The Cost of Peace

[Soran Nightblade]

As the thing began to fall toward them, Vlad bent low and then sprang upward in a wide roundkick that broke the body's forward momentum and hurled it sideways. The vampire dropped back to the ground, feeling unsteady on his feet. His chest was taking time to heal, and all this jumping around wasn't helping things much. He used his good arm to smear the giant man's rancid blood off of his face and looked back at Tenele to be sure she was still there.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele sat back on her heals, ignoring the aching throb in her ankle as she did so, to get away from the blood spilling closer to her. Her eyes flickered up to Vlad, and she pushed up with her arms. She stumbled to her feet, swaying a bit dangerously on her feet. Her back was protesting something terrible, but she was going to ignore it. Alright, not quite. She slowly slipped back to her knees, gripping the stone. The gash on her back was staining the rust colored dress a deep red brown. "Shit," she cursed under her breath. She was trying her best to get better fast, because she needed to be well. She needed to be able to bounce back like Vlad right now because it was important that they kept moving. And she couldn't just bounce back. She was angry with herself, and she was angry with Vlad for not believing her and trusting her, and she was angry with Verin most of all.

She didn't understand why she couldn't get a handle on her emotions. She wanted to scream and cry, and be angry all at once. Was this normal? Not for her, it wasn't... Maybe it was her body and emotions changing because of the baby?

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad knelt down next to her. He wanted to talk to her now, but his lungs were full of blood. Oh well, he had to get it over with sometime. He hoped Tenele could stomach it. He turned his head away from her, leaning forward over the ground, and let himself cough. It was oddly controlled coughing, just enough to clear his lungs for air, not the desperate heaving that a normal human would experience in this situation. It was rather satisfying, actually. When he had things under control again, he felt hazy for a minute, taking slow, free breaths with his recovered lungs. He wiped at his face and glanced back at Tenele. "Much better," he asserted, although his offended throat caused his voice to come out hoarse.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele winced as she listened to him cough. She had wondered why he had yet to say a single word to her. She watched him with worried eyes as he finished his coughing and proclaimed he felt better. Her eyes was swimming with so many thoughts and so many questions. It was hard to assess the damage that had been done to either of them when the only thing her mind wanted to consentrate on was the fact it felt as if her back had been ripped wide open. Whether from the blow she'd recieved or the gash, she wasn't sure.

"We... should get going," she muttered, reminded of Atul's constant bickering about how there was no time to waste and they should always keep moving. She was on her hands and knees, sinking closer to the ground, but out of the way of the black foul smelling blood. Despite how much she repeated they needed to keep moving, she kept wanting to lie down and rest. She wasn't about to let Vlad carry her after that though. She'd force herself to walk as long as her legs would carry her. Well, as best she could walk on a hurt ankle. Damn it, why did she have to be human.

Tenele laughed softly then, as if something amusing had suddenly come to her. "We're not supposed to make it to that mirror," she muttered. "We're supposed to beg him to set us free, or agree to join him to get out. That's the reason for the time limit, and that's the reason for that thing to beat us to near death. A delay so we wouldn't make it in time. He wants us to give into him."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad put his hands around her shoulders and supported her to keep her from collapsing fully to the ground. "We'll find the mirror," he rasped firmly. "And then Sinead had better throw us one hell of a welcome home party." He looked at her curiously. He could see that she was putting a lot of effort into getting up on her own. She was so beautiful and fierce when she was being stubborn. It made him want to wait just a bit longer to see if she could do it, instead of insisting on carrying her.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smirked, thankful for his hands on her shoulders. She straightened to stand up further, her back riddled with pain. She would ignore it, as she needed to at the moment. There was something more important here, and that was not letting Verin win. "She better throw us a wonderful party. With lots of food," she stated with a grin. "Well, lets go piss off the God of Darkness by escaping his little playground, shall we?"

And for a brief moment Tenele forgot the child. She forgot the anger she felt towards Vlad's inability to trust her. She forgot that they needed to betray one another to leave this place. Her crystal green gaze met his, and she could only think of the love in her heart for him, and the fact she had been so worried that that thing was going to kill him. Tenele leaned in closer to him, reaching up to place her small hand against the cheek that was dirty with the rancid blood. She leaned around to his clean cheek and kissed him softly.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad shifted forward slightly, subconsciously moving into her warmth. "A guy like that doesn't just let go of his target once he's got it," he said beside her ear. His free hand lightly touched her wounded back. "You really let him mess you up." The words sounded more like admiration than a scolding. He would have survived or escaped, probably, regardless of whatever that thing had done to him next. Even if his body had been reduced to a formless pulp, he wasn't certain it would be enough to kill him. But she had defended him anyway. She didn't rely on him to be a monster, although he was. "Thanks."

He kissed her ear, because it was closest, and then her neck, chastely. He relaxed somewhat and rested his cold nose in the warm crook of her shoulder for a moment, enjoying the familiarity of her body. But there was her scent to contend with. "I'm afraid this will have to wait," he said against her skin. "You smell too good."

He broke their small embrace in order to reach for the bandage he'd abandoned just before round two with their musclebound friend. Meeting her eyes, he looped it around her back, over her cut, and pulled it into a snug knot across her stomach.

[Emora Deen]

"Smell good enough to eat, I suppose?" Tenele asked, arching an eyebrow at him as she held her arms open to allow him better access to wrapping the bandage around her. She glanced down when he was finished. "So much for Nadia's pretty dress. It was nice while it lasted. I've noticed a trend in my inability to keep my clothes from getting ruined." Her eyes caught site of his clothing, or a lack there of. He was only in his pants now. She smirked. "It seems you too have this illfated clothing curse." She smiled softly at him. "Too bad we're in this situation and not somewhere more comfortable, I'd say it could work in our favor then?"

She hobbled forward on her hurt ankle, heading towards the end of the hall. The darkness that was the only way to go. It was either go through the shadows that moved, or try the obstical course backwards. She was sure it wasn't meant to work that way.

"How much further, do you think?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad shook his head. "I couldn't see beyond the black. We will have to play it by ear," he said, coming up next to her. His heart beat irregularly in his chest. What would he do if he ran out of blood? With the most tempting human he'd ever met chained to him?

They stepped forward into the black area. Immediately, a voice came down around them, booming like thunder although it was only speaking normally. "WELL, I SUPPOSE YOU SHOULD BE PROUD. YOU'VE MADE IT THIS FAR, TO MY FINAL TEST. IT'S A BIT SAD, REALLY. IT'S BEEN SUCH FUN WATCHING YOUR PRECIOUS LITTLE STRUGGLE. BUT I'D LIKE TO EMPHASIZE THAT THIS DESPERATE DEATH GAME SYMBOLIZES YOUR RELATIONSHIP. VLADIMIR, YOUR POWER AND STRENGTH GROW WORTHLESS WHEN DILUTED BY YOUR EFFORTS TO PROTECT YOUR OWN PREY! SHE HOLDS YOU BACK, SHE WEAKENS YOU WITH GUILT AND PIPE DREAMS OF A HUMANITY YOU NO LONGER HAVE. AND FOR YOU, QUEEN'S MAIDEN, LOOK AT WHAT HE HAS TAKEN. THINK OF ALL YOU HAVE LOST, ALL YOU WILL NEVER HAVE. LOOK AT YOU HERE, PLAYING DEATH GAMES WITH GODS, BATTLES THAT NEVER INVOLVED YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE. YOU ARE A VICTIM, A HELPLESS PASSENGER IN THE RUNAWAY STAGECOACH THAT IS THIS MAN'S LIFE. WHEN HIS VIOLENT LIFESTYLE FINALLY CONSUMES YOU, HE WILL BE FREE TO AMUSE HIMSELF WITH OTHERS, PERHAPS HUNDREDS, IN HIS IMMORTAL LIFETIME. YOU ARE A SPECK OF DUST PRETENDING TO BE A JEWEL."

Vlad wasn't interested in hearing any more. "Getting nervous, Verin? We are nearly through your maze. If you're quite done being a sore loser, we're actually in a bit of a hurry."

"A SORE LOSER... HAHAHA! YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE CONDITION OF THE PORTAL. AND THERE IS MORE YOU DO NOT KNOW. I SUPPOSE NOW WOULD BE THE BEST TIME TO INFORM YOU, SO YOU HAVE TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT AS YOU APPROACH THE END. THE PORTAL WILL CARRY ONLY ONE SAFELY TO HEIROT. THE OTHER WILL BE KEEPING ME COMPANY. IT'S A WIN WIN, REALLY, AT LEAST FOR ME."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele listened to Verin's words, and tried to ignore them. He tried to convince her that Vlad was the reason her life was insane, but the truth was, it had always been this way. She was risk taker. She feared little, except losing the ones she loved. Tenele had always poked her nose into trouble, part of the reason she had met Vlad in the first place. She'd stayed in the palace gardens long after it had closed, simply watching the stars pass by. And when she realized there was no way out, and she couldn't get the irrefutable vampire to leave her be, she'd excepted a ride over the wall. Well, getting snatched up by a gargoyle like thing wasn't exactly excepting a ride, but close enough. No, her lifestyle had always been violent. From protecting the Queen from assassins and weeding out spies like Adrian, to riding head long into battles. This was her life, a life she hadn't chosen for herself, but one she welcomed with open arms.

The matter of the women that would come after her... She'd thought about that before. But, in all reality she'd be dead. What did it matter to her if he was with another woman. Vlad was cursed with immortality. If the one he loved couldn't live forever, what was to say he shouldn't have another? She felt jealousy well up in her despite this, for she wanted Vlad all to herself... and in the end it was impossible.

Then, the rest of what he was saying caught her attention and Tenele stopped. "That wasn't what you promised," Tenele yelled. "You told us that we would both go free!" Didn't he say that?

[Soran Nightblade]

"I said the portal was the only exit," Verin chuckled. "You should know me better than that. What would be the fun in letting you both go? I mean, I try to be sporting, but really, why make rules that don't work in my favor? This is my world, and you are my pet rats running through my ingenious little maze."

The God's words were enough to elicit the first small touch of helplessness in the half-starved vampire, and feeling helpless made Vlad angry. "You don't know when to quit, do you? I won't belong to you. Even if you kill her, I won't follow you! You deluded megalomaniac!" Vlad spat.

"Well, gods do have a certain justification for being megalomaniacs," Verin argued cordially, although something darker was in his voice. Anger. Vlad was getting carried away.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele couldn't believe this was happening. This couldn't be happening. Those words kept repeating over and over in her head. What were they going to do? How were they going to get out of this one? They couldn't do anything. Not in this world.

Her hands clutched Vlad tighter. "You put this child in me against my will, and then you want to take Vlad away from me?! You cannot take one life and replace it with another. Things do not work that way Verin!" Tenele was angry. So angry. If Verin was before her she'd probably throw herself at him to try and choke the life from him. "You cannot do this!!" But, he could, he very well could.

In this dismal place Verin had all the control. Nothing either of them could do could sway his dark heart unless it wanted to be swayed. Tenele's eyes fell on Vlad suddenly realizing there was nothing either of them could do. She already knew he'd want her to go through the gate back to Heirot. He'd make her go, no matter what she'd say. Vlad would never let her stay in his place, and Verin had already managed to get what he wanted from her. It was incubating, growing with each passing second. Her eyes watered as she looked at him, almost looking through him. She had no power to stop this, and nothing she said or pleaded was going to change the fact that they were being pulled apart.

She would have to bear the child alone, despite what Vlad had promised. She'd carry it alone... Die alone. Verin was pulling the only thing in the world she'd hold tight to for dear life right from her arms, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. "I don't want to lose you," she admitted her voice cracking with emotion as a single tear trailed down her cheek.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Oh, it's so heartbreaking," Verin mocked.

"You, shut up!" Vlad roared at the invisible god, and turned his eyes quickly back to Tenele. "It's going to be fine," he told her with resolute calm. "I have a plan, I will be with you, and it's going to be fine. Just walk with me." He put his good arm around her waist supportively, and his chained hand wrapped firmly around hers, pressing her gently forward. They began walking, and if Verin still watched them, he made no spectacle of himself.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele held Vlad's hand tightly. She limped as she walked, her ankle protesting with each step she took. She ignored it for the most part because there were worst things to deal with. The darkness grew so thick that she could barely see two feet in front of her. She held fast to Vlad as the darkness consumed them. She trusted that the man she loved did have a plan, for why would he promise otherwise. She just was worried what that plan happened to be.

"If I could get my hands on him..." she hissed.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad just leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Soon we will be the ones laughing," he murmured beside her ear, leading her onward. He was still able to see, and he guided her so that she didn't hit any walls. Eventually, though, it was dark even for him. He leaned against the wall to his right and followed it, wherever it took him. They went a long way, and based on the fact that he smelled no trail of blood ahead of them, they must not be going in circles. Finally, a dim light lay up ahead. Vlad moved toward it, found himself at a dead end, and walked them back a little, taking a different course. This time he could see the light lying straight ahead, a dull white against the grey and black around them. They came to a wide gate, which stood open, beckoning them into a large open area. In the center stood an enormous mirror, easily twice Vlad's height, framed in stone. It was the source of the light, as if there was sunlight on the other side of the mirror that was leaking through into this world.

Vlad and Tenele circled toward it, and the vampire touched the glass cautiously. It was ice cold, and solid. Nothing but glass, with rock behind it. "This is it," Vlad said, eyeing the contraption in fascination.