Author's Notes: Hello everyone, I hope that you liked the last chapter and that you like this one as well, as always I own nothing.
After leaving the wagon Karl left the camp and headed back to the cave. The vampire, as expected, was still resting. Not wanting to disturb it and have to answer were he had been he carefully laid himself back down on his blanket he fished the amulet out of his shirt where it had been resting next to his emblems of Sigmar and Ulric, he did not feel right having a magical item next to where the emblems of two gods who both disapproved of magic were.
He found himself uncomfortable with the choices he had made since he had…become what he had become. He had become what many would consider an abomination, he had consorted with wizards, allied with an undead creature and…had been with a Chaos worshiper and now he was working with a vampire and trusting to the magic of those who were said to collude with vampires, though he was as well that one did not really count. For a moment anger and fear welled up within him at the thought of what might be awaiting for him when he passed into Morr's realm. He had not asked to become this, for any of it! It wasn't fair! In his frustration he slammed his fist into the ground. Nearby the vampire stirred but did not awaken.
Karl paused till he was certain that the vampire would not waken, hardly daring to breath. Once he was sure that it would not awaken he took a deep breath and forced himself to relax, waking the vampire would not do any good. Slowly, he felt himself calm, he had not asked for any of this to happen, surely the gods would understand this, wouldn't they? He had to hope so as there was nothing he could do about it. Besides, hadn't a traveling priest once said that Sigmar judged men by their deeds? Ever since he had met Marx everything that he had done had been to protect the kingdom which Sigmar had formed and would continue to do so for as long as he was able. Satisfied with that he rolled over and went back to sleep.
"Get up you lazy beast!" The vampire told him some time later. Karl growled and slowly rose to his feet. From the lack of light he could see that night had fallen.
"At last you're awake," the vampire said; "I was beginning to think you would sleep the night away!"
"I am awake! I am awake!" He grumbled as he pulled his boots back on.
"Where have you been?" She asked. "I sense magic on you that I did not before and I smell human on you." So Karl gave a brief recounting of his meeting with the Strigany and the charm that Mother Tshilaba had given him. When he finished she snorted in derision.
"So you are staking the success or failure of our task on the advice of a hedge-wizard lackey of the filthy Strigoi."
"You have any better ideas?" Karl snapped at her. "Besides, aren't you vampires all one big happy family?" He knew vaguely that that wasn't true, but he was not entirely sure how all of the vampires interacted with one another and he wanted to get under her skin, it worked. The vampire's face flushed with anger.
"I am nothing like those…creatures! We of the Lahmia bloodline are the daughters of Neferata, the oldest and greatest of all vampires! The Strigoi are the ill-begotten spawn of Ushoran, as self-styled ruler whose arrogance far outpaced his abilities! It is an insult to even be spoken of in the same sentence as those grave skulkers!" The venom in her voice was so intense that Karl backed up from her.
"Alright, alright," he said in a conciliatory tone; "But do you have a better idea?" After a moment of thought the vampire reluctantly shook her head. That being settled they began to move. After packing up their belongings they took quick substance and were off. As they mounted their horses Karl fingered the amulet and hoped that it would do what he had been promised it would.
The camp was still there but they rode around it and did not speak with any of them. Once they were on the other side the amulet began to glow slightly and suddenly Karl could smell their prey again. It was faint and fading but he could smell it again. Determined not to lose the trail again he set a fast pace and pushed them hard. The trail was faint but there was still enough for them to follow and while fading it was still strong enough for them to follow. All through the night they rode, not pausing to eat or rest. Though they rode hard Karl remembered Mother Tshilaba telling him that what they sought were two days away, even if they could move faster than a caravan could it was still unlikely that they would make it that night. With that in mind he began looking for shelter. They found it an hour before sunrise, a farmhouse that was clearly abandoned, its roof decayed and fallen in in places. Not wanting to go any farther and risk having the vampire caught in the sunrise they stopped there, Karl stabled the horses in what was left of the barn while the vampire went to the root cellar, after the horses were seen to Karl went down to join her.
The place had clearly seen better days and had not been used in some time. The dust was thick on the floor, rotting food hung from hooks on the ceiling. In the center of the room, a look of disgust on her face, was Helena.
"This place," she declared; "Is even filthier than that cave." Karl rolled his eyes.
"Oh forgive me my lady, allow me to go get the cushions and silk sheets." Her response was a derisive snort.
"Trust me, I studied courtly manners under the tutelage of the Sisterhood, you attempts at insult and sarcasm are laughable. You should leave it to others and stick to what you are good at, growling and biting things. Although I will admit that your master has done a good job in training you not to soil the carpet."
"OUR master!" Karl reminded the vampire. "Also, you are no longer in the Sisterhood and you had better get used to more, rugged conditions." She had nothing to say to that for a while and Karl thought it had settled in for the day. He had curled up, prepared to follow the vampire's example when it began to speak again.
"Do you still disagree?"
"Disagree about what?"
"The validity of my arguments about how things would be better if my kind held dominion over these lands. If they were in charge then the creatures we hunt would have been destroyed long ago."
"If your kind is so wise then why have they not done so?" Karl demanded, mostly to be disagreeable.
"Because of the ignorance and fear of others!" The vampire declared angrily. "We have to spend so much time hiding ourselves from humans who would destroy us when they should be acknowledging our leadership and guidance! If they did then we would be able to hunt down and destroy not only the ones that we are hunting but all of these wretched cults that would damn the world."
"So the choices for humanity is either to be ruled by the undead or by the damned!" Karl demanded, feeling his anger rise. "Is there really a choice in that?!"
"We are nothing like those…things!" The vampire snapped at him. "We would bring peace and order to the world. And it is not as if we would go about devouring people left and right, which would be stupid! You saw that…person I am forced to feed on is quite alive. People would be happier and safer under our rule and I would not have to be tramping all over the countryside with a wretched mutant!" With that the vampire went to sleep. Karl at first was too stunned to speak, then anger rushed through him. How dare the vampire, a glorified leach as far as he was concerned, call him a mutant! He was prepared to tell it so when he realized that that seeing how angry it made him would give it pleasure and he refused to rise to the bait. So instead he went to sleep himself.
When the sun again set they rose without speaking to one another and departed. They retrieved the horses and set off again. Fortunately, the amulet still performed and they were able to follow the scent of their quarry. Though they did not say anything he noticed that Helena seemed to be gaining in energy. She must have noticed his attention.
"Can you not feel it? The wind of Shyish, the wind of death, it is strong here. It seems that the witch was truthful in this matter at least." A look came into her eye and though she said nothing more Karl had a feeling that he knew what the vampire was thinking. He would have to take that into account.
Soon, in addition to the amulet, he could smell other scents and he did not like them. He smelled rot, decay and vile magic. He grinned in a feral manner to himself. He looked over at the vampire and she silently nodded in agreement. They had found the ones they had been seeking. Without speaking they dismounted their horses and tied them to a pair of trees. Karl drew his weapons and he felt a tingling as the vampire gathered magic. By sunrise either they or those they sought would be dead.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I hope that you liked this chapter. Next time we will have the battle so I hope that you will like it. Till next time, please pray for the Americans held in Iran, a man who was shot near where I live and all the others who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.