Mature: Desert Moon

[Soran Nightblade]

Stalker spun with an unearthly roar toward the man driving the sword into his flesh and lashed out with his huge claws, into the man's chest and thighs. The hound was bleeding profusely, but pain was not something he yielded to easily. He was closer to a bear than a normal dog, and he didn't slow down unless his body stopped moving. Thus, he didn't hesitate to latch onto the man's sword with his teeth, regardless of where it cut him, and wrest it from his grip. Once the weapon was gone, there was little to stop the beast's vicious jaws from ripping the man apart. He dove for the throat.

"That's good enough, Stalker," a voice seemed to literally darken the entire room. The malice of it would be enough to send most men running. Vlad stepped slowly toward the frantic man on the ground, while Stalker took a step back and kept an eye on Borat. "You seem to have offended my hound," Vlad said, offhandedly, like the men before him weren't seriously bleeding. Their blood nauseated him. "Dr. Borat, what business do you have with my wife?" he demanded. He didn't question why Stalker had attacked. After all the suspicion that already cast doubt on the man, Vlad had no urge to trust his word over the instincts of his beast.

[Emora Deen]

The doctor held a hand over his throat, looking up at Vlad warily. "I was trying to help her... The King came to me for guidance. I'm awaiting a man who can help her with her delusions. I was trying to wake her when he attacked me..." He coughed, sputtering blood up to his lips. "I wasn't hurting her. I just tried to wake her up."

[Soran Nightblade]

"You abducted her. Forget the manner in which you're waking her up, why is she unconscious in the first place?" Vlad growled.

[Emora Deen]

"We are not abducting her. The King asked for our help. She refused to go with us willingly so we could get her the help she needs!" the man protested. "We had no choice but to give her a sedative, or she would hurt herself in fighting us. Its standard procedure for the deranged."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's temper rose above its containment as he stared in disgust at the so-called doctor. His voice was a harsh snarl, in a way even more terrifying than Stalker's, because Vlad had the capacity for more than just violence. He knew how to be cruel. He knew how to like it. "And when he changed his mind, when your King ordered you not to take her, you forcefully drugged him, too? He trusted you, you treacherous swine. One of very few he dares to trust in the kingdom. He could have rewarded your loyalty any way you chose, and you take this path?"

[Emora Deen]

Borat frowned, looking up at Vlad. He was very quiet, and then he glanced at Tenele laying unconscious on the straw cot. His lips worked slowly, and then he turned his eyes back to Vlad. "He was feverish. I didn't forcibly drug him. He drank willingly."

[Soran Nightblade]

"Tell me what kind of doctor treats a stable patient in a dungeon?" Vlad demanded. "This woman is not dangerous. Unless, of course, you don't like the delusions she's been spreading around. Does it compromise your work? Witnesses?" Vlad stepped forward, grabbed his bleeding throat, and lifted him by it. A few easy steps forward and he had the doctor pinned to the wall. "Let me be brief," his eyes raged, "I've already decided you are guilty. I'm going to tear you apart, slowly. No amount of explanation will save you. The only thing that will improve your situation is if you tell me who you're working with, and where to find them."

[Emora Deen]

The doctor looked at him, frightened. "I don't know what your talking about... I really don't know. Sometimes treating the deranged requires privacy and quiet. This is the most silent place in the palace. Please, let me go. I don't know what your talking about. I don't know what you mean by witnesses. There are a number of ways I could have killed Lady Tenele if I wanted to, and I wouldn't need to bring her down here to do it. Please... I'm not this person you think I am."

He glanced to Tenele, and then to Vlad. "You don't want to do this."

[Soran Nightblade]

"Don't tell me what I want," Vlad hissed, giving his head a good thunk against the wall. He released his grip on the doctor slowly. "Well, doctor, I'm a patient man. Since I didn't get the whole story, why don't we just wait for my wife to wake up, and see what she says. If her story differs from yours in the slightest detail, your deaths will be twenty times slower." The vampire wiped his bloody hand on the man's shirt and moved to stand beside Tenele. "If either of you moves for the door, I'll make sure only half your body makes it there."

[Emora Deen]

The doctor slouched, giving a heavy sigh. He lowered his head, looking at the ground. He glanced to Tenele, and then to the ground again.

"Fuck it," he muttered, leaning up. "I guess there really isn't any use keeping the charade going..." He sat up slowly. He reached a hand up and started pulling at the skin of his face, peeling strip after strip off. "Truth is, I brought your wife down here so I could pull her flesh off like we did all those soldiers of the kings. We might have had a bit of fun with her first, she's a pretty thing, and I'm picky with women. I'm not the doctor, as you might have figured out. He met an unfortunate end after speaking with the King this morning. Very sad."

"What the fuck!" The guard choked as he watched the man shed his skin like a snake. "What is that!!" But, before the guard could utter anything else the thing lifted him up and tossed him at Vlad, bolting for the door.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad swatted the guard aside like he was blocking a loaf of bed. If not for the man's astonished behavior, he'd have done it with his claws. Instead, he used the back of his hand and saved his knifelike nails for Borat...or whatever he was. Running after the man almost seemed too easy. Vlad teleported to the man's side and drove a long claw into his side. He gave him the chance to start running again, to build just a thread of hope, then teleported and stabbed him again. The third time, he almost made it to the top of the stairs. Vlad appeared at the top and kicked him in the chest without reserve. He didn't just fall down the stairs. He flew well past the landing and hit the iron bars of Tenele's cell with a harsh crack. "Other than stealing people's flesh, do you have any useful skills?" the vampire purred darkly as he stalked toward him.

[Emora Deen]

The man growled, heaving air into his lungs. He stumbled up to his feet, and then fell back again. He fumbled for the soldiers sword and waved it out in front him. "I'm not going to tell you anything," he hissed. "I'm not."

[Soran Nightblade]

"Come now, if you possessed that sort of loyalty, you'd be serving a powerful king right now, not bleeding out in his dungeon," Vlad scoffed. "You could be healed, even now. If you made yourself useful."

[Emora Deen]

The man huffed, looking at Vlad. He edged along the bars towards the cell door. "You're lying," he winced, gripping his bleeding side. "I guess it doesn't matter either way does it? You'll torture the information out of me..."

He huffed. "We were cleaning up... Hiding the evidence. She caught us. We were hired to spy on you and figure out how to control the God... and who the players were. They managed to get the King, but failed to get you. Then, it all went to pot. We knew we'd eventually be found, so we were cleaning up our mess..."

"Hello?" Tenele muttered dizzily, she stumbled towards the cell door, feeling along the wall.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's nails braced into a menacing arch. This man was part of the group that attacked Atul. He knew now, no matter what he might promise, that he was going to kill him. Once he knew what he wanted to know.

"Hello?" Tenele's soft voice drew his attention to the cell.

"I'm here," he returned, his tone much more neutral toward her. But the ferocity was back with a vengeance when he turned on Borat again. "The skin thing is a cute trick. Prove that you're not just using a glamor spell. What makes you different from a human?"