Heirot

The demon roared, while what was left of the other ones crawled back into the sands. He stabbed at Vlad's legs with his sword. "You kill me and you won't know where he is! Do you really think your family is safe from us? Do you think we haven't planned for every situation, that we decided spur of the moment to kidnap the King and lure you here? Do you really think that because you left your wife home she's safe?" He laughed. "Kill me and you won't know..."

"I haven't killed you, now have I?" Vlad's maw twisted inn a terrible resemblance to a smile. "But I doubt you are half as important as you act. Is that what they told you, to make you feel better about challenging me? You trust them to have this planned out? To be prepared for my strength?" He was laughing now, sadistic excitement tremoring through him. "Very well, it is your move. If you talk before my Blood's victim does, perhaps I'll believe that you're useful. If he talks first....well, we hardly have need for two snitches."

The demon glanced as best he could to where Talon was slowly slicing the answers from the lower-level demon. It was shameful to admit he'd squeal before that pig, but...

"We've been watching you for months," he growled. "Waiting. We knew we couldn't take you together, so we needed to get a bargaining chip, something you both cared about. We were trying to figure out who controlled the God, but we couldn't. So we needed more information... We got it from the personal guard of the King." He struggled.

"I know where the entrance is to their stronghold!" Talon called gleefully. "Its below the backside of the tower."

The demon's eyes lit up and he struggled more. "We've been watching for months," he reiterated. "Within the palace walls. He wants to control the God, he'll do what it takes to get that power. Now, let me go!"

Vlad grimaced. How in the world had they learned about Knight? Of course, there had been a decent crowd by their quarters that day, but still... When he found out the rat who'd been selling their secrets, it was going to be bloody.

"Looks like your friend was more useful," Vlad observed, having overheard Talon's adventure nearby. "Or maybe it was you... Talon, I think there might be a tie. What should we do when they both win?" he called to his protege innocently.

Talon tightened his grip on the demon, grinning madly. "There are no winners in war," he seethed. He tore out the demons throat and severed his head.

Vlad's approval washed over the newer vampire through their link. "Very well," he looked down at his trembling victim. "My partner says, no ties." He didn't try to slice the shapeshifter this time. He simply squeezed, ripped, and tore, until his parts lay too far apart on the burning sand to ever be collected back together. He made his way back to Talon, his black form gaining easy traction on the sandy terrain. "Lead the way," he offered.

Talon jogged towards the entrance that led down to the cavernous stronghold below. There was a cave beneath the tower, but not big enough for Vlad to fit through in his current form. "You might have to change back," he told his Master as he crept closer to the black hole.

* * *

"Here's your medicine," the nurse mused with a gentle smile. Tenele glanced up from Tenara and eyed the glass of water.

"No," Tenele mused. "It hurts, but I don't want to take it. I want to be able to feed her."

The nurse pressed her lips together. "You should take your medicine," the woman pressed. "If you are in pain, it will make it difficult for you to rest. Rest is good for you. You'll recover faster, and then you can begin feeding your child."

Tenele frowned, and let her gaze fall on the little being waving her curled hands up in the air. Tenele laughed at the cute little expression on her face. "Okay," she whispered.

The nurse handed the glass to Tenele, and then slipped her hands to curl beneath the baby. Tenele drank with a pinch of regret as the nurse returned the child to the midwife.

Stalker huffed, flopping down on the floor next to her.

Tenele sat the medicine on the table and curled against the pillows. Her eyes grew heavy, her body lulled into a deep relaxation. Her limbs felt like jelly again, and she grew too exhausted to stay awake. So, she slept.

Vlad sized up the tunnel and reluctantly dropped his monstrous visage. His body cracked and tore until he was once more in the shape of a man. He was completely nude, and not particularly concerned. He was a weapon right now. He could care less what he looked like as a human. He took the lead ahead of his Blood and headed with undead silence into the cave. You sustained a lot of wounds. How is your strength? he tuned in to his protege almost tenderly.

Talon glanced down at his body. *It is enough,* he replied to his Master. In truth Talon had nearly forgotten them, though he was aware he moved slower than before. *I will heal. Let's get Atul and get back to Tenele...*

* * *

"A Dragon!" one of the demons bellowed as he ran into the large hall where they waited on Vlad and Tenele's arrival. "The Dead King turned into a dragon, and his wife isn't with him... another vampire is. He was dressed as a woman."

Atul chuckled darkly, and his chuckle turned into a beautiful laugh that echoed off the walls. "Seems you didn't account for their brains in your plan," the King mused. "You won't be meeting the God today, or any other day. The only God you'll see is Salanos the Death God on you way to hell."

Harod lifted his black gaze, drumming his fingers across the arm of his chair. "Actually, this works out rather well."

He stood up and stepped before Atul, even though he knew the King could not see him. "What, did you honestly believe that we would truly think the legendary Vladimir Dracul would trek his beautiful and very pregnant wife across a blazing desert to hand her and himself over to a pack of wild dogs in exchange for a king to a Kingdom they have little stake in?"

"No," he sighed, running fingers over Atul's bloody flesh. "This works out fine. If he had been that stupid, it would have worked out fine. But, this is great. Now, when he comes to me, I will have the two of you. I will have the God."

Atul swallowed. If he killed them, Knight would also die. But, if he killed Atul, Knight would be dead anyway. So, why wasn't he dead?

"You don't want to kill him, do you?" Atul growled.

"I want to control him," Harod admitted. "If I control him, I will rule this world."

"You can't control him!" Atul barked. "No one can!"

Vlad grinned. "Then, let's move." No longer on the sands, he found that he could control his teleportation much better inside. He took hold of Talon's hand. The man probably didn't know his limits. He hoped he could keep Talon from learning them today. In a flash, they jumped to the farthest place Vlad could see in the hall. The vampire scanned their surroundings, then moved on in silence. The faster and quieter they arrived, the less chance of an ambush, and a surprise attack was the only way the vampire could imagine them chaining them.

The room had gone quiet, which made Atul paranoid. He lifted his bloody face, the cloth covering his eyes soaked through to crimson. His long hair hung matted around him, tangled and caked with grime.

"Done gloating?" Atul called angrily. "Why don't you tell me a little more of your plan so that I can laugh at it when it goes wrong."

Nothing, not even breathing. Atul tugged on the binds that held him up off the ground. He swung his naked body, fighting to break the chains that held him. Eventually he gave a frustrated roar.

Vlad and Talon flew through the surprisingly large underground levels of the tower. The vampire didn't want to acknowledge it, but he was beginning to wonder if they'd gone the wrong direction somehow. He proceeded ahead, avoiding intersections, staying in straight narrow areas where they couldn't be detected or ambushed. But that also meant they missed a lot of what might have been going on in the side corridors.

Then he caught it. The faintest trace of a scent so sweet and exotic that it could only below to one person. He clutched Talon's hand tighter, glad of the younger man's tolerance, and ported a few jumps ahead.

He caught only the very end of it. A groan....or a scream....some of both. Atul's pain-ragged voice set every nerve in the vampire's body on edge. Perhaps it had been too much to hope to find him unharmed. He wanted to call out to the man, to assure him he was here for him. Instead, he pulled Talon into another teleport in the direction of the voice.

It was concerning that no one had attacked him yet. Where were they all? The vampires made one last jump into the doorway of an open chamber that was brightly lit with torchlight. Vlad squinted, his dark-adjusted eyes slowly adapting to the glare.

The chains that held Atul off the ground groaned as his body slowly swung to a halt over the chalice that was collecting his blood. He heaved frustrated breaths into his lungs, thinking of Vlad and Talon and wondering if they were okay, but also so thankful that Tenele wasn't among them. He thought of her, and the child growing in her. He thought of her smile, that beautiful smile. Then, he thought of Vlad and his strong embrace.

He wasn't going to die in this dark hole. He was going to see his child born, hold him in his arms, and kiss the woman who brought him into the world. And then his heart twisted. They'd taken his sight...

He would never see Tenele's smile again. He wouldn't see his child born. He wouldn't be able to watch him grow. His heaving breath grew more ragged, rage and sorrow building into one torrential fire that ripped through him. He thrashed against the bindings, wanting to be free of them and rip Harod's head from his shoulders.

The hall was empty, of someone was there they were hiding very well. The only people that could witness his reaction was Vlad and Talon standing in the doorway.

Vlad's eyes woke up to the brightness around them and took the room into focus. What his eyes found, in the center of the hall, sucked his soul through his feet. "Atul!" he shouted, peering around the room for any signs of life. He heard nothing except Atul's weakened heartbeat. The vampire couldn't keep his eyes away long, drawn back to him like a beacon. He'd feared the king might be roughed up....but not this...not mutilated. The blindfold kept the man's eyes hidden, and that scared him. The chalice on the ground was full of blood. It couldn't possibly all be Atul's. If it was....

"Atul," he murmured, obsessing over the blindfold as he stepped up within the circle of candles, feet away from his lover.

Atul froze, his breath catching. "Vlad," he whispered, taking in a deep breath. He wasn't going to cry, he was a man. Men don't cry. But, Gods he wanted to. "Be careful. They were just here... They won't be far."

"I'm going to look for a way to lower him down," Talon muttered, scanning the room. "If those bar magic and strength, chances are our claws won't work."

He ran the room over until he found a crank and began letting Atul to the ground. He found keys on the wall and ran back to Atul, unlatching the chains around his chaffed wrists.

Talon's eyes fell on the vat of blood, the smell... He'd never smelled anything so good in his entire life. No amount of blood he'd ever encountered could have been as good. Then, his eyes fell on the King. Injured...

Talon jumped up, covering his nose. "Vlad," he warned. "I can't be near this. I can't be smelling him. He smells too good."