Blue Flames

Part II: Origins

"Come here, lass!" Robert called, sitting under the shade of a tree.

He watched the tiny blonde girl struggle to pick up the sword and resisted the urge to go help her. She was smaller than the average six year old children he'd seen in human towns. Perhaps it was his fault, he thought. He'd been taking care of her ever since she was born.

Robert was a soldier, not a caretaker. He was trained to kill. He'd been in countless wars, faced off stronger opponents and came out with his life intact, sometimes it had been a close call.

But he'd never been as afraid as he was when Orla gave him her newborn. He still remembered how fragile Elle felt, barely big enough to fit in his hands.

If ever given a choice, Robert would choose fighting off monsters and dragons rather than caring for a new life.

He had had no choice in the matter, however. Orla had him swear a blood oath, and there was nothing more sacred than a blood oath for immortals.

He still wondered if taking Elle away from her home, even under her mother's orders, had been the right thing to do.

 Not that he didn't love Elle. He loved her more than life itself. She was his child in all ways but one. But he knew he wasn't the right person to care for a child. 

"Uncle Robert?" Elle asked now, sitting in front of him.

She sat cross legged with the sword flat on her lap, mirroring his posture. He sighed. He wasn't the best role model, but he was all she had at the moment.

"Did you clean your sword?" he asked, even as the clove oil scent emanating from her sword tickled his nose. A familiar scent. 

"Yes," she nodded, her eyes a bright green, "are you going to tell me the story, now?"

"Yes," Robert leaned back against the tree and looked in the distance, wondering how to better start.

"Who are the Five?" he asked her.

"Arthur in America," she replied, "Venus in Europe, Burak in Asia, Leon in Australia, and Idar in Africa."

"Good," he nodded, "they're also known to be the very first vampires. But that's not exactly true."

"Really?" her eyes widened dramatically.

"Yes," Robert sighed, "a long, long time ago, before even the Five were born, Humans were the only race on Earth."

"There were no immortals?" Elle asked.

"No," Robert said, "In another realm, however, demons and angels existed."

Elle leaned forward, her rapt attention focused on Robert.

"Some of the demons were curious about humans," Robert said, "unlike humans, they knew that another realm exists and that a different race inhabits it. Demons and angels could only peek through windows at our world, but that was no longer enough for some of them. 

"Their curiosity, and their greed to take over the beautiful world of humans whom they saw as weaker, got the best of them. And so a coalition of demon lords gathered and, deploying an unheard of amount of magic, opened a portal between the two realms.

"It was not long before chaos reigned in this realm. Fear and adoration battled in human hearts towards demons and angels. Wars were fought and lost; humans against demons and angels, demons against angels, angels and humans against demons. 

"In all those wars, humans always suffered the bigger loss. Because unlike demons and angels, humans could not work magic, and their weaponry was much less developed compared to now."