Varyssa: Sounds like a Moebius thing. I think bribes would be better. (grin) Sadly, I think that you make more sense when you're overcaffinated than this story does on any day.

20050709 Disclaimers offend me, but the very nature of fanfiction speaks for itself.

Entering the hylden city was easier than I expected. A wide roadway led to an opening in the fence. I puzzled at the many narrow openings, but then I realized that they were there to stop anything that was demon-sized.

I glanced at Kain. The clean white plastic of the katana's scabbard clashed strangely with his old-world appearance. It even made his hair look dingy. "Ginsu," I muttered as I finally deciphered the stylized letters painted on the scabbard.

"What did you say?" Kain asked.

"It's the name of the company that makes really good kitchen knives," I explained. "It's on that scabbard."

Kain turned away from me, obviously not impressed with such triviality. The three vampires were on edge, intently scanning their surroundings.

An occasional shadow walked through the gloom, but the city was surprisingly deserted for being so large. Did the hylden know that we were here, and were therefore busy setting a trap? Maybe most of them had been in Nosgoth when the gate closed, and therefore their population no longer filled what once was a teeming city. It was also possible that it was simply the middle of the night; I knew that the downtown area of at least one city on earth became deserted once the sun set.

We reached the building with the green light and turned down the alleyway next to it. I hesitated at the mouth; it was too dark for me to see. Vorador was closest to me, so I pinched the fabric of his jacket and let him lead me. I realized that I was sticking with the weakest of the three, but I knew that my presence would hinder anyone's ability to fight, so that left the stronger two free.

"This is too easy," Kain rumbled almost imperceptibly as we reached a back door. It was unlocked, and we slipped in. By this time it was clear that the hylden either did not expect any intruders, or we were walking right into a trap.

The vampires killed several hylden scientists as we made our way through the building, but the going was not hard. The major difficulty came when we finally came on the room Janos was being held in.

A green shield spell completely surrounded Janos. He was shackled to the floor with heavy chains. Janos' body was covered in bruises and half-healed cuts. He wearily raised his head, but he was too delirious to see us.

Vorador jerked his hand away from the shield and asked, "How do we get him out of there?"

Without knowing what I would pull out, I reached into my backpack. I recognized this latest gadget as a tazer. Experimentally, I pressed the button and held it against the shield. With a shock of power that left spots in front of my eyes, the shield collapsed.

Vorador immediately ran to Janos' side and supported his weight, murmuring words of encouragement. Kain brought the ginsu down through the shackles. The blade cut down into the floor and cleanly snapped off.

Raziel had been keeping watch at the door. "We've got a problem," he said as he backed into the room.

An angry mob of hylden crowded the hallway. There was a tense moment as they angrily hissed at us. Knowing that Vorador would not be able to use it, Kain took his sword. At some imperceptible signal, Raziel and Kain simultaneously leapt into the horde and began slashing through the hylden.

I reached into my backpack and pulled out an odd gun. I did my best to roar angrily as I opened fire on the hylden opposite of where Kain and Raziel were cutting through their ranks. My gun sounded with an odd 'paft' and bright splotches of pink paint appeared on the hylden. Fortunately, the surprise factor did much to delay them.

Soon, our way was clear, and we went pelting through the hallways with a wave of hylden behind us. The next thing to come out of my backpack was alive and heavy. I flung it at the hylden and winced at the snarling bark. The hylden were not quick enough in running away, so they had to contend with the whirl of claws and tangerine fur.

We hit a dead end, and even I could hear that there still were hylden on our tails.

"Now what?" Raziel demanded.

"Death would be preferable to being caught again," Janos wheezed quietly.

"Don't talk that way," I said as I noticed a familiar symbol spray-painted onto one of the panels set into the wall. "Open this."

Raziel punched his powerful claws into the metal panel and ripped it out of the wall. A powerful wind sucked all five of us into the chute beyond, and we tumbled through space. We all landed ungracefully back in the meadow.

"What was that?" Kain demanded.

"A plothole," I said, painfully standing and rubbing my bruised posterior. "I was getting kinda sick of that place, but I couldn't figure out how to escape."

Kain was enough of a literary to know what I was talking about. He dismissed the topic with a disgusted wave of his talon.

"He needs blood," Vorador was kneeling with Janos' head cradled in his lap.

I tossed a plastic packet of blood from my backpack to Vorador, who opened it and let the blood trickle slowly into Janos' mouth.

"What was that creature you threw at the hylden?" Raziel asked.

"I'm not sure. Nothing from my world has fur that color, though the orangutan comes close," I said with a nervous giggle. "It could've been a hyena, or a wolverine, or even a Tasmanian devil. All I know is that it had a mean temper and by now it probably has a taste for hylden flesh."

Janos had finished the blood pack and was now sitting groggily on the ground. I tossed another to him and offered one to each of the vampires. Vorador quietly reassured Janos in between sips from his pack.

I apologized to Raziel for having nothing to offer him, but he dismissed my concerns with a wave of his talons. He had fed well enough in the demon dimension and wouldn't need to hunt for several hours.

I dug through my backpack for something that I could eat, but all I could get out of it were bags of cookies, cans of soda pop, and bottles of beer. Not having a good tolerance for sugar when I was hungry, I left the bags of cookies scattered around me and cracked open a bottle of beer. It wasn't cold, but dark beer tastes fine as long as it isn't too warm.

"Is it finally over?" Janos asked hauntedly.

"I can't guarantee that you'll never have another problem, but you won't have to endure any more trials," I promised him.

Janos seemed to stare right through me. His skin reflected his improved health, but his eyes were hollow as if his spirit was broken. I feared that he'd finally endured too much, and that Janos would never recover.

We were all silently watching the seraph's odd behavior. He groggily cast his gaze around. He picked up a bag of cookies and muttered, "I have the strangest craving."

"Janos," Vorador protested as he reached for the cookies. A low growl from Janos made him hesitate.

"What have you done to him?" Vorador demanded of me.

I simply shrugged. "I didn't do it. So he likes cookies now. They won't hurt him."

"It's undignified," Vorador argued.

"I do not mind one bit," Janos muttered as he took another bite.

That effectively killed the argument.

"What's coming next?" Kain asked.

"I don't know. Give me some time to think," I said before taking another drink of beer.