Ch. 5

1145 A.D.

One truth of the world is that no matter where you go or what time period you are in there would always be those who sought more power. Even the guardians of nature themselves had to have those amongst them who were susceptible to corruption. Still, it took me over a century to finally find rumor of a possible witch who would be willing to work with an abomination.

The last one I'd approached had mentioned a name while ranting about how she'd never help a monster like me. Charlotte was the name I carefully filed away and Charlotte was who I sought out, and who it seemed I'd finally found now. Smiling, I knocked politely on the door frame of the hut. There was no door, but it still registered as a threshold and would not let me enter without an invitation.

Within the hut I could see the witch leaned over some sort of table, reading carefully. She jumped at my knocking and turned to eye me up and down. I gave her my best disarming smile, even as I took her in as well. She was not unappealing to look at, even with her body mostly covered by stained dark robes. Her hair was rather unkempt, but her face was clear of blemish and she had a look of strength to her that appealed to me. Slowly she made her way to me, stopping just inside the hut and staring at me with suspicion before finally asking, "Who are you? What do you want?"

I just grin in response, "Charlotte I presume? I am in need of your assistance. I've been told you are a Witch of some skill and power yes?

My charisma wasn't enough to keep the woman from being suspicious of me, as she scowled but replied grudgingly, "I am. I don't work for free though. What do you need, and what are you willing to offer?"

Straight to business then! Nodding, I pulled a small sheaf of parchment from the inside of my vest. It was a copy of my mother's daylight spell, meticulously transferred from the original parchment to this new one. I'd made several copies at this point that I intended to dole out to various witches over the centuries. It would be a bargaining chip to any witch who practiced dark magic or was open minded enough to want power over vampires.

Smiling, I held out the parchment, "I require you to do this spell on fifty pieces of jewelry that I will provide. As for what I have to offer… well, that depends entirely upon what you need doesn't it?"

She takes the spell from me and looks it over for several long moments. I can see the flash of recognition on her face when she realizes what it will do. She looks at me with a frown and says, "Abomination." Only it is not a tone of disgust, distaste, or outright hatred that I've come to expect from witches, more of a neutral statement describing my condition.

I smirk and bow at the waist, "Guilty as charged my dear." As I straighten I notice how her eyes move to my neck and my hands and I watch as her frown deepens.

With a curious tone, she asks me a question I enjoy answering immensely, "And where is your… jewelry?"

I grin and pull the ring my mother made for me from my pocket, holding it up to let the Sun behind me glance off the enchanted lapis lazuli that was socketed in the metal. With a shrug, I hold it out for her to inspect even as I reply, "I find myself not requiring it. Perhaps I am special in some way?"

Discovering that I'd waited for a daylight ring for two weeks, cooped up with my so-called family the entire time when I had not needed it at all to go out into the sun… well I was a mixture of frustrated and amused with myself over the entire thing. I had been so afraid of a silly sun burn that I hadn't even bothered testing if the sun would hurt me or not before I received the ring. It was ridiculous.

Turning my attention back to Charlotte, I saw she'd gotten over the disquieting idea that I was something stronger than a normal vampire and was now studying the daylight ring I was holding out with a ferocious curiosity. "Well? Can you do it?" I eventually asked, pulling the ring back and drawing a displeased squawk from her.

Still, she considers the question for a long moment as well as the spell in her hands before nodding slowly, "I can do it yes. It will take time to make fifty though, and you will have to compensate me in return."

I was quite pleased to hear that. Finally a witch I could work with, one who was reasonable. I smile and nod, "Of course darling. What can I do for you?"

Finally she allows a grin to creep onto her face as she outlines what she requires of me, "I have a sister. She's not like me, her mind isn't open to the true possibilities of magic. She'd probably turn you away if you approached her. She prefers healing and balance and all that rot, and she's a complete self-righteous bitch."

Charlotte growls and spits to the side before continuing, "I wouldn't even care about all of that, but she has our mother's grimoire and I'm the elder sister. That grimoire should have gone to me! Retrieve it for me and then make sure that my sister never practices magic again."

I raise an eyebrow at that, "Please my dear, speak clearly. Do you wish me to turn her or kill her?"

Charlotte smiles grimly in response, "I don't care which, so long as you can control her. If she kills me after becoming a vampire, there will be no daylight rings for you. Do we have a deal?"

I grin and nod before pulling out a bag that clinks as I hold it out to my new witch. "We have a deal dear Charlotte. I look forward to a productive relationship."

A week later I returned to Charlotte's hut with the grimoire in hand. I'd toyed with the idea of turning her sister and using her as the start of my new plan but Charlotte had been right, the woman had been unbearable to be around. Draining her of her blood after spending an hour tricking her into a false sense of security had been incredibly fulfilling. I'd probably cherish the memory for years to come.

Charlotte smiled when she saw the tome in my hands, and brought forth my bag of freshly made daylight rings. I smiled in return before flashing away and returning with a cloaked docile figure and without the grimoire. This caused the witch to frown in agitation and confusion as I beckoned for the bag, but she eventually acquiesced, handing it over.

Opening it up I looked in and saw the way the enchanted lapis lazuli set in each small ring glowed in the sun. Still, I was not the type to trust easily, especially not witches. Taking one of the rings, I forced my hooded companion to remove a boot, their skin instantly blistering under the sun until I placed the toe ring on their smallest toe.

With that done I pulled the hood off of my mind controlled baby vamp and watched as he stood there completely unaffected by the sun. Smiling and nodding, I proceeded to change out the toe ring for another, his skin blistering and healing between each one. I tried fifteen random rings this way and found that they all worked.

Nodding to myself I put all the rings back in the bag and turned my attention back to Charlotte as the baby vamp burst into flames and died behind me. Her gaze was fixed on him as I flashed away and then flashed back with the grimoire, holding it out to her after securing my new bag of daylight rings, "A pleasure working with you Charlotte. When you have children, tell them that if they ever need help, they may seek out Vali. I will do my best to repay your line for however many centuries it lasts."

Charlotte blinks at that promise even as she takes the grimoire, nodding jerkily in response to my words. I gave a lazy salute that probably just confused her and then I left the witch behind to enjoy her new grimoire. If I could have, I would have used compulsion on her but unfortunately it didn't work on witches.

I really didn't want to get into the habit of killing off witches who'd helped me either, so Charlotte got to live and had my given name so her descendants could find me once again. If her family ever approached me in the future, well I'd make sure to use them as much as they used me.

-x-X-x-

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