Hey! where are my reveiws! please, I need them! I can't keep writing unless I know people like it! By teh way, teh diolough might be hard to stomache, but teh next chapet is muy fantastico! Sorry, i kinda got Spanish on da brain. Anyway, read on, oh fellow fans.
Back in the land of Transylvania
"Hmm. You know, she has an excellent point. How did Marishka come back?" Van Helsing had just finished telling his story about Madame Frescona while he, Ashian, and Carl traveled toward the small town where he ha first met Anna.
"I, personally, am less concerned about the two dead brides and more about the three ones that still live." Carl rode behind Van Helsing and Ashian (who were currently side-by-side) where he could listen to the conversation and comment occasionally, but was free to explore his own thoughts.
"Carl, I would think that you would be concerned with the whole you-thought-he-could-be-killed-by-a-werewolf affair. I still can't believe that you fell into that particular trap. It really is a pity that the Order didn't seek me out earlier." Ashian tried to keep the smugness out of her voice, but Van Helsing heard it nonetheless.
"You're so fickle. One minute you're cursing about how you want the Order to leave you the bloody hell alone, but when you finally get the chance to prove yourself superior, you spend your time acting like you never resented them at all." Van Helsing stood up in the saddle and stretched his sore legs as much as you could on a horse.
"Umm, so?" Van Helsing shook his head at Ashian's childish reply. "That isn't the problem right now. We need to find Dracula and exploit his weakness. Once we do that, Lucifer can have someone to discuss being the most hated and evil thing in creation with."
"What weakness? Last time we thought we had found one, it turned out to be Dracula's trump card." Carl slumped in his saddle. He didn't like horses, he thought they smelled worse that the kitchens at the Vatican.
"Madame Frescona has taken care of that for us, Carl. She said his weakness is emotion." Ashian was pulling apart the fringing on her reins.
"True, but Madame Frescona also pointed out that he has noemotion. So how do we exploit somethings that's not there?" Van Helsing looked expectantly over at Ashian.
"I don't know. But there has always been more than one way to skin a cat, and I intend on finding the second." Ashian kicked her horse out of a trot and into a canter to avoid further questioning from her companions.
They rode in silence for the rest of the morning, and Carl estimated that if they kept on the trail and didn't stop, they should be in town by mid-afternoon. Unfortunately, in a profession where your ratio of friends to enemies is almost identical to that of macho men to girly-girls at a Meg Ryan film, you're bound to run into trouble.
Ashian pulled her horse to a dead standstill, causing Van Helsing and Carl to yank a little harder than necessary back on their mounts. Motioning at Van Helsing to be silent, she pulled out her crossbow, and was about to douse the tips in Holy Water when three beautiful women landed in a circle about her. Ashian's crossbow went flying, landing at the feet of Van Helsing's stallion. Before he could do anything, Ashian was speaking.
"Let me guess. This was a customs examination, and I failed to pass, right?" Ashian was looking out from underneath her brow to keep her neck guarded.
"Don't be ridiculous. Count Dracula wishes for your company, that is all. Alas, to reach his abode, you must be one of us." This came form the new bride, Sonwaja.
Ashian was fiddling with her coat pocket in plain sight, which drew the attention of Verona. She yanked Ashian's hand out into the open to find pointed cross. Ashian grinned and tossed it at the nearest bride like a ninja would toss a throwing star. They all leaped into the trees to avoid the shot, leaving Ashian unguarded. She rushed over to Van Helsing, who had dismounted and was aiming his own crossbow at Aleera. His mouth moved in a warning, but before the sound reached her, Sonwaja had grabbed her shoulders and began to carry her upward. Ashian's arms were unmovable, so instead she began to swing her weight back and forth. This threw Sonwaja off balance, who tossed Ashian to Verona. Ashian used the momentum to swing feet into Verona's face. There was a small catch in the back of her heels that would extend a blade from the bottom of each shoe. Verona dropped Ashian in pain, sending her to drop a good twenty feet back to the forest floor.
Back on ground, Van Helsing had been attempting to spray Aleera with Holy Water, but so far he had only managed to purify the bark of several oaks. He paused in his squirting attempts when he heard a series of bumps, thuds and pain filled grunts from Ashian as she plummeted to the ground. Fortunately, the tree branches and ground seemed to break her fall. Ouch. Van Helsing sprinted to where Ashian had landed in a misshapen heap. Her nose had been broken and the area under her eyes began to match the rest of her scratched and bruised face.
Ashian sat up with the help of Van Helsing, and began to mold the cartilage so that when it healed it wouldn't be too misshapen. "Oh sh-" But Ashian never finished that particular curse, because Aleera dove down from the treetops and slammed Van Helsing against a tree not far from where Carl huddled with the horses (who were attempting to bolt) at the same moment that Sonwaja grabbed Ashian's neck. At first she began to struggle, but soon the feeding trance completely enveloped her.
At the other end of the clearing, Van Helsing had actually landed with his hand on a rusted, but still usable, silver stake. He grimaced and sent the stake into Aleera's heart and listened to her cackles turn into screeches. Sonwaja looked up from where she fed on Ashian. She shot her head up and echoed Aleera's unearthly screech as she shot toward the heavens with her only remaining sister.
Van Helsing rolled his shoulders and slowly headed for Ashian. She lay completely limp, so far not filling Van Helsing with a decent amount of hope. He released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding as Ashian sat groggily up and put her head between her knees. Quickening his step, he watched as she rocked unsteadily form blood loss. It seemed that every time Ashian was bitten, she recovered faster. He was sure that it had something to do with the vampirc venom in their saliva and was convinced that if she pulled that particular trick too many time she would become a vampire as well.
"Can you stand?" Van Helsing slid his arm under Ashian's for support as she hobbled to her feet.
"Yeah, but we might have to tie me to the saddle," Ashian murmured.
"You really need to stop letting them do that." Van Helsing cupped his hands so that Ashian could climb into the saddle easily. Normally she would vault onto the horse, but right now she could hardly stand.
"Not now, Van Helsing." Carl was holding the front of the spooked animal, causing Van Helsing to jump slightly at the noise. "She knows what she did; you don't have to lecture her."
Van Helsing was considerably taken aback by Carl's admonition, and stayed sullenly quiet for the remainder of the trip. As they began to approach the town the road widened again, and Van Helsing took the opportunity to speak with Ashian.
"How's your nose?" Van Helsing began speaking more to keep her from passing out then from interest; with all the vampire venom in her blood her nose would most likely heal up in a week.
"Bloody." Ashian's response was muffled by a bloody handkerchief that Carl had produced generously after several attempts to mop up the blood with various strips of fabric out of her bag.
"Are you still dizzy, or could you..." Van Helsing trailed off. He couldn't think of anyway to refer to her gift without gaining an icy glare.
"Do the squirrel routine? Maybe, as long as I don't have to take anything or anyone –" this comment was pointed at the eavesdropping friar "- with me."
"Ashian, you know very well that I always object when you 'do the squirrel routine.' Besides, you're already a mess. I don't want to put you into an even worse situation." Van Helsing was well aware of the fact that he sounded like the worrisome parents he had so loathed, but the words were out of his mouth before he could do anything about it.
Ashian grinned, which caused her to wince in pain, and shot Van Helsing a sideways look. "Oh, stop worrying. The purpose of life is not to arrive at the grave in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming 'WOW, what a ride!!!' Besides, with you around to ruin my fun, I should last another couple of years if Dracula doesn't get me first." She kicked her mount up to a sturdy oak and jumped into the branches with a final wave at Van Helsing. There was a slight rustling noise, and soon Ashian was traversing the treetops and then the roofs of the town.
Van Helsing muttered, "She's been practicing." But as he entered the gates of the town, he began to wonder what Ashian meant by, "if Dracula doesn't get me first." And the more he thought about it, the less he began to suspect it was the obvious translation.
"So I suppose that's what she meant by 'the squirrel routine?'" Carl was next to Van Helsing now, the reins of Ashian's mare in his hands.
"Yes." The way Van Helsing said it Carl understood not to press the matter. Instead he pulled his hood further toward his face and hunch forward even further. True, he and Van Helsing had rid this town of the vampires two years ago, but seeing as they had killed the wrong vampire... well; Carl didn't expect a warm reception.
Van Helsing dismounted after he began to get a large following. Then again, such was the trouble with wearing such obvious clothes. He wasn't sure where to go, so he led the crowd to Valerious Castle, assuming that it would be vacated. It wasn't. The gate had been unchained, the gardens cared for, and broken windows replaced. It was broad daylight, but up in the library tower could be seen a flickering torch. Someone was living here, and had made themselves quite at home.
Van Helsing was made aware of the fact that he had been surrounded by the villagers during his examination of the castle by a hard projectile that had been thrown (none too lightly) from the juniper tree above him. At the head of the mob was a scrawny teenager sitting on the closed gate that Van Helsing was about to enter. The boy looked to be about Van Helsing's height, but his lean build and sinewy hands suggested that he was some sort bookworm who had never worked a day in his life.
"Tell me, gentlemen, what brings you to my home?" There was a mocking note in his voice that irritated Van Helsing more than Carl's snoring ever had.
"Your home? Am I to assume that you are a Valerious?" Van Helsing peered from under his hat brim to challenge the kid.
"If you were truly the great Van Helsing, you would assume nothing." The scrawny youth swung himself off the gate in a practiced motion. "No, I am not a Valerious, and I suggest you leave the premises before you are forced away."
Van Helsing made a noise that could have been a bitter laugh. It certainly wiped the smug smile off of the boy's face. "How do you intend to force me off of land that isn't yours? I know that these good people wouldn't dare lay a finger on me."
The boy pressed his face into Van Helsing's. "First of all, this is my land; I inherited it when Anna was killed. Second of all, what makes you so confident that the villagers won't harm you? Were you not the one who claimed to have killed Count Dracula only to find you had bungled the job?" This was greeted by murmurs through the crowd.
"Excuse me, young sir, but I'm afraid that Mr. Van Helsing has quite forgotten his manners. Would you be so kind as to allow us lodgings in you spacious abode? I know that you can't possibly have all those rooms filled." Ashian had swung over the lad's head and was now standing on the gateway as if it were a solid block of stone and not a wrought iron gate.
Everyone in the crowd jumped in surprise as she spoke, but the youth simply raised an eyebrow in amusement. "I'm not sure if I should allow a stranger into my household, fair lady, but if I were to gain the favor of you name, you should be readily welcome to my dwelling." Van Helsing growled to himself. This boy was a flirt beyond all reason, or he'd eat his hat.
"Why of course I'd gladly speak my name to such a pleasant welcome, but first I would wish to secure lodgings for my companions." Ashian was really playing up the theatrics for the crowd.
"Ah, fair maiden, you put me at a loss, but I suppose that for the gift of company so refined I would be able to sacrifice." Just to add to the drama, he bowed low to her.
"Well, dear sir, we have a bargain. My name is Ashian Adelaide Valcon." Ashian flipped backwards off the gate and smiled temptingly as her traveling companions marched though the gate. Van Helsing found himself wishing that the smile had been for him.