Soooooooooooo my friends praise the sun! It's done! *drum roll*

Finally after an eternity comes an action-packed chapter :D

As always a lot of fun while reading

Your Salaka-chan

Awakening

"Fear is a devious foe. It germinates in the subconscious and quietly and secretly strikes its roots during everyday situations, before a true network develops over the years. Actions and decisions are influenced and everyday situations are dealt with latently. The true extent of one's fears is only noticed in unforeseen extreme situations. In these situations, the rational mind fails completely, so that the neocortex takes over control for the most part for further actions.

Regeneration begins in the head, Sebastion Morel, Volume 1, p.14, 1st edition

The sphaera sensum felt cold and heavy in her trembling hand while the young woman tried to concentrate on the surrounding sounds. It had been silent in the camp for quite some time, but the uncertainty that these men could come to her at any time robbed Livia of her sanity. How long had she been sitting on the hard floor waiting for the vampire to arrive?

Despite the disgusting speech, none of the men had dared to come to her. Were they perhaps waiting for the protection of the darkness or did another factor play an important role? Judging by the number of voices, it must have been about twelve men. At first glance Sebastion did not seem to be a permanent member of this group, why did none of the others turn against him after the brutal murder of a comrade? The scholar was physically undoubtedly strong, yet he was to be at a distinct disadvantage due to the number of remaining members.

The corpse, which was centrally located within her prison area, did not contribute much to the promotion of her way of thinking. The giant already showed the first signs of rigor mortis and the strong colour of his blood resembled the red of a rusty blade.

Livia closed her eyes and tried to clear her head. She had to think! Think more! On the one hand, rational conclusions helped her to calm down a bit and on the other hand, an acceptable escape plan could come to her mind. The young alchemist drove herself over her forehead at regular intervals while she pondered. If she could draw Dettlaff's attention to herself, there might be a way to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Her gaze rested on her chafed wrists before the penny dropped after some time. An injury should draw the vampire's attention directly to her!

Livia rose with trembling knees and explored the immediate surroundings. The roof of the vault was completely destroyed because of its age and the influence of nature. Most of the fragments of the ceiling were scattered along the side walls of the original building on the mossy floor, while the ivy-covered brick walls had been preserved to a certain extent and provided a sparse screen from prying eyes.

On the small wooden table, at which her chaperone had been sitting just a few minutes ago, was a dagger next to a small cash cat, Gwent cards and a beer. In avoid attracting the attention of the men, she crawled carefully to the battered table. The damp moss yielded under her trembling palms and made a barely audible smacking sound with every of her movements. From close up she recognized that it was a simple blade, probably used only for peeling food. The weapon did not look well maintained and the metal seemed to be brittle in some places, but for her purpose it should be more than sufficient.

While inspecting the dagger, she forgot to pay attention to the surroundings for a short careless moment. The noises from the camp were completely muted and a disturbing silence settled over the Hansa.

"What have we here? A little girl with a matching sword?"

Shocked, the blonde-haired woman rose up and noticed several male figures only a few steps away from her. Her eyes widened in horror and the grip around the weapon hardened so her ankles turned white. Contrary to expectations, these men were able to move almost silently despite their hulking statures.

"Don't worry, we can serve you with something hard that won't cut you." One of the men was about to laugh out loud when another one hit him in the stomach with his elbow.

"Pssssssssst. We should be quiet. If HE should hear what we are about to do, then..."

"How can you be quiet? After a long time finally a pretty thing! This is worth celebrating! So my little one. Daddy won't hurt you. Just put the knife down and do as we say, and nobody gets hurt. Don't worry, we'll all have a good time."

Tears gathered in the alchemist's eyes, blurring her vision and fusing the men's faces into unclear contours. Her lower lip trembled before she thrust the rusty edge of the dagger into her left wrist with a powerful stroke. Warm blood ran down her dirty skin, leaving a shiny light red trail behind it.

For a brief moment, the world seemed to stand still. Livia felt neither pain nor fear. Her entire being was filled with her steady heartbeat, which was now in absolute harmony with her mind. Her mouth slightly open, she glanced at the blood that slowly collected on the moss-covered ground below her wrist. Was it her imagination, or did her blood make a humming sound? The fine particles of which the vital fluid consisted seemed to answer her mute call. No words were needed. An inexplicable paradox that only the user himself could understand.

The reaction of the men to this sudden act was extremely various. Some panicked and quickly took off, to escape the wrath of Sebastion, while others went into a state of shock and watched the young woman with frightened eyes. The one who had harassed her with lewd remarks was not deterred by her actions and approached her with unexpected speed and hungry gaze. With an iron grip he grasped her injured wrist, pulled out the dagger and threw it behind him with a careless movement.

He had brown shoulder-length hair, muscley upper arms and a broad face with a large scar. When he smiled, his teeth were unexpectedly well-groomed.

The mercenary grabbed a blonde tuft of Livias' hair and pulled her to the ground with a firm, unyielding jerk. To prevent her from getting up, he sat down on Livia with his full weight, grabbed her hands and pressed them down crosswise over her head. Since the young woman was physically inferior to the mercenary, he could use one of his hands and pull out a knife. He pressed it against her chest and looked into her eyes with a spiteful grin.

"This is what a sharp knife looks like. A small tug is enough," he said, cutting her top and underwear with a routine movement, "to slice anything you want. You are truly a beauty, though a bit too skinny and with too little tits." He impatiently drove his tongue across his lips.

"What's up, doll? Say something. I don't like woman which not talking to me." He carefully moved the tip of the knife from her chin to the space between her breasts and finally held the blade over her waistband. He looked at her curiously and he seemed to like what he saw. Big eyes filled with fear, tears running down her reddened cheeks and an uncoordinated twitching all over her body.

He pressed his growing arousal briefly against her abdomen before he used his weapon to split her trousers. He finally returned the knife to its sheath and enjoyed the generous sight. "Do you know what is best for virgins? The change from a hopeful look to bitter realization that this situation cannot be avoided."

He grabbed one of her breasts and squeezed it tightly, causing Livia to emit a painful whimper. This seemed to further stimulate the mercenary and he bit her firmly on one of her earlobes.

Livia could feel his heavy breath on her ear and went into a state of shock. "Please, let me go. I will not tell Sebastion anything. Please, let me go. Please. Please, let me go." She repeated these sentences in a whisper like a mantra, which should protect her from all evil.

Still at her ear the man whispered almost tenderly, "Since you're bleeding anyway, we might as well have fun like the grown-ups."

When the young woman did not react to this statement but continued to make her request, he struck her in the face with the back of his hand, which made her fall silent.

"Shut the fuck up! When I said that the women should speak to me, I was assuming a different text." Undeterred, he ran his warm tongue across her throat and sucked on her sensitive skin. Livia sobbed up loudly and tried with all her strength to free herself from his grip. Unsuccessfully.

The mercenary pulled away from her and ran his hand over her chest again before he turned to the lower part of her body. The fat fingers were already touching the upper pubic area when Livia screamed out loud in desperation.

The brown-haired man paused and slowly looked down at himself. When the realization struck him, his mouth twisted into an "Oh." and he collapsed to the side of the floor, while his blood spread at an unnatural speed across the mossy ground from his open abdominal wall.

Shortly afterwards, the twitching body was impaled by huge claws and hurled with inhuman force against one of the overgrown brick walls. The intensity of the impact caused the wall to collapse, causing a dense cloud of dust to restrict visibility within this area. Livia sat up, breathing heavily, and felt a wave of relief crashing over her.

"Dettlaff." Her voice barely more than a whisper.

The vampire silently approached her and put his heavy coat around her trembling shoulders, being careful not to touch her with his claws. The leather felt cold as Livia pulled the garment protectively around her body. She looked into almost white eyes and a furious, distorted, bestial face. The vampire gave a growl when he rose again. " They will pay for this. Every one of them!"

Before she could react, Dettlaff disappeared in the dust cloud and she couldn't even imagine the carnage outside her sight. The initially numerous, but slightly panicky battle cries fell silent one after the another within a very short time, and before Livia realized it, there was a ghostly silence in the Hansa.

Her racing heartbeat roared in her ears while she felt like a stranger in her body. With the greatest effort she got on her feet and walked with uncertain steps, the coat tightly pulled around her body, in the direction from which she had last heard the battle sounds.

The lifeless bodies of the men, which were lying on the ground, were completely disfigured by the unbridled rage of the vampire and were hardly recognizable as human beings. Their blood and guts were scattered all over the ground and the crushing stench of death was heavy in the air. In the midst of this horrible sight stood Dettlaff, his back turned to her. The fresh blood of his enemies stuck on his claws and dripped onto the ground at regular intervals and with an faint splash.

Livia wiped her forearm over her face, wet with tears, before approaching him.

"Don't come any closer!"

Her heart skipped a beat as she stopped and watched the vampire in confusion. The sharp claws shortened to the distinctive fingernails and when the black-haired man turned to her, he was completely transformed back into his human form.

"You were right, I am a monster. That's why I will never understand you humans and I don't want to, if it means that I should use force to subdue defenseless beings. Forgive me."

Her breathing came in fits as she listened to the vampire with increasing horror. "No!" She took another step towards him, causing him to stiffen his posture and press his lips firmly together, while his now light blue eyes took on a suffering expression.

"You are not a monster! The monsters were lying dead on the ground and", she paused for a moment and took a deep breath, "and one is standing in front of you. I have said unforgivable things, which I am now ashamed of beyond all measure. I wanted to be friends with you and teach you the most important human conventions, but I can't even get my own life in order. I'm so sorry." Her last sentence was little more than a whisper as she closed her eyes in shame and lowered her head.

She felt a flow of warm air on her body before the vampire materialized again right in front of her. His voice was muffled and from the serious tone of voice, Livia could not interpret his current mood. "You... did?"

The blonde-haired woman did not dare to look up when she answered quietly. "That's no way to treat friends. What I said to you was unforgivable."

She felt the vampire's hand on her chin before he forced her to look into his face with gentle pressure. Her eyes widened as she discovered the enormous longing in the vampire's eyes. He looked at her with appreciative gratitude before he responded with a warm tone. "I forgive you mijn dappere vriendin."

Livia blinked and a little smile slipped onto her lips. "Dettlaff, I don't know the Nilfgard language."

Before the vampire could reply, he was caught by a strong magical wave and hurled against one of the old ruin walls, whereupon he was buried under the weight of the loosening stones.

"How dare this lower being touch you. Everyone should know his place in this world."

Ignoring Sebastion, Livia ran with a shrill outcry, as fast as she could with the oversized coat, to the vampire who was trapped. But before she could reached him, she was stopped by the scholar. He wrapped one arm around her waist, while the other embraced her neck. Surprised by this inhuman speed, she wanted to look at him as he momentarily squeezed the air from her and forced her to continue looking in the direction of her friend.

"Take a good look my dear Livia. Such a disgusting vermin must be removed from this planet It has no business here."

In the meantime Dettlaff had freed himself and looked at Sebastion with hatred. His pointed fangs moved forward and his claws were ready to rip this man to shreds. But the battle-experienced vampire should not get the chance for a counterattack.

Sebastion bent down to whisper directly into Livia's ear. "Look at this beast. Do you seriously think he has a purely friendly interest in you? I guess he only wants one thing from you." He ran his fingers over her carotid artery.

A black magic lance materialized above their heads and pierced Dettlaff's upper body with unimaginable speed. Eyes widened in surprise, the vampire spat blood while a huge hole gaped in his chest. His powers of regeneration began to heal instantly and showed themselves in form of red glittering blood beads along the wound. Again a lance descended on Dettlaff. This time a thigh was punctured, causing the vampire to fall to the ground with an angry, animal-like scream.

Her face pale and her green eyes full of panic, Livia tried to pull herself from the man's steel grip. "Stop it now! You are completely insane! You even kill your own men!"

Sebastion laughed with amusement and turned his gaze to the young woman in his arms. "You are right. I should thank your FRIEND for his help. Now things will be a little easier with my men in the future."

Indescribable desperation spread through Livia because of her helplessness. She neither had the strength to free herself from Sebastion's firm grip nor could she follow his pointless talk.

"I always wanted to cut a vampire's head off and stake his heart, or do you want to keep his heart as a good luck charm and hang it around your neck? Then you would have your friend with you always! Yes, I think that's a most charming idea. Let's give this abomination a moment of regeneration before we rip his heart out."

When her legs weakened, Sebastion pressed her even tighter. "Take a good look, Livia. This is the true power that I strive for and intend to develop further. Even such a creature of darkness, feared by humans since the conjunction of the spheres, kneels before me. With you, my power will grow and flourish beyond measure."

"Please," her voice trembled and hot tears ran down her cheeks, "Stop torturing him like this. I'll do anything you want, but let Dettlaff go."

The vampire growled and tried to get on his feet, but without success. The thigh was just a mushy and fleshy mass and therefore needed time to heal. He leaned on his arms with all his strength and looked at Livia with determination before he transformed into smoke and tried to approach his opponent in this way.

Annoyed, Sebastion snorted: "Indeed, some beeings don't know when it's over. You have chosen a very stupid bat."

When Dettlaff was behind Sebastion and wanted to strike, he was again caught by a magic wave and hurled against a wall. Exhausted, he remained lying in his own pool of blood for a moment before launching another attack.

Sebastion had turned with Livia towards the injured vampire and forced her to continue watching the spectacle. The fact that Dettlaff, despite his considerable injuries, did not stop protecting her, shocked her deeply. Such a submissive devotion was previously foreign to her. The sight of the suffering being became too much for her and in her head the buzzing increased steadily. It was unbearable and Livia thought she was losing her mind. She cried out and did not notice how the attacker backed away from her.

"Stop hurting him already!" The wound on her wrist was still open. During her outburst, isolated drops of blood gathered in the air and assembled into larger spheres. The blonde-haired woman turned to the man and looked at him hatefully. The spheres of blood shot into Sebastion's body, leaving deep flesh wounds in the affected areas. One of the bullets pierced his head with a smacking sound between his eyes.

The scholar slumped down and lay lifeless on the ground. There was silence for a few seconds before Livia realized that the buzzing in her head had stopped. Undecided what had just happened, she turned away from Sebastion, gasping for breath, and ran to the higher vampire, who had now collapsed, breathing in jerks, under the pain of his injuries.

She settled down beside him and tremblingly touched his blood-crusted cheek. "Dettlaff!"

She sobbed up in panic when she saw the man's wounds from close and tried to imagine his immense pain. In one of their conversations, Regis had once mentioned that Dettlaff had a very impressive regenerative power, even for vampires. However, he did not seem to have fully recovered from the fight in Beauclair, as she could hardly see any healing progress. During this flashback, she remembered another characteristic of vampires.

She glanced down at her wrist for a moment before looking at Dettlaff with a determined look. "Drink my blood."

Unnoticed in the background, Sebastion's body began to crumble into dust and scattered colorful particles rushed into the nightfall.