Author's note: Well, here ya go, a new chapter!! We actually get to hear from Kraven this time around, hehe. Kraven fans, you probably don't want to read anymore. I'm not a Kraven fan. I'm quite anti-Kraven. But I am trying to keep Kraven as in-character as possible. But he will get plenty of torturing in this story, as I'm sure you'll be able to figure out when you read. Also, BIG apology to Nightslash. I said "her story". It's "his story". I'm very sorry, and I feel very stupid for that. But everyone should go and read his Underworld stories, they're great. But rated R, just so you know, still good. Anyway, next chapter we'll probably go back to Ordoghaz again, to see what's going on with Marcus and Erika, and all those other vamps. Now, the new female lycan character in this story, Avery, would be played by Hudson Leick. I hope to get the pictures of each actor for each character up on my site today, perhaps tomorrow, if anyone is curious. Well, thanks for all the wonderful reviews, Lucian will be back soon, of course, and hope ya'll enjoy!!!! Oh, and review again. Please?

Disclaimer: I own: Zahra, Avery, Xander, Anya, Katharine, Erik Drake, and any other characters that were not in the movie or the novelization. But that is the extent of my ownership. Everything else belong to Len Wiseman, Danny McBride, Kevin Grevioux, Sony, and whoever else has the rights. But couldn't I just have Lucian? Please? No? Bugger. Anyway, please do not sue me.

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CHAPTER 5: PREPARING TO FLEE

Kraven trudged along the sewer, dodging the rays of light that managed to shine down into the murky underground. He felt filthy and was covered in dirt and blood and his clothes wore soaked, and he sometimes wondered if the stench he thought was his surroundings was actually coming from himself.

He cursed in many languages he knew as he tripped and fell into the knee deep water. Muttering in Romanian, he rose back to his feet. He ached and was starving blood, any blood. But he hadn't even been able to catch one of the rats he had spotted. He had to get to one of the safe houses, a deserted one. And he needed to soon.

He wondered if Soren was alive. Probably not. Even if he had survived the lycans, the Viktor would have seen to it that he had been swiftly executed. If Viktor was alive, but Kraven imagined he was. He was an Elder after all.

What of Selene, and her precious Michael? Had Viktor killed them both? Had they managed to defeat him? If Michael could somehow survive the silver nitrate. Lucian had seemed positive that he would. But Lucian was a fool, and a dead one at that.

Kraven stumbled on, weary and yearning for sleep. But it wasn't safe. He had to get somewhere safe, he needed help. But who would help a traitor?

What about that Erika? The servant girl, she might could be of service to me still, he thought smugly. He would find a way to get to her, get her to help him escape from Hungary or something. He had no other choice really.

***

The lycans were ready to go. All of them each held a small bag with their own supplies and few things they wanted. Everything else they would simply get once they had settled into Lucian's ruined fortress. They stood, waiting for their leader and his vampire mate to come.

Zahra looked around, sad to see that it had come to this. Not that she would necessarily miss this underground lair, with it's stench and constant dampness. But that again they were forced to run.

She sighed. It was necessary, she knew that. And it would give them a better chance of survival and victory against the vampires in the end. Hopefully.

"Calm down, Zahra," Avery told her in a calm voice. "It's for the best. They'll be here soon, we'll go, and we might could finally get some rest without having to worry so much about Death Dealers finding us."

Zahra merely glared at her, then folded her arms across her chest.

Avery Williams was an American lycan, bitten and turned in the late nineteenth century, when some of the pack members had ventured over to the country. She had been one of the few that ad been turned during that visit to actually join the main pack. She was also the only blond female lycan in the room, which made her stick out like a sore thumb, if it hadn't become so natural. Now it was more like she stuck out if she wasn't present.

"Is everyone ready to leave," they heard Michael ask loud enough for all to hear him. Which, fortunately for the soft-spoken hybrid, didn't have to be more than a whisper really. When he saw them all nod and a few mutter yes, he nodded also. "Good. Then let's go."

***

"This will be difficult, Michael," Selene warned him. "So many lycans, traveling will not come easy for a whole pack."

"We have done it before," Michael, or rather Lucian, answered. "And now we will do it again. We are survivors." He turned and looked at her. His features softened and once again Michael had regained control. "Sorry. It's just so hard to sometimes. He was so strong."

Selene nodded grimly. "And still is, it seems."

***

Kraven stopped abruptly. His hair stood on end and he listened carefully to the approaching sounds, sniffing the air.

Lycans. Lots of them. Getting closer, much closer.

Time for a change of plans, he thought quickly and turned on his heel. Rushing off as quietly as he could, he turned down another tunnel, trying to escape the lycans' senses. For once he was actually thankful for the stench that surrounded him and soaked him, it was his only defense against the lycans right now. If the smell of the sewers could possibly overrun his own distinct vampire scent, then he could possibly get away without being noticed.

***

Selene looked around at all the lycans surrounding her. Again she had to go over the events that had led her to this point. For a Death Dealer who had despised the lycans so to now travel and hide with them. She still felt wary and distrustful of them, remnants of an instilled hatred that had become instinctual.

But she also felt twinges of guilt. She had killed so many, and for no reason now. Before it had been justice, revenge, preventing others from going through what she went through. And what of her own kind? They were just as horrid as these lycans could be.

Perhaps worse. After all, it was the lycans that had taken her and Michael in. It was the lycans that wanted the war to end without complete genocide. The vampires, they wanted to erase the lycans. The lycans merely wanted to be free, and to have their own justice.

She looked at Michael, his jaw set and his shoulders slightly hunched as he led the lycans towards a safe place to go aboveground, where they would split and take their different routes to Moldavia. She lowered her gaze to the metal chest-shaped pendant that hung from his neck. The pendant she had given him after the battle with Viktor.

Lucian's pendant.

Sonja's pendant.

"Do you think we will live six hundred years?" Michael asked her out of the blue. He glanced at her, eyes catching hers briefly before turning back to look ahead.

Selene shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps. If we survive the war then probably," she stated.

"He lived much longer than six hundred years. But he lived six hundred years alone," Michael told her. "He was always alone. Lycans, they mate for life, just like normal wolves. And he lived six hundred years without his mate."

A small nod. "He was strong, like you said. But so are you," she told him.

***

Kraven ran, certain he was far enough away that he could without having worrying if the cursed werewolves would hear him or not. He ran towards one of the safe houses on the western side of the city, near the outskirts.

He would get some blood, some new clothes, hopefully be able to wash some of the grime off of him, and then would sneak to the mansion and try to get to Erika. It should go as planned, he would reach the safe house before sunset and would probably be able to avoid the sunlight and still get in. He could rest until the last rays of the sun were gone, then rush to the mansion.

Still, he had to wonder what the lycans were planning, it sounded as if the whole horde had been approaching. Were they going to attack the Ordoghaz? Or were they fleeing? To scared to fight without their precious leader Lucian.

Probably the latter, he thought smugly.

He stopped, and leaned against the wall of the tunnel, taking a short break. He would be so thankful to get out of the sewer, out of the country. All he really needed was some money and a car, really. Perhaps he should just kill someone after sunset and take their money and car, instead of risking the mansion.

No, he was not going to do something so, degradingly like an act a lycan would do. Besides, a part of him was curious what sort of state the mansion was in now, and who had survived the battle that night.

***

Xander, Avery, and Zahra walked closely behind Michael and Selene, but shut out the conversation going on between the two. They would not pry. Michael and Selene were mates, that was obvious, but they wanted to be closer to their leader, in case something happened. They couldn't afford to lose him.

Xander felt Avery slip her hand into his, and he gripped it tightly. He smiled at her reassuringly, silently telling her they would make it.

She smiled back at his reassurance, comforted. They laced their fingers together and continued to walk close behind their leaders.

Zahra watched them a maternal fondness, and deeper sadness. If only Raze had been there as well.