The Problem With Vampires
Part2
xStarletx.
The characters of Merlin do not belong to me, other characters such as Aria, Nina and Isaac do, so don't use them without my permission
Aria Fallon stormed out of the village, stomping her way out grumbling and complaining under her breath. Behind her a group of narrow minded villagers held pitch forks and torches. They were warding her out, even though she had just saved the lot of them from a scourge of Vampires who had realized they were too far away from Camelot to get to the gates before the curfew.
"I am leaving! You ungrateful little trouts! I hope all your crops fail for the next century!" Aria cried to them. The group gasped collectively as Aria disappeared into the night. She had followed her little group of vampires all through last night where they stopped to hide in a bunch of caves when the sun rose. She slept until nightfall with nothing much to do for clearly the heart of the coven wasn't in the caves. They were a useless lot of vampires, not much of a fight. Easily dispensable. They weren't what they were going to get their money for either.
Aria was after the leader, he had taken a bunch of Kiev Rus' young princes and lords with him when he fled. The only way to turn them back, that didn't involve a hefty amount of magic and her blood drained from her body, was to kill the coven master. Kill the coven master all vampires bitten would be returned to their regular form. She was being paid to return the young enslaved vampires to their rich mama's and papa's. She was the best Slayer in the business after all, she just never thought the task would take quite so long, or take her back into the heart of Albion.
Albion was a dead place to her now that the old magic had been snuffed out. Why should she waste her good magic on saving the lives of innocents when they only condemned her for her charity? The next time she came across a village plagued by vampires she was going to walk on past. Though Aria swore to herself she would do that, she knew she wouldn't. She loved the thrill of the fight, taking out the vampires was fun to her. It was why she stayed in the job.
She walked slowly enjoying the play of the breeze as it tousled her unbraided wild black hair. She loved the wind, it was as free as she was. It blew where it wanted, did what it wanted, it could give life and it could take it. This was Aria in a nutshell. Not for the first time in the last two days, she thought about her companions. Nina Ming was fine on her own, she had probably set something on fire. She wouldn't have saved the village. No, she would have burnt the entire village down, trapping the villagers and the vampires in her hellish blaze. Nina was a war-cat, fire was her specialty, as was the knack for killing anything that moved. Nina didn't like people, or monsters, or vampires, sometimes Aria was certain Nina didn't even like her.
Isaac Ota on the other hand, now he was more mild mannered. Aria worried more about him. Isaac wasn't usually the first to throw a punch, no he was usually the first to take it. He'd save a thousand villagers if he was shown the opportunity to do so. Now he, Aria could see getting captured by Uther's anti-magic forces. Isaac wouldn't even fight back. Why bother right? They were all immortal.
Aria sighed as she continued to walk. She didn't like being in Uther's territory, she had a feeling it was going to land her in a world of trouble. Personally Aria believed this all to be Uther's fault. He was essential to the wipe out of the old magic in her beloved homeland of Albion. He and the Catholic Slayers working hand in hand to make her life hell. Old magic was essential to the earth, did they not know that? Clearly Uther didn't care, and Aria didn't care enough to try and stop him, though she easily could. She wasn't a creature of this realm anymore, she wasn't a creature of any realm. Besides Uther's reign of terror began when she was in Avalon, how was she to have stopped it when her warden like lover had no intentions of letting her leave?
However, this plague up and relocating from the quiet snowy mountains of Keiv Rus all the way to Albion was a sign to Aria. A sign that the old Magic wasn't going to take Uther's stupidity lying down anymore. Then again it may have just been the coven master realizing the safest place to hide would be in Uther's realm. Aria's distaste for Albion was well known amongst many of the magical creatures that had fled out of the country.
She would have found it extremely funny if Uther housed the coven after all. It was the perfect revenge. Aria had no doubt that the fool wouldn't have had any idea what a vampire looks like. Let alone know if one was within his castle walls. At that moment Aria felt a shockwave, a light tremor of magic. Her purple eyes turned towards the center of Albion, the great town of Camelot. There shining above the little town so far in the distance was her crest.
Aria's jaw fell open almost immediately. One of her companions had found the nest… in Camelot? The Vampires really were in Camelot? Aria scowled, she would have to go to Camelot now, how would she get the Great Uther to listen to her or help her. Aria growled to herself as she headed towards the distant town of Camelot. She'd rather just gather her two companions and leave Uther to deal with it on his own.
Merlin had thought sneaking Arthur into the castle would have been hard. It wasn't in the least. Isaac kept Arthur subdued by hitting him over the head with the orb end of his staff often. Isaac instructed him to not go close to Arthur if he was awake, to feed him raw meat or live animals at least once a day. He strung Arthur up in Merlin's room, chaining him to the wall. Merlin had no idea he even had chains, turns out Isaac had them hidden in his cloak. Strange. Once strung up, Isaac took a piece of chalk and drew a pentacle around Arthur. He instructed Merlin to make sure light didn't get into the room, he told Merlin to never let Arthur out of his chains.
Merlin then escorted Isaac to Arthur's room, showing him the clothes Arthur preferred to wear and the sword he always wore on his belt, he gave him lessons on how to walk and talk like Arthur. Isaac took to this quickly and Merlin realized that he must have been a kind of royalty himself just by the way he held himself.
"Now, Uther will want to see you, he'll want to know how the expedition went." Merlin reminded Isaac, watching as the young man paced back and forth along the room. He was chewing on a thick piece of bread Merlin had brought him. Merlin noticed that Isaac had sharp teeth and was definitely much more muscular then Arthur. He also had a super ton of scars. He must fight vampires often.
"And Uther is my father." Isaac listed. Merlin nodded. "So what do I tell him? That Vlad is a blood sucking vampire that attempted to kill me, no. He'll flee again and then we'll have to chase him. I better wait till Aria gets here."
It wasn't the first time Isaac had mentioned this Aria person. Was this woman his lover? Why did Isaac base all of his decisions off of what that woman would think, say or do? Isaac also mentioned a mean more violent female, a one Miss Nina. Isaac didn't really talk about her as fondly as he talked about Aria. Maybe it was because Isaac was certain no matter what he did Nina would hit him and call him stupid.
"Who is Aria anyways?" Merlin asked. Isaac laughed at him, like the answer was right there in front of his face.
"The Great Aria Fallon, how have you not heard of her?" Isaac asked. Merlin stared at her, he shook his head.
"I don't know, maybe she's not that popular here?" Merlin offered. Isaac chucked again. He lent against the table.
"Aria Fallon is the strongest slayer left alive." Isaac told him. Merlin nodded, he had met a slayer before, and he hadn't been a nice man at all.
"And you're a slayer too?" Merlin questioned.
"No, I'm her companion. Nina and I are both considered companions, we just help our slayer. Keep her alive you know." Isaac explained. Merlin considered this. It was sort of like he and Arthur, did Aria know that Isaac could do magic? He wanted to ask Isaac more questions but suddenly there was a knock at the door.
"Prince Arthur, your father demands your presence." A voice called out. Isaac sighed and clapped his hands together.
"Right, we'll I'm on. I'll be back." Isaac assured Merlin. Merlin nodded, as soon as Isaac had left with the Royal escort to meet with his father, Merlin made his way back to Gaius' chamber. He found Gaius looking over some of his old books.
"How did the hunt go?" Gaius asked. He wasn't there when Merlin and Isaac brought Arthur into the room.
"Arthur was bit by a vampire. Vlad is the coven master and I found a magic wielding man that looks exactly like Arthur to replace him." Merlin explained. For a while Gaius stared at him.
"You're joking!" Gaius exclaimed. Merlin led him to his room and opened the door. The entire place was shrouded with shadows. The transformed Arthur was awake and pulling at his chains. He was salivating, the drool dropping from his mouth. Gaius stared at Arthur, his nose twitched sniffing at the air. He suddenly lunged for the two at the door, desperately lashing out and trying to get free. Isaac had told him that the best thing to do, when Arthur got into that agitated state, was to give him something to eat.
"Oh Lord." Gaius whispered as Merlin closed the door on the lashing Vampiric Arthur. He was making a mental note to look for raw food for Arthur. "You weren't kidding. And you say you found someone who looks like Arthur? How can you be sure that he's not working with Vlad."
"He said he was a companion to a slayer…" Merlin started.
"Another slayer? Like we need one of those around." Gaius snarled.
"No, he just works with one. He said his Slayer, who's a woman by the way, is on his way here though." Merlin filled in. Gaius turned to look at him.
"Slayers don't work in teams. Not the new ones anyways." Gaius explained. Merlin stared at him confused and then joined the old man at the table.
"What do you mean new ones?" Merlin asked. Gaius lent in close to him.
"The slayer we met, is a new kind of the slayer. Many years ago, long before Uther and I, back when the old magic was strong Slayers were the highest of the hierarchy. Higher then Kings, some say even higher then Gods. Slayers were witches back then, or Warlocks. Someone who could take the magic from the earth and shape it into spells and incantations that worked for them. They said a great Slayer had two companions, people who could transform into terrible creatures and these teams of Slayers would roam the counties keeping the magic in line." Gaius explained. Merlin thought about everything Isaac had told him. He had said that he and his friend Nina were companions to a Slayer, this Aria woman. This all sounded much like the olden day slayers. But there weren't supposed to be any left.
"Is it possible that one of these little teams survived?" Merlin asked.
"There are whisperings of one Slayer in particular. I can never remember her name. But it is highly unlikely." Gaius waved off.
"Would her name be Aria Fallon?" Merlin asked. Gaius stared at him shocked.
"Where did you hear that name?" Gaius questioned.
"Isaac said that he was her companion." Merlin replied. Gaius stared at him like Merlin had some grave disease. Arthur always called it stupidity. Merlin missed Arthur.
"Impossible. All the stories of Aria Fallon are myths. Besides, not only has she not been sighted for years, she should have died…." Gaius trailed off attempting to locate the number in his memory.
"A Century ago?" Merlin filled the gaps. Gaius nodded. Merlin thought about what he was saying. If Isaac really was that old, if Isaac really was a companion, did that mean that he could change into some terrible creature? Merlin looked back to his room where he could hear Arthur thrashing around. Could he really trust this man he essentially didn't know to help him save Arthur? What exactly had Merlin gotten himself into this time?
Merlin would just have to ponder it while he looked for something fresh and bloody for Arthur to eat.
Isaac winced when he walked into the large courtroom. For one these were a lot of people with a lot of swords and a keen hatred for magic. Secondly, he hadn't been in a court with actual rulers in years. Clearly he was a bit rusty of the inner workings of such meetings. Suddenly he wasn't so sure this was a good idea. But he held his head high and strode into the middle of the room. He smirked lightly watching Vlad's eyes bug out in horror. He had to try hard not to break out laughing when the fear emanating from Vlad began to waft through the people reaching Isaac's nose.
"Arthur, Vlad told me you fell to the vampire hordes." Uther cried, walking away from the throne.
"Sire, clearly that is not true. Vlad wouldn't know either for he ran as soon as the horde descended upon us. However my entire cavalry did fall. I only barely managed to get away." Isaac explained as Uther came up to him. It took all of Isaac's will power to not shy away from the human king as he hugged him tightly. It took even more will power not to punch him in the face. To think of all the pain and suffering this man had caused.
"My lord that iz not true." Vlad cried in his defense. Uther had his hands on Isaac's shoulders.
"What are you saying that this is not my son? Have the vampires created a look alike?" Uther questioned. Vlad fell silent and merely glared at Isaac who smiled to him.
"Had I known that you were doing nothing in that forest I would have sent my own men in." Uther snarled to the vampire. Isaac scoffed and Uther turned back to him.
"For what? A midnight snack for the vampire's awaiting them?" Isaac asked. Uther stared at him.
"What are you saying? You have been campaigning to send Camelot's men into the forest for days." Uther reminded Isaac. Isaac scowled.
"Now come on Uther. Mortals don't stand a chance against vampires. Everyone knows that. You don't have the means nor the strength to fight them off." Isaac continued. Uther continued to stare at him. It was only then that Isaac realized he was probably saying some pretty stupid stuff. "Or so I've heard"
For awhile Uther stared at Isaac, and Isaac began to get nervous. He blamed Nina entirely for this new found attitude. She was a contagious mouthy little nuisance. Though he'd never say that to her face.
"I had quite a scare today, my apologies" Isaac murmured. Uther narrowed his eyes at Isaac, who bowed his head subserviently. Uther then nodded and Isaac moved off to the side where Merlin had told him Arthur would sit. Vlad's eyes watching him the entire way. Isaac wagged his eyebrows at Vlad, who glared at him.
"What was that mark flying above the forest? What does it mean?" Uther asked the men.
"It is a sign. The great Mistress Aria Fallon has flown her mark to show that Camelot has fallen." Vlad lied through his teeth. Isaac growled, he had told Uther Aria was the Coven Mistress? What a pack of flea bitten lies.
"But Camelot has not fallen." Uther growled.
"Not yet, we must find the heart and attack as soon as possible." Vlad demanded.
"And that will stop this madness? Aria will not be easy to take down." Uther mused. This time Isaac was smart enough to not talk, though he really really wanted to shut them up. Aria a coven mistress, honestly? Didn't any of the rumors floating around about her mention that she didn't possess any venom? Then Vlad stepped up.
"Why don't you and your son ride out this evening?" Vlad offered. Isaac glared at him, he knew that Isaac would save Uther from the vampires if he had to. Which would include blowing his cover.
"Why don't you step into the sunlight?" Isaac shot back. Vlad immediately backed away. Uther turned to Isaac once more.
"What has gotten into you?" Uther asked. Isaac chewed the inside of his cheek as he thought, something he had picked up from Aria.
"I can tell you, he's not your son." Vlad suddenly cried.
"He's the Vampire Coven Master!" Isaac accused right back. Uther stood between the two watching them. Isaac's lip curled back in an animalistic snarl.
"There is no proof to support either of your claims." Uther sighed to them.
"He never goes in the sunlight, he struggles to stay awake during the day. He's the most active at night. He rides out into the night with a group of men that don't talk unless he tells them too. He's the coven master you're just too stupid to realize it." Isaac thundered.
"He's working for the real coven master. There's a tattoo on his neck right below his hair line!" Vlad blamed. Isaac straightened. Right now his shirt hid the small tattoo, but if it were removed Uther could see it and he would be screwed. This was not going to end well.
"You're a liar!" Isaac hollered.
"Then show us the back of your neck!" Vlad demanded.
"Sure, how about we step outside into the sunlight so you can see it clearly!" Isaac cried.
"Honestly Arthur, just show him your neck. Prove him wrong." Uther ordered.
"I don't have to if I don't want to. I am crowned Prince after all." Isaac snarled folding his arms across his chest.
"And I am Prince of Wallachia." Vlad declared regally.
"You left Wallachia a barren land, the snow falls tinted with your evil. Your monsters lay waste to the land every night because you couldn't be bothered to clean up your own mess!" Isaac screamed.
"ARTHUR! That is enough." Uther silenced. Isaac started at the name, remembering that he was supposed to be Arthur and fell silent. "Now, show us all your neck so we can put this to rest and after that we'll force Vlad out into the sun."
Isaac turned to the man, and sighed. He obliged by taking his shirt off, wishing he had his staff with him, but he had left that in the room he would have been borrowing. He turned and everyone gasped. His small tribal tattoo was more then visible. Isaac threw his borrowed shirt to the side. He turned and saw that the guards had all ran forward their swords drawn. Isaac sighed, he really didn't want to fight mortals today.
"Who are you and what have you done with my son?" Uther asked, drawing his own sword. Isaac sighed and rolled his eyes. Like that would help him.
"My name is Isaac and ask him what he did to your son." Isaac responded pointing at Vlad.
"Enough! Guards arrest him!" Uther ordered. As the guards Rushed forward Isaac groaned loudly. He wanted Aria to be there, and he wanted her there with Nina. Then those stupid guards would be sorry.
Aria had pulled her hood up the second she was in walking distance of the city. Anyone who would see her would know her for what she was. Not human and she didn't need that right now. Aria dallied at the woods closest to the gate, she didn't want to go in, she didn't want to have to deal with Uther and his stupidity. She was more then content to wait there until Nina or Isaac showed up both of which shouldn't have been far behind her.
Nina showed up around noon sporting a smug look and not bothering to hide her small black cat ears.
"I think it's ironic that the vampire's chose Camelot as their center. I think it's a fitting end." Nina snarled in welcome. Aria sighed, great, that just meant that Isaac was the one in Camelot. Already this wasn't sitting well with Aria. Something was off and she didn't like it.
"I'm all for leaving them here to deal with it on their own. We'll come back when they're willing to stop being so prejudiced against magic." Nina continued.
"Isaac's the one who found them, he's in there somewhere." Aria told her. Nina stopped abruptly and looked to the castle.
"Great now we're going to have to help them." Nina sighed. Aria sighed with her, getting antsier by the second. She put her fingers to her lips and whistled. The note was loud and high it whipped through the wind and could be heard all through the city. Peasants stopped to look wondering which bird created that noise. Cattle began to low, chickens began to fly running for their coops, and dogs howled to the sky and amongst the howls came one loud ghost like cry. Aria and Nina turned to the castle where the sound drifted from, but before either could register what that particular cry meant both yelped with shocked pain. They both grabbed their shoulders where blood was slowly appearing on their clothes. They two exchanged glances and with that both ran at full speed into Camelot.
Uther stared at the blonde impostor who had been forced to kneel in front of him. He looked so alike to his son, but he gave away the true nature when he threw his head back and howled responding to a loud whistle that echoed through the castle. He had been silenced immediately by strike of a sword, it should have severed his arm but it had merely wounded him slightly. There was a light crackling, like the sound of ice breaking.
"Where is my son?" Uther asked again. The Isaac man stared up at him, there wasn't a trace of pain on his features. He smiled deviously, his canines were elongating. From outside the castle came a loud roar intermingled with a demonic scream. Suddenly there was the sound of mass pandemonium the shout of guards rushing to protect the castle and the screams of frightened servants.
"You are all going to be sorry." Isaac vowed. Vlad's eyes widened, backing away, his lordlings following after.
"Ve must flee! Hide! Hide!" Vlad cried running into the hall. Uther turned to watch Vlad run further into the castle and then turned his shocked look back to Isaac. Isaac merely smiled smugly at Uther and then stared at the door.
"Get in formation men!" Uther ordered. The screams and the sounds of fighting drew ever nearer at a surprisingly fast pace. Isaac merely calmly waited, as if he knew what was coming next. Like he knew none of them stood a chance. Uther drew his own weapon, and then two figures came into view. Uther was shocked, the were nothing but girls.
The first had flying black hair that whipped around her like a wind had followed her. Her purple eyes were wide, her slim nostrils flared with anger. Long fangs were visible descending from her blood red lips. In her hands she held two long broad swords. She wore black riding pants, a black corset and a black hide like cloak. Beside her, with short black hair and a pair of cat ears up on her head, was a small strange looking girl. Her hands were completely on fire, and she chose to wear a flowing red shirt and black pants as well. This girl glared at them with acid like green eyes like she wanted to kill them all.
The guards stood between Uther and the two girls. Uther wondered what kind of magic the two possessed to have gotten past so many men in so little time. The black haired girl pointed a sword in Isaac's direction.
"That's mine. I want him back." She growled. Uther noted that she and the Cat girl sported similar injuries as Isaac. That could not be a coincidence. He put his sword to Isaac's neck and watched the black haired girl's eyes narrow. The cat girl started forward but the black haired girl stopped her. The cat girl growled menacingly, the sound coming out way more animalistic then it should have sounded.
"Play nice." Isaac called out. Uther didn't know who he was talking to. The black haired girl tilted her head to the side, her eyes watching the men. Sizing each one up, he could see a fighter in her, she was planning a battle move.
"I want my son." Uther told her. The black haired girl glared at him.
"I don't know your son." She told him. Her voice was light and airy all of a sudden unlike the initial deep command.
"You have him I know you do." Uther snarled. The black haired girl stared and then laughed, the sound sarcastically merry. He grabbed Isaac's hair and pulled tightly getting the girl's full attention. "He looks just like him."
She stared at Isaac for a while who was grimacing lightly and then back to Uther.
"I only have one of him." She replied. Uther gripped Isaac's hair even tighter pressing the blade closer to Isaac's bare skin. Isaac rolled his eyes, but as the blade sliced the skin red lines appeared on both the girls' necks.
"He's making it difficult to play nice." The black haired girl growled.
"I didn't want to play nice in the first place." The cat girl growled. Uther wondered what the three of them really were. Isaac sighed, the sound of chains snapping was heard.
"Then don't anymore." Isaac sighed. Suddenly the two girls flew forward as Isaac stood forcing the sword out of Uther's grasp. He then advanced towards the startled Uther who backed away from the man who had manged to break free of solid iron chains with little effort. Uther had no doubt that the man could have done that all along. So why hadn't he? Uther could only watch in horror as the two girls killed all the guards in the room, leaving them nothing but burnt or sliced up corpses. They then both came to Isaac's side. The black haired girl pointed one of her swords at the trapped Uther.
"Leave him." Isaac ordered, tugging on the black haired girl's sleeve. She turned skeptical eyes to Isaac, while the cat girl glared.
"I say we burn him alive." The cat girl giggled viciously. Isaac scowled and nudged her.
"That's what you say to everything." Isaac complained.
"Cause it works for everything!" The cat girl argued. The black haired girl rolled her eyes skyward at the argument and sighed. She stared down at Uther and then lowered her sword.
"Alright then, Oh Great and Wise Uther Pendragon. You invited a Vampire into your house, you deal with the consequences." The black haired girl growled and then walked away. Isaac followed after her while the cat girl stared frowning unhappily.
"So I don't get to burn him?" She asked.
'NO!" The black haired girl and Isaac cried together. The Cat girl groaned and stomped her feet like a child throwing a fit and then stormed out after her friends. Uther sat in the wake of all the damage and death taking in the sight of the good men that had been slaughtered in front of his very eyes. He had invited a Vampire into his house, maybe Isaac had been telling the truth and Vlad really was a vampire.
Uther stood on shaky legs and headed towards the door, stepping over the massacred bodies. He stepped out into the hall using the wall to support him. He had to find Vlad.
Aria, Isaac and Nina didn't stop running until they were out of the castle and in the forest. It was there they stopped to breath and dress their wounds. Aria reached into the pocket of her great coat and she quickly pulled out a small jar. She opened it, the smell of sweet clay filled the air. Each of the three took some on their fingers and spread the soft silty mud over their injuries. Aria turned to Isaac who was avoiding their eyes.
"You're an idiot." Aria snarled. Isaac sighed but smiled to her.
"Thanks for rescuing me." Isaac thanked. Nina scowled at him.
"We shouldn't have had to rescue you. What were you doing in the castle?" Nina growled. "It had better been because you were killing Vampires or attempting to kill Uther."
"Did you not hear Uther? I look like his son. I was impersonating him." Isaac explained. Aria hit him roughly on the shoulder.
"Why were you doing something as stupid as that?" Aria questioned, this time Aria and Nina hit him together, each on a different shoulder. Isaac grimaced.
"Because, Vlad turned the real Arthur into a vampire. I was helping out this magician. Which Is why we need to go back." Isaac clarified. For a while Nina and Aria merely stared at him as if he weren't speaking his language, though he knew he was.
"Excuse me?" Aria questioned. Isaac took a step back.
"I promised the warlock you'd fix Arthur." Isaac told her.
"You what?" Aria Thundered. Isaac winced and backed away as his two female companions advanced on him. Isaac cleared his throat before continuing.
"Well I had no choice did I? He was being all hospitable and I felt bad for the guy. Come on only warlock in Camelot, he's an outcast. Hiding his true potential. I can relate you know!" Isaac continued.
"You idiot! The difference between you and him is that YOU CAN'T DIE! You don't have to hide anything, because anyone who would take offense or attempt to kill you WOULD FAIL MISERABLY." Nina screamed. Aria groaned, her head between her hands.
"AND NOW WE HAVE TO GO BACK INTO CAMELOT!" Aria cried. Nina turned to her, her acid green eyes wide with anger.
"No! Hell no! We just got out." Nina cried.
"Well if Isaac had just kept his mouth shut instead of swearing us ON OATH to a prospective client, no doubt for freaking free, we wouldn't have to." Aria growled, she sat herself down on the cold hard Albion ground groaning to herself. She really, REALLY didn't want to go back into Camelot to save the day. Uther didn't deserve it and quite frankly if she wasn't getting paid she wasn't at all interested in the job. No matter how many innocent lives it would save.
Right Part two, I'm uploading Part 3 right away so you guys don't have to wait. Reviews would be awesome. Sorry It's soooo long :P