Chapter Five

Upon arriving at the Manor House of the Hylden Lady Lorfae, Kain was presented with the impressive sight of a rich building that he imagined Vorador would have been proud to own. In many ways the classic gothic architecture reminded him very much of the pompous, green vampire's Mansion deep in the Termogent Forest. It seemed singularly out of place, surrounded by the swathes of more 'traditional' Hylden structures.

Khila led him carefully and silently through the shadows as best she could, out of sight and sound, to the very back of the manor and to the large wrought iron gates and high stone walls that separated the empty alley they stood in from the stable yard. The gates, like so many other supposed barriers within the city, were not locked due to Hylden 'dominance' and their everlasting faith in the fact no-one would dare do anything to them.

Khila pushed one gate open enough for the two of them to slip through and then closed it again behind them, being careful not to allow the black metal to give away any tell tale creaks.

The stable yard was nothing to comment on, it was like all other stable yards throughout history and worlds, with a light sprinkling of stray straw and hay along with the odd piles of manure on the cobbled floor. To one side, against the wall, the expansive stables themselves stood and within it the shapes of roughly three stocky equines could be defined, one of which was being studiously groomed.

The stable yard seemed clear enough. No one was peering out through any windows at the back of the manor and no guard or stable hand looked ready to make a sudden interrupting appearance except, perhaps, for the one in the stable proper. The two vampires took a short careful jog over to the stone and wood structure and made a covert inspection of the place. It turned out that what they had presumed to be a stable hand was actually the vampire they sought. Jor was brushing the short fur of one horse with almost calculated efficiency and was talking to it at the same time in the same manner you might speak to a favoured aunt that you had not seen in a long time. He was, at great length, informing the uncaring beast of the gossip from within the manor. His grubby shirt's sleeves were rolled up above his elbows and his trousers were not the same, neat, cleans ones that Kain had seen him wearing before. He had changed into typical hard labourer's leathers and rough wool rather than a pet's tidy uniform.

Jor made an elaborate sigh and ditched the brush, instead snatching up a hoof scraper. He then proceeded to turn his back to the horses head, hook one of its front legs between his own and dig out the muck that had accumulated within the shoe.

Khila leaned with her arms crossed against the closed lower half of the stable door. Kain stood straight a step to the side in his usual stance of superior indifference.

"Hello." Khila greeted the cage-masked pet vampire within the warm dry stable.

Jor's head snapped up, although his body still remained in the same ridiculous semi squat with the hoof in one hand. "You?!"

"Yes, or at least I was the last time I looked."

"Where…where is your muzzle and collar…and where have you been…with him?! Oh you shall receive such a beating for this!"

"Enough whinging, Jor." Kain decided to take control of the conversation. "I require the use of your brains, now tell me what defences this place has in regards to Caucahn and his stay here."

Jor dropped the hoof, straightened up and wiped his claws on his trousers in an almost business-like way. "I'll not aid in his demise." He told Kain.

"Please, Jor." Khila said sweetly, her voice put Kain in mind of the way a young child speak to their parents when there is something they want, almost pronouncing the word as Pwease.

"I'm sorry, Pet, but no. I don't know exactly what you are plotting but I'll not be a part of it. I'll not have her Ladyship any angrier with me than she already is." His voice was starting to shake again.

"Jor, you know you want to help us."

"Be that as it may I simply cannot. Killing his Lordship will not change anything…except maybe the location of my innards if I help you."

"Speaking of your innards, Jor," Kain said, "unless you stop making excuses and tell me something useful you will spend the rest of the night looking for you kidneys. Do I make myself clear?"

Jor visibly flinched. "Perfectly…but-"

"I do not like that word."

"…however…" Jor was determined to continue no matter what threats were thrown his way. "I still cannot help. Either way I'll end up hurt or dead. If I defy their Lord and Ladyships I will be executed and if I defy you you'll kill me anyway. I'm staying impartial. I shall pretend this never happened." With a shaking hand he picked up the grooming brush again and went back to the brown gelding.

"Do not presume to ignore me, Jor. You will find that doing as I command will hold far greater benefits for you."

"I will not pretend that I do not fear you, sir, for I do and I shan't hide it." he said quietly as the brush slid over the horses bulk. "But in truth I do not believe that you can complete the task that you have set yourself."

"You doubt my ability? Do you have the slightest idea who I am?"

"Yes, I do know now, I have heard some tales from her Ladyship after she interrogated me over what I saw…it is just that…I just don't think it will work."

Kain grabbed the stable door as if to throw it open when Khila took a firm grip on his shoulder. "Don't hurt him, please don't hurt him!" she begged.

He shrugged her off but stayed his hand.

"Kain," she continued, "do you honestly need to know all of this? There will be few guards because Lord Caucahn fears no one…and any defences this house would surely be no challenge for you, hmm?"

He had, in fact, already contemplated such a course of action. It was more his style to simply wade in and get the job done, but these were strange and new times and he did so loathe surprises…and if they had managed to kill him before…

Jor didn't look up but did speak. "Whatever you do, make sure you do it fast for he returns to his castle tomorrow."

"What?!" Khila exclaimed. "But he is not due to return for another week."

"He has heard the workers new tales, hasn't he now…of the creature that has returned from the grave and stolen his Lordships pet. Did I already tell you that? I think he is organising things and I heard him talking about getting more guards up at the castle, what a sight that would be!" Jor wasn't actually talking to Kain or Khila; he was talking to the horse. Well, he couldn't be blamed if someone overheard him chatting to himself like he always did, surely? "Ah, and isn't it true that her Ladyship is already installing new Glyph barriers? Oh yes it is, I have seen them, don't you know, such confusing contraptions upon the walls…and so many…tsk tsk, more spaces for dust to form, what will the maids do?"

Khila smiled and listened to him babble on.

"As for the castle…his Lordship does so hate the barriers. Guards he can stand but he cannot abide by the humming of the generators. Not very safe if you ask me. Silly mistake…if some one of skill and strength were to break in undetected they could devastate the guards, don't you think?" he patted the geldings flank. "Silly, silly mistake, but who am I to talk of such things? Oh, you don't care do you, Gideon, so long as I feed you."

"Do you have your answers now?" Khila asked Kain quietly.

"To a degree. At least now I will have a better idea of what to face; especially since I can now rely on you again and not the fancies of a deluded stable boy."

"I resent that." Jor said. "Do not bite me, Gideon." He was still following the role of the absent minded fool.

"I think I know a way to get you into the castle." Khila told Kain while picking at a splinter on the door. "It is a way that I am sure Lord Caucahn will overlook because it was sealed up about half a century ago on his order. It is an extensive sewer pipe line that runs up to a pool in one of the castles dungeons but it was dried up and sealed because young Aluka Vetus kept coming through it after they had widened it enough to pass. If you could break the masonry that seals it I'm sure the pipe way would give you the access you desire. It would get you into the centre of the castle where no one ever ventures…albeit in a dungeon but I doubt the door would prove much of a challenge."

"Where is the entrance to this sewer…and is it one straight path?"

"The sewer is many pipe lines and they were all dried and sealed, it is like a maze of rounded tunnels down there from what I know of it…and the entrance…is….is in the Wild Lands."

"The Wild Lands…is that not where the 'Wild' vampires reside?"

"Yes, beasts that they are. Hmm, I can see you like the sound of that."

"The Wild vampires may mean something to me. I should like to see them if at all possible."

"No you don't. They are animals to the core. They never speak…all they do is feed…even on there own kind if left hungry long enough. Or maybe they were just driven insane, I don't know. Might be both, could be neither but whatever they are in mind they scare me."

"You say that the pipe was sealed with masonry, do you mean brick?"

"Yes."

"That shouldn't be difficult to remove, especially if it is as old as you claim it to be."

"So what is your exact plan, Kain? You have not told me." Khila turned and leaned her back against the door so she could face him. "I know that you desire to kill Lord Caucahn but for what purpose? Why do you so badly need him dead? Not that I am complaining, I hope you understand."

"My plan is as it has always been; to see Nosgoth safely back under vampire rule."

"A noble cause, to be sure, but I doubt that you see the full scale of Hylden control here."

"And what do you mean by that remark?"

"I told you; people are too afraid to go against them and even if you did take power they would quite probably rebel against you. What people fear most, above all other things, is change."

"Let them rebel if they are foolish enough to do so, for I do this for Nosgoth; the land must be healed before the people can learn trust. While Nosgoth rots so do the hearts of the people."

"It isn't as though the land is alive in the first place." Jor mumbled, still grooming.

"Even a world must have soul, have you never heard the term Mother Nature?" Khila retorted.

Jor dropped the brush he had been using. "Oh, you and your little fancies; land is land, nothing more, it does not live and breathe…it is dirt and rock, it doesn't grow, doesn't feel."

"How do you know?"

"I'm sure that dear beloved Nosgoth would say something if we happened to be insulting 'her'." He said with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

"Nosgoth does speak; you just that you never listen."

Jor laughed with one hand held politely over his mouth even though it was already covered by his muzzle. "Oh, Pet, you really are something. Are you still hearing those imaginary voices?"

"They are not imaginary!"

"Is the Deep still chatting to you? Still telling you people need killing, is he?"

"The 'Deep'?" Kain asked, looking from Khila to Jor in the hope that at least one of them would find the time between arguing to tell him what they were on about.

Khila was the one who finally supplied some sense. "The Deep…it's a name that I gave to one of the voices that I hear. His is the most consistent and is the only one that I can understand. He tells me to kill people, tells me that I must…and his circle, he never stops speaking of his bloody circle."

"Circle? Are you trying to confuse me?"

"No, but the Deep confuses me…he's always here." she tapped her left temple with one claw. "He never goes away."

"No doubt he's talking right now." Jor scoffed.

"Actually he isn't." she crossed her arms in an elaborate gesture of annoyance. "Although…he did pipe up a little while before we came here."

"And what did he want this time? Does he still want you to find the Hollow?"

"No, not exactly, he told me to kill Kain and then find the Hollow."

"The Hollow? What is this, a fantasy novel?" Kain was beginning to sound rather infuriated, and his voice perfectly matched his general mood at that moment. As he had mentioned before; he did not take kindly to being ignored and if someone didn't start making some sense in his direction he was going to be very violent all over the place. It was an odd experience for him. This was the first time in his life that he wasn't at the centre of everything…he wasn't an attention seeker but he had grown so used to being the most important individual in history that the quietness of the future was rather disappointing.

"If I knew what the Hollow was I would let you know." Khila said sweetly. "I would love to know as well."

"You're mad, you need to be taken away in chains and locked up for you own safety." Jor wasn't giving up so easily.

Khila leaned back over the half door so she was looking at him upside down. "Jor darling, it's so nice to know you care."

They continued to argue over the state of Khila's sanity.

Kain looked up at the sky. It was still dark; thick clouds that looked ready to throw down spears of rain once more obscured the moon but every so often a clear patch would appear between them and he would see diamond stars studding the inky blueness. Fragments of familiar constellations would roll past gaps every now and again…he was sill in Nosgoth yet he was nowhere near home. This wasn't his world, even if he took it…he could try…but it just didn't feel right.

"Were any maps ever made of the pipe line?" he asked almost distantly.

Jor caught the stray enquiry in the middle of his ranting and though it better to answer it than end up yelling at Khila for an hour. "Yes."

Kain was still looking upwards as he spoke on. "Do you know where to find one?"

"Well, actually, yes. Her Ladyship is chief records holder. All original maps are kept by her even if they are unusable from being too old."

"Bring me one."

"I can't do something like that; I told you."

"Yes you can, and you will, and if you don't I will posses you and use your body to run the errand anyway."

Jor's face paled (although how this happened when he is dead and pale anyway I don't know). "You wouldn't do that…"

"Consider your options, Jor." He gestured slightly with one hand though his eyes did not leave the sky. "If I take control of your body I will run blithely around the manor and will tear it apart looking for the map because I will have absolutely no idea where I am going, and of course it will be you who will suffer the blame and the punishment. Alternatively you could willingly go yourself and stand a chance of remaining undiscovered and safe while doing me a great service."

Jor looked to Khila as though for some support from a fellow pet but all she did was set herself the right way round, smile like a china doll and shrug; indicating that he was very much on his own.

He stuffed his hands into the greatly stretched back pockets of his trousers. "It seems that I have next to no choice then, doesn't it?" he gulped and then added as an after though. "I don't feel very well."

"Do try not to make excuses, Jor, they shan't work."

Jor shook his head and walked off on his way…he had the posture of a man being sent to the gallows. "I'm going to die." He protested in vain.

Before he was out of ear shot he turned back to them. "I have no idea how long this will take, so I suggest that you stay out of sight as best you can." He shook his head again and cautiously found his way inside.

Now that they had been left to their own devices Kain and Khila resorted to conversation yet again to pass the time but they were rapidly running out of things to talk about.

"He may not even come back. He could be caught and killed, or worse." Khila pointed out.

Kain didn't need to question that statement. There were many fates worse than the grave. "If he fails I shall just have to go in myself." He was vaguely aware that his blood hunger was rising. Although he had made plenty of kills he had actually fed little…in fact, not at all. "I think that I may have to go inside regardless of whether Jor succeeds or not."

"I wouldn't advise it, if he is right about the new barriers being put in I doubt that you would be able to get far." At this point a light flicked on in one of the windows of the manor. Within the soft glow of Glyph powered light a Hylden silhouette could be clearly seen.

Kain pushed the half door aside and nudged Khila to follow him in.

They slipped silently into the stables that were bathed in the thick scents of sweet hay and musky horses and hoped that they had not been seen. "It appears that we will be in here until he returns." Kain perched himself on a hay bale, one end of which was now being thoroughly munched on by Gideon. "I find Jor to be most puzzling."

"How exactly?"

"Although he willingly condemns himself to a life of unquestioned servitude he seems perfectly capable of keenly ignoring his commands. It is as though he himself does not know whose side he is on."

"He is on the side that suits him at the time. He honestly hasn't the slightest clue as to what he wants for himself; they did something to his head, I'm sure of it. If he runs into Lady Lorfae whilst looking for the map he will more than likely forget all about us. Did you notice the way he dismissed the loss of my muzzle and my being with you after he first questioned it?"

"Yes, I did."

"He does that a lot. I never see him that often but because Lady Lorfae and Lord Caucahn are always meeting we are frequently in each other's presence. I think most pets are like him; permanently confused."

"But not you. You have taken to the role of a free woman rather well. You just need to stop calling the Hylden Lords and Ladies." Although there was that little suicide scare…which you have forgotten all about.

"I suppose that even though I was always obedient I wanted out of it. I only really performed as bidden to avoid punishment. You know…I don't think that I came out quite right." She twisted a lock of her hair between her claws. "I am not as the others are and I don't just mean by looks. Every pet has the same submissive persona except for me."

"How were you made? Who is your sire?"

"I don't remember. I remember being picked out of my human family, chosen to be Caucahn's pet. I remember going to this place somewhere and then they put something over my mouth…it must have made me fall asleep…after that I was me as I am now. I don't remember how it happened. I just remember being scared. I think it hurt, but I can't be sure. The harder I try to remember the fainter the memories I do have of it seem to get. What about you, do you remember?"

"Yes, but please don't ask about it."

"Sorry." She started petting one of the other horses.

Nothing much was said between them after that point. There was little either wanted to say, and even though Kain would have rather liked to question over her not wanting to commit suicide anymore he felt it would be a bad subject to bring up when he still needed her around and preferably alive. All that really happened between then and Jor's return was that Gideon worked his way up the hay bale and started to chew on Kain's half cloak, for which he received an exceedingly sore nose after having his cloth meal viciously snatched from between his teeth.

"Well, at least he didn't try to eat your hair." Khila said in an attempt to move the scowl from his face.

"I thought it was a horse, not a goat." He replied, inspecting the now damp and nibbled corner of the red material.

While Kain grumbled and tried to wring out the horse spit Jor stumbled through the stable doors and then dropped heavily to his knees, causing whisps of hay to flutter up into the air around him. "Do not ask anything else of me, I cannot survive anything more." he begged and then slid one hand under his shirt; pulling a yellowed scroll out from where he had wedged it in the waistband of his trousers.

"I trust you managed to acquire the correct map." Kain said, standing.

Jor held up the scroll. "Here, take it. I hope it is worth the trouble it caused me."

"What kind of trouble." But even as he asked he saw through a slash in Jor's shirt, the fresh, long, deep gash in his back; a cut so deep it showed his bare spine. Jor was a slow healer and the sides of the wound were only just beginning to knit together again.

"Just get out of here and leave me in peace." For the first time in perhaps his whole life, Jor was genuinely angry and it showed.

Kain took Khila's arm and rather roughly led her away before she could attempt to aid the injured pet.

"But he's bleeding." She protested and struggled as she was dragged across the stable yard and through the gates.

"What could you do? He will heal himself in good time. He will be fine." As they turned a shadowed corner and headed back to the Pillars yet again, Jor did his best to ignore the pain while tending to Gideon and the Hylden silhouette turned away from the window.

So, the plan was now well and truly in motion. First Kain would need some time to familiarise himself with the layout of the pipeline then he would have Khila take him to the entrance. Once inside the castle and behind the defences he would find and kill Caucahn and thus begin the creation of the chaos from which he would salvage new vampire order.

To be continued……

Authors Note – My thanks, thus far, go out to; Smoke, Varyssa, Lunatic Pandora 1, Megara2, Rebecca, Robin, Aleks, Magpie and Sophie-chan. Thank you all sooooo much! Happy

There are 13 chapters in total (in case you were wondering) but there is a possible 14th depending on how confusing you find 13.

Again, all comments, criticisms and suggestion are welcomed. Please continue to review as a happy author writes faster. Bye for now! Enjoy! I'll try to get Chapter Six done in time for x-mas…