have committed an act of cannibalism on... one of his peers. Though most Vampires are naturally attracted to the blood of Humans of the opposite s*x through their sense of smell, I have been curious about why no Vampire has ever been attracted to the blood of one of his own. My research has demonstrated the difference of the Vampire blood being of seemingly different composition than that of a Human..." Ellias skipped a few lines, where the author was describing some components of the vampire blood and so on.

"Ah, there it is... hence, no Vampire is ever attracted to drink another Vampire's blood, as it has no appeal to them. To explain it to my non-scientist brother, I would compare it to a Human drinking mud. It has little nutritious value and a truly horrible taste, to my own bad experience. Absolutely no reason to do so. However, I have been curious about that old legend I once heard about, and resolved to test this by having a Vampire prisoner eat... oh gosh, this is disgusting. You're right, Sleverin was a bit crazy." Milena sighed and took the book back to read along with him.

Followed the long description of an experiment, where the Vampire inmate had been f****d to eat, day after day, Vampire flesh. For a scientific purpose, the author had also f****d another Vampire inmate to do the same, though the second one had no idea what he was eating.

In both cases, the prince got the same results: after a few days' time, both inmates had become addicted to eating flesh and went insane. The physical changes Milena had remembered reading about were indeed strikingly similar to what they had seen, but the prince scientist described it as the Vampires consuming their own flesh from the inside, as if their own body had become addicted to it as a whole. Like addicts, those inmates became obsessed with eating flesh, and became insane over time, attacking anyone who came close.

"They don't give many details about why the experiment ended... Apparently they were shot down by order of the King..." said Ellias. "Looks like King Silvius wasn't fond of his brother's experiments."

"I can understand why," snickered Milena. "I would think my brother is crazy if I saw him eat mud and feed Vampire flesh to other Vampires..."

Milena was clearly shocked and disgusted by everything they had read. She would definitely be unable to stomach anything for a while. Ellias sat down next to her, looking shocked too.

"It's... scary, but brilliant. Prince Sleverin created those creatures and proved a legend true... Moreover, from that basis came his observations about the opposite gender's Human blood compelling to Vampires, and his theories on homosexual Vampires too." "...He proved those creatures had to be created," said Milena. "In any case, no Vampire would willingly eat flesh, but someone had to force them to, for a long time, until they turned into flesh-eating addicts... into Wendigos."

Ellias nodded, and they both remained silent for a little while.

It was a lot of information all at once. The Prince and the Duchess slowly sipped their teas for a while, lost in their thoughts. Though Milena was somewhat proud to have found more information in such a short time, it hadn't helped much with the ongoing matter.

If that Wendigo woman had been created, how did this happen? In the book, the Prince's experiment took place in a matter of weeks, but the timing with the undertaker's family didn't match that. Moreover, the corpses found downtown had been bitten and sucked dry, not completely eaten...

"...What if someone had found a faster way?"

Milena's idea chilled Ellias to the bone.

"A faster way to create Wendigos? It's disgusting enough as it is..."

"But the earlier victims were Human women... It doesn't match. Hence, we have two different culprits. One rogue Vampire that had attacked so many women and sucked them dry, and one who turned that woman into a Wendigo..."

Milena was unhappy. They were still obviously missing something there. Like a piece of the puzzle that didn't match. What would be the point of creating Wendigos...? It had to have been done on purpose, so why?

She re-read the Prince's notes once more, trying to understand. A Vampire had to be f****d to... eat vampire flesh. It wasn't something any Vampire would willingly do. Like the Prince had said, it couldn't happen by accident, no Vampire would eat his own. So what if they had been tricked into...

"I think I know how they did it," suddenly said Milena, getting up.

"What?"

But without explanation, she went back into the castle, and ran upstairs, to her brother's bedroom. Milena barged in, waking up Raphael who had just fallen asleep.

"Mi...Millie? What's wrong?"

Milena approached his bed, out of breath, sitting on one end of the mattress.

"Big brother, would you be able to tell the difference between animal, Human or Vampire blood?"

"Human and Vampire blood? Milena, what the heck are you talking about? You know we don't drink Vampire blood! I already have a hard time replaceing... decent human blood for myself..."

He was cautious with his words, noticing the Prince that had followed her and stood at the door.

"What if it was mixed with Human blood? A big ratio of Human blood?"

"Can you explain why we're having this conversation so late, Milena?"

"Big brother, I'll explain, but please!"

Raphael sighed.

"I... I guess it would be harder to tell the difference. Vampire blood doesn't smell like anything, as you know, while Human blood is really appetizing. I know your sense of smell is different, but you should know the difference, Millie." Milena nodded. She had asked him to confirm since she always doubted her own senses as a Dhampir, but... her theory was probably the right one.

Those women hadn't been sucked dry, their blood had been taken to be mixed with Vampire blood, and fed to another Vampire. Milena suddenly went white. That meant there was another wendigo roaming free. A male one. Chapter 55: Blanche's Memories

Milena stood up, frowning and turning to Ellias.

"We need to..."

"I know. Your theory may be right. If they used all that Human blood to... I'll go and investigate to see if there weren't male victims that could have been... used to create that female one. If there aren't, it means whoever did this found a way to create Wendigos even faster."

Milena nodded, well aware of that frightening truth. That Wendigo was the scariest and most horrible thing she had ever seen, even including the darkest part of her childhood. It had almost killed Rayan, and if it wasn't for Ellias' quick judgment, she would have been dead along with him...

"Though I don't mind a visit from time to time, it's very late to intrude my bedroom with a guest, Millie," sighed Raphael, reminding her where she was.

Both Milena and Ellias excused themselves and left her older brother's bedroom quickly. The young duchess was still preoccupied, but Ellias couldn't help himself and chuckled.

"Calm down, Milena, we will handle it."

"There is nothing funny about this... We are in such danger if that thing is freely roaming around!"

The human prince sighed and turned to her, putting his hand on her shoulders.

"It is true, but whoever created these creatures probably knew what they were doing. It also means they won't act too recklessly. Moreover, that male Wendigo has yet to be heard of. Until then, we can't be sure there's a real danger or if any of our theories are right..."

"I know when I am right. I can feel it. Someone's pulling the strings behind all this, and if we aren't prepared, next time..."

"Well then, how about we go together to the Royal Library to search for more clues? It will remind us of the good old times, our childhood there..."

Milena couldn't help but blush slightly under his stare. Ellias was being a bit charming and flirty on purpose, and she found herself defenseless against his smile.

"We... we could do that," she said. "Research more about Sleverin's work..."

But while she said that, a growl came from behind them. They both turned around to replace Blanche, standing in the middle of the hallway. "Blanche!" said Milena. "Where have you been..."

She had noticed the shape-shifter had been gone for a few hours. It wasn't unusual, not when Milena was at the De Crescent Manor. Maybe because she thought she was safe here, it was the only place Blanche allowed herself to leave her mistress for longer than a few minutes. Milena walked up to her, caressing her neck while the silver panther sat at her feet and rubbed her sides against her dress.

"Your Highness, can I meet you downstairs in a few minutes? I have something to do here..."

If he was surprised by her words, Ellias showed nothing of it. He politely agreed, bowing slightly.

"Of course, my dear Lady."

He walked away, leaving Milena and Blanche alone in the corridor. As soon as she was sure the Prince was far enough, Milena turned to Blanche, kneeling down to match her height.

"So, where have you been? I thought we were supposed to always stay together!"

Blanche growled a bit and, against all odds, walked away. Milena knew that behavior when she wanted to show her something. With a sigh, she followed the silver panther, who led her down the stairs. After a few minutes of following her, Milena realized where they were going.

"Blanche, we can't go down into the Sanctuary, you know it's a sacred place!"

The panther stubbornly sat down, staring at her with her glowing gold eyes and growling.

"You can growl, but I don't have the key anyway, Father has it. And you..."

Before she could add one word, something dropped at Blanche's feet. A golden key. Milena's eyes opened wide.

"Don't tell me you stole it from father!"

She ran to grab the key, while Blanche scratched the door. Milena hesitated. She was not supposed to open that door. She hadn't been there in years! Her father had taught her this place was only meant to be opened in cases of an emergency... "Blanche, no! You know this is only for emergencies, real emergencies!"

The feline growled some more, but seeing Milena wasn't changing her mind, she shape-shifted into her human form. Standing n***d in front of the door, she slammed her hand against the door.

"You danger."

"I'm not in immediate danger, Blanche. This is..."

"But maybe too late!" She growled with her raspy voice, showing fangs.

Milena sighed. Since they had been children, Blanche was always overprotective of her, but this time it seemed... different. She had never been so insistent or ever mentioned the Sanctuary.

"Blanche, what is it? You know something don't you?" Asked Milena.

"... Bad Evil," Repeated Blanche. "Danger."

"Blanche, I don't understand!"

"The Wendigos, they are danger. Bad danger."

Milena stood speechless. How did Blanche know about Wendigos? She was implying she clearly knew about this kind of creature, from her tone. Something older than what they had witnessed together. Milena turned the gold key between her fingers. "I know, that's why we are trying to replace who awoke them or created them, Blanche. To stop them. We need to know how they are created, and..."

"Vampire flesh."

"Blanche, how do you even know that!"

"Wendigos flesh eaters," she repeated, nodding.

"Blanche, answer me!"

Knowing that Blanche knew so much, while not knowing how she did, annoyed Milena. Even if Blanche had a hard time speaking correctly, Milena knew she could still understand her words fully and was avoiding answers on purpose.

The silver-haired woman shook her head sideways, looking like a cat with her frowning nose. Something seemed to bother her. Milena waited a bit more, until Blanche clicked her tongue.

"... Me too," whispered Blanche.

"You too what?"

"Them like me. I think created me too.

"...What?"

Milena took a few seconds to understand. They had... created Blanche too? What was she talking about? Did she mean... the ones who created the Wendigos? It couldn't be! Blanche was nothing like those creatures! Moreover, she clearly remembered her meeting with Blanche, so many years ago. In that dark, scary place, in a tiny cage. The little puppy next to her, as terrified as she was. They were thrown there like some merchandise, in the middle of... of...

The young duchess' mouth opened slowly, remembering all from back then. It was a memory she had tried hard to forget, along with everything she could remember from before that one moment.

Blanche was right. There were lots of creatures in those cages. So many terrifying creatures that Milena had seen many times after that in her nightmares. Until now, she hadn't spent too much time reminiscing. It was a frightful memory, and as an adult, she doubted a bit what her child self had witnessed that day. So, so many creatures. Milena remembered she had seen such bizarre things, with fangs, claws, fur...

"You're... talking about... the traffickers..." she whispered, in shock.

Blanche nodded. Milena didn't know where Blanche had come from before that. She was just there, a tiny silver wolf among a horrible crowd of poor, desperate creatures.

Since they had been together, Blanche had always been unable to say what she was, or how she had come to the world. The shape-shifter only ever had very blurry memories of being trapped in a cage her whole life before she had met Milena. She had been taken from one place to another and beaten up when she tried to rebel or flee. But her origins were the biggest mystery. Blanche had no recollection of ever having a family, or so she had told Milena.

From her appearance, her white warm skin, gold eyes, and long silver hair, she clearly wasn't human or vampire, but actually, no other living creature was like her. In none of her books had Milena ever been able to replace something about shape-shifting creatures. The one and only time where Milena had seen anyone that resembled Blanche, just a bit, with her white skin and white hair, was...

"The Oracle."

Blanche turned to her with a frown.

"Blanche, you... The Oracle, back then she said something like I knew her. She... maybe she wasn't even talking about me. You were there, even if you were hidden in my clothes. That time, she... was hinting at you. Blanche, you know the Oracle, don't you?" After hesitating, Blanche nodded.

"... Her too, I think. In the cages. Long ago. Before you."

"Blanche, why didn't you say so earlier! You and The Oracle knew each other? How! You're..."

Milena didn't even have enough words to say what she wanted. How could Blanche have hid so many things from her! Seeing her so flustered, her friend took a step forward, looking a bit sorry.

"I was baby! Very hard to remember... Oracle older."

"Blanche, what are you? And Tthe Oracle?"

"Don't know..."

Milena sighed. Blanche could shape-shift, while the Oracle could potentially see the future, or predict someone's... even if they had physical similarities, they weren't alike in many aspects, like their speech, age or behavior. Moreover, she had never seen The Oracle's eyes. If they were golden, she would have made the link much earlier... but The Oracle's eyes were clearly brownish, like a human's, while Blanche's eyes were close to those of a cat, or a night creature.

It was frustrating to only realize such things now. Milena took a deep breath. This time, in the cages... there were so many things she had struggled not to remember, but now she needed it. First, if Blanche had been in the same place as the Wendigo, it was a big key. Moreover, one thing Milena had always noted was that Blanche didn't have a belly button when she was in human form... Blanche couldn't remember her parents, was it because she didn't have any in the first place? Or were they different from her? Or had she been the result of some crazy experiment, like the Wendigo...?

Milena sighed. She didn't think her best friend's birth secret would be brought back in such a way...

"Blanche, what do you remember?" she asked. "About the Wendigos, and The Oracle?"

The shapeshifter put on a serious expression, trying hard to remember.

"Cages. Very cold."

"What else?"

"Blood food, and blood drink. Very dark and smelly. Loud."

"The Wendigos, too?" Asked Milena. "They were in cages?"

"Far away," Blanche replied, shaking her head. "Dangerous and loud. Them eat Humans and them eat Vampires. Bad Humans fed them."

Milena gasped.

"Blanche, do you remember those Humans? Their faces?"

"No... baby me on the floor. Humans up. Too high."

Despite her disappointment, Milena took a deep breath, thinking of what else they should try to bring back from her memories.

"But how did they turn them? The Wendigos? Just eating Vampires?"

"Them bit them."

"What?"

"The Wendigo. They bite the Vampire."

"And... the Vampire turned into a... Wendigo?"

Blanche nodded. So that was the accelerated process? Making the Wendigos bite the Vampire and...

Milena went terribly white. Didn't Rayan get... bitten?