EWODEN

Chapter 12: Vorador's mansion

-

Janos had acted as quickly as possible. Throwing the enveloping mists of a translocation spell around him, pushed on by the pain he could feel coming down the Whisper. Ewoden came with him, any notion of his own safety forfeited in that instant.

Sally was being burned by the light, the unbearable light. She was trying desperately to find a shadow to heal in, to hide; but there were one. She was alone, out in the open with the light bearing down on her; it's intense presence sending her staggering back screaming.

These new Sarafan were cruel in their tactics, never once raising their weapons to strike her down quickly. Instead they let her smoulder, letting her suffer, smiling at she sank to her knees still screaming.

Their smiles quickly disappeared as Janos came flying out of his spell, the fury of hell in him, knocking one of them to the ground with the light wings disappearing. The second reached for his sword, but never managed to draw it. A large battle axe came arching out of nowhere, sinking it's edge directly into his shoulder a thick wide spray of blood leaping into the air. Another axe came across his side, slicing through his armour with ease, sinking deep into his heart.

"Infidels!" The angel like Sarafan Janos had pinned to the ground screamed up, trying to free his arms. But the ancient vampires strength was too much for him and he could not reach his sword.

Janos wasted no words, instead lifted his pinned victim up and tossed him back across the street and into the side of the building. He hit his head as he fell and now lay on the floor unconscious. Turning, the ancient cast his spell again, enveloping all three of them in it's midst; thick white mist blinding all in the line off sight. As they faded away, a fresh patrol of Sarafan warriors came charging around the corner summoned by their comrades. But all they could do now was watch as Janos and the two others disappeared.

Sally screamed as the ancient vampire lowered her down to the floor as the spell delivered them safely back to Sanctuary. The light had burned her underneath her cloves. Most of her entire left side, including parts of her face had been badly scorched. The black marks extracting smoke running down her arm. He mouth was mouth, her fangs protruding out in pain. Her entire body pulsated with the beating of her heart, causing more pain each and every time.

"This burning is serious." Janos began, almost stating the obvious. "Her body can not heal the wounds fast enough." As sudden furlong look came over the ancients face. "There's little we can do." Ewoden looked up in absolute horror, his green eyes burning with an intense mixture of anger and sadness.

"No…" He managed to stutter. Janos kneeled down beside the female vampire, helping her into a more comfortable position. He shook his head.

"She needs more blood in order to heal her wounds, and I have neither the magic nor the reserves myself." Without a single moment of hesitation Ewoden uncoupled the leather strapped holding the Wraith armours chest plate to his torso, revealing the skin on his shoulders.

"Then let her taken mine." He stated, the fear of being drained that came naturally to most humans never so much as passing through his mind. Janos sighed.

"She needs more than you can spare." Ewoden's steadfast determined look reused to leave his face.

"I said, then let her take mine." In that single moment, Ewoden's own existence did not matter. Did not even register as a concern, his only instinct was to supply everything Sally would need in order to heal herself.

"They'll be no need for that." A voice stated from the darkness. Turning, Janos and the former Sarafan saw a familiar face standing nearby. A vampire, a good head and shoulders taller than Janos. His skin made pine green by a thin covering of fur, running from the tips of a pair of bat like ears to his toes. The golden eyes stood out against the darkness.

"Vorador!" Janos began with a happy smile as the first human to which the dark gift had been passed greatest his shire.

"So Kain did not lie." Vorador began, almost sounding surprised before looking over Sally's burnt body, studying the extent of the injuries. "These are bad wounds, I will do what I can." Without hesitation, he held one cloven hand over her; a white glow highlighting his outline as he began bestowing healing magic on the female vampire. Ewoden watched with held breath as some invisible force took hold of her body and she began shaking. Before his eyes he watched the burns covering her skin begin to recede and slowly disappear. But before she could fully heal, the light died away and Vorador's hands snapped back as if hit by a recoil. "I will have to summon blood for her to devour. But I can't do it so close to the Sarafan." He explained. Bending down, he picked her up off the floor and carried her in his arms. "We should leave, the city is not safe for our kind." Ewoden looked around as the familiar mists of a translocation spell engulfed them all and the empty vaults of the former Sanctuary of the Cabal disappeared. Just before they vanished complete, Janos quickly reached down and grabbed the canister. The spell lasted only a moment, before he found himself standing outside the gates of Vorador's estate.

-

In seven hundred years, the ancient vampire's home had decayed in ruins and rubble. The entangled roots of the swamp had all but claimed the walls and whatever remains of the fabulous wealth had vanished. The mansion before him now was dark and empty, devoid of any sort of nobility he had observed before. Perhaps it was the lack of sunlight that made it look so gloomy. Either way, this ruin was hardly anything like the extensive house Ewoden had been used to seeing.

Vorador hurried them inside the gates before shutting it behind them. Ewoden had been about to ask why, then a loud roaring echoed across the canopy of the forest, fixing them to the spot as it rolled through the air before dissipating.

"What sort of howl was that?" Janos breathed, unfamiliar with that inhuman screech either.

"After the collapse of the pillars, many strange creatures began appearing across the lands." Vorador explained as he hurried them all through the courtyard to the entrance. Most of the building around it had collapsed, the rubble entangled with vines that had crept in over and through the crumbling walls. "Mutations caused by corruption seeping into the land swarm through the swamp like rats." The door to the mansion had long since eroded away, leaving only an open archway as a way inside. Even once inside the hall, they could see that parts of the roof had fallen in, faint light beams falling to the floor through the holes. Having seen this place in it's entirety, Ewoden would almost have felt saddened by how much it had decayed away had his attention not been drawn by the female vampires plight.

He was still trying to speak to her through the Whisper, but she had blacked out because of the pain. Her mind was sleeping and he could not even be sure if she heard his messages.

Vorador lead them deep into his old abode, now devoid of any life whatever so ever; to one of his extensive libraries. It was about the only room like in his mansion that had retained some of it's former nobility. The gigantic collection of literature that had been Vorador's pride and joy was now gone, long since rotted away. The large curved set of windows that had had a magnificent view of Avernus Cathedral were gone as well, only an empty space remained opening out onto a crumbling balcony.

Avernus stood out in the distance. One of it's spires had fallen away over time and the extensive forest that had lain before it had died. Leaving only a blackened land almost devoid of life in it's place. As they entered, Janos closed the large wooden doors behind them; the hinges rusting and the wood rotten. Distant thunder and lighting rolled across the sky some distance away.

Looking out at it, Ewoden could be sure that this was not the Nosgoth he knew. This land was only a lifeless corpse. What could have happened to have caused such utter devastation? What could possibly have turned the lush world of Nosgoth into this?

Slowly, Vorador lowered Sally down onto a table and stepped away from her.

"Do you still remember the summoning spell I taught you?" Janos asked with a short coy smile. Vorador simply cast his shire a flat side glance. Turning back to Sally, he threw both hands out and evoked a spell; muttered the ancient language of the vampire race under his breath as the air around the injured female began to pulsate with the beating of a heart. Ewoden watched as the ancient summoned blood from ethereal space, leaving it to hang in the air like a small lake for a moment before letting it fall like rain upon Sally's injured body.

The former Sarafan watched as she drank what she could and the set seeped directly into her wounds. As time ticked away, the burns lessened and eventually disappeared altogether. Once the healing was complete, Vorador let his hands drop and the red rain ceased.

"There." He said with a sigh.

"Are you alright fledgling?" Janos asked as Sally pulled herself up to a sitting position. Slowly, she looked herself over breathing a sigh of relief she saw her skin unflawed once more.

Ewoden couldn't find the words. To much emotion was playing right over his head right now, so instead Sally just opened their link through the Whisper and then felt tears wheeling up in her eyes. All this concern, all that fear and then such intense relieve. Ewoden might never perhaps admit this out load, but it wad obvious that he did love her.

With one solid kick, the doors to the library went flying inward. Vorador turned sharply, one hand poised above the hilt of his sword before he saw Kain standing in the doorway. Anger was more than plain on the Scion's face, his golden eyes set face against Vorador; staring at the ancient with intense frustration in his eyes. In one hand he held the Reaver Blade, it's curved blade glinting bright with the lighting flashes coming from outside. The red banner that fell over his right shoulder fluttering violently in the breeze coming in.

"Vorador!" He almost shouted, leaping down the stairs to the ground level standing before the ancient vampire. "Explain yourself!" Vorador's expression was unreadable, he simply stood there in front of the sword wielding vampire calmly, matching his stare. "Explain this at once!"

"I thought she might get your undivided attention Kain, good to see that you aren't the one who holds all of the cards." Kain barred his fangs, his grip on the hilt of the Reaver tightening.

"And what Ace is this! Explain!" Vorador said nothing for a moment, looking amused at Kain's distress.

"I think we should leave them alone to argue about this." Janos suggested, seeing Kain clench and unclench the hand he always held the Reaver in. A hostile twitch in his eyes. "We'll be around the manor if you need us." Quickly, with Ewoden help Sally up; the three of them left closing the door behind them, half expecting to instantly hear the sounds of battle after it.