Heirot

Vlad looked up at two huge tunnels that opened before them, through which the dragon had clearly tread. He doubted the dragon had made use of the smaller tunnels and suspected Talon knew it as well. The fact that he suggested splitting up into the small tunnels seemed like a confirmation that this was some sort of odd setup. He smirked, but chose to play along...for the moment. "If you insist, I'll take that way," he said, pointing down the left main tunnel. He could smell the recent passage of humans down that pathway.

"Last I heard, maiden sacrifices didn't dictate the terms of their captivity," Mentaria chuckled at Tenele's request.

"We won't let ye fall, pretty one," Anti said decisively, ignoring her as she fell.

"At least bind them in front," Nism grunted in annoyance.

"Shut it, Nism. We've got her," Anti said.

"Just put them in front," Nism snapped fiercely at Mentaria, who was holding her at the moment.

Mentaria looked nervous as Nism's temper exploded in his face; the man was a strong fighter, and not someone he wanted to deal with at the moment. "You got a real attitude on you," he complained, undoing Tenele's hands and maintaining a rough grip on her until he could retie them in front.

"If she tries anything, Nism, you take the fall," Anti said, pleased with the double meaning of his threat. "What's i that next room is worth a lot more than you, and if she sends word out it's here, we'll have competition in no time.

"She'll be good," Nism said harshly, sending a mean glare at Tenele, who could now walk freely with her hands in front of her.

Talon nodded and moved into the tunnel he had chosen until he disappeared from sight... And there he waited for Vlad to get far enough down the tunnel so he could follow him and make sure everything went to plan.

* * *

Tenele smiled now that her hands were comfortably in front of her and she could look at them as she tried to untie them. Unfortunatly having them in front didn't do much good and the knot was as tight as ever. She figured it gave her a better chance at drawing the sword at her waist if she needed it.

"What am I supposed to be trying here?" she asked as she still fiddled with the ropes despite the fact she couldn't get them loose. "I mean there is no one around to tell, and even if they were around you could take them right?"

She stared at the back of Nism's head, wondering why he was so keen on helping her every now and then and making sure she recieved at least decent treatment.

Kami, who had changed back when they had dismounted, followed Kaze into the tunnel they were commanded into.

"Will it work?" he asked softly, incase his voice revirbarated off the walls.

"It should," Kaze answered back, just as softly, "Or Vlad as no hope." The tunnel was getting harder to see in asthey went deeper. Kaze quickly managed a fire spell in her hand and it lit up they're area. She held her hand out in front of herself and lit the way as they went deeper.

A scuffling sound echoed down the tunnel Kaze and Kami walked down. It was a strange sound, like something leathery moving against rock, and it wasn't clear what direction it had come from as it reflected off the stone walls and faded again into complete silence.

Vlad was walking down the large corridor, which moved steeply downhill. His strong hearing could pick up voices in the distance ahead of him. "So you're down there, Maiden Girl," he thought to himself, walking calmly into the cave. He would have liked to teleport directly there, but though he wasn't about to concede the fact to Talon, he had begun conserving his energy earlier. He could feel an odd pulsing in his chest that told him he was near his limit. Soon any magic he used would burn not the blood he'd consumed from others, but his own.

"There's a village at the base of the mountain; you could reach it easily on foot, it's less than a mile's run," Mentaria said sternly.

"There's no need to tell her that," Tablish asserted as they reached the half-way point on the huge bridge.

"Hello, Gentlemen," came a snide voice from the side of the room they had just come from. Anti spun around warily to see a tall, lean figure standing casually at the tunnel entrance, one hand on his hip. His features were difficult to make out because he was just a silhouette with the dim light that filtered down from the surface framing him.

"I'm here to retrieve your lady friend," Vladimir smirked, beginning to walk toward them.

Talon krept down the larger tunnel, following behind Vlad far enough to where he couldn't be seen at all. He stayed that far back so Vlad wouldn't hear him, or if he did wouldn't see him... and he wouldn't arrive too soon...

* * *

Tenele looked up at Vlad and smiled. "Its about damn time!" she yelled to him, stepping forward quickly to go to him.

Kaze suddenly stopped and cause Kami to run into her back.

"Sorry." he mummbled.

"Shh!" Kaze sounded sharply. "I hear something ahead." SHe strained her ears to hear, but the noise was gone now. She ressumed her pace with more caution and pointed the flame straight ahead.

"Err... any chance that...uhh.." Kami stummble on his words, "We got a bad tunnel?"

"What in blazes do you mean?" Kami swallowed and pointed at the walls. Claw marks were randomly placed on the walls and Kaze groaned.

"They're probably old." she pointed out. She kept walking with Kami close behinde.

Tenele's progress toward Vlad was halted by a firm yank around her neck as Mentaria grabbed her collar and tugged her backward again. A switchblade flicked out and came up against Tenele's throat.

"Steady now, stay back unless you want to see her get hurt," warned Anti, holding the blade warningly. "Are you the jealous lover we've been warned about?"

"Jealous lover?" Vlad cackled. "You've gotten something terribly wrong. I'm here because it seemed amusing." And a good opportunity to pull one on that smug goodygoody brother of hers, he thought privately, his grin spreading as he walked toward them without hesitation.

"You place no value on this girl's life?" demanded Anti.

"I could care less," Vlad said with an evil sneer, "The one I'm after is her brother. I'm here to make a deal," Vlad said as he approached.

Anti narrowed his eyes, not sure what to make of the vampire, whose voice sounded as dangerous as it did mischievous. "What manner of deal?"

"Give me the girl. I'll make sure her brother stays out of your way. Have no doubt, he's made you all into fools and plans to come for her.

"Not convinced," Tablish said firmly. Vlad was nearly to their position now.

"Come no further," Anti warned.

Vlad smirked and disappeared, suddenly appearing directly in front of Anti and swiping the knife from his hand. It flew to the ganster's neck before the others even knew what was happening, cutting slightly into the skin. "Do we have a deal?" he purred.

"G-...give her to him," Anti ordered, stiffening.

Mentaria grunted in annoyance and pushed Tenele toward Vlad.

Meanwhile, in Kaze and Kami's tunnel, the sound came again, only closer - this time more than the leathery sound could be heard; the hard click of bonelike objects tapping and dragging on the stone were embedded in it, and it was coming closer from the tunnel directly in front of them. In the pitch blackness of the route ahead, a pair of large ruby-red eyes flashed in the reflection of Kaze's light, set into a creature that, from what could be seen, appeared to be about three feet tall.

Tenele looked at the theives and stuck her tongue out for a moment and then she flew at Vlad, a flood of relief flowing through her. Now he would be alright... and she didn't have to be there... whatever it was she happened to be to them. Her tied hands flew around his neck and they fell to the ground together just as Talon turned the corner to the mouth of the cave...

His eyes set on his sister and Vlad and the theives... What the hell was going on? They weren't dead or anything... and Tenele was free... and Vlad was Vlad as usual...

"Damn," he cursed and stepped through into the wide open.

"I see you get her back," Talon said.

Vlad fell back with Tenele, off balance already from the teleport he had pulled. He felt no different from before - worse, in fact, and wasn't surprised; if selflessness was really the key to removing his spell, rescuing Tenele hardly counted. She interested him, and therefore he'd come for her for his own sake. On top of that, he was hoping to get a rise out of Talon through this, and was immensely pleased when the elf showed up at the end of the cavern.

"I see you got her back," Talon said.

"Easy, Maiden Girl," Vlad said with a vague grin, reaching behind his head and slicing the rope off Tenele's hands, then throwing it sideways where it fell a long way to the spikey floor of the pit beneath them. "Was your tunnel too dark?" he asked Talon teasingly, looking at Tenele instead of him and deliberately touching his hand suggestively on her cheek, smoothing it lightly down along the length of her neck.

The five men looked from Talon to Vlad/Tenele warily. "You said you would keep him out of our way, so do it," commanded Anti, turning his men on toward the edge of the cavern. Nism looked back at Tenele intensely, then followed moodily behind the others.

Tenele had the strangest urge that she wanted to kiss Vlad as her green eyes got caught up in his. She shook the thought away, feeling it wasn't the time or place to do so.

She sat up, still sitting on top of the vampire as she looked at Nism and the theives heading towards the treasure.

"Tenele... maybe Vlad would like some room?" Talon said.

"Are you aware of what that man has done?" Kitanai asked of Shinobu. Without waiting for her reply, he continued. "He betrayed the daimyo, Iedono Masu, he formally served. Not only did he betray him, but he killed almost everyone in the castle the man ruled out of. He is a barbarian not fit to serve anyone and not deserving of his heritage!" The shogun was genuinely displeased with Shinobu's choice of a bodyguard.

The whole time Kyosuke listened on calmly. This information wouldn't be anything new to Shinobu, he had warned her about his reputation before she hired him after all. But the Shogun made it sound like he had done everything for the sake of being traiterous instead of for punishing an unjust lord and those that tried to stop him. Admittedly, a samurai was supposed to serve his lord no matter what, so Kyosuke could see why the shogun would refer to him as a barbarian.

Shinobu lowered her head slightly as she listened to the words the Shogun had to say. She had heard them before, but it seemed different coming from a man sheh ad gone to once her husband had been murdered.

"Kyosuke has saved my life countless times, has saved me from men who have tried to violate me... I would never turn him away because of his past. I owe him to much to do that... I trust Kyosuke... and believe he must have had some just cause to do what he did. Please, Kitanai-sama give him a chance..." Shinobu said in her usual soft respectful voice.

She held her hands in front of her, the sleeves of her dirty kimono covering them up. No one could tell that they were clenched. She had no idea what the Shogun would say about her deciding to keep Kyosuke as her bodyguard.

"Please, Kitanai, I must tell you of your homeland..."

"Feeling a little protective there, brother?" Vlad teased with a smirk, sounding more tired than he'd meant to as he looked at Talon's form, which was upside down from his perspective. Tenele was so close he could smell her blood through her skin.

A loud cracking sound beneath him made him suddenly tense. He could feel the rockway he was lying on had shifted slightly. More sounds began coming from beneath him; the sounds of cracks forming in stone. Of course, they'd managed to pile up right on a weak point in the bridge. "Maiden Girl, go to your brother," he ordered Tenele, holding still. Even as he said this, another rupture formed between them and Talon, cracks creeping along the stone. Apparently this walkway was not used often. "No, toward the thieves," he revised, not moving a muscle.

Tenele looked down at Vlad and nodded, rising slowly and walking with her strange grace in the direction of the theives, off the bridge now and on to a more sturdy surface. She turned around to watch what was happening, knowing that Vlad could take care of himself through teleportation... but if the bridge was cut off she had no way out... Why would Vlad tell her to go some place that might isolate her...

Unless....

When Tenele was onto sturdier ground, Vlad lifted himself very carefully to his feet, hearing more and more cracks and the sound of something crumbling. The way toward Talon was laced with cracks, and looked like it was going to collapse at any moment. Vlad was in the midst of the crumbling portion, but he had a clearer shot to Tenele than to Talon, which suited him fine. He began walking clowly toward Tenele, until he felt the ground crumble under his feet. He broke into a run, but the center of the bridge quickly collapsed. Vlad took a breath and teleported himself the remaining twenty yards to where Tenele stood.

When he appeared next to her, it felt like someone had just kicked him in the chest, dizziness washing over him. His balance faltered for a moment and he stumbled sideways before catching himself in a wary, widelegged stance. He looked back over his shoulder at Talon at the other side of the cavern, an uncrossable gap between the two ends of the bridge. He then looked at Tenele, and finally at the thieves, who had put off their investigation of the dragon's hoard to come back and see what the noise was. They had also seen Vlad lose his balance.

"Hey, he doesn't seem that tough," Mentaria muttered to Anti.

"We should take him out," Nism said darkly.