Tales of the Slayer

Tales of the Slayer are volumes containing prose short stories. Four volumes of this series have been released, all published by Pocket Books. Each contains a number of short stories surrounding the mythology of past Slayers

These are ordered by chronology rather than by their appearance in the books.

It's 490 BC in Greece and Thessily is the current Slayer. In order to protect an important messenger, she must run 300 miles in 3 days while fending off countless vampires. In the end, this 29-year-old Slayer just wants to be remembered for something great that she herself did.

Kishi Minomoto is a brave girl born into a warrior clan who is suddenly called to serve as a lady in waiting for the Great Lady Ankimon-in. Her summoner, Bennin, claims to be her Watcher and informs her of her duty as a Slayer. He teaches her precious information concerning the demons around her as well as her predecessor before sending her to wait on the Great Lady. Kishi does her best to locate the demons which have been surrounding the Palace only to find out that Bennin is not who he says he is; nor is the Great Lady who was originally the Watcher of the past Slayer. Bennin, is actually Migoto, Bennin's brother, who has been sacrificing Slayers to a dragon in order to maintain his immortal life.

The story of a Slayer who was trained but did not know what her calling was. Her angst and frustration come through when she failed to fulfill her duty through no fault of her own.

Eliane and her Watcher have spent years training together, but as the years go by and Eliane becomes older they begin to suspect that she will never be called as a Slayer. Eventually she and her Watcher fall in love, get married and form a family. When she finally reaches the age of 20, she is abruptly called to her duty and her husband is taken away from her for violating codes of conduct with his charge. Eliane refuses to accept her duty until her husband has returned to her even though Tatoul, a particularly vicious vampire plagues her city. When the demon finally steals her five-year-old child and turns him into a vampire, she begins to fight back. At the end, she allows her son to drink her blood, slaying him at the same time. Because they are connected when this happens, the son is slayed but then she herself starts to light on fire. At the end the only thing left remaining is her daughter, who is called to be the next Slayer, even though an infant. She is given to her father.

The Slayer, Esperanza de la Vega, is a Marrano and this makes her a heretic. Reading about demons does not help her standing at all.

A Slayer named White Doe was adopted by Croatoans despite her English breeding and trained as the men were. She grew to be beautiful and agile. A particular wizard of the people fell in love with her but she did not return his lust. He then turned her into a white doe because if he could not have her then he did not wish anyone else have her heart. But Seal of the Ocean loves her and eventually finds her, only to end up killing her because he believes she is a wild animal. This story is based on myths built around the real life disappearance of the Roanoke Colony and Virginia Dare, the first child of English colonists born on American soil.

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