Author's note: I appreciate again all of your kind and constructive reveiws. It also helps me learn details I would not have noticed before hand. *pours a cup of tea for everyone* :)

I just finished this chapter today and have split this into two chapters after I realized it was a bit long. And so I decided to go ahead and post it just to get the story moving into the direction that is at the heart of my story.

Also: *Small blood and gore warning. Not too graphic but more implied* I hope you all continue to enjoy. Thanks very much. :)

Chapter 14

Bhalasaam.

Bhalasaam is falling.

Ashley observed Malak's senistive brown eyes waver with emotion in the dim dark light.

She had heard this name before.

It was the city where her mom, Druitt, James, Will and Clara where going—to retrieve the Source Blood. Unknowingly of course that Nikola was waiting for them when they finally arrived.

"Bhalasaam," she said to herself recognizing the connection.

"Yes, you have come to seek shelter have you not?" The Vampire stood still. Arms at his sides.

Ashley raised her gun higher to follow his movement and as she did she saw that her Vampiric nails stretched out from the handle of her gun.

Oh crap.

"Nope; not here to hide," she huffed gently, bringing her right arm inward to her chest and cradle it there. Careful not to curl her hand inward—her nails were like thin daggers.

His question brought her back to a state of lucidity and she realized where she had just been. A deep aching weight surged in the pit of her stomach as she remembered the whole of Praxis enveloping into a nuclear weapon-like explosion cloud.

She swayed back a step lowering her gun, nearly dropping it to the floor. She blinked away the darkness clouding her eyesight and slowly let her back come in contact with the hard stone behind her as she slid down to the floor to rest.

She could feel her heart rate increasing as the images of the brightly expanding light washed over her as the concussive force of the sonic wave knocked her off her feet.

"Gregory," she murmured quietly as her face lowered down almost slack.

Malak had watched her lower herself to the ground. He obviously could tell she was deeply distraught.

"This name you speak of? Is he a friend?"

Malak pulled down his black vest a bit as he bent down into a seating position against the rock face behind him.

Ashley just remained quiet staring at the cold ancient granite floor beneath them. The space was roughly the size of Helen's favorite balcony perch of her Sanctuary. Three tall walls stood around them. One to her left; containing the secret entrance that spanned about ten feet in length, one behind her, and one across from her. The ceiling was tall; about ten feet in height that arched in a curving half circle above them. To her right the small foyer like entrance led to an open drop that looked to reveal an open chasm the size of a football field. So she guessed. The light from the torch only hinted of the distances and depths. She could also just make out a stairwell leading down facing to Malak's left.

Malak surveyed her face as it contorted and strained as she fought to keep from letting out her sadness.

The Vampire listened to her heartbeat flutter in her chest. Vampires had incredible senses and her heartbeats sounded like loud thuds as he concentrated his hearing to listen.

She is scared he thought.

Ashley pulled her knees to her chest as she cradled her right arm against her stomach. She still held her gun at her side—on guard.

Ashley then buried her face into her knees.

Malak watched as her shoulders shook with every silent cry she sobbed. He could smell the salty air of her tears fill the spaces between them. He feared she had lost someone she loved. Perhaps a husband.

If only he knew.

"I have lost many close to me," he said softly and slowly as if each word was a calculated art form.

"I had three brothers. They perished as we made our way through the forest. Russian soldiers fired upon us all as we fled into the mountains. Our healing gifts are invaluable but not entirely when faced by cannon fire. As you know our kind is not wanted," he paused letting his breath struggle. "So we are hunted."

Ashley listened to his words as he spoke softly. His tone was sincere and had a reservation that reminded her again of Will's persona. It was comforting in a way.

Malak continued his story as she lifted her head; her chin resting on her knees revealing a tear soaked face, pale and tired. She looked across the expanse of about seven feet of where he sat. His skin was white; a complexion more pale than she'd ever seen. His eyes were large and brown, light brown almost hazel as she stared closer—none threatening. He was close shaven and had a relaxed calm expression; friendly and inviting.

Malak leaned his head into the granite rock wall behind him and decided to ease the conversation and start with the subsidies of greetings.

"You have already learned my name; it is only befitting I tell you a little more about who I am."

Ashley just blinked as she gave a slight tilt of her head in acknowledgement.

"I was born in Toulouse France; January of the year Fourteen hundred and nine."

Ashley's breaths faltered in her chest only to be released fully after nearly 10 seconds of holding her breathe involuntarily.

Malak raised his eyebrows at her surprised response. "Yes," he confessed, "that is far young an age of a Vampire as only the eldest have survived the centuries."

"Is that true," she asked shocked—but more so at the fact of the year he was born.

"Yes," he answered in kind not sure she fully understood him. Any Vampire less than four thousand years old were practically unheard of, if not the rarest of the last surviving blood line.

"May I ask your name," he asked as he pulled his legs up to rest on bent knees.

"Yeah, my name is Ashley," she said in a low raspy voice as she was starting to feel really tired all of a sudden.

"Well it is a privilege to meet you Ash ley."

Ashley noticed how he said her name, as if it was two separate words.

"May I also enquire your age?"

Ashley had no plans on revealing her actual age so she just played along best she could for the time being and regretted looking as young as she did at this very moment. She was never a good storyteller.

She took her hand off her gun placed beside her hip on the stone floor and wiped her tears from her face. White powdery limestone dust clung to her forehead and the left side of her face and along her neck. She carefully wiped the blood rivulets away but each wound continued to stream slowly down pooling between her eyes.

"Uh, yeah, I'm eight hundred years old," she answered wiping the remaining blood from her jawline.

Malak raised his brown eyebrows to her with a soft smile, "that is remarkable. You are young I do dare say. Almost incredulous," he slowly shook his head in complete disbelief but smiling nonetheless. "Well now, you are the youngest Vampire I have ever met. This is a most unique circumstance of our meeting. May I also enquire where you are from?"

Ashley was a quick thinker. As a daughter of Helen Magnus, her knack for improv sometimes had been a god send. It was how she had dealt with Silvio's manner when she would have to tone down his salesmen bullshit in acquiring good deals on weapons.

"Um, I was born in a city named Yoda."

"I have never heard of such a place."

"Yeah well, it's far, far, away."

Ashley knew something was off first with the antiquated weapons fire, and now staring at someone who looked like they popped out of a Mary Poppins' chalk drawing; she had no further reserve and had to ask the year.

"So, just to make things clear, I am eight hundred years old. So that makes the year…?" She pretended to try and count numbers in her mind hoping it would get Malak to answer in response.

"Yes, our year is Nineteen hundred and five."

"And so it is." Ashley said with a fake smile.

How the hell am I going to get back home?

She had never made a jump this far back in time. Hell she had jumped into the future, back in the past, and in the vicinity of the Sanctuary, then back again to Gregory. It seemed random at best. But she would have to make every effort not to jump again unless she could discern a method of exacting her jumps to finite dates.

Now more than ever.

If that was even possible.

Echoes of violent torrents barely audible continued to grace the spaces beyond their safe haven reminding Ashley of the horror of being lost in time. For a brief moment she buried the thoughts of how she would survive this. And how she could get a message to her mother. If at all.

Malak took notice of her abrupt turn of her head to focus on the sounds outside the walls.

"We are safe in here. I can assure you."

He actually bowed his head into a nod to her.

A piece of burning debris fell onto Malak's shoulder causing him to look up above him. He flicked the burnt ember off his shoulder that had fallen from the above torch and stood up. Malak raised the torch from its base with his left hand and raised it to light the spaces around more brightly.

He turned back to look down at Ashley. "You speak that you have not come here for protection."

"I did," she replied grabbing her gun and slowly standing to her feet.

"Then why have you come?" His words were almost helpless.

He stood still. His free hand hanging limp at his side.

Muffled explosions and gunfire still coursed the air from behind the stone doorway. Each implosion thudded against the ancient stone like rain fall. These noises bled in and out of Ashley's hold on her concentration.

She replayed his last question in her mind, 'then why have you come?'

If only she could give him the real reason.

"I can't answer that. I sort of just dropped in."

He kept his head angled toward her to show he was still acknowledging her in his dictations as he listened intently to the chaos raining down upon them from outside the walls.

"Our walled sensors alerted your presence when you appeared here."

"It did," she said in bewilderment.

"And I must be quaint with you; you are the only other traveler I have known besides my father," he said nonchalantly as he looked down at the stairwell before them.

"Uh, what," she retorted.

"My father was a traveler I mean to say. Like you."

"I don't know what that means," Ashley said as she coughed a thick white paste from her throat. Spitting the rest of the inhaled limestone dust out to the floor below her.

Malak looked back at her and smiled.

"You can travel the world in a moment's time and be anywhere in a blink of an eye. Correct?"

Ashley had a list of expletives she was dying to spat out in a fit of uncontrolled babbles in disbelief but decided to respond with a condescendingly, "You are correct mon ami."

She at least new basic French—mon ami, meaning my friend.

"Have you come to bring us to freedom?" His voice hitched for the first time in such a manner that she thought he was going to shout out in joy.

"What?"

"You are a traveler. You can disappear us out correct?" His tone was eager and filled with hope.

Ashley let her heart sink in her chest. If only teleporting was something she could control.

"I can't control my uh, traveling. It's sort of a new thing with me. Sorry."

Ashley watched his face fall from the anticipation and hope.

"I am sorry," he said.

"Me too."

"My father was killed when I was young. Such raids and attacks on our kind, as you know, have been a crime for centuries. He would be the one to aid your as I cannot."

"Well, I have been able to control it twice now. So I should try to concentrate on the specifics from those times right?"

"That would be most prudent. If you have done so before; you have the ability then to keep control. You will only have to find it again."

Ashley nodded to his encouragements. For the last few hours of her life she has been injured and emotionally broken without a single moment to catch her own breath. Now maybe she could have sometime in her own thoughts and figure out something. Anything that would allow for her to gain control.

"Now," he said gesturing to the stairwell with the torch, "let us find a safe path to the surface. There is no hope left to save our holy city anymore."

The firelight lit the open spaces around them revealing a blue tint that lingered on every dark gray surface of rock. The stone was cold and old and granite. Heavy limestone that had been carved and or chiseled into a magnificent structure revealing a marvel of ancient building.

The light was low but Ashley could still make out enough detail around her.

The large gigantic wall of stone to her left was full of surface lines like what an arrow head looks like at the tip. Chipped corners and smooth spaces all interweaved together. In fact the whole of the wall looked like one single rock face. She could see that the stairs had been carved from the stone and not joined by means of concrete inlays or any wood work—just never ending dark gray stone.

Ashley dared a look down into the dark abyss below. There was no hand railing just a single drop off to her right. The steps were about three feet wide easy. Without an inch to spare. With each step Malak took the torch light danced further revealing more of the hollow space below.

She stared at the back of his head watching his long hair shift in waves as he walked. He was handsome she thought.

Handsome for a Vampire.

But like a wild animal who could turn on you at any moment.

At any moment she reminded herself.

The air was cold and getting colder with each step they took. But she only felt the temperature drop in her hands and face for her Praxis wardrobe was adaptable.

Malak broke the silence with his curious nature, "may I ask of your recent place of departure before you arrived here?" He kept a strong pace as he descended down each step, almost as if he had every step memorized in his mind.

"You sure do like to ask questions," she breathed quietly. She hadn't meant to say it aloud. When he did not respond to her, she continued. "Ah, yeah, long story. I just need to know how to get out of here." Ashley wiped her forehead with her hand only to find her skin stinging with the contact. Upon turning her hand up to inspect the blood trails she gasped at the sight of a full bloodied palm.

Malak turned around to see her standing still about seven steps behind him. He frowned worriedly. "What is the matter Madam Ash ley?"

Ashley almost laughed out loud at the 'Madam'. Her only release of humor was a raised eyebrow.

"Damn wall fell on my face," her tone full of aggravation. She kept her eyes focused to her palm staring at the dark red blood.

Malak was confused. Vampires are immortal and do not stay injured for long lengths of time.

He caringly stepped back towards her in concern.

Ashley also stepped back. It was instinct for her—an engrained response from years of training with her mom.

"I'm fine. No need to come any closer."

Malak again raised a hand showing himself as no threat. "I will not harm you. We are all brothers and sisters here."

"Well I'm more like a half-sister dude," she said mockingly keeping her eyes fixed on his body language.

The Vampire raised his torch higher to see more of the extent of her injuries.

"You are not of pure blood?" His tone remained calm but Ashley let her left had fall back to her left pants pocket. Ready at any moment to spring free her gun.

Malak and Ashley locked eyes, taking in each other's gaze.

"Duude?" His accent accentuated the u letter. "Is that the name of your kind?" He asked gently.

Ashley was trying to figure out if he had a Hitler complex of discrimination of others because of race or if he believed 'dude' was another off shoot progeny of the Sanguine Vampiric race. The first reason being the last thing she needed.

She watched him carefully as his expression gradually stilled into an inquisitive stare.

Oh hell just go with it she told herself.

"Yep. Call me a half breed. A hybrid. Can't heal fast. Whatever," she offered.

Malak lips spread into a humbled smile. "I have never met a race as yourself."

Ashley could tell he was genuinely enthusiastic about the fact she was not of the purebred so to speak.

"Don't get your manpanties in a bunch Mal. I had no choice in the matter," she spat with another heaved cough of white paste and phlegm.

She chose to give him a nickname because she could. Mal was much more appropriate she thought—courtesy of Firefly.

Like her mother; one has to find humor in dire situations at times or one shall lose their wits.

"You come from a place I have never heard of. And you are a species I have not met."

"You got it," she smirked.

"I have what," he asked with a frown.

Ashley stared back with wide eyes. "Come again," she asked him as if to get him to explain his last statement.

Malak stepped forward.

"What are you doing," she asked taking a step back.

"You asked me to come to you. Did you not?"

"Oh, sorry, where I come from I speak, uh, differently. We have different meanings of words. I was just saying that you are correct with your assumption. I am from a place you've never heard of. And I am different okay. No more questions."

"As you wish Madam Ash ley," he nodded with a bow worthy of royally like Druitt had done to her and her mom after he teleported them both out from the catacombs in Rome.

"And you can stop calling me Madam. I'm not that old," she said letting a slight smile curl her lips.

"As you warrant so my lady."

"Now, where are you taking us?"

"There are many passageways that are miles in length. We must find one without hindrance."

"Peachy," she griped.

"We both must stay near, as strength is found in numbers. My other friend is on the other side of the underground. He is trying to pry loose some stone rocks to make escape." His words trailed off as he returned his direction down the stairwell.

"Come, let us search for freedom."

And so Ashley followed.

Silence filled the spaces as the both walked down a never ending stairwell that finally lead them to the end level.

Ashley was starting to feel a little nauseous now as she felt her head begin to swim in random waves.

She kept her arm cradled close to her chest and continued to follow Malak as they entered a large chamber.

It had four walls with tall columns lining each. In a way it resembled the Parthenon's architecture. As they walked into the room Malak turned to give a glance in Ashley's direction.

"Are you hurt Ash ley? Do you need to rest?"

"No. Let's keep walking. The sooner we get out the sooner I can think straight."

Malak nodded and continued on his walk.

They continued to walk through a massive hollowed out temple and right up to a wide array of steps.

Taking the steps up, nearly a hundred of them, they found themselves approaching an open single corridor.

The small narrow passageway was only about the width of a single door and stretched for a considerable length beyond them.

Walking out of the large open room and into the narrow corridor, Ashley started to think back of when she teleported over to her mom at the Sanctuary.

She had made it to her, then down to Henry's lab. And again in those moments she was overwhelmed with fear and stress. If only she could figure out how the hell it worked.

She started to imagine her mom again and she started to picture the year 2011 in her mind. She then pictured the month of June in her mind.

Nothing.

Not even the faintest of an electrical static.

She felt like she was in one of those dreams where you try to take off running, and you actually raise your knees to jog, but you feel stuck in slow motion with weakness aching in your legs.

That's sort of how she felt.

"Damn it," she scowled at herself wishing she could will herself home.

Malak quickly turned around raising the torch towards her.

"Ash ley please sit. You are injured. Please let me assist you."

"Assist me? What do you mean assist me," she said on guard and a bit fearful.

Malak pulled a white handkerchief from his vest pocket slowly with his right hand.

"Please. I will not harm you. Let us take rest."

Ashley eyed him carefully as another wave of nausea crashed through her senses causing her to sway back a step.

"Okay, taking rest we shall." She felt like she was living through a deranged play of Shakespeare.

Ashley gently lowered herself to the floor letting her back lean against the rock as she pulled her knees up.

Malak placed the torch into a granite hook hold along the wall.

She watched him as he bent down on one knee as he braced a hand against the wall.

He smiled as he raised the handkerchief to her forehead.

"You remind me of someone I once knew many years ago," he said as he gently blotted at her deep lacerations on her forehead.

She winced and drew her head back.

"I am sorry I do not mean to hurt you."

"Seriously, Mal, I've had worse. It's fine."

He nodded and continued to blot and press the cotton fabric to her forehead to clean away the grit and blood.

"As I was speaking before; you remind of a woman I once knew. She had an inner warrior, determined spirit. Just as I sense in you."

"Well that's me in a nut shell," she said closing her eyes to avert watching her vision swim once more.

Malak took the white fabric and folded it over once, "nut shell?"

"Yeah, it means 'whole'. I mean, how you describe her and me is the same."

"Oui," he laughed under his breath.

He smiled, his gentle brown eyes carefully detailing the wounds on her face then raised his handkerchief again.

"What was her name?"

Malak ran the handkerchief down across her jawline and her neck, ever so tenderly to wipe away the debris.

"Her name was Jeanne."

"Jeanne. That's a pretty name."

"Yes. She was strong willed and very brash but never faltered in her beliefs. I accompanied her through her travels into Orleans and Reims, both French provinces many years ago. But history would adorn her as Jeanne d'Arc."

Ashley sighed and blinked heavily, "Joan of Arc?"

"Yes Ash ley. I was one of many Vampires who laid siege to the provinces under her command. But we were infiltrated and hunted in large groups after our conquests and I barely survived the onslaught. I was not able to save her as I had planned; as I had promised. She was burned to death as we all know. A dreadful end to an inspiring and beautiful heart." Malak lowered his eyes and looked down to straighten out his crumpled vest.

Ashley had noticed a single tear had fallen onto the granite floor next to her black boot.

Ashley placed a hand to his shoulder as she finally felt sure enough to do so.

"We all lose the people we love in life. At one time or another. We just have to learn to live with it. May I suggest a saying that me and my mom say to help us grieve through the process of death?"

Malak twisted to his side so he could sit next to her.

"Yes, please share your words."

"Nos must amitto vivo in."

Malak eyes glanced upwards as if he was translating the Latin.

"We must let go, to live on?"

Ashley sighed a response of amazement. "Yes. It is something only me and my mom say. It is a constant reminder of how we must deal with death, if we were to lose each other."

"I like the words Ash ley. I promise I will use them." He closed his brown eyes and repeated the words, but did so in French.

Ashley smiled as she watched him.

Malak returned to look at her again. "You have a similar garment as she would wear as well." He pointed to the hoody along the back of her neckline. "Jeanne had chosen to wear such chain length armor head coverings in battle but only pulled the remaining head wear over her head just moments before she set out on her pilgrimages. It was very heavy but she wore each garment and battlement as her soldiers did."

Ashley was still in awe of the wondrous historic ages he had lived through.

And how often does one get compared to Joan of Arc; from someone who actually knew her.

"She must have been one brave woman."

Malak smiled giving her a nod. "Yes she was."

A moment of silence passed between them before he spoke again.

"Now, may I ask in reference to your traveling ability? I had never been able to ask questions to my father about his gift as he died when I was quite young." His tone was innocent and full of wonder.

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

Malak straightened his posture and shifted so he could face her better.

"You say you have no control? But you did so before. Correct?"

"Yes," she sighed shifting her shoulder to lower her forearm into her lap.

"I think I may be able to render some assistance."

Malak jostled something from out of his vest insert pocket. Ashley watched with deep curiosity as he rummaged through the little black pocket.

He pulled out a handful of coins.

"My father always kept a pocket full of coins with him and never was about without them. And he did so for nearly seven thousand years. He said that it helped in travel. So maybe they can help you. After he died I have kept them in my pockets every day."

He opened his hand to reveal a large array of ancient coins. About thirty of them.

"Oh my god those are old," Ashley said aloud, her voice bright with enthusiasm as she made out the small impressed faces and dates on the small coins in the dim light.

"Yes they are. Some come from the age of Julius Caesar and ancient Greece."

Ashley had never fathomed ever meeting a Vampire. And surely not one as interesting as this one. She continued to stare in quiet awe as he turned each coin over to show her the detailing and color, dates, and size in comparison to the others.

"Most of these are gold as well. I had always assumed that this element helped him in his travels."

"You mean like the gold itself helped him disappear?"

"You are indeed a bright student Miss Ash ley," he replied. "He just always said it helped him so I would like for you to have them. Perhaps one day they can help you."

"Malak," she said loud in defense of his kind gesture, "I could never take these. These were your father's. They belong in your family."

Malak reached to her left hand and opened her palm, placing the coins into her's. "I have no family left and I have had my joy with them for much longer that you have been alive. Take them and may they help you one day."

Ashley just shook her head as she closed her fist around the coins.

"You must concentrate now on controlling your gift. For we cannot stay down here for all eternity if we fail to find a route free of obstruction."

Ashley opened her hand again and ran her fingertips over the coins feeling the weight and watching them glisten in the torch light. There were a number of copper coins in the mix too. So many old ones and early French ones too.

"Yeah, well like I said, it's a gift I cannot control."

"Not yet," he said optimistically.

"May I," he asked pointing back at the coins in her hand.

"Sure."

He took out a coin and got to his feet and walked about ten feet away and placed it on the ground. He then walked back and sat next to her. "Now, place the coins into your pocket."

She let the coins fall into her zipped jacket pocket and zipped it closed.

Malak pointed to the coin on the floor. "Imagine the coin. Look where it is. Think of the distance that is between you and the coin. Now imagine yourself standing next to it."

"It's not that easy Mal," she was trying to stave off another whirl of dizziness and was beginning to feel overheated within the last minute or so.

"You can do it Ash ley. Please try. It is a remarkable gift to have. One that I do envy in you. Please. Try."

He had seen his father disappear countless times as a young child. His father would bring him to every standing and toppled over wonder of the world. In a day's time he had remembered seeing the pyramids of Egypt, the Mayan sun temples, the castles of Scotland and many others that would take some people lifetimes to see. It was a gift he marveled at and wished he had. Who wouldn't?

But his father had the stunning luck to have seen them built—brick by brick—and stone by stone.

"If you try at best, just to humor me so; then I will be grateful." He smiled once more—his light brown eyes a huge contrast to the snow white color of his skin.

"Okay, you win. So just look at the coin right?" Ashley looked over at the coin, a little blip of a shadow across the floor.

"Yes. And imagine how far it is from you. And picture yourself standing near it."

Ashley inhaled a deep breath very slowly and tried to clear her mind from her ever growing exhaustion, the pain of her wounds, the year in which she was in, and that of Malak's cute face.

"Here goes…" she said.

Ashley kept her eyes on the small shadow of the coin. Trying to imagine how many steps it would take for her to get to it. Then she imagined herself standing over the coin.

The hallway beyond her went on for miles it looked like. The shiny grained granite reflected like a geo against the flickering flame of the torch light. The surface of the walls seemed to twinkle in random spaces like diamonds when they catch light within the intricate cuts. Such a beautiful place to be trapped though. For it was truly another wonder of the world.

Malak and Ashley stayed motionless in the low wavering light. Malak kept his eyes on Ashley and dared not even breathe a breath.

Silence.

Silence.

Another deep breath.

She exhaled slowly.

Silence.

The torch flame cracked and sparked the coal embers.

With a wisp of cold air and a flash of red flare; she was gone.