Forests of the Night (Past Slayer, R)
Title: Forests Made of Night
Author: Sami
Character: Original Slayer/Historical Figure
Setting: Holstein, Germany 1728
Summary: She had survived the foe called childbirth, now she must defeat another in the dark of the forest.
Notes: Anna Petrovna is the daughter of Peter the Great. She died days after giving birth in real life when she was twenty years old. I got the idea when I read about her and her husband fleeing Russia due to court intrigue and wonder what if a demon had been in the mix. Vasili is inspired by Peter the Great's quest for modernity and the early modern zest for science. Written for the Historical Slayer Ficathon
Prompt: Imperial Russia, white gowns and red roses
A winter-weak sun set in the west after a day of hard decisions. Despite the fever that burned and the baby boy that slept in the arms of his wet nurse, Anna Petrovna knew that she couldn't keep to her bed any longer. She had survived the foe called childbirth, now she must defeat another in the dark of the forest. She bid her ladies to dress her and another to send for Feodor Sidorov. After putting a stake in her pocket, she wrapped her black fur cloak around herself and met her Watcher at the stable.
"Grand-Duchess, you mustn't do this." Feodor's expression was one of deepest despair behind his beard. Appealing to her father for his English education,with few the wiser to his affiliation with the Council of Watchers, he had been named her tutor when she was but a child of six. Fourteen years later, he was as an uncle to her.
"I was born to do this." Anna Petrovna tugged his beard gently, as she had so many times before as a impetuous girl, but a smile couldn't be roused. Not on such a dark night. "Vasili shall never stop. We fled from St. Peterberg through snow and danger only to draw the beast ever behind us." She brushed the snow from her black hair and put her hood up. "You must stay, protect my baby from the darkness, and bar every door. My husband shouldn't return from his intrigues until late morning."
Feodor bowed his head as he pulled his own scabbard off his belt and handed it to her. "Then you will need this. Return by sunrise or I will go looking for my sword in the false dawn." He smiled and patted her on the cheek. "Fight well, little Anna."
She nodded and mounted her gray mare before riding out of the stable into the frigid night while snow clouds covered the moon and the stars. None were needed to find her way through the woods to where Vasili lurked on the edges of their manor estate, Anna had always been most attune to the undead, and Vasili wanted her to find him.
Anna eased her mare in a trot then a slow walk as she neared a wood-cutter's shed. Patting the faithful horse, she loosely tied her to a sapling and dismounted. She drew Feodor's sword out of its scabbard before striding to the shed. Six vampires were inside. The youngest was a score years dead. Vasili wasn't with them, instinct told her. She whirled around, sword high, and chin higher as she faced him.
Vasili smirked, thin scar across his lips, still deadly handsome despite the dark madness in his eyes. "And, I had worried you wouldn't come, my dearest Grand-Duchess. That would have aborted my entire experiment." He wore only the latest summer fashions from the West, his unruly black hair lay uncovered by cap or hood, and his bare hands held a red rose even as the snow fell heavier around them. "We last discovered that a slayer could kill up to a dozen fledglings in a single fight. Lets test your might against those with more experience."
Anna narrowed her eyes. She whipped around, black fur cloak twisting to reveal her white riding dress, and decapitated the impatient vampire lunging behind her.
The forest echoed with the sounds of swords meeting in fierce combat. Owls scattered from their nests over the fighter's heads. No words were spoken, only blow matched by blow, as five fought one, then another fell into dust and it was down to four.
Anna didn't tire as she evaded blades and played her foes against one another with quick footwork and fast strategy. She moved with the knowledge that she had been Chosen. Jabbing an elbow into one vampire's face, Anna kicked his comrade in the shin.
The bone cracked like a twig and it's owner howled until her blade met his neck. The other two soon followed into their final deaths. Their swords fell from their hands.
Anna felt herself feeling hot and dazed but she only tossed her cloak to the side and faced Vasili. Victory straightened her back and cleared her head.
Vasili threw the red rose to the snow at her feet.
The real battle began as iron met claw while aged oaks bore witness.
Vasili dodged her blade, hissing, ridges rising on his face. He threw a punch and knocked her back against a tree.
Anna raised her skirts with one hand and kicked him in the center of his chest before cutting at his neck. She felt out of breath but she couldn't let it show. Without his minions, Vasili was only another vampire and Anna didn't hesitate in her attack. The end was at hand.
He jumped back, missing the blow, to pull a dagger from his belt and then struck as if a viper after a rabbit. His dark hair flopped into his eyes.
Parrying, she knocked it from his hand then lunged to take his head off his shoulders only to be rebuffed. Anna fell back a step with a grimace as she lost Feodor's sword. Fear chilled her through the fever.
Vasili clasped the blade and jerked it out of her gasp before tossing it aside. “There is no doddering watcher to save you, Anna.”
“I need no watcher's blade.” Pulling a stake from her white riding-gown's pocket, she lunged at him and thrust the blessed oak stake into his dead heart.
In the bitter cold, Anna found her cloak and shook it off before mounting her mare and letting it take her home. She slumped against its back, but she didn't have to look over her shoulder. Vasili was gone and not a scratch marred her flesh. The forest seemed to blur together as her fever raged hotter than ever in spite of her triumph. Then she found herself falling off her horse into a snow bank by the manor's front hall. Anna didn't know how long she lay there until she looked up into Feodor's face and smiled.
She was carried inside and changed into a flannel nightgown. She fell back into the pillows, shivering under her blankets, and into a fitful sleep after the physician leeched her.
Anna dreamed of those who came before her, girls with swords and women with stakes, hunting demons in forests made of night as the darkness trembled in their wake. Eyes like stars and smiles like crescent moons, her sisters waited for her by the oak trees. They welcomed her home.
Author: Sami
Character: Original Slayer/Historical Figure
Setting: Holstein, Germany 1728
Summary: She had survived the foe called childbirth, now she must defeat another in the dark of the forest.
Notes: Anna Petrovna is the daughter of Peter the Great. She died days after giving birth in real life when she was twenty years old. I got the idea when I read about her and her husband fleeing Russia due to court intrigue and wonder what if a demon had been in the mix. Vasili is inspired by Peter the Great's quest for modernity and the early modern zest for science. Written for the Historical Slayer Ficathon
Prompt: Imperial Russia, white gowns and red roses
A winter-weak sun set in the west after a day of hard decisions. Despite the fever that burned and the baby boy that slept in the arms of his wet nurse, Anna Petrovna knew that she couldn't keep to her bed any longer. She had survived the foe called childbirth, now she must defeat another in the dark of the forest. She bid her ladies to dress her and another to send for Feodor Sidorov. After putting a stake in her pocket, she wrapped her black fur cloak around herself and met her Watcher at the stable.
"Grand-Duchess, you mustn't do this." Feodor's expression was one of deepest despair behind his beard. Appealing to her father for his English education,with few the wiser to his affiliation with the Council of Watchers, he had been named her tutor when she was but a child of six. Fourteen years later, he was as an uncle to her.
"I was born to do this." Anna Petrovna tugged his beard gently, as she had so many times before as a impetuous girl, but a smile couldn't be roused. Not on such a dark night. "Vasili shall never stop. We fled from St. Peterberg through snow and danger only to draw the beast ever behind us." She brushed the snow from her black hair and put her hood up. "You must stay, protect my baby from the darkness, and bar every door. My husband shouldn't return from his intrigues until late morning."
Feodor bowed his head as he pulled his own scabbard off his belt and handed it to her. "Then you will need this. Return by sunrise or I will go looking for my sword in the false dawn." He smiled and patted her on the cheek. "Fight well, little Anna."
She nodded and mounted her gray mare before riding out of the stable into the frigid night while snow clouds covered the moon and the stars. None were needed to find her way through the woods to where Vasili lurked on the edges of their manor estate, Anna had always been most attune to the undead, and Vasili wanted her to find him.
Anna eased her mare in a trot then a slow walk as she neared a wood-cutter's shed. Patting the faithful horse, she loosely tied her to a sapling and dismounted. She drew Feodor's sword out of its scabbard before striding to the shed. Six vampires were inside. The youngest was a score years dead. Vasili wasn't with them, instinct told her. She whirled around, sword high, and chin higher as she faced him.
Vasili smirked, thin scar across his lips, still deadly handsome despite the dark madness in his eyes. "And, I had worried you wouldn't come, my dearest Grand-Duchess. That would have aborted my entire experiment." He wore only the latest summer fashions from the West, his unruly black hair lay uncovered by cap or hood, and his bare hands held a red rose even as the snow fell heavier around them. "We last discovered that a slayer could kill up to a dozen fledglings in a single fight. Lets test your might against those with more experience."
Anna narrowed her eyes. She whipped around, black fur cloak twisting to reveal her white riding dress, and decapitated the impatient vampire lunging behind her.
The forest echoed with the sounds of swords meeting in fierce combat. Owls scattered from their nests over the fighter's heads. No words were spoken, only blow matched by blow, as five fought one, then another fell into dust and it was down to four.
Anna didn't tire as she evaded blades and played her foes against one another with quick footwork and fast strategy. She moved with the knowledge that she had been Chosen. Jabbing an elbow into one vampire's face, Anna kicked his comrade in the shin.
The bone cracked like a twig and it's owner howled until her blade met his neck. The other two soon followed into their final deaths. Their swords fell from their hands.
Anna felt herself feeling hot and dazed but she only tossed her cloak to the side and faced Vasili. Victory straightened her back and cleared her head.
Vasili threw the red rose to the snow at her feet.
The real battle began as iron met claw while aged oaks bore witness.
Vasili dodged her blade, hissing, ridges rising on his face. He threw a punch and knocked her back against a tree.
Anna raised her skirts with one hand and kicked him in the center of his chest before cutting at his neck. She felt out of breath but she couldn't let it show. Without his minions, Vasili was only another vampire and Anna didn't hesitate in her attack. The end was at hand.
He jumped back, missing the blow, to pull a dagger from his belt and then struck as if a viper after a rabbit. His dark hair flopped into his eyes.
Parrying, she knocked it from his hand then lunged to take his head off his shoulders only to be rebuffed. Anna fell back a step with a grimace as she lost Feodor's sword. Fear chilled her through the fever.
Vasili clasped the blade and jerked it out of her gasp before tossing it aside. “There is no doddering watcher to save you, Anna.”
“I need no watcher's blade.” Pulling a stake from her white riding-gown's pocket, she lunged at him and thrust the blessed oak stake into his dead heart.
In the bitter cold, Anna found her cloak and shook it off before mounting her mare and letting it take her home. She slumped against its back, but she didn't have to look over her shoulder. Vasili was gone and not a scratch marred her flesh. The forest seemed to blur together as her fever raged hotter than ever in spite of her triumph. Then she found herself falling off her horse into a snow bank by the manor's front hall. Anna didn't know how long she lay there until she looked up into Feodor's face and smiled.
She was carried inside and changed into a flannel nightgown. She fell back into the pillows, shivering under her blankets, and into a fitful sleep after the physician leeched her.
Anna dreamed of those who came before her, girls with swords and women with stakes, hunting demons in forests made of night as the darkness trembled in their wake. Eyes like stars and smiles like crescent moons, her sisters waited for her by the oak trees. They welcomed her home.