Determination of the Damned

Chapter 8 - The Labyrinth of Count Drisken, Part 2

The sound of water echoed vibrantly along the rocky tunnel as D stalked down its cramped path, measured steps laced with determination, eyes steely and set in stone. Stalagmites and stalactites laced together on either side like teeth of beasts long since dead and forgotten. The darkness was broken only by the stark contrast of his white face and hands. A face of uncompromised beauty.

From a hidden perch, two eyes watched this face and its master carefully. His presence had awoken her from her slumber and she was hungry. So very hungry. She'd thought at first he was a Noble, that bastard Drisken perhaps, the one who had locked her away in this cave. But something about him seemed wrong. Some two hundred yards below, the hunter leapt over a jagged crevice without pause, his face never betraying the skill involved. The two eyes narrowed as their owner smiled. She couldn't determine what breed he was but it seemed so familiar. How exciting…

The man hesitated only for a fraction of a second when his tunnel suddenly opened and split into two. The rushing underground river sounded closer towards the right path, but there was light coming from the mouth of the left. The dhampir hunter followed his instinct and went left at the fork.

"You know this is a trap," that raspy voice which had plagued him all day chuckled with manic pleasure in expectation of seeing the dark hunter in pain. D felt his palm twitch as the parasite smiled. "Spending time with that woman made you soft."

D silently passed by several other blackened passages, each branching from his with open invitations. The dhampir took notice of the gentle curve his tunnel had begun, more passages breaking off here and there. He was on the outer ring of some underground maze it seemed; his pathway was near double the size of all adjacent tunnels he'd come across so far. Some were only big enough to accommodate a moderately tall human.

At last the path he'd been following for several hundred yards ended at another fork. On one side was a deteriorating path which led to more darkness. He'd have to jump over a gash in the earth to reach the other side. The other path was less hostile but something made the hunter pause. It seemed too easy. If he'd calculated correctly, this large tunnel system had led him into a semi-circle around what could only be a central hub. With any luck whatever lay in the middle of this maze would lead him to Maeken and the Dorsley girls. Taking the easier of the two tunnels would lead him away from the center.

D considered the broken path. The distance of this gaping maw was drastic – jagged rocks crumbling to nothing on either side. It was a pit which seemed to go on forever, like a mouth looking into Hell. One mistake from the hunter, a simple miscalculation in step, would end up killing him. The parasite in his hand seemed to be feeling a bout of self-preservation.

"Don't even think about it," it said with strict finality. "Suicide."

D hadn't stopped gazing at the dark crater ahead of him, sizing up his options. He couldn't climb across; although the tunnels had been carved from the mountain, the rocks which made up the wall were inhospitable. He touched one carefully. It crumbled in his hand.

"Dhampir, you listen to me," the voice reasserted, getting nervous. "Don't do it. This isn't even a path. It's…it's…"

The parasite was suffering a lack of words for the first time in its dreadful life. "It's just a giant hole."

The hunter stood at the edge, strange wind from the center of this chasm gushing up and sending his long cape billowing wildly behind him. His eyes narrowed on the impossible edge of the broken path.

"D," the voice warned. "There's been a lot of things I've disagreed with over the years. I've put up with a lot. But…don't do this. I mean it. Take the other path."

The man opened his palm gently and let the particles of rock and sand float away in the breeze. They disappeared into the mouth of black. His eyes watched them go and silently he made his decision.

"D…"

Suddenly the man turned and dashed down the corridor. At a respectable distance his feet came to a momentary stop and he swiveled back towards the broken path. In a graceful leap, accompanied only by the disgruntled screaming of his parasitic hand, the hunter sailed over the great chasm. At the height of such a breathtaking jump, his cape had fluttered open in the wind, like wings of a bat midflight.

"Damn you, dhampir!"

Without a sound the hunter landed expertly on the other side, his body crouched down to absorb the impact. D stood. A tremor shook the earth. The rock beneath his boots began to disintegrate. The hunter swiftly moved to what he thought would be a safer area. It too crumbled.

"No, no no no…" Left Hand whimpered, blaming the half-breed completely. "Why are you always so eager to die!?"

D dove out and caught a stable rock, his path falling into darkness beneath him. Hanging there in open vulnerability the man swayed, his grip on a jagged boulder above the only thing preventing his plummet. His hat had miraculously stayed in place upon his beautiful cascade of hair. A few muffled protests of his hand went unnoticed. Long fingernails dug into the rock. Another hand joined its brother and together they pulled the dhampir up to safety. Below him, at long last a soft plunk was heard. The rocks had finally reached the bottom of this endless hole. It had to be a few miles down.

The man stood and brushed himself off with an unconcerned hand. Without comment he continued down the new path.

"Could have killed us. Me. Could have killed me."

"You are fine," D softly observed, much to his symbiot's chagrin. He'd stopped at another fork and decided on a path which opened into an open cavern. The muffled sound of water had dulled to a roar on the edge of hearing. The path was abruptly cut off by what appeared to be a staircase cut into the rock. D ascended the crude, shallow steps until he'd found himself standing on a platform. Upon his entrance, fire, fresh pools of oil, flickered madly to life in clockwise order from five podiums around the stadium.

An arena, it seemed. On either side of this underground gallery rocks had been leveled into what looked like primitive theatre seating. Three rows went up in tiers around the large central space. Above them stalactites glowed dangerously from the dancing firelight. Sharpened stakes of rock dangling hundreds of feet above. Although at initial glance it seemed this could be the hub D had been looking for, something about it made the hunter doubt it was. D's eyes instinctively alighted onto another outlet. Across the gallery there were two doorways leading to new paths, new tunnels. The man moved towards them.

"Not so fast," A new voice, mellifluous and cold like bells played in a funeral march, trilled down to him. "It's been so long since I had someone to play with. Won't you stay?"

D turned toward the sound. Where there had been no one, suddenly a woman stood smiling in the center of the arena, long dark silver hair framing a voluptuous body. Her clothing was skintight, as if nothing but markings on her naked form, curving its way around her gorgeous torso and over those places best left for intimate dealings between two lovers. Her left breast had been exposed deliciously, white skin creating tempting contrast with the velvety green of her costume. Seductive was her smile. Sinful were her eyes. I've been asleep for so long…

Much to her disappointment the hunter turned to leave once more. Her grey eyes flicked vehemently to where her new toy had been walking. With a screech the two tunnel mouths sprouted iron teeth, a grid gate to fence him out. D calmly observed the new barrier and said nothing.

"Tisk, tisk, tisk," the woman's voice scolded behind him, teasingly. "Is that anyway to treat a lady?"

In a swish of steel and black cape D had dodged her attack, settling with ease where his leap had ended. A purr of joy erupted from this mysterious woman, her laugh tinkling like ice on a melting pond. She let her head fall back with pleasure. Focusing back on him a look of sin, she licked her long deadly nails, drawing blood at their sharpened point. "Wonderful! You are perfect."

The man regarded her for a moment, sword in hand. Something about her seemed familiar but he couldn't place it. Another heated attack ensued, D hardly touching her. She was so agile. In a graceful flip the woman landed upon a boulder, eyes sparkling with mischievous delight.

"What are you?" She smiled sharply, asking with pure curiosity, loving this chance to stretch her legs. How long she'd been imprisoned here she couldn't fathom, but to be awoken by such a creature…The woman stood proudly, displaying her ample body for her hunter to see. D said nothing, looked elsewhere. "Beautiful."

Her eyes glossed over for a moment, lips held seductively between her teeth. He was surely part of the Nobility…but there was something else about him. The woman leapt towards him, swishing her talons out in one fluid stroke before landing, lithe acrobat doing a cartwheel in time around his own swing.

D didn't know who or what she was, but Maeken she was not. He'd at first wanted nothing to do with fighting this woman but now she seemed to be unwilling to let him pass. With skill he dodged her attack and sliced into the flesh of her back with his sword.

She shrieked at the surprise, laying down like a cat on the rocky floor, face staring up at him in a fierce grin. Her back healed promptly. With inhuman speed and dexterity, the woman rolled onto her feet and sprang to the nearest boulder, hissing. Using her strange power, her body lifted from the rocky floor and floated into the air. Her ascent continued until she was safely above him, mingling in with the stalactites. D looked up at her curious form. She was surely a demon of some sort, although he wasn't familiar with her particular breed. He watched her weave along the pillars, sharp nails slicing into the rock as if they were butter.

He once again began for the tunnel mouths and their iron gates.

"You," she hissed, "And where do you think you're going?"

D blocked the attack with ease, her nails coming to a standstill with his blade. Steel burned brightly where the two met. His strength went unparalleled and sent her reeling back into another cartwheel. The woman had at once picked up a familiar scent being so close to him, her eyes widening. Gone was her playful smile. Shock caused her to falter. The boisterous ego had withdrawn and left doubt in its wake. Although it had been thousands of years, she'd know that scent anywhere.

"You smell…you smell like her…"

The hunter said nothing, using this momentary distraction to his advantage. Without remorse he cut her down. She fell to the stone floor with a terrible scream, life draining from her eyes. The fire slowly died around them. Shadows filled the room.

The gates had retreated back into the stone. The dhampir turned away from her abruptly.

"Wait," the demon woman begged, the desperation in her voice causing the hunter to do exactly that despite all he had at stake. Tears slipped from her eyes. Without a word he stared at them, beautiful grey eyes so warm on her cold face. Although D said nothing, he felt something stir within him. Her eyes…they are the same as…

A moment of realization passed over his features. For a split second he allowed emotion to overcome his beautiful mask of a face. Another woman fluttered into this mind. Could it be?

"Tell me, hunter. Why…why do you smell like her? My…daughter?"

The woman lay in a pool of her own blood. It was a miserable way to end. D turned away, her strangled cries doing nothing to his resolve. A few steps had given him enough time for reason and taking pity on the woman, he finally paused and dipped his head towards where she wept.

"I've met her," he said simply but with much feeling. "Your daughter."

"So she's alive?"

Those three words, so full of hope and so tragic, all at once struck him and D looked away. He'd taken another step when the demon spoke again.

"Please," she rasped sadly. "Take care of her."

It seemed like a lifetime before D spoke. His voice held a softness that was undeniable, but within it danced a sharpened edge.

"…I'm sorry."


A strange sensation spread through her neck as the woman cracked it, enjoying the freedom of relaxed joints. She was sure for a moment she had felt D, the memory of him, of their lovemaking. The link they'd created the night previous had been reawakened for just a split second, only to disappear in the next. The dhampir felt loss overcome her but quickly stamped it down. She would be better off without him.

Her horse walked onward slowly. Its rickety knees and uneven posture had proven worthless in galloping, so the two silently crossed the frontier at a measured gait. It had been hours. Icellina's frosty gaze fell over the sandy terrain. Monotonous desert, broken only by spurts of crackling yellowed grass and the occasional boulder. It had not exactly been the sort of journey she'd normally take but there was much waiting to be gained. Ahead of her, along the horizon, the sky had shifted to pink. Sunset was rapidly approaching and with it her body was beginning to wake. Her lover's blood had given her temporary reprieve from the harsh rays of the sun, but it was darkness that she desired. The cloak she'd taken from that miserable town was wrapped tightly around her. A loose end billowed gently in the dull wind of her mount. Soon she'd dispose of it completely.

Her homestead was not far from here, a few days' travel perhaps at this rate. Her dear boy would be waiting. The memory of him was enough to keep her from boredom. Gabriel, that beautiful boy. How she loved him. Not as a lover, like D had been, but all the same. The sky ahead blossomed pink and orange for one last brief show and slowly rolled into dusk.

The huntress smirked, wind playing with the wisps of hair near her beautiful face.

"Soon, Gabriel. We'll be together again."