Dissolution of Arms
By Eerie
Chapter Eighteen: Sealed Fate
The quiet rumbling within the foundations of the great castle faded until all was thick with uncomfortable silence. D raised his hand to his sword, grasping the hilt loosely, his eyes scanning the large hall. A cloud of dust and tiny broken stones shook free from the ceiling and bounced against the floor. Once settled, nothing moved. The hall was completely devoid of its usual unsavory inhabitants.
Caruwyn finally caught on to D's sudden weariness and clutched his weapon firmly at his side. He turned around quietly and squinted into the shadows, searching. Nothing made itself visible, but dread began to lick along his insides with an icy tongue. As he drew his eyes carefully over every niche before him, the faintly familiar sensation of cold fingers passed over his skin; he shuddered and wrapped his arms defensively around himself.
D noticed this and stepped closer to the young man. "Is it him?" he asked softly. He recalled how in blinding rage he had butchered the demon's body to pieces. But then again, he had never met with anything quite like Manx. Perhaps it wasn't enough.
"Yes," Caruwyn replied bitterly, dispelling any of his elder's doubts, "he's coming."
The hunter watched carefully for a moment to make sure the youth was not about to suffer any questionable side effects of his recent recovery. The link between he and the demon was strong, and no doubt it took every bit of his strength to hold back that urge to return to his former state of power.
When the half-breed placed an unsure hand on his shoulder, Caruwyn said, "It's alright. I think I can resist him now."
Though D pulled his hand away, he wasn't sure that the albino was convinced of this statement himself. But he chose to keep faith in his young companion.
Suddenly a thin cloud of black smoke wisped and curled over the floor from the deepest shadowed corner. It seemed to dance about the narrow strip of carpet that lined the center of the hall's long stretch, spreading out and twirling in on itself.
"Remember, you know his blood. Perhaps you can control him," the dhampire whispered as he observed the strange smoke.
Caruwyn, too, kept his eyes locked on the curling wisps, and did not reply. He could feel his muscles go rigid with cold one by one. Fear was trying to gnaw him to crumpling, but he would not give in as easily as when Manx conducted that terrible symphony of blood alive within his veins. Not when he knew that he was no longer alone.
The smoke pulsed like a black heart and began to push out its boundaries, growing thicker as it did so. It swirled out over the floor like unfurling tentacles until the entire span of the great hall's floor was concealed beneath.
The two hunters looked at the smoke that entwined with their legs with weariness. It was freezing to the point of nearly burning, and each could feel it pass through their garments as if they wore nothing. D unsheathed his sword and tried to ignore the sensations creeping up his calves.
Caruwyn's red eyes went round in alarm when he saw the murky tendrils begin their spiraling journey up his legs. As much as he tried to kick at them, they would return twofold from the dense sea of dark fog to claim his vulnerable body. He trembled violently and closed his eyes, frozen in place by the almost sensual touch of the demon's spell. Yet it hurt as well, like liquid knives spilling over his skin. It compelled his feet to move.
D's eyes darted to Caruwyn when the youth began to walk away. "What are you doing?" he all but hissed.
The albino said nothing, had not even heard the hunter's question. A different voice had filled his mind.
'Your place is here with me. I gave you my powers and my oath that I would serve you until the end . . . you cannot abandon me. I am part of you.'
Caruwyn ground his teeth and forced his eyes open. 'No,' he answered mentally, 'I don't need you. I never have.'
The voice tsked. 'Come now, do not deceive yourself. Without me, you would be nothing more than a mere half-breed. My blood is a blessing.'
D tried to command his legs to move but found he could no longer control the muscles concealed within the strange fog.
"Caruwyn," he called out and reached a hand toward the retreating man's back.
The albino suddenly stopped and slowly turned his head to regard the hunter. His voice was tinged with sadness. "You came so far to protect me, now let me do the same for you."
D knitted his eyebrows. "I won't let you do this alone."
A small smile hugged the youth's lips. "I know."
Caruwyn turned away from his mentor and continued to walk steadily through the shallow sea of smoke. He reached out with his mind. 'I no longer want your blessing. You tricked my father because you knew he would not truly love you in return. But your plan has failed.' He smirked to provoke the demon further.
A deep, soft growling filled the air before the reply came, dark and unearthly. 'Wretch. We belong to one another. Though I willingly submitted myself to you, remember that I also made you. I can break you as well.'
Caruwyn's smirk broadened to a smile despite the lingering claws of fear within his mind. 'Then do it.'
The lush carpet of freezing smoke quickly rolled away from the vampire hunter's legs. D watched its collapse mutely and kept his sword hand tense. Rumbling claps of thunder vibrated the floor beneath his feet, threatening his balance, but he kept steady. Something was coming.
Standing perfectly still, Caruwyn gazed up at the swirling pillar of onyx smoke that erected at his feet. Thin daggers of deep purple lightening split its hazy skin and struck the center of the whirlwind to birth a bizarre flame that seemed to emanate darkness. Upon merely seeing it, the albino wanted desperately to flee, to escape the inevitable torment he was about to suffer. But he had someone to fight for; and he wasn't about to allow this evil thing, which provoked him to committing unimaginable acts, to win.
The obsidian flame grew and slowly began to take on form. Burning arms lashed out from its whipping dance and stretched toward the ruined ceiling. Its base split and snaked into the shapes of legs. The body of the fire became the lean body of a man. From the coal-black heart of that burning mass arose a slender neck which fanned out gently to form the demon's long-haired head.
The whirlwind sputtered and plummeted down, spilling its force out over the room in gusts of biting wind. Caruwyn and D held their arms against the blast until it completely dissipated and left the hall strangely still.
The dark light that stood before them, though seemingly solid, had no truly discernable features. There were various curves and angles imbedded within it that portrayed a toned muscle or a smooth plane of skin; but they shimmered and disappeared before reappearing to outline some other graceful piece of anatomy when the creature made even the slightest movement. It was like staring at a flickering existence, a flame confined to flesh.
As it wavered, two invisible lids lifted and revealed a pair of shining, unmistakably real, black eyes. They stared in frightening steadiness at the albino not four steps before them before sparing a profoundly icy glare for the vampire hunter.
"Surprised to see me again, Hunter? You know, I really didn't appreciate what you did to me back there," a voice as deadly and rich as venom-laced cream said from no apparent source within the carved flame. "That was my favorite body."
D returned the glare with equal hatred.
"So," the otherworldly voice continued, "I've come to return the favor."
The demon's black flickering form began to move in the prince's direction, but was stopped short by Caruwyn's outstretched sword. Phantom lips smiled with bitter amusement.
"Now really, what do you expect to accomplish with that? Do you actually think you'll destroy me, who am also a part of you, traitor? Be patient. I'll deal with you as soon as I finish with him."
Caruwyn said through clenched teeth, "I won't let you touch him."
Manx laughed, a sound that made both hunters' stomachs twist. "Won't let me? Hmph. You really are too amusing."
The young man wavered imperceptibly. The demon saw this and let his sinister mirth touch his eyes.
Caruwyn was bound by the malignant orbs that drilled into his, and he couldn't move nor speak. He really didn't know precisely how to execute his pledge anyway.
Manx chuckled again and his form shimmered from head to toe, inducing a shift. The black flames subdued to dark gray and continued to lighten as the albino stared at them. Before long, the black shape transformed to flawless white, its face narrowing and hair retracting back into its scalp all the while. Obsidian eyes became rubies.
Caruwyn gaped now, he could do nothing more. The perfect image of his sire stood before him, studying him.
D watched the transfiguration with teeth grinding so hard they felt as though they would break through his jaw. 'Don't fall into his trap, Caruwyn. Fight him,' he thought forcefully, for his tongue would not obey him.
"My son," the new figure said in the exact low tone of Meier's, "why have you abandoned me?"
The young man's eyes involuntarily began to water as shook his head and said simply, "No."
"You lost the keepsake that I have entrusted to you. You let it fade, and so did I fade along with it." The pale form looked away from Caruwyn's eyes. "Do you love this reckless hunter more than your own father?"
Tears slid down the youth's face as his body trembled. "Why do you torture me like this?"
The shape seemed to consider. "You . . . have not seen true horror. Do not allow it to come into being. Go, Caruwyn, reopen the path to endless night and set our kind free at last. It is a power entrusted to you alone. Release me from my cold grave. How I long to see you with my own eyes once again."
The youth looked up with large eyes, unbelieving of what he had just heard. Would unharnessing the night and the path through the stars bring back the dead as well?
"I . . ." he began unevenly.
"Hurry," the phantom whispered.
While the demon was distracted, D struggled to break the weak spell binding him. Its invisible strings snapped to set him loose before he plunged forward unhesitating with his sword. The blade sliced through the illusion, shattering Meier's startled form like glass. The shards chinked to the floor and melted to cloudy smoke.
Before the billowing ribbons could band together, D shook Caruwyn. "It wasn't real. Do you understand that?"
The youth looked up into the hunter's concerned eyes and forced himself to nod. He had seen the illusion break and known, but it shook him up all the same. That likeness was frighteningly accurate right down to the minutest details. But it was what had been said which haunted him, and he fiercely wondered if it was true. Manx had never spoken of such things before. Was it just a distraction, a trick to bring him back under his control?
Manx's obsidian spirit remained swirling over the floor, occasionally expelling sounds like the hisses of cats. All at once, the murk spiraled into the shape of a massive roiling snake and slithered toward them.
The two vampiric descendents braced themselves to move away from the imposing shape, but it had moved too swiftly. The serpent swept one blurred circle around D's feet and disappeared completely.
Caruwyn opened his mouth to voice his astonishment when he looked at his elder, but his voice froze when D went rigid. The vampire hunter's eyes were open wide in mute surprise, his mouth falling open slightly in horror. The youth watched as several tremors wracked the man's body, as though D were trying vainly to vomit.
Subconsciously, the albino looked to D's left hand in pleading, hoping that the parasite would do something. But the creature's face was not to be seen. The violent spasms suddenly ceased and Caruwyn's eyes settled back on the man's face.
A great sigh escaped the hunter's lips as he straightened, cocking his neck to one side with a loud crack of bones. His hand brought the sword up and sheathed it at his back before turning his strange smoky eyes to Caruwyn. The latter had never been so unnerved, nor thought it possible to be so, when he saw a cruel smirk dominate D's expressionless, narrow face.
"You look like you've seen a ghost, Caruwyn," the hunter said and laughed, its sound nearly throwing the youth to his knees in astonished fear.
D's laughter died at length before he rolled his neck and shoulders again. His hands ascended to smooth over his cheeks in appreciation before falling to rove his body at the torso.
Caruwyn watched this strange behavior in silent bewilderment. But when he saw D's hands finally stop and extract the twin stones from their keeping place, he could not hold his voice back.
"D, what are you doing? Please, don't," he pleaded.
But the hunter only gazed at him as he moved forward, the gems clasped loosely in an upturned palm. When the man came to a halt only a step away, Caruwyn felt his arm seized at the wrist and drawn forward. He looked down and saw the stones had been deposited into his hand. At the sight of them gleaming against his white skin, a familiar sensation began to creep through his veins. He didn't like it.
"We're all waiting for you," D said, "Do not disappoint us again."
Caruwyn realized that his elder's eyes were a shade darker than normal, but it didn't matter. He knew what had happened, as much as he desired to dismiss it for some other possibility. But before he could growl out a refusal, D's arms suddenly slipped around his waist and pulled him closer.
"My poor little princeling," the man said quietly, "do you still need more incentive?"
D's hands loosened and slid slowly up Caruwyn's back, inducing a shiver from the youth. His fine fingers trailed up the bare skin of the neck beneath them before tangling in soft white hair. The hunter's lips brushed coolly against his forehead.
Caruwyn could sense Manx's presence within every delicate brush of D's manipulated movements. It angered him and, to his dismay, singed his nerves with arousal. There was little physical evidence of the demon's presence, but for the hunter's eyes. Even D's voice had remained unchanged, serving to fuel his swell of emotions. Both hands slid sensually over his scalp as the hunter pressed their hips together.
"You'll never be left unsatisfied again, Caruwyn. You'll have what you've coveted for so long and more. Wouldn't you like to share your glory with your father as well? You can have both." D's body swayed gently against him, causing the youth's skin to heat.
Caruwyn's rage and lust battled for ground. He knew now that Manx was lying, but the spell inflicted over him was undeniably seductive and difficult to arrest for its falsity. His head swooned as that foreign yet terribly familiar sense of power and importance trudged through his body. With the last of his willful strength, he pleaded silently to whatever benign spirits that happened to be near.
What it was exactly, he could not say, but some force within raised his hands and pushed the demon-possessed hunter away. The voice that accompanied the action sounded strange in his ears. "It will be done."
D smiled and made no further movements.
Caruwyn gazed down at the softly glowing gems in his hand; its steadiness disturbed him. As he turned, he found he could not bring himself to look into the dhampire's face, as much as he ached to. He knew what he wanted to see would be tainted, a stranger's mask that he very recently wore himself. Sadness and remorse flecked the outskirts of his bitter rage. But he would not give way to defeat. He had promised to protect D, and he would do just that.
Ruby eyes snatched the proximity of the silver sword lying forgotten on the floor as Caruwyn walked away from the amused demon. As he stopped briefly to pick it up, he heard the hunter shuffle behind him. Ignoring this, Caruwyn held the jewels out and carefully released them, watching their slow dance begin in midair. He could almost feel Manx's smug smile.
The albino smiled weakly as well, despite himself. The gems would not work in the way the demon desired if he had no will for them to do so. Though Manx had no knowledge of this, he could still manipulate Caruwyn to harness that willpower. That would not happen, ever again.
Holding the blade out like a channel, Caruwyn closed his eyes. He remembered his father's kind face as he grew up in the City of Night, the bittersweet taste of chisuna wine pressed from delicate silver petals, the feeling of the smooth gravestone that he had carved. He recalled his arrogant dislike of the vampire hunter in those cold winter months before his ice melted to overflowing. The memories hurt, yet, given the choice, he would not trade them for anything else. His existence was meant to be sour, but he was thankful for the things that had lain in his path. He had found his one great happiness.
The stones' swirling pace began to speed up as the youth opened his eyes. Without giving warning to the being at his back, Caruwyn lashed his sword out, guided by the aim from that aiding force to smash his lineage's gem to pieces. The jewel cracked to split the silence and fell like tiny sapphires to the floor.
Manx voiced his outrage through D's lips, a harsh growl, "What are you doing?!"
Caruwyn turned slowly, his face perfectly composed. "Come with me, Manx. Your long journey through the ages ends here. Sleep your infernal sleep once again."
For a brief moment, the youth allowed his face to relax as he gazed into the hunter's eyes. "Thank you, D," he said painfully soft, "Your memory will stay with me for all eternity."
Grasping the hilt of his sword with both hands high above his head, Caruwyn plunged the blade deep into his chest, instantly striking his heart.
D heard the demon scream out with his lips, or perhaps it was his own screaming. He watched with two sets of eyes as Caruwyn crumpled to the floor, a pool of deep crimson spreading beneath him like unfurling satin.
The dhampire fell to his knees, his body shaking with waves of revulsion as the demon forcefully wrenched itself away. It felt as though every one of his bones and muscles had been stretched out and snapped disjointedly back into his body. A cry as deep and dark as an ancient ocean of churning black waves assailed his mind as Manx lost hold on both the bodies into which he had split his existence. D was left to fight those black tides in the demon's faded absence.
When the shrouding haze lifted away, D found that he had crawled to Caruwyn's side, his hands already stained to the wrists with the albino's blood. He barely felt the tears spilling with abandon down his face. Barely felt the moans escape his tight throat.
D lifted Caruwyn's head and cradled it, unbelieving of what had just happened. Part of him waited for the albino to move, to speak. But deep within, he knew that Caruwyn had wanted this. He had done it for the sake of the world, but more for D's sake. The demon and the threat had been taken with his life.
With burning eyes, D gazed at the youth's face, marveling sadly at the faint smile lingering on the child's lips. That encompassing weight of pure sorrow that he had tasted long ago in the rainstorm at the base of the great willow tree returned to him, and he understood its significance with bitterness. D embraced the lifeless body beneath him and lost himself in that black despair for the second time.
The hunter's consciousness aroused with the parasite's beckoning. The body in his arms had grown cold as he lifted his head away and looked around. The Barbarois hall remained empty.
"D, come on. Let's get out of here," the entity said quietly. It knew what its host was going through and shared in that remorse itself, a feeling all too rare, but none the more welcome. It had sensed something like this would happen, but it would never remind D of that fact again. Its host was born to be the loneliest creature in the world.
D studied Caruwyn's face for some time before standing with the youth's limp body in his arms. As he stood, his eye caught the gleaming blue of the last remaining jewel forged from the City of Night. Numbly, he bent to retrieve it, squeezing it tightly as if he intended to crack it with his bare hands. Without a word he assumed his once impenetrable mask of indifference before leaving the great cold hall through doors that gently parted at his approach.
Outside it was night, the sky a rich black backdrop to the hideous glittering stars. D stared up at them; they had never before seemed as much as the watching eyes of lost angels.