Miserable

Marino breathed in the warm sea scented air. His current location was an isolated mansion perched on a hill snobbishly overlooking the city. He hated to admit that these old goats probably had the best views of the vast vampire kingdom.

Still, he was now outside the Elder's court that housed some of the veterans on the Vampire Council. He was waiting to see his old friend and comrade Lord Parthas, one of the elders that had been responsible for sponsoring him as a young vampire and giving him a seat at the table.

He was going to need his support and advice in getting permission from the Vampire Council to enter the Merfolk Kingdom. He wouldn't want his going after Juri to add fuel to an ongoing war between the Vampires and Merfolk so he knew he had to tread carefully.

Almost a full week had passed since he had last Juri. He felt like he failed her and not a night didn't pass when he didn't berate himself silently in his head. He had carried Eileen down to the dark alley.

She confirmed his theory that Juri had been indeed taken from the alley by force. Her theory was that Juri had been surrounded by at least three other men. For a normal person the trail would have gone cold, especially with the rain but Eileen was gifted with a sensitive nose.

She followed Juri's scent all the way down to the wharf, where the trail ended. He finally had a clue and he wasn't going to let it go to waste.

"Which ship was docked here," he asked the wharf's owner.

A miserable, dodgy old man that looked and smelled like he hadn't showered in years. The man ignored him at first, which only added fuel to the fire, and increased his ire. He hadn't meant to take out all his frustration on the poor old man but in that moment his patience snapped.

The air around Marino became menacing, his eyes blazed red as his countenance changed and his fangs elongated and protruded from his mouth. His build seemed to go exponentially as he towered over the old man, his shadow even scarier than its owner.

He knew he scared the old man witless and as long as he didnt die from a heart attack before he got answers. Marino thought the filthy old wretch deserved every last inch of it. He started to plead for his life, rambling incoherently and saying to them he would tell them anything they needed to know.

By this time Marino had flung him around, the office a few times, he's picked up his thick heavy mahogany desk like it weighed nothing and snapped it two before throwing it aside, and it splintered into pieces, his show of excessive force, was enough to make even Eileen wolf hair bristle from the strength of his ferocious attacks.

Now he hiked, the sobbing old man against the wall and he threatened him, "This is your last chance to tell me what I need to know old man."

The man sang like a canary and he released him.

"Come on old girl, it's time to get you home."

Marino opened the door so Eillen could head outside first like the gentleman he was. Eileen in her wolf form she was very small and could pass for a Siberian Husky with a lot more wolf than dog if you looked too closely.

No one paid much notice to the Vampire and his pet wolf as they walked side by side. In fact, most preferred to stay out of their way. Civilians unconsciously sensed an aura of danger from the two and gave them a wide berth or crossed to the opposite side of the street.

He had got Eileen home before the full moon was out just like he promised. It had been an uneventful night for him, because he tossed and turned in bed, his thoughts of Juri keeping him awake as he went over the information the shipyard owner gave him.

"The spot for the missing ship is rented by a regular known as Captain Reever. You don't want to mess with him, Vampire. It is well known by everyone that he has an alliance with Prince Kuval, the ruler next in line to be king of the Merfolk kingdom."

He'd gotten some rotten luck of late, so far he'd done a good job of staying out of trouble and not getting himself involved in Merfolk politics until Juri entered his life. He could only draw the conclusion that if the prominent slaver Captain Reever had Juri in his possession he might have sold her to someone else already.

Marino couldn't assume that he would sell her to Prince Kuval, he could only hope for Juri's sake that she would have been sold to another vampire like himself, but that would just be making his life all too easy.

The worst case scenario was that she was now in the possession of Prince Kuval. With so much feuding and enmity between the merfolk and vampire kingdom, Prince Kuval would use her as a bargaining chip to his advantage if he wanted to.

It was more likely that he would ignore any summons sent by Marino asking for the return of his most prized possession. Most likely the summons would be ignored and fall on deaf ears for Merfolk despised and hated Vampires too much to willingly do any form of business with them.

That is how the following morning he came to be at the doorstep of the famous cliff side mansion overlooking all of the Vampire Kingdom. Even before he announced himself they would have already known he was there.

The Elder's court was the stuff of legends, every elderly vampire there was a legend in their own right. He was seated in the waiting room by the butler. The room smelled of nostalgia, infamous paintings and monuments to the dead were strategically placed everywhere.

To an ordinary person it would be intimidating, having a thousand eyes and ghosts of the past watching him through those artifacts but Marino's mind was occupied as he sat patiently waiting to seek advice from his old mentor, Lord Uriah, also known as the Blind Vampire.