Mature: Desert Moon

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad shoved Maxwell back as the man tried to rush him onto the table. The vampire's anger was white-hot. "Return it to him. What harm can he do in using it? If we are housed separately he will need company."

"People do not need company, Vladimir. The 'need' for companionship is a weakness I wish to cleanse you of. If I'd known you aimed to use your servant as a companion, I'd have never brought him here."

"Return it to him, and I will go to 5 parts to the thousand," Vlad demanded flatly.

Maxwell stopped short at those words, looking at him with interest. "Where is this coming from?" he asked.

"Perhaps companionship is not the weakness you make it out to be," Vlad challenged in return. "Perhaps it is a source of motivation." He'd been dragging his feet, trying anything to avoid upping the dosage. Taking things slow was the key to staying sane. But he was at least fairly positive 5 parts in a thousand wouldn't kill him. Probably.

During the day, a servant girl wearing her hair in a long black braid stopped by to show Talon Vlad's new quarters. The room that had been prepared for Vlad was next door to their previous room. It was smaller, having only one bed, but otherwise much the same. She looked at the man with interest as she showed him around, but then fled as soon as her task was done.

When dusk came that night and Talon arrived to collect Vlad, Maxwell dropped the pendant loosely into his hands. "Move him carefully," he directed Talon.

[Emora Deen]

Talon stared at the pendant, and then his eyes fell on Vlad. *What did you do?* he murmured through their link. Talon handled him carefully, as he'd been instructed to do. He carried the vampire slowly, so not to jostle him too much. It was a long walk back to Vlad's new room, and he was even more gentle when he finally settled the vampire into bed.

He was going to push his luck as far as he could by staying with Vlad longer. So, he sat at the vampire's bedside and held his hand for a bit, determined to stay until someone told him to leave. In the other hand he held the pendant tightly.

*She's coming,* Talon told Vlad through their link. *Hold on a little longer.*

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad couldn't focus enough to use the link between them. He couldn't move or even help Talon in the least. His body was screaming, but the only place that showed it was his eyes, where his pupils were collapsed to fine black pinpoints. "Tell her not to come," he whispered unsteadily. His fingers wrapped around Talon's, as if doing that could protect the man. That was the last he managed before he lost consciousness.

[Emora Deen]

Talon shook his head. He brushed his fingers along his master's face before he rose and left the man. Back in his room he fiddled with the pedant, thankful to have it back. Thankful that he could give Vlad the chance to speak to her again.

* * *

One Week Later:

The snow chafed her skin, so Tenele burrowed her nose in the fur around her neck. She glanced over her shoulder to find Atul managing to lead his horse through the snow.

"Tenele!" he called to her. "Let's find shelter! It is dangerous to travel in this storm!"

"Scared of the snow, my king?" Tenele called to him, tugging the fur tighter around her. She looked at the craggy cliffs around them. "We'll keep going until we find a cave or some sort of overhang. Until then there is no safe shelter."

An hour later Tenele found what they were looking for. It was deep enough that they could get out of the torrent of wind. Atul led the way, since his night vision was better than hers.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go too far back,” Tenele whispered to Atul. “It’s dark.”

“We want to get far enough away from the entrance that if anyone comes by they won’t see the light from our fire,” Atul explained. “The last thing we need is to be attacked while we are sleeping.”

Tenele couldn’t argue with that.

Atul finally picked a spot at the back of the cave. He tied the horses to some rocks, and took the packs off their backs.

“Snow sucks,” Atul grumbled as he unlatched a bundle of wood and carried it to the center of the cave. “We should get these wet clothes off or we’re going to catch a cold.” He stacked the wood diligently and then used his magic to create enough friction to start a fire.

“Any excuse to see me naked,” Tenele sighed as she settled on her knees in front of the fire.

“Wasn’t that on the list of ways to survive the cold?” Atul asked. “Strip down and cuddle our naked bodies together for warmth under dry furs?”

Tenele chuckled at the King as he dug through their bags for the dry furs and food. While he readied the bed they would use for the night she set about making dinner. After dinner Tenele shucked her wet furs and clothing, laying them out near the fire to dry. She shivered before hopping under the furs, with Atul not far behind her.

His hot body pressed into hers, snaking his arms around her. She snuggled into his body for warmth.

“We should be getting close,” he sighed, brushing his fingers along her back.

“Hopefully in the next few days, if we don’t get lost in the snow…” Tenele mused. “Hopefully…”

“The plan will work,” Atul sighed. “And if it doesn’t, we’ve got four more in tow. This is going to work, Tenele. We’re going to get him back.”

Tenele smiled, nuzzling into that warmth and that support. She pressed a kiss to his neck. “We’ll get him back.”

Atul pressed a kiss to her cheek, and then to her neck. He nuzzled the skin there. “I’m still cold,” he protested.

“Get closer to the fire,” Tenele laughed as the King rolled over her, crushing her into the fur covered stone. Her gaze flickered up to him, his eyes sparkled with renewed motivation. They were both running on the high that they were close, that they would see him soon. His lips brushed hers, then melded in a wash of heat, and his fingers tangled in her silver hair.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad opened his eyes to the wash of light filtering through his window. The light here had a bluish tint, a product of the ice surrounding the building. He looked down and noticed a thick blanket was draped over him. He didn't remember being tucked in. He didn't even remember leaving the table. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and his head spun. Every muscle hurt. Pushing up to his feet wasn't much better. He took a few steps and then found himself kneeling down on the floor to regain his bearings.

Slowly but surely, his body was losing its vigor. He wasn't waking up recharged. Each day, the residual strain grew worse. The levels of toxicity he could tolerate weren't getting higher; he was just getting driven closer and closer to his limit. He was dedicating every ounce of focus he had to making sure no one else noticed it. Even Maxwell thought he was actually improving. If he didn't make progress, Maxwell could scrap more than just his research.

He waited for his head to stop, spinning, then staggered into the bathroom to wash. Talon would be there any minute.

[Emora Deen]

Talon knocked on the door to Vlad's room and let himself in. He twirled the pendant between his fingers as he stepped towards Vlad's wash room. "I hope you slept well," he called to Vlad.

He paced back and forth through the room. "I got to thinking last night... Maxwell gives us fresh blood. I've only seen a few servants... Who is he taking his blood from? He's got to have several dozen people somewhere syphoning blood from them to keep you sustained enough for these tests..."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad emerged shirtless from the washroom, rubbing his face with a towel. He looked awake and alert. "It's a good observation," he said thoughtfully. "I've never met any of the servants here. Things are always left outside the door or tended in my absence. Have you?"

[Emora Deen]

Talon hadn't noticed that. "One. A woman. She showed me this room before I brought you here for the first time," Talon muttered. "Other than that, I haven't seen anyone else... I wonder where he's keeping them."

Talon pulled the necklace out of his shirt. "Do you want to try talking to Tenele before we go down? We haven't tried since he took the necklace, but we have a few extra minutes."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad looked at the pendant like it was a noose. If it was taken again, he could not afford to buy it back with holy water. The thought of hearing Tenele's voice was overwhelming. Perhaps she'd taken his advice and already turned back. He didn't want to think about her injured beneath some avalanche or dead at the base of an icy cliff. If he talked to her now, would it inspire her to do something rash?

"I'm fine," he said calmly, dressing himself. He had no appetite for the blood on the table, but he drank it like medicine anyway. "Spend some time outside your room today. Don't make a scene. Just observe," he directed quietly.

[Emora Deen]

Talon nodded. "I'll do that," he replied, slipping the pendant back apprehensively. He knew how much Vlad probably wanted to hear her voice, and knew that it was equally desired by his wife. "Okay," he sighed as Vlad finished his morning meal. "Let's get you out there."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad walked slowly alongside his protege, carefully managing each throbbing muscle as he placed one foot in front of the other. By the time they reached the ground floor, the vampire was ready to be sick. A few steps into the courtyard, along with the sight of Maxwell sternly waiting by the table, and his stomach turned against him completely. Vlad pushed away from Talon's guiding hands, dropped to his knees, and was sick across the snow at the side of the path. He stared at the discolored snow, suddenly cold and shivering.

The next few moments were blurry. When he focused again, Maxwell was kneeling in front of him with a displeased look on his face. Fingers lifted each of his eyelids as Maxwell inspected him. The man checked his ears, up his nose, down his throat, and then back to his eyes. A cold hand touched his forehead. More than cold. Maxwell felt like ice. But he was a reptilian. If he was that cold, he had to be injured or worse. "You're ill," Vlad observed in confusion, staring at Maxwell with shaky vision.

"Don't be absurd. I'm fine. You're running a fever," Maxwell growled. "How long has he been like this?" he demanded of Talon.

[Emora Deen]

Talon glared daggers at Maxwell. "How long? Do you really have the balls to ask how long? He's been deteriorating since the moment you began torturing him. Do you honestly expect a vampire to last long when he's being filled with poison?" Talon knelt next to Vlad. "Why don't you enject yourself with it for a little while. You have no one to blame for his condition but yourself, you pompous asshat. He will rest today. He needs to rest or your experiment will fail. He has made it over a month. Let him rest for a day."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad turned and looked at his bloodling in shock. Was it possible that Talon had seen through his careful performance the whole time? He was simultaneously impressed and mortified, because he knew Maxwell did not approve of coddling. He could not recall a time, ever, when he was granted time off to recover.

"Get him on the table," Maxwell said. "He just needs to cool off."

[Emora Deen]

"He'll cool off," Talon hissed to Maxwell as he lifted Vlad up and carried him to the table. Then he turned around and faced Maxwell, arms out along the edges of the table. "But, you aren't touching him today." His gaze set darkly on the man. "He will rest."

[Soran Nightblade]

Maxwell sized up the younger vampire and walked to face him from the other side of the table. "You are not here to give your opinions. You are here because Vladimir made it a condition of his stay. Now get back inside."