Scene 9

D was sheer magic.

That's what crossed Leila's mind as he leapt off his still-galloping steed, the after-image of him pierced by the dragon's swiftly darting claws. His cape flew up as the wings of a bat as the dhampire hung in the air for a few seconds, superimposed against the shining moon and the slashing rain. Then his sword leading the way in a long silvery flash, D came down, cutting the dragon hard against the neck.

Blood showered down and the dragon gave a roar of rage and pain. His tail swung, attempting to knock the dhampire away. D was a heartbeat quicker, slipping out of the way and leaping back onto his still running horse. With a hard yank on the reins and the dark-haired dhampire turned her to a sharp right, not taking a single blow the entire time.

And that all done without disturbing his long-brimmed hat.

Rain continued its march down, leaving its mark on the dhampire and the vampire. Still D attacked like it barely touched him, maybe because of his unique pedigree, or perhaps of the hatred burning in chest that Leila knew had to be there. Meier fared less, his steel claw flying out like a five-fingered spike, narrowingly missing the dragon's haunches. They would have to finish this battle quickly since not doing so would surely tap the energy of the half-blood and the full-blood since the rain sapped their strength at varying degrees.

Neither did Leila stay still, firing her rocket launcher at the creature. It took to the sky to evade the burning rocket, which instead left a huge hole in the steps, sending smoke high in the sky like an echo after the dragon. With it overhead Leila figured it be an even greater adversary, as Meier was grounded and her weapons could only fire up so high. But neither hampered D who launched himself off his horse again.

Again that sparkle of magic, that fire shooting in her veins to watch the theatre of swordplay D displayed against the dragon. The blade left several marks along the creature's flank, blood raining down.

The battle in the sky, the defibilating rain...none of that seemed to stop D, fueled by his desire to strike back against the man who'd given him life.

But what kind of life was the question...what kind and for what purpose?

Flames burst out of the dragon's maw, forcing D to spin away. Leila revved up her motorcyle, dodging the flames, but Meier was not so fortunate being almost directly below with not enough time to get out of the way. The human woman fully expected to see a charred mess on the ground when the smoke vanished, but the vampire lord's sharp mind saved him. His cape flew up, blocking the fire almost entirely. Even then Meier was forced to retreat somewhat, overcome by a coughing fit.

Fire and rain were no friends of those of vampire blood.

Still D fought on even as his comrades were mostly reduced to defending tactics. Framed by fire and rain, the dhampire appeared even more otherwordly as he took to the sky again, black cape whipped out like a mystic bird. His sword left a line of white light across the dragon as it opened its maw again. That line cut across its left wing, issuing forth more blood.

"D, look out!" cried Leila, as she pushed up her googles.

"The dragon!" That was Meier, his claw retracted as brought his horse to the human woman's side.

The dragon lost altitude, spinning down. The scream of rage, pain and fear that burst from its maw needled Leila's ears. D hung airborne only about a hundred feet underneath the falling dragon, and Leila cringed, hoping desperately that the dhampire would make quick his escape. But with D nothing could ever be so simple, as he instead took the opportunity to rain more blows on his opponent, entirely ignorant or uncaring about his percarious situation.

"D, get out of the way!" demanded the vampire lord.

"Please, D!" Leila couldn't understand why he chanced so much considering that the fall alone would probably kill the dragon, and all the other blows were overkill.

But safety was never something the dhampire let his mind linger on.

Then the dhampire finally twisted his body at the last second to escape being crushed by the dragon's body as it came down hard on the courtyard grounds. But D didn't get away fast enough or didn't think carefully enough for as he rolled to evade the belly, a single claw whipped around at an odd angle and pierced D in the back.

"No!" That single sylabel cut into the air as that single claw cut into D's skin.

It was a slow, horrifying moment to watch as the dhampire stumble to his knees. The sword clanked out of his reach. He took a few breaths, gagging. His body twisted and the dhampire lifted a hand to extend for his sword but D was out of strength and slumped to his side. A pool of blood quickly expanded around him like a shroud of melted roses to mark his grave.

"No," whispered Leila. She jumped off the motorbike and rushed to his side. Her knees were steeped in blood. Cradling the dhampire's head in her lap, she tried to wake him, but D seemed entirely bereft of life, his face even more white than its normally parafin-colored appearance. "Come on, D, wake up! You're gonna survive this!"

Meier came over, similarly distressed. Rain streamed down his body, weakening him yet he still spoke, urgent, "We must tend his wound. Get your medical kit." Without waiting for the stunned woman to react, he sorted through her belongings, locating said kit. Laying it down next to his body, the vampire lord looked aghast at the claw stuck in D's back. Then with a firm yank he pulled it out of the dhampire's back, freeing even more blood.

For a nerve-racking few seconds Leila feared that all the blood that the dragon and D spilt would set free the beast in Meier. But after shaking his head, the vampire lord was in control of himself, setting to task to try to still the flow of life out of the dhampire's back. Leila could see it was a wasted effort for the blood gushed out too swiftly and D was fading too quickly.

She shook him, eyes glistening not just from the rain pouring down her face. "Wake up! I ain't got no flowers to bury you with."

"Flowers...?" The vampire lord peered at her curiously.

But before the human woman could explain another voice spoke up, sounding quite miffed.

"I told you to stop being so foolhardy, D. How many time is this now? Huh? Huh? I ought to charge you a preminum everytime I save your sorry ass!"

A face appeared on D's left hand, twisting around to gaze at the vampire and the human. "Hrmph, he's a handful I tell you...and that's coming from a hand!" There were a few chortles but neither Leila nor Meier responded. They both knew of the countenanced carbuncle, but they both hadn't really asked or talked about it, since D was full of secrets, some they were uncomfortable to discuss. Leftie was one such secret.

"Well don't just stand around like a bunch of idiots. Our buddy D here needs some help." The beedy eyes glanced around at D's back. "What a nasty little wound. He's lucky he bent a bit as he dodged otherwise it would have hit his heart at an angle that might have instantly killed him. A bit of Leftie's magic should patch him up though."

The symbiont then instructed Leila and Meier to feed him some of the gravel, water him from the waterbottle she had and then Leftie sucked in some air. There was even enough of a fire left for him to swallow up, completing the last of the elements. After Leila rolled the dhampire onto his stomach, the symbiont twisted up to face his back, expelling some strange energy into the wound.

After making some slight groans D stood, blood and rain dripping off him. Leila and Meier rose with him, both startled to see such a swift recovery. Even Meier, a vampire, would be hard-pressed to survive a stab through his back at that angle, no matter if it hadn't hit at the perfect angle. The human woman would probably be gone instantly, maybe even before she hit the ground.

There was D, adjusting his hat and reaching for his sword.

"What, no thanks?" demanded Leftie. "That is so you, D."

Still no response as the dhampire sheathed his sword and headed toward the castle. An irate voice halted him though.

"The hand-face is right you know. You'd be dead if it weren't for all of us." Leila had her hands on her hips.

Meier gave a grunt of support for that statement.

D stood with his back to them, the rip in his cape still evident. Wind picked up his hair and that cape, as if to lend more creedence to his aura and beauty. Being pretty wasn't everything Leila knew, and while the dhampire was no villian, there was something dark in his soul that polluted him to empathy and appreciation of others. If he kept that icy exterior around him forever he would never be set free from the loathing and fear of others.

But maybe he perfered it that way?

Either way he owed them an apology but it still stunned the woman when D cast his head over his shoulder, rain dripping off the rim of his hat. The very radiance in his eyes nearly stopped her heart.

"Thank you, all of you."

Then, once again, D strode up the steps, into the castle and out of sight.

Shifting to face her, Meier made mention of something but the human woman didn't hear. Face flushed with anger, Leila raced as fast as she could at the double doors. When she reached them she flung them wide open, seeing D inside walking at a steady pace in the main foyer. As his hand touched the railing of a staircase she darted on ahead. This time the dhampire would be left in her dust, unless he planned to hurry his step.

She couldn't keep the grin off her face at the mild look of surprise on his face when she passed him.

Meanwhile a voice said, highly amused, "I told you that girl had spunk!"