The Cost of Peace

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad felt Tenele's hands on her arm and drew her forward slowly toward where he knew the door was. There was no option but to open that door, or remain trapped in this room. He reached forward, took hold of the knob, and flung the door wide, positioning himself defensively in front of Tenele.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele's hand clutched Vlad's arm so tightly to a human it would probably hurt. It only grew tighter as he opened the door. She didn't want to see what was on the other side of that door. She didn't want to face Verin again. The memory of how close he had come to using Vlad as a slave, and... various other horrific things, made her nauseated. He promised Thar that he would leave them be... Then again he was an evil creature, born of lies and desciet, wasn't like him to keep his word.

"Hello Vlad," Atul said calmly, smiling. It was a creepy smile to Tenele, and even though she had not known Atul for a while she knew that it was not his smile. His black eyes flashed to Tenele. He bowed his head to her, grinning feircely. "Tenele..."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smiled so fiercely that it was closer to a snarl. "Hello Verin. Impeccable timing, as always," he said flatly, making no move to cover his bare form. "Paying your son a little visit?"

[Emora Deen]

Verin chuckled as he eye'd Vlad amusedly. "I guess you could call this visiting," he muttered, holding out his arms and admiring his new form. "I'm merely teaching him a lesson. Not to disobey daddy. Of course, you would never know that, given you'll never be a parent. Tenele on the other hand..." Tenele glanced fearfully at Vlad. Suddenly she was even more on the edge of her seat, hoping Verin would not mention to Vlad about their prior encounter. She didn't want to reignite the fight that they had just successfully made-up from. Then, again they could always make-up like that again...

Verin seemed to sense her sudden increase in uneasiness. He knew that his words could send the vampire off the edge of reason... so despite how he longed to teach the disobiedient dog a lesson, he had other things to do besides deal with him. He tilted his head, leaning into the room and looking around. The lamps flickered to life, and the room was once again filled with a warm glow. "I'm sorry, was I interupting something? You both seem very..." His eyes fell on Tenele's face so warm with color. "Flushed."

"Leave Atul alone, get out of him." Tenele hissed.

"Go back to Ighten little princess. Wait for what seeks you there." Verin scowled disapprovingly at her.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad hid his growing anger from the God behind an expressionless glowing stare. He wanted to know why the god was bringing up things like children. Was it to upset him? To hurt Tenele? Furthermore, despite the fact that he'd only known Atul for such a short time, watching Verin flaunt about in Atul's helpless form filled the vampire with a sense of horrified rage. Perhaps it was just sympathetic fear; what was happening to Atul could just as easily be happening to him, and it wasn't amusing. But more than that, he now knew something of the Prince's pride and of his values, and he understood how completely Atul must be loathing this.

He forced a twisted smile onto his lips. "Oh, cool your tongue," he said dismissively to the god. "She is not yours to command at whim as you are doing now with him. But I must say that you behavior suggests a certain...defensiveness. Could it be you see your son as a real threat?" he asked coldly, his smile glued to his face.

[Emora Deen]

Verin scowled darkly at Vlad as if he were a disobiedient child. "A threat?" he laughed. "Of course he's a threat, he's my son. I wouldn't claim him if I didn't feel he could propose a challenge." His brow furrowed suddenly, his deep black eyes that were so hollow suddenly seemed a bit warmer. They flickered around rapidly, and he seemed suddenly confused. Color drained from his usually tanned face and Atul seemed horrorsticken, as well as in pain. His knees buckled and he crumpled to a kneeling position in front of Vlad and Tenele.

"Atul," Tenele called quickly, letting her hand slip from Vlad's arm. She rushed around the vampire, falling to her knees in front of the prince who could barely hold himself up. She put her hands on his shoulders to steady him. His head hung wearily, slowly lifting to stare Tenele in the face.

"Get away," he hissed to her. He grabbed her by the arms to push her away. "He's still..." His grip tightened on her arms and his face turned to one of great amusement. Tenele knew what this meant, and in a flash she was standing to her feet, or at least trying. When he wouldn't release her, she kicked him squarly between the legs and stumbled back against Vlad. Her arms slipped around his waist from behind and she hugged him tightly to her, as if sheilding him from Verin.

Verin chuckled as he regained his balance, he was clearly phased by her blow. After all, he was a God, but still a male. "I haven't got the time to waste here. I have Ighten to conquer and a son to re-educate. I merely wanted to tell you to leave tomorrow morning. This village has seen its last sunrise." His eyes found Vlad as if he were trying to convey some hidden message to the vampire.

Tenele didn't like this. Why would he warn them? Why would he want them to leave? Just what did he have to gain from sending them off to a safer distance. Could it be because of Thar's protection? She liked that theory best. Without saying anything else, Atul was suddenly gone. A whisp of energy flickered through the room like a wind without a source.

"Gods... Atul, that bastard has him trapped..."

[Soran Nightblade]

The instant Atul vanished, Vlad rushed forward to Tenele. 'Are you hurt' would have been the standard human rhetorical question, but Vlad thought on a different wavelength. He hadn't seen Verin harm her, and he knew she was no featherweight, so that wasn't his first concern. But he did want to be directly next to her, where there was no risk of anything further going wrong. "He wants us out of the way. He doesn't want us helping Atul," Vlad frowned.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele looked from Vlad to where Atul had been. He wanted them out of the way, and it only made her want to stay more. "What do we do?" Tenele asked him softly. Fero edged towards the door, looking in rather fearfully. His head quickly averted when he realized that Vlad was missing a good deal of clothing.

"Everyone okay?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.

"Vlad, are we just going to leave Atul to Verin's whim? I don't know what to do, I don't want to leave him to be tormented." Tenele put her hand to her head, her hand reaching out to grip his arm. "I hate this!"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad didn't answer her question because he didn't have an answer yet. He turned away from Fero and walked toward his pants that were strewn on the floor. There was impatience in his gait, but no sign of modesty as he turned back toward them with the pants in hand.

"If Verin's taken Atul away somewhere, we won't be able to retrieve him without reinforcements, and there's a good chance that even that would be a fool's errand," Vlad began reasoning out loud as he drew his pants on. "But kidnapping's not his style. My guess is he'll leave Atul somewhere nearby and try to make him return to the capital of his own accord." The vampire narrowed his eyes at Fero, who was looking confused. "It's not hard to understand. We wounded Verin's image today. If he abducts Atul now, the prince becomes a hero. No, he'll dump his body somewhere like a used towel and let the village see their prince in a state of weakness. He'll want a humiliation. A surrender."

Fero still didn't look totally convinced, but the vampire was speaking as if he understood Verin from personal experience. Whatever that meant, it was enough to make him keep his doubts to himself. "If that's true, we should be looking for him. Find him before someone else does."

Vlad shook his head. "Oh no. You have a spell to prepare," he said darkly, walking up to Fero and pressing his hand against the wall next to his head in a mildly threatening manner. "We return to Ighten tomorrow at dawn. You're going to stay here and figure out how. No delays," he ordered. He removed his weight slowly from where he loomed over the shorter man and turned his head toward Tenele. "What do you want to do?" he asked seriously.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele tightened the straps around her waist that held the dress tighter to her as she listened to Vlad talk to Fero. It took her a moment to realize he was addressing her. In her jumbled thoughts she looked up to him, her green eyes watery and full of worry.

"I don't know," she whispered. "Atul wouldn't have had the push to commit treason if it wasn't for us. I feel rather responsible..." She brushed her silver hair behind her ear, looking just as beautiful with her worried expression. She stood up straight, grabbing the cloak that she had worn through the desert and holding it in her arms. "If we look for him, we might run into Verin. I don't want you to fight him again, Vlad. I don't want to even be near him. You said I should stop waving my life around like a flag... When it comes to Verin I completely agree. I'm at a lost, Vladimir. I will side with your judgement in this."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad looked at Tenele, so still he almost seemed posed. He was thinking, although it was difficult to make out what. "This is not our war, but it seems we owe the prince a favor. By my book, until we leave at dawn, we remain his allies," he said somewhat dryly. He froze again. "No, that is a superficial explanation," he amended, his scarlet eyes flicking to Tenele's. Now, a hint of displeased guilt was visible in his expression. "For him to fight and lose on his own initiative is one thing, but I do not wish watch him be humiliated. It is a personal obligation, not a transactional one." His mouth pressed into a tense line. He was making this personal, and it was largely about unresolved grudges against Verin. It was a battle he knew he shouldn't pick, especially when Tenele could end up being collateral damage. But one of the things he admired most about her was that he knew she would follow at his side in this. "I believe we should find him before a less favorable audience does. He should be nearby, and I doubt he's in good shape."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele's eyes flickered to him as she pulled the cloak around her shoulders. She fastened the clasp just under her neck, and drew it tightly around her. The temperature had dropped since the sun had set, and now that the passion in her blood had cooled, the room was not quite as hot as it had been a moment ago. She was very ticked at Verin for ruining what she and Vlad had had, but her worry for Atul drowned out much of that.

"Alright," she said as she pulled her boots on and laced them. "Let's go do what we do best." She gave him a brilliant smile. "Let's go find trouble."

She walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek gently.

* * *

Atul dropped to his knees a few blocks away, his hands skidding across the stone. He was still as his vision cleared. He glared up at the pair of feet suddenly in front of his eyes. He looked up into the black vision of his father, who had his head tilted down at him, black hair cascading around his head. "Knowing what kind hearts they are, you won't be alone for long," he admitted darkly.

"What do you want?"

"There are too many things I want, and not enough time to explain them in. Just know that all will eventually fall into place," Verin mused.

"You will fail," Atul growled. "Your evil will not destroy this world!!"

Verin chuckled, bending to grab his son up by the neck. Verin was a large being. Seven feet high, but his body entirely even proportioned. His hand gripped Atul's neck as he raised the just over six foot demi-god to where his feet dangled in the air. "You'll fail long before I do, boy."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad nodded to her and they walked swiftly to the front door, with Fero close behind. "I mean it, stay put and get busy," Vlad warned the man crossly as he pulled the door open for Tenele. A moment later, he slammed the door behind them and they set off a jog. Now, there was the minor problem of having no idea where Atul was. He could be anywhere in the village, assuming Vlad was even correct in his guess. He paused at the town square where the battle had just taken place hours before. The area was still a mess, and a huge section of the open street had been converted into a makeshift hospital for the wounded. The sun was slowly beginning to set now, and the town's children in the middle of the task of finding oils and kindling for lanterns to keep the area lit in the coming darkness. It was a large group of people, which meant high potential for problems if Atul's body was found in some nearby alley or if it wandered into the crowd while possessed and betrayed his own cause by doing something terrible.

In any other circumstance, Vlad would probably have suggested they split up. Instead, he stuck close to Tenele and they set off at a swift gait down the closest street. They needed to find Atul before someone else did.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele glanced behind her repeatedly, almost as if she felt someone following them. Though, it could very well be a fear of being followed. Verin really drove her feelings completely out of whack. She couldn't figure out whether to fear him or just hate him or both.

She heard someone down an alley and at first she wanted to ignore it. But, her gut told her to go back. She slowed down and took several steps back. She stood in the opening of the alley, peering down at a man standing over a body. His hands were dripping blood. She knew instantly that it was Atul, but who was the body at his feet.

"Vlad," she whispered, trying to get his attention.

It seemed Vlad was no the only one with bat ears. Atul's swirling blue eyes were suddenly visible as he peered over his shoulder. The oposit end of the alley came a group of people. She prayed that they would simply pass, and as they did Atul began to walk briskly towards them.

"Shit," she cursed. Verin was taking him to those people. He was going to hurt those people. She took off running towards Verin, saying a soft apology as she leaped over the still bleeding man.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad might have normally smelled the blood from yards away, but the village was so saturated with it today that his senses were agitated. His hearing was still find though, and he immediately stopped and backpedaled toward where Tenele had turned off. He'd allowed himself to develop a lead on her in their search, so he had to go back several yards to see what was going on. He was still being cautious about using his powers while Verin might be in the area. When he got to the mouth of the alley, the scene registered awfully and immediately.

Atul was not himself, and Tenele was going after him. And more people were about to get involved. Crap. He glanced down at the dying man lying in pain on the ground. "Sorry," he said earnestly, his claws extending. In a better situation, the man could probably recover under medical care. However, more lives were at stake at the moment than his, and Vlad had a pragmatic sense of morality.

A few moments later, he was sprinting full-force toward the end of the alley looking far messier than Atul. The now-dead man's blood was smeared on his hands and face, and gashes were torn into his bare chest. They smarted, but they were manageable, and to protect Atul's reputation, they were necessary. He just hoped Tenele could hold him off long enough for him to get there, and that she wouldn't get herself killed.