Heirot

"I'm not letting you kill him because of some fucked-up quest," Talon spat, fisting the edges of the table. "From an alchemist to a scientist... You should know your best results come from moderation. Patients. Don't destroy him because you're unwilling to be patient."

"Patience?" Maxwell laughed, a cold, metallic sound. "You don't know the first thing about patience. Not the way I've known it. When my patient needs to rest, I will allow it. He does not need it now. I did not choose this place by accident. He will survive things here that he would not tolerate in the heat of Lowight.

He reached across Vlad and past Atul to secure one of the clamps.

Talon glared at Maxwell, and turned his eyes on Vlad. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't watch Vlad be tortured. "No," he growled, reaching for Maxwell. "I'm not going to watch you torture him. The Queen did not condone this. She will rip your head from your shoulders, which is too kind of a punishment for you."

Maxwell's gaze darkened to a harsh, vibrant orange. "Interfere further, and maybe I'll see how you handle ten parts to the thousand," he snarled. A syringe floated from the surgical tray up to his hand.

"Maxwell," Vlad shot.

"Get out of the way, newblood," the scientist spat.

Talon knew for sure it would kill him. But, Gods how he wanted to tempt fate. He wanted to take it for Vlad. The young vampire trembled with rage, his eyes glowing a harsh bright red. "Just keep pretending like this is the only thing in the world that's important," Talon told Maxwell as he forced himself to turn back towards the house. "You won't get to enjoy the fruits of your experiment very long."

Talon made himself walk away. Each step he took was hard, crushing the snow into the frozen earth. He didn't want to leave Vlad, but he knew if he stayed there he would do something that would get him killed... and he would be no use to Vlad, Tenele, or Atul dead. He would put himself to use figuring out a way to stop Maxwell. When he was back inside he slammed the house door behind him, and went off in search for that servant.

Vlad's relief lasted only a minute after Talon dropped the fight. Then the emotion threatened to kick in. The man had come so close to getting himself killed to help him. What a pointless act. Nothing could help him. The very idea was so futile it drew a long, deranged fit of laughter from the feverish vampire.

"Stop that. Compose yourself," Maxwell snapped as he tapped the syringe.

"What'll it be? Eight? Nine?" Vlad sneered.

"It will be ten if you don't calm down," Maxwell warned, tightening the straps.

Vlad gave a firm, irreverant tug at the restraints and threw his head back against the table, cackling madly. Nothing Maxwell barked at him worked after that. The scientist rolled his eyes, took the syringe he'd threatened Talon with, and injected it into the vampire's shoulder. Vlad laughed, and screamed, and laughed until tears rolled down his cheeks. Today, he was not still. He certainly was not quiet. Maxwell's orders fell on deaf ears. Vlad rode the pain like a long lost rival, snarling and bickering with it even as it tore him inside out.

Talon checked the first floor carefully, until he came to a door that led to a dark staircase below. If he was going to keep tortured humans to drain of their blood, he definitely would want to stow them away. Then, again, knowing Maxwell, he probably would display them.

Talon stared down the dark hole a minute longer before he put one foot in front of the other. He was going to find that bastard's weakness, and then he was going to exploit it to the fullness of his capabilities.

* * *

Tenele tugged the reigns. “Move slow,” she told Atul. “Just easy… If you hear any cracking… stop.”

“We should go around,” Atul muttered, taking another cautious step across the ice. “Even if this is faster, the cold will kill us if we fall in.”

“No, this place is cold enough that the ice shouldn’t be a problem… I just don’t trust assumptions,” Tenele muttered as she took another step.

As far as her eyes could see everything was weight. The snow kicked up so bad a head of them by the wind that it was nothing but a sheet of flurries. “Another nasty storm ahead.”

Atul lifted his gaze. The swirling mass of ice and snow reminded him a lot of sand storms. It felt similar when the ice cut into the skin of his face. He pulled the fur hood further over his face and tucked his chin down. "I don't care if the horses get lost in the snow, but I'm not losing you. Tie this around your waist."

Tenele looped a rope around her middle, and Atul did the same. He pulled it snug, and double checked hers. "Okay," he muttered. "Let's go."

The deeper into the stairwell Talon went, the hotter the air grew. It became increasingly apparent that people didn't live down here. Firelight flickered across the walls below as the shaft wound deeper and deeper below the house.

"What are you doing here?" A young girl interrupted him, seemingly out of nowhere. From her leathery skin and yellow slitted eyes, she was a young reptilian.

Talon regarded the girl thoughtfully. "I was looking for others. Just curious to know where our benefactor gets the fresh blood he feeds us every day. Not that I intend to get an extra snack," Talon sighed as he continued down the stairs. "Just curious. What are you doing here?"

She tilted her head at him like that was a strange question. "It is warm here," she pointed out. She pointed a thin, leathery finger into his chest. "You are cold," she indicated pointedly. "You belong out there, like the other."

Talon shrugged past her. "Vlad shouldn't be out there. No one should be out there like that." Talon replied. "But, you didn't answer my question. Why are you here? Who are you?"

"We are here because it is warm. We are what you are," she said matter-of-factly, crossing her arms.

"We?" Talon asked. "There are more of you? Would you introduce me to them?" Talon glanced around. "I'm a little lonely. I left my family to come here... Is Maxwell your family?"

"Master is master. We are what you are," she sighed, as if he didn't speak enough English to hold a decent conversation. "The others are in the hot place. I doubt you can go there."

With that, she turned and skipped back down the stairs, where the air grew hotter and hotter.

Talon blinked. She was a prisoner? "Hey! Wait, don't run off!" He called, chasing after her. It was hot, god was it hot. But, he wasn't about to let her get away. The temperature wouldn't affect him as badly as it would a human... He could do this. "Are you trapped here? Why is he keeping you here? Don't walk away, please. Talk to me."