Review Responses:
Varyssa: Naughty, impulsive Marina! :) Hope you had a Merry Christmas too!
Smoke: This story does progress rapidlyfrom one chapter to another. Some people even said it doesn't make much sense, but it will at the end! Thanks for your continued support!
shalisa: Why, thank you! A fan? I have a fan! :)
DuoPhreaks: Glad you are still following the story! Thanks for showing you care!
thejennamonster: New reviewer! Yeah, there hasn't been a lot of interaction of late between Raziel, but that will change in the next few chapters, starting with this one.
bahamut: I got a B on mine. All I ask for no Fs or Ds. I hope you had a good Christmas, rabid family members or not, and thanks for your reviews!
For the second time, I strode through the morning mists of the forests, although I truly did not mind it. After living in absolute barrenness in Nosgoth for a thousand years, the plant life sprouted from the rich, brown soil was a sort of miracle. Indeed, with experience, I could build a home out here. However, certain matters needed to be resolved first of all. The day would be mild with a teasing wind from the north that carried the slightest trace of a chill.
The morning steadily progressed, as had my strength. I had drunk the blood of a logger and three vampire hunters. I was full of energy and vitality. Finally, the journey seemed to be evening out. The roughness of the trip seemed to be smoother. Hardly any creatures could be spotted in the denseness of the swamp. In fact, it seemed that everything was too quiet. Perhaps demonic activity picked up at dusk.
I knew my presence here endangered the fabric of time. In a moment of haste, I had looped the necklace around my neck. What I was considering next could be considered fatal, not only to time, but my very existence as well. I had to find Lucius. I couldn't just let myself be carried off with that man. Which is precisely why I was in the depths of the wood again. I would seek my sire, and I had a sense of where he might be. Lucius wouldn't be old enough to withstand sunlight, so he needed shelter. Vorador hadn't seen him in weeks. Moebius would kill him on sight. Where else could he take refuge? Somewhere abandoned. Somewhere isolated. Somewhere he could work in private. The Time-Streaming Chamber in the center of the swamp…
My footsteps falling with purpose, I cut my way through the swamplands; flinging aside vines, kicking away stones, and weaving through larger boulders. I was calf-high in sickly, foul smelling mud and putrid water. My boots were ruined beyond repair, but they would have to do.
Treading through the moss and brushing aside the bothersome flies, I found myself standing in front of the ancient stone edifice. It looked exactly as it did before when I emerged from the metal doors on my first travel through time due to the treacherous designs of Lillian, the last remaining childe of Lucius besides myself. Mortanius had aided me then, but I wasn't sure if he could at present.
Not wasting a moment, I jumped up on the structure and found the rusted gold doors that I remembered. I didn't skip a beat when I opened them fiercely, nearly ripping each one off their hinges. Inside, I strode down one of the huge staircases. I was intent to reach the bottom. When I saw what was lurking down there, I automatically put my claw-like hand on my sword. I had been correct.
A familiar vampire was gazing at me in shock. Arrayed around him on the marble floor were maps and scroll. One single lantern hung above him, yet it was more than enough light to identify him. Already, he was smirking; so easy and self-assured. Lucius stood in the dimness in all his vile glory, although he was tall and undeniably handsome with those chiseled features and smoky dark brown hair. For some reason, his complexion was as rosy as a mortal's, yet his eyes were like smoldering, molten amber. He wore the red velvet trousers and doublet of a gentleman even though he was anything but.
I approached him warily, sword ready. "You are Lucius?"
"Yes. I am." He didn't look too startled. In fact, he seemed fascinated by me. "What manner of being are you, lady?"
"Don't you recognize me?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Should I?"
"I am your creation—one thousand years in the making."
"You come from the future?"
I let the question purposefully hang in the air.
He tried again. "So, am I to believe I Made one such as you?"
I wasn't sure how much I could tell him, but that wasn't going to stop me from making my point. "Yes. Don't you feel proud?"
I gave him no opportunity to move when I unexpectedly dove at him…or so I thought. He anticipated my actions and sidestepped me and promptly ran into the center of the vaulted chamber, studying me intently. "Come to kill me? I don't even know your name."
"My name is Death. Yours," I snarled whilst lunging at him again.
With a leer, he placed his hand on the machinery next to him. They controlled the Time Streaming Chamber itself. What happened next completely overtook my mind. There was a blinding white radiance, and I was promptly thrown against a wall. Blackness seeped into my vision and then there was nothing.
Lucius was dead. I had taken his life with my own sword. With Kain at my side. Was he true? What would my future be like with him? Would he choose to make me subservient to his commands and become even worse than my sire had been?
"Are you sure you're all right, Lady Marina?" Raziel's voice cut through the mists of my wonderings.
I smiled at the handsome vampire lieutenant in his red cape. "Yes. I just need to rest."
People had been hounding me for a fortnight after my despicable sire's death. I was fine. Completely. But, some were not so easily fooled.
Gratefully, I entered the brown and cerulean hues of my room. It was akin to a lakefront where the blue water met the dark soil of the land. I felt safe here. Throwing myself on the bed, my tears sprang loose again. It would take some time to actually succeed in blotting Lucius from my mind.
The door eased opened. I was not to be alone after all. Kain had arrived. Strangely, the fact that we were technically male and female and reclining on the same bed no longer fazed me. After he had threatened me at sword point due to Zephon's meddling and I ran weeping from the assembly hall, we had unexplainably grown a lot closer. He had come to my room then and quieted my sobs. Tonight was no different.
As always, he laid down next down me and took me in his arms. I turned myself around to look into his golden eyes and found them misted over like hazy moons. Was he going to--?
Awareness rushed over me again, and the scene where Kain and I were in my old bedchamber in a place that didn't exist in this era melted away. Did he really cry over me? I had no recollection of it. Perhaps it was just a dream. A dream…
Oh, how long had I been knocked out? I dragged myself up one of the staircases and kicked open the door. Late morning sunshine streamed inside the dank chamber. Two swallows soaring above in skies greeted me. I had only been out of commission for barely ten minutes. Why had I blacked out?
Then, more realization dawned on me. In anger, I kicked the very wall of the accursed Time-Streaming Chamber. He had gotten away on the wings of time. My only chance to eradicate Lucius was lost.
But, mayhaps this was a blessing. If I killed Lucius, I might be stamping out my own existence. Did I really care if I myself lived or died? I had put the needs of my human self first, but my own hateful wrath had gotten the best of me. In any case, Lucius was in another world. At least he wouldn't come back to collect the other Marina for a while. Or, so I hoped.
I reemerged from the Time-Streaming Chamber and after vowing to never set foot in another; I hopped down to the swampy marsh below. Mortanius had told me to go to the cathedral that lay in Avernus. It was to the southeast. I wished he had been a bit more specific, but what else was there to do? However, there were tales whispered about Avernus in the oldest of Nosgoth's history texts in the bowels of Kain's library in my former home. Avernus was completely consumed in flames and had been demolished by demons that had been summoned by a corrupt priestess. In fact, the book even went as far to list a Guardian of the Circle, but did not name the offending person. I had met Moebius, Mortanius and Ariel. Also, I knew of this Bane and DeJoule, the Nature and Energy Guardians, along with Anarcrothe of course. Most likely, it was the wretched Time Guardian himself. Well, if that were the state of my destination, I would simply follow the carnage.
Without further hesitation, I flew off in a new direction. I had to be fast. The acute sense that sand was trickling through the hourglass weighed heavily upon me. Mortanius directed that I should have been at Avernus last night already. The day had grown hot and steamy. Insects flitted everywhere in the muggy air. The scent of the swamp was overpowering. All three factors did not make this a pleasant journey, yet it still had to be taken.
An hour or so passed when I encountered them. It appeared that the trip just became all the more difficult. There were unusual prints imprinted in the mud that weren't mine. There were only two beings that I knew of that could create this distinctive mark. Immediately, an image of a blue-skinned winged wraith with angry glowing white eyes crossed my vision. Raziel. It was he. How had he gotten here? I supposed he had found a Time-Streaming Chamber somewhere. How else?
Ducking under the screens of hanging cypress, a sudden fear filled me. Actually, it was more akin to nervousness than fright. When I last encountered Raziel, he nearly succeeded in killing me. Had his feelings changed? Could he forgive me? What exactly would transpire if we met in Termogent Forest? I did not wish to find out, but as usual, I had no choice in the matter if that's what the Fates demanded.
Overhead, the sun finally surrendered to the ominous dark clouds that were sweeping over the previously blue sky. There had been an annoyance at first and seemed to be blowing away by the north winds to plague another landscape, but the grayness had redoubled its efforts. When thunder shook in the distance, I instantly thought of Kain and Raziel. A thundershower would burn their flesh, though the rainwater wouldn't cause my skin any danger. Is this abrupt change of weather a sign of things to come?
A certain dread could be perceived; there was no denying this fact.
Coincidentally, as soon as I reached the top of a hill and learned that I was now looking down upon my destination of Avernus; a streak of hot lightening split the sky, narrowly missing the Cathedral spires. Oh yes. I could clearly see it from the surrounding wilderness. The Cathedral was the most notable landmark in the city obviously. It was situated at the back: rising up above the dwellings and shops. Except that the dwellings and shops were in shambles and aflame. Whole homes had been reduced to rubble. Demons stalked the streets. It was utter mayhem. Even from my high perch, I could hear the bloodcurdling screams. Should the city have been eerily quiet, there could still be no mistake of the evil that lurked within. The hue of the menacing clouds above the area gave that hint; the fluffiness stained a hellish red, giving the correct impression that total turmoil had broken out.
I slid down the embankment and approached the city gates. To my shock, I found that they had been completely torn down. People were evacuating the city in droves, although some were plainly trapped with their backs against the ruined structures that had been their homes. Some cried out when they saw me; others never glanced my way. Would any be saved in the Termogent Forest Swamp? In all probability, the demons inhabiting the woods would eat well today.
Entering the confusion, I drew my sword out and raised it defensively. I would slay any demon that got in my path. I'd let the mortals be if they let me be. I threaded through the broken cobblestone streets; tripping over bodies the entire way. A couple of brave human hunters shouted in my direction, but they had bigger problems than a lone vampiress on their hands. Behind them was a huge black demon with sharp horns studding its leathery body. Poison mist circulated around the immense being. A larger scarlet demon stood beside it; fire running up and down its back. No doubt that the race of this scarlet demon had started the original blaze.
For the most part, everyone and every thing ignored me. The mortals naturally thought I was in league with the demons and kept their distance, and the demons did not think of stopping me because either they wanted to slay the mortals first or assumed I was one of them. Nonetheless, it worked to my advantage.
I scuttled through the panicked crowds, skirted over fallen carts and wreckage, and navigated past fountains of crimson water until I reached the massive building I sought. It was both impressive and majestic; entirely carved from white stone and set with dozens of stained glass windows. Inside, one could find sanctuary. And sanctity. And serenity. However, I was wise enough not to expect such things.
Rushing up the marble staircase, I eagerly opened the double doors of finest wood to the sacred, shadowy interiors within.
That's it for this chapter! Hope everyone had a great holiday and I wish everyone a very happy New Year's! Hurray 2005!