Author's Notes: Hey everyone I hope you liked the last chapter and will like this one as well, as always I own nothing.
For a moment they clung to the shadows then Wilhelmina hissed at him. "Kill the spell caster!" He did not need to be told twice, drawing his swords he sprang forward. He rushed forward, he doubted that he could take the vampire by surprise but he hoped he could take it out before it could use its magic on him. He also wanted to finish it before Isabella intervened, he remembered how well the vampire could fight and that it had mostly been due to her trying to defend her mistress that he had been able to get the upper hand, which not only applied now but she would probably remember Karl and want revenge.
Unfortunately for Karl he was not quiet fast enough, the man guarding the vampire turned and cried out an alarm, the vampire's spell was cut of mid-chant. This apparently was not a wise idea as it stumbled and doubled over, blood pouring from her mouth. As it righted itself it looked at Karl, confusion turning to anger.
"Kill the intruders!" It screamed. Karl could see that the vampire was recovering quickly and he did not want that. As he closed with them the man interposed himself between Karl and the vampire; unfortunately for them his strength did not match his devotion to the vampire. Karl's first strike knocked the man's sword out of the way and his second blade skewered the man through the chest. Karl pulled his weapon free and swung it wildly at the vampire but it was too far away and easily jumped away from the blow. Karl moved to pursue it but he suddenly found his path blocked by another figure, it was the armored form of Isabella. Their eyes locked and Karl saw recognition in her eyes, which was soon replaced by hate and rage.
"You!" She hissed, her voice had a strange ascent, but the hatred was unmistakable. "You murdered my mistress! She took me away from my old life! She gave me immortality! She gave me everything and you took her away from me you filthy animal!" This last was said in a near shriek as she threw herself at Karl. Karl jumped backwards but was not quite fast enough and her rapier opened up a shallow wound across his chest.
Struggling to keep his footing Karl thrust at her with her with his long sword, which she blocked with her main gauche, while she glided to the side of him to thrust at him with her rapier. Fortunately for Karl unlike last time he was now wielding weapons familiar to him. He twisted to face her while parrying her strike with his short sword. He swung at her again, this time aiming at her head. She easily ducked under his blow and from her crouch she slashed at his legs. He leapt into the air tucking his legs under him and the blow past beneath. As he started to descend he lashed out with his right leg. She had been moving in for another attack and did not see the blow coming; it caught her full in the face, breaking her nose and causing her to stumble backwards allowing him to land unhindered.
However, she was able to regain her footing and resume the attack before Karl was able to capitalize on his advantage. After that their duel settled into a deadly dance with neither able to gain an edge over the other. Karl's weapons had longer reach and he was the stronger of the two; while she was still faster and the more skilled of the two with the blade. Also, her footwork was steadier on the uneven ground that they were fighting on. Karl kept trying to get the upper hand by various means; first he tried charging her head on in an effort to catch her off guard but she effortlessly stepped to the side and stabbed Karl in the back, though he was able to move to the side and the wound was not deep. He tried outflanking her but she was faster and moved to the side again and all he got was another wound for his troubles.
But she was not having it all her way in the dual. Once Karl realized that he could not out maneuver her he switched tactics again and focused on using the advantages his weapons had over hers'. His blades where heavier than hers', which were designed for thrusting and parrying whereas Karl's were designed to hack as well as thrust. Unleashing his inner wolf he forwent skill and went for power instead. He pounded her guard as hard and as fast as he could, trying to break through her defenses and deny her a chance to counter attack. It seemed to be working as she began to backpedal and had to divide her attention between blocking his attacks while at the same time watching to ensure that she did not lose her footing on the uneven terrain. Karl was exhilarated by this and inside the wolf howled and urged him to perform the change but Karl refused. While it would give him even more strength he remembered that the last time they had fought the change had not been much of a help against her.
The internal monologue distracted Karl for a moment and he almost did not see it but he just caught it, Isabella's smile. Moving almost too rapidly to be seen she jumped back as Karl struck again. With nothing to hit Karl over-reached and stumbled. As he fought to keep his balance she darted around him, he turned awkwardly and swung wildly at her but she ducked and the blow passed over her head. From her crouching position she thrust her blade into the back of his knee. Karl yelled in pain and his leg buckled and he fell to the ground. As he hit the ground his sword flew from his hand and she kicked it away before he could grab it. She then thrust at his chest but he rolled out of the way and kicked at her knee, it failed to hit her but it forced her back and he was able to get back to his feet, but he was unable to reach his sword.
She now had two weapons to his one and her rapier had a longer reach than his short sword and was able to go on the offensive. Now it was Karl's turn to backpedal, an effort hampered by his regenerating knee, and hers' to press the attack. Free to use her skill to the fullest and it quickly became evident that hers' were superior to his. Her blows came hard and fast almost too quick for him to see and despite his best efforts most of her attacks got through and he was soon bleeding from several wounds. Seeing this Isabella's face broke into a vicious smile.
"Not so confident now are you beast? You should have stayed away, there won't be any watchmen coming to save you this time! I am going to kill you and I am going to do it slowly, I want to experience a fraction of the pain you made me feel!"
Deciding that he had no choice Karl began to put some space between them so that he could perform the change. He did not know if it would do him any good but if things stayed the way they were now he stood no chance whatsoever. She was the better sword fighter and he had not seen hide nor hair of Wilhelmina, whom he assumed was busy with the other vampire, his only hope was to use his wolven form. The wolf howled in agreement as his body twisted and tore as his body underwent the change.
"So the beast shows itself!" Isabella laughed derisively; "As much a freak as any filthy Strigoi!" With that she lunged at him but he had managed to complete the change and he swatted the blade away. He shot his head forward and snapped at her but she dodged to the side. She aimed at his extended throat with her left-handed weapon. Karl shot his arm out and grabbed her arm and hurled her away from him and into a crumbling wall. He bounded after her but she had already regained her feet. She slashed at him, slicing open his nose, he yelped in pain but forced himself to keep going towards her. She turned and ran back towards the wall. She jumped at the wall and then used it to catapult herself into the air and shot over Karl. As she sailed over him she twisted to land on his back. As she landed she thrust her gauche into his shoulder to anchor herself as she brought her rapier up to slash his throat, then a shot rang out.
Isabella shrieked in pain and fell to the ground clutching at her side. Karl looked about to find the shooter but when he saw it he realized that it was not unexpected help, the opposite in fact. From among the ruined buildings swarmed a host of Skaven rushed out and charged the combatants. Karl grabbed the handle of the blade in his shoulder and ripped it out. This elicited a howl of pain from him which seemed to give the ratmen near him pause. Karl knew that he had to act fast, the creatures were afraid of him but with their numbers they could overwhelm him if they were able to gather their courage, he needed to scatter them before that. Throwing back his head he howled again and then charged the Skaven. They were clearly not prepared for him to act in such a way, they were used to foes that they outnumbered to run not attack. He plowed into them slashing left and right with his claws and biting at throats and necks. Taken by surprise nearly a dozen fell to his assault. Some of them appeared on the verge of flight but a larger Skaven at the back lashed out at its fellows, killing several that looked about ready to run. The others seemed more afraid of the large one than of Karl and surged forward again.
Now their numbers began to tell, they swarmed him from all sides and though he killed a number of them there was simply too many of them for him to handle. As more and more piled onto him his actions became more desperate as he tried to break away from them. They seemed to sense that he was growing more desperate and this in turn seemed to fuel their own aggression, several of them grabbing his arms to slow him down. Hemmed in on all sides and barely able to move under the mass of Skaven around him Karl could do little more than watch as the larger Skaven, its lips curled back in a cruel grin, advanced on him, clearly moving in for the kill.
Suddenly, shrieking like a banshee, Isabella struck the group from behind. Her eyes were wild, her lips curled back in a snarl and her fangs extended, she looked more like some demonic creature than a human being. She had retrieved her weapons and was moving faster than ever before, to Karl's eyes she was little more than a blur of motion. Motion and blood, moving in circles like a dervish, she lashed out left and right severing limbs and heads before they could react.
"That creature is mine to kill! You misbegotten freaks!" She continued to kill and maim as she fought to get at Karl. Seeing her rage Karl redoubled his efforts to free himself from the clutches of the Skaven, who suddenly seemed far less confident than they had a moment before. The large one hissed and snarled in an effort to bring the others back under control but was having far less success than it had had before.
"Isabella!" A voice cried out, carried by some means over the sounds of all the fighting. Twisting his head Karl looked for the source of the cry. It was the other vampire. It too was beset by the Skaven and it appeared that all of its mortal followers were dead. It had surrounded itself with its undead servants but these too were succumbing to the Skavens' superior numbers. Isabella hesitated and glared at Karl, clearly torn over what course of action to take. To press on and kill Karl or go back and help the other vampire.
"Isabella!" The cry came again, a definite edge of panic entering the cry. Isabella cursed and turned ran toward the other vampire. The Skaven, focused on the vampire before them, did not seem to either see or hear Isabella coming up behind them until it was too late. Her attacks did not have the savagery that she had shown when she was trying to reach Karl but they were just as deadly. These attacks, combined with the other vampire's magic, broke them. The Skaven broke and scattered, though Karl was not certain if they had gone far. Isabella seemed inclined to head back to resume her attack on Karl but the other vampire restrained her, it had clearly had had enough. It began to chant and as it did so dark mist seemed to rise out from nowhere and covered the area. The Skaven around Karl wailed in panic and emitted the smell that Karl had observed them emitting before when they were terrified. In the confusion their hold on him loosened and Karl took advantage of this and breaking free of their grip though he could not see and the mist seemed to confound his other senses as well. Then as suddenly as it had appeared the mist evaporated.
At first it seemed that nothing had changed but then Karl realized that Isabella and the other vampire were gone, vanished with the mist. With their departure the undead that they had animated fell to the ground and were still. For a moment Karl and the Skaven all stood in silence for a moment, unmoving as they all sought to process this new development. Karl rapidly weighed his options; the vampires were gone but he was still badly outnumbered and he was not at all sure that he could defeat them all. Around him the Skaven seemed to be getting the same idea, already the large one was hissing at the others in an attempt to rally them. Just as it seemed to be working the large Skaven went rigid. For a moment Karl did not understand what was happening until he saw the sword blade sticking out of its chest. As it fell to the ground the air near the body seemed to ripple and Wilhelmina appeared, bloody sword in hand. She raised her staff and chanted a phrase. Shadows seemed to coalesce around her and then form into knives which shot out to impale the Skaven nearest to her. This was too much for the Skaven, they broke and fled. Wilhelmina slumped to the ground, clearly exhausted. Karl ran up to her but she waved him away.
"I am fine, just tired, first the vampire then the Skaven. Go get my bags and then go fetch the vampire, I don't want it slipping away again." Karl was too tired to argue, he just got her bags and then went to the house were Helena had been. She was no longer there but he followed her scent. She had not gone far; she was clearly exhausted and severely weakened by her battle. She turned to look at him, her eyes wide with terror but she was unable to do more than struggle weakly when he slung her over his shoulder and walked back to where Wilhelmina sat.
"Put it down beside me and hold it still." She told him; when Karl did so she produced a necklace from her bag. It was a chain made of gold with a number of golden disks, each about the size of a thumb joint and inscribed with a strange rune. As Karl held Helena still Wilhelmina placed the necklace around Helena's neck, while it allow the vampire to swallow without difficulty it was still a snug fit. As soon as it locked the vampire began to struggle. At a signal from Wilhelmina Karl released the vampire. It immediately began to pull and tug at the necklace.
"What's the matter?" Wilhelmina asked nastily; "I thought your kind liked pretty things?"
"What have you done to me?" Helena demanded, her voice filled with fear.
"Oh, it is a little something our master had made several years ago by some Dwarf friends of his. Dwarfs are rather resistant to magic you know and the runes on the necklace reflect that. As long as it is on you will not be able to use your magic and before you get any ideas, our master did not tell me how to unlock it. So unless you want to take your chances of surviving a confrontation with the beast and I without your magic I would give up trying to remove it." Helena looked mutinous but her hands fell away from it. "Good," Wilhelmina said; "Now here is what is going to happen. The sun is nearly up so I think we will be safe from attack for a while, hopefully we can be out of the city before sundown."
"But I cannot travel in daylight!" Helena interjected. Wilhelmina scowled at the vampire, she clearly did not appreciate being interrupted."
"I know that vampire, if you would kindly be silent for a moment I will explain. I know that you cannot endure the sun, that is why we will be taking that," she said indicating the coach that the other vampires had abandoned. "That will enable us to travel during the day and will discourage you getting any clever ideas." She turned to look at Karl, who was getting clothing out of his own bag. "Load everything onto the coach and then take the reins. Oh, and one more thing," she waved her hand to encompass the numerous corpses that lay about; "Grab one, the vampire looks hungry."
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, this brings this story arch to an end, I hope you liked it. I believe that the Skaven are the only inhabitants of the city now so I hope you did not think their entrance to contrived. Did you think Isabella beat him too badly? I was going for a strength verses skill fight, do you think it turned out alright? Well now that this is over I can take the story several ways: a battle, a hunt or another mystery, please let me know in the reviews if you have one you want. Till next time please pray for persecuted Christians and all others who suffer persecution, the sick, the homeless and runaways, victims of human trafficking, those who suffer, Gail Berry, a friend of the family suffering from mental deterioration and all others who suffer from physical and mental degeneration and all who need prayer, as well as the family of Robin Williams. Bye and may Jesus bless you.