Heirot

Talon stood on the roof of the tallest tower. The sun was setting and not a cloud was in the sky. In fact, it was beautiful. Talon had something to say about that.

The alchemist pulled from his robes a small book. The book was small, about the size of his hand, but with a single word it grew to a large book. The book floated in mid-air and the pages flipped until he found what he wanted.

"Algadar eromordas," he repeated and soon faded into words unable to be understood by any language except that of magic users. Clouds began to form and thunder began to rumble. A single lightening strike and the clouds opened up. Rain fell hard and the wind blew feircly.

Tenele stood on the bridge, holding her soaking wet hair back with her hand and staring at the mid-air fight. She hoped Vlad would be alright. Lightening stuck close to her, startling her. She didn't leave though, she watched Vlad and the fires that were slowly dying.

Vlad tore free of the dragon in order to avoid crashing to the ground, beating his wings to rise further into the air. The dragon did likewise and followed him, all interest in the city apparently lost. Vlad turned just in time to catch its attack head-on, and he felt claws razing at his chest and belly. Clouds were gathering around them and rain had begun pouring, adding to their weight and and easing the flow of blood from their wounds. Vlad fought back, shooting his jaws out and clamping onto the reptile's throat. The other dragon retaliated by bearing down on the back of his neck and tearing at it wildly, trying to yank Vlad's jaws free from its neck. Vlad held on tightly. If he could rip the beast's throat out, it would just be a matter of where to land, but attacking a dragon's neck from the front wasn't a simple task. The flesh held firm, like steel.

The back of the neck, however, was a different story. Vlad tried to swat at the dragon with his tail, to make it let go. If it went through his vertebrae, he'd be unable to hold the bite. The beast's claws fought fiercely at his chest as they locked together, and Vlad's did similar damage. It took several minutes of aerial wrestling for Vlad to finally find the angle and strength he needed to rip back out of its throat. Blood sprayed over them like a hydrant, and the creature let out a gurgling shriek of pain. It huffed weak bursts of fire at his neck, which it seemed intent on holding its jaws over, but the flames had no fervor with its throat cut.

Now there was a new problem of keeping it from landing on the city. Vlad had little enough control as it was with the creature's claws and teeth buried in his flesh, but he beat his wings and worked the dying creature over to the west corner of the city, where the bazaar was normally held. There was a lot of property and carts there, but it was better than houses. He stopped beating his wings, just let the other animal slowly sink under both their weights, and he used his weight to guide their slow descent into the market. The men in the market noticed what was going to happen, and there was a burst of activity as they rushed to get all the people and carts out of the way.

Tenele rushed forward, gripping the railing tighter as she saw Vlad land with the dragon. The wind tossed her wet hair and she had to hold it back, blinking quickly to see. It would take her forever to run to that part of the city. Again, she promised to force Vlad to teach her to teleport, if it was possible.

She ran across the bridge back through the door she had come and down the lengthy dark stare case. The almost black stare case. No one had come to light the usual lanterns. She took off down the halls, trying to get to the exit. She ran, slipping slightly. She caught herself, readying her balance and took off again.

"Shit!" she said, sliding to a stop. She couldn't leave that damned weapon in the hands of the guards. They shouldn't be responcible for her problem. She stood there for a long moment and thought about the right thing to do. Go to the man she loved, protect the man she loved by keeping an evil weapon away from an evil man... She gave an aggrivated sigh and turned in the direction of her quarters.

Vlad landed with the dragon, which seemed intent to hold its grip on his neck until its last breath. He crouched very still, half pinned under the larger beast, with his neck arched back to minimize the damage. He tossed his head once, hoping to break the thing off, then paused again with a growl of impatience. He had a high tolerance for pain, but that didn't make it fun.

"Stand back!" a firm female voice rang through the air. "Give them room." Queen Sinead stepped through the crowd and moved swiftly toward the two dragons. She wore a dress covered by a long regal white cloak. Her clothes were soaked to her skin, as were everyone else's standing in the pouring rain.

"My Queen, it's very dangerous," her men warned, wishing to hold her back but not daring to grab at her as she strode past them.

"Seems you're having some trouble, Lord Dracul," she said, trying to make out how injured he was. It was difficult when he was covered with the other dragon's blood. She walked over to the suffering dragon's flank. The creature noticed her, but didn't move to attack, possibly because it was just too tired. Sinead raised her hands up at her sides and began a spell. A sphere of blue-white energy formed in front of her. She stepped forward, and moved both hands in front of her chest, 'pushing' the sphere outward to touch the dragon's shoulder. With a shudder, the creature's body fell slack, fast asleep. It would not be aware of its death.

Unfortunately, that still left the creature's jaws on Vlad's neck. Dragons did not release their prey even in death. There was supposedly nothing that would break a dragon's grip. Vlad could shrink from the grip by returning to his human form, but the jaws could press closed during the process and snap his small human head off, which would be a bigger problem. "Can you bring its head low to the ground?" Sinead asked, sympathy in her voice for Vlad.

Vlad just let out a low croon that was probably a string of curses and dragged his body out from under the dragon. He lay crouched against the ground and stretched his neck out so that the dragon's jaws were at eye level with Sinead. Sinead had several spells that would force open the dragon's grip, but most of them involved explosive force, and she didn't want to risk separating Vlad's head from his body.

"Bring poles," she shouted to the villagers. They seemed eager for a task and for once, genuinely concerned for the city's pet vampire. There were several minutes of long waiting while the men found long, strong boards and poles. Sinead stroked the side of Vlad's face and spoke to him quietly while they worked. She wasn't sure how the no-life king felt about receiving comfort from her, since he'd closed off their mental link earlier and wouldn't let her in. He probably found it either highly entertaining or irritating, but either would be a distraction, at least.

Vlad's eyes scanned the surrounding crowd, expecting to see Tenele among them. He didn't see her. The thought bothered him...what was she up to?

The men came and finally began the process of prying the huge jaws off Vlad's neck. Sinead used magic to reinforce the poles' strength and some sixty men pulled as hard as they could to lever open the dragon's mouth. It was difficult to really see if they were making progress, since the teeth were sunk deep in Vlad's neck.

Sinead walked over to the hinge of the dragon's jaw and placed her palms against it. A jolt of power burst from her hands like a cannon ball, firing straight through the dragon's head and destroying the hinge of its jaw. With this, the bones were no longer locked in place, and the men had only the weight of the dragon's head to fight as they pried the jaws upward and off of Vlad's neck.

Vlad ripped loose as soon as he felt nothing vital would be damaged in the process. He took a step back from the other dragon, arched his neck back, and shrieked victoriously. The men burst into excited shouts as well, stamping up mud from the deep puddles that had formed on the ground from the unnaturally strong rain.

After cheering their victory, Vlad gave in to his body's desperate whining and began the change, his flesh and muscles shifting and collapsing on themselves, bones rearranging. A few seconds later he stood in human form, head tilted back like he was trying to drink the sky, completely naked. The back of his neck was a great open wound, and jagged gashes ran down his chest and stomach like someone had tried to cut him into ribbons. Sinead rushed forward, pulling her cloak off and wrapping it around Vlad's shoulders. The no life king staggered under the light contact, and Sinead held him firmly upright. Vlad's eyes finally focused and he glanced over at her, blinking. Renewing his concentration, he closed his eyes firmly and the wounds on his body began to reknit and heal.

As soon as his skin was whole again, the vampire sighed, shivering in Sinead's grip. Sinead tightened her grip on his shoulders in case he collapsed, but Vlad pushed her away, straightening up. "Tenele's not here," he said.

"I'm sure she's coming," Sinead said, confused. Was Vlad really that attached to her maiden?

"No, she should be here by now," he said suspiciously, and Sinead realized he thought something else had happened to her. He pulled the cloak further around him, covering his body, and began walking purposefully toward the castle. A group of men who had worked the poles stared at him with a mix of awe and horror as he passed them. Vlad paused to look at them. "Thanks," he said, enjoying the look of surprise on their faces, and then kept going toward the castle.

Tenele stumbled towards the still open doorway to her room. Some odd reason her energy was failing her. She had sent five guards there and now only one was left. He looked up quickly. Tenele's eyes were looking past him at the place where the weapon should be.

"Where is it?" she asked quickly, pushing past him to look around.

"Lord Dracul just left with it," he said quickly, studying her for a moment.

"That's impossible," Tenele muttered. "Vlad can't touch it."

"No, he said the queen gave him something to hold it with. He said to tell you that he was taking the weapon back to his tower. He said he felt it would be safer there," the guard said quickly. "He was covered in blood, though I didn't see any wounds. I guess he really put a number on that dragon..."

Tenele thought for a moment. "I guess so," she whispered. Something didn't feel right, yet Vlad was fast at teleporting. Maybe he was tired from fighting the dragon and that is why he didn't bother to come get her himself. "Alright," she said softly. "Thank you."

"M'lady," the guard said quickly. "Are you alright? You look pale."

"I guess I've not paid attention to my body. I just got back yesterday and only have eaten one meal in almost two weeks. I never think about myself," she muttered and headed for the door. "You are excused."

Tenele was half way up the long spiral staircase that led to Vlad's room at the top of the tower. She had to pause, pressing her wet back to the stone wall and rest. After a moment she continued on. "He's spoiled me with teleportation," she muttered as she reached the large wooden door that was closed.

It had the ornate carving of a pentagram in the wood. She pushed on the door and with a groan it opened and stepped a little ways into the room, leaving the door open. The room was dark, save the little bit of light from a single candle. Vlad was standing with his back to her. He held the axe in his hand, his bare hand and this struck Tenele as odd. She tilted her head, shivering at the cold wind that was coming in through the broken windows.

He turned his head, looking over his shoulder with crimson eyes. Slowly his body turned towards her and though Tenele could see Vlad something about the whole situation seemed off. Maybe it was his expression. It was very unVlad like. She didn't know what it was about him, something just told her to turn and run as fast as she could.

So she did. She turned towards the door, taking three full steps. The door slammed in her face. She turned quickly, but didn't have time to react. He was slining the axe at her head, like a back hand. The blunt end struck the side of her head. Sharp pain and then complete darkness. She saw nothing after that.

* * *

Talon saw Vlad in the distance. He was hoping to see Tenele there. He had forgotten to warn her that the healing potion had an effect on energy levels, to make the healing process faster. He also forgot to tell her that it had an incredibly quick fall out point. He had another potion ready for her, a second dose that was less potent, but would make it easier for her recovery. The only problem... he wasn't able to find her.

"Vlad!" he called. "Woah, you look like the Underworld." So easily distracted. He shook his head. "Have you seen Tenele? I've looked everywhere for her. Last I saw she was entereing the castle... I need to give her this. The potion I gave her has slight side effects that I didn't think about until earlier today. I was on my way to give it too her when the dragon attacked."

"Hey! Look!" a peasant man said and pointed to one of the tallest towers. It was a tower that had always remained dark. But, now it was glowing brightly. "I've never seen it filled with light before. I always thought that no one lived in that part of the palace..."

Talon looked up. The man was only speaking to his family, but they were close enough to hear.

Vlad glanced up at the tower - his tower. He could only think of one person who would choose to go up there. No.....two people. Shit. "I believe I found your sister," he said, suddenly very aware of the sun setting behind them. The room would be dark this time of day. Not pitch black, but dark enough.

He spun to Talon suddenly. "Listen well. After the port, take your sister and get her out," he said sharply. Not waiting for Talon to understand, he clutched the shorter man to his chest and darkness surrounded them.

When they reappeared, they were standing among the broken glass and rubble of the morning's fight, and across the room from them.....was Vladimir? Tenele lay unconscious beside him.

"Don't think your rugged good looks will keep me from killing you," Vlad warned with a fierce smirk.

Talon spun around once he was in the room at the direction... Vlad. He narrowed his eyes, confused. The vampire was holding the ax in one hand, casually looking them both over.

"Damn," Lothos muttered, kneeling down and turning Tenele's face with his finger tips, examining the gash that the axe had caused on the side of her head, near her brow. "I was hoping you would take a little longer." He stood back up, looking up at Vlad with crimson eyes, flashing them at Talon only once.

"I see you brought help," he said his voice altering for a moment morphing in and out from Vlad's to Lothos's.

"Who the hell are you?!" Talon asked, his voice clearly angry. He was ticked and worried about his sister. What had the bastard done to her? He eased forward and Lothos pointed the axe at him. "Ah... stay."

"Like hell I will, give her to me," Talon said, taking another step forward. Talon clasped his hands behind his back, leaning forward as if trying to peer and see Tenele's face, which was hidden from them. He was really working up magical energy, preparing to fling it at the vampire.

"Can we get rid of the relative?" Lothos asked Vlad. "This is between you and I, and the lovely woman," he muttered. "Not extended family."

I was hoping I could have you all to myself," Vlad commented in mock disappointment. "Why sully our magnificent battle with these petty humans?" He tried not to notice how good Lothos's disguise was. It wasn't that seeing his form bothered him, but it shouldn't have been possible. Even Vlad could not change so specifically. He could take the form of any dark creature he chose, but the details were not entirely up to him.

"Fine," he said and stepped back.

Talon put the magic away for the moment and rushed forward. He rolled Tenele towards him, her form soaking wet. Blood trickled down the side of her face, wet in her hair, from a gash at her temple where she had been struck. The half-elf glared back at the vampire as he scooped his sister's light form up into his arms and backed away.

"Don't go to far," Lothos said. "I'll be coming to collect her once I'm done ripping her lover to shreds."

Talon said nothing, though there was plenty on his tongue he wished to say. He turned and went to the door. It refused to open. He kicked it and even then it wouldn't open. It was jamped shut with the force with which it had been closed earlier.

"Oh, guess you won't be going far after all..." Lothos grinned, or rather Vlad grinned. It was an insane grin. "Alright... Let us finish this." Lothos charged at Vlad, disappeaing and coming up behind him, swinging the axe towards Vlad's back. He moved a leg out to trip Vlad up, hoping to hinder him for a moment. So began the anssault of attacks from the look-alike vampire who was merciliess in his movements. Not paying any attention to the brother and sister.

Meanwhile, Talon was kneeling on the ground, his sister's form propped on his knees. He had his back to the fight and his hands flat up facing against the door. "I'll buy you a new door," he called over his shoulder. An invisble force plowed into the door. A loud thundering sound and the door exploded into slivers of wood, which scattered down the spiralling steps.

He looked down at his sister, whose eyes were fluttering quickly with the effort of trying to wake up. He brushed the hair away from her head wound. It wasn't bad, she'd have one hell of a headache, but the idiot hadn't caused any permenant damage.

"Vlad..." she whispered faintly, but her eyes were still closed. Fluttering rappidly, but for the most part closed. "Katana..."

Vlad kept his eyes trained on Lothos, as if they were the only two in the tower, though he was very aware of Tenele and Talon's struggles. "Katana," he heard Tenele say.

True enough, but it wouldn't help him to miss the weapon now. He'd need some other advantage over his new rival. As it was, it required effort to focus on the man while that gleaming holy axe was held ready in his hands.

"Well then." Vlad sauntered into the center of the room. "Let's shall."

Lothos smirked and dropped the head of the axe low to the ground, warping in front of Vlad for a rising strike. Vlad jumped high enough to evade the axe and ported to the opposite side of Lothos's body, delivering a fierce kick to the back of the man's neck. He smirked as the hit connected and he felt the vertebrae snap through the sole of his boot, but in that same movement light gleamed in the corner of his vision, flying toward his own head too fast to dodge.

Vlad threw his arm up and deflected the axe just below the head, porting sideways in the instant of freedom the move bought him. His skin smoked at the impact. He had a split second to bite back any reaction to the new wound and to notice that Lothos seemed fully recovered from his broken neck an instant before.

This was a problem. Flesh attacks wouldn't work as long as Lothos had the magic to regenerate, whereas the bastard's axe left wounds on Vlad that would heal human-slow. He suspected that Lothos had come freshly fed, which meant outrunning him on pure blood attrition would require some finesse.

"So you're the new and improved me? Some kind of prototype?" he demanded, jumping back out of the reach of his axe as they swung at each other.

"That's right. Your existence is obsolete," Lothos smiled, porting close enough that Vlad could smell the man inches from the back of his head. Vlad dove down, feeling the axe graze the back of his neck and steal a few hairs. Vlad scrambled forward, but suddenly Lothos's boot was there by his hand, standing over him. A kick to the side of his head spun him sideways onto the floor, and the axe fell before Vlad even saw it, wedged downward into the crevice between his neck and shoulder.

What fell from Vlad's lips was closer to a shrill whine than a scream. The axe was lodged so firmly that it tugged his body up with it as Lothos flexed to remove it. Vlad finally shoved it out of the way with his other hand. He didn't even feel the burn as his hand touched it, and that was a bad sign. He drew himself up to his feet, standing cockily as if nothing hurt. "I'm afraid your queen forgot a few upgrades, my friend," he smirked. "Don't tell me she forgot that I can take on any form? I hardly believe she has the resources to teach you that," he said.

Tenele's eyes snapped open when she heard Vlad's pain-filled sound. She looked up at her brother who lifted her up to carry her from the room. "No... Go... He needs the Katana. That's the only thing... that will keep him from getting hurt," Tenele said.

"I'll take you and then get it..." Talon said hard headedly.

"NO! Leave me. You'll run faster if you aren't carrying my weight. I'm fine," she said, giving him a stern glare.

Talon looked down at his sister for a moment and then back at the battle on the inside. Just outside the door he sat her with her back against the wall and out of the doorway so that if anything flew from the room it wouldn't hit her. "I'll be right back." He then took off in a full out run down the stair case.

Tenele peeked her head around the corner, though the only thing she saw was blurry images rumbling around.

Minutes later Talon was running up the stairs, katana in hand. He was almost to the door when he yelled, "Vlad!"

Lothos looked up with an annoyed glare and through his hand up, the wardrobe in the room flying through the door way and slamming into Tenele's brother, knocking him back. He went rolling down the steps. Tenele could only sit with a shocked expression, her brow furrowing in anger.

Vlad didn't try to waste energy stopping the wardrobe from flying into Talon. He had to leave the humans to fend for themselves at the moment. The brief distraction was what Vlad needed to port in front of Lothos in the moment after he'd thrown the wardrobe. He drew his good arm in a fierce blow across the man's face, kicked him hard in the nuts, and then brought the same leg up to kick him square in the chest.

The impact threw Lothos across the room, but he merely landed on his feet and ported back just behind Vlad. Lothos's hand gripped fiercely onto Vlad's wounded shoulder, the way you would if you were getting a friend's attention. Vlad stiffened, holding his tongue as the man's knee drove into his back and sent him staggering forward. It had been like this for the last few minutes. A series of small offences, but less true attacks, as if Lothos was taunting him.

He was doing a good job. The original No Life King was raging mad. The greatest proof of that was that he'd stopped throwing out snappy comebacks at the man. Silence was never a good sign with Vlad around.

Vlad telekinetically raised a large shard of broken window off the ground and shot it at Lothos's wrist, aiming to disarm him. It didn't work, but the tactic did get the jerk to port all over the room. Lothos hadn't risen to the bait about changing his form, but maybe Vlad could get him to waste blood in other ways.

The tactic worked quite well for nearly half a minute, but then Lothos turned his attention back on Vlad. He ported in close to Vlad and swung down with the axe, too fast to dodge. Vlad's eyes widened and he shot his arms up, catching the weapon in his hands. Pain arched down his bad shoulder and singed his hands like dry kindling. Throwing the weapon wide, he ported just out of range and again found the weapon flying toward him.

That was it. He despised this strategy, but until he could think of something better....it was time to go on the defensive. With a sharp burst of power, he threw up his blood shield, and a red supernatural shell glowed around him. The weapon struck his skin, and bounced off like his body was made of rock. "That should hold you, stupid louse," Vlad cursed, making every word sound vulgar with his tone. Now to think of some way to kill Lothos before he wasted all his blood on this stupid shield.

Lothos was about to attack again when he felt a sheering pain. He looked down at his chest and watched as the point of a blade broke through and drove further and further outward. He gasped, his eyes wide and staring at Vlad in utter shock. The attack had come from behind.

He reached behind him and grabbed the hilt, managing to snag the pair of small hands that were wrapped around it. He pulled himself off the blade. Stuttering blood out for a moment as he turned, keeping a hold on the figure who didn't seem to be struggling.

How did she do it? How did she find the strength?

It was easy when the man she loved was in trouble. It was easy to find strength to save him. To avenger her harmed brother. She stood there, glaring at him as he gaped at her.

"Stings, doesn't it?" she asked him and she was right. It was burning just as his holy weapon burned Vlad. His hand moved quick and jerked the blade from her hands. He through it and it clattered across the room. She didn't expect him to continue his attack against her, she expected him to finish Vlad. He grabbed her by the neck quickly, before her still dizzy form could react.

"I'll deal with you later, bitch," he growled and through her clear across the room. She hit the wall close to the window, almost going completely out. The angle managed to bounce her back in when she hit the window frame. He stood there watching, waiting for her to get back up. He contemplated for a moment going after her, but instead turned his attention towards Vlad.

Tenele pushed was still for a moment, but slowly began pushing herself up.

Vlad dropped his shield as Tenele hit the wall. He'd lost his focus, not because he was startled, but because he was pissed. Pissed as hell itself.

Without a word, he lunged at Lothos, claws flying out. The man lifted his axe, but Vlad didn't give a shit. He dove in anyway, his nails driving into Lothos's body like daggers, lifted him up off the ground and swung him by his wound into the stone wall next to them. Lothos crashed into it, the axe sliding from his hands.

Vlad didn't hesitate. He was back on top of Lothos immediately, ripping into his chest like he wanted to dig through to the other side. Blood poured down Vlad's arm and back as his muscles flexed without regard to his wound. Like a possessed wolf, he just tore into his prey like the sight of Lothos's flesh strewn across the floor was the one single thing he wanted in life.

Lothos fought to get away, sputtering blood and clawing at Vlad in return. The wounds that Vlad were making were healing, but not as fast as Vlad was making them. They both seemed to be getting no where after a while. Tenele managed to stand and wobbled over to the katana that he had tossed across the room. She knew it would be the only thing that would keep wounds from healing.

She grabbed the hilt and Lothos's head jerked to the side as she made her way over. He wasn't about to just lie there and die. No, there was more to him and more that he needed to learn and do.

He managed the energy to port away, closing the rest of the distance between him and the woman on foot so quickly that her dizzy still half-slumbering brain couldn't react. His hand closed tightly around her throat. He gluided across the floor with such feirceness that when he shoved her into the wall the stone cracked.

The sword clattered to the floor. Then lifted in mid air, aiming for Vlad.

"If it hurts me, would your weapon hurt him?" he asked, his face mere inches from Tenele's. "How is it that you seem to be in my way when I do battle? How is it you foil things so easily."

"Ta-lent..." she rasped out, barely able to breath. Her chest heaved with the effort to breath, blood from her head wound rain down the side of her pretty face. The vampire leaned forward and licked up the side of her face. The sword went flying towards Vlad's chest in the same movement. Tenele was only aware of that.