Sunlight syndrome

Having ridden hard for about two miles, D veered off the road and into the
forest. A horrendous torpor was sweeping over him. It was the sunlight
syndrome, a condition unique to dhampirs. Inheriting half or more of a
vampire’s characteristics as they did, dhampirs could move about by day
without concern, but that was not without its drawbacks. While they
remained oblivious, a tenacious form of fatigue was building in their half-immortal flesh from the merciless rays of the sun. For dhampirs working as Hunters, the most dreaded aspect of this affliction was that the symptoms
manifested without warning in the form of a sudden feeling of exhaustion
and ever-increasing lassitude. It was painfully clear what would happen if
someone were to suffer an attack of this while locked in deadly battle.

D’s narrow escape couldn’t really be called a retreat or a defeat. In fact, it
was only thanks to D’s superhuman strength that he was able to get himself
in the saddle. But, when he got off his horse deep in the forest, D’s gait was
somewhat troubled.

The ground here was shrouded by multicolored flora and teeming with
insect life. D knelt down and started to scoop at the dirt with a knife he
pulled from his combat belt. Earth and moss flew with his intense
movements. In less than three minutes, he had hollowed out a depression
large enough for a person to lie in. With just the lightest shake of his head,
D quietly entered the hole. Once he’d used his hands to pull the dirt around
him onto his body, he laid back.

The reason vampires in legends of antiquity carried coffins filled with soil
from their homeland was not merely because the grave they should’ve
occupied offered them the most serene sleep. Actually, their kind had
discovered in ancient times that Mother Earth would draw out the fatigue
that accumulated in their bodies and instill them with new immortalizing
energy. And D was following their example.

“Heh, this is a fine mess,” D’s left hand snorted. “Hell, even I can’t tell you
when the sunlight syndrome will strike. The fact that you’re tougher than
the average customer only makes matters worse. What’s it been, five years
or so?”

The voice from his hand must’ve been talking about how long it’d been
since the last attack. Usually, those dhampirs who’d inherited the greater
part of their disposition from the vampires went an interval of about six
months between outbreaks of the symptomps.

Using the date and time of the last one as a rough base, they’d
hide themselves for a month before and after the next expected attack,
avoiding all combat during that time. These precautions weren’t solely out
of fear of reprisals from the prey they chased, but also to avoid attacks from
their business competitors. There were always plenty of scheming cowards
looking for a larger share of the Hunting business, and they’d keep
elaborate records of the dates their rivals had attacks, then try to learn their
whereabouts before the next one was due so they could do away with them.
Needless to say, in D’s case, he’d have to guard against a fierce onslaught
by Caroline and her cohorts.

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