Review Responses:

Shiva: So, Marina's changed behavior is a good thing? I thought she was getting too mousy. As always, thanks for your review!

bahamut: Dolls can be creepy, especially the ones with no faces and there's just a blank face. Well, anyway, I'm glad you're still liking the story!

fan: That I will. Thanks for reviewing!

Selphiefan 89: Yeah, screw male dominance! :)

My footsteps echoed in the long abandoned lands of the Razielim Every surface was covered with grime, soot, and dust. There were no more lavish parties presented here. No food was brought here. Tears and laughter had both been silenced when the occupants had been disposed of. Not even the birds cared to come here, although an ebony raven would be appropriate to signify the sterility of this place.

Curiously, I looked up towards the great staircase I remembered from before, that was once crowded with gaily dressed, engaging beings on every step. Surprisingly, the raised, leveled monument that had been built under the former glorious and well known Clan symbol was still burning. This Razielim flame was not allowed to die out completely apparently. But, instead of a testament of their celebrated achievements, it served as a memorial to the simple recollection of their existence.

Averting my eyes, half in shame, I trudged through the vacant territory. I had no idea what I was looking for. There were tunnels of some kind, perhaps underground. Hadn't that been what Kain said? I pondered this as I walked past alcoves that had served as homes for Razielim individuals, partners, and families. I gave the mosaics and the scarce decorations that were left behind no heed. I hadn't the desire to steal them like the Dumahim and Zephonim raiders in the past had done. I just kept my pace. Although, I couldn't help wondering what Raziel would think of me now, sneaking through his Clan territory at twilight, without permission from the master. Would he scold me? Or would that teasing glint enter his eyes and simply chastise me playfully? Swiftly, I moved such morbid imaginings out of my mind. There would be no help for it now. Dark thoughts would only serve to impede my attempted undertaking.

I moved through the sparse torches that were curiously lit and ventured into the inky shadows. To the west, I smelled…yes! Water. This liquid element had a strong, damp, metallic scent that could be easily be traced. However, others never noticed its presence. I suppose it all depended on the vampire himself, or rather herself, in this case.

I approached the small river that wound its way underground. I could see the crevice where the substance gushed out. Fortune was finally on my side. This crevice appeared to have been smashed open; leaving deep fissures in the natural stone formations around it. A band of strong mortal men could've easily done it with their clubs and axes. Yet, it had the look of a forgotten course, as if it had not been used in many years. At least there shouldn't be anyone within, I thought wryly.

The channel was just wide enough to squeeze through. I forced myself through the moss-covered walls and took great care not to slip on the slime-covered ground. I wound the cloak around the back of my neck; so it would keep dry in the wet, oily waterway. Thankfully, the tunnel broadened the further I charted my way through it. I kept following the bends in passage, hoping to see something, so long as that something wasn't an unfriendly vampire hunter or an enraged inhabitant of the Sanctuary of the Clans.

At last I reached an iron grate. It was rusted through and was quite easy to bust open without much straining. I left the waterway behind me and found myself in the middle of a deep trench. As my eyes scanned the area, it dawned on me this was once a busy river. A place where children came to play, where women went to wash, where animals gathered, and where fish were caught to feed and nourish the people. Now, it was completely devoid of any sign of animation, and there was only a stream of dirty water in its wake before it merged with another waterway further down the tunnel. Well, this was a good as place as any to get myself costumed before I am spotted from above. I wasn't as stupid as everyone thought. As much as I hated to do so, I splashed some of the foul water on the wool garment I carried. I had less of a chance of being accused of as a vampire if I had some of that "acidic" substance on me. Perhaps they would take me for a fisherman; I would blend with the crowds going home for the evening.

Taking a deep breath, I draped the cloak over my shoulders and flung the hood up over my head. Then, I walked down the lonely ditch until I spotted a rickety wooden ladder. It would be the sole method to get out of here, under the circumstances. I could easily scale the walls, but that would raise more than one pair of eyebrows here. The ladder held as I cautiously made my way up and consequently reached the top. I immediately noticed I stood on a cobblestone street. Such rare means to build a road in this day and age. Foolishly, this awed me. I did it. I got to the great armored Human Citadel on my own…

I set my feet upon the road, and wandered into the city itself. It was so unlike any place I had visited. Mortals. All around me. All hurrying homewards and closing up their shops for the day. The streets were surprisingly more modern in design than the vampiric communities. Had the humans been advancing their own meager technologies to set them apart from the beasts?

I put all questions aside for the moment and drank in the sights around me, such as they were. The Human Citadel was a hodge-podge of buildings of every shape and size. From tall brick ones that housed whole family units no doubt, to simple wooden shacks that barely had enough living space for one person. Every tenement was built painfully close together. Obviously the humans depended on each other to protect themselves from the vampire "plague".

On every corner of the smooth walkway surrounding the uneven street was a wrought-iron lamppost. I suspected each one was kept perpetually smoldering through the night. Not that it mattered. A vampire could stalk the roadside at either sunrise or sunset. I watched and listened until a family of humans hurry into my line of sight. It was a woman in a stiff apron layered over a pale green tattered dress. Her two children clung to her skirts, both of them dressed in worn clothing.

The little boy spoke rapidly. "Mum, the market is still open. We can get them eggs." The woman sighed. The wrinkles in her face showed her age, even though she was no more than twenty in my opinion. "The eggs are gone. The meat's gone. Everything is gone. We have to wait until next week."

"Will we starve, mother?" the little girl with the ruddy face and tangled yellow hair whimpered.

A determined edge entered the woman's voice. "No, of course not. We still have vegetables from the garden. We'll survive."

The boy made a face. "I hate veg-tables."

With devastating fierceness, the woman smacked her son across his cheek, startling all company present. "You'll eat what the gods gave you, Jacob!" All of a sudden, the woman gazed straight at me, loitering on the other side of the street. It was if she could see into my soul. I began to get nervous. She couldn't tell, could she?

"Go on! Get going, you old hag! There is nothing to be seen here!" she snarled, clamping both hands around her children's shoulders and dragging them away. Despite her harsh words, I smiled underneath my cloak. A hag. An old hag. Then that is what I shall be. I moved along down the road, taking in whatever I could. I noted that much of the Citadel lived in poverty and there was a good deal of anger in the air; anger directed at the mortals' overlords. Against my race. Against me. Not mentioning the lingering fear and anxiety permanently engrained in the humans' daily lives. Rahab had indeed been right. This was a treacherous place.

I followed the road as it wound around the depressing edifices. The first stars were appearing, but one could hardly see them due to the suffocating cloud of dark smoke obscuring the view of the sky. The smoke emanated from every chimney of every home here to keep warm. As a result, the air conditions here had become quite polluted. Coupled with the squalid water and the lack of food and industry, it was no wonder how and why the mortals had turned savage. Still, they did not attribute these conditions to the corruption of Nosgoth itself. Instead, this blame was pinned on the vampires. Whether they were right not wrong, I could not say.

I paused at a small waterfall. I watched as rivulets of water came down the concrete walls and drain into an unseen grate. The origin of this stream was from a rusty pipe positioned at the very top. The sound was soothing, but the smell was not. This water carried the slight stench of the sewers. It had to be connected to the plumbing system.

I was keenly aware of the mortals milling around me. Most were hurrying home, yet others came out of their doors, leaving the safety of the hearth behind. As one man pulled out a formidable sword from the secrecy of his cape, I understood what they were. Vampire hunters. More than I had ever seen before. There were at least ten on this street, and there would be more to come as the night progressed. But, no matter what, I must remain calm. I resolved to do this.

I quickened my gait and went further down the cobblestone street, against both my common sense and better judgment. In the opposite direction, I saw a young, pretty, blonde woman hurrying with a great spring in her step, as if the hounds of hell were at her thick heels. Before I could investigate further, I bumped into a heavy body. The odor of liquor permeated the air as the figure unsteadily turned around to face me. It was a man in torn and dirty apparel wearing a crumpled, stained, broad-brimmed hat. He had a grizzly face with a sickly looking beard. He smiled at me evilly, revealing his rotten teeth.

"Good evenin' miss. Care to give somethin' for a poor ol' guy down on his luck?" He jiggled a tin cup in front of me to illustrate his point. Just by glancing at him, I knew this man didn't wouldn't take no for an answer. My analysis proved correct when he seized my arm. "Ya got a shilling for Harry? Or somethin' else under those robes?"

Panicked I would be discovered if this man got really daring, I ran in the opposite direction, away from him. The exact same route the blonde had taken barely two minutes ago. I ran until I ended up in a side street that was fairly close to the grate in the deep gully where I had entered the city. Oh, how I wish I had stayed at Sanctuary. The Citadel was perilous. I didn't think it possible, but these mere humans were exceptionally ferocious, especially when underestimated by a lone, prideful vampiress. The scene laid out in front of me made my situation all the more precarious. The pretty blonde had attracted trouble to herself. She was baked up against the graffiti covered wall with two thugs circling around her. One of them had a knife. I knew what I had to do. For her to escape and for me to get home.

"Why don't you give us that little necklace you're wearin' sweetheart? It would brighten up our collection so."

"Never!" sputtered the girl. "It's been in my family for generations!" She clutched the sparkling red gem at her throat fiercely.

The other thief chuckled. "Such a treasure is wasted on a waif like you. That piece would generate a lot on income for two well-bred businessmen such as ourselves."

"You won't have it!" The girl angrily darted forward through the gap between the two brigands, taking them by surprise momentarily, but ultimately she was caught and roughly shoved back to the wall.

"You'll pay for that, bitch," the thief with the knife hissed.

I didn't waste another second. I reached inside my boot and retrieved my dagger. I threw it squarely at the thief's knee; making him crumple to the ground. The other with the bald head looked at me. "Seems like we have company, Fitz."

The second man came rushing at me and I eluded his grasp easily. Whirling on me, he attempted to cuff me in the face, but I swiftly blocked his attack. I smirked. Humans were so easy to beat, particularly those that preyed on the weak. My arrogance would cost me. I didn't anticipate his knee coming up out of nowhere, setting me off balance. He managed to land a hard punch on me, knocking my head backwards and throwing my hood back. He gasped when he saw my face. "You're not human," he stammered.

"Neither are you," I sneered back. I backhanded him across his own face and sent him flying into the wall, inches away from the terrified girl. The brigand named "Fitz" feebly tried to crawl away. I decided to let him be. He wouldn't be walking for quite a while. My work was done here, and I needed to leave the Citadel—now.

"Thank you, miss," a weak female voice squeaked. I spun around towards the blonde. She looked terribly relieved and seemed oblivious to the pale, golden-eyed, fanged creature standing a few short feet from her. Her eyes were shining from tears of gratitude. Upon closer inspection, I saw that those two glistening orbs were green…and very familiar. Where had I seen that hue of green before?

"You're very welcome," I replied dazedly.

"I don't care whoever or whatever you are. May the gods bless you. You have brought honor to our family." Whilst gazing at her in this reality, my mind's eye created something entirely different. There was another young girl my age with green eyes and sandy hair. She was brave and out-spoken, not unlike the girl I who I beheld now. My best friend, as I remember; yet I never saw her again after someone visited my former house. Could this be a descendant?

I didn't have time to pursue the matter before the mob arrived. I was caught now. Wordlessly, I watched them come at me. Men. Twenty of them at least, most armed with crossbows. Some dressed in full armor; their necks protected by heavy metal. I had disobeyed my lord's orders. I had decided to travel alone, and no one knew where I was. Now I was about to pay the price.

"We finally got one! The night wasn't a complete waste after all!" one of the men cried.

"Kill her quick," the leader with the halberd grunted. "It's the best way."

"Quick? I could devise other methods to dispose of her. Some of which would take days," another cruelly commented.

"We're doing heaven's work, Drago, not performing you base desires," the leader of the mob growled. I noticed he had a fiery red beard to match his considerable temper.

"No!" The blonde's harsh cry cut through the mob. The crowd fell silent. This girl seemed to exert some power over them and momentarily I found out why. She fell to her knees in front of the leader. "Daddy," she whimpered, "let her go. She has saved my life from two brigands that would've--"

"Enough!" the leader roared. "A lion will not befriend a lamb. The vile beast probably wanted you as its prey. A vampire would never do anything selflessly for a mortal. When will you learn, Teresa?"

Teresa sadly glanced back at me. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Quickly, she got up off the cobblestones, and scuttled off.

"Now, where were we?" the leader of the pack viciously inquired. "Oh, yes. Vampires killed my wife, you know. Ever since that day, I have taken an oath to knock out as much as you bastards as I possibly can. Think about that while you're writhing in hell. Ready your weapons, men!"

I stood there calmly. There wasn't a damn thing I could do. My memory took me back to where I had faced three vampire hunters at once. That was right before Kain and I met for the first time. However, this time Kain wasn't here to save me. If I barely defeated three or four of these contemptible brutes last time, there was no feasible way I could take on two dozen, no matter how much my power and age had increased. Deciding not to cowardly show fear, I stared them down. And waited.

"Fire!" the leader roared. But before a single arrow could hit its mark, I felt something knock into me, sending both of us crashing to ground. I turned to see who my rescuer was and found myself staring into the face of Rahab. His normally composed features were washed with frustration. "Rahab!" I gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," he snapped.

I did not look up to see the carnage around me. I didn't see the Rahabim attacking the temporarily defenseless humans who had foolishly wasted their arrows on a bare wall. Some of the others ran when they saw the troupe of at least fifteen immortals strike at once. Within seconds, corpses began to litter the ground. Half of the mortals that were left scattered; Teresa's father, the vampire leader, among them. The weak were left to die. Man himself was vindictive, vampires aside.

I finally picked up my head and watched the last stray humans scurry into the streets. I was grateful beyond belief. "Rahab," I whispered. "You saved my life." "Come on, Marina. Get up," Rahab urged me in a hardened tone of voice.

I allowed him to pull me up. "Rahab," I began. "How…"

"…did we find you?" he finished. "It wasn't easy. Someone spotted you leave Sanctuary, just as you pilfered that cloak from our carts. We were immediately sent to find you. You can thank Adrian for that. He's a brilliant tracker." A rather tall, handsome Rahabim with an angular face and silvery eyes stepped out from the others and nodded to me politely enough. He was dressed in chain mail with cerulean adornment embossed across the front that resembled something akin to a fish.

There was a burning question in my mind that consumed any other thought. "Who saw me leave?"

"That's not for you to know. Now, it's time to return home to the Sanctuary of the Clans. You should be thankful you have a proper abode to return to. By the way, the master wishes to see you immediately."

Intuitively, I could sense what was to happen next. Kain was going to kill me. Metaphorically or physically, I wasn't sure. I could only wonder what my punishment was to be for defying him. However, he couldn't threaten me with the Abyss. Or maybe I should be afraid of that. Perhaps if I were cast in, I'd be doomed to swirl in its depths forever in a living death, with only Razielim bones for company.

Mutely, I followed Rahab, keenly aware that they were many glares thrown at me. I had endangered their lives, and ruined the infiltration mission. The mortals would be expecting us now. But not only that, I had endangered my own. And for once, I wasn't talking about the human militias.