Part 2: Vampiric Lords

Vampires. For all they do and the things they threaten you with, some blood is usually enough to make them obedient slaves. Especially if you're like me and you prefer to starve them of blood beforehand.

- Thur, A Wise Old Lich.


-Castle Nostormo-

"Caitiff... Explain why all the elite cultists are gone, and how an undead wizard of some kind is here instead?" Baron Valtrith impatiently tapped his long claws against the stone wall as he waited for an answer.

"Artix killed the cultists, and the Lich is the reason why the sudden imbalance in the woods took place. I decided he would be... useful to covering the world in darkness." Caitiff carefully answered, fully knowing that Valtrith had a short temper when it came to losing powerful servants, then again, Valtrith had a short temper about pretty much everything in general.

"I will be the judge of that." Valtrith told Caitiff, "As for you," Valtrith turned his attention to Thur, "What can you do?"

"I can easily raise an army of weak zombies, or I can fuse them into an amalgate skeleton composed of the best parts... And that's only scratching the surface." Thur cautiously revealed a few secrets. Suffice to say Valtrith was pleased.

"At least you're not useless." Valtrith dismissed, "Do what whatever Caitiff orders you to do for now. I don't need you right now."

"Fair enough. Well, what should I do now?" Thur agreed and then asked Caitiff.

"I believe that neither Safiria or Frydae has responded to our letters or requests to join our armies. It would probably be for the best if you went and tried to gain their trust and assistance." Caitiff ordered. "And before you go..."

"Yes?" Thur stayed a little longer to hear what she had to say.

"You might encounter a warrior with a black dragon. If you do see them, kill them. No mercy or second thoughts. Just kill them, they've caused more than a few... issues." Caitiff warned, "And if you decide to blackmail the vampire lords into obeying you, a girl by the name of Thursday might be of interest." Caitiff finished.

"I see then. Well I'll be off then!" Thur stated as he turned and drifted off to the destination he was supposed to go. "Come Serana, Overlord! We have much to do!"

"Alright." Serana followed non-chantantly.

"Fiiine..." The Overlord sighed as he followed as well.

'Caitiff said something about blackmailing them didn't she? Doesn't she know how horrible Vampires are with taking pride strikes? But bribery almost always works... Auriel's Shield hasn't been of use to me in a long time, and it looks rather shiny... Yeah, that will probably get them to obey and help.' Thur thought as he walked out, faintly remembering a time when he lost his Vampiric Lord Blood and how Lord Harkon practically screamed at him for abandoning the 'sacred' blood or something like that. Or maybe that was Valerica... Or was it Molag Bal? Whoever it was, it was definitely a Vampire that had proven how much Vampires pride themselves.

...

"How intersting... I've never seen a more... comedic and abnormal group of undead before. It doesn't matter I suppose, onto my research." Caitiff started on her own personal assignment to learn more about a certain hero.


- Near Amityvale-

(Thur is once again in his Breton form humming Forest Maze from Super Mario RPG)

"Ah, I think we are here." Serana stopped to look at the small village in the distance.

"Hm, there seems to be guards there. I guess I have to go there myself since i'm the most normal looking person in the group. As for you 2, well, just see if you can gather information about Frydae and Safiria." Thur observed and planned.

"Alright." The Overlord obeyed and branched away from Thur with Serana.

"See you later!" Serana said.

"See ya." Thur replied.


-Amityvale-

"Halt!" A guard in navy-blue plated and silver-lined armor stated. "Who are you!" He said, looking over Thur's ragged black robes and the potions hanging on his belt (Antioch's Robes).

"Huh? Me? Oh, I'm just a traveler looking for some new armor, my old set broke." Thur lied cunningly, playing as an unfortunate traveler.

"Oh. I know it feels. Sorry, I thought you were a spell caster, go on with your night!" The guard apologized and smiled.

"No hard feelings." Thur smiled back as he walked through the gates into Amityvale. "A rather dreary village..." Thur noted as he observed Amityvale's general appearance.

"You'll get used to it... just hope the werewolves and the vampires don't attack while you're here." A girl said, she had similar gear as the guard up front, but had abnormal technology a bit like the Dwemer had on her forearms.

"Oh? Well... I can see why they would be attracted to a place like this." Thur said uneasily at the girl, who was she? Why did she respond to his random and obvious thought? There was another werewolf infestation he had to deal with? Are they as good at fighting as the Companions?

"Ah, but you probably don't want to talk to me, you want to see Magus Neron if you want a bounty or anything like that." The girl quickly stopped the conversation and walked away.

"Weird... Oh well, maybe this Neron can help me." Thur decided as he walked into what he assumed to be the town hall.

-Amityvale Townhall-

"Rest assured, we will save and protect anyone who was taken by the last raid, even Thursday will be recovered. Any questions left?" Magus Neron spoke to the meeting. "None? Then this meeting is adjourned." The people began to get up and move out, but amongst the crowd a man pushed his way past them, he had dark robes with several potions hanging on his belt and white gauntlets covering his forearms, his heavy beard was black as night and was the only thing Neron could see under the man's hood.

"I heard you could use assistance with the vampire menace." The man spoke in a deep, threatening voice, "I could take care of it, just tell me where Safiria and Frydae are." The man said.

"You will take 'care' of it? Please explain why I should send a man to his death, even if I don't know him?" Neron incredulously asked.

"Tell me... or else." The man's voice went from strangely deep to outright evil within seconds.

'Well, this man is probably evil, but if he is willing... I suppose it couldn't hurt.' Neron decided to tell the man.

"Thank you for your time. You won't be having severe vampire issues very soon." The man walked away into the town and faded into the distance as fast as he came.

"Who was he?..." Neron wondered.


-Safiria's Castle-

"My queen, we have a visitor at the front gate." A vampire noble informed as he bowed to Safiria.

The Queen simply looked at her glass of blood and questioned with- "Do I know this visitor?"

"He does not look like anyone who has spoken to you before. But it would seem he is very confident in his powers, for he is alone." The noble continued.

"Alone? Is he a fool?" Safiria thought aloud.

"He is not to be underestimated, scouts have reported claiming there is not a single scratch on him." The noble warned.

"Not a scratch?... Perhaps. What is his name?" Safiria's curiousity got more and more peaked as the noble went on.

"I believe it was... It was... umm... Well, we don't know as of yet, but we DO know he is not of Frydae's troop. In fact, he is not a vampire at all, but something else, perhaps a form of Zombification or a Liche." The noble hesitated, unsure what the visitor's name was.

"I see. Let him in." Safiria ordered.

"I... see then. It will be done." The noble went off to guide the visitor in.

"How interesting... I can't recall a time when a hero dared to venture here without help." Safiria mused.

...

"Here he is my queen." The noble guided a man in black robes in, his face covered by a hood.

"A pleasure to meet you Queen Safiria." The man spoke in a deep tone, bowing respectfully as he did so.

"The pleasure is mine, for once a hero who knows a semblance of the term respect and elequence walks into my halls. But enough of that, why do you come here human?" Safiria nodded back in respect as the man rose up again.

"I carry a message for my... co-worker, Valtrith and Caitiff." Safiria sighed in exasperation at those words, but before she could voice her answer, the man continued, "I have heard that you have refused in the past, so in exchange for your help, I am willing to assist you in a certain matter in the form of Frydae XIII... Or, I could show you and potentially offer you an item of interest..." The man took an item out of his robe and showed it for all to see- it was Auriel's Shield, the shield sparkling in glory and power and beauty. The vampires notably took a interest in this obviously one-sided deal the man put out, all they had to do was ally and assist Valtrith and they would be able to either destroy Frydae or get this marvelous shield?

"Surely there is a catch to this? You cannot possibly expect me to believe anyone would offer such a one-sided offer?" Safiria questioned skeptically.

"There is no catch. I give you two-equally benefical offers for your help. Is that so hard to ask for?" The man 'innocently' said. "Although Frydae may be more willing to take me up on my bargains..."

"No! That would not be necessary. It is just... a lot to take in at once." Safiria stopped, she did NOT want Frydae getting this shield, nor did she want this man trying to kill her.

"My Queen! The Hero of Lore has arrived demanding an audience with you!" One of the knights rushed in.

"Another visitor? I see, I will be there as soon as possible. Take Thursday with me in case of an ambush or raid." The Queen got up and started walking away. "We will further discuss our deal another time..." Safiria trailed off, not sure who the Man's name was.

"I am Thur, Queen Safiria." Thur answered. 'This Hero of Lore sounds like the bigshot Vigilant of Stendarr-esqe person Caitiff told me to kill and destroy... is Safiria allied with him? If so I'll have to take my deal to Frydae and destroy Safiria...' Thur realized as he walked with the queen. 'I may have to deal with Frydae instead and kill Safiria. Ah well, it's not like I knew her anyways.'


-Outside of Safiria's Castle-

The Hero and Raven expected the Queen to be powerful and wise and surrounded by her servant vampires, and she was very powerful and wise; she was probably a lot like Frydae in that her power must've increased over the years. What they didn't expect was the man in black robes to be among them. "Isn't that the man you saw earlier Raven?" The Hero questioned quietly.

"Yes, so why is he here?" Raven wondered as well.

"Mortals..." Safiria, Thursday and the Hero began to talk about something, but Thur quickly tuned out and studied the Hero, and it was indeed the Hero Caitiff ordered him to kill according to what she had told him. The Hero's posture and equipment seemed to indicate he had plenty of knowledge about fighting and apparantly had mastery over his pet dragon, but lacked the hate and dark magic that made Thur as powerful as he is now.

'Pitiful, but I already expected this hero to be like a cockroach, pathetic, but hard to truly kill.' Thur mused on ways to murder the Hero and the Dragon, the dragon especially, 'Oh how dragons have caused me SO much pain!' Thur hatefully thought. He was snapped out of his musings when the vampires began to kill each other and fight. 'Is this the work of Frydae?'

It seemed to be confirmed when the vampires began to mock Safiria.

'Best be going now!' Thur slipped off into the shadows to let the vampires fight it out, he would either deal with Frydae if he was alive, or would kill Safiria if she won and take over the Vampires.

...

-Tower of Darkness-

Frydae was finally gaining the powers he sought after for so long... Thursday's blood has made him younger and fit to be the Vampire King now! "Ah... So much power!" Frydae smiled twistedly as he became younger and more powerful than ever.

...

"My lord, a man has came requesting an audience with you." A vampire knight reported.

"Oh? Who is this man?" Frydae questioned as he finished drinking from Thursday's blood, gaining some more of his youth back at an extrodinary rate.

"He seems to be the man who was with Safiria, but it is not confirmed whether or not they are allies."

Frydae thought for a bit. "Let him in, he can't hope to fight my new powers anyways." Frydae decided.

"As you wish." The knight opened the door, only to find the man there.

"I would be more polite, but you have 20 dozen vampires and one angry Vampire Queen headed your way." The man stated, "I'll deal with Safiria and the Hero while you gain your new powers and you can have control over Safiria's territory, and in exchange you'll ally yourself with Baron Valtrith. Deal?"

"We have been talking about uniting..." Frydae was unsure about his new powers, sure he could destroy the hero, but he needed more time and blood to subjugate Safiria, and Valtrith was probably weaker than him by now anyways so it would mean more servants in the end right?... "Whatever, we have a deal."

"Excellent. We'll work out the details later, but now I have a queen to knock off the chessboard." Thur strided away to deal with Safiria.

...

-Outside the Tower-

"YOU! Traitor! Why would you ally yourself to that pathetic excuse of a Vampire!" Safiria roared at Thur, while everyone instantly paled and stopped fighting, while Thur just stood there... and laughed.

"Ha! The real Traitor is the one who assists the Hero to kill her own kind!" Thur roared as he burst into purple-white flames, revealing his terrifying form as a lich.

*(Cue music: Terrifying Fiend/Necrodeus' theme- Kirby Mass Attack)*

Thur let loose the most horrific and terrifying shriek as he sent several fireballs flying at Safiria, knowing fully well that vampires are weak to fire, the balls of flame connected with their target, and Safiria recoiled in pain. "Know the power of The Undying!" Thur casted Frost Armor on himself and proceeded to cast Incinerate on the fallen queen, but she was far from done as she grew blue wings and flew away from her spot.

"You may have power, but you fail to realize who's lived for thousands of years!" Safiria flew quickly and sharply punched Thur in the stomach with all her might, but he only staggered by a bit. "What?" Safiria was a bit shocked at the Lich's durability, weren't they supposed to be delicate spellcasters?

"Fool! I killed a god with my might!" Thur's right hand became infused with blue energy and quickly gripped Safiria into a chokehold, "And you believe that a pitiful Mortal like you can compare to that! You can't even hope to compare to the likes of Lord Harkon alone!" Thur's grip grew stronger, servering Safiria's breath by the second.

"I am far from weak Lich!" Safiria pulled her hand back, and stabbed Thur in the chest, piercing his Anicent Nordic Armor and scattering old dust everywhere, as well as making him release Safiria immediately. "Allow me to show how mortal you still are!" She scorned as she she crushed, scratched, and tore into Thur's body, and then made the mistake of sending him flying by telekinectically smashing him against the ground.

"Many like you have said that to me and DIED! You dare to question my authority over Life and Death itself!" Thur roared at Safiria, then he calmed himself immediately and seemed to get an idea. "Behold! The Staff of Magnus!" Thur pulled The Staff of Magnus out of a small portal and gripped it in his right arm.

Instantly the whole battlefield began to feel somwhat exhausted as their mana began to be drained from their bodies, most notably Safiria, "Wha- How?..." Safiria began to slow down.

"Because I posess powers you could only HOPE to have!" Thur laughed as he charged his staff and had it absorb Safiria's life force as well. "No one can hope to stand up to me!" Thur then used his left hand to repeatedly cast Firestorm, causing Safiria severe burns, mortally wounding her, as well as killing nearby and unfortunate Vampires. "And for good measure..." Thur thwacked Safiria several times with his staff to make sure she couldn't get up. 'Always feels so satisfying to thwack people on the head!' Thur mentally chuckled.

"Not... like this..." Safiria tried to get up, but instead collapsed in defeat. "I... Failed you all..." The entire fields of battles between both sides stood gobsmacked as the mighty Safiria, Quuen of Darkovia for Centuries, was defeated by Thur...

(End Music)

"So ends the traitor's run." Thur mocked as he used his Death Grip spell to yank Safiria off the ground and made her float before him. "Shall I kill you? Or make you my thrall? So many choices and yet..." Thur mused as the silent battlefield watched on, "None are in your favor."

Safiria responded by spitting on Thur as a last-ditch way to spite and annoy him, he simply smiled instead, not even letting Safiria gain that victory. "Safiria, do you want to know what 'Thur' means?" Thur whispered to her ear.

"What... does it... mean?"

"It can translate to 'Overlord' or 'Master'. Which do you want me to be? Either way you WILL serve me." Thur laughed softly.

"I... will NEVER serve... the likes of you!" Safiria spat.

"Never? We shall see... Ah how I'm going to have fun torturing and breaking you!" Thur cracked a cynical smile and laughed terribly.

The Hero was the first to recover, and the first to attempt to avenge The Fallen Queen. "How could you do this! Do you even have a reason!" The Hero demanded as he advanced slowly, evaluating Thur.

"A reason?..." Thur looked downwards as if to think... then smiled psychotically and snickered, and then convulsed with joy, and raised his head and screamed with laughter at the suggestion, "A reason! HA! I do not a reason to be evil! To do what you think to be horrific and vile atrocities! I do it because I can! Because I can teach the world the meaning of Misery and Despair! Of the meaning of Corruption and Hate! Not because of some stupid plan to take over or rule the land! But because I can watch the weak grovel and cry for mercy under my feet!" Thur cynically cackled, fondly remembering the Civil War and the Invasion he launched on the Thalmor with the Stormcloaks, "Because in the end, it was always the group of the strongest ruling and controlling the weak and unable, the foolish and incompentent. Heroes like you... Heroes that save and help the innocent weaklings and believe in good with no reason to do so but for the good... are always the most pathetic and laughable. You have, and always will be- Weak. And. Pathetic. There was a class of the strong and the weak, and it will always will be there to show how our world works.''

'My, that was quite a long rant. Maybe that will make the Hero hate me and try to kill me. It would be nice if that did happen, I still have yet to face a challenge capable of actually killing me off. Well, more like displace me into my Phylactery, but still.' Thur absently thought.

"Disgusting! You're even worse than the Mysterious Stranger and Wargoth combined! I will stop you!" The Hero gasped in disgust.

"Thank you. I'll remember that insult for when I inevitably crush you underneath my boot." Thur remarked as he advanced towards the Hero, "Now... Let's see who is stronger, you? Or more likely, Me?"

"Not today." A blue mist materialized before Thur, it was Frydae XIII, "I wish to test my abilities and new powers on someone other than Thursday." The Hero took a step back and assessed Frydae's new powers. He quickly figured out this had just become an impossible battle to win at all. Both an empowered Vampire Lord like Frydae, and... Whatever Thur was were both inconcievably difficult fights, but to fight both of them? Impossible.

'I can't possibly hope to fight both Thur and Frydae at the same time anyways... How, why and where did Thur even come from!?' The Hero thought frantically. "I'm sorry Safiria... I'm sorry Thursday... I'm sorry Raven..." The Hero, with watery eyes, ran away from his likely demise.

The battle has ended. Frydae's forces has defeated Safiria and has taken Thursday...

"So be it coward. You will die another day." Thur turned to Frydae, "As we agreed, you will join Baron Valtrith's army in exchange for control of Safiria's former domain?"

"Agreed. Ah... I never thought I would see the day that Safiria would fall and I would become the Vampire King come so soon!" Frydae rejoiced.

"Indeed! And about Safiria..." Thur was about to ask if he could keep Safiria as a servant but-

"I'll keep her. She deserves every single bit of pain I will give her." Frydae answered curtly.

"Have fun torturing her!" Thur excitedly stated. "Well! I best report back to Valtrith and tell him the good news! Long Unlive Lord Frydae XIII!" Thur laughed.

"Farewell!" Frydae waved goodbye as he rallied the remaining Vampires and led them off into his Tower of Darkness.


Author's Notes:

There we go! A bit more effort and work speant on this story of mine! Looks a bit better and less of a mess at that too! Well, until next time! Remember to review and point out any errors or screwups I made!