Boss 3: Umah

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The front lines in the northern plains of Nosgoth had been witness to atrocities committed by both vampire and Sarafan alike. The southern lines owned by the Order had rows of impaled vampires laid out in forests and placed on top of hills for the vampires to see. All those impaled had been alive when they met their fate. Makeshifts forts of wood sat in a long line across the land, their side of the lines stretching from the shores of the Lake of Lost Souls to the hills upon which the ruins of Malek's Bastion were visible.

To the north across a thick no man's land was the mountain range that formed Nosgoth's northern border. Canyons and cracks in the rock face had been taken as the home of the Clans. Banners of the six sects flew high above the towering peeks of Dark Eden, the towers of the old ruin jutting out on the horizon. For the last year and a half it had been a bloody stalemate between the two forces and for all that time, the Generals in charge of the front had been desperately trying new schemes to come up with a way to get in there. Even with their advantage of the Sunlight Knights, the vampires held a very important strategic position. The only way into Dark Eden was through a thin canyon which the Clans had fortified to near a near impossibly strong defence. The mountains around were simply too rugged and tall to climb never mind lead a column of men through.

For a while the Sarafan thought they could simply starve them out, keep them from going out to hunt; but it seemed the vampires had brought with them heretical servants from which to feed upon. These vampire worshippers gave their blood willingly, intelligence suggested, maintaining their masters. A memo was made that these burn these sinners once total victory was achieved.

When an army of Sarafan marched up to bolster the ranks of the men already stationed there, moral went through the roof. The generals could not believe their eyes at the sheer amount of fresh soldiers that had journeyed from the garrisons at Willendorf. Combined with the stationed troops there had to be well over ten thousand men here and they had all brought fresh supplies with them. A celebration for the vampires certain defeat was held that night, the drunken roar echoing across the land.

From the top of the Bastion to the west, Vorador watched their encampment with a stern expression fixed on his face. The Sarafan had not attempted to retake this fortress and Vorador and his surviving Cabal found it a perfect place to set up their new operations. It was within spying distance of the Order's lines and it had a good height advantage. Even if the Sarafan somehow did find out they were here, it was a good long marched from the cliff bottom to the castle at the top giving the Cabal plenty of them to escape if necessary.

Vorador glanced up briefly to see his sire, Janos Audron coursed through the air towards him with his raven like wings spread out wide. Coming within landing distance of the Bastion's battlements, his wings beat themselves several time slow him down before Janos gently dropped down to his feet.

"Their numbers are great. Well into the thousands" He reported folding his wings behind him. He had flown across their lines from a great height spying on them while they sang songs of impending victory. "And those not drunk out of their minds are building siege weaponry. If they attack in the morning I do not believe the Clans will hold their position for long." Vorador muttered something angrily under his breath and glanced down at the flickering lights in the valley below.

What really bothered him was the attack on his mansion that had forced him and his Cabal to flee. The shadow creatures that aided them in their assault were a mystery in off themselves, Shades, folklore called them. Even with their help the Sarafan should never have known their hiding place, unless of course there was a traitor in their midst?

Yes that had to be it. Someone, perhaps one of the humans was a spy planted by the Order. An inside man whose job it had been to worm his way into the heart of the Cabal and expose their secrets. That still begged the questions of who it had been; and if they were still amongst their numbers.

"Are they well supplied?" Vorador asked. Janos nodded once with a melancholy frown on his face.

"They pilfered towns on their way north like pirates." The ancient explained turning to look down at the encampment himself. "Half the supplies they have there they stole from farms and villages. They also brought women with them, and I think you can guess what they plan to do with them." Vorador put a talon to his finger and he began tapping his foot. It didn't help him think better it was more of a nervous reaction.

"If Kain's army is crushed here, the Sarafan's political power becomes absolute." Janos nodded in agreement.

"The longer the war is dragged out, the more opposition to their movements grows in Willendorf."

"And the more chance of a revolution on both sides we gain." Vorador turned away and made his way towards the stone stairs leading down into the courtyard. "But even with our help, I doubt the Clans will win the battle."

Both as Ancients, Vorador and Janos Audron could summon blood magically for their vampire resistance members to consume, leaving the humans in their midst free to work alongside them without fear of having fangs sunk into their neck. While this position was presently cut off from the other resistance sects, Vorador had chosen it because of the urgency at hand. Something had to be done about that army and fast. The only question was, what?

Sally found that despite everything she tried, her thoughts were distracted. She was unable to concentrate completely on the duties given to her. The severed link through the Whisper was like a suffocated hand around her throat. Many times now she had tried to break through, to contact Ewoden only to receive no reply. Only a buzzing intermission, not quite the silence of the mind took its place.

It was a like something that was just out of reach and no matter how hard she tried it would remain so. It wasn't just that either. Something was lurking at the back of her mind for a while now. Something that was waiting for the right moment to emerge. Something powerful.

Eventually she just dropped the sword she was supposed to be sharpening and left the chamber were the other Cabal members were tending to their weapons.

Her thoughts were completely on the former knight now. When he left her behind with Vorador before, she had only felt a surge of grief at the separation. Now they shared a link through the Whisper, the pain was immensely stronger. Their link was more than that shared by others vampires; her mind and his shared memories, emotions and feelings. That sense of union had been so wonderful that now separated from it, Sally felt like her strength was leaking away bit by bit.

The not knowing was the worst thing. He was alive, that was all she knew, but where and in what condition? Was he being tortured to death by the Sarafan who dragged him away? Was he scheduled to be killed at dawn tomorrow?

Wandering through the abandoned corridors of the Bastion, Sally could feel the cold around her sapping whatever warmth her body could retain out from her skin. Vampires naturally had a cooler body temperature than most humans but even they could feel the cold nipping at them. This fortress had been abandoned for over two hundred years, the last refuse of the original Sarafan. That she had guessed without Vorador telling her. The armour worn by the skeletons was that she recognised. It was actually a welcome sight, something to remind her of the time from which she came. The rest of the fortress was nearly frozen solid and reddened with rusted and inoperable arcane machinery she did not recognise. Just about everything in and of this era of history depressed her.

Eventually, Sally found herself standing before a large door. Within was one of the central chambers, a chapel like building where the previous inhabitants of this fortress may have worshiped. It was here that Janos had taken the vampire maiden he had retrieved from the mansion before it was overrun with knights. Sally had never seen her before the winged ancient landed on the battlements of their fall back position with her in his arms. Undoubtedly beautiful, slim and tall with long flowing black hair. Who she was Sally did not know but clearly was significant for all that trouble to have been gone through for her.

Sally was about to carry on when she heard a strange sound coming from behind the door. Stopping she paused to listen and after a few moments she could make out a soft sobbing sound. Strange, there wasn't supposed to be anyone in there beside the comatose maiden.

Curiosity trying to overwhelm personal anguish, Sally pushed the door open a crack and put her head around it. Most of the chapel was completely in the dark, the only space lit being a stone alter at the far end upon which Janos had laid the vampire woman, illuminated by a single glass lantern. But from here, Sally could see that she had gone. The stone alter was bare completely.

Knowing full well that her best action would have been to simply report this, Sally advanced completely into the chapel anyway. The darkness on either side allowed not even her vampirically enhanced sight to pierce. Still that distant sound of weeping continued; the source undeterminable as the sound echoed several times off the walls around her.

Reaching the large carved alter; Sally looked around for the woman Janos had placed here. There was nothing to be seen in the light. Sally picked up the lantern and glanced around

Suddenly the door behind her slammed shut with a loud sound that echoed through the chapel. Sally shot around, one of her throwing daggers instinctively ready to fly from her fingers. Sensing no one there, she lowered her arm and relaxed.

"Must have been the wind." She muttered to herself placing the lantern back down on the alter.

That distant sound of sobbing suddenly grew louder and now Sally was utterly certain it was coming from within this chapel. She could sense nothing but that was what disturbed her.

Slowly she backed down towards the door, keeping her eyes on the shadows around her for any sign of movement. As she moved the crying was beginning to grow louder and the echoed quicker, as if the source was drawing near.

Reaching the door Sally tried to open it, but found to her dismay that it was locked, a large bar of cold metal wedged horizontally across it. She tried to move it but even a vampire's strength had its limits. "Not the wind then." She sighed, turning around with a dagger in one hand and the lantern in the other. Now she was certain there was something in here.

"Kain…why?" A faint feminine voiced asked, as light as a mountain breeze, before something hit Sally hard in the face. The blow was so suddenly and extreme she couldn't defend herself against it. Sent flying backwards she slammed with a loud thud into the door behind her.

The back of her head throbbing, Sally glanced up to see someone standing before her.

It was the vampire woman. Her clothes hung loosely around her, flowing like silk as she moved. Now that Sally had a proper look at her she noted the arched, black rune like tattoos running down each side of her face and another from her hairline directly down the middle of her forehead. Tears followed freely from her eyes and from the vacant expressions on her face it was clear that she was not entirely there. Vorador had mentioned her name to them all and now Sally remembered what it was; Umah.

Glancing down, Sally saw the sword blade in Umah's hand just in time to roll to the side to avoid a swift jab. Her movements clearly guided by her subconscious, Umah shot back with a swipe across the middle that tore Sally's shirt across the side. Dancing back across the floor Sally put as much distance as she could between herself and the maiden.

As if her feet weren't even touching the floor Umah soured forward sword in hand, the blade taken from the collection of weapons left lying around by the Bastion's former Sarafan occupants. Sally tried to block the swing with her knife but the sword being far stronger than her short blade it shattered. Sally only managed to duck in time to avoid being decapitated. Reacting on instinct, she ducked into a crouch before swinging a leg out hard to smash a kick into Umah's stomach.

The blow forced Umah back into the shadows and instantly she vanished, disappearing completely into the darkness. Sally glanced around for her but found that he maiden had completely vanished.

"Please Kain…help me…." The hushed whispers from the shadows murmured and acting on gut instinct alone Sally jumped high into the air as Umah swung her sword blade up sharply trying to slice her arm off. Rebounding off the ceiling Sally spun back into the central chapel near the alter.

Umah staggered there in the darkness for a moment, her movements a strange culmination of grave and spasmodic. Sally could guess now that something had happened to traumatise this woman. Shock her enough to remove any sense she had of the world. Sally doubted Umah even knew she was awake.

"Vorador… hear me." She called out with her mind, echoing her message through the walls of the fortress through the Whisper.

Vorador had been pacing the courtyard outside trying to think of some sort of stratagem that would enable him to prevent the Clan's destruction when Sally's message reached him. He stopped in mid stride, pausing as the information began 'Whispering' to him.

"Something wrong?" Janos asked him looking up. Vorador blinked once before a stunned expression passed over his face.

"Umah!" He nearly yelled before clasping his hands together and teleporting away in a shimmer of light. Janos looked a bit confused, before he engaged his own spell and quickly followed after him.

Umah apparently had had more time to evolve than Sally had. She was stronger, faster and her skill with a long blade outclassed Sally's own short blade and marksman abilities. Still, Sally had a definite advantage of agility to close range combat and the added of bonus of being completely sane. Umah was torn between a fantasy world and reality. Her mind traumatized so much she was completely oblivious to everything around her.

Guiding her actions were sub-conscious impulses and emotions buried deep released so fast and so strong they manifest physically, expressions of intense feelings of betrayal and anger. The sword clamped into the stone just above Sally's head as he dived down to avoid the swing, brining her leg across sharply knocking Umah's out from underneath her. Umah fell to the ground with a thud, the sword spiralling from her hand and spinning to a stop a short distance away.

Sally made a dive for it, grabbing it the hilt in her left hand. Umah slowly picked herself up, swaying gently like the leaves on a tree branch. Her arms hung like loose pieces of clothe by her sides with her shoulders drooped on either side.

"Umah!" Vorador called out, materializing out of a translocation spell with Janos Audron close behind him. Umah just ignored him and stood there, tears running down her cheeks. With a sudden burst of speed she leapt at all three of them at once. Vorador and Janos jumped to the side at the last second but Sally not being as fast as thrown and pinned to the floor. Umah's fangs emerged as her mouth neared Sally's neck.

"I need your blood…please…" He moaned leaning closer. Sally tried to get free but Umah was far stronger.

Vorador threw both hands up and grabbed Umah in the thrall of a telekinetic grip, hoisting her up into the air. Gently he pulled the struggling Umah off Sally and back over to the stone alter. Choosing a moment when her struggling was not quite so spasmodic, Janos placed his hand on her forehead and closed his eyes. After a moment he sighed and pulled his hand away.

"Her mind has been severely traumatized; all I can sense is anger, despair and sadness. She is now constantly re-living the moment Kain betrayed her." He announced opening his eyes and shaking his head Vorador could not help but grimaced.

"What dire fate is it to relive one's death again and again?" Janos placed a hand on Vorador's shoulder and shook his head.

"Her tragedy is more acute than that." The winged ancient began. "She loved him, was prepared to leave the Cabal to follow him. But she could not turn her back on those she had fought alongside for so long. So from him she stole the Nexus Stone, to prove to Kain that the Cabal was stronger than he thought." Janos looked down at her tear ridden face, sighing in pity. "He destroyed her for doing what she thought was right." Vorador was utterly silent as he stared into the face of the vampire maiden.

Sally picked herself, forcing her shivering body to be still but it was not listening. Something had changed within, something she could not explain. Something had been added in a single adrenaline rich moment but exactly what it was eluded her, it was as if someone had placed a heavy item on her person but she was not sure where.

Glancing up, she stared at Umah and suddenly found herself looking at more than what people saw on the outside. Past the shattered shell Sally looked deep into the core of Umah's psyche, beating past emotions of grief so strong they threatened to overwhelm and directly at the centre she saw a single nugget of clarity left.

Realizing that it was only a matter of time before the grief swallowed that nugget, Sally's reaction was almost instinctive. She walked forward, past Vorador and Janos ignoring their queries as to what she was doing and softly laid her forehead against Umah's.

Knowledge of what to do seemed to come from nowhere and peeling through the layers of heightened emotional sorrow, Sally found herself looking into the core.

"She's attempted telepathy?" Vorador asked seeing that Sally was now in a complete link with Umah.

"Sally has evolved her first dark gift." Janos stated waving a cloven hand in front of Umah's eyes seeing the pupils remain where they were and not follow him. Vorador was silent for a moment, before he put a talon to his forehead and tried to see what was happening through the Whisper. "That would not be wise." The winged ancient told him sternly, tapping him on the shoulder. "It appears Sally's gift is custom acquired for this task. There are varying abilities in physic Dark gifts, each one unique to the vampire using it Attempting to intervene using a common form of telepathy right now would most likely be harmful for Sally, Umah and yourself."

During the first couple of hundred years of growth, vampires acquired several new talents, or Dark Gifts, as the humans called them. The most commonly acquired were physic powers, energy manipulation and new physical attributes. The first they always acquired first was the ability to use the Whisper, but the strength of that usage was relative to the vampire in question.

Strange though; Vorador had not thought Sally ready for her first dark gift. The girl was barely seventy and their kind usually gained their first power from a century old onwards. Vorador grumbled something under his breath and looked back at the two females in physic unison.

"Please Kain…" Sally could hear the desperate call of Umah's mind echoed through her own. "Please Kain, don't leave me alone!" Sally could all around her images, memories of that encounter on the Wharves of Meridian. Her body badly beaten by the blades of the Sarafan knights and like a knight in shining armour Kain arrived to save her. But that was not Kain's intention. He took the Nexus Stone back and after extracting an apology from her dying body, he drew his claws across her throat. Slipping into the blackest night Umah's last memory was that of his emotionless face staring down at her.

"You're not alone." Sally called out to vampire maiden. Umah almost seemed to recoil at the new sound invading the repeating horror in her head. "You're not alone Umah, you don't have to keep reliving this anymore." Though she did not reply Sally could keenly sense her utter desire to escape this looped nightmare but having no knowledge as to how. Sally reached out to her, brushing lightly past the remaining piece of sanity with her mind. "Come with me…" As if someone had turned off a light the images running unbidden through her head were gone and Umah opened her eyes for the first time.

The memory was no longer repeating itself over and over again. Now she could finally feel everything around, the memory was no longer alive. Looking up, she saw the face of her rescuer. A fledgling girl vampire, dirty blond hair in a mess on either side of her face and long down her back. Her pure black eyes watching Umah intently, brimming with worry. The vampire maiden managed a small smile, feeling the tugging effects of fatigue drag her down.

"Thank you." She muttered before finally the darkness claimed her and she drifted back into a dreamless sleep.