(Fixed some mistakes, Re-Upload.)
Anon. Reviewer: Indeed. She is one of my favorite Terrennials in LK XD Sadly, I hate her climate and hardly ever use it. You will love her more with this chapter, especially to what she does to Toasty.
9
Ernest jumped when the door of his office suddenly opened. Standing in the doorway, was a man in his thirties. He was taller than Ernest, white skin, slim but had strong muscles under the thin fabric of the armor he and the gunslingers of the north wore. His short, red hair was stained with blood like his face, and his penetrating pinkish eyes made Ernest shiver.
"I can see you have returned from your patrolling.", said the man. But the other growled.
"Why didn't you tell us that the Duke was still alive?"
The man, Oyan, was the leader of the north gunslingers. He responded to Ernest's call a few days ago, seeing as the local Guild was lacking in staff for the usual and most easy patrolling missions. Oyan knew that the east city was slowly being infected with vampires again –at last how he saw it-, and didn't reject the favor Ernest asked him. But the man wanted to find Aaron firstly. He needed to know where he was after they disappeared from the mountains. The blizzard already hit and the others thought they would return to the cottage they were living, as Nero told them, but when they went there, the cottage was empty. Toasty angered on the poor cat and now the dark Terrennial was unconscious inside the solar cage once more. But Ernest knew something they didn't.
"Oh, I didn't tell you? I'm sorry. I have been so tired these days…"
"That isn't an excuse!", yelled Oyan much to Ernest's dislike. He hated yelling persons. "The Duke was our main target since he got New Culiacan by force, seeing as how many of our families were living there!", the local Guild leader wanted to yell back, but he knew it was pointless. He would hear what Oyan had to say and then return to what he was doing. "And what about the boy?"
"Who?"
"Trinity's child. You said you were looking for him, right?", Ernest nodded. "Well, one of my groups hasn't come back yet, the one who went to the Hunting Mansion, so I suppose some vampires are there as well as the boy."
"Thanks, Oyan. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the Duke before. I'm so sorry."
"It's all right. I shouldn't have said those things seeing how stressed you are about the boy.", he left and closed the door behind him.
Ernest bit his bottom lip and kicked the trash can at his left. He cursed several times and stopped when he saw Kay and Bea standing in the doorway, after Oyan left instants ago. The leader sighed and made them enter. The canine boy sat and Bea sat besides him.
"What's the matter?", asked the woman.
"Oyan sent a group to the Hunting Mansion."
"And?", said Kay, not really knowing why Ernest was so upset.
"I knew that Lucian and Aaron weren't coming back after the storm hit."
"And you didn't tell us?!", yelled Bea. "They are still in the Hunting Mansion?", Ernest nodded. "Those north gunslingers will have a lot of troubles there."
"They are dead by now.", said Kay with a grin. "Lucian might have already killed them."
The woman smiled, crossing her arms on her chest.
"What are we going to do to prevent Oyan from going to the mansion once he finds out that his group was killed?"
Ernest sighed again.
"I don't know. I think we should go to see them and tell them what is happening here, so Lucian and the former Duke can find another place to stay."
"Are you sure?", whispered Kay, fearing that someone would listen to their conversation. "Tomorrow night vampires will start feeding once more, and I don't think Lucian or the Duke would love to have visits in the middle of their meal.", Ernest and Bea laughed.
"I agree, Ernest. Maybe we should do it the day after or when the moon changes its phase again."
"Indeed, but Oyan will not care about the phases like we do. He will send another group to take care of it until they are all dead.", explained the leader, leaning on the chair. He was tired and wanted to sleep, but he knew that as long as Aaron was out there he had to watch every Oyan's move to prevent him for killing the boy for being with vampires. Ernest didn't know of what Oyan was capable of when facing the former Duke or the other vampires. Suddenly, the leader sat up and looked at the other two. "How the hell Oyan knew that the Duke was still alive?"
"I beg your pardon?", said Bea. No one the north gunslingers or the ones in the local Guild knew about Dumas besides them. "We didn't say anything, neither Nero…", she shut up and then yelled. "Toasty! Oh Heavens! I'm going to kill him for this!"
"I don't think Toasty would say something like that. It would put Aaron's life in danger.", Kay was sure that the sunflower didn't say anything of the matter knowing how fierce were the north gunslingers. "If we ask him, how will know he isn't lying?"
"I think we should ask for Ezra's help.", suggested Bea with a naughty grin on her face.
Soon, Ernest and Kay knew what she was referring when the fox started to kick Toasty's ass when she got the news. The poor Light Terrennial was being tortured by the female fox, which wasn't showing any pity on him after what he did. But when Toasty yelled that he wasn't the author of the crime, Ezra stopped. She demanded an explanation and the sunflower said that he wouldn't say something that would put Aaron's life in danger.
"Are you saying that those idiots have a spy?!", screamed the female fox, grabbing Toasty's horn.
"Ack! That hurts!", said the light Terrennial. "I don't know! Maybe they have one! Why don't you ask Lucian or Dumas when you go and see them again?"
"Wouldn't be easier if you confess?"
"I didn't do it!"
"How can I trust you when you have hurt and jailed to one of our friends? A friend that was only doing what he thought it was correct, because he was helping someone he truly cares for!", said Ezra shoving Toasty on the ground.
Toasty opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came from it.
"That hurt.", was the only thing he could say after a few moments.
"And it also hurts to know that your friend is doing the wrong thing and is too stubborn to face the truth.", whispered Ezra. "Toasty please, release Nero. It will be better if he returns to Lucian's side, with him and Aaron to take care of him after what you did."
"I… I….", Toasty shuddered. "I'm afraid."
"Afraid?", repeated Ezra. "Of what? Of losing him?", the other nodded. "Oh, come one…", said the ice Terrennial, opening her arms. Shyly, Toasty let her hug him. Ezra smiled. "You are not going to lose Aaron as you did with Trinity. The boy cares about you deeply, but he fears that you will never will like Lucian."
"I will not.", whispered Toasty back. "You know, there are certain persons that one doesn't like and never will… Lucian is one of those."
"Don't do it, but at last respect Lucian for who he is. You will see that yours and his differences will disappear, and Aaron will be happy that you two get along even if you and Lucian don't agree in the same thing."
Toasty stood silent for a few seconds.
"I will try.", he looked at Ezra. "But I didn't tell the north gunslingers about Dumas. It wasn't me!"
"I know you didn't, I just wanted to be sure."
"You are so mean!", said Toasty, releasing her and smiling. "No wonder you still haven't got a man!"
The light Terrennial disappeared from the room. Ezra smiled, knowing how wrong was Toasty about it. She did have her man, but her man didn't know he had her, too.
Later that night, Ezra communicated the information to Ernest. Then, he went to see Oyan and the leader said he didn't have any spy in his group that he didn't like those kinds of things, but Ernest didn't believe him. He stepped outside, in the Guild's field for practicing, and spotted the moon behind some dark clouds. It wasn't a perfect circle anymore, but some vampires still had their mating cycle and it was still dangerous to go outside. He warned Oyan but the man didn't listen to him. Ernest hated when he came after the missions with half of his man when he went outside. He hated that Oyan didn't care for their safety.
He sat on the tall grass and then laid on the ground. The coldness of it made him shiver as he looked to the cloudy sky. The moonlight shined with a silvery light and the stars were as bright as it. It was a very quiet night. The wind made a soft howl sound, the leaves played in it, creating a lulling atmosphere. A few bats and crows were seen in the sky or heard in the emptiness of the night, but asides of that, Ernest couldn't hear or feel any other living thing in the field.
Still concerned about Aaron, he thought if he did the right choice when he asked for Oyan's help. The local Guild lacked in staff, especially in trained gunslingers, and the rookies were a pain in the ass to deal with, so they stayed in the Guild doing house works like cleaning, cooking and taking care of the elders and their weaponry. From the two-hundred they were, only half of them were veterans or trained gunslingers that were worthy to have in the Guild. He knew the north was a very warrior race and they really disliked vampires and undead, and most of their hunts had a one hundred percent of success. He didn't know if it was because they were really efficient, or the vampires and undead were too weak in the north. Either way, he needed to let Aaron and Lucian know about what Oyan wanted to do. Otherwise, they would end up in serious problems.
The weapons they had weren't match to the Dragoon, Witch, Bomber or Ninja, the most powerful weapons inside the Guild. The double-barrel guns, snipers, hand grenades were a small part of their main weaponry, much stronger and efficient than the ones from the east cities. Back when Trinity was still alive, the old leader of the north Guild wanted to came to the east cities to "improve" their way in killing vampires and in training the rookies using different methods the usual in the east Guild, knowing that they had some "problems" in trying to kill the ones in them. But what they didn't know, it was that Lord of Destruction was too powerful to kill with simple solar gun of any kind, and was much stronger than they originally thought of. Ernest could say that Dumas went lucky when he killed Ratatosk eleven years ago. Even knowing this, Trinity never let the north Guild came and teach him or the others what they wanted to do, never giving a reason for his denial. Now, Ernest knew why after meeting up with Oyan a few days ago.
The north Guild was a very warrior race, only caring to destroy the enemy no matter what, using their man at the extreme, with dirty tricks such as using drugs to make them stay awake or in good shape for the next hunt. It seemed they were too obsessed in eradicating the vampires in the north as well as the undead. It seemed like they didn't have another thing in their minds but the single order of "Kill". Ernest wasn't surprised that most of the gunslingers in the north Guild were orphans; the perfect soldier who didn't have a family to care or come back to. With this, or rather without it, they could train them to be the perfect soldier to send and trash in the war against the vampires. Those soldiers wouldn't have anything in mind rather than going out to destroy the enemy and not thought of if it was going to end dead, what would be of its family and such. Thoughts that prevented to the soldier work properly. It was for that, that Trinity refused the idea of the north Guild coming to them. Trinity cared about the soldiers working for him and didn't see them as mere pawns or objects. That's why; too, they were more efficient than the north soldiers. Having their emotions, they could not only fight because of their family and friends, but for the ones in the Guild too because for them, it was like a second home. A home to return after the end of the day, at the end of a battle or at the end of the war.
Now, Ernest thought why he asked for Oyan's help again. He put his hands on his face, sighing loudly. It was a terrible mistake that couldn't be fixed. If he asked Oyan to leave, he would leave the Guild but stay in the surrounds, going to the dungeons, hunting the undead and going to the cities where some humans and vampires lived together without problems and start chaos in them. Why he didn't think of that before? Why he acted in such hurry? Was it because he is too concerned about Aaron? But, why would he? The boy was with Lucian after all, and that guy wasn't the type of person that a normal gunslinger can bring down. In fact, like Kay said, the group that Oyan sent to the mansion would be dead by now and slaved by Lucian's or Dumas' dark powers after killing them. If Oyan sends another group, they would indeed end up killed by the vampire's hands. Then, the leader will get so angry and upset that he will go personally to take care of the matter and might end killed, too. What would happen, then? Would the rest of the north gunslingers come to the east city to avenge Oyan's dead?
But those thoughts disappeared as the image of Aaron came again. The boy was decided in living the rest of his life besides Lucian. He didn't care if other gunslingers hunted him down, as long as he was with his mate, everything else didn't matter at all. But if Lucian did turns into a vampire, what would he do then? Even if years passed, Lucian was the same Sartana Ernest knew and cared for, and couldn't stand before him and shot him like that. He couldn't. And he had to think a way to talk with them about Oyan and the others, and the only one was to go to the mansion and look up for them. Maybe taking Nero with them would be safer, since the black cat could talk with the beasts guarding the mansion. Convincing Toasty is going to be a pain in the ass, but Ernest knew that if they ask Ezra first, the rest is easy.
He returned to the Guild, ate something and flopped on the bed. And as soon as his head hit the pillow, he drove to the land of dreams.
The morning was very cold. There was a thick sheet of snow covering the ground and the streets of the cities. The trees were covered as well and in the sky there were dark grey clouds. Nero was curled inside the cage when Ernest came to see him. Along with him, came Toasty as well, looking guilty as Nero could see. The Terrennial made the cage disappear and a hot, milk bowl was put under his nose. The warmness made the cat sat on fours and start drinking the tasty liquid.
"How…", said Toasty, with shaking voice. "How are you feeling?"
"I think I will be better after I finish this delicious bowl of hot milk."
"I'm sorry."
"What? I didn't hear you.", said Nero, lifting his head.
"I'm sorry.", repeated Toasty louder.
"I know, I know. Come here.", demanded the cat and the sunflower obey. He bent forwards and suddenly, Nero lifted his left paw and scratched Toasty's face.
"Auuuuuug!!", yelled the light Terrennial in pain. "Fuck, fuck! It aches!"
"That was for calling me a shitty cat.", mumbled Nero, standing on his legs. A thin, stream of darkness formed around him as he turned completely black. He turned to his human form, that resembled Lucian's trance, but with big, cat ears on his head and a long tail. His hands were human like but with long claws and his feet were feline alike. The only thing he wore was the thin, black cloth that the dhampir wears under his Casket Armor. "And this is for all the torture you put me in!!"
Nero launched to Toasty, throwing him on the floor. The dark Terrennial hissed, showing his fangs to the other and then, started to hit Toasty on his stomach, clenching his teeth as he did so. The light Terrennial whimpered in pain as he received what he deserved, trying to cover up with his arms.
When Nero finished he stood up, panting and sweating from head to feet. Hissing one last time he helped Toasty to get on his feet.
"There, there.", said the cat, putting an arm on his back and grabbing Toasty's waist with the other. "How are you feeling?"
Toasty managed to laugh and that, made Nero smile.
"I have been better."
"Asshole.", whispered the cat, still smiling. "Come Ernest, we have to lay this boy down or he will pass out."
The man followed the two to the nurse room and asked Tove, who was there helping the nurses, to take care of Toasty while he and Ernest talked. The man asked Nero to come to the mansion and talk with Lucian and the others about what was happening in the Guild and with Oyan. The cat agreed.
"Just a thing; what about that spy you mentioned earlier?"
Ernest shrugged.
"I have no idea, honestly.", he winced when he heard Toasty yell in pain when Tove poured some alcohol on his stomach. "Why you ask?"
"Because I think the new vampire that hanged out with Dumas might be the one we are looking for.", answered Nero. "I don't know what kind of relation ship he has with Dumas, but I fear that he was just using him to know where they were going before the storm hit."
"No wonder why Oyan sent a group to the mansion even though I told him not to.", Ernest heard Toasty complain again and then Tove shutting him up for once. "But I don't think Oyan would hire a vampire in his crowd. He hates them."
"Indeed he does, but there is a possibility that he has that vampire under his control by a spell or having something very important locked inside the north Guild."
"Do you think Lucian figured it out?", Nero nodded. "What will he do about it?"
"It's going to be hard, because then he will have to break Dumas' heart again, and I think is the last thing he wants to do.", like remembering something, the cat added. "By the way, in what phase is the moon now?"
"The waning gibbous phase will start tonight."
"Oh, shit!", cursed the Terrennial. "I have to go to the mansion now! Lucian will try to feed from Aaron when he wakes up from his sleep after the mate."
"Aaron is not going to let him!", yelled Toasty from the other side of the room. "Ow! Even though Lucian is a dhampir, he is still weak against Aaron's solar energy from the guns!"
"I know, but did you forget that he is with two vampires besides Lucian?"
"Are you saying that Dumas and his mate will help Lucian out?!", Nero shrugged.
"Perhaps."
"What?!", screamed again. "Now I'm SO going to kill you Nero!", Nero rolled his eyes as he sighed. "How could you?!"
"Like I recall from the days before, it was Aaron's choice to go.", replied, crossing his arms on his chest. Surprisingly, Toasty didn't yell back. "Mouse ate your tongue or what?"
"I just… Is Aaron going to get the curse too when Lucian bites him?"
"Not really, seeing that he is marked by now by him.", explained the cat. "Once the mate is marked, the curse will not have any effect on it as long as he doesn't drink the blood from his vampire mate."
"Good.", said Toasty, sighing in relief. "Thanks, Tove, and sorry if I yelled too much."
The earth Terrennial smirked.
"You have always been a wuss.", said as he patted Toasty's shoulders. "Come on, get up before I kick your ass for what you did to Nero the past few days. And don't forget to apologize to Aaron and Lucian, too."
Toasty smiled and thanked him again.
Nero wanted to go immediately, but Toasty said that Aaron will be sleeping like Lucian and the other two vampires and wasn't actually safe going at those hours, knowing that the dhampir was still sensible to the heat and might see it as harm for the tired boy. But going later that night will be the same as going early, since Lucian will behave the same. Besides, they needed to get before Oyan send another group of gunslingers. He might send more than the first time. Either way, Nero decided to go when the night fall, like Toasty suggested, and asked not only Kay to come but also Bea. They both agreed to go after Oyan leaves for his usual night patrolling.
Ernest decided to get some sleep before going to the mansion. It was still early in the morning, and a long nap would be perfect if he needed to be up the whole night. He was walking to his bedroom when he spotted the red head of Oyan walking towards the training fields. He was alone and wasn't with his gun or his armor. A twitch in his stomach made Ernest follow the man along the Guild and into the training fields, seeing that he wasn't going to stay there, but rather he kept walking and went to the forest near the Guild.
Oyan turned around. He saw no one. Strange because he could feel the presence of another being following him. He kept walking until he stopped before a small cave. The red haired man entered the cave and instants later, he came out with another boy. Ernest noticed it was short in height, had very pale skin but wasn't a vampire at all –or so he thought-, and was wearing very dark clothing. His hair was hidden under the cloth and soon, the man noticed that Oyan was speaking either with his spy or someone that helped him in killing the vampires out there.
"How are you today?", asked Oyan.
"Better, thanks for asking.", answered the boy. "And you?"
"Good too, but I'm afraid that the group I sent after the vampires in the Hunting Mansion is now dead."
"It wouldn't surprise me, seeing as one of those vampires is the former Duke.", the boy rubbed his eyes and yawned. "But there is more."
"I'm listening."
"Do you remember Trinity's partner?", Ernest paled. He hoped the boy wasn't referring to Sartana. If he was, then Oyan would start acting on its own rather than helping him in finding Aaron or worst. "Not Ernest."
Oyan blinked, confused.
"I thought Ernest was Trinity's perfect partner."
"No, it was Sartana."
"Sartana? Wasn't he the best gunslinger besides Trinity? I thought he lived in the south."
"He did live in the south, but moved at young age to the east cities. He listed in the local Guild at young age and mastered all the guns rather quickly. Sartana soon was known as the veteran rookie. He was far better than most old members in the gunslinger and he could match up with Trinity.", explained the boy. Both of them were unaware of Ernest's presence. "He became Trinity's partner after his first mission, where the leader saw his true potential and decided to train the boy by his own. Of course, like every other gunslinger, he hated the Lord of Destruction and Count Dumas and when they fought against them, Sartana ended up severally injured. His life was in danger for all the wounds he had, but Trinity saved him."
"How? Trinity was as wounded as Sartana, if I recall correctly.", grunted Oyan. He was starting to not believe the story.
"With a Terrennial.", said the boy, grinning. "Perrault is the Lunar Terrennial, the one that holds the energy from the vampire's deity, the moon. But the moon not only has the pure lunar energy, it also has darkness within. This part of the moon slipped from Perrault and bonded with Sartana.", explained later, seeing the surprised expression on Oyan's face. "After the bonding, Sartana had to renounce to a part of his humanity to be able to welcome those dark powers. Of course, the dark powers are only guarded by the Dark Terrennial, Nero of the Shadows, and only vampries are granted with this energy. Sartana had to mute his body in order to be slightly immune to the dark powers. But it wasn't enough. His right eye dyed in red and Nero knew that Sartana wasn't going to be human for a more time without something to prevent it."
"The Dark Swordsman...", mumbled Oyan. "If I remember correctly, his name was Lucian and wore a black eyepatch on his right eye. Was because of the curse?", the boy nodded. "I didn't know that the curse could be shared if the Dark Terrennial shares the body with anyone."
"It shouldn't be possible."
"Are you saying that Sartana was born as a dhampir?"
"It could be. If he wasn't, then the dark powers should have destroyed his body the first instant Nero bonded with him.", the boy sighed. "Anyway, I couldn't get close to the mansion because of the high amounts of hounds patrolling the forecourt. But I think the Dark Swordsman will try to feed tonight in order to turn into a full vampire."
"Is he aware of it?"
"Probably not."
"How many vampires are living in the mansion right now?"
"Two, and the Dark Swordsman."
Ernest sighed again. They didn't know about Aaron. He was safe for now.
"I suggest you to not go tonight.", said the boy. "It's too dangerous, even for you and your warrior race."
"I have been slaying vampires since I was ten. I can handle anything. Now, is the Duke with them?", again, the boy nodded. "Who is the second vampire then?"
"It seems is a traveler that cought them up and stayed with them."
"Good. Keep resting. I might need you later."
The boy nodded and returned to the cave, while Oyan turned around and returned to the Guild, with Ernest following him. Who was the boy? Was the spy that Ezra and Lucian talked about? How did he know all that about Sartana? Maybe he was an informer like Alice was to the boys, which helped them in their mission four years ago. But it was strange that he didn't know about Aaron sticking with the vampires. How could he miss information like that? Unless the spy didn't know about it. But then, he wouldn't be a spy if he didn't know about Aaron. Or he did know, and didn't tell anything to Oyan. Why? Why would the boy not say something important to the leader of the north Guild? He could use it against Lucian and the other two vampires and kill them easily.
One thing was for sure; there was something else between Oyan and the boy, something not nice and that it could bring serious problems to Lucian and Aaron, and Ernest was going to do anything at his hand to prevent it.