Steel, Fire, Honor and Ruin
Chapter 19
with friends like these...
/ooooooo\
Location: the ruins of Mordheim, province of Ostermark
Day 57
Maria Shepard stood in the center of the cobblestone street. It was night, the planet's normal looking moon hung high overhead casting faint jagged shadows across the street thanks to the destroyed buildings flanking either side of her. The moon's ugly green twin still hugged the horizon, peeking over the trees and the taller buildings that had so far refused to crumble.
Markos von Carstein was also standing in the street, though a few feet in front of her. Elize von Carstein stood to the side, watching from off the street. She hadn't moved or said a word since this had all started.
After nearly going another round with Vlad and making her deal with the Drakenhof Templars back within the mine, Maria was escorted back to the surface where the two vampires left her to her own devices until the day had passed and the sun had set. Maria did little during the day.
She found Frieda again. The woman was sitting with the Sergeant and the two of them were busy cleaning their weapons and armor. The whole situation seemed almost routine, until Maria figured out what was really going on when she took one good look at Frieda.
The woman was a trembling wreck as she tried to concentrate on her work. During her time back on Earth with the Tenth Street Reds, Maria had seen drug addicts display the exact same symptoms as they suffered from withdrawal. That's why she had been told to find her commanding officer if she remembered being bitten by the vampire. The Sergeant was keeping her busy and providing moral support until the cravings passed.
Maria remembered the bliss she had experienced when Walach Harkon had bitten her. She also knew exactly what she felt when Markos had sunk his fangs into her neck. No wonder all the vampires claimed she had an impressive amount of willpower. It seemed one bite from the average vampire was more than enough to nearly break someone.
She left the two of them alone and wandered the camp and city. Nothing was interesting, everything was ruins, and she couldn't get far since the mercenary camp only occupied a small portion of Mordheim. Once when reaching the end of a street being guarded by mercenaries, Maria felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise and she knew someone was watching her. Upon mentioning this to the five men on guard, they admitted to the same feeling and told her it was most likely skaven spying on them from within the rubble, or at least they hoped it was skaven; either way there was nothing to be done until sunset and then they'd mention it to one of the vampires. Maria left them and continued her walk. After supper and the sun had gone down most of the soldiers were heading back to their bunks with Maria planning on doing the same.
All this changed when Markos and Elize stepped out of the night and told Maria to follow them. Now she was alone with the two Drakenhof Templars in an abandoned street away from the camp. Both were wearing their armor and swords, while Maria was still stuck with her bloody Reikland uniform, and her left arm healing in a sling.
So she was filled with warm fuzzy feelings being stuck in a cursed city during the middle of the night with a pair of vampires.
"Call to the winds," Markos instructed from his place in front of her. "Feel them out. Can you at least do that? If not, then we're wasting our time on you."
Maria rolled her eyes but did as she was told. Markos was an ass. There was no way around it. She concentrated and worked that new muscle in her mind she hadn't even known existed until two nights ago. But it wasn't difficult; much like her biotics, Maria just had to think on it, and it happened. A breath later and the night opened. Just as she felt the wind lightly blow her blond hair, Maria suddenly detected the second unseen element gliding through the night.
It slithered through the ruins around them. She pulled the streams of magic toward herself.
And only a trickle of power reached her.
Maria blinked. This wasn't like the time she had fought the beastmen. "I can sense the magic," she said, and then took a moment to digest the fact that here she was actually talking about magic like it was a natural thing. "But it's weak. I can barely feel the power."
Markos gave her a little nod. "And why is that? Feel it out. Follow the power. What's blocking you?"
Maria followed the winds upstream, through the ruins, stretching across the city. She frowned when the winds jerked, spasmed, angled in toward Mordheim's center and dived into the ground. What she felt next – revulsion.
Maria severed her connection to the winds as she took an involuntary step back in the street.
"What the hell was that?"
"Disgusting, isn't it?" Markos said with a chuckle. "That, my dear mortal, was the remains of the comet that fell from the heavens to smite this debauched city and its inhabitants from existence. The stone itself is the raw form of magic. The chaotic stuff that the skaven horde so dearly. Its why they built the mines below us. Power for them… corruption for the rest.
"Whatever you do, never draw your power from the stuff."
"Trust me, I won't." Maria felt like she needed a shower from just that limited exposure.
"You say that," Markos said, shooting her a dark look, "but back in the Reikland you didn't hesitate to take everything you could from the beastmen and their totems of power. Their magic is the same. Chaos. If the Supreme Patriarch hadn't been present to save you, I suspect your soul would already be forfeit and your body nothing but a puppet for the chaos gods."
Maria grimaced. "Alright. I get it. Lesson learned."
"At least we know you're capable of learning." The air around Markos darkened, swallowing what little moonlight there was. He looked up at the night sky and released a long breath. "I'm drawing more of the winds in and keeping the comet's remains from interfering. Pull on the winds again. Ignore all other distractions. You are the magic's true mistress tonight."
Maria Shepard, Mistress of magic. Oookay. Not bad, but she still preferred Sorceress. "I thought magic flowed across this world like the wind. How are you able to make more of it just appear?"
"I can raise the dead and you ask me that?" he countered. "As if I would share all my secrets with you in one night. Now enough stalling. Pull on the winds."
Reaching out with her mind, pulling on the winds again, Maria felt the trickle return to her. If she stood here for an hour concentrating, she might gather enough to do what she did against the beastmen, but who had the time for that? She took a firmer grip and commanded the power to her.
The wind obeyed and she felt it coil around her limbs. But there was a dull pressure growing in the back of her head. Not painful, but it was going to become uncomfortable after a time.
"Very good. Very good." Markos set his hand on his sword and started toward her. "Now use the magic just as you did in Reikland. Use it now and use it well, because when I reach you, I'm drawing my sword." He smiled with a hint of fang. "Good luck."
Only about eight feet separated them, giving Maria precious few seconds to do something. Markos was clearly intent on teaching her another 'valuable' lesson, much like the one back in the mine where he nearly choked her to death.
Too bad for him she was a quick study, and she had already done this before, just not as deliberately. She waited until Markos was right in front of her, intent on gathering as much magic as she could. He smirked right as he drew his sword and made a wide swing. If it had connected, the strike would have taken her right arm.
Instead it flew harmlessly through a cloud of black smoke.
Maria reappeared directly behind Markos. Even for a vampire his reaction was strikingly quick, as he spun around to face her only to find Maria's palm flat on his chest plate. A quick and harmless pulse of biotic power saw the vampire tossed on his back, his sharp armor scratching against the cobblestones.
Markos clawed back to his feet with a snarl as a light laugh filled the air.
"Did she catch you off guard Markos?" Elize asked still watching from her place off the street.
He pointed his sword at Maria. "Do that again and I'll cut your throat."
"What is it with vampires and throats?" Maria asked putting her hand on her waist and cocking her hip. "That's a serious fetish you guys have going on."
Markos thrust his sword back into its sheath with another snarl.
"She seems skilled enough," Elize commented eyeing the two of them. "I think you can pick this up a bit."
Maria looked back and forth between the two vampires. "What? You mean like reciting spells and other things like that."
"You want to learn to speak fancy words you wouldn't even understand?" Markos shook his head. "That should help you when you're tossed into another dragon's teeth. Or maybe ask the giant to wait when he has you crushed between his fingers and heading for his drooling mouth. Novices learn to cast spells with words."
That gave Maria pause. "When I watched Balthasar Gelt close a black hole hanging in the sky he was definitely shouting something as he did it."
Now it was Markos's turn to be the one laughing. "Of course he was! Gelt had to spin something out after the mess you made. I was honestly surprised that man was able to salvage the situation at all." Markos strolled up to her. "We learn to crawl before we walk. We learn to walk before we run. The amount of magic Gelt was dealing with that day would have killed your standard Imperial battle wizard. To control that storm he had to draw on ancient lore most will never even know exists. How do you think he became Supreme Patriarch? The Empire doesn't give that title away."
"Is that respect I'm hearing? From you?"
"You'd be foolish to underestimate any magic user you encounter Shepard," he said seriously. Now standing beside her, Markos gestured back to Elize. "When you look at Elize, what do you see?"
Maria raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing this isn't a trick question?"
"Elize and I have both lived, fought and survived the last five hundred years. Do you think that just because Vlad pointed me out as an accomplished necromancer, Elize doesn't have her own formidable skills?"
Elize had a tiny smile. "Formidable? What a kind, well-chosen word cousin."
He dipped his head toward her. "In the realm of magic there are endless possibilities. You and I can spar all we want Shepard, but when it comes down to it, your first real fight with another practitioner will test you like never before. You must rely on instinct and act without thought.
"Now," Markos said turning to face her fully. His sword hand drifting toward his belt. "Let's continue, shall we?"
The night progressed with Markos swinging his sword at her and it was Maria's job to dodge it using her new magical ability. She quickly began to learn it wasn't as easy a thing to do over and over and over again. That pressure in the back of her head had graduated to a constant ache.
Markos started countering more quickly to chase down her disappearing act. With his unnatural vampire's speed and his own impressive magical power, Markos would start to appear right at her side just as Maria came out from the black smoke. He was pushing her to act purely on instinct and react without thinking.
To keep moving Maria was forced to continue pulling on the winds of magic so she had power enough to vanish and reappear. The strain became immediate and exhausting. It felt like she was tensing a muscle in her body but could never release it. That was the entire exercise. Her brain now hurt, very literally, as a headache grew with the exertions of mentally holding and drawing from the winds of magic.
And if Markos hadn't run interference and called more of the winds to the area, she wouldn't have been even able to practice with him at all.
For Maria it felt like she was back in basic training. As the sparring went on, she began to slip. More than once Markos knocked her on her ass before she could call on the magic to save herself. Her instantaneous disappearing act had instead turned into Maria running and ducking from Markos's sword swings as she tried to mentally will herself to safety. Their game of 'magic tag' left the street and began to cover the run-down buildings around them as Maria desperately tried to hide in the ruins and buy herself more time to think and draw on the magic.
An hour of nonstop training later and she was done. Mentally and physically exhausted as Markos pointed his sword at her stomach while his other hand was wrapped up in her uniform. They were ten feet up on a building's second story balcony looking over the street, and Markos was the only thing holding her up as his sword pushed her precariously over the balcony's edge.
He was staring at her. "Well? Are you going to do something about this or have you the desire for my sword to scramble your guts?"
"Can't," Maria panted, while shaking her head. "I tried. The winds are gone. Nothing left in the air. I'm spent."
Markos's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You admit defeat? Really? To have lasted so long, only to just give up at the end." He made a big dramatic sigh. "You realize of course that the winds haven't actually abandoned this place and it's your body and mind that's reached its limits?"
Maria nodded as the sweat poured down her face. "Yes… yes, I am aware of that."
"Good." He seemed satisfied, and she understood perfectly. It was just like her biotics. Practice. That's all it came down to now. Suddenly he had a smile on his face that made Maria's heart drop. "I guess we are finished for the night."
Then he let go of her shirt and let her drop over the edge of the balcony.
Maria fell the ten feet straight down to the road and landed on her back with a 'oof!'. No magic to save herself. No biotics to slow her descent. She hadn't been lying when she said she was exhausted.
"Ow," she wheezed, rolling over to stop the broken cobble stones from poking her back. Both Elize and Markos were standing next to her as she got up on her hands and knees.
She glared up at Markos. "Why?"
His smile only grew. "What fun would tonight be if I didn't get to torment you just a bit more?"
The last thing she wanted was to appear weak in front of the two vampires, so Maria grit her teeth and heaved herself back to her feet. "Back with the beastmen… this was a lot easier. I wasn't tired at all."
"The land was saturated with magic," Markos said. "Corrupted and vile but magic all the same. You'll find your powers grow or weaken with the winds. That's something that will never change."
"Unless I learn how to call the winds to me," Maria countered. "Just like you did tonight."
Markos just chuckled darkly. "If you survive long enough."
"She just might…" Elize mused and then turned with a wave of her hand. "Come. That's it for tonight. We'll teach her the rest tomorrow, after the sun sets."
The two Drakenhof Templars didn't even spare Maria another glance as they all walked back to the camp. Despite how worn out she felt; Maria kept pace right behind them until the two vampires broke off back toward the mine's entrance. Only when they were out of sight did she sag with relief and limp back to her cot.
As a last-ditch effort to avoid danger, magic was fine, but after spending an hour using the stuff her mind hurt. She managed to pull her boots off before collapsing on her cot and rolled over pulling the scratchy blankets above her head.
Tomorrow night was going to suck.
/ooooooo\
Day 58
The next morning Maria learned the cost of using magic when you haven't been properly trained or prepared. The people of this world who studied such things probably had a specific term for it, but for a Maria the best possible description would be a hangover. She woke up with one and had to fight just to get out of bed and head down for breakfast. Considering how much value she placed in getting three square meals plus snacks over the course of a day, this was quite the eye opener. If Maria wanted to make magic a weapon in her arsenal, then she had a significant way to go.
At the breakfast table she ran into Frieda and was pleased to hear the woman was feeling better and more in control of herself. After the meal Maria found the company's Sergeant and asked his help in planning her new trip across the Empire.
Just as Vlad said the Dead Woods surrounded the ruins of Mordheim. She couldn't go south and cross the river Stir or she'd enter Sylvania and face the person the vampires planned to go to war against. Further east there was nothing. North and she would leave the forest sooner, but the next city or town was still days away.
That left west. Maria would be stuck traveling through the Dead Woods, but she'd reach the closest town within a day or two, depending on her speed. Its name was Bissendorf. From it she hoped to catch a boat or ferry and then make the faster journey along the river.
She thanked the Sergeant for his help and left him to his duties. She still didn't know his name and the man never offered. It was clear after what happened in Blood Keep that they would always be adversaries, especially since Maria kept pissing off his employer.
Lunch came and went with Maria returning to her cot for a nap. Her morning headache had finally gone but the weariness hadn't. It dawned on Maris as she rested that she had gone two full months without regular exercise. Her body's enhancements would keep her physically fit but working out would only be beneficial. Though she doubted doing a few pushups and jogging a couple miles every day would strengthen her connection to the winds of magic.
How did someone even exercise magic? What was the equivalent to mental jumping jacks? One more thing she'd have to read up on once she got back to civilization.
After supper Maria waited in the center courtyard for the two vampires to appear. Just as the sun dipped below the horizon she spotted Markos and Elize walking toward her. Same as the night before she was led away from camp to an empty street. And just like before Markos stood in front of her while Elize watched quietly from the sidelines.
The mood hanging in the air was far grimmer however, and it put Maria on edge.
"To break a magical hold is no easy thing," Markos lectured as he stared her down. "There are a few counter-spells in existence, a few tricks of the trade to learn, but in the end, it comes down to one of two things. How determined one party is to kill the other… and how desperately the second party wants to live.
"When you met Walach Harkon what did he do to you?"
Maria thought back on that night. "He sort of froze me. I couldn't breathe and my body wouldn't move when I tried to shoot him. Whatever he did wasn't really restraining me because I had dropped to my knees. He picked me up and punched me across the road, and that's when the spell just vanished."
Markos seemed to think on that. "Just a temporary thing by the sounds of it. Nothing truly significant."
Maria frowned. Nothing significant for him maybe. That punch had hurt.
"I will duplicate what he did to a lesser degree." Markos punctuated the statement by raising his arm and pointing a clawed hand at her. Instantly Maria's body went stiff and she found she could no longer move, with one major difference from the time before. She could still breathe.
"Feel the magic around." Markos lowered his hand and slowly started walking towards her. "It is coating your body. Locking you in place, as a net snares a fish. You must break the net. Will it to shatter. There are spells to achieve this and when you can't voice them simply think them. The easiest and most effective is simply, 'release'. Command the magic to release you."
With her body frozen Maria was forced to watch Markos as he walked the street. She could just make out the twisting tendrils of magic surrounding herself. The visible waves of air signaling magic.
She struggled to move her arms. Release, she thought. Release, release, release.
Her fingers twitched but at the sudden movement she lost her focus and the spell clamped down harder on her, constricting her chest, wrapping around her throat. Maria pushed the momentary panic away and concentrated again. Release.
Markos now stood in front of her. With all the time in the world he started to remove the armored gauntlet protecting his right hand. Forced to watch the small panic started to rise in her again. Maria fought to keep her mind clear and focused on the single thought.
Release. Come on, release me. Release, release. Just let me go, damnit!
Markos regarded her a moment. Then he drew back his hand and slapped her.
Maria's cheek flared with pain. Markos backhanded her other cheek. If she was capable of speech a few choice words would be spilling from her lips, but as it was, Maria couldn't even manage that.
As her face burned Markos just sighed theatrically and shook his head. "What a sorry sight you are. I'm barely trying you know. Most wizards would have broken free by now." His face hardened as black began to fill his eyes. He leaned over her and whispered in her ear. "You have been a great source of frustration not just for Vlad. It cost me a great deal to be reprimanded by our Count in front of my fellow vampires. This little exercise of ours is a stroke of luck I do not intended to squander."
"Markos…" Elize said from her place off the street.
He just chuckled while standing back up in front of Maria. "Never fear Elize, I'll avoid her wounded arm and do nothing to permanently damage her." Then he started to remove the gauntlet protecting his other hand.
Oh crap. Maria started struggling harder, mentally and physically, but no part of her body responded. Release! Why wasn't it working!? She could sense the magic around her body and even the portion of Markos's that was streaming from him to her; no doubt what kept him in command of the power.
The light bulb went off in her head. That was the weak point. She couldn't break the spell holding every part of her body, but she could disrupt his hold over it. Focus everything she had on that one point near the center of her chest, where the magic first touched her. You can't cut chainmail with a sword, but you can pierce it with a significant thrust. The same had to apply here.
Markos dropped his second gauntlet to the ground. He took her chin between his fingers and smiled at her. It promised this was going to hurt. He drew back his other arm and made a fist.
This was it. Maria focused her mind and all her energy on the point in the center of her chest. It was true she couldn't feel the magic in the air, but there was a small spark always present within her. Now that she was fully aware of it, Maria took that spark, honed it to a needles point, and then thrust it out at the spell surrounding her.
She knew in an instant she had found her way out when Markos halted his fist and frowned. He started to pull more of the winds trying to strengthen his hold on her. Maria couldn't afford to get into a bogged down in a fight. Markos was better than her at this, so her only chance had to count.
Release was her mental chant as she drove her needle of magic out of her chest, and as soon as she felt the tip of that needle breach the spell, Maria pulled on the winds of magic while flaring her reawakened biotics. She was going with everything she had.
And it worked. Markos wasn't prepared for the sudden and violent push back. The air between them hardened into a whirling ball, then exploded out with the force of a grenade. Maria made sure all of that explosive force went into Markos's chest, and the Drakenhof Templar was picked up off the ground and thrown nearly a dozen feet back across the street.
Maria fell to her hands and knees, breathing heavy and happy she hadn't been punched in the face. Her head felt light however, and she felt a tickle in her nose right before a few drops of blood fell to the cobble stone street. She sat back on her calves and wiped her bloody nose on her sleeve. Good thing Reikland uniforms had the arms dyed red.
Markos leapt back to his feet, his eyes solid black and sneer barely hiding his fangs. She might be exhausted from that one exercise but seeing him so angry made Maria smile.
"Maybe next time just spend the five seconds to pull back the blanket and you won't be grilled by the boss."
Markos snarled. Magic condensed around his shoulders as he thrust a clawed hand toward her. The wind took on a red hue as it billowed and then swept down the street directly for her. It reminded Maria of the same power he had used to basically disintegrate one of the giants they faced on Albion.
Very alarmed, Maria raised her arms using her biotics to create a solid blue wall between herself and the magic. The red tinged smoke impacted the barrier a moment later and she felt the weight behind the attack. A heartbeat after that and she felt her barrier already begin to falter.
It wasn't going to hold back the magic. Maria pushed herself back to her feet while continuing to feed her failing barrier more of her energy. The red tinged smoke had filled the street as it billowed behind the blue shield. She looked left and right. There was no escape. She'd never reach the buildings before being consumed by the red haze. That only left one route available. But her timing had to be perfect. She concentrated and black tendrils of smoke began rising from her feet, surrounding her.
Seconds later the vampire's magic ripped through the biotic barrier and the red hued smoke rolled down the street like a tidal wave. Just as it did, Maria suddenly appeared standing directly behind Markos.
He reacted fast. Faster than Maria could have ever hoped to move herself, spinning around and locking one of his claws around her throat. His nails dug into her skin, to the point she was sure he'd draw blood. He yanked her forward so their faces were inches apart and let out a roar no human sized being should have been capable of producing.
Maria's eyes were glued to his. She had never seen him this way. Markos's skin had peeled back tightly across his face, decaying away to reveal the bones of his sharp cheeks and chin. His nose had rotted while his ears had grown in size, becoming covered in dark grey hair that now resembled a bat's. He was just as terrifying to look at as Vlad had been, but Maria held his gaze all the same. She was learning the true faces that the vampires kept hidden behind masks.
Markos opened his mouth. It was more fang now than anything else. "A curious move little mouse. One would almost think you like being in my grip."
Her throat ached, but she managed a smirk. "I've been this close to you a few times but you've still never put those magic fingers to good use." She pressed the tip of her newly gifted silver dagger to his own neck. "But before you get any ideas… I'm going to have to take the lead this dance."
Markos let out gasp of air and his eyes widened when the silver touched his skin. Maria hadn't even applied any pressure to the knife, but where the point rested the vampire's skin had already blackened.
His crushing grip on her throat remained but Markos had gone completely still as the two of them stood staring into each other's eyes, so close their faces almost touched. The pure absurdity of the situation wasn't lost on Maria.
She felt another hand rest on her shoulder. "Lower the knife Shepard." Elize's voice was soft but no less commanding.
If she could move her neck and shoot the woman an incredulous look, Maria would have. Was she serious? Markos had gone full vampire and attacked with a spell meant to peel the flesh from her bones, but yeah, no, she was the greater threat here.
Whatever… maybe she could take it as a compliment.
Maria lifted the knife from Markos's throat and let her arm drop to her side.
"Good." She could practically hear Elize nodding. "Markos, let go of her throat."
Maria saw a flicker of something in his eyes right before he let go. The job of holding her body up went back to her own legs and luckily her knees didn't buckle. A little shaky though. Biotics wore out her body. Magic wore out her mind. Combining the two was going to be a bitch going forward.
Markos took a step back from her before he looked up at the night sky and took a deep breath, inhaling the cool air. The skin on his face filled back out as his ears and fangs shrunk and returned to normal size. A few seconds later the sharp weasel faced bastard that was Markos von Carstein stared back at Maria. However, the black spot on his neck where the silver knife touched him remained.
A hand went up and he fingered the edges of the new scar. "It's been decades since I've felt the touch of silver." He stepped away to retrieve his dropped gauntlets, then returned to Maria and Elize as he put them back on. "I never saw you draw the blade. How did you pull the knife out and remove it from its sheath with only one hand?"
Now that would have been a neat trick. "I didn't. Before you arrived tonight, I already removed it from its sheath, and just left it in my bag ready to go. Seemed sensible at the time, considering I'm surrounded by vampires."
Markos just shook his head, then turned to Elize. "And you insisted we train her to harness the winds of magic." He looked at Maria. "Well, Shepard, I'd like to say it was a pleasure but we both know I would be lying. With our deal concluded I'd like to remind you that Vlad's orders stand. I won't hesitate to kill you if we ever meet again."
"You bit my neck, drank my blood, tied me to a chair and made me feel all warm and fuzzy in places that hadn't felt warm and fuzzy in years." Maria smiled politely. "We ever meet again, and you'll find out just how much I've grown between now and then."
Markos stared at her with an unreadable expression, but then just shook his head again with a chuckle. He a shot a look Elize's way and then left them both as he started making his way back to the camp.
Elize watched him go, then, "Warm and fuzzy in certain places?"
Maria closed her eyes for a moment. Sometimes her mouth went off on its own without consulting her brain. Now that she thought about it, that was happening more and more since becoming marooned on this world.
"It been a few years for me," she said looking at the other woman. She shrugged. "I guess technically most of it shouldn't count, but it's been a while. You're over five-hundred years old, there must have been a few dry spells in all that time."
Elize pursed her lips, "Maybe a few." But then the corner of her mouth perked up, "I will say being a vampire does have its advantages in that regard."
Maria suppressed a chill. "I'll have to take your word on that."
Elize's amusement disappeared quickly from her face and she was quiet for a time. Maria was in no rush to fill the silence. She needed a few more minutes before feeling comfortable enough that her legs would carry her back to the camp.
"You remember your promise to us Shepard?" she asked suddenly.
Maria nodded. "I remember. You don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone what I learned here for one whole year. If I'm lucky I won't even be in this solar system well before the time is up."
Maria was confused when a strange emotion filled Elize's face. She couldn't place what she was seeing at first, but then it registered. Sympathy. The vampire felt sorry for her.
"What's that face for?" Maria asked feeling both self-conscious and getting angry over that very same fact.
Elize gave her a kind, gentle smile, and it was all pity. "Markos and I are two of four of the last surviving pure descendants of the von Carstein bloodline. I was turned by Isabella, while he was turned by Vlad. We have fought and schemed for the last five hundred years, across the entirety of this world, and sometimes even against one another. The third descendant happens to be the Grand Master of the Drakenhof Templars and is currently missing having yet to make contact with anyone, while the fourth is the man we plan to go to war against.
"Do you honestly believe, Maria Shepard, that he and I would have wasted any effort or time in teaching you, if there was even the smallest chance that you were going to be of no value to us in the future?"
The words struck Maria hard. She understood what Elize was saying, and it left her with a growing pinch in her chest. She did her best to ignore it and kept her voice firm even as she felt her throat tighten.
"I am going to get off this world. I am going to get back home. Just because I don't know how it happened, and the rest of you don't think it's possible, doesn't mean there isn't some way for me to get back to my own people. This is a place of dragons, pegasi and intelligent rats. There must be a way back."
Elize kept giving her that look, and Maria had the sudden overwhelming urge to slap the woman just so it would stop and go away. It was infuriating. It was gut wrenching. Here was a person who had lived half the lifespan of an Asari, and she was basically telling Maria all her hopes rested on a fool's errand.
Elize turned and outstretched a hand back to the camp. "Shall we?" and then started walking down the street.
Maria followed behind. It didn't matter how old Elize was and how much she'd seen of the world. Maria was dropped here for a reason, and the creepy voice in her head proved that.
Creepy voices in her head that proved she wasn't crazy. Oh boy.
/ooooooo\
Day 59
Maria's eyes snapped open as she rolled on the cot leveling her phalanx heavy pistol on the open doorway to her room.
Frieda threw up her hands. "Whoa, easy now!"
Maria immediately raised the gun off the woman. Her sleep addled brain started moving, metal gears screeching inside her skull, and she rolled onto her back with a groan. "Sorry… I had a rough night. Feels like an Elcor tap danced on my brain."
"I don' know what that is." Frieda stepped into the room. "Sounds painful though."
Maria laughed lightly as she covered her eyes with her arm. It would in all probability be a painless death, what with a fully grown Elcor weighing several tons.
"Uh, Maria?" She removed her arm and looked up to see Frieda still standing awkwardly at the door. "Did somethin' happen last night? With the vampires?"
"Why?" Maria gripped her pistol a little tighter.
Frieda glanced over her shoulder and stepped aside as a pair of armored skeletons walked into the room. They were carrying a chest between them that they simply deposited on the floor in front of the cot, and then they turned and marched back out of the room.
Both women stared at the wooden chest.
"Does that ever creep you out?" Maria asked. "Some dead person, now nothing more than bones, walking around and stabbing anyone the vampires ask them to stab?"
"Skeletons I can handle," Frieda replied. "They don't have faces. It's the recently dead zombies shamblin' around, drippin' guts, blood, and the odd body part, that throw your stomach."
Maria looked up at her. "Really hammers home just what side you're fighting on, doesn't it?"
Frieda just shot her a suffering look. "Can you not? Please?"
"Fine." Maria pushed back the blankets and got off the cot, taking a quick moment when she stood up to concentrate on not falling over. She had slept in her uniform's shirt for modesty's sake but left the pants on the floor. She started pulling them back on.
"It's just – I know what the blood drinkers are." Frieda folded her arms over her chest. "You don't need ta tell me, but we've got ta eat."
"Fine." Maria sat down and began putting on her boots.
"Horses got ta eat too," Frieda continued. "We need ta feed them, and care for them. Empire runs on gold and the vampires got loads of the stuff! Ostermark promises and promises, but credit doesn' fill stomachs, or replace weapons and armor, or – "
Maria pushed off from the cot. "I said its fine. I'm dropping it." She studied the other woman. Frieda looked more tired than normal. "You okay?"
Frieda glanced down at the ground before looking back up. "I'm… nothin'. Just didn't sleep well."
Maria offered the woman a smile. "Alright." She turned and looked down at the chest. "What do you think is inside?"
Frieda shrugged. "Don't know. They just walked up ta me after breakfast and told me that I should guide them ta your room."
Maria nodded, but after a second the woman's words hit her. "Wait, the skeletons talked to you?" Then she baulked. "And I slept through breakfast?!" She shook her hands. "Never mind that, did the skeletons actually talk to you?"
"No. Well, not really." Frieda shrugged again with a grimacing look. "The undead can't talk, but from what I understand the magic used to bind the Count's personal guard is stronger than normal. It's not speech, it's a… whisper; a cold, dry, dead whisper in your head. I don't recommend it."
"Fair enough." Maria walked up to the chest and toed it with her boot. Nothing happened so she gave it a little kick, just to be sure. The chest refused to be drawn into a conflict, so Maria crouched down, unlatched the lock, and lifted the lid. She and Frieda looked down at the contents.
"Wow." Frieda looked at her. "I thought the blood drinkers didn' like you?"
Maria glanced back at her. "We're working through it."
/ooooooo\
Maria didn't have a mirror in her room, but she did have Frieda. The other woman had come in looking tired but by now was wide awake. And doing her best not to gush over Maria's new getup.
"You give the blood drinkers a run for their coin," Frieda declared, her eyes repeatedly running up and down the new outfit that had literally been hand delivered inside the chest.
Maria had ditched her torn and bloody Reikland uniform. She was instead wearing the outfit given to her by Elize von Carstein. It was nearly identical to the outfit the vampire had worn when they had met down in the mine. Black pants were covered by black boots that rose all the way up to the middle of Maria's thighs. She was also wearing a crimson blouse that buttoned down the front to the center of her chest. As well as the clothes and boots, Elize had also provided a sword. Wasn't that big, only about two feet in length and kept a thin width, but it was polished and had a well-crafted steel hilt with a rounded guard.
Maria was settling the sword belt around her hips. "They promised the clothes, but I never guessed they'd arm me before I left the camp." She winced and held back a hiss of pain when her left arm throbbed in pain. She stretched it too far when she put on the new shirt.
Frieda noticed. "The arm still hurt? I should check your bandage."
"No." Maria shook her head. "I mean, it hurts but the cut has healed over. The muscle is just stiff. I need to start working it out over the next few days anyhow. I will take another sling if you can fashion one out for me. The last one tore when I was fighting Markos."
Maria kept undoing and redoing the top two buttons on her shirt, trying to decide which way looked better. She glanced up at Frieda as she played with them. "Can you get me another sling?" The woman stayed silent. "Frieda?"
Still no reply from the other woman. Maria stopped playing with her buttons. "Frieda?" She looked up to see the woman still standing in the same spot of the room. She had a blank look on her face. "Frieda? Are you okay?" Maria walked up to the woman and put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a little shake. "Frieda, talk to me. I need you to say something."
"Relax, Shepard, the woman is fine."
Maria spun on her heel. Her hand dropped to her belt, but she fumbled when she realized both the phalanx and locust were still sitting on the cot across the room. So instead her omni-tool came to life and was pointed straight at Vlad von Carstein's chest. The act of moving her left arm so fast had her gritting her teeth to hold back the pain.
Vlad stood in the corner of the room, well away from the door, wearing his black armor and purple cape. He gave her a sympathetic smile. "Now that looked like it hurt. You shouldn't be moving that arm, Shepard."
"My arm is fine." Maria was measuring the distance to her firearms in her head. Disappointingly, Vlad would probably intercept her before she got them. "What did you do to Frieda? And how the hell did you just appear out of thin air?"
Vlad clasped his hands behind his back and leveled her with a look as his eyes darted to the omni-tool pointed at his chest. Maria just narrowed her eyes at him. "What did you do to Frieda?" she asked again.
The two of them stared at one another until Vlad broke eye contact first. He looked up at the sky and the canvas roof hanging above them and chuckled under his breath.
"Kings and Queens, Pharaohs, and Sovereigns from over a dozen nations have cowered before me, yet here you stand, all over the safety a common mercenary." He waved a hand. "Its nothing. A harmless spell. The same Markos used on you. I just decided that we needed privacy and most mortals tend to have a different reaction to my presence. This seemed the easiest and simplest solution."
He shot a disapproving look at her hand again and this time Maria relented and deactivated the tool. If he was going to try to be civil the least she could do was reciprocate. She lowered her left arm, wincing as she did.
"There, you see?" Vlad said proudly. "Much more relaxing when we aren't pointing weapons at one another."
"What is it with powerful people telling me to relax?" Maria asked. "First you, then the Supreme Patriarch. I am relaxed." Vlad's eyebrows rose as he leveled her with a pointed look. "I am relaxed," she growled out, fully aware of the irony. "What are you doing here?"
"I am the lord of this camp, simply out for a stroll before the sun fully rises on the new day." He stepped out from the corner and gave her an appraising look. "Elize's style suits you. You'll learn the advantages to wearing red and black."
"Because it hides the blood stains better, yeah I know." Maria edged slightly to her left to keep the distance between them. "If Elize is willing to part with any of her underwear tell her I'll take them. A girl has got to feel pretty now and then and I'm guessing she enjoys lace as much as I do."
Vlad laughed out and it made Maria feel a little better at the situation. If he was laughing, he wasn't threatening to tear out her throat.
"Oh, Shepard," he continued to chuckle, "Isabella would have liked you. My wife could be vain, selfish and cruel… but she never backed down. If you came at her, prepare yourself for a fight. She had a mind as sharp and deadly as a finely crafted stiletto." He smiled at Maria. The smile was friendly, but his eyes weren't. "She also, from time to time, bite off far more than she could chew. Which was understandable. Isabella was the daughter of a Count. She learned how to hunt and ride as soon as she could walk. A rapier adorned her hip when she left the safety of her father's castle. But she was one very young, very naïve woman, living in this dangerous hostile world."
Subtlety, thy name is vampire. "Well I grew up an orphan and learned how to follow through on a punch as soon as I was old enough to throw one. Why are you here?" she asked again.
"Simply saying goodbye Shepard," Vlad said casually. "It's a long way from here to Ulthuan. I figured you'd take wishes of good luck from anyone at this point."
Maria sighed. "No offense but I'm only here because of one of your people; and if it wasn't for Markos, I'd still have my armor."
Vlad chuckled. "True and true. All the same, I hope you survive the journey." He unclasped his hands so he could put a palm on his chest plate and then offered her a slight bow. "Safe travels Maria Shepard." He then walked smoothly to the door, his purple cape sweeping up behind him.
As soon as he reached the doorway, Maria stopped him. "Vlad?" He turned to face her. "Are your people still ordered to kill me on sight?"
"No," he replied with a shake of his head. "They are ordered to tear out your throat on first sight. Entirely different. It's still up to you whether or not they succeed."
Well then. She straightened up and raised her chin. "Fine. Just don't send anyone my way you happen to be fond of."
He just smiled. "You were a nuisance before Markos and Elize got involved. When I want you dead, you'll know its me." He turned back to the door but then paused. "Also, when you finally reach Altdorf, give the Emperor and Supreme Patriarch my best. I heard a rumor there was some trouble brewing up in the far north, and if it's true, the Empire and its leaders will need all the support they can get."
He turned and marched out of the room. His last act before vanishing was to snap his fingers in the open doorway. As soon as he did, Maria heard a small gasp and she spun around to just catch Frieda before the woman fell back and knocked her head against the wall.
Frieda blinked a few times as she gripped Maria's arm to steady herself. "Woah… sorry, I guess you were right. Didn' know I was that tired."
Maria studied her closely. "You alright?"
"Yeah… yeah." She shook her head. "Sorry. You were sayin' something about needing another sling?" Frieda started pulling the backpack containing all her medical supplies off her shoulders and knelt on the floor, rummaging around for some cloth.
Satisfied the woman was unharmed, Maria went over to her cot and finished getting herself together. She belted her small bag on her hip and deposited her phalanx and locust inside. All the while Vlad von Carstein's parting words echoed in her head.
/ooooooo\
Maria triple-checked the buckles on the saddlebags before she was finally satisfied everything was in order. Food, check. Water, check. Blankets, check. Why blankets? Because a stupid weasel-faced vampire was too stupid to look under a stupid blanket, and the nights were getting colder. She sighed and ran her hand gently over the horse's neck. Back in Middenland she had contemplated buying some cold weather gear. Depending on the seasons, until she got to Altdorf and retrieved her collector armor, that was looking like a necessity.
If she wasn't back on a boat and heading to Ulthuan before snow started to fall, she was going to lose it. Build a few snowmen, and then blast them with a biotic field.
Frieda had led Maria to the camp's stables and found her a horse currently without a rider. During Vlad's trip across the Empire, from Blood Keep to Mordheim, their company had lost more than a few men. Her new horse had a brown coat, with white ankles and a white diamond of color on its face. It was no where near as big as George, but still solidly built with wide shoulders and back.
Maria named him 'Jerry'.
Frieda's face scrunched up. "Jerry?"
Maria nodded. "Jerry."
"You know this is a mare," Frieda pointed out.
"What's a mare?" Maria asked.
"This horse."
"No. I mean, what is a mare? What does that mean?"
"A mare is a female horse." Frieda stared at her. "Did you not know that?"
Awesome. Your ignorance is showing Maria. "Where I'm from I never had to interact with horses. I really don't know much about them." And she didn't feel comfortable sneaking a peek at a horse's hardware every time just to find out. "Alright then. I'll still call her Jerry, but instead just spell it with an 'I'. Jerri, the female horse."
Frieda just continued to stare at her which caused Maria to fidget awkwardly. "Do you not name your horses?" she asked the mercenary.
"Maybe," Frieda replied with a shrug, "for simple handlin' purposes. Telling two apart that look similar. But no, we don' name them. It's not a good idea ta get attached. The easiest way ta drop a seated knight is ta kill his mount. Why do ya think the knightly orders keep theirs all barded up."
Made sense, Maria supposed. But the thought made her uneasy. She didn't like the idea of killing the horse just to get to the rider.
"It's a long way back to Nuln. This horse is the only one I'll have around to talk to. I'd rather she has a name if we're going to be stuck with each other."
Frieda just shrugged again. "She's yours now anyhow. I guess Jerri is a… fine name for a horse."
"That's the same thing the Nordland soldier said when I told him my last horse's name was George," Maria laughed. She had never had any pets while growing up for obvious reasons and it wasn't until she fell into command of the Normandy SR2 that the streak was broken. Her quarter's aquarium was quickly filled with every species of fish or marine wildlife Maria ran across. None of them had names, she wasn't that crazy, but these horses were different. She was responsible for their well-being and they provided her with an essential service. Bottom-line, they needed a name.
Maria pulled on the dirty brown wool cloak that clashed horribly with her new outfit, attaching it around her neck with a pair of small wooden buttons. It was made clear to her by Frieda that she should always wear cloaks that buttoned instead of ones that tied with a string. The last thing you needed was for someone to come up from behind and start strangling you with your own clothes. Buttons could be snapped and broken far easier than string.
"I guess this is it then." Maria put her hands on her hip. The left rested on her sword, the right rested on the bag holding her phalanx and locust. The silver dagger capable of permanently ending any unwanted advances by a vampire was tied off on the belt at the small of her back.
Frieda smiled in return. "Seems so. You still riddin' for Bissendorf?"
"Yes."
"Stick ta the Stir. The river will take you straight there," Frieda informed her. "Better than getting deep into the woods and losin' your way."
"That was the plan."
Maria just stood there with Frieda, next to her new horse Jerri, and she knew based on the forced way the other woman was smiling that they were probably thinking the same thing. After Maria left the ruined city, they weren't going to be on friendly terms anymore. Vlad had promised his people would try to kill her. That most likely included any mercenaries working for him, namely Frieda.
Plus, there was the that whole vampires going to war against one another thing. And while Maria was taking very big steps in the opposite direction, Frieda was going to be stuck in the thick of it. Odds were very good this would be the last time they saw each other. And if the universe was feeling particularly nasty, the next time Maria did see Frieda, she just might find the woman's corpse shambling along with the very same zombies that made her feel so uncomfortable.
She turned around and jumped onto Jerri's back. Grabbing the reins Maria shot one last glance at the merc. "Stay safe Frieda."
"No gold in stayin' safe Maria," Frieda snipped back, but the look on her face told Maria she appreciated the sentiment.
There was nothing left to say after that. Maria steered the horse away and gave her a little kick. A few minutes later she left the ruined city of Mordheim at a gallop.
/ooooooo\
Location: Bissendorf, town of Ostermark
Day 60
The Dead Woods sucked and were scary as hell. By the time the sun had set Maria had already been traveling along the river's shore, but the trees grew right to the waters edge slowing her down. She had originally planned on spending the night camped out, but a wolf's howl rose the hairs on the back of her neck, while a solid mass of black shadow drifting through, literally through, a thick tree only a few meters from her, pretty much convinced her to keep riding through the night.
Now she was walking Jerri through the remarkably thin walls of Bissendorf. For a town so close to Sylvania there were distressingly few soldiers visible and on patrol. But as Maria kept walking down the dirt streets, she started to get the picture that this was among the poorest places she'd seen within the Empire so far. It was about fifty-fifty whether a building was constructed with brick or wood. Most weren't bigger than three stories. None of the streets were paved with stone.
Still it was a walled settlement, and at least the spattering of uniformed men provided some mental comfort. Since she had rode through the night, Maria would find a place to rest and grab a bite to eat, then start asking the locals how best to get back to Nuln. A river ferry would be the fastest, but she'd need to make sure it could transport her horse as well. If there was none available, then she'd just buy a map and start riding for the next town or city.
A two-story wooden building on her right caught her eye. A sign hanging above the door had a mug and roll of bread painted on it. It looked clean enough, and there was a group of horses already tied off along the side of the place.
If this place was busy that hopefully meant it served good food. The only problem now was how expensive it would be. Her coin purse wasn't as full as it had been back when she had originally left Nuln. She tied Jerri along the railing with the rest of the horses but didn't see any hay or water at hand. After feeding herself she'd need to buy something for the horse. She sighed. More money to spend.
Maria could hear people conversing within the tavern as she climbed the few steps to the front door. The scent of cooked meat and baked bread reached her nose. Her stomach rumbled. She pushed open the swinging door and stepped inside.
And then froze in the doorway as she choked on her next breath.
"Oh, fuck me sideways…"
Three, five, ten, thirteen… seated at nearly every table filling most of the tavern were wide brimmed hat, black coat wearing figures. Witch hunters, everyone of them. Their conversations died off as they all looked up to see the newcomer.
Maria was too busy staring at one witch hunter to care about the rest. Seated at the table near the center of the room directly in front of her was someone she knew. Someone who was a high-ranking member of the Order of the Silver Hammer, and a man whose attention she had drawn back during her time in Nuln. He had dark brown hair long enough to be pulled back into a ponytail, a stubble growing out on his face and square jaw making him ruggedly more handsome, and brown eyes filled with a grim resolve, that were now locked onto her blue ones as recognition filled his features.
Commander Schaeffer slowly stood from his chair, the noise of it scrapping across the floor filling the now silent tavern. His hands were already drifting closer to his belted pistol and sword.
He growled out her name. "Maria Shepard. You were supposed to be on your way to Ulthuan."