Sitting alone in the main ballroom, Jonathan Tremere waited patiently for his servants to return. It had already been a couple hours since he'd sent Grigori and Reidai with one of the werewolves to retrieve Catherine Ran. With the hunter now trapped under the castle, there shouldn't be anything to keep his minions from completing their mission.
"Let me go, you blood guzzling monster!"
Well it sounded like they'd returned in success this time. Tremere gave the large portrait a scornful sneer before turning to see his thralls and the girl they'd captured walk into the ballroom. As expected, she was struggling, but that was nothing he couldn't solve with his power. "You must be Catherine," he greeted while the thralls came to a halt and held her before their master. "I apologize for the less than formal introductions the first time we met." He grinned, flashing his retracted canines. "I am Duke Jonathan Tremere, the liege lord of this region."
She looked away from him, her face filled with disgust at this inhuman being before her. Tremere sighed, then glanced at his thralls and gestured for them to leave. Only once Girgori and Reidai had left did he continue. "You must be nervous," the vampire said while now pacing about around the girl. No change in her expression as of yet. "Young brides often are, but you need not worry."
With a growl, Catherine turned her gaze toward the vampire, now glaring angrily. "I'd rather die than be a part of your kind!" she spat. Even when she shied away from him, Tremere could see the defiance in her eyes. "You vampires are not even monsters, because to call you that would be an insult to the monsters!"
Such insolence from such a young girl, but it showed that she had promise. It took a certain amount of will to undergo the change from mortal to vampire, and she had that fire in plenty. "I like a woman who has spirit," Tremere remarked flippantly, now stepping toward Catherine. He reached out and held her chin, his blue eyes shining as if they were ice refracting light. "As such, I won't be offended by your rude defiance."
She pulled away from him. While her lips were trembling in fear, the vampire could see that she was holding all the courage she had, trying to still refuse to submit. So typical of humans in this day. "I won't become your bride," Catherine stated confidently. "You'll be dead before you can turn me."
"Oh, the blonde boy?" Tremere grinned when Catherine's eyes went wide. "If you think that he'll be coming to your rescue, my dear Catherine, you're very mistaken, because I've already handled him." A snap of his finger and a shard of mirror glass floated over his hand. Now displayed in the mirror fragment was not Catherine's reflection, but the scene even now playing out in the catacombs below the castle. She could see D in the arms of a blue skinned woman with red hair, and the young hunter wasn't even resisting her. When the girl backed away, shaking her head in denial and fear, Tremere grinned. "Marrigan is quite adept at seducing anyone," he stated calmly. "Regardless of their gender or preferences. Such are her gifts as a succubus, and she feeds on the life-force of all those who become her victims." He glanced down at the projection again, noting how long it had been since the hunter had encountered Marrigan. "You know, any other man would have been drained within minutes but he's already lasted a few hours."
The girl now stared at him in horror. Obviously she did not understand what that meant, but her reaction to her believed savior's fate was no doubt just as fear induced. It also seemed that she didn't know what this hunter was. "Being that he's a dhampir, however," Tremere continued, "I shouldn't have expected any less."
Her lip trembled, fear overcoming her expression. "A dhampir?" she whispered. "But that means...one of his parents was a...a..."
"A vampire," Tremere finished. He threw down the mirror, shattering it against the ground while moving closer to the girl, even as Catherine backed away. "Yes, his father was one of us, a nobleman who had a tryst with some common human woman!" He was grinning widely now as he watched the girl's reaction to learning the truth about her 'hero'. "Vampiric blood flows in his veins, he is descended from our damned blood!"
She shook her head, refusing to believe it. D was so kind, despite his hardened attitude, he couldn't possibly be descended from one of these monsters. "You're lying!" she screamed, still backing away from Tremere. "D isn't one of your kind's bastard children, he's a good person, and I'll never become one of-"
A flash of his eyes, and Tremere held up his hand, causing Catherine to trail off and slump over. He quickly caught the girl, gently stroking her hair while looking out at the moon. "How I hate this moon," he whispered. "But tomorrow night, you shall become one of us. Until then, rest yourself."
His coat lay on the rocks as D was pressed down on the shoreline of the shallow lake. Marrigan was still on top of him, kissing him passionately while draining the very life from him. His own hands were clasped around her, holding her from the back. It seemed as if he would be drained completely without even putting up a fight.
Marrigan broke away from his lips, smiling while his own eyes narrowed, amusement dancing in those crimson spheres. "You're very full of energy," she stated with a sultry tone. One hand came down to caress his cheek, then traveled over the center seam of his vest. "You will last quite a while, and we haven't even gotten started on the best part yet." That hand went lower, gliding down his leg, then coming up along his inner thigh and touching between his legs. "Oh...and he's well gifted in more than one way."
A deadly gleam flashed in D's eyes. "You have no idea," he whispered, pulling her back into a kiss. Marrigan's free hand searched for the clasp to undo his armor, but D's right hand came around and stopped her. It was then, breaking their kiss and looking at D with a confused expression, that Marrigan realized something. That gleam in his eyes, how filled with control they were; he wasn't under her spell, she was under his!
His mouth opened wide, now revealing a set of sharp canines, two on each side of his top jaw while a single pair revealed themselves on the bottom. With a growl, he pulled her down and bit into her neck before she could struggle against him. For a few seconds, she resisted, but then Marrigan moaned, not wanting to fight against his grip now. It felt too good to make him stop.
And then, just as suddenly as he'd revealed himself, D let go and shoved the succubus off of him, sending her crashing into the water. With a grin, D wiped the blood off his mouth, ran over to the crop of rocks to retrieve his coat, then turned to see Marrigan standing up. Being she wasn't human, he hadn't doubted that he couldn't possibly drain enough blood from her.
"Was it good for you?" he asked, now clenching his left fist and forcing the wide blade to extend. His eyes had a feral appearance to them now, shining as they had become feline slits. "I certainly had fun."
The succubus reached up to the left side of her neck, wiping off the blood. True, she'd just about lost herself in his embrace once he'd bitten her, but the boy had just drank back all the life she's stolen from him! Why hadn't she sensed that he was a dhampir before? For that matter, why did he feel so different from a dhampir? "The best I've yet had," she replied silkily, swaying her hips as she stepped toward him. "And believe it or not, I'm being honest, my pretty little dhampir."
That smile suddenly flipped into a tight furious scowl. "I was about to let you go," D stated angrily. His left arm came up, shining the blade of his gauntlet in the artificial light that came down into this lake chamber. "But no one calls me a dhampir, lady."
She blinked, not understanding. Was he not a dhampir? He felt off from how one of the half-damned should, but he was clearly vampiric in his heritage. "Did I offend you?" Marrigan queried. Genuine confusion was on her face now. "You are half-vampire, are you not?"
A small nod. "I'm a half-breed," D replied carefully. "But I'm a dunpeal, not a Kinthea's dhampir."
Ah, so that's why he felt so odd. Come to think of it, he looked rather familiar. They hadn't met before. Had she known his vampire father, perhaps? "The son of a vanpyr lord," the succubus stated. She bowed to him. "My apologies, it's been so long since I've felt your father's kind, ever since Tremere killed Master Greymare." Now her smile returned as she watched D begin to circle her. "Before Tremere came here, I was Greymare's companion, serving as his, how shall we say, donator. We fed on each other in a mutual sustaining relationship."
"Succubi can't die from blood loss," D said calmly. His posture now relaxed, but he still didn't trust this sex demon. "Alright, so why serve Tremere now? He clearly isn't feeding you at all, since you seemed so eager to have your way with me."
Marrigan nodded, looking quite sad now as she brushed back her hair. "I take from whatever poor fools wander in here. Usually they're mutants or thralls that Tremere has found to be too stupid to be of use to him, but since he's been gone for the past five years, I've been rather, shall we say...hungry."
A nod. D well understood this demon's difficulties. "I wish I could say I can relate," he said while readying himself. She needed his life-force to regain the strength she lost from five years of minimal food, but hell be damned if he was going to let her. He had a job to do, and there was no doubt in his mind that Catherine had been captured by now. "Since I am what I am, however, I don't need human blood, nor do I suffer bloodlust."
A smile from the succubus. She knew how a dunpeal's gifts and burdens worked. "And what have you given up in return for that?" she asked, turning and walking toward the shoreline. "You have great strength, the power to see over great distances, and many of the vampire powers are yours." She turned to face him now, one finger pressed against her lips. "Ah, but can you command the beasts of the night, or transform into creatures such as a bat or a wolf?" He didn't reply, meaning she had her answer. "Yes...you gave up the protean powers of a vampire when you were born."
"I don't have time for your game right now," D stated firmly. His eyes looked about for any sign of a way out of the catacombs. "My job is to protect the girl who Tremere has chosen to be his bride, and I intend to do complete that job by killing Tremere."
Marrigan almost smiled with how impressed she was by this hunter dunpeal. Very bold and couragous, and stupidity was not replacing either trait with him. He actually might stand a chance of slaying her vampire enslaver. "I applaud you in your dedication to your work," the succubus replied. Electrical bolts arced over her body now while her eyes went bright blue. "I'm afraid that Tremere has bound me to protect him to all my ability, however."
The gauntlet blade rose again. "I had a feeling it would come to this." D tensed, then raced forward while Marrigan flicked her hand out and unleashed a blast of lightning. The dunpeal quickly leapt up to avoid the attack, landing and swinging at his demon foe. She vanished in a cloud of bats, the swarm flying about before merging back into the succubus. This was going to get very annoying.
His right hand slipped into his coat, pulling out the force gun while D dodged another lighting blast. Set for maximum output, the gun came up and fired, sending a rippling surge that slammed into Marrigan and sent her flying back into the shoreline. D took a moment to look at the gun. Obviously, even in her weakened state, Marrigan was a poweful succubus. She'd survived a full powered burst from his gun. "This is gonn'a get ugly," he muttered while the succubus now leapt into the air and flew toward him.
The golden blade shimmered and shifted back into the main bulk of the gauntlet just as he brought up his hands and fell back in time with Marrigan landing on him. Now bringing his feet up to press against her stomach, D pushed with his feet while pulling with his hands and flinging her over him. He used the momentum to roll back and flip to his feet, turning about while the gauntlet blade extended out again.
A third surge of lightning flew out at him. D gritted his teeth and brought his gauntlet up, catching the barrage with the blade and redirecting it into the ground by stabbing the tip into the sandbar. He pulled back to bring his weapon at the ready once more, taking the chance to now holster his force gun. "I like women who are feisty," he stated while moving to match his foe's circling steps, "but I tend not to like it when they try hitting me with a bolt of lightning."
"And I'm sorry that I'm bound to Tremere's defense," Marrigan replied. The look in her eyes told that she spoke the truth. She must have been very fond of Hyrem Greymare to hate Tremere this much. "Unless he is killed, however, I am not free from his will."
She flew at him again. D readied himself, punching hard as soon as Marrigan was upon him. A powerful blow slammed into the demon's stomach, followed by a backhand swing that cracked against her face. Marrigan stumbled back, disorientated while D took his chance and jumped up with a spin, kicking the succubus in the chest. Once more, she stumbled back, trying to recover from the dizzying blow to her head.
Once more D swung at her with his gauntlet, but she erupted into the swarm of bats and flew about the lake chamber before reforming into her humanoid form. The hunter wasn't sure now if she was trying to kill him or merely stall him. Odds were on the latter, and he felt bad about the possibility that Marrigan might have to be killed in order for him to get out of the catacombs. "If it's any consolation," he intoned while slowly moving toward her, blade now extended again. "I really wish it didn't come to this."
A nod, and the succubus raced toward him. She swung with a blade formed from her dress, catching D on the arm as he dove to the side. The hunter grabbed the wound, catching his breath in the time before it started to heal, then backflipped away in time to avoid another lightning attack. D launched himself into the air as a lightning surge flew at him, coming down behind Marrigan, then slashing her hard with the blade of his gauntlet. A second swing brought the top of the arm guard slamming against her head, and then his hand opened to unleash his own blast of lightning into the demon.
Exhausted, Marrigan stumbled foward, then fell back into D's arms. She looked up into his eyes, and then, thinking back, recognized where she had seen his features before. "Hm, such a dear boy you are," she intoned, caressing his face gently. "You were kind enough not to kill me." A laugh escaped her lips. "I've done all I can to protect Tremere. You've beaten me."
D's eyes narrowed. She sounded sincere, but he couldn't be sure. He carefully helped her stand on her own and watched as Marrigan walked over to her rock seat. "How do I get out of here then?"
She swayed her hips as she walked, then turned back toward D and smiled. "Just go north of here, you'll find the way leading up into the castle." Marrigan returned to her seat, then, seeing that D was departing, sighed lovingly. "You know, your father was a handsome devil."
He stopped, now turning back to face the succubus. There was a gleam in her eyes, and he could see that it was a lusting look she gave him. Marrigan shook a finger at the dunpeal, as if to stifle any jealousy he might have. "You're no slouch yourself, my dear boy." Her head rose slightly. "Now get going."
A smile crept onto D's face as he turned and ran down the way Marrigan had told him of. At least not everything in this castle was a loving servant of Tremere. Now all he had to do was get back into the castle proper and find Catherine. "Wake up, Varda," he snapped at his gauntlet. After a moment, the demon's face appeared on the back of his hand. "We're working overtime tonight."
"So you didn't get your soul sucked out by the succubus," Varda remarked. He actually suspected that D had gone into the whole situation with a plan, but still, he had to prod the young hunter. "Was she any good?"
Leave it to Varda to always assume the most vulgar outcome in a scenario. "Tasted just like cherry soda," D replied. He grinned when Varda gave him the most confounded expression the demon could form on his face. It was nice to make the demon wonder what the hell was indeed going on.
The castle halls were quiet, with most of the specters that haunted the place now occupied with preparations for the wedding. Reidai silently stalked the main hall, looking up at the sky through the massive windows. No doubt, Grigori was making plans for taking the other sister from that ranch. What to do with the boy however. Well, vampires weren't very picky, so long as their plaything was reasonably attractive. Perhaps for his hard work, Tremere might even consider making him a vampire.
"Me," he muttered to himself. "A noble." The thrall grinned at the thought, now forming a mental image in his mind. Yes, he found such a prospect very likable. Lord Reidai. It had a ring to it.
As he turned the corner, Reidai halted to see that the door to the room where Catherine had been taken was open. Curious, he walked over and looked inside. There, leaning over her, was Grigori, who looked to have a lustful gleam in his eyes. Reidai couldn't blame him; young as she was, the girl was very much an eyecatcher. But was Grigori willing to risk their master's wrath just to indulge that desire?
"I'm not going to do anything to her," the younger thrall stated calmly. He stood upright, now walking to the doorway while giving Reidai a wounded expression. "I'm hurt that you would think so lowly of me." Now the thrall grinned. "Her older sister, however, will no doubt be just as fun to play with."
They departed from the room, now heading down the hallway toward the main ballroom. As Reidai looked up at the moon, he sighed. Truly, waiting for the rewards of service wore one's patience thin. "At least that damned dhampir is dead," he muttered. "Or at least should be soon. I know that Tremere has been starving her for a while now."
Grigori nodded. So sad that he wasn't able to deal with the half-breed himself, but such were orders. Still, he would have liked to have a fight with the hunter. Skill like that would be a great challenge.
Something was coming down the hallway toward them. Running, moving very fast. Who would be in such a hurry? "Who the hell is-"
Appearing out of the shadows, now illuminated by the moonlight, was the young hunter in black. This was unbelievable. By all rights, he should still be in the arms of the succubus, being drained of his life and near death. How was it that he escaped and made his way up into the castle?
D raised his hand, unleashing an electric barrage that slammed into Grigori and sent him flying back several feet to the ground. Reidai didn't even have a chance to move before D jumped up and delivered a solid kick to his head, bring the older thrall down as well. After landing, the dunpeal continued running down the hallway, now finding the open doorway that led to Catherine.
"Dhampir!" Reidai yelled out. He checked on Grigori to find that the younger thrall was alive, but too much in shock to get up. That left it to his underling to handle the situation. "Don't think you can just waltz right out of here with the girl!"
D came to a skidding halt before he turned back to face Reidai. It seemed that the thrall was more resilient than he'd thought. Perhaps he'd be taking another of these mock vampires down before he left with the girl. "Your buddy back at the ranch did rather miserably against me," he stated calmly, taking ready combat stance while Reidai stalker toward him. "Are you you want to risk the same fate?"
There was a snarl from the thrall as he now quickened his pace and ran at the hunter. "I'll make sure you rot in your grave before Duke Tremere's wedding!" he roared, leaping up and coming down with a powerful punch that impacted on the ground and cracked the stone floor. D had lithely leapt away, landing and resuming his stance. Another attack and the dunpeal was up in the air once more, twisting around and landing behind Reidai. He spun on his heel, kicking the thrall in the head again as he turned, then grabbing the man and bringing his right knee up to crack into Reidai's crotch. A second such motion brought D's knee into the thrall's face, sending him falling back after D let go.
Taking stance for a moment before he was sure the thrall was down, D walked past Reidai and continued into the dimly lit room. There, lying under the sheets in bed, was Catherine, dead asleep. "Kinthea domination," he muttered as he walked over to the bed, kneeling down and holding his left hand over the girl. "Varda, can you break this?"
The face formed in the palm of the gauntlet. Varda quickly looked the girl over before nodding. "Yeah, a bit tricky though," he replied. "More powerful than what we usually deal with." He went silent for a moment. Then, Varda's eyes blazed with white light, causing a flash to go over Catherine's body. Seconds later, she stirs, now awake and opening her eyes. Varda's face quickly flushed into the gauntlet before he could be seen.
D held his hand out to her. "Are you alright?" he asked. She looked at him, eyes full of fear now, but she nodded. The hunter pulled her out of bed and helped her stand. His attention turned back toward the bedroom door, making sure that the two thralls were still incapacitated. Good, Reidai was still holding his crotch in pain while Grigori was out cold. "Come on, we've got to get out of here."