Eukara Vox
Legendary AdventureGuide!
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Darkovia's Dark Queen
by: Clyde
The aftereffect of war still lingered in what remained of Darkovia. This was the home of werewolves, vampires, and many other dark creatures that lurked about in the shadows. No matter how bright your torch was, it could not compare to the eternal darkness that exists in this land. A wicked chill crawled within my skin and almost made me drop my books and journal.
"Are you okay?" one of the Guardians asked. There were four of them, and they were sent to guide and protect me through this mysterious land. Personally, I thought it was a bit of an overkill since I have been able to get out of worse situations. However, being new to Darkovia and a stranger to its landscape, I was ignorant of the danger I could be in.
I could not help but laugh to myself at the boldness of the Guardians as I wondered how much they were getting paid to complete this mission. To escort some writer for a newspaper just to meet Safiria at her castle was either extremely brave or equally stupid. So far, everything was calm and going nicely as we continued to move forward.
"You're batty for trying to meet Safira," one of those Guardians punned. "What's your reason anyway?" There was some silence after he spoke, but I was trying to come up with something to say without revealing what the article was about. I paused for a moment before catching back up with the Guardians.
"You can say that I have an interview with a vampire."
- - - - -
After hours of on-foot travel, we finally made it and the Guardians decided to set up camp a distance from the castle. Far away from the bloodsucking vampires that dwelt inside the hallow halls of their Queen's castle. I continued on using my ninja-like reflexes to survey the outside of the castle. Everything seemed pretty average on the outside, whatever that meant. There was an opened window just asking me to sneak in through.
I was in shock and complete amazement when I saw what it was really like in Safira's castle. It appeared as the aftermath of an art and history museum which had combined and then exploded. Some of the furniture was before my time. I decide to continue to sneak through the house, trying my best not to be spotted. Occasionally, I came across a few rooms with clean lines and modern design, while other rooms are ornate with a heavy emphasis on metalworking.
Eventually, I found a bedroom that could only be the Queen's. I crossed her bedroom, a mixture of the two styles, with an ornate metal four poster canopy bed and purple sheer chiffon curtains. I pulled back her dark, midnight purple comforter, embroidered with bats, to reveal sheets of black with red pin-striping. She had some interesting artwork of sidhe, vampires, bats and werewolves on the wall.
Finally I had made it to the library, where she had a vast amount of leather-bound books. There sat a most comfortable looking black chaise lounge near the entrance and the artwork was minimal in here. Only a metal-worked, silver crescent moon on the midnight-hued walls gave any artistic touch to this room. I took the time to scan through her collection of books. The genres included: supernatural fiction, supernatural horror, vampire literature, and supernatural mystery stories. All seemed very... super.
However, out of all the books one stood out amongst the others. I reached for it, almost losing my balance and crashing to the floor. When I had caught myself, I examined the book. The title read, "Otherworld," a series by an author named Yasmine Galenorn. After going through a few pages, I got the general idea of what it was about. It was a story with a vampire and her two sisters, a werecat and a witch. It was very entertaining and set in a world very similar to Lore. This book was different from the rest - it was more worn out -as if this book was read more frequently. Maybe it was her favorite book?
All this reading had me hungry, so I decided to try and find the kitchen. Of course, it was large and it had a certain cozy feel to it. It was a kitchen like none I had ever seen before, with black counter-tops, and silver moon appliances arranged neatly in place. The smell of fresh-out-of-the-oven baked goods anchored my nostrils and dragged me towards the table. There was a cake with an open cook book right next to it. The recipe read "Red Velvet Cake" :
"INGREDIENTS
* 1 cup butter, softened
* 3 cups white sugar
* 6 eggs
* 1 ounce red food coloring
* 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 tablespoon white vinegar
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8 inch pans.
2. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter with sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix food coloring with cocoa and add to mixture.
3. Add flour alternately with buttermilk. Add vanilla and salt.
4. Mix baking soda with vinegar, and gently stir into mixture. Be careful not to over mix.
5. Divide batter into three prepared 8 inch round pans. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Allow to cool."
In the margins, I spied curling, artistic lettering; personal notes by Safiria herself. "Cream cheese icing, either white or chocolate, is recommended, purely dependent on mood. Always use little black bat sprinkles.
For the record, white chocolate is NOT chocolate! Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something."
I closed the cook book and finished up my final notes for the article. Before I left, I just had to try the cake, it was just too tempting. After a few bites of the Red Velvet Cake, my taste-buds were in heaven. While it was a bit on the sweet, I was undeterred. As I went for the fifth forkful of cake, I noticed just how red the cake was. I dropped my fork as I remembered the main sustenance of a vampire... blood.
Involuntarily, I coughed it up. As I looked at the chunk of Safiria's cake missing I began to panic. My eyes searched and found a closed kitchen window - that would be my escape. After I made the dash for the window, I realized I forgot my notes and turned around quickly.
"AH!" I screamed right before I froze in fear.
Safiria was standing right in front of me with an interesting look on her face. She was deadly, beautiful, and enchanting... did I mention deadly? I saw that she was already smiling before she had begun to speak.
"Hehe. Now my evening meals deliver themselves!" She laughed. "Now that is progress for you." She picked up my notes and began reading them. Her laugh made me more nervous; she went from giggling to glancing at me to back to giggling. I was dying to know why, well not dying, but I was curious.
"I'll let you go this time," she said as she handed me my notes. "Next time schedule an appointment and, when you want to sneak into my house, please wipe your feet before you enter. Also, you forgot to put up the books you took out of their place." Her voice remained, but her body disappeared into the shadows.
After that, I ran as fast as I could out of that castle, that abode of the Vampire Queen, just happy I made it out alive. When I returned back to the camp, I looked back at the castle, whispering to no one in particular:
"Was she watching me the whole time?"
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