It had been a very long time since the last hunter, close to two years, I think, when HE came. A young human, beautiful, really, with his pale-blond hair and ice blue eyes. There was something different about this hunter, something I felt the moment I saw him. He wore black, with a white coat trimmed in red. He carried no bladed weapons, only a whip and a cross. The cross…in a recess in the holy symbol, a yellow stone shown. This hunter had beat Succubus.
He was looking right at me, but couldn't seem to see me, when he asked, "Is someone there? Are you a prisoner here?"
I leaned forward, out of the shadows, surprised that he would talk to me. "Who are you...?" I wanted to know the name of the hunter with no fear.
"My name is Leon. And you are?"
I began walking toward him, my thirst and my orders pairing, telling me that which I knew I had to do. "My name...is Kadaj Kuzmanovic." He deserved to know that. "It's too bad you aren't Walter." I allowed my eyes to glow.
"...This feeling...Are you a vampire?"
"That's right! Lowly human," I snapped. He only just now figured that out?
"Why is a vampire locked away here?" the hunter asked, foolishly.
"Shut up! Damn Walter. I would've won if were it not for his Ebony Stone!" Not the strict truth, but how dare this man pry into my life?
"Ebony Stone? What's that?"
"If you want to know...BEAT ME!" I declared, calling my swords. They lifted out of the ground and began to whirl around me. "It'll be a nice prelude to defeating Walter." I narrowed my eyes and pointed at the human, angry at his prying. "I'll beat you...to a PULP!"
When the battle started, I learned what made this hunter, Leon, feel so different. He moved with almost feline grace, and was nearly as fast as I. When he lashed out with the whip, I saw that it burned the air and scorched the stone. I was safe behind my shield, and so felt nothing, but I shuddered at the thought that this man might discover my weakness. If he took out the shield, he would certainly win.
The hunter's eyes widened as I shrugged off the attack. I sent my swords up at him through the ground, smoothly dodging as he attacked me again. It didn't hurt, but being hit slowed me down, and I didn't like that. I was too confidant, however, and not paying attention to where I was. The flaming whip went right by my head, smashing into one of the orbs that generated my shield. The hunter noticed, and looked around the room, nodding in realization.
I cursed to myself as the human ceased attacking me. I sent my swords at him again, setting two to spinning and slicing them after him. He back flipped over the whirling blades, then jumped up and thrashed another orb. I could feel my shield weakening noticeably, and I blasted a spell at the hunter. My swords gathered around me and circled, the power they generated directed at me. I caught it and sent it toward the hunter in a brilliant beam of light.
The hunter dodged, and went for the last orb. My increased offensive only proved to him that he was on the right path. The orb shattered, and the subtle glow of my shield vanished. The hunter smiled as he attacked me with whip and cross.
The pain burned through me, and I was reminded suddenly of my childhood under the sun. His assault continued, and I was buffeted about like a doll. The pure fury of this human's attack stunned me; he was fighting with passion, something I had done only once, against Walter. I knew then that I would be beaten, and knew that Walter too would likely fall against the strength of this hunter's anger.
Knowing that I WOULD lose, however, was different from actually being beaten. Until the hunter beat me, I could not leave, nor could I stop fighting, which I would gladly have done. But if this man defeated me, it would very likely be that he had killed me. I had never really considered dying before. I was too determined to kill Walter.
The battle continued for many minutes longer, until I was so weak I could not even hold myself off the ground. My swords fell with a clatter, and I found myself kneeling at his feet. I waited for the final lash, which would claim my life. When none came, I looked to see why.
"To think...I lost...to a human..." I murmured, too used to winning.
Leon gestured at me with the whip. "You promised. Answer me! What is the Ebony Stone?"
Might as well… I had promised. And it just might help him… "A stone...made with alchemy. It creates...the never-ending darkness...in this forest."
"Hence Eternal Night..." he mused. "But the night should help you as well, since you're a vampire," he added, the question obvious in his voice.
I grimaced weakly. "That stone chooses its master...My powers pale beside his...Oh, if only I had the Crimson Stone..." But I didn't, and never would, and there was no point in mourning it. I invoked one more of my vampiric powers, then screamed and faded away into a purple mist. As I faded, I watched the hunter leave. The door was left open, and Walter's will no longer bound me. Still as mist I weakly floated out the door and out of the dark palace that had held me for so many years. I was free. And if the hunter didn't kill Walter, then I would.