The Incandescent | Book 7 | The Fairy arc

Chapter 27 ~ The Vampire Attack in Nieto City

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~ Planet Mijoria ~

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Daylight took forever to become nighttime. Trésora slept all day in her silver prison cell, away from the burning rays of the sun that emitted furnace heat. The pungent scent of garlic burned her nostrils and made her insides feel like hot coals, her skin tingling with discomfort.

Mijorian prison cells were not underground in some dungeon or basement; they were on a skyscraper building with large windows to allow natural light to seep into the prison cells. This was done intentionally for vampire prisoners, so they would endure the harsh sunlight as part of their punishment for crime.

Lavender was confused with lavand, a flower that weakened fairies. Thinking lavender could weaken vampires, Mijorians laced the silver prison with lavender-scented garlic. Vervain was a plant closely related to lavender; therefore, Mijorians used lavender and vervain.

However, neither lavender nor vervain weakened vampires. For fairies, inhaling the scent of lavand caused an allergic reaction in the form of a runny nose and burning eyes. Because lavender and lavand were similar in appearance and scent, Mijorians mistakenly believed that if the flower could weaken fairies, it could also weaken vampires, since both were powerful lifeforms. But vampires, both the good and the bad, didn't correct the Mijorians, so they kept it as part of the myth, avoiding the plant entirely.

The true plants that weakened vampires were blackthorn and juniper. Back in ancient and medieval times, Romanians sewed blackthorn in their clothing to prevent vampire attacks. Juniper was used by gypsies and the Romani people to protect themselves from vampires.

Blackthorn and juniper were unavailable on Mijoria, a planet devoid of pine and evergreen trees, of the black shrub that heavily repelled vampires. So the Mijorian people used silver and garlic, and lavender and vervain, as the effective and ineffective vampire repellant. It was silver and garlic that did the real damage.

Trésora felt the small object in her hand, her literal key to freedom out of this cell. She clutched it close, feeling the sharp rose pin in her cold white hand. She closed her eyes, waiting for the long day to be over.

At last, it was night. But the end of day meant more guards posted, surrounding her cell like sentries. Trésora waited until three hours before dawn, when the sentry guards were bored and fighting sleep, before she planned her escape.

Trésora feigned leaning against the door, surreptitiously using Mara's rose pin to pick the lock. To cover any noise, Trésora sang, her musical voice like chimes.

The guards listened, appreciating music sung by a beautiful woman. Trésora sang in her native language Slovenian, a Slavic language so the Mijorian guards wouldn't know the lyrics.

Trésora was a Slavic vampire of Slovenian origin, though she also spoke Romanian, Russian, English, Mijorian, Ghatomese, and Iredescent.

"Trésora's Escape"

Silver and garlic, so bitter and so vile
Surrounding me as I sink into denial
But I see a glimmer of a crimson rose
Shimmering in a fragrant pose

Alas, I hold the key to an open door
Tis the reason to lift myself from the floor
Despair does not look good on me
Heart full of joy that will set me free
Weep not, fear not, but don't dare hope
To slide the disgruntled rail off this slope