Author's Note: Well, it's time for Murdok to have a companion, I figure, so I thought one up. He's a vampire hunter by trade, but don't worry, he's not after our protagonist. Oh, and we're about to find out just how long Murdok has been imprisoned. It's a good thing vampires don't die of old age...

Death for the Undying

The quake began gradually, but before long it was causing rocks to fall and cracks to form beneath me. I was still frozen in my position, and had been staring at the portal for what seemed like an eternity. I was frightened, but I could do nothing to protect myself from the falling debris or from the gaping maw of the earth that was opening to my right. The portal was flickering periodically, and as it came into focus for the last time, I saw the anguished face of Dracula, seemingly being rent asunder by an unseen force. The binding on me was released, and I heard the great bellowing of the beast above me crying out in anger and possibly pain. I got up with a great effort, but my balance failed me, and so it was that I fell into the chasm in the floor of the cave, still unable to make my wings function.

I fell for some time, until eventually the quaking ceased, and it seemed as though there was now nothing around me but darkness. Then, quite suddenly, I dropped into the cellar, landing in front of the throne Dracula had been sitting in, but there was someone else standing there, and Dracula'sashes lay ina pilenearby. I simply lay there, gathering my thoughts and my strength, for I had been immobile for ages. The man standing over me knelt beside me, and his face was kind as he spoke.

"A great evil has been vanquished here tonight, and it seems that you alone have been saved. The others were all lost, either by death or other means. They were few, but their loss will be mourned. I have been searching for Dracula for a long, long time, and it was only by chance that I managed to find him. I wandered into these forsaken mountains by mistake, while trying to find my way to another place I was told he could have been living. Luckily, I was very well prepared for my encounter with the Prince of Darkness. Pardon me, I have not told you who I am. My name is Horatio, and I am a vampire hunter of sorts, but do not worry, for I only destroy those who have evil souls. I know you have noble intentions, my friend, for I can see it in your face."

I smiled at him helplessly, because I was so very grateful. "I didn't fear you at all, hunter. I could tell you meant me no harm. My name is Murdok, and I also came upon this horrible creature by accident, though I was no match for his power. I am old, but by no means invincible. Might I trouble you to learn the year? I have been trapped for a great while, but I had no way to know how long. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure when I arrived here, for I had a strange experience before this, which I will explain later."

His face darkened a bit, then he told me, in a grave tone of voice, "It is the year 3154, and the world has long since fallen into a horrible state. Dark forces are at work, my friend, and I am out to stop them. We mortals are all but annihilated, and the land is overrun with creatures of every sort. We speculated as to their origin for a long time, but when we learned the truth, our worst nightmares were no match for it. The very depths of Hell have been unleashed by some fool meddling with black magic, and though he was killed quickly by his own summoned evils, they have not stopped coming forth. There is no discernible source now, for they spring at random from all locations, coming with a burst of flame and shadow and showing no mercy. Those who are unlucky enough to run into them usually perish."

I was horrified by this revelation, and I now felt I had been gone for at least a millennium, perhaps longer. I couldn't be sure of course, because I don't know how much time passed in the time I don't remember, but I ventured a guess anyhow. So much time lost. I wondered how many of the people I had met were still alive. Vampires, yes, but by no means immune to the wrath of Hell itself. What fool could have brought such a horrid fate upon the world? I wished he had not been killed already, because I would have gladly done so myself, and with much fury and rage. Apparently this showed in my face, for Horatio spoke consolingly.

"Do not worry yourself too much, friend. Anyone you might have known who is also a vampire is likely still very much alive. The minions of Hell apparently haven't much care for them at all, except for when they are openly attacked by the Kindred, which is becoming quite frequent. It has been almost a century since the first demons were set loose, and I believe the vampires are worrying that their food source will be wiped out, which is a definite possibility. Already the human population has been cut in half, and it dwindles day by day. The death toll is less now, however, because the humans are very widespread now, and many of them are quite resilient. After all, if we have survived this long, we must know something about how to defend ourselves, right? In any event, we had better get out of here. Though Dracula claimed to revel in his independence, his servants are many, and they surely already know of his fate. They will be here to avenge him before too long, and I don't know if we can take them all. Come!"

Journeys Taken, Stories Told

To make short a long bit of boring nonsense, we left the castle in haste, and made our way out of the treacherous mountains. We saw none of the lackeys of the late Dracula, and we counted ourselves very lucky on that account. Horatio was quite the survivalist, as was I, and we had no problems living out in the wilderness. I fed off of animals, though they were not my favorite meal, and he cooked and ate what I killed. It worked out to be a fine situation for the both of us, and though the circumstances were grim, we enjoyed each other's company. I must say that he was dressed in interesting attire, the likes of which I had never seen, but that didn't surprise me. After all, I had been out of touch with the world for a great while.

He wore armor, and this was somewhat like that of the knights in the medieval times, but it was more sleek and refined. It was of a flat black metal, which he told me was a new alloy made from many things, the names of most which were unfamiliar to me. The material was called Adamantex, and was made by a manufacturer that had of course been destroyed by the demon horde. He was at great pains to keep it in his possession, for at the time it was made it was yet a new material and in its experimental state, therefore there were no people who knew how to make it. The ones who did were all dead. The stuff was metallic, as I have said, but it had a plastic property as well, and it gave considerably when pressed softly. If hit, however, it hardened, and he told me that even the strongest metal or stone would shatter upon it.

"The black color is not natural," he told me, "but was made that way because it was being specially crafted for the Global Alliance Special Forces, some of whom specialized in reconnaissance. They needed something that would conceal them from the enemy, but also provide ultimate protection should they be attacked. The color isn't the only thing about this armor that is different, though." When he had finished this statement, he grinned and closed his eyes, then almost disappeared from view. There was a sort of disruption where he was, but not a definite figure. It reminded me of my camouflaging ability, and I smiled as he reappeared.

"That was what would make these suits extremely expensive. Now, though, there are only a scarce 30 of these worldwide, and most are defective in that nature. Mine is one of only 5 that are fully functional. The others are worn by the high-ranking officers in what is acting as a military for the remaining humans. I am not a part of this organization, however. I work with 2 others, together forming what we call the Knights of Erebus. Erebus is a city that used to be 3 times the size of the New York you may have known, but all that remains of it now is a jumble of fallen buildings and a small town of about 300 people. We don't usually venture into the ruins because there are rumors that a powerful mage resides there, apparently biding his time for something, though we know not what. As a matter of fact, his existence is strictly theoretical, because nobody has gone to see him since the destruction of the city. There were those who said they knew him when the city was strong, but he was not all that mighty then. Some think he perished when the city fell, but once again, nobody is sure.

"You look as if you wonder why I and my 2 colleagues have not gone in to investigate, and I will answer. The reason is that this armor is not made to stop anything except for physical weapons, and a mage would obviously wield other forces against us. I myself have never met a mage, and so I wouldn't even know what to expect. That, my friend, is a sure recipe for disaster, as I'm sure you well know."

I pondered over this information for a few moments, then changed the subject to something a little more mundane. "How old are you, sir? You look young, but my perception of age has been somewhat skewed."

He chuckled. "I am 137, friend, and not even feeling it. Average life expectancy for humans was estimated at about 100 years when the demons invaded, and I have some…other means by which I keep myself alive. No, it is not blood, or even really any sort of magic. You see, in my younger days…" He laughed again here, apparently amused by this concept, "…I was a researcher for a very large and well-respected pharmaceutical company. LifeCorp, we were called, and my job was to experiment with human DNA and figure out ways to make us more resilient to diseases and to slow or eliminate the aging effects of the body. One day, I made a breakthrough that would have been the greatest medical discovery since Penicillin, but I was never allowed to divulge it to the public. The company told me that the results of such a thing would be disastrous. The irony of the matter is that soon afterwards, the fabric that divided our world from Hell was torn open, and had they let me release the information, more people would have survived. You see, the demons are only the direct cause of about a quarter of the deaths. The rest are attributed to things such as starvation, exhaustion, dehydration, and disease. My research allowed me to change my genetic structure before the company lost its resources, and I took a few friends in with me.

"Two of them are my fellow Knights, and the other 4 are leaders of the remaining cities. Nobody knows why we have lived so long except for ourselves, and we intend to keep it that way. We no longer have the means to use our knowledge, and to release it…well, that would mean riots and more death, this time by our own jealousy. And so, we live on. The eldest of us is over 170 years old, and he looks not a day over 50. He was older than that when the procedure was done, but like the rest of us, some of his previous aging was reversed. Just think! I had found the Fountain of Youth, and was forced to keep it to myself! What a world we were living in, Murdok. If only you had been around to see all your missed years. There were some amazing things, some which I could not truly describe or explain to you because you lack the mindset, but you would have enjoyed it."

"I'm sure I would have. I had taken a great interest in the sciences in my final years in civilization. It is a shame that I was not allowed to pursue them further. I'm afraid that my luck has always been somewhat sour. I'm glad to have met you, but the circumstances leave something to be desired. So tell me, why do you hunt vampires? What caused you to take up the occupation?"

"Oh, well that is sort of a personal vendetta. As I said before, my company refused to let me tell the public, or even the government, about my discovery. Well, one of the higher-ups was a vampire named Tobias Gould. Nobody liked to visit him, not even the other execs. He had a way of creeping you out just by being there. It was indeed odd, but I had met other people that gave me that chill and I figured it was normal. I happened to walk into his office one night when I was working late, and he was there, but he looked quite monstrous. I can't even describe him to you, except that he looked like a corpse that was about 50 years in the ground. It was something horrible to behold, let me assure you, and I ran in fright. He chased me, saying that I couldn't be allowed to live after seeing him in his true shape, and I did elude him for a time, but after about a half hour, he found me.

"I tried to fight him, but I quickly discovered that I was no match in strength and would have to find another way. I managed to push him off of me and bolted, searching frantically for anything effective, and I found my weapon soon enough: a fire axe. I pushed the release button on it, which sounded an alarm, and took it. Tobias shrieked as the alarm whined, for apparently his hearing was augmented in some way, and I took the chance to chop his accursed head from his shoulders. He did not bleed, but simply fell to the floor in a heap, then turned to ashes before my very eyes. I almost couldn't believe such a thing had happened, but here it was in front of me, concrete proof of his existence, and of the existence of the undead. I had uncovered a terrible truth, and soon afterward, I quit the company."

I shook my head gravely. "It's a horrid thing that you should meet first one of our most violent and wretched members. Obviously you have since discovered that there is good among our ranks as well, am I right?"

"Well yes, I did find that out, but not before I had slain a good 20 others. None of them had begged for me to stop, except for the 21st. He would have cried if he was capable, but he could only plead, telling me that he had a woman whom he loved dearly, and that she would be devastated to learn of his death. Being the compassionate man that I am, I let him live, but bound him until he convinced me that he was telling the absolute truth. I never even knew the man's name, but he was definitely a kind one. I released him after a few hours, and from then on, I developed a sense for evil and good, taking only the former to their final death."

"Well," I said, "this is all very interesting, but dawn grows near and I must sleep. I shall see you this evening, Horatio. Take care during the daylight hours." With that, I slept, and when I awoke that evening, Horatio was gone.