SIX
"Are you talking about the Mustadi Covenant?" questioned Wesley. "I thought that was only a myth."
"Oh, it's real all right," said Nick. "Every vampire knows about it and none would voluntarily violate it. It's been that way for twelve hundred years."
"What is this Mustadi Covenant?" Cordelia asked.
"You've heard of the crusades?" questioned Nick. "Between twelve hundred and eight hundred years ago a series of religious crusades were empowered by the Pope to take back the Holy Land."
"Well, I remember learning about it in school," said Cordelia. "I have to admit I don't remember that much about them, though."
"Well, for the most part, what you learned is true," said Nick. "With the exception of the first one. It was held from 1095 to 1099. Only saving the Holy Land had nothing to do with it. It was about a war between vampires that the Catholic Church became embroiled in."
"Vampire war?" questioned Gunn.
"Yes," said Angel. "Back then the two types of vampires fought openly against each other. There has always been a rivalry between the two and they were doing their best to wipe each other out. Only humans were caught in the middle. After each battle the vampires from both sides would feed on humans to restore the energy they had lost."
"Eventually the Pope became fed up with the war," continued Nick. "He sent his holy army in to wipe out both sides and put an end to the fighting. But there were too many vampires. Much more than the Pope had counted on. Pretty soon there were three factions: the Vetala, the Stryx, and the Crusaders. With the humans caught in the middle. Hundreds of thousands were being killed. And for a while it looked like no one could put an end to it."
"Eventually both types vampires turned on the Church," said Angel. "They started targeting the priests and nuns in an effort to wipe out the Church. But they still continued to fight each other as well."
"So what happened?" Gunn asked.
"May I?" asked Wesley. Nick just nodded at him. "Well, according to the legends, Ahmad Al Hassan Al Mustadi became involved. He was the 34th Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1180 to 1225. He was the head of the Islamic nation and was tired of Muslims being caught in the middle of what he considered an external matter. He called for a truce in the hopes of finding a way to end the conflict."
"I assume it worked," said Cordelia. "They've mentioned something about a Mustadi Covenant."
"Yes," said Wesley. "The Masters of the Vetala and the Stryx as well as the senior Cardinal of the Catholic Church met with Mustadi. It took them several days but eventually they all came to an agreement. The Vetala and the Stryx would each have very clearly defined territories and each would stay out of the others territory. In addition, both the Vetala and the Stryx agreed to never again go after the religious leaders of the Catholic Church. The masters ensure that their respective types of vampires adhere to the covenant. And the elders enforce it strictly."
"Wait a minute," said Cordelia. "Didn't we kill one of those masters? Just after Buffy came to Sunnydale. He was trapped in some defunct church or something."
"A master is a vampire that's over 3,000 years old," explained Angel. "There aren't many of them. The one Buffy killed was only one of several that still exist. But there's one master that rules the Vetala and one that rules the Stryx. The others are considered masters because of their age."
"So what is this elder you mentioned?" questioned Gunn.
"An elder is a vampire between 1,500 and 3,000 years old," explained Nick. "Traditionally there's only one elder that controls a specific territory. Such as Los Angeles or Sacramento. But there are others that usually move around. The vampire that turned me is one such elder."
"So, just how old are you?" Cordelia asked.
"Not quite 800," replied Nick. "I would be considered a patriarch if I followed the rules."
"Rules?" questioned Gunn. "Vampires have rules?"
"Actually, yes," said Wesley. "Although rules may not be a very precise term. They're more of guidelines, really. As I understand it most vampires follow the rules and those who don't are rarely punished. But it's in the vampire's best interest to follow the rules."
"At least the ones that suit them," said Angel. "Some vampires make a regular habit of flaunting the rules. There really aren't that many and as Wesley said, most follow the rules for their own self-preservation."
"Most Stryx follow the rules," said Nick. "We have enforcers who make sure there are no flagrant violations. Most of the rules are in place to keep the mortals from finding out who we and what we are. If our existence should become common knowledge it could be disastrous. And that's what would happen if the vampire wars started up again."
"What about this Dhampir?" Angel asked. "Why would she want to kill an elder and start the war all over again?"
"She blames her sire for what she is," said Nick. "And she hates what she is. She wants to punish him and make him suffer as much as she believes she has. So she thinks the best way to do that is to kill a Vetala elder thereby violating the covenant. She knows if she does that there will be open warfare between the two vampires and in all likelihood they'll end up wiping each other out."
"I'm not seeing a problem with this," said Cordelia. "It just means fewer demons to have to deal with."
"And fewer humans," said Angel. "When vampires are injured they need blood to recuperate. And the more severely injured the more blood they need. Imagine hundreds of vampires all severely hurt from fighting each other needing blood to recoup their strength. The results could be disastrous."
"Exactly why I've come to you," said Nick. "Her simply being here puts the covenant in danger. If she is successful in killing the Elder it will wipe it out all together. We have to stop her before she does that."
"But Dhampirs are characteristically weaker than most full vampires," said Wesley. "What makes you think she would even be capable of killing an Elder?"
"Because her father was an Elder," said Nick. "That makes her more powerful than your average Dhampir. She doesn't care if she dies in the process so she won't be worried about protecting herself from other vampires. Once she's taken to the Elder all she has to do is concentrate on killing him."
"Elders aren't easy to kill," said Angel.
"Another Elder can kill one," said Nick. "And as the offspring of an Elder it's quite possible she could do it. That's why we have to stop her."
"I seem to recall something similar to this in one of my books," said Wesley. "It was something I read when I was in training to be a Watcher. Perhaps there's something in there that could help us find her."
"You check your books," said Angel. "Gunn, I need you to check with your sources. See if there's any news of a new vampire in town. Anything that fits this Dhampir Nick told us about."
"On my way," said Gunn.
"Cordy," said Angel, "I need you to stay here and coordinate things. If any of you come up with anything call Cordy. We'll check in every hour so she can pass on information that we've collected."
"What are you going to be doing?" Cordelia asked.
"We need to find this Dhampir before she can get to the Elder," said Angel. "While I have no love for a vampire Elder I don't want to see a war started that will cause thousands of innocents to be killed. Once the sun goes down we'll go see if we can find her. With any luck we should be able to stop the Dhampir before she can do any damage."