Hey guys! Ha, I know I said this wouldn't be up till Monday but what can I say, this chapter went really fast.
So FINALLY, Dracula is introduced into the storyline. I'm pretty excited.
Enjoy and review so I know what you think!
p.s. - Topgallant: Thanks so much for the 'Satin' 'Satan' tip. I seriously don't know what I was thinking…
I always welcome grammatical corrections! Or when something doesn't make sense…any advice welcome :
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Fifty years later…
The sound of metal striking metal filled the room and echoed off the high stone ceilings that covered the training arena. Two men circled each other - both armed, one hardly more than a boy, no older than his late teens, who was currently struggling to block and parry the quick and powerful blows his older mentor rained on him.
Block. Parry. Sidestep. Jab. Sidestep. Block. The deadly dance continued as the young man found it more and more difficult each time to block his opponent's moves.
With an expert twist of his wrist the swords master disarmed his student and had the fine blade of his sword pressed snuggly against the boy's neck before the disarmed weapon could even hit the ground.
"And that," he stated addressing the rest of his class that watched on eagerly, "is what you do when fighting a vampyrian. Disarm them and then a quick jab through the heart should be the end. The lesser vampires don't have the supernatural speed, strength, or immortality of their more pure blooded relatives. Although I will warn you, if I had been a pureblood vampire Tyler," he said addressing the still-panting young man he had been sparring with, "you would be long dead. Don't toy with the undead or you'll find your self in worse situations than this."
He dropped his sword arm and bowed to Tyler. "I do thank you though, for the much needed exercise. I feel I grow old within these walls sometimes but the feel of a good fight always seems to cheer me up."
Tyler bowed good-naturedly even though he knew his skills were far from what it would take to make swords master Leon break a sweat.
"You honor me with your words sir," Tyler replied as be bent down to retrieve his sword. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a lone figure leaning casually against one of the walls.
Tyler turned back to sword master Leon and nodded his head discreetly in the direction of the figure. "I believe you have a visitor Master," he said.
Master Leon turned to look and his mouth formed a slight grin. "Class dismissed," he said addressing his students, "I want each of you to practice your pivots and combination moves. I'll see you all tomorrow."
The class quickly left, being dismissed early from class was a rare treat indeed! Master Leon waited till the arena was completely empty before turning to his visitor. "I assume you've accepted another assignment seeing as how you never drop in simply to visit your old master. How long has it been Fleur? Two months? Three?"
"Four," came the reply as the figure finally pushed back her hood to reveal the slightly sun-speckled face and emerald cat-eyes. Dark chestnut hair could be seen pulled back into a think braid that reached past her shoulder blades and the gleam of gold reflected off a thick golden bracelet that adorned her wrist.
"Indeed. Who brings you here this time?" Leon asked, turning away as he began to clean up after his class.
Fleur smiled and following behind as Leon bent to pick up shields, axes, short swords, daggers, and all other manner of weaponry imaginable that had been left scattered about the floor.
"What? I can't simply drop in on my favorite teacher?" she asked sweetly.
Leon let out a bark of laughter. "Teacher? I see no teacher. No, to be a teacher one must actually teach you something. When you arrived there was nothing you did not already know, although I shall never understand why you don't like fighting. Exhilarating activity it is," he said fondly, "And in answer to your question, no. I've never known you to just 'drop in'. Did Lord Conrad summon you?"
Fleur's expression darkened. "I work for no lord Leon, you know this," she said, scowling slightly, "So no, I was not summoned. I was invited to a private meeting with milord Conrad to discuss a certain vampire that has been eluding Conrad's border men for some time now. We both agree that I may be of some assistance in tracking him down. For a price of course."
"Of course," Leon mocked.
Fleur only shrugged. "I do what I can. Everyone needs a living. Beside's everyone knows I'm the best tracker around. That comes in handy when looking for work.
"I've never doubted your skills Fleur, in fact of anyone I think I should know them the best," he replied, stopping in his task to face her, "I only wish you wouldn't put your self in so much danger. No one here knows what you are yet, but if any one should find out—"
"Leon, I know how to take care of myself," she interrupted, "I've been tracking for eight years now and hiding who I am for the past twenty-six; I know what I'm doing."
Her eyes softened as she studied the older man. "Thank you though," she said softy dropping her voice a little as her gaze shifted to the floor in front of her. "Not many people are concerned for the welfare of a Betrayer. I don't know what I would have done without you over the last few years."
Leon wanted to embrace the troubled woman he had come to know as a daughter, but knew better. Fleur was not one to be touched.
Instead he smiled as her and said with all honestly, "It has been my pleasure Fleur. Truly it has. Now tell me of this vampire Conrad has called on you to hunt."
Fleur's spirit immediately returned and she grinned.
"From what I hear this hunt will be a good one," she began, "Apparently Conrad's men have been tracking him for over six months and yet every time they get close he manages to slip away."
"I don't understand," Leon replied, leading Fleur over to a doorway and up the winding stairs, "Why are they so concerned with this vampire? Shouldn't they be more focused on guarding the border with the vampyrian kingdoms?" he asked.
"That's the problem, with most of Conrad's men busy guarding the border making sure no vampyrians slip through, they can't stop and go search every time one does manage to do it. Although I hear it's extremely hard, and usually they're caught soon enough, but this time is special," she said excitedly, "They're saying it's a high blood vampire. One of the few still alive."
"Highblood," Leon mused as they reached the top of the stairwell, "That means it has all its supernatural abilities right?"
"Exactly," Fleur replied walking beside him, "When a vampire turns a vampire, and then that vampire turns another vampire the strength of their powers is dramatically reduced each time."
"Their ability to control minds, move with blinding speed, super strength, immortality, and even transform into their beast form is eventually lost with each generation. The only qualities every vampyrian still retains is unfortunately, their lust for blood and fangs," she continued with a slight shudder, "and their dislike of sunlight although those with lesserblood won't turn to ash when exposed."
"Intriguing," Leon said turning a corner and leading Fleur down another hallway, "Have you specifically pinpointed at what generation they lose their demon powers?"
"There are estimates," Fleur replied, "We think it's somewhere around the forth or fifth generation but it's hard to tell since they live for so long. I'll probably get more details when I met with milord this evening."
Leon came to a stop in front of the doors to one of the castle's guestrooms. "Here we are. I suggest you clean up before meeting with the king. He's not especially fond of the smell of dirt and horse," he said with a grin.
Fleur laughed. "Well fortunately neither an I. No insult intended to my horse of course but I agree, I feel quite ready for a bath."
"Well then, I shall leave you to it," Leon replied with a low bow. "Good luck and be safe Fleur," he said and departed down the hallway to disappear around the corner.
Fleur smiled and opened the door to the castle guestroom. "I shall try," she thought and began to get ready for her bath.
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"Damn all," Fleur thought bitterly as she fought her way through the ragging January winds and snow.
Of course it had to blizzard today of all days. When they were so close! The hunting party had been on the trail of this vampire for over two weeks and now that they were so close it looked like they were going to lose him again.
Fleur turned around to look at the hunting party. Their faces were pink from the cold and icy stuck to every part of their bodies, and yet each shown with determination. The wind picked up with a sudden fury and Fleur's eyes stung as swirls of freezing snow danced around them.
"Fleur!" someone called from behind her. She turned around to spot the hunting party leader Damien pushing his way against the wind to stand beside her. "We have to stop Fleur! This blizzard is out of control and the men are going to freeze to death if we don't find shelter soon!"
"I know," Fleur replied pointing to a small hill in the distance, "there's a cave big enough for all of us to fit in at the top of that ridge."
"Sounds good," Damien said and turned back around to address the men. "Just a little further men! There's a cave at the top of that hill where we'll rest for the night!"
This announcement was met with cheers from the half dozen border soldiers that had been assignment to the vamp hunt.
Damien started hiking up towards the cave with Fleur right beside him. "Were we close to catching up with the vampire?" he asked.
"I believe so," she replied pulling her cloak tighter around her body, "If this damn storm hadn't hit I'm sure we would have caught him today."
Damien cursed but the sound was washed out by the howl of the wind. As they reached the crest of the hill Fleur pointed out a small crevice hidden in the side of the mountain.
"I know it looks small," she said seeing Damien's dubious look, "but once inside the cavern opens up. It's actually a quite spacious rest stop."
"Let's hope so," he retorted as they headed towards it. Fleur went first and squeezed through the narrow crack. The darkness seemed smothering but Fleur quickly pushed the feeling of panic back. Now was not the time or place. Fortunately the passage widened after walking a couple feet in and revealed a huge echoing cavern. Stalagmites protruded from the ceiling and the sound of quietly dripping water could be heard softly reverberating off the walls.
Damien emerged from the tunnel behind her and whistled. "Impressive," he said shooting her a grin and then stepped past her to begin setting up camp.
Fleur stood there for a second debating running back outside to the fresh air and open sky. God how she hated caves! Again she pushed the threatening feeling of hysteria down and tried to calm her nerves by helping Damien start a raging fire in the middle of the cavern.
The rest of the hunting group soon filed in and set about preparing camp. The crackle of a healthy fire was soon going and the smell of dinner drifted seductively through the air.
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Far above, hidden by the shadows of the looming stalagmites a lone vampire watched in amusement at the mortals settling around the campfire. "How delicious," he thought, his sapphire eyes glistening in hunger.
He watched as one of them – a woman, separated from the group and settled down a little ways away. Moving silently, he crawled closer, curious about this tracker that had been a constant pain in his side for the past two weeks. He watched as she pulled a thick cloak around her form and leaned back against the rock wall preparing for sleep.
"Too easy," he though, laughing silently and moving closer and closer to her resting form. He could smell the alluring scent of her warm blood and his canines elongated at the thought of sinking them into the warm flesh of her neck.
He could have her sucked dry before anyone even noticed. A movement to his right caused the vampire to freeze and then he mentally cursed as a man walked away from the fire and over to his intended pray.
Softly bending down, the man reached to pick the sleeping form up, but was rudely thrown back when she jerked awake and slammed her heel into his chest.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded, her hand hovering over the dagger stuck in her boot.
"I was just going to bring you back over to the fire," the man responded rubbing his chest where she had slammed him. "We have a good fire going, plenty of space, and yet you choose to sleep in a cold corner?"
The woman's hand relaxed over her knife. "Oh," she said, feeling a little flustered. "I know, I just, well…I—
"Why don't you trust us?" he asked bluntly, starring her in the face,
"What?" she asked, taken back. "I trust you! Do you think I would travel some remote barren woods with seven men if I didn't trust them?" she asked.
"If you trust us," he asked, "why don't you ever make camp near us? Or tell us about your self? Jesus Fleur, this is my third hunt with you and I don't even know your last name! Plus you flinch every time someone touches you—"
"I do not!" the woman called Fleur interrupted.
"Yes, you do," the man argued and just to prove his point he reached out and gently cupped her check in his hand. Dracula observed in amusement as the woman's heart beat increased ten-fold. He watched impressed as she suppressed the urge to jump away from his touch and instead just glared at the man with diffidence sparkling in her emerald eyes.
The man smiled ruefully as he rubbed his thumb gently over his check. "You just have to prove me wrong don't you?" he asked softly.
"Yes," she answered, still uncomfortable with his hand on her face, "now would you mind removing your hand?'
"In a second; it's nice to be around you without feeling like you either fear me or hate me."
The woman's eyes softened and she turned her head away from his hand. "I don't hate you Damien, or fear you; god you're one of the few people I actually feel semi-comfortable around. I'm just very…careful when it comes to people I can trust. Ok?" she asked hoping he would understand.
The man dropped his hand and nodded. "Will you come over to the fire then?" he asked, hope in his eyes.
The woman sat for a second as if considering the options, and then rose gracefully to her feet and held out her hand. "I'm sorry I kicked you, but you really should know better than to sneak up on me," she said smiling.
The man grinned. "No kidding," he said, accepting her hand, "I consider myself lucky you didn't skewer me with those nasty daggers of yours."
"What? My little knives?" she asked innocently while privately envisioning the twin eight-inched jagged daggers that were tucked into each of her boots.
"Little knives my ass," Dracula heard the man think as he shook his head and led the woman back over to the warmth of the fire.
Dracula scowled as he walked the couple walk away. "There goes my dinner, curious woman though," he thought considering his options. He needed to feed, tonight, but if he tried to take her now her companions were sure to wake up. "Or," he thought, the gears in his mind spinning, "I just attack the entire group, drink my share, maybe spare woman. Pretty little thing she was…" he grinned, "perhaps I'll make her my pet. It's been forever since I had some amusement and she's ensured to be interesting."
Dracula nodded in satisfaction. Yes, he liked that plan. Now all there was to do was to decide how to go about taking out those damned soldiers.
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Woah long chapter…Do you like where this is going?
REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW!!
Mmhhh, I love writing on Saturday mornings…
P.S.- In case any of you are wondering, no I didn't take 'Fleur' from Rowling's annoying twit character. I've honestly always liked that name...she made me sad when she gave it to such an unlikable chacter...