Literature / We Walk the Night

cover for Volume 1

"My name is unimportant. You may call me John Doe."

The secret Order of Kresnik has, for centuries, formed pacts with powerful animal spirits in order to hunt vampires. In the year 2014, three new Kresnik Intitiates head out on their first hunt: Ken Engel, Kresnik of Bat, Lacey Tanner, Kresnik of Wolf, and Tyler Markus, Kresnik of Rattlesnake. Guided by the more experienced Kresniks, Alphonse Trent (Wolf) and Esmeralda DeSantos (Shark), they discover a conspiracy to resurrect an ancient and powerful vampire, and bring about an age of vampiric supremacy.

From there, things become complicated.

We Walk the Night is a series of novellas written by Seann Barbour and published via Amazon Kindle. They are described as Urban Fantasy stories that homage the Gothic Punk genre. The books are narrated by a character identified as "John Doe" from some point in the future, who describes the events as being the story of how his parents met.

So far, the series has released five volumes: A Meeting of Fates, The Hunters Hunted, The Eternal Kingdoms, Starcrossed, and Sweet Mountain Home.

You can read the series here: [1]

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We Walk the Night provides examples of the following tropes:

• Animal Motifs: Members of the Order of Kresnik get animal powers, and certain vampire bloodlines have animal themes. For example, the Draken are snake-themed vampires, and the Mircalla are cat-themed
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: The Kresniks are empowered by totem spirits of animals, and each one gains the powers of their associated animal for use in vampire hunting
• Bad Boss: Voldren
• Big Eater: Esme. It may come with the territory of having shark-based powers
• Break the Cutie: Volume 5 dives into the nature of Lacey's trauma, and then proceeds to break her further.
  • Before that, Volume 3 serves as this troop for both Greg and Miranda.
• Canis Latinicus: Some of the Bloodline names, such as Arthrans and Ruma, are derived from Latin. Others come from Egyption (Ankha), Greek (Loimos), and Persian (Gavnar).
• Casts No Shadow: Vampires
• Changeling Tale: Changelings like Greg continuously reincarnate in human forms so they can live human lives with no memory of their true nature. When the human body dies, the Changeling returns to Faerie and stores away the knowledge they gained from their human lifetime, until their servants fond a new human child to replace with them. The original child is raised as a slave by the Changeling's servants.
• The Chessmaster: Mr. Rouge and his boss, The Morrigan, are playing everyone.
• Cold Iron: Vampires may be repelled by silver, but for the fae, iron is the dangerous metal
  • In Volume 3, it's explained that this is because iron does not naturally occur in Faerie
• Conspiracy Kitchen Sink: Vampires are real and hunt mortals, a pharmaceutical corporation is running multiple experiments involving supernaturals with the assistance of its own private mercenary team, a far queen is attempting to start a shadow war, and an Order of vampire hunters is greasing a lot of palms to keep everything from going public.
• Corporate Warfare: Woolstone Pharmaceuticals employs a "Recovery Team" of former soldiers who hunt down and collect supernatural materials, usually forcibly.
• Creature-Hunter Organization: The Order of Kresnik
• Day Walking Vampire: Any sufficiently young vampire can do this. When they are young, the sun is only a minor irritant for vampires, but the burns sunlight causes become progressively worse as they age. Vivienne has no problem walking around on a cloudy day with a hoodie on, and in volume 2, Kyle is able to walk outside with no issue after applying sunscreen and putting on sunglasses.
• The Dog Bites Back: The climax of Volume 4 involves the human Alexi has blackmailed into serving him turning on the vampires and burning Alexi's remaining "boys" to death.
• The Fair Folk: Mr. Rouge. Specifically, the end of volume 2 confirms that he is a Red Cap.
  • Much of Volume 3 takes place in Faerie, and introduces even more Fair Folk characters.
• Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Vampires, Animal Totem Spirits, Supernatural Vampire Hunters, Fae, Lesser Spirits... all just in the first three volumes!
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire: Possibly Vivienne
• Ghost Pirate: One shows up, bound to his skull. specifically, the legendary pirate Blackbeard has been bound to his skull, which has been fashioned into a goblet
• Gothic Punk
• Great White Hunter: The way Tommy Rawhead manifests when Greg encounters him in the Hunting Grounds invokes this trope.
• Headless Horseman: Dullahans appear in Volume 3 as the soldiers of the Morrigan.
• The Hecate Sisters: the Morrigan's three forms are explicitly identified as Maiden, Mother, and Crone. She switches between them based on what she's currently doing.
• Hemo Erotic: Nothing too explicit, but the scene at the end of volume 2 when Ken offers Vivienne some blood from his arm is certainly written sensuously.
• Horror Hunger: Vampires need blood to survive, but most have a pretty decent handle on it. However, they can still lose themselves to the thirst if they go without eating for too long, as Miranda learns to her great misfortune.
• Husky Russkie: Alexi, one of the vampire Elders in Baltimore, who serves as the main antagonist of Volume 4.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Ken was chosen to be empowered by the spirit of Bat. Since there hasn't been a Bat Kresnik in over a century, this marks him out among the Order, much to his frustration.
  • Then there's Vivienne, a Loimos Vampire who was also empowered by Bat, much to her confusion
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Sophie is a former army sniper, and apparently her talents extend to other firearms as well.
• Land of Faerie: Home of The Fair Folk naturally. It is divided into multiple realms, each ruled over by a powerful Fae Lord.
• Looks Like Orlok: The Arthran vampires that attacked Tyler in his Origin Story have this vibe, thought Makta, as an ancient Arthran, has an even more inhuman appearance.
• Manipulative Bastard: Mr. Rouge, the fae who "helps" Voldren, is clearly just using the vampire to pursue his own goals, whatever they may be
• Masquerade: The characters don't seem to do much to enforce it, but it clearly exists.
• The Most Dangerous Game: Volume 3 involves this as part of this climax. Greg even references the Trope Namer earlier in the novella.
• Necromancer: because ghosts are included under the umbrella of "Spirit," this is one of the various terms that exist for Seers. Latoya prefers "Necromancer" over equivalent titles like "Medium" or "Seer" because she thinks it sounds cool.
• Occult Law Firm: The Order of Kresnik keeps quite a few lawyers on retainer, since its members often have to break the law while performing their duties
• Our Banshees Are Louder: Banshees are a type of fae who serve the Morrigan. They are described as having gray skin, white hair that flows in numerous Celtic braids, and black, sunken-in eyes. Greg asks one if the screaming thing is true but gets no reply.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: Ghosts are shadows of a person's soul that have become a kind of ephemeral spirit. Most fade after a few years, but certain ones are intentionally bound to objects which serve as anchors, and remain as their anchor is in tact.
• Our Spirits Are Different: Pretty much everything supernatural in the setting that's not derived from the fae is derived from Spirits. They are mysterious beings who are harmed by silver.
  • The Primal Spirits are powerful, eternal beings that represent animals. Kresniks gain their power that giving a portion of themselves over to a Primal Spirit. They also seem to have agendas of their own (or at least, Bat does) and are functionally akin to gods.
  • Vrykolokas Spirits are described as "ephemeral" spirits, who appear in the world and then fade away. They feed on the life force of physical beings in order to sustain their existences, and are capable of possessing corpses to feed on blood. The first vampires were created when humans bound themselves to vrykolokas spirits in a bid for immortality, and every vampire is possessed by one.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Vampires in We Walk the Night are burned by silver and the sun, though the effects of the sun intensify as they age. Sunlight ranges from a minor annoyance for young vampires, to a source of painful and disfiguring burns for older vampires. The traditional mark of having no reflection is also expanded here to vampires not casting "images" at all, including reflections, recordings, shadows, and even memories.
  • In addition, there are Thirteen Bloodlines of vampires, each connected to a zodiac sign. They were formed by Thirteen Mystics who long ago became the first vampires (the Progenitors) and refined by the vampires they created (the Antecedents). So far the following have appeared:
    • The Draken, Bloodline of Ophiucus, are a snake-themed Bloodline. They have golden eyes, long and retractable fangs, and can unhinge their jaws. Voldren, one of the villains, can also turn his fingers into snakes.
    • The Knumites, Bloodline of Aries, can inspire worship in mortals, forming cults around themselves. They are also burned by gold, in addition to silver.
    • The Loimos, Bloodline of Scorpio, can transform into a swarm of bugs, but suffer an intense phobia of the open sky.
    • The Hippolytans, Bloodline of Saggitarius, have enhanced eyesight and Super-Speed, but are also the only Bloodline that is vulnerable to poison.
    • The Maaten, Bloodline of Libra, can see people's sins and guilt.
    • The Mer, Bloodline of Aquarius, can create illusions.
    • The Icthyns, Bloodline of Pisces, can breathe underwater and has rows of sharp teeth.
    • The Mircalla, Bloodline of Leo, can transform into cats.
    • The Ruma, Bloodline of Virgo, can supposedly charm animals.
    • The Gavnar, Bloodline of Taurus, are supposedly particularly dangerous, but their exact abilities have not yet been revealed.
    • The Arthrans, Bloodline of Cancer, grow rigid and ugly exoskeletons.
    • The Ankha, Bloodline of Gemini, cast a single image that has a will of its own. They can also possess people.
• The Power of Blood: Blood rituals are used to resurrect Antecedents, and its mentioned that long ago vampires could better "control" their blood, which apparently translates to doing even more bizarre magical tricks than vampires can normally do.
• Psychic Powers: certain humans, such as Latoya, are born with the ability to perceive, interact with, and even influence Spirits. Ken states that there numerous names for people with this gift, including "Medium," "Oracle," and "Seer." Latoya decides she prefers to be called a Necromancer.
• The Renfield: Knumite Vampires can create entire cults of Renfields! The brainwashing effect ends once the Knumite dies
• Romantic Vampire Boy: Gender-flipped with Vivienne
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Makta, the Antecedent of the Arthran vampires, is interred in an iron sarcophagus
  • The Stinger of Volume 3 reveals that Woolstone has another iron sarcophagus in its possession.
• Silver Has Mystic Powers: It hurts vampires, for one thing
  • According to Voldren, silver harms spirits because it is a reflection of moonlight, which in turn is a reflection of sunlight, which also repels spirits.
• Spirit Advisor: Played With. Lacey has the image of her best friend, who was turned into an Ankha vampire, living in her head, but all it ever seems to do is tell her to hunt him down and kill him. This led to her experiencing a mental breakdown and nearly dying before the Order recruited her.
• Token Minority: Deconstructed. Tyler was one of the only black students at his high school. While his family was just as financially well-off as those of his peers, he was always painfully aware that people saw him as different, and after he and his friends had a run-in with some racist vampires, everyone seemed to hold him responsible for the event in some way.
• Twofer Token Minority: Tyler is both black and gay.
• Trans Equals Gay: Discussed and Defied. Sophie was kicked out of the army under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. When her newest co-worker notes that army is "OK with gays now," Sophie replies that she's trans, not gay.
• Trenchcoat Brigade: The official uniform of the Kresniks consists of a long white coat.
• Urban Fantasy
• Vampire Hunter: The Order of Kresniks is comprised of these
• Vampire Variety Pack: The Thirteen Bloodlines mean that vampires in this setting have a lot of variance.
• War God: The Morrigan is goddess of war. Even her three forms are all meant represent some aspect of it: the Maiden is the ideals that men go to war for, the Mother is the army and cultures that molds men into warriors, and the Crone is the death that awaits on the battlefield.
• The Wild Hunt: Herne the Hunter is described as "Master of the Wild Hunt," and the climax of Greg's story in Volume 3 is largely about preventing a war in Faerie by convincing Herne to sic the Wild Hunt on the Erlkonig
• Who You Gonna Call?: Again, the Order of Kresnik