RPG Monsters

[Shwa]

Dinner was brought to Mikhail's living area, he and Baldr decided to share a room together since they were both were-shifters and pretty much kept an eye on one another and the rest of the party while they slept in their heightened sense form with their telekinetic link they both shared.  Dark and Barracus joined the two later that evening; bringing Kayin from his room.  Akieen was nowhere to be found late that evening, so it almost felt like a boys night in while they feasted and drank what wine was brought to them.  All the members discussing their plan of action to happen during the hours of dawn, contemplating what their next move was to entail with their planned trip. 

 

"Zombies are easy enough, but feral ones...those can be a tough bunch to deal with.  I've found out that lots and lots of fire can be real useful when encountered with too many"  Dark smirked as he took a sip from his cup, Baldr merely snickered at the thought.

 

"They aren't the most enjoyable to be around, or even work with.  They're especially hard to get information from"  Kayin stated as he  reclined sideways on the bed in the room.

 

"Great, just what we need to be smelling, right ya Soviet mutt?"

 

"Heh, burnt flesh is one thing, but decayed flesh, down right gross"  Mikhail chewed on his ham slices that were left on the wide variety of treys brought into them by the guards and other angels.  Rows and rows of assorted delights for each of them to feast upon, this may have been a sanctuary for fallen angels, but to the travelers, it felt like a little piece of heaven all the same.  Dark particularly cared for the fruits and wine selections they were brought, mentioning that their nutritional value was bar none to the other selected pieces of food.  Baldr and Mikhail just shrugged it off, nothing was going to get in the way of their hunger, and the angels were well prepared when they delivered close to ten treys of assorted meats of various creatures.  Mikhail stopped his gorging for a moment and noticed the Lich  flipping his cane in the air and catching it with the same hand, the glass handle end always being caught at the same spot, even as it spun several times before falling back into the necromancers grasp.  He didn't eat very much of what was available, and there was plenty to go around,  Baldr leaned close to his friend, taking a sip of his wine to down the contents he just ravaged. 

"Ya know, I don't think he's every hungry"  The were-tiger telepathically whispered to his friend, a skill Mikhail was always thankful to have for such awkward moments.

 

"Come to think of it, I don't remember him eating much back at the vampire coven we were at when we had dinner.  Kind of odd"

 

"Well, Lich Lords are a mysterious bunch, this one however, a little more off in the head than I would have imagined"  Baldr snickered lightly, Barracus' eyebrow twitched for a moment, the instant the cane fell back into his hand once more, he lifted it with lightning speed and pointed directly at the two were-shifters, making them flinch at the swiftness.  Barracus merely smiled wide as Dark looked at his three companions, chewing on a bread loaf while Kayin simply smirked at what would happen next. 

 

"Gentlemen, please, this is hardly the time to get cozy with one another.  One would wait until company has finished their meals before engaging in such erotic behavior"  Dark busted out laughing at the comment, a light chuckle came from kayin as both Mikhail and Baldr looked at one another for a moment, noticing how close they were before both jumped nearly to the wall to get space from one another.  Baldr growled and clenched his fists towards the Lich, Mikhail blushed at the embarrassment and surprise.  "Now now, no need to be caught off guard...or did you just put a show for us?  Hmmm, I really cannot recall...CHARLES!!"  There he went off again, calling for his zombie-like servant, it was a relief to the others that they finally saw him during the mad dash he did earlier in the afternoon.  To be honest, the other members of the party thought he literally was insane.  "Blast that foul man who call himself my servant, I really need to just be done with him.  But then, who will press my outfit for the morning?  Oh my, such question cannot be answered by me alone, CHARLES!!!"    Dark continued to laugh as Mikhail and Baldr resumed their place in the huddle.  The night grew late as Kayin was the first to leave for his own chambers, Barracus and Dark excused themselves as Mikhail and Baldr settled in for the night, Gabe came in to check on everyone, informing them that Akieen had already went to bed hours before they had.  Mikhail rested his head and felt heavy as he lost consciousness without even trying, inside the mental world of were-creatures, the white wolf form of Mikhail walked around in the dark woodland scenery.  He seemed to be on edge, as if another presence was around him without permission, the wolf continued to trot the familiar grounds, he stopped suddenly when he noticed Baldr's were-tiger form sleeping soundly on the ground, which raised an immediate alarm to Mikhail...they never slept in this realm.  Mikhail went to his friends side, nipping at his shoulder for a response...nothing. 

 

"Wake up Baldr, come one, the wine wasn't that strong you weak ass Nazi!"  Hoping the joke would stir some sort of reaction from his friend, but Mikhail found out that nothing would wake this creatures.  There was shuffling coming the shadows of the trees, Mikhail turned and faced the sound, growling and baring his fangs as a lone creature slowly came into the light.  Covered in a silk lie robe, the slender arms slowly lifted to the hood and drew the fabric back.  It was the familiar face of the vampire female who Mikhail saved during the raid on the coven's building.  Mikhail didn't realize his actions next, but he sat like an obedient dog would have when she drew near, her velvet and black robe swaying with each step she took, seemingly majestic and flawless with her movements until she was directly in front of the white wolf looking up at his frame.  Mikhail looking down at the female. 

 

"It's you...but how?  Ticks...I mean, vampires dont ever step on our turf like this, ever"  Mikhail was baffled at the skills of this young vampire entering their sacred realm.

 

"I'm a little more special than some of my brothers and sisters, we each have a unique ability that we use for the family".  That statement made Mikhail growl a little, remembering the betrayal done by Malachi.  "Please, don't be upset with my father, he was only trying to protect us from a greater death".

 

"Still, he would rather help that monster and offer our lives in exchange.  I can't be mad with him about protecting you or your kin...but it's sheer madness from what was explained to us by Akieen"  The girls eyes eminated a bright red sheen with her gaze, clearly it was a sign of her ability to enter Mikhail's and Baldr's mental retreat. 

 

"I am not happy with what he's done, and it's why I left for what he's going to do..."  The giant wolf snorted at her words.

 

"What do you mean?  What's he planning to do?"  As the girl began to speak, she turned quickly, as if she heard something the wolf could not.  Quickly, she covered herself with her hood and she knelt and placed her hand on Mikhail's giant front paw, it stung for a moment, but the small pain vanished in seconds.  The girl stood quickly and fled the opposite way she came from in the woods, she turned around slowly before vanishing with her speed, her rose colored lips moving ever so slowly in that once instance. 

 

"...Run..."  Then, she was gone, but her voice echoed louder and louder until it began to hurt the wolf's sensitive ears.  Mikhail shook his head, but the word continued to replay over and over until it was too much to bear anymore.  Mikhail opened his eyes, back in human form as he sat straight up from his spot, breathing like a marathon runner would if he had been running from the apocalypse himself.  The Russian looked over to see Baldr turning in his sleep, a sign he was still alive at least.  Removing the sheets, Mikhail got up and looked out the window, the sun was just beginning to breach the night sky and greet the dark blue shade with a glowing orange and yellow tone.  Already the castle guards made their patrol rounds, the scent of pine from the woods comforted the wolf man as he left the room to stretch and roam about on his own.  Mikhail had never been the first to wake up, but it was a nice change.  Exiting a door, the wolf man placed his elbows on a concrete slab as he looked down the castle walls and to the woods in the distance.  There were light footsteps that came closer to him, it was Gabe holding a cup of brew, no doubt coffee for the wolf. 

 

"You're up early today Mikhail".  The wolf man smiled and took the cup, sniffing the intoxicating aroma with vigor. 

 

"Thank you.  Weird dream last night, guess it got me started for the day".  Gabe smirked as he went about his business, but stopped for a moment and turned to the sound of breaking glass.  Gabe saw Mikhail grasp onto the concrete slab and the material cracked and broke in his grasp, the wolf man snarled and grunted, trying to keep his wolf form in check, but the sudden urgency in his body told him something was out in the woods, and it was coming closer. 

 

"Mikhail?  What's going on?".  Gabe questioned, but Mikhail only snapped his jaws more, pacing back and forth in his spot, it was then that their enemy had been revealed.  The woods seemed to light up like fire, but not by the element, by the color of red eyes that marched towards the castle with a leisurely pace, hundreds, if not thousands of vampires marched through the evergreens and trees towards the castle barriers, with their main leader at the front, stopping mere inches from the crossing line of Holy Ground.  Malachi.

 

"Don't be a fool Vampire, even you know you won't survive if you place one foot down on Holy Ground, what is the meaning of this?". 

 

"I've come to fulfill my end of the bargain Gabriel, let me have Akieen and her allies, and you will be spared his wrath"  With that, the Hell hounds howled in the distance, their forms slowly showing in the shades of the trees, the sun's rays barely touching their skin, making them visible still before the dawn.  With the hounds, the turned wolves and remaining turned humans that were left joined the vampire coven at their marching line, surrounding half of the castle with their mass forces.  

 

"No matter how big your army, none of you can step onto this land without my permission.  This show of force was pointless Vampire, be gone with all of you".  Gabe spat down to the ground, his forces already armed and ready for an altercation as they scanned their surroundings.  "Think about what you're doing Malachi, and think hard before believing you can intimidate me".

 

"I hate to disappoint you Gabriel, but this is serious.  You are right, I cannot enter without permission, seeing as you still have some heavenly powers to aid your fortress....however, that doesn't mean my friend cannot".  Malachi moved aside to let a sickly, skeletal figure walk up to the barrier line where the enemy dared not cross.  A whisper and a small enchantment was said, the figure placed his hand onto the soil of Holy Ground, and slowly, the soil turned black and grey, like ash in seconds.  It covered a large distance, crawling up the walls and completely engulfing more than half of the castle.  Malachi stood next to the enchanter, with a confident stride, he began to slowly walk towards the castle walls, his children and minions rushing past their leader as they charged for the angels.  Gabe was stricken with surprise, the others came from their rooms when the large boom of angel's and creatures collided with one another, Akieen looked down to see Malachi look up at her with a cold, death stare.

 

"How is this possible?!"  Kayin drew his Katana, slicing the head off a turned wolf that leaped into the air to tackle the pack.  "This is Holy Ground, they're not suppose to be on Holy Ground!!"  Dark covered his ally's back with a fire blast spell, once finished, he sent several volley's down below to assist the angels.  It was Barracus who spoke to answer this time. 

 

"Because, they had help from a Lich Lord.  Clever bastards...".  His tone was straight forward and enraged, looking down at his fellow Lich ally himself with the traitorous Vampire Coven and its leader.  However, Mikhail noticed that the girl who he saved before, the one in his dream, was not part of the assault.  Her appearance was the warning Mikhail missed, and now this sanctuary would most likely fall.  Barracus twirled his can and batted two vampires away with such might, their bodies turned to dust as his cane connected.  "Come now Charles, we have work that must be done".  The tone was yet again serious, if not deadly. 

 

"Gabe, we gotta move and we gotta move now".  Akieen round housed two vampire children of Malachi's as the castle walls were now crawling with various creatures. 

"DAMN YOU VAMPIRE".  Gabe roared as he dealt a powerful punch to a turned human, launching its body back into the woods. His angel's putting up the best fight they could, but it was a losing battle as some began to retreat, supporting one another and their injured.

 

"We can't stay up here forever, what's the plan?".  Kayin stabbed a vampire in its chest before it could get close enough to bite.  Mikhail hear the same words he heard before he awoke, once again, getting louder and louder...but there was no pain this time, just the clear meaning.

 

"...Run..."  With that one word from the wolf man, everyone knew what to do.  Gabe nodded and lead the group back into the castle to get to their escape route for their next sanctuary. 

Edited January 18, 2013 by Shwa

[Darth Vectis]

â??Clarity has returned Charles, I can feel it coursing through my bones! We have a meeting with destiny.â? Barracus was one of the only ones to charge in with the angels, his mind unimaginably focused as he swung his cane with powerful and precise strikes. The Lich was peeling away both vampires that lashed out at him and the were-creatures lunging for him, behind him stood his manservant as he used his fist and a horse whip to fight off the hordes. Creatures searched for perches on Charles, trying to bring him down as he was a stalwart figure in the mass. His monotone clothes should have kept him hidden in the crowd, but his ability to clear space made it obvious where he was. Barracus used one hand to swing his cane, fierceness in each hit that turned vampires to dust, crushed the skulls of the turned and shattered the air around him. His other hand lashed out with lightning, fire, cold darkness, and burning light with each sweeping motion. It wouldnâ??t be enough to stop the horde, they would move one when the target wasnâ??t easy but his show wasnâ??t to stop or even slow them down it was to simply clear his path.

 

â??Come out and face me! I saw you helping them, I knew we Lich were cold and backstabbing to one another. But to help him? To help Rasputin, this is an internal dispute child!â? Barracus tried to roar over the noise, his words angry and filled with a burning need to find one of his own kind. The need to create war, to bring doom upon this creature that no one else could create and was up to only a Lich to truly destroy. The hellspawn reached him in his one moment, Charles smashing in the brain of a turned creature unable to watch his masters back as it had latched on to Barracus arm. Its razor sharp teeth biting deep into the bone and its head twisting in a violent motion, the action tearing the suit and the flesh. The bones cracked and broken as it tore away the arm, its claws trying to grasp on to his body. Barracus smashed his cane into the creature, the orb flaring to life as he sent energy radiating into it that crashed into the hellspawns body. Twisting and flailing as the energy burned and coursed through its body, Barracus face clearly twisted with hatred and malice.

 

â??You take my arm, I take your soul!â? The power kept burning, but something seemed to be happening as the skin began to shrivel and crack. Itâ??s screams falling dead as it still flailed and itâ??s life left it, being pulled into Barracusâ?? cane. The hellspawn crumbled into dust as Barracus kept looking for the other Lich, his eyes searching through the chaos.

 

â??I grow weary of this game, which of you is it? Cantheus, Motarin. None of you are strong enough to face me!â?

 

â??Î?Ï?ορεί να Ï?αÏ? Ï?έρει κάÏ?Ï? Adelphos Ï?αιδί?â? (Can you bring down Adelphos child?) The scratchy withered voice came from Barracus left, a smile of pure madness and dark glee showed on Barracus face as he turned to see the corpse before him.

 

â??The 2^nd, why this is quite the honor to see you here It makes sense that you could corrupt this holy ground. Tell me, did Rasputin offer you the 1^stâ??s place if you helped him?â?

 

â??Τι Ï?ημαÏ?ία έÏ?ει αÏ?Ï?Ï? Ï?οÏ? μοÏ? Ï?ρÏ?Ï?Ï?ερε, θα εξακολοÏ?θούν να εÏ?δοκιμούν και μεÏ?ά οι θνηÏ?οί είναι νεκροί.â? (What does it matter what he has offered me, we will still thrive after these mortals are dead.) Adelphos spoke through his withered lips, his own body partly here and partly in the spirit world. His eyes gave him away, one was a solid orange color, unnatural and glowing, the other eye was gone all together. A sign of his rank amongst the Lords, eyes were for the weak, as the 1^st said to them all.

 

â??The 1^st will have your head for this, unless of course, I take it from you.â? Barracus lashed out then, his cane sending forth a surge of pure white light. The power smashing into Adelphos that sent him spinning away and crashing into the ground. The creature of bone and rotten flesh slowly rose from where it had fallen, creaking and cracking with the effort. Charles remained near, clearing the area as best he could, taking hits as the claws ripped his clothes into rags. Revealing the skeletal being beneath with each turn and mighty swing as Barracus now stormed toward the other Lich. His power burning away his façade, his skin cracking and breaking away as his clothes withered and reformed into his robe. His cane growing and twisting to take the staff shape once more, his lost arm still hanging at his side but anything but a burden on him.

 

â??Morieris hodie!â? (You will die today!â?) Barracusâ?? hollow speech raged forth, a necrotic blast raced from his staff. Adelphos dodge the blast, his body more nimble then appeared and raced forward, words being spoken as it launched a wave of inky blackness at Barracus. His only defense was to bring his staff forward, the runes of a magic long since lost to mortals. The wave crashed into his staff, creating a negative space in which he existed, the rest of the wave moving outward as it engulfed vampires, hellspawn and angels alike. He was able to pull his staff away to see Adelphos had cleared the distance between them, moving quickly as he lunged out with a withered hand lancing out covered in the same darkness. Barracus batting it away with his staff before coming from under with the lower part of his staff, trying to trip up Adelphos but he was finding it more difficult without the use of another hand. Adelphos managed to keep his balance, turning to out maneuvered Barracus only to find he could keep up. His staff crashing down with a green hue, the necrotic power crackling in the air as the very molecules popped and died from the energy. Adelphos throwing up a shield of darkness to deflect the blow before lunging forward again, this time Barracus was ready. His mouth opened wide as he let out a roar, the necrotic power rushing forward in a flood as it smashed directly into the face of the 2^nd.

 

He managed to only turn his head away enough to take the blast directly to the side of his face, the necrosis quickly setting in as it started to ravage Adelphos face. The pain didnâ??t bother him so much as the power that continued to burn through, trying to worm its way deep in his body but finding resistance from the 2^nd. He was, however, too distracted to see the staff come around once more, smashing into his left forearm and snapping both bones as the weak flesh ripped jaggedly from Adelphos body. Barracus lashed out with his foot, hitting directly into the 2^ndâ??s knee and separating it completely sending Adelphos to the ground on to his other knee.

 

â??Tute potentia mea est Adelphos, ego erit secundus!â? (You're power is mine Adelphos, I will be the second!) Leveling his staff at the fallen Lich, he saw a smile spread on his face. The look that he knew something more then he showed, a darkness that was hidden from Barracusâ?? sight. He felt it hit him with such force, he was sure his body was going to come apart as he flew through the air and collided into the dirt rolling and flailing as he held on to his staff. Barracus laid on the ground for several moments before slowly rising, seeing what had smashed into him to find a young vampire helping Adelphos rise once more.

 

â??Î?εν Ï?ίÏ?Ï?εÏ?α Ï?Ï?ι θα ήÏ?αν Ï?Ï?Ï?ο εύκολο να μειÏ?θεί η δεύÏ?ερη έκανεÏ? Barracusâ?( You did not think it would be so easy to bring down the second did you Barracus) The young vampire reached down, snatching up the removed limb and holding it out to the 2^nd. He started to reach for it when both figures were suddenly sent flying through the air as Charles now stood where the two had been before. His clothes in tatters and some of his bones cracked and splintered but still stood tall, reaching down for the severed limb and returning to his master. Holding out the limb, Barracus took the limb, pressing it to where his had been lost and letting his power surge through him as his bones connect with the new arm. The fingers flexing and extending to give it a try, Charles helping his master rise before both of them retreated for the time.

 

â??Et iterum potestatem animae tuae Adelphos.â?( Next time I will have your soul and your power Adelphos) Barracus said quietly to himself, pushing their way back to the castle and to whatever escape route awaited them. The farther they moved from the 2^nd, the further Barracus felt his mind slipping and his purpose fading once more. His body returning to a youthful appearance as his child like smile showed, swinging his cane in the air to keep the creatures away from them.

 

â??Ah another beautiful day of cricket and bad mitten wouldnâ??t you say Charles? Come, come, we have much to do and so little life left!â? Barracus happily skipping along, swinging his cane without a care in the world.

[Kayin Cloud]

Kayin's eyes were constantly on Barracus and the 2nd lich throughout the fight. Despite being pulled into combat so suddenly, he was only loosely focused on his own battle. He had never seen two lich lords face off before, and he'd never fought one himself. On top of which, he hoped he'd never have to fight one as powerful as either of these two. As more enemies came his way, Kayin's eyes redirected to his opponents. His deep brown eyes glared toward his enemies as they became red and his irises became almost slotted. He quickly sheathed Raikoujin, drawing out Meidenkou in hand. He muttered something to himself as the enemy drew near before, slashing the blade into a vampire who lunged for him. Not only did he slice the vampire in half, several streaks of black lightning burst forth and struck each of his attackers, either completely destroying or utterly paralyzing them. Those who didn't die were soon cut down from Kayin's path as he charged forward. He held his sword behind him and it became nothing but inky blackness in his hand. "Namepa nloomb ootg maetgan gda sneaetg!"(Become black and sunder the ground!) he shouted as he slashed the blade upward, rending the floor with black lightning that surged from his katana, leaving the enemies either on uneven ground or airborne. "Teb goonbat gda mbooam boogd nleeg ek pee keam! MEIDENKOU!!!"(Now darken the skies with blood of my foes! MEIDENKOU!!!) he let out another battle cry as he slashed his blade downward into the ground. The blackness that shattered the floor rose upward, taking everything in its wake it black strokes of lightning and leaving nothing but ash and blood in Kayin's path.

 

His attention was grabbed by a small creature to his left being attacked by a few of the vampires as it fought back with a familiar set of razor sharp teeth... "Lief...te... Eeeae'na teg mgnets ateaesd, boog. Sag eaeg ek dana!!"(Leif...no... You're not strong enough, kid. Get out of here!!) Kayin shouted as he changed direction in an instant, primarily avoiding combat as he picked up speed to charge to his little friend's rescue.

 

"I can take these guys, Kayin!" Lief called as he tore into one of the vampires' lunging arms before another one grabbed him around his head and chin. "H-hey let go of m-" was cut off by the sounds of a snap before the vampire dropped him, letting the hellspawn move into clean their prey's lifeless body from the ground.

 

"Get rid of this abomination," said one of the vampires with a chuckle before the one who snapped Lief's neck had his head and spine torn fiercely from her body. The hellspawn and vampires looked to the figure behind their headless friend. Kayin tossed the head from his clawed hands and it seemed as though death crept over Lief's killers as they stood in terror. The veins in Kayin's face had turned black and his body cracked with lightning. His eyes turned into nothing but glowing red the smell of brimstone was more than overwhelming now. Kayin's body jerked forward as two white and sinewy wings sprung from his back, folding as his body relaxed again. As the vampires tried to regain their composure, two more of the vampires met the same fate as the first with one of their heads still in Kayin's claw. The last of the four involved tried to take the chance to escape only to be cleaved by the spine still attached to the head in Kayin's hand. As the upper half of the torso tried to crawl away, Kayin stomped down hard on the vampire's head, crushing his skull with ease. The werewolves were still too disoriented by the miasma of brimstone that came from Kayin's transformation.

 

"Eeeae'll booee boogd eeeaen pengool meaelm..."(You'll pay with your mortal souls...) Kayin murmured in his native tongue. In a flurry of slashes, he left the werewolves in ribbons, leaving them no room to escape as more vampires and werewolves charged his position. Kayin took to the air, sheathing Meidenkou and his claws sharpening, lengthening, and becoming covered in the same inky darkness that surrounded his blade before. As several of the vampires leaped for the half-demon, he let loose a series of black lightning bolts that struck each of the ascending vampires and passed through them to the enemies who were just beneath them. They were all pulled forcefully against each other as Kayin pulled a strand of the chaotic energy up with one of his claws before gripping it and a burst of dark lightning exploded with the gathered enemies as the point of detonation. The lightning continued to spread until its energy was used up, felling multiple foes. His wings lifted allowing him to land in the cleared area, folding up again. He could feel that he was beginning to lose grips and his eyes began to lose their glow, the veins in his face returning his face to it's normal color. Almost lost it there... he thought to himself as he looked to Lief's body which was long since trampled while Kay was dealing with the matter at hand. I will bring this Rasputin to a stop...I won't let this happen again so long as I can help it, Lief. Just survive the abyss as long as you can... His gaze returned to his enemies and he drew his swords, preparing to return to battle. Us demons have no place in heaven nor in the nine hells...we only have each other to tear us down or become strong. Become strong, my young friend. He charged forward, ready to fight Malachai's entire force if he had to.

[Akieen Cloud]

Akieen growled low in her throat as she stared down at Malachai, her vision turning red.

"Akieen, we have to go. Now!"
She shook her head.

"Get them out Gabe. I'll follow."
"You'll get your self killed. He has a Lich."
Again she shook her head.

"Let them come."

Gabe watched as her slight form shook, the muscles in her petite body tensing as she hunched over almost as if in pain, her eyes melting into the violet of her beast form as white fur sprouted from her pores. He could hear her bones cracking and breaking into place, her clothes shredding at her transformation. It always looked painful, but out of all the transformations he had seen, her's was the most flawless. Standing on her hind legs she let out a bellowing howl silencing the area for a moment before the battle resumed it's chaos.

"Malachai!"

The growling voice echoed through the stone walls and down to the vampire it belonged to.

"Akieen, my dear. You don't mean to fight me? I'm almost 300 years older then you. You do not stand a chance."
"You might be older, but right now my anger knows no bounds!"

Leaping from her spot she landed heavily in front of him, sending warning hackles to the infected who charged at her, at the tone in her growl they pinned their ears back and bent their heads forward in surrender, Mikhail and Baldr shivering slightly at the sound of it as they followed Gabe. Malachai looked around and chuckled.

"I see, alpha mess and all that as you say. What made you use it now?"
Her voice was low, dangerous and promised death.

"Your mine."

His eyes began to glow like embers in the gray light of the morning as he hissed at her, her growling in return as they circled one another slowly before he launched him self at her, the sound of their bodies colliding was like a shock wave through the stone. 

Elsewhere Gabe lifted a small hatch in the wall, a tunnel could be seen just beyond it.

"Go out this way. It'll bring you up to the surface a good 10 miles from here. No one will know where you've gone and no one will be able to track you."

Kayin nodded and took point as the others fell in line, Dark stopping momentarily to look at Gabe. 

"You not coming with us?"
"No. I'll keep them here."

They nodded and moved through the tunnels.

Akieen reached out, howling as Malachai's nails racked down her shoulder leaving angry gashes in their wake, whirling around she caught him with the back of her front paw sending him a good 2 feet back. She charged forward, her fangs barred as he hissed back at her; their bodies colliding once again as she snapped her head to the side and bit into his arm. Her large jaws covered his shoulder, and reached down into his chest piercing his thin flesh. Taking a step back she looked down on him as his hand covered the worst of the bite, blood seeping through his fingers as his breathing became ragged. She could hear the air rushing through the punctures and felt a grim satisfaction in knowing she had pierced his lung.

"You never should have betrayed me Malachai. You should have known I would kill you."

"You have no idea the power he holds."

"Maybe not, but you'll never know the future old timer. Your end is here now."
His scream rent the air as she swooped down on him, her jaws opening wide and concealing his head before closing sharply, his head severed and within her massive jaws. Letting it fall to the ground she looked around her now as his children paused their fighting, their eyes concentrated on her as the death of their father sank in making them thirst for her blood now as the anger became palpable in the air. Hunching down she let the growls come from her chest, deep and rumbling, clearly marking death for any who decided to try her. 

The hand on her shoulder burned slightly with a holy touch and she spun around growling til the bright light made her whine, covering her eyes from the burning light and dropping her head, her tail tucked and ears pinned she knelt in front of him. His wings furled out from his back, sword in hand as holy light gleamed from his very being.

"Akieen, get out. You know how."
"Gabe..."
"Go, now."
"What about you...?"
"I won't be following you."
She knew what this meant and nodded slowly, reluctantly dropping onto all fours and bounding away quickly. Following the scents of the others she found the hatch and opened it, following it down. They were moving quickly, that was good and with in an hour she had caught up to them just out side the forest away from the stone fortress. Her form changing as she ran til she came up to them back in her human form. They all looked back as the ground shook, a large sphere of light engulfing the sanctuary, blinding them, it engulfed the area in pure holy light, shaking the foundations and causing them to look away. It caused the air to shift and push against them as the power billowed out from the high angel, the feeling of it was full of life and it made Akieen's heart sink; it was Gabe him self. They stayed like that, hiding their eyes and holding their ground til it was gone. The mountain, and the sanctuary built into it both gone. Destroyed and brought to the ground. Akieen felt tears sting her eyes for the loss of her friend, but knew that he would find his place among his brothers and sisters on high once again. Blinking she looked up and over her shoulder as someone put a jacket around her shoulders. The red fabric belonging to Kayin as he nodded silently to her, the smell coming off of it was repulsing at best and she did all she could not to wrinkle her nose, his show of kindness was something she didn't expect and would rather not disrespect it, though her eyes watered slightly and she fought the urge to cough and gag as she spoke.

"Let's get moving."

They began to make their way swiftly to New York. No words were spoken, only the sounds of their quick footsteps could be heard. The threat that was following them from New Orleans now gone, thanks to Gabe.  

Edited January 21, 2013 by K.G

[Anakoni Stark]

    Almost five years had passed since Doctor Santiago was turned into one of the followers of the Corvus clan and he had exhibited very few (rather violent) cases of blood lust since then. He had grown fond of the taste of the locals instead of those who came to Miami during the holidays. Aside from trying to hide the few dead people by dumping them in the Glades with the hope of the gators turning them into cadaver jerky; he had also noticed some slight changes to himself. For the last 1,587 days he discerned that his physical being didnâ??t change at all since the night of the bite as if someone decided to freeze the sand in the hourglass that was glued to the table. Another interesting thing that not only he noticed but every one of his gym buddies as well; was the fact that his reflex times were quicker and that the Spaniardâ??s punches had more weight to them. That might come in handy next time I go to the club. Ali thought as he did some physiology research and calculated that while his metabolism and exterior aging had come to a halt; his actual age was projected to be in his early 220s.

 

    It was another early evening of working out at the gym but the only difference was there were very few people in the building. Ali remembered seeing probably a maximum of ten people in the entire building; a few in the racquetball courts, two in the cardio room, a few cute girls accompanied by their meathead boyfriends on their way to the sauna. He also remembers running into the attractive blonde 20something who probably was a small time local model that spent the evening shifts watching the front desk, greeting people as they came and went.

 

    â??Why, howdyâ?¦ Doctor Santiago. How is your evening going for ya?â? The southern belle inquired truthfully. â??This night is young and alive, Kelly. Itâ??s young and alive.â? Ali responded with a spell of dejection in his voice but Kelly couldnâ??t pick up on it since she was so enamoured every time he had spoken to her. â??Wellâ?¦ Thatâ??s wonderful doc, the boxing ring is emptyâ?¦ Will you be needing anything this evening?â? Once again he sensed legitimacy from the blonde, which he had found to be relatively odd, even if the place was as dead as his morgue tonight; Kelly was never this nice or considerate to the other patrons. He also noticed that she straightened up her posture when he came through the door.

 

    â??Not necessarilyâ?¦ Just that Iâ??m not to be bothered during this time.â? Aliâ??s voice had a sliver of annoyance from dealing with the girl at the front desk. Kelly nodded and agreed to do as she was asked; which only fuelled the doctorâ??s well obscured irritation with the blonde. As the doctor made his way to the back of the building, he could hear the blondeâ??s audible swoon which made him shake his head in repugnance. What is it about me that works them up like that? He wondered as he set his backpack on a bench, made his way over to the punching bag and went to work.

 

    With every blow that landed, Aliâ??s mind stopped focusing on the workout and began drifting back to the killings he had made.  His first target was one of the off duty bartenders he had spent the night eyeing the new female tourists with. Ali remembered how weak the man was as he feebly tried to push him off. The poor guyâ??s blood tasted rather tart. Santiago recalled to himself as his mind fast forwarded to his next two victims, two dark haired twins who exhumed the Californian plastic egos which took everything that had transpired in the flat without a grain of salt. They both thought that his biting was just some sort of fetish that he took care of with every suitor he brought back to his place. Whatever they had, it was really strong. Santiago recalled going to work the next morning with the hangover sent directly from Mother Nature.

 

    As he continued his mind also recalled the one night stands that he used as a cover up to take a few nips of the crimson drug from some of his suitors. I just hope they wonâ??t notice the fucked up hickeys on their necks anytime soon. Ali thought when his mind rewound itself back to the night he had become part of the legion of porphyria haemophiliacs as he relived the moment; Kelly decided to watch her favourite Latin doctor workout and she noticed his punches were getting quicker. As Ali found himself mentally entwined with a spell of post traumatic stress; the memory shifted into a nightmare which Santiago was the assailant and Theroux was the victim.

 

    While his consciousness was in a deadlock of horror, his punches got stronger and faster. Isabelleâ??s screams and pleadings were echoing through his ears and the moment his fangs sank into the French womanâ??s neck Aliâ??s physical body let out a scream when the final punch landed on the bag, which threw it clear off its chain as it sailed halfway across the room which caused the blonde to gasp in amazement, giving her voyeuristic position away.

 

    â??¿Qué es lo quieres, Kelly?â? The doctor asked flatly without looking toward her, his attention transfixed on the dance mirror that showed no reflection. â??Youâ??re aâ?¦â? Kelly couldnâ??t finish her statement as she made her way toward Alejandro with a letter in her hand.

 

    â??Yes, I am. Kelly. Donâ??t tell anyone or things will transpire between us that you will not be fond of.â? Santiago warned the blonde as Kelly stared in horror of just staring at her reflection when the doctor was standing next to her. Aliâ??s attention turned to the letter; judging by the intricate wax seal keeping the paper together he knew it was for him. Probably some college in the Northwest who want me to give a lecture on how to build a psych profile of potential suspects. He thought as Kellyâ??s voice picked up again. â??A man told me that this was for you, sir.â? The blonde timidly handed him the letter and quickly ran out of the boxing area back to her desk while Santiago packed his bag and walked home.

 

    He walked past Therouxâ??s door and knew she wasnâ??t home for she had called him during the nightshift and told with excitement in her voice that she was curating one of the short engagement exhibits at the art gallery at Miami U. Ali scoffed at the mental image of the now 28 year old French woman berating and harshly critiquing the art pieces in her native tongue under her breath while guiding the newer freshman through the halls of the exhibit. As walked in he noticed a note taped to his fridge. Itâ??s probably her; she shouldnâ??t worry so muchâ?¦ He peeled the note from the door and placed the other note on his bar. It was a simple reminder that she had fed his dog and checked his landline for voicemails and took notes of those who called for him. The bottom of the note read Je tâ??aime, Ali. With a smear of a pink lip stain at the bottom and it struck Santiago that he finally had someone to fall back on.

 

    â??Te amo demasiado, Izzy.â? The doctor whispered as he picked up the new note, tore off the wax seal, unfurled it and began reading.

 

Doctor Alejandro Santiago,

 

We are aware of the events that transpired between you and the Corvus clan five years ago.

 

We require your presence and assistance.

 

 

    The letter had no information as to who had sent it but the doctor took their professionally subtle cry for help with the direst gravity. He noticed an address at the bottom and wrote it down, then immediately ripped off his backpack. A few minutes later, he got dressed into his standard attire and took the two gifts he had received from his neighbour with him as he left the apartment block, whilst riding his Ducati motorcycle toward the interstate.

 

    â??New York doesnâ??t sound too badâ?¦â? Ali thought to himself as his bike roared past the state line, heading north.

 

****

 

 

    A couple days later, the doctor closed in on the address he had jotted down. He parked his bike in the parking lot and made his way in. On the way up he had so many questions firing through his mind. How did anyone figure this out? Did they notice the bodies? I thought I did all of the right things to prevent it from leaking? More questions racked his brain as he made it to the door. Ali took a deep breath as another thought came to mind.

 

    What if theyâ??re a bunch of Twilight nerds who have mistaken me for their Edward? He shuddered as he opened the door, who he saw on the other side came to him as a complete shock.

 

    â??Isabelle! ¿¡Qué estás haciendo aquí?!â? Santiago exclaimed as Isabelle ran toward him and hugged him as hard as she could. â??Ali, I got this letter from someone and I was taken in the middle of my lecture.â? The art major released the doctor, who noticed that Therouxâ??s English had improved since the incident but; the fear was something he hadnâ??t heard from her before. He took the letter and it was the same one he had received before he left Miami a few days ago.

 

 Alejandro also noticed a pair of bracers wrapped around Isabelle's arms with blades hidden beneath them. 

 

  "Did you build these, Isabelle?" He questioned as he tapped on them to which the French woman flicked her wrists and the short and sharp blades protruded from underneath her forearms. "Oui, Ali... But I had some help from a few friends." The art professor replied with a smile as the blades retracted back into their hiding places.

 

    â??What do we do now, Ali?â? The dark haired woman questioned her guardian as two made their way to the table, where there was tea waiting for the pair.

 

    â??Supongo que nos espera, mademoiselle.â? Alejandro reassured his girlfriend as he took a seat at the table while she took her cup and began to pace nervously, with his hand ready to pull the katana from its sheath at any moment.

Edited January 22, 2013 by Anakoni Stark

[Shwa]

Hours had passed as if they were only minutes to the party as they ran cross country at their fastest to get to their destination; Dark, Baldr and Mikhail scouted ahead to make sure they were on the right path while the others kept a vigilant watch of their surroundings.  They moved quickly, even with the death of Malachi, his children and Rasputin's minions would be hot on their trail.  The sacrifice of Gabe weighed heavily on them all, mostly Akieen for her long time friend and companion through the many years, it seemed as if this overall mission was nothing but one big setback at a time as their numbers dwindled day by day.  Whoever would ally themselves with their group would only risk their own lives in the end, and already, their group was down by two.  The helpful human Ivil, and now the fallen Angel, Gabe.  On the second day of traveling, the group managed to hide themselves in a small tavern in Pennsylvania, to rest up and eat for thier final destination.  Still, silence fell onto the group as the humans and other creatures roamed about in their every day fashion.  Mikhail stirred his cup of coffee lazily as he reflected on the dream he had from Malaci's daughter, the one who gave him the message of his impending attack on the holy grounds.  She was not at the raid, but nor was another one of Malachi's clan members, Darian.  Barracus was trying to flag down one of the waitress', but she was freightened enough the man when he first ordered his water with 50 packets of sugar in the first place. 

 

"I swear, these servants are not as loyal as Charles, not one bit.  They do absolutely nothing when beckoned"  Barracus pouted as he lowered his hand, tapping his foot continuously underneath the table.

 

"You'll have to make due for now Lich, it's bad enough we have to duck down in places like this, but to have you drag around the arm of your counterpart with the stink it brings.  Make me lose my appetite"  Kayin dropped his fork and knife, finishing only half of his meal, true to his word about the stink coming from the pouch Barracus carried about. 

 

"It's my suvenier, if you wanted one so badly you should have asked like I did"  Barracus turned his head in a poutty manner.

 

"Didn't you take it off from the..." Akieen questioned, until the Lich interrupted her at the end.

 

"Details aren't important my dear, not important at all"  His eerie smile sent shivers down everyone's back as they concentrated on their next move. 

 

"Alright, we're only a couple ours away from New York.  We can probably get there this evening if we finish up and head out now, stay in the shadows and make our go for the state line".   Akieen took a swig of her coffee quickly, keeping her voice low as some patrons walked by their table.

 

"Easy for you to say, if you forget some of us still need to recharge.  We've been on the run for two days.  We can't all recover as quickly as the were-shifters in our group"  Dark grunted, his coffee cup empty as was his strength.  Everyone nodded in agreement, they were worn out. 

 

"We cannot just lay low now, we have to keep moving"  Akieen flagged down the waitress, but she was serving another table at the moment.

 

"Akieen, they need their rest and so do you.  Even we tire out"  Mikhail spoke up, the originator seemed to be annoyed with the responses the others were giving.

 

"I'm trying to keep us alive, or have you all forgotten the hoard following us still?  We can still sense them, we've kept them far by moving farther.  Let's not change the game plan now".

 

"Ð?а, но эÑ?о не Ñ?ак, как Ñ? нас есÑ?Ñ? Ñ?еалÑ?нÑ?е Ñ?ели или назнаÑ?ения, когда мÑ? добеÑ?емся до НÑ?Ñ?-Ð?оÑ?ка, Ñ?олÑ?ко имя Sanctuary./Yeah, but it's not like we have a real goal or destination when we get to New York, only the name of a Sanctuary."  Baldr spoke up in his Russian language.

 

"How about speak English, I know you can"  She growled, Baldr returning the gesture.

 

"What he means to say is, we're going in blind once again.  We just got served one hell of a back hand to our faces with what Malachi did, we need to be careful now more than ever"  Mikhail spoke to ease the tension, but even his nerves were on the end of their ropes. 

 

"You guys are right, but we can't risk staying put too long.  I'm sorry, but we have to make our move to get to the sanctuary in New York as swiftly as possible."  Everyone sighed as the waitress came with their bill already paid, handing a piece of paper to  Akieen, a message from a friend the woman said before going to a new table and start her order.  Everyone looked questionable as Akieen opened the note and read its contents.  Her eyes flared as she stood up, reaching into her pocket for the tip and slamming it down hard, everyone knew to be on guard.  "Time to go, now."  No one questioned as they grabbed their belongings and left the booth.

 

"But I wanted more sugar than water"  Barracus complained, his shirt collar was grabbed by Malachi as he grabbed and dragged the lich to the exit.  The group walked down the road for a mile or so before following Akieen into a garage, rather small on the outside, but large enough like a warehouse on the inside.  Everyone made themselves stay close and on alert as they entered, the door closing abruptly behind them made their guard even tighter as the were creatures transformed, Kayin drawing his blade, Dark illuminating the dark with a bright white light spell and Barracus summoning Charles once more.  

 

"I'm glad to see my father's plan was unsuccessful.  Welcome all"  The voice was familiar and a great relief to have heard after all the chaos, it was Darian.  The lights turned on as he and his sister, the one who warned Mikhail, stood above them in the rafters of the warehouse, smiling down.  Though it was a pleasure to see them alive and well, they were weary of their intentions.  

 

"If you've come to finish us off, we're afraid we will have to take a rain check on that.  Your father had to"  Dark aimed his hand towards the two as a warning stance.

 

"So, have you come to betray us as well?"  Kayin shouted.  Darian and his sister began to walk down the metal steps towards the group, the were creatures growling as they approached.

 

"We're here to take you to New York, to the sanctuary you need to be.  I did not agree with our fathers plan, and more was at steak when he allied himself with Rasputin, our family was to never be spared even if they had killed you off.  Unfortunately for our father, we was old and weary of fighting a larger battle, so I took my sister Rose and fled the coven.  I sent her to warn you of the upcoming invasion, I'm sorry it cost you the life of another one of your friends Akieen.  But, we're here to offer you safe passage, no more, no less."  Darian spoke as the two now stood in front of the group, the were-creatures turned human again as Akieen spoke up.

 

"Start talking."  She said coldly.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Shwa

[Darks Anthro]

Jikair lived with Kayin for fourteen years till she was eighteen. Deciding to go out and live among the humans and cloaked creatures of the night as a normal person.

She moved out of Kayin's protective roof and set off into the day world dominated by humans.  She didn't tell Kayin where she was moving to exactly.

All she told him was that it was up North America on the eastern coastline. She knows by comparison to other long lived beings. She's nothing more then a child.

A child who can not transform herself at will. Only Kayin knows some kind of chant in Dragonic that calls out her were-side which pisses her off. Where she moved to

was New York City. She found a job as a bartender even though she's only eighteen but she couldn't drink anything besides water or soda which was ok with her.

The smell was enough to give her a tiny slight buzz but doesn't affect her abilities at all.

 

Two years have passed since she went out to live on her own. The bar where she was working for six months when she moved to NYC closed down and was brought

by a club owner who was looking to expand his club line themed around serene and peaceful settings. She worked on the club as part of the construction crew so she wouldn't have to get another job. Eventually the new club opened up and she was bartending once again. The club has a name but it didn't matter to Jikair. Work was work and in the human world. Money is top dog. She lives in one of the skyscraper apartments about an hour away from the club so she rides a motorcycle back and forth to work. Having a car in NYC is almost as stupid as not having a weapon in a battlefield.  She parks her bike behind the club in the alleyways  to avoid it getting stolen and goes to work from 7pm till 4am almost 5-6 days a week. Any free time not spent bartending is spent on continuing training of two handed swords, hand to hand, and other easily obtained classes or trainers to continue to get better. 

 

It was another typical Friday night at the club. The rich and super-rich came in since this club is a high end club but average day people also come in.

The usual rift raft are *politely* told to go away by the bouncers. She works with three other bartenders during her shifts. It was a hell of alot easier to have four bartenders

handling the large amounts of people then just one. Most of the female rich/super-rich ask how she gets her hair that purple and long without color fade and split ends.

She tells anyone asking about her head is basically she dies her own hair and washes her hair out completely and carefully uses heat to dry the long hair out.

If Kayin saw how long her hair had grown in the past two years. He'd probably have a hard time telling it was her. Last time he saw it was only to her shoulders.

Now it's almost to her hips. She wonders if she's grown taller since then too but wasn't really concerned about that. 

 

The time is about 3am and the club is dying down. Usually does around this time so the entire club employees start cleaning up. There's been alot more foot traffic lately. Lots of strange faces have been heading upstairs to where only the club owner and a select few employees are allowed to go. She wasn't of course and nor with most of the employees in the club. Just *favorites* as the owner calls them. But tonight only a few strange faces came down from the upstairs area and sat down at the far end of the club dinning area. All of the other bartenders are busy cleaning up the other side of the bar island as the people in the far back waved for a waitress. None where working now as it's too slow to keep the help. Leaving the bartenders to do the waitressing. Jikair picked up a notepad and walked over to the group.

 

Jikair: "Welcome to...." She gets interrupted by a crash at the bar island. The new guy dropped a large bottle of some expensive vodka but luckily for him. It was almost empty. The other two bartenders where telling him don't worry accidents happen. "What can I get you tonight?"

 

Person one: "I'd like a martinee dirty please."

 

Person two: "Some of your oldest rum dear."

 

Person three: "Your choice.." He looks at her shirt. Though it feels more like this guy is more or less checking out her chest then her name that's embedded into her shirt. "Jikair."

 

Jikair: "One dirty martian, one old sailor, and tenders choice. Ok I'll be back in a few with your drinks." Jikair bows slightly before turning to walk back to the bar.

 

Again the third person is giving her the looks over. She could tell because a chill down her back. Though he thinks she's out of earshot and starts talking to his buddies about how hot that girl is and how great of a bod she has. She hears better then any human can. From the bar island, she can hear the entire club floor. Kayin helped her sharpen her hearing to a point where she can filter out most of the noise and focus in on a certain area. Great if your in a very crowded area and need to listen in on a private conversation though she doesn't filter most of the noise. Does need to hear anyone calling her name.

 

The martinee and rum where easy.  They had a huge selection of rum ranging from new to aged. She picked out an old 1842 rum and poured a glass. Placing both the bottle of rum and the glass of rum on a platter then went to work on the martinee. Making a normal martinee and *dirtieded* up by adding a few thin strings of lemon into it and used a toothpick with three olives to stir it. Placing the single fancy glass of the martinee on the platter next to the rum. For the bartenders special the third asked for. She planned to make her own special Dragon Sunrise. It comprised of a large wide glass filed 2/5th of pepsi, another cup filled 2/5th of rum, another cup filled 1/5th of orange juice, and a special sugar cube she makes for this drink.

 

Placing the all the glasses of her special drink on the platter, she takes it over to the group. Being careful not to spill the drinks as she places the platter on the table.

 

Jikair: "Dirty Martian stired for you." She places the martinee to a smooth looking person. "The Old Sailor for you." Places the glass and bottle of rum in front of a more brawly person. "And your drink is my special one. Only I can make it right." She says placing the glasses on the table in order before reaching into her apron for a sugar cube.

 

Person one: "Thank you very much."

 

Person two: "You even brought the bottle. This place is tops."

 

Person three: "Oh? Well all I see are thee glasses in front of me but not all are filled."

 

Jikair curses at the guy to be fucking patient in her head but tries her best to smile before stretching her fingers and arms out. She had to be fast with the liquids not to mention the cube. First thing she did was set them all in a diamond pattern. The one with pepsi at the top while the rum is on the right and the oj on the left. The cube brings up the bottom of the diamond. She takes both of the rum and oj in adjacent hands before pouring the rum in first. Soon as the rum was all poured in, she slammed the glass down and dumped the oj in. Her right hand moves almost at the blink of an eye to grab the sugar cube and drop it dead center of the wide glass just as the oj hit the bottom.

 

In a second a dim light shines from the bottom of the glass. As it rises to the top. It's light shines brighter till it's like a sunrise.The usually strange colored drink starts to change into an almost clear liquid. Only the light color version of the pepsi was left. She claps her hands and slides him the drink.

 

Jikair: "My special, the Dragon Sunrise."

 

The two other's looked on as the third grabbed the drink carefully. The third person carefully pulls the glass to his lips and takes a sip. He soon starts to drink more of the drink before the glass becomes empty. 

 

Person three: "This is the best damn drink I've ever had!" He exclaims to his friends.

 

Jikair: "I'll be at the bar island if you need more and please come to pay your bill once your done." Jikair bows slightly again before taking the platter back to the bar island and starts to clean the glasses. 

 

It took the second guy about almost forty minutes to down the bottle of rum. By that time, the first guy had five dirty martinees but the third guy seemed to be filled from his first one. It was nearing four am and she was done serving drinks and finished cleaning up the club floor. The bouncers have already closed the doors at the front to people.

The one who odered the martinees came up and asked how much the bill was. Jikair handed him a bill for two-hundred twenty-eight dollars and sixty-six cents.

He pulled out his wallet and started to count out the money as he talked to her.

 

Person one: "That's rather cheap considering that bottle of rum has to be expensive."

 

Jikair: "The bottle of rum is two-thirds of the bill." Jikair laughs with the second guy who walked up behind the first guy.

 

Second person: "Well it was worth the whatever it costed."

 

Person one: "Here you go Jikair. I'll be sure  to tell my friends about this place."

The third person walked up but didn't talk. Staring at her again.

 

Second person: "So will I little lady. I'll be back for more rum in a few days."

 

Jikair: "Thanks very much. The more the marrier." She puts on a smile as the first guy slides her a rather large tip onto of a really fancy old time letter. It was parch paper sealed with a very complicated red wax stamp. Before she can ask anything about the letter. The smooth talker and the brawly guys have walked out of the club. The third was a few seconds behind them but he seems to be not in a rush to go. "Huh...wonder what this letter is about..." Jikair was about to open it before the other bartenders came up and where already ready to go. 

 

Liz: "Ooo looks like you got a very fancy love letter." Liz was always the one for Victoria style romance.

 

Jikair: "It's not a love letter Liz. I get enough *love letters* in my mailbox as it is."

 

Jake: "Who gave it to you?"  Jake is that cool guy even for us creatures of the night like to hang out around.

 

Jikair: "The three guys that where in here a bit. Never seen them before in my life." Jikair looks at the *TO* part of the letter. It was her full name plus a small sentence in her native Dragonic tongue.

 

Marcie: "What's that strange writting below your name Jikair? I've never seen that kind of writting before." Marcie was one for knowing alot of languages. Both spoken and written.

 

Jikair: Obviously she can read it as easily as a person reads their natural written language. "It's probably some kind of code. I'll figure it out later. Got to get home first."

 

Jake: "Sounds like a fun morning. Take care Jikair. Drive safetly on that bike of yours." 

 

Marcie and Liz: "Yea take care Jikair."

 

Jikair waved goodbye to the three other bartenders and went to her storage locker in the employee lounge. Grabbing a helmet, a leather jacket, leather gloves to match the jacket, and a backpack. Placing the letter and several other things inside before putting the jacket and gloves on first then the backpack and finally the helmet. Letting her long purple hair stick out of the helmet. It was a strange end of the night for her. That third guy who was constantly checking her out and hitting on her behind her back to his friends then the letter that has a sentence written in dragonic. She shakes her head as she opens the employee's door to the back allies.

 

She closed the door and turned to get on her bike before that creep grabbed her by the hands and pushes her against the closed door. She grunted as he tries to press himself against her. Obviously he was trying to rape her. Thinking she was another human female. He reaches for her shirt and ends up slamming face first into the wall behind him. She had punched his chest hard. Sending him flying and where she hit also made him twist enough to get slammed face first. The creep slide down the wall before getting up. Bleeding from his nose and bottom lip.

 

The creep: "Bitch, I'll make you pay for that." He was obviously pissed at her action of denying his easy score.

 

Jikair: "So where are the two other guys you where with?" She says slightly muffled due to the helmet while cracking her knuckles.

 

The creep: "I told them we are going to rape that bartender and they backed out." He spits blood on the ground before pulling out a switchblade. "More for me then. So screw them. They ain't my friends now."

 

Jikair almost burst out laughing at his weapon. She pulled off her backpack and reached in. Grabbing a handle to a weapon she carries around everywhere. His blade was almost four inches long and not that thick. She pulls the sheath off her weapon and the blade was almost nine inches long and could cut if it even touches the skin. The creep backed up but then tried to lounge at her. 

 

Jikair side stepped his attack with ease. His attack was sloppy and poorly aimed as he stumbles a little before turning around to lunge again. Again she dodges with ease. 

This fight was already finished before it began for her. She'd win with just using one arm without a weapon. He stumbled again and turned to face her. This time he tried to slash at her. She was bored and slashed upwards and sparks flew. Their blades clanked together then as he recovered he cursed at her in some kind of mumble language.

His little blade as cut almost at the handle and the blade layed on the floor between them. Jikair sheathed her dagger and put it back into her backpack.

 

Jikair: "The fight is over. You lost. So just leave and I'll let you go this time."

The creep: "I'm not leaving till I've raped you till you break!" He sounded even more pissed off more then last time. "I'm not loosing to some girl!"

 

Jikair growled angeredly as he tries desperately to pin her to the wall again. He asked for it she thought before kneeing him in the stomach and grabbing his hips. Tossing him up into the air before she jumps into the air to meet him on his way down. Kicking and punching him fourteen times before she lands on her feet while he hits the ground on his back. She brushed the hair that fell over her shoulders back to her back before removing her helmet.

 

Jikair: "I hit none vital areas on your entire body. You'll live but I doubt you'll be able to move again for a few months. After that, I wouldn't worry too much." She pulls out her cell phone and calls the cops. "Yes 911? I've got a guy who tried to force himself on me. I've disabled him so please send and ambulance plus some officers to 1032 Holly Lane. He's in the back alley behind the club." She nodded as the dispatcher told her help is on the way before hanging up. She looked down as he tries so hard to move. "You'll make a fine prison bitch in a few months. Next time I see you and you are trying to rape me or another person again." She points at him while electricity wraps around her arm. "I'll do more then temporarelly paralyze you." 

 

The creep cowers before she realizes that her natural power is showing again and quickly pulls her power back. Putting the helmet on before hopping onto her bike and taking off. Not wanting to be around when the police show up. It was almost five thirty am when she finally parks her bike in the parking garage of the building she lives in. 

Taking the express elevator to the twenty-second floor. Soon as the door opens she walks out and turns right. Heading down the hallway before hitting door 352. Her apartment is huge. She had to have a huge place. There was a huge room just for training that was big enough for her to change into were form soon as she learns how to on her own. Plus other rooms for living, eating, sleeping, a huge bathroom, and an entertainment area.

 

She tosses the backpack onto her bed and opened it up. The letter falls out first. Seal still intact before she takes it and tosses the backpack onto the chair in her room.

The note under her name was in dragonic: "Yth vucot svabol wux re. Urcaxa nomeno gelix." In common it was: "We know what you are. Read  this letter."

It was strange. The person or persons who wrote this letter knew what she is and knew her full name. She had to make up some fake last name for the humans because

pronouncing just her first name seemed to be hard for humans.

 

Jikair carefully rubs the seal. Thinking about reading it or just tossing it into the shredder. She sat on her bed for what seems like hours. The morning sun peeped threw the forest of skyscrapers that the humans built. Hitting her window and causing her vision to get very blurry. She hated it that when ever it's sunrise or sunset her vision becomes very blurry. Anything not closer then eleven feet becomes so blurry it almost looks the same. It only lasted a minute but it is a draw back to being a dragon were. During that time she decides to open the letter. Breaking the wax seal and unfolding the paper. She gave the letter a glance for any names or words she might know. One name came up and it was the only thing that was giving her the right idea to read it.

 

Jikair: "Kayin......."

 

The letter read like this.

 

                                               "Dear Jikair Annyo Ir;

 

                     "We've been watching you since you where born. Even more when you left the lab and lived with your foster parent slash teacher, Kayin.

                     Even more so since you came to NYC on your own to live with the humans. I'm sure you've notice that something is happening in the world.

                     The humans can't sense it. Can't see it. Can't even imagine that monsters such as you exist in their world. You can sense it.

                    The air smelling a  eviler and sinister then normal. The feeling that something bad is going to happen. Well your senses and feelings are not wrong Jikair"

 

                     "Something is going to happen and not to creatures that go bump in the night. Even the humans will be affected. No one and nowhere is safe right now.

                     A group of super natural beings, including Kayin, went out to investigate a man thought dead. They are on the run from overwhelming odds towards NYC.

                   To a place called Sanctuary. I'm sure you know it well since you work at the club it's above. For nearly two years and you've been working under a safe haven

                  for creatures like you and Kayin. Your club owner has several clubs that are safe havens for super natural creatures that fight for the good and need a place to 

                                                             lay low from the people they are fighting or from any other groups after them."

 

                        "Kayin could use your help in the fight to protect the world we live in now. We've worked too hard over the centuries to coexist with the humans.

                         You've lived with them for two years. I'm sure you don't want anything bad to happen to your friends. It would benifit not only you, not only humans, not only

                          creatures of the night. It will benifit us all to preserve the thin line of coexistance between humans and creatures. Present this letter to the bodyguard on the

                         second level of Sanctuary as proof you are what you are. This letter is magically enchanted so only you can read this letter. The guard will only see a seal 

                            that is undeniable proof that your not human. We await your arrival and the arrival of the group containing your foster parent, Kayin."

 

                                                                                                                                                                                  Signed;

                                                                                                                                                                                             SfC (Sanctuaries for Creatures.)

 

 

Jikair was sure this was some kind of trap to get her back into who ever created her. Maybe they want to run some experiments they couldn't when she was in their custody before but the chance to see Kayin again was worth the risk. It was too late to return to the club so she decided to sleep and wait till the club opens up again. Luckily for her, this was her day off. She hopes when she goes to the club at night, she'll be able to get some answers from Kayin. Like what the hell did he get her dragged into and where the hell he's been. And the important question of them all. How was he doing.  She  tosses the letter onto the nightstand and closes the blackout curtains to get some sleep.

 

By the time she woke up it was getting dark out. She usually spends her days off either training or sleeping. So she just tosses on her black steel toe leather boots and her black jacket then grabs her helmet before taking the letter and heading out the door of her apartment. Taking the express elevator to the parking level she's parked in.

Tucking the letter in the inner pocket of her jacket before the doors ding and open up. She was a little more alert after the morning incident and the letter as she gets on her bike. Turning it over and taking off to the club. An hour passed by after getting threw traffic and parks her bike in the back alley like normal. Turning off the bike and locking it up with some chains and a heavy titanium pad lock before walking inside. Taking off and putting her helmet in her locker before heading out to the floor. Waving at her fellow employees and people that where her fans of a sort before walking upstairs. She was stopped at the top stairs by this extremely buff and tall guard.

 

Guard: "Sorry Jikair. You can't come in without permission from the club owner." He tries to turn her around while she digs in her jacket. 

 

Jikair: "Hey wait mister. I've got a letter saying I have the right to enter this level."

 

Guard: "You do? Should of showed it to me sooner. Well let's see it." He crosses his arms as he waits for her to pull the letter out.

 

Jikair pulls the letter out and unfolds it before handing it to the guard. He takes a look at it before looking at her before looking back at the letter. He takes a step back and pockets the letter then taps on the door in some kind of knock code before it opens up. 

 

Guard: "Well your in Jikair. Never thought you'd be a were. Seem way to normal."
 

Jikair actually felt complimented. A guard who deals with creatures like her says she seems like a normal human.

 

Jikair: "Thanks and that's the first time anyone has called me normal." 

 

Guard: "Your welcomed and better hurry up. Door won't stay open all day." He says ushering her towards the door.

 

Jikair: "Ok ok! Don't shove. I do have legs." She says walking into this room. A few people where in there already. She picked up the spanish guy instantly who was talking to a woman who could barely speak english with a heavy french accent. 

 

There where others but no Kayin. This ticked her off but she was relived that it wasn't some trap to get her back into the labs where she was created for more testing as the scientists called it. More like torture for her. Jikair walked over to an empty seat and plopped down into it. Avoiding any conversations if possible.

[Akieen Cloud]

Darian pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out a sigh.

"Alright, we'll talk, but first. Let's get your and your crowd some new clothes. Some of you look like hell and other smell like it. Literally."

Akieen looked over her bare shoulder at Kayin who in turn frowned slightly before sniffing his sleeve and making a slight sour face. 

"Fine. Make it quick."
Darian nodded and motioned for Akieen to follow his sister while the men followed him. Up the stairs they went til she followed the fem vamp into a room on the left.

"I do apologize for the choice of attire Lady Akieen."

Akieen raised an eye brow.

"Oh?"
Opening the closet Akieen felt her self frown at the dresses contained inside.

"All we have here are our clothes from the old days when we were born. My brother informed me of your distaste for such clothes."

"What's your name?"
"Amilin, my Lady."

"Okay, first off. Stop calling me that."
"But your the-"

"Don't matter. Just stop it. And second. What's the simplest thing you have in here?"
Akieen watched as the little woman ducked into the closet and began to rustle around until she came out, holding a plain, robin egg blue dress with a white collar. The sleeves billowed out, much like the shirt Malachai had given her. The boots were old time-y and buttoned all the way up. The heel had Akieen wobbling some what before she got the hang of it. It was then that Amilin pulled her long pale tresses back and wrapped it around it's self and into a simple yet elegant loose pony tail. The over all effect had Akieen's breath hitching. She looked in the mirror barely realizing it was her own reflection.

"You look beautiful."

She nodded and followed the young woman back down stairs, the gruff voice catching her off guard and making her glad she still had a hold of the banister.

"You look like a woman. That's new."
She looked over, not shocked when she saw Kayin and Darian, the voice having been from Darian; but it was Kayin that was hold her attention at the moment. His hair had been combed free of tangles from the fights and was covering half his face. He was leaning on the wall, one foot propped up behind him as his arms were crossed over his chest. The blood red suite Darian had put him in matched him well and accented his features as well. The glossy dress shoes seems some how mismatched on his feet. But the over all effect the suite had on the half demon was almost memorizing. It was then she came back to her senses to see said half demon looking at her oddly, no doubt taking notice of her staring. Clearing her throat she looked at Darian who was in a coal grey suite.

"If you've forgotten, I am a woman. Now down to our conversation."
"You lot look famished. Why not talk and eat. I can tell your hungry Akieen."
"We just had breakfast."
"And you couldn't eat again?"
She looked around and noticed that some of them indeed did look famished and remember that most of them had only picked at their food later that morning.

"Fine. But Darian. You had best start talking."
She walked past him and through the warehouse into the far room that opened up into a lavish style living room.
"How can you afford to remodel places like this?"
"Family fortune. Not only that, you live as long as we do, you learn to put money away."
Akieen nodded knowing she too has a few bank accounts her self. Sitting down next to Dark she sighed as the others filed in. All the men now sporting tailored suites, Dark's happened to be a deep royal purple that matched him very well. The white under shirt and black vest fitting him nicely. Mikhail was wearing a white suite, his friend was wearing what seemed to be a greyish blue. Barracus in his usual black suite, but her eyes lingered on Kayin once again as he moved through the doors. It wasn't until Dark's whispering caught her attention that she looked away.

"He looked quite nice tonight doesn't he?"
"Yes he does...wait, who are we talking about?"
"A certain half demon that has seemed to wiggle his way past your barriers? Perhaps through all that eluding and chasing done these past years?"

"Whatever Dark. He hates me. That's plain to see. And it't not like I care any way."

"I see, so you have no interest in him what so ever?"
"Dark, it doesn't matter. You know I won't go that route, no matter what. Not only that, ever if I did have some kind of interest in him, he has the emotional capacity of a snail."
"I'm not so sure Akieen. He did give you his coat."
"I was naked."
"And you think it was because he was uncomfortable? I heard his mother was a succubus. I doubt nudity makes him uncomfortable."
"And I think your reading to much into this."
"Admit it, and I will leave it alone."
Akieen glanced over at him and rolled her eyes noticing that the entire time he had simply been cleaning his nails as if it was just a regular conversation. 

"There's nothing to admit Dark."
"I think there is Akieen. I think a part of you grew attached to him while he was chasing you."

"I got used to it. That's all."
"Akieen, you can not tell me, that when you look at him right now. Your not attracted to him."
Akieen found Kayin again and watched him move, it was fluid, and powerful, like the way many of them moved. She could see his eyes scanning the area before landing on her and frowning at finding her watching him again. She looked away slowly, before putting her face in her hands.

"By the powers that be...your right..."
"I told you."
She shook her head, her stomach clenching tightly.

"I can't let this turn into anything. Dark, you have to help me."
"Of course. But, I must tell you. I think it would be a good thing for you to open up to someone other then me."
With that, she watched as he stood, offered Kayin his seat and walked away with out waiting for an answer; Akieen simply watching him. Her expression changed as Kayin took the offered seat and looked at her. His eyes burning into her. 

"Is there a reason you've been watching me?"
"No...yes...I mean-"
"Are you really so much like a child you can not speak when you've been found out?"
Akieen frowned now and looked at him heatedly.

"I was watching you because..." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "You look handsome in the suite Darian gave you."
She watched out of the corner of her eye as Kayin looked over him self and nodded.

"Thank you."

She nodded, and took a deep breath before taking a sip of the cold water already placed on the table, the condensation wet her palm as she picked the glass up and moved it towards her lips, before her grip slipped and the glass fell to the floor.

"Dammit..."
She leaned over to pick it up, at the same time Kayin did, the tops of their head colliding. 

"Ouch..."
She looked up and sighed, sitting up and allowing Kayin to pick it up for her.

"You really just have no luck...do you?"
"No. I don't. I'm jinxed."
"So all those times you escaped me-"

"Were flukes. I just happened to cause enough chaos for you to not notice the bad things happening around you. So when it did happen, I just took the chance to sneak off."
"So, it's not that your a five year old. Your just extremely unlucky. In a lucky way."
Akieen thought about this for a moment before smiling, a small chuckle leaving her.

"I suppose that's a way of putting it."
He nodded slowly.

"It's a wonder your even alive."
She laughed lightly and nodded.
"The small instances with your are just the tip of the iceberg, you should have been there for some of my other moments."
"Something tells me to be glad I wasn't."
She nodded again.
"Oh, yes. I would imagine so. I think...the worst one was by far, a long time ago. Long before this day and age. My family and I were..."
She trailed off as the memories filled her head. Memories she liked to keep away. 

"Your family? I thought-"
"I am the only one. I out lived them. None of them are alive today."
Kayin nodded, respecting her silence and Akieen noticed his eyes look up and follow Darian as he entered the dining room. A large cart rolling behind him laden with meats, wines, cheeses and other fine dishes.

"You vampires are always so lavish."
"It's a life style we enjoy Akieen. We can blend in better then your kind."
Akieen felt hackles come from her throat.

"I told you before-"
"I know. But on to the topic of the afternoon. You need to make sanctuary before tomorrow night."
"Do you know where it is?"
â??"It's under the island of Manhattan. Under a dance club owned by the Elfik. The only problem, they've closed the sanctuary."
Akieen stood quickly.

"What? Why?"
"The catacombs underneath that link with the sanctuary. They're the catacombs of the five families."
Akieen felt the blood drain from her face.

"Y-Your kidding? The five family catacombs...that's the sanctuary?"
"Not entirely. The sanctuary is a web of tunnels, all within a certain area of holy ground protected by Alistair. Only some of the tunnels meet with the catacombs, the years have take their tole and some of the walls have crumbled allowing passage from the safety of the sanctuary and into the catacombs."
Akieen covered her face with her hand and sighed.

"Then what can we do?"
"Convince the Elfik you need to get under there."
Kayin frowned as the information soaked in.

"Five families? I thought there were only four?"
Darian shook his head sadly.

"There are four remaining. There were originally five vampire families that all lived in a maze of tunnels under Manhattan before everything was built. Before it was even called Manhattan. The Corvus, Elfik, Agaline, Taki, and the Ulquin clans. All the clans lived well together until one day the tamer four began to discover the Ulquin's nasty habit for mauling their victims instead of taking just what we needed. Their blood lust began to escalate until after a meal he human wasn't even distinguishable as a human. The old murder, the Ripper was of the Ulquin clan. They ripped their victims to pieces, gnawing on the limbs til they were nothing but bloody clumps of flesh and bone. The rest of the families decided we could no long allow them to continue their destructive feasting, or we would all be found out and hunted to the brink of extinction. And so the war of the families began. Much of the fighting was done down in the catacombs, death permeated from the tunnels, blood filled the sewers and for nearly 20 years they fought til finally, the Ulquin clan was brought to it's knees. The families were separated then, each going their own way, but not before doing one last act of violence towards their brethren. Walling the dead, and remaining Ulquin members within the catacombs they filled it with gas, and ignited it, sealing them within the thick stone walls. Tales tell that the floors of the catacombs are covered in ankle deep ash from the brothers and sisters that were burned to death in the tunnels. Others have said that if some one were to venture into the catacombs, they would never return."

Akieen looked over as Baldr spole for the first time.

"Sounds like some kind of bad vampire horror story."

Darian nodded slowly.
"Your right. But it's still keeping you from being safe away from my family."
Akieen frowned as he said this.
"Yeah, about that. See, I have a problem with this. You say you didn't agree with your father, so what kept him from killing you? You know, the whole family telepathy thing."
"It's easy to fool an old man Akieen. We simply thought what he wanted to hear, but believed something different. Once he was killed we made our move here and waited you out."
"I see. And, now that your father is dead? Now that I killed him?"
"Now we run. We run as if the devil him self is at our heels. Cause for all intents and purposes...he is."
Akieen felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end at these words.
"D-Darian...w-who took over your family...?"
"You don't want to know."
"You tell me what I want to know right now!"
â??The others jumped slightly at the panicked tone of her voice. Darian only seemed to be expecting it.

"My uncle Trystan..."
Akieen sunk into her seat, the breath leaving her as the color drained from her face.
"Tyrant Trystan...wonderful."
Mikhail shook his head.

"What's the big deal about this man?"
Darian shook his head in return.

"He is no man. He is a devil in his own rights. Far less peaceful then my father was, and ten times more brutal. He has a blood lust and taste for human flesh that battles even the worst tales of the Ulquin family. He is murderous and clever. Powerful beyond measure due to his intake of human blood, and crazy also because of it."
Kayin frowned now.

"Crazy because of it?"
"It's the reason we no long live off of human blood, only ingest enough to keep us alive. It's become a drug to us. The more we drink, the stronger we become, but the more dependent of it we become as well. It eventually drives us into insanity. Much like  a wild animal being taken over by rabies. Much stronger then normal. But extremely aggressive, unpredictable, and dangerous. My uncle is one of the worst cases I have ever seen of blood poisoning I've ever known of."
The all nodded slowly.

"So we have to move. We have to move now."
Darian shook his head at Akieen.
"You can't...not now. It's to late in the afternoon, evening will be upon us soon. And after that the night will be alive."
"So we need to-"

"The full moon is tonight Akieen. Two of your company will not be able to travel by normal means. You need to get them into the underground area here, get them into the cells and get them comfortable before the moon rises. As for you, you need to be put into solitude as well."
At this Kayin frowned more.

"I thought should could control her changes."
She nodded slowly.
"I can...but I still need to be put away for my own safety."
"Your own..."
Dark cleared his throat.

"The full moon is a 'breeding time' so to speak for her. She is the most susceptible to her fating instincts  and it takes much of her sanity to fight them off. If she's on her own it takes less."
Kayin shook his head confused.

"Fating...?"
Akieen sighed as she looked over to him.

"My fating is what it's called when I find 'the one'. Or my fated mate. It's a natural process that I can not fight and I have no control over. It could literally be anyone. I have no choice of who it is. All I know is the feeling I get when I meet that person. That's all I can tell you. And I can't put it any better then that cause I don't know how."
Sighing she nodded to Mikhail and Baldr who both seemed to have forgotten that it was so close to being time, and both looked less the happy about the arrangement. Darian took notice as well and gained their attention.

"I can assure you, the cells are not what they sound like. They are very comfortable, just more fortified for such occasions. Or if one of our kind go feral. I promise, you and the outside world will be safe from each other."
Akieen cleared her throat.

"Do it. We don't have time to argue about it. We don't have the time to out run the night and make it to sanctuary in time, and the 3 of us can't be out of the streets like this."
They nodded, but still looked less then happy about the situation. She looked up at Darian and nodded.

"After this. I'm severing my ties to you and your family."

He nodded.

"I understand."
 

 

(Alright everyone, please no surprise twists here. We're staying with Darian through the night, and the full moon. Once it's over we'll move on to the sanctuary. A couple time we've moved ahead a little quicker then I wanted so let's just get through this and the next time I post we'll be at sanctuary. ^^)
 

[Kayin Cloud]

Kayin held a brief moment of disgust upon hearing who was in charge now. He wasn't willing to accept that Trystan would take over the family now, but there was little he could do about it. For all intensive purposes, he would follow Akieen's example on this one. He gave a look to Darian before shaking his head. "Sorry, old friend. Sorry to hear that that sick bastard is going to be taking over for your father. At least Malachai had a good reason in comparison. But Trystan..." he trailed off, staring blankly at his plate of food.

 

"It's alright, Kayin. We'll manage just fine," Darian said with a bit of a smile, his sister nodding in agreement. "You lot need to worry about getting some rest and getting to sanctuary when the day is upon us. Despite what happened at the other sanctuary, you all need to try and press forward tomorrow to New York."

 

"Well, once we get there, it's not going to be some trip to the park getting in. Can't say my last meeting with an angel was...too exciting..." Kayin replied, lowering his head. "Though he was the first angel I've met. And the first to gain my respect. I hope not the last," he said, glancing to Akieen. "We'll get this done for Gabe's sake," Kayin spoke softly, with a promising look in his eye. He then started eating, remaining quiet while the others socialized. Kayin had pretty much toned everyone out, still a bit disturbed with how far he felt himself slip in battle. I can still smell the stench of battle and brimstone on me... I just have to remember that it's what I am. I am a demon. I'm a human as well. Never shall I lose one or the other. As his thoughts came to a close, so did his meal. He wiped his mouth clean, seeing that Akieen was still working on her dish. Kayin stood up, placing a hand on Akieen's shoulder with a faint smile and giving a silent nod to the others before heading out of the dining room.

 

"Is everything alright, Kayin?" Darian asked.

 

"...." Kayin looked over his shoulder. "Not until we seal Rasputin's fate. But I'll manage until then. For now, I need to contact my disciple," he said, turning his head forward.

 

"Ah, you mean your daughter?" Darian asked again with a bit of a smirk.

 

Kayin glanced back before looking ahead again, placing his swords back at his waist and back. He pulled a cell phone from his pocket and seemed to disappear in a moment, leaving the others to their own devices. He appeared again outside of the building and then covered quite a bit of ground. He finally came to a stop a few miles off. The phone flipped open in his hand and a spark from his hand jolted it to life. He typed in a few words in draconic, looking at the screen before he sent the message. "Itheik ihk ve, vrak. Qe tokeq vur si geou ehtah wux shafaer sia arrival. Nakta dout wits zahae wux.(Wait for me, child. Be safe and I will find you on my arrival. Keep your wits about you.)" Once the message read "sent" on his screen, Kayin's hand exploded with electricity, vaporizing the cellular device. He turned toward the northeast, exhaling slowly. Kayin closed his eyes before disappearing again, reappearing a few miles outside of the garage they were holed up in. Dimension Doors surely come in handy. He covered the rest of the route on foot. Darian greeted Kayin at the door and he stepped back inside to see the others were just finishing their meals. He decided that tonight would be a good night for them to actually sit together, resuming his chair beside Akieen. At least they could try and enjoy some downtime until it was time for the weres to take to their designated arrangements.

[Darth Vectis]

â??Yes! It is finally time for some tea and maybe I shall
finally get my 100 sugars I ordered from that blasted woman.� Barracus said
merrily to himself, the pouch that held his trophy clenched in his free hand.
His other hand slowly spinning the cane through his fingers as he seemed to
dance around in boredom, his feet idly tapping as he seemed to be bouncing
around to some unheard music. The others were growing accustomed to his antics
in their short time together, their eyes no longer falling on him when he let
his mind wander and his lips speak whatever came to mind. But right now, his
mind was far from gone as it normally was; his trophy he had taken from his
Lich brother was having a more profound effect on him. He was thinking more
clearly, but only for short times as he was discovering, he wasnâ??t able to hold
on to the time if he tried but it did happen progressively. Sometimes, it would
last for mere moments; other time he had felt it last for at least an hour. It
was becoming intoxicating to him, being able to participate in the real world
once more instead of as a raving lunatic he had been before. But, he would need
to keep up behavior; he would let none of them know how clear he was now.

â??I would so desire to see Charles once more, where is that
lazy servant of mine? Charles! I demand a foot rub! We walked for days without
any rest, through harsh deserts and blistering winds! It was dreadful.� He
flourished around, throwing his hands and arms out as he embellished the story
and then plopped down into a arm chair with his feet thrown out in front of
him. He looked around with as innocent and child like look as he possibly
could, seeing how they were preparing for the full moon tonight. It was an
event that would weigh heavily on this band of misfits, the fear of them being
out in the open when the change happened, the fear the originator had of
something she called the Fating. It was an event he had heard about, something
spoken amongst the higher Lichs when he had moments of clarity. When they thought
he couldnâ??t hear their words, hear their whispers of his demise, of how they
had tried their best to strip him of his mind. His eyes looked to see who was
doing what, what kind of preparations they were planning to make and what the
new lay of the land was. He caught one person looking at him, the half demon
named Kayin, if he was actually remembering him correctly. His eyes had fallen
on the Lich Lord, something about them seem to be scrutinizing him for
something more. The look only lasted a few moments and Barracus was sure his
bright smile and his child like behavior was enough to subdue whatever
suspicion was in that observation.

â??Alright, I bid you all a good night and for those of you
changing tonight that you remain in your rooms and stay safe. The rest should
stay away from them; it will be a long night.� Darian spoke clearly now,
checking over everyone before making his departure, vanishing into another room.
Barracus watched them all disperse for the time; Mikhail seemed the most
aggravated with the whole situation. Baldr behaving as a soldier, quiet and
weighing the options in his mind before entering into his designated cage. They
prettied them up, gave those comfortable beds and chairs and put down rugs of
very exquisite fabric and design, but the walls were reinforced, the doors
having been replaced with titanium bars. It was for everyoneâ??s protection, or
so they had all be told, it was just another justification for being in another
prison. Barracus was pleased he wouldnâ??t be trapped in those confines, though
it couldnâ??t hold his particular power but it was enough for the feral behavior
of the were-creatuers. He rose from the arm chair, following behind Mikhail as
he was closed up into his room. The barred door slamming shut as Barracus took
his seat beside the door, stretching out and getting comfortable even though he
was to retire to his own room. He found no reason to go there; sleep was simply
a way to waste time while other creatures gained their energy back. He would
remain awake for the time, while he could still appreciate his mind being
whole. Or as whole as it could be with the time he had, he looked over his
shoulder as he saw Mikhail pacing back and forth as he could feel the change
begin to take hold. It was more gradual then Barracus had been ready for, it
was going to grow boring very quickly, and he wasnâ??t going to waste any time.

â??Mikhail, if I actually remember your name correctly. It has
been an interesting journey with you so far, your strength as a were-wolf is
quite remarkable. Your blood is pure which must mean your clan is very strong, Europe
seems to have a way of breeding some of the best.� Mikhail had a stunned look
on his face, having been prepared for his antics, the ranting and raving of
foolish statements. What he was seeing now, was very different, he was seeing a
part of the Lich Lord he could only understand when he stripped away his flesh
and became the desiccated corpse.

â??Why do you sound so different Barracus?â? The Lich stood
from his seat, removing his hat he set his cane on the ground balancing it perfectly
as he placed his hat over the orb before he started to pace in front of the
cage with one hand behind his back as he gestured with the other.

â??Ah yes, you speak of when my mind is scattered to the wind,
when the world is nothing more than a play thing to me. I have my mind, for now
at least, and I have decided to reveal that information to you as you and Baldr
have shown to be the most trust worthy.� Mikhail had a grim look on his face,
his body was shaking lightly but hearing the Lich speak in this fashion was
enough to divert his attention and his focus to the task at hand.

â??I do not fully understand, why tell me anything, Baldr
seems to know you better then I. And what is to keep me from telling the others
of your mental clarity?� Barracus let a smile creep on his face, continuing his
pacing back and forth.

â??I sense in you something more, a desire for something
greater than this. This entrapment they give you to control your power to
change, I cannot offer you the answer to how, but I can offer my assistance and
my vast knowledge and experience if you do two things for me.� The Lich looked
stopped his pacing to look into the eyes of the werewolf, seeing how they were beginning
to shift to accommodate the beast within.

â??Iâ??m listening.â? Barracus showed his white smile more
clearly, a victory in his mind as he started to pace once more and gesture again.

â??First, you must keep this to yourself for now. The others
would not understand, and I am sure it would create more problems with Rasputin
trying to free himself. Second, the Lich we saw at the castle of the angel, the
2^nd. He will find me, hopefully he will come alone and when he does I
ask that you help me in killing him.�

â??You did well enough when we last saw him, you nearly won,
why do you need my help next time?�

â??Simply because he will use all of his power next time, he
had underestimated me in our last encounter but we will not have that luxury
again. I do not know how my mind will be when I see him next, but I say this
now, I must be the one to perform the final blow. Do we have an agreement?�
Mikhail was standing tall, his muscle taut as he stared hard at the true Lich
Lord beneath the exterior that everyone knew as Barracus.

â??I agree, but I do not like this.â?

 

â??It does not matter if you like the deal or not, simply
follow the agreement and everything will be fine. Charles will make sure that
things go as I need them, wonâ??t you Charles?â? The figure appeared, his old
clothes mended and his body hidden once more.

â??Charles is actually a person? I thought he was just an
insane mans creation.�

â??He is now, but before, he was the Lich who I killed for
this place. Him and all the others I conquered to get where I am today are
under my rule, so sad I couldnâ??t add the angel to my army. Another time
perhaps.� Barracus smiled for just a moment longer at Mikhail before his smile
dropped and his hands went ot his head.

 

â??For the love of tea and beagles, how odd is this floor-NO!â?
Barracus knelled on the ground for several moments, his hands still gripping his
head.

â??My mind fades, do not forget our deal Mikhail, or you will
follow in Charles footsteps!� His eyes bulged for a moment as a laugh erupted
from his throat, something mixed with both darkness and innocence lost. The
laughter stopped then, and a wide eyed smiling Barracus looked up once more,
looking around as if being there for the first time.

â??My, my, this is a splendid place indeed. I should have one
just like it, Charles! I require you begin construction on my wonderfunland
immediately, make everything out of cotton candy and bubbles. Itâ??ll keep costs
down and easy to replace.â? Barracusâ?? eyes caught on to Mikhail in the cage, his
body slowly folding in on himself as the change was becoming more powerful, and
the effect more obvious.

â??My boy! You are sure looking lousy in there, let me assist
you. Charles, let the door open, he obviously needs more air, and the poor creature
is suffocating!� Charles moved forward, skeletal hands firmly placed on the
door as he gave it one solid tug with a loud metal snap. The door now hung
loosely, as Barracus reclaimed his hat and cane, bouncing like a child once
more as he clapped his hands with anticipation for a game he wasnâ??t sure of
yet.

[Shwa]

The conversation with Barracus was an interesting one at that; but with the burning rage building more and more inside of Mikhail, it was hard for him to concentrate as well on what the Lich was saying.  Thankfully, he reformed back to his "child like" state of mind when he did, for Mikhail could stand no more to keep back his rage as his body tried to transform into his feral wolf form.  Instead, his human muscles grew to an astonishing proportion, making Mikhail seem taller in stature and more build like a power lifter from a distant eye, if only normal human would know the reason for it.  Barracus and Charles simply stood by as Mikhail grunted and hissed through his teeth, the obvious signs of pain couldn't be any more blatant, but the Lich continued on his rants as Mikhail slowly stepped out of the cell, Baldr still in the other holding unit, meditating on his own.  Unlike Mikhail, the were-tiger was more in control during the full moon than Mikhail could be, always has been ever since they've met one another many years back.  Mikhail continued to profusely sweat from his pores, his temperature rising as minutes passed, his clothes seemed to choke his body as his mass grew.  His skin felt as if it were delicate paper to prevent his transformation, the Russian knew that if he were to let his feral side come out, he would be a far superior enemy in that state that his norm.  Looking through the door window of Baldr's cell, Mikhail curled his hand into a fist and pounded on the steel door hard, seeing his friend slip an eye open and peer at his younger friend.  

"How can you let them cage you like an animal?!"  Mikhail spoke heavily under his breath, breathing became almost impossible as he held his own to keep his transformation from becoming complete.  Baldr raised an eyebrow before closing his eye once more to continue to meditate.

 

"You know this is how I keep myself in check, I've tried teaching you but you've never stayed long enough to fully learn"  Another fist slamming into the door, this time the Russians knuckles made contact, easily tearing his flesh as blood poured from his bruise now forming on his right hand.  

 

"I've never been caged when this time of the rotation came by, I've always been free to roam around in the snow, hunt, drink, something rather than be treated like an animal..."  Mikhail groaned more, sinking to his knees, gasping for more air which seemed so precious more than ever to him now in his time of need.  Barracus casually stepped from the cell with Charles right behind him, his cane tapping down onto the floor with each strike he took, turning to see his friend resisting the transformation with all his might.

 

"I do say my boy, I would certainly love to see that large white wolf I had saw not too long ago.  He was as might as a stallion and swifter than the wind."  Barracus tapped at Mikhail's shoulder with the tip point of his cane.  "You don't know where I can find that fine creature, do you?"  Mikhail growled at the gull of the question.

 

"Are you playing games with me Lich?!"  Mikhail almost roared, his finger tips digging into the steel door, denting them in their place as the Russian stood from his spot, easily towering over the necromancer and his servant, as he looked down with bloodshot eyes.  

 

"Games?  I love games, in fact, the other Liches and I..."  As soon as the story began, it ended.  Mikhail shotgunned his fist towards the smaller lich, but the bloody fist was met by the fist of Charles, his servant.  The collision of two strong forces generated a small shock wave, only pushing back Charles and Barracus a bit, Mikhail stood in his place.  Baldr stood from his spot and peered out from the doors window.  

 

"Barracus, now is really not the time to fool around."  The were tiger warned, Mikhail began to lose himself to his feral side, his tail produced on its own as did his ears and fangs, bearing them at his ally and man servant.  "Mikhail, control yourself!"  Baldr warned, but the Russian was at his last wits to keep his entire being into check.  The door opened to their location, the vampire sister of Damian, Rose, came in to check the commotion.  Mikhail looked at the vampire beauty...and lost it all.  With great speed, he rushed past the two friends raising his arm, leaping high into the air for a swooping low slash at the young woman.  However, the Lich was more in tune with his bodily controls, suddenly appearing in front of Rose with his cane high in the air held by both hands, almost in baseball position.  As Mikhail came close enough...

 

THWACK!!!

 

His whole body was sent flying back to the cell, smashing through his cell wall with a might, earth shaking force.  The speed of the Lich was remarkable, but this was almost God like as he came to the aid of the vampire maiden.  Barracus twirled his cane before planting it firmly in front of his body, poised and gentlemen like as Charles stood by his side once again.  
 

"I do enjoy a rousing game of whack-a-mole as much as the next golfer does.  Wait, do golfers actually hit moles?  Bah...these are questions best saved for later.  Charles, where has our friend gone to?  Did he see me hit the mole?"  Rose tilted her head at the babbling of the Lich, wondering if he really was insane or not.   Massive snarling could be heard from inside the decimated cell, but also the roar of another creature close to it.  Rose, the Lich, and Charles only hears more rumbling and cracking from the cell, that was until Baldr's tiger form flew from the entrance made by Barracus towards the group.  Rose got in front of the others to catch the were tiger, grasping him soft and delicate, yet hard enough to stopped his movements before she landed on her feet.  The were tiger grunted hard, shaking his head before standing on his hind legs and joining the others as Mikhail's wolf form slowly appeared from the cell wall hole, snarling and drooling, his eyes fixated on his targets as he finally stopped, holding his ground.

 

"This place was not meat for such beasts and battles, it's too small and cramped.  If this happens, we have to stop it here...and..."  Rose looked at Barracus, who seemed to pay attention to only Baldr and Mikhail, looking back and forth between the two before speaking aloud.  

 

"Charles...its a KITTY!!  There's the might stallion dog I've rode before.  Quickly, we must capture them for our collection"  Baldr growled at the Lich before turning back to Mikhail, the wolf acted upon instinct and charged quickly, Baldr and Rose lead the defense, both tacking the werewolf as all three rolled in the air before landing hard.  Baldr's tiger claws holding up Mikhail's front paws from crushing his body on the ground, Rose choke holding the massive wolf as best as she can and pulling back so the Russian would not snap at the tiger.  Barracus, now on top of Charles shoulder, joined the taming as well, batting away at Mikhail's maw to assist the tiger and vampire.  The feral wolf latched onto the staff at its center, now a grueling game of tug-o-war happened between the Lich and the werewolf.  Rose leaned in as close as she could without lessening her grip, finding a free area to attack.  

 

"I am sorry, but this will help you in the long run"  Quickly leaning down, the vampire stuck her fangs into Mikhail's neck line, draining only a little blood for 4 seconds before the wolf whipped his neck back, sending her flying off.  Baldr slashed at the wolf's chest, making the massive creature back away at the pain, in the process making Mikhail release Barracus' cane.  The four formed up again, having cornered the werewolf, still ready to kill upon intent.  Rose brushed her lips clean of blood from her mouth, she wasn't able to get much, but it did put a sting into Mikhail's system for what it was worth.  Baldr growled back at the barking wolf, both staring one another down, his friend trying to help the Russian as best as he could, but so far, to no avail.  The idea of locking them up in a cell in the first place was a big mistake.  Barracus slid from Charles shoulders and held his place with the the others.  

 

"I do say, this is a fun game of whack-a-mole!"  The werewolf huffed a massive amount of air into its lungs before bellowing out a vibrant howl, the howl itself sent the party members back a bit by the sheer force of the base and volume, almost like the collision fists of Mikhail and Charles from before, a shock wave.  Baldr growled and hissed before regaining his ground and charging again, Rose right behind, and the Lich with his servant once more at his side at the group collided again with the werewolf.   

[Deadpool]

 

 Baldr growled from his throat as Mikhail was becoming more and more out of hand. "Rose would you be kind enough to go get me those thick silver chains I noticed in the store room we passed." The female vampire paused for a second, her eyes taking in Baldr who had almost fully transformed. "Your a..." 

 

"Now you blood sucker!" With that she scurried off as Barracus continued to babble to himself "  Ð?иÑ?аил, ваÑ? пÑ?осяÑ? за него. Я даÑ? вам еÑ?е один Ñ?анс. Успокойся сейÑ?ас" (Mikhail, your asking for it. I give you one more chance. Calm down now). The wolf continued to struggle as Baldr just gritted his teeth. "  Ð¢Ð¾Ð³Ð´Ð° Ñ?Ñ?Ñ?аÑ?" (Fine then)

 

Like tossing a doll Baldr twisted to his left sending the wolf flying across the room, through another cell door and into the cement wall causing the blocks to crack in a spider web pattern. Mikhail struggle to his feet obviously dazed as he wobbled on his feet. Instantly Baldr was on him and snapped his neck. "Сон Ñ?Ñ?го пÑ?ияÑ?елÑ?. Ð?Ñ? посÑ?аÑ?аемся снова Ñ?еи полной Ð?Ñ?нÑ?" (Sleep tight buddy. We will try again next full moon) Shifting back and tightening the belt on his pants, he hefted the still form of the wolf and set him on a bed rack in an undamaged cell as Rose came running back in with two five feet coils of finely made heavy silver chains. "Did you kill him?'

 

Baldr walked over to his bag that he had brought in his cell, looking through it as he spoke. "Nein(no). He will be back on his feet in an hour" He pulled out a bottle of scotch that he had swiped from the tavern and took a swig before holding his hands out for the chains. He wrapped one around each hand covering his fists with a foot hanging free.

 

"What are those for?"

 

"Wie viele Fragen(how many questions), Keep him in check. Now I suggest you leave кÑ?ови пÑ?исоски"(blood sucker) He walked past her with the bottle back to the other cell where Barracus was poking the unconscious wolf with his cane.

 

"Wake up. Dogs are not allowed on the bed" Barracus' face was tight as Charles stood behind him impassively.

 

"Why do I need to leave cat?" The last word dripped from her lips, but soon she gasped in surprise as Baldr had her by the throut pressed up against the wall. His eyes changed to the yellow of the tiger as she struggled to no avail. 

 

"I would watch your mouth Blutsauger(blood sucker) when you have no idea what your dealing with. The tiger is different from the wolf in almost every way. Very few rules apply to both. But that is not the point of why I want you to leave my dear fleur(flower)." He leaned in close beside her ear, his breath hot on her neck. "The Mond(moon) takes to make me a little more frisky then normally and right now your the only thing in here that doesn't have dick between their legs so unless you would like one there and you be screaming the rest of the night, I am suggesting you leave." With that he let go letting her fall on the her butt.

 

She sat there a few seconds before scurrying to the door, but before she closed it she paused. "One more question"

 

"Сладкий Ð?эÑ?и маÑ?еÑ?и Ð?ога(SWEET MARY MOTHER OF GOD) WHAT!?"

 

"How many languages go you speak?"

 

"Twenty, sort of a hobby of mine."With that the steel door was shut and the barricade was heard sliding into place. He turned back to see Barracus standing before him.

 

"You look strangely familiar. Have we had tea before...or did I have tea with you...or as that the same thing....or maybe it was a game. Oh right whack-a-mole..."

 

Baldr let out a sigh. "Baldr Wolff Jäger. The brave wolf hunter"

 

Barracus paused for a second. "Oh I remember. I asked you to recover my ring from those three nasty dogs that ruined my precious flowerbeds. Thats why they should stay out of the flowers and off of the beds. Cats are better not in the way as much....though that big one would be...oh but I wish to ride it."

 

Baldr smiled as he shook his head. "Your mind is escaping you faster and faster my dear old friend." He said under his breath.

 

Barracus paused to look at him. "My dear boy you shouldn't talk to yourself, people find that crazy....or do they think its crazy....CHARLES!"

 

I wonder how long until you have no recollection of me my dear old freind. He frowned over that thought before sitting on the bed rack opposite of Mikhail and pulling out a exquisite and finely made silver ring with a large red ruby laid in the center. "Here Ñ?оваÑ?иÑ?(comrade). Your ring back."

 

Barracus happily skipped around the room before sitting on the floor off to Baldr's right as Baldr took a swig of scotch then began shuffling cards. "So what game are we playing my dear hunter?"

 

"Whatever you want friend?" He paused as he heard the sound of Mikhail's neck resetting himself. "Sorry" He slammed his elbow hard on his neck breaking it again. "Your got two more hours you need to sleep."  

 

After the next neck break Baldr covered Mikhail in a blanket then went back to playing go fish with Barracus, listening to him ramble story after story getting lost in a train of comments to himself and Charles from time to time. Eventually Mikhail woke up.

 

"I feel like sh*t"

 

"That's cause I had to kick you *ss. I your spare change of clothes are in your old cell." Moments later Mikhail rejoined them and began playing as well passing the bottle around though none of them could really get drunk, which Baldr was thankful for cause a drunk Barracus would be too much. They conversed the next hour before Mikhail broke out in a smile.

 

"You know Aikeen's going to be extremely pissed off when she learns you know english"

 

Baldr grinned. "That's why I enjoy making you translate. You have to admit it is quite funny"

 

Mikhail nodded. "Yeah, how long you going to keep it up?"

 

Baldr leaned back against the wall. "For a good while. I prefer being seen as the forignier even though Kayin and Dark both know me as well.But you think that is bad just think of what is going to happen when she realizes her Alpha perk has no sway"

 

"She is going to try to kill you."

 

"Key word being try...then she will just hate me for not telling her. Then she will let you have it as well."

 

"Nice to see you are deliberately putting my into the frying pan Nazi"

 

"It's what you Soviets deserve though"They shared another laugh as Barracus began looking around. "Say does anyone know where the dog and cat went. We need to let the dog outside to use the bathroom....Charles be sure to change the litter box too..."

 

There was a brief pause before Baldr and Mikhail broke out in laughter leaving a puzzled Barracus staring at them. "What?"

 

Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. "Sounds like they are coming to let us out"

 

"Ð?онеÑ?но делаеÑ? дÑ?Ñ?гÑ?"(sure does friend) Baldr grinned as he switched to Russian.

 

"Ñ?Ñ? Ñ?блÑ?док Ð?алÑ?дÑ?"(your a b*stard Baldr)

 

Baldr grinned as he polished off the last of the bottle and stood up stretching. "Ich weiÃ?, und ich genieÃ?e jede Minute eines"(I know and I enjoy every minute of being one)

[Anakoni Stark]

After spending what seemed to
be an endlessness bout of eavesdropping on a subterranean party; the pairâ??s
door finally opened as the full moon shone brightly through the roomâ??s window.
They were greeted by a dark haired woman with very sharp features, alluring
body and black tight clothing to match. The new woman looked at the doctor and
his companion with a sly smile on her face while checking them both out as she
walked in a circle around the two. Aliâ??s right slowly reached toward the handle
of his blade as Isabelle tried her best to remain calm; they both knew
something was different about this woman.

â??Whoâ?¦ Who are you!?â?
Isabelle asked the firmness in her voice did a great job of hiding her fear as
the French woman flicked her wrists to expose her blades. â??I was sent by the oneâ??s from the
Sanctuaryâ?¦ Toâ?¦ Ahâ?¦â? The new womanâ??s voice was as smooth as glass when
she spoke to Theroux; the French woman felt slightly turned on by the sound,
which caused the agent to smile slyly again. â??â?¦ To help the two of you get
there.� The agent laughed marginally when she turned to Santiago and
brushed her hand on his cheek. Ali made a husky grunting noise as the new
womanâ??s lithe fingers slid down his jaw and he too found himself attracted to
their recovery specialist.

Isabelle was shocked to find
that Aliâ??s hand had fallen away from the handle of blade and the doctor relaxed
a bit more while their new acquaintance opened the curtains of the room. Santiago
found himself in a terrible predicament as he fell to the floor while clutching
his stomach and began to groan in pain. Isabelle wondered what was happening to
her guardian when she realised that the full moon was in effect and he was
beginning to turn, which always frightened Theroux, but to add to the stress;
there was also a new person in their presence that was now closing in on the
Spanish vampire. The new woman laughed again and spoke to both of them as
Isabelle went to aid Ali.

â??Waitâ?¦ This isnâ??t a joke is it,
doc?â? Isabelle asked as she noticed that Aliâ??s skin began to pale out
and she could hear the sound of something clicking in his mouth as Santiago
replied. â??Of course it isnâ??t!â? Ali reassured her as his words became
harder to understand and he began to try restraining himself from Isabelle. â??Noâ?¦
When was the last time you ate?� Theroux questioned the doctor as she
got up and slowly backed away from her boyfriend.

â??I found this nice Italian restaurant
on my way overâ?¦ Almost got kicked out for eating the entire menu in one sitt---
ARGH!� Ali got back up to his feet and began staggering towards
Isabelle. It seemed that the doctorâ??s attention was solely focused on her and
not on the other woman in the room, who was now smiling at the situation that
had transpired in the small derelict apartment room.

â??See this is easyâ?¦ You, doctorâ?¦
Youâ??re going to be in a lot of pain since youâ??re going through theâ?¦ yâ??know.â?
Santiagoâ??s grunting of protest finished the rest of her thought when she turned
her attention to Isabelle. â??And you? Who needs you anyway? Youâ??re not
even worthy of enslavement, human.â? The unknown womanâ??s words were
scalding but Isabelle didnâ??t want to show weakness in front of the only person
she trusted. The other womanâ?¦ Something
isnâ??t right. Kill her, Isabelle! Ali thought as the agent turned to Ali and
began making out with him. While the bass of the underground party vibrated
through the floor; Isabelle saw that the vampire and his new suitor did not
make physical contact. The French woman noticed an ethereal substance passing
between the two; a red smoke escaped from the doctorâ??s lips as Aliâ??s body began
to weaken in its rage containment and went into the new womanâ??s mouth and her
stature became stronger. Thatâ??s when it made sense to Isabelleâ?¦

Weâ??re dealing with a succubus. Arenâ??t we?

The new woman, who was now fuelled
by Aliâ??s blood lust, turned her attention to Isabelle. â??Your boyfriend was really tasty,
like caramel filled cannolies�� The succubus commented as she closed
the gap between her and Theroux in the blink of an eye. On instinct, the
brunette drove her daggers into the assailantâ??s stomach which produced a shriek
from the succubus. â??Wellâ?¦ That was easyâ?¦â? Isabelle thought out loud as she smiled
while twisting her blades in the womanâ??s stomach but their joy was short lived
as the succubus inhaled and began draining Theroux of her life force, as the
blue mist was being exhumed from her lips. â??What do I do, Ali?!â? Theroux
hollered to the vampire, who growled with ragged breathing when his name was
called.

â??Heâ??s too weak, Frenchie. Doctor
Santiago canâ??t help you now!â? The succubus laughed which caused
Isabelle to drag her blades up from the succubusâ?? stomach up to the base of her
ribcage. â??Pourquoi ne pas mourir?!â? As the sound of flesh being ripped
punctuated the sound of the throbbing bass, Isabelle kicked the succubus away from
her and toward the window while running back to Aliâ??s side.  There was now a trail of blood that was splattered
across the floor along with the frightened human woman and the paralysed vampire.
The succubus roared at the young woman as the wound closed up and she charged
at Isabelle again.

â??You are rather tasty, Frenchieâ?¦
Strawberry tiramisu, and guess what?� The succubus questioned as
Theroux slashed the attackerâ??s throat open and the blood sprayed onto the walls
as she wrapped her hands around Isabelleâ??s throat and began to apply slight
pressure. â??I. WANT. MORE!â? The succubus shrieked in excitement as she
began draining Isabelle of the rest of her soul. The French woman kept trying
to stab her attacker, creating a seemingly endless fountain of blood that began
to cover the room but she could feel her body giving up as one of her final
stabs came and went.

Iâ??m so sorry, Ali. I triedâ?¦ Isabelle thought as the faint sound of a hammer being
cocked rang through her ears.

 

With a deafening bang, the

succubusâ??s head exploded into a mass of red and black viscera as if it was the
icing on the blood room cake. The body fell to the floor as Isabelle regained consciousness
almost immediately and began inhaling as deep as she could. Theroux noticed that
Ali was standing with a smirk on his face as he put his magnum away as Isabelle
ran to him for a hug. Theroux found that Santiago was on his last legs as he
almost collapsed into the hug. Ali pulled out a handkerchief from a jacket
pocket and tried to give it to his girlfriend who took it and in one big swipe;
the blood from her face wound up on the handkerchief.

â??When was the last time you fed, Ali?â?
Isabelle questioned as she hugged him tighter and the pair slowly made their
way to sitting on the floor. â??Itâ??sâ?¦ Been about a yearâ?¦ Creo, Isabelle?â?
He answered with a harsh cough and he began to break out into a cold sweat. Isabelle
panicked and rolled up her sleeve while offering herself to him.

â??No puedo Izzyâ?¦ Usted es bastante
débil como es�� Ali turned away from his girlfriend as she tried
desperately to get him to eat as the door opened once again.

Edited February 4, 2013 by Anakoni Stark

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Sorry it's taken so long everyone, I've gone from homeless to somewhere to stay, so I can actually post something now.

 

Dark had wandered off from the others, deep in thought. The recent events had taken him for a loop, but it was nothing to be concerned over. Dark sighed, and looked around him, noticing where he was for the first time. It seemed he'd wandered to some sort of fountain, adorned with angels who poured water from their urns into the pool of water below. However, Dark could tell well enough the angels were in actuality vampires.

 

Akieen wandered into the same room, eyeballing him. "You know, that little stunt you pulled earlier was so unfair. Making me deal with Kayin after telling you that stuff..."

 

Dark shrugged. "I still stand by what I said earlier, my dearest." Dark walked to the fountain and sat, trailing his hand through the water. "This fountain is quite pretty, isn't it?"

 

"Vampires usually are." Akieen replied. "Are you going to tell Kayin?"

 

"No, that's not my place to do so." Dark lifted his hand from the water, his mystical power infusing the water on his hand with the energy of the most frigid winter nights. A single drop fell from his pointer finger, dropping into the water below and instantly turning the entire basin to ice. The water pouring from the urns froze as well, twinkling in the light.

 

"Now that's a new trick. Where'd you pick that one up?" Akieen poked the ice, smiling some.

 

"Actually, I've known this little trick for centuries, I've just never used it around you. But, in all actuality, I've always prefered torching my enemies to freezing them."

 

"Burnt flesh smells rancid, why not this? At least ice doesn't stink." Akieen smiled, sitting next to him. Dark shrugged. "I suppose you're right, and I'll be the first to admit there is something quite satisfying about shattering frozen enemies. But, I suppose we'll be finding out just how valuable this spell is very soon." Dark's eyes narrowed, thinking of what was to come.

 

"Akieen, do you have a plan yet?" he asked, looking up from the water and into Akieen's eyes. She looked away from him, hiding her own. "No. I don't."

 

"As I thought." Dark commented. "Well, neither do I, so I suppose we're in the same boat. Sanctuary isn't too far away from us now, so we shall try to get something going again. For now, we must get you somewhere safe before you get horny."

 

Akieen now stared at Dark, blinking at him. "Did you have to put it quite like that?"

 

"I find things are best kept simple. Besides..." Dark smiled mischeiviously. "I don't think you'd want to see if Kayin was your fated one just yet, would you?"

 

Akieen sighed. "How do you know me so well?" she asked, shaking her head. Dark laughed. "We have known each other for centuries, I would assume that happens."

 

The howl of a were-wolf rumbled through the corridors, and Dark stood up, his eyes shifting colors. "It seems someone is losing their cool." Dark took in a deep breath, taking quick, definite strides to the source of the noise. "Akieen, I recommend you stay out of this one. The last thing we need is you losing it as well."

 

"I'm not some weak little girl, Dark."

 

"I wasn't implying that. However, you do need to keep your wits about you more than ever now, and you know it. A fight during your most sensitive time would not be in your best interest." Dark sighed. "Go back and do what you need to do. I will help calm things down."

 

Dark began making swift progress, but once he arrived, the others had already calmed the disturbance, and were sitting around not doing much.

 

Baldr smiled as Dark entered. "You missed the fun, Dark."

 

"I can see that. But I suppose it's all the better I did." Dark was handed a bottle, and he looked down at it, raising an eyebrow at the bottle of booze. "This is what you're drinking? Why drink suck low-brow swill?"

 

"Are you insulting our drink of choice?" Baldr asked, smiling. "You can always just hand the bottle back."

 

Dark twisted the cap, and took a deep swig. "Blech." he said, sticking out his tongue and clenching his eyes shut. Someone took the bottle from him and Dark shivered slightly from the booze. "That crap always did taste like cheap lighter fluid. How about I make something better?" Placing his hands one on top of the other, he closed his eyes, and slowly separated them. The gap between his hands was not devoid of objects, but slowly materializing a deep crimson colored bottle, and Baldr's eyes widened on recognizing what Dark was doing. "Wow... You weren't kidding, what we're drinking is low-brow crap compared to that..."

 

"What is it?" Mikhail asked, looking on at the bottle forming in Dark's hands.

 

"You'll find out soon enough. I warn you though, that stuff will knock you back on your ass." Baldr laughed. "Hurry it up, Dark, I want some."

 

The bottle finished forming, Dark grasped it and popped the cork. "I'll give you a little hint, Mikhail, this is usually made with cherries in the mix." Dark took the bottle and began chugging it down, savoring the liquid as it flowed forth. He then held the bottle out, and Baldr snatched it before Mikhail could even blink. He began chugging the bottle as well, and then finally handed it over to the were-wolf. Mikhail sniffed it, eyeing the bottle with distrust. "So what is this?"

 

Dark smiled. "I'm not telling you until you drink it." Dark shot a look at Baldr, and pointed at him. "You won't be telling him either."

 

"Gotcha." Baldr leaned forward, and smiled. "Take a drink."

 

The cherry liquor smelled wonderful to Dark, and he smiled as Mikhail finally put the bottle to his lips and took a tiny sip. He swished it around his mouth, and then swallowed. "Wow... you can hardly tell that's got alcohol in it. What proof is it?"

 

"Ninety." Dark said, and nodded his head to the bottle. "Take another drink." Mikhail gladly did so, almost finishing the bottle. Once he looked inside, Dark started to laugh once he saw it was empty. "This is going to be fun..." He placed his finger at the top of the bottle, and there was a definite sound of liquid pouring back into the bottle. As soon as the bottle was full again, Dark took another gigantic swig and passed it over. Mikhail took another drink, and sat back. Baldr turned to Dark. "Was it so wise to let him drink that much?"

 

"He's a were-wolf, he's made of tougher stuff than most. What, can he not handle his liquor?" Dark asked as Baldr took a drink.

 

"I can handle it just fine!" Mikhail snorted. "Now gimme more of that! That's some tasty booze!" he took the bottle and drank some more.

 

"I'm glad you like it."

 

"Now tell me, what is it?" Mikhail took another drink before handing it back to Dark. "Cherry Resque is the name of the drink inside this lovely bottle." Dark smiled. "But trust me, the only thing this is saving us from is boredom."

[Akieen Cloud]

Akieen watched out the window as the grey light of morning began to seep through the dark of night, her eyes burned with lack of sleep; but last night was impossible. Her ears picked up the movement out side but she made no movement to leave her spot. The door opened and Darian slipped into her room. His sickly sweet vampire scent filling her room instantly. 

"How'd you do last night? Were you comfortable enough?"
"Yes, thank you. These rooms are very clever. Do you have were wolf guests often?"
"No, but I had a feeling you would be stopping by at some point. I am sorry that your other friends felt as if we were trying to cage them. I was merely trying-"

"You have no need to apologize Darian. Many just don't understand. That or just don't listen to what other people have to say. It's very common and happens often."

"The young were wolf seems level headed enough though so I did not think-"

"Darian, you just said it your self. He's young. Him being young means he acts first and asks later. Level headed or not. I heard the lich was down there with them. And the...Russian? German?"
"I'm not sure. But Rose tells me he's a feline."

Akieen shuddered.
"Of course he is. There hasn't been a were of his kind for decades. So what made him crawl from the primordial ooze? Just to piss me off?"

Darian raised an eye brow though he knew she couldn't see it, her back was still to him.

"I'm confused Akieen."
"I know the bastard understands me, I know he can speak english. He refuses to. Just to piss me off. One of these days I'm not going to be so nice to him goddammit."

Darian walked over and handed her the cup of tea he had almost forgotten he had brought with him. The smell was sweet, and musky at the same time. The tea was earthy smelling and the smell alone seemed to calm her some what.

"Wolfsbane?"
He nodded as she took it, he could see the points of her canines still, see the flecks of violet in her eyes. 

"The full moon still holds her wane on you? Even in these early hours?"
She nodded slowly, her features calming drastically after the first sip, the root calming her nerves and seeming to make her sleepy.

"I should have brought some of this to you last night Akieen, I'm so sorry. I had no idea it had gotten this bad."
"Darian, don't fret. It usually isn't, but there are two other were's in my company now and both of which have a slight tendency to rub me the wrong way. Have you seen either of them this morning yet?"
"No, none of us has. I assume they are still down there, doing gods know what."

Akieen was about to answer when there was a slight knock on her door, turning as it opened slowly she watched as Kayin stuck his head in.

"The sun is up."
She nodded, not trusting her voice to NOT sound sarcastic.

"We'll be leaving soon I take it?"
Again she nodded, this time with a small frown.

"Why in such a rush."
Kayin shook his head no answering her, only slipped from the doorway and walked away.

"What's up with him?"

Darian shook his head with a slight smile before leaving the room, allowing Akieen to get dressed.

It was nearly midday before they seemed to be ready and Kayin seemed just as agitated about this fact as Akieen. She let out a small growl as Mikhail and Baldr came down the stairs, her growl growing as Baldr returned it. Shaking her head she looked around and frowned.

"Where the hell is the Lich?"

She spun around as Barracus' voice floated down the stairwell.

"Oh Charles, you are to right, we must return sometime. The tea was excellent, and oh look, a hoard of adoring followers. Make sure I'm proper Charles I would not want to give them the wrong impression." 

She saw him straighten his head and jacket before his expression turned, she shook her head and turned her back on him as he continued to ramble.

"-never proper? What is that supposed to mean? I am always a gentlemen. See? I have the top hat to prove it. A top does to indeed mean I am a gentleman! I had said gentlemen at first did I not? Does that mean I am more then one? I do have many sides this is true. Was that a plane?"

Akieen blinked a few times but only shook her head, she was never quite sure what to think of the mad man.

"Are we finally ready? We were supposed to have left over 3 hours ago!"

The other remained quiet and he could smell the drink on a few of them.

"Great, wonderful. We're supposed to be saving the world and some of us are drunk. How nice."

"Akieen, I gave them drink. I thought-"

"It doesn't matter now, we need to move, at this rate we won't get there til tonight and the full moon hasn't quite ended yet Dark. Enough talk, just move!"

With that they left the warehouse, emerging into the icy cold winter winds of New York, Akieen pulled her jacket closer to her and pulled the hat over her ears. She looked over to see many of the others doing the same, all but Kayin. He alone seemed unfazed by the cold, in fact he seemed to be enjoying it.

"I thought you hated the cold."
"You assumed I did. I in fact quite love it."
"But in Canada-"

"You dropped me into an ice rink Akieen. I enjoy the cold, I do not enjoy freezing water. There is a difference. Where as you on the other hand seem to hate this weather."
She shivered, even though she knew she had at least 3 layers of clothing on.

"Y-yeah. I can't stand the cold."
"Werewolf tempatures?"
"Nope. Just don't like it. Never did."

She said nothing else, only moved them forward, the tall buildings creating wind tunnels that made it seem even more cold then it really was and the further they seemed to move into the city the more something felt wrong, but she ignored it for the time being and continued to move them on through the streets. As they reached the bridge to take them to Manhattan island was when she noticed it, the hair on the back on her neck standing on end, the feeling of dread lumping in her stomach. The high pitched laugh that sounded from the top of the bridge made her growl as she threw her jacket off and readied her self. 

"I thought the city was to quiet."
The woman sat on top of one of the steel beams, a nail file moving back and forth sharpening her nails, her supple legs crossed, her straight black hair was glossy and lay flat between a set of leather black wings which were folded against her back. Akieen slightly wondered how this woman was even still moving with what little clothing she wore and then it hit her.

"Succubus." 

She felt Kayin stiffen next to her, the smell of sulfur coming off of him slightly.

"My my, the Lord did say you were a mixed band of creatures. How right he was, but so many handsome men! My my!"

Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard to Akieen though the men, all but Barracus and Kayin, seemed to enjoy it. Their eyes drooping slightly as she spoke.

"My word! Charles! She's practically naken, quickly draw a picture!"
Akieen held in her urge to facepalm. the succubus began to speak again, this time gaining all their attention as a young man seemed to crawl from the steel beam behind her and into her lap. Her voice was clear this time, her spell no longer directed at them.

"Humans...Do humans have a purpose when they're born? I have been wondering recently. Because they are born, do they have an important duty? The meaning of being born...For humans to find that answer, is the one freedom their god gave them. Blood calls for blood, while hatred begets hatred, and the energy that comes forth begins to take root in the earth and engrave a crest of blood. They never learn, no matter how many times history is repeated. Humans are foolish, sorrowful creatures. Humans are oh so silly."

With this being said, she seemed to kiss the man on his neck, only, his skin drew taunt, and began to turn yellow, he shriveled into dust before their eyes and seemed to be carried off by the wind. She wiped her mouth as if cleaning it after a meal and stood, her frame seemed more youthful, her skin softer and paler, her red eyes glowing as she looked them over. 

"My my, how the Lord wishes to meet with one of you so dearly. I would so love to stay and chat but Lord wishes a task from me. My my, it should be great fun. Ta ta!"

With that, her wings wrapped around her as the wind blew hard, and she was gone. Akieen shook her head as the others looked around.

"What the hell was that all about?"

Kayin shook his head.

"My only guess is she's working for Rasputin."

Akieen nodded and slowly began to lead them across the bridge. Abandoned cars littered the streets, the smell of blood came now with every breath on the wind.

"They must have cornered all of them on the island...like cattle..."

Dark grit his teeth as he nodded.

"Your most likely right. But what of-"
"Sanctuary is still there. I don't see Alistair going down so easily. But we need to move fast, it's already going into the evening."

The others followed her along the streets, through the barren city until Akieen looked up at an old run down looking building.

"This is it...I think."
She frowned as the door opened and a young man stepped out, his hair was pale blonde, nearly white and his golden eyes locked onto her.

"Akieen? AKI! You made it! Oh I'm so happy to see-"

His words died as his face met her palm, his arms out stretched and ready to envelope her in a bone crushing hug. 

"Save it you lech. Why not tell us what happened?"
"What happened? Oh! Right the city was corned here on the island and then just poof, gone."
Mikhail frowned.

"And you did nothing?"
Alistair's face grew serious as he looked back at the male were wolf.
"I'm one fallen angle in one of the largest cities in the US kid, I can only do as much as my father allows me to do."
"The he should have-"
"We can only do so much before things are thrown out of balance."
Akieen shook her head.
"They already are though, don't you think?"
Alistair nodded, his face grim.

"I do, but it's not my place to do more. It's his."
She nodded and looked back at the others, noticing that Kayin still looked tense.

"What's the matter Kayin?"
"Nothing. Just something doesn't feel right about this place."

Alistair nodded again.

"There's been a demon roaming around here for the past day or so. Beautiful lady though, oh how lovely she is. But! No time, now we need to get you all inside and-"

His words were cut short as the building behind him suddenly exploded, raining rubble and dust down on them, the high pitched laugh that echoed around them made Akieen tense.

"Now where will you go? Where will you go? My my, your sanctuary is no more, where to now I wonder?"

The Succubus sat down on the edge of the building to their right, her white teeth gleaming against her black lipstick as her wings folded around her shoulders. 

"My my, no where to be safe from the last of the full moon's rays. What now, where to go?"
Akieen clenched her teeth.

"Why not come down here and let me get my hands on you, you slut?"
"My my, such language. I actually know your still safe. I know where your sanctuary lies. Under the streets of the island. I know what lies there. Do you? Do you know of the ashes said to consume any who walk among them? Do you know of the danger? Or the death that awaits you?"

Akieen felt her stomach clench painfully.

"Oh god...their driving us to the tunnels."
With one high pitched laugh the Succubus was gone, Alistair's face now pale.

"We don't have a choice. It's the only place you'll be safe for tonight."
She nodded and looked around Alistair as Kayin walked towards the building, and helped a young women from the debris, brushing it off her shoulders and checking her over in a frantic matter. Two more people emerged from the rubble, a vampire by the smell of him and a woman that he seemed to be helping to her feet. Alistair nodded.

"They've been waiting for you for 3 days now."
Akieen pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Let's get underground where we can talk. You have another way in?"
"The northern tunnel access. It's about a twenty minute walk or so. Shouldn't take to long, once we're in it'll only be a five minute walk to the club."
They all nodded and began to follow Alistair, Akieen's eyes shifting to Kayin as him and young woman began to talk. Dark's voice uninterrupted her thoughts. 

"Green is not your color friend."
Huffing she made her self look forward, her glare set on the back of Dark's head. She could hear Barracus in the back.

"I say, are we going through the sewers? But I just had this suite tailored. I do say this seems rather disgusting. Is anyone listening. Charles, do something about this! Not shine my shoes, oh good lord, you left the kettle on and now the mansion is on fire, put it out man!"

She tuned him out as her feet moved.

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Dark turned to look at where the succubus had been before they left for the tunnels. New York... New York was nothing but a ghost town. The massive skyscrapers now stood dark and foreboding. Dark sighed, New York becoming as devoid of people as the deserts of the Southwest would bring people in by the droves once discovered, if it hadn't been already. 

 

"And so they will come to the slaughter like moths to the flame." Dark commented. His lip curled in disgust and anger, and he lashed out with his fist into the cement bricks of the wall they were walking by. His fist punched a massive hole, and The others all turned to look at him. Dark's head hung low, his bangs in front of his eyes, hiding them in shadow and from view. However, it was impossible to miss the eerie emerald green glow coming from just behind his hair in his anger. He seethed in fury, his teeth bared and resembling those of a predatory beast. His shoulders shook he was so angry.

 

"Dark?" Akieen approached him, having never seen him this upset. "Dark?" she repeated,

 

"All of the people... all the innocent people... slaughtered! No creature in this good world deserves to be slaughtered as fodder for the apocalypse!" Dark shook even harder, and he swung once more on the wall, punching an even bigger hole this time. His bright red hair began to fade in color, turning from fire red to obsidian black. "The fear, the panic, watching others die and knowing there was no escape..." Dark swung again, this time decimating the wall. His hair flared up around him, moving as if it had a will of its own.

 

"Dark... this bothers me, too. But you can't let it get to you. You can't let-" Akieen was cut short as Dark turned on her, hissing and pointing. "You will not tell me to calm down! I will rend Rasputin's flesh! He will know the pain of the millions as they were cut down at his order! I will break him and make him beg for mercy that will never be given! And then I shall devour his soul myself, as putrid as it will be!"

 

Dark's black feathered wings manifested, bursting from his back and ripping his clothing. His fingernails blackened, and then lengthened to several inches, gleaming with a razor's edge.

 

The angel leaned over to Kayin, and whispered, "Does he get like that regularly or is this just his time of the month?"

 

"Can it, Angel, or you'll find out what color your innards are." Dark growled. He took a deep breath, and began to calm himself. His wings shimmered, and blew away as individual feathers before they too dissolved into nothing. His nails shortened, and his hair dropped and returned to the regular red hue. His eyes, however, remained obsidian with glowing green irises. He sighed, and looked to the cloudy sky. "I need to kill something." he said. "I need to kill many somethings... And use their intestines as Christmas decorations."

 

"Nice visual..." Baldr commented. "Don't worry, we'll kill something soon. So relax, okay?"

 

"Fine. But if we don't, I'm tying you up and throwing you in my closet. And don't think I can't, either."

 

"You'll have to catch me first." Baldr grinned. Dark smiled. "So I use a ball of yarn as bait. Understood, kitty." Baldr grinned wider. "I hope you're being facetious."

 

"Maybe... Have you seen what I can do with yarn?"

 

They proceeded to walk along the back alleys and side streets to the entrance to the tunnels, and then down they went below the streets. Dark snapped his fingers, and several small glowing pinpricks of light materialized around them, lighting the way for them. The smell of ozone hung in the air, the subway tunnels weren't far from them at this point. The steady electrical hum rang out, but the tunnels were dark without the trains moving through them. Dark kneeled down, inspecting the third rail of the subway. It was indeed live, as was much of the electricity in the city, but something wasn't right. "Hey, is this rail supposed to have this much of a charge?"

 

As if to answer Dark, a loud horn blared somewhere from within the bowels of the subway, getting louder and louder.

 

"The trains shouldn't be running, all the people are gone..." Akieen said aloud, looking around.

 

"Against the wall! Now!" Baldr yelled, and they all hustled to throw themselves out of the way of the oncoming train. Dark felt his anger surge again, as he saw the Succubus in the driver's seat, smiling and waving at them merrily as the train whipped by.

 

"Can I kill her now?" Dark asked once the train had passed. "She's really getting annoying."

 

"Later. The Sanctuary isn't far. You can kill her once we're done there." Baldr replied, and they proceeded on their way. They stopped once they were deeper within the tunnels, near an access point to the electrical generators to keep the trains running.

 

"Akieen, do you mind if I shut the subway down? I want to ruin that Succubus' free ride."

 

"Go ahead, it should at least annoy her as much as she's annoyed us."

 

Dark opened the metal door leading in, and then walked to the generator. The others walked over to the far wall, where Dark assumed the entrance to the sanctuary was. Dark's hands began to glow, and he began to tap on various places of the metal generators, the metal suddenly becoming red hot and melting instantly. There were crackles and pops, and they all heard the energy going to the rails outside die.

 

"Well, that's that. Now, let's get moving."

Edited February 7, 2013 by Inuyasha Fandom

[Darks Anthro]

Jikair spent the past three days in the building with a feeling that outside was in trouble. The air felt heavy and smelt like some cheap whore who used way too much perfume.

As she looked outside the window, the humans where being hearded into the streets where demons and other creatures where slaughtering them. Normal weapons the police

used where completely uneffective on most of them. Only the weak lowest demons took damage from human weapons. She headed towards the door to least save a few humans when a blond guy stopped her.

 

"It is not wise to go outside right now." Alistar says.

 

"I have to do something! Those people didn't do anything to deserve death!" Jikair says trying to push him out of the way.

 

Alistar keeps her from going outside. His face was sad as well. "My father will take care of the innocent people being slaughtered in the streets my lady." 

 

Jikair cursed loudly as she returned to the window. Watching the slaughter of many innocent people. "Your father allows such suffering and death to happen on this earth when humans can't even defend themselves from magical creatures. What hope shines in the darkness when hell breaks open?" She says to herself watching what she can't stop.

 

Jikair could hear the screams of the humans dying and suffering. Hundreds, thousands  of them screaming to the point where she had to tune them out till she felt no human life left on the island after three days of it. After it quieted down around her. She decided to grab some sleep. As she was starting to enjoy the rest before the building blew up all around her. Next thing she knows, she hears an annoying bitch laughing and speaking udder bullshit. After the succubus left, Jikair started to push herself out of the rubble of the building she was in. 

 

As she got up and started to dust herself off. She looks up to see Kayin helping her out of the rubble and checking over her like a worried father would.

 

"Jikair are you ok? Are you hurt?" Kayin says. Jikair pushing him away.

 

"I'm fine Father." Jikair punches his arm hard. "That's for calling me a child. I'm 20 years old now. I'm no child." She starts to argue with Kayin before they start moving out towards the underground sanctuary. Avoiding the subway train controlled by the succubus as they go deeper into the tunnels. One of the guys seemed  to split off to take out a nearby generator out. 

 

Grunting as taking just a small rely station wouldn't solve the joyriding succubus for long. As they walked by an active third rail, she reached down and grabbed it. A few looked at her with a "What are you doing?" look but Kayin probably knew what she was up to. Jikair focused all her energy to overload not just some rely station but most of the local power grid. Causing lights and other human machines nearby to explode before she stands back up. Sighing as she rubs her right shoulder.

 

"That should take care of that little problem." Jikair says.

[Kayin Cloud]

Kayin shook his head as Jikair overloaded the grid, letting out a small sigh. Chances are the succubus would find another way to pursue them and unfortunately, Kayin was hoping so. His gaze shifted to Jikair. "I apologize for calling you a child, Jikair. It is merely habitual for me anymore," Kayin said as they headed down the darkened tunnels. Though for their group, darkness didn't seem to be much of a problem.

 

"It's whatever...Just try and drop it. I'm not a kid anymore, okay?" Jikair said, not looking toward Kayin. "It's too bad you guys didn't make it here a few days sooner. The people here didn't deserve that..." she sighed.

 

"You're right, they didn't. But if we had shown up, it could have caused them to send heavier firepower our way. Then the humans would have been in much more trouble," Dark said, looking over his shoulder as he conjured enough light for them to see without straining in the tunnels. "But I believe we all carry the same sentiment when we see that wretched whore of a demon..." His eye twitched as we looked forward again.

 

"You couldn't be more right, friend," Kayin said, restraining himself about as much as Dark was to go hunt her down. Kayin's hand crackled a bit before he contained himself again. He popped his neck before exhaling slowly, eyes closed briefly. "But we have to find this access tunnel and make it through there in one piece before we can worry about dealing with her," he said as they continued north.

 

Jikair glanced to her foster father. "When we get a chance, old man, we need to have a talk-"

 

"About everything you need to know about that? Sure. It's about time you know," Kayin said, not even looking toward her. Jikair blinked, given normally Kayin would have at least shown a bit of resistance. "There are some things I can't tell you, but I'll at least be able to tell you why," he added. "So forgive me if you don't get all of your answers when the time comes," he said, looking to her from the corner of his eye. You can at least learn who you truly are...I can try to give you that much... he thought, staring ahead again. His eyes immediately shifted to a wall, hand sparking again. "This had better not be it...I'm sure I'm not the only one who senses that," Kayin said.

 

"Yeah, this is the place unfortunately. Just have to hope we can get through here in one piece," Akieen said, approaching the wall. "This should take us to the sanctuary at least. Just be on your guard, because I really don't know what to expect."

 

Kayin's hand rested on the hilt of the blade at his hip and his other hand changed into its clawed appearance. "Shouldn't be too hard to do," he said, eyes narrowing as Akieen opened the door with fair ease and the group filed in cautiously.

 

OOC: Just posting to hopefully move us along.

[Akieen Cloud]

Akieen felt the hair on the back of her neck raise, the catacombs were damp and putrid, the smell of decaying flesh was almost overwhelming and she had to cover her nose as she moved ahead of them. She was wary and it showed in her posture as they moved along, the tunnels barely tall enough for any of them to move along. Mikhail had to hunch over to be able to move through them. As they moved through Akieen stopped short, they were most likely half way there, the smell of fresh air hitting her from time to time, but what had made the femwolf stop was what was at her feet. Looking down she caught sight of the small video camera and picked it up, looking it over she frowned as it flipped on and began to play a video. The voice of a young woman came through it.

"Cam, I don't think we should be in here. It's creepy."
"Awe c'mon Mel, there's nothing down here."
"But it smells so bad."

So Akieen wasn't the only one who smelt it.

"It's connected to the sewers Mel, it's going to smell bad, besides-Hey check this out!"
The camera swung around to see a fairly well built young man standing in front of a small stone alter, the light from the camera eliminating the area, Akieen frowned as she could see he was ankle deep in what looked like dust...she felt her heart stop as she realized it was ash.

"Cam, what's on the floor?"
"Probably dust, this place looks pretty old Mel. Calm down would you."
"But Cam its-"

"Mel, stop freaking out would you? Come check this out, it's an old necklace or something."
Akieen felt the others looking over her shoulder now as the tension grew.

"Cam, I think we should get out of here, something doesn't feel right."

"Your just pussing out Mel, get over-Mel...Are you moving?"
"N-no...I haven't moved since we got in here...why?"
"Something is moving around my feet..."
Akieen and the others watched as the camera tilted down.

"C-cam...the d-dust is moving..."
"That's impossible...there's-"
His scream made the camera speed upwards as the ash shifted and moved towards him, they all watched horrified as skeletons emerged from the ash, molted skin clinging to the bones as their red eyes flared, mouths full of fangs.

"The lost coven..."
Kayin looked at her confused.

"What?"
"The lost coven...they were known for their trade mark of having a mouth full fangs. Not just the normal two to puncture the jugular...but enough fangs to shred what ever they were feeding on. Human or otherwise..."
A collective shiver spread through the group.

"Oh my are we watching a horror movie? It's quite suspenseful."

Akieen growled.

"Not right now Lich...as much as you entertain me...this might just be something we need to know."
They watched as the skeletons grabbed onto the young man and began to pull, his arms popped and they all knew what was coming next. His screams reached new heights as his skin ripped and tore at his joints, blood splattered the walls as his limbs were torn from his body. His sobs of pain mixing with his screams.

"MELANIE HELP ME!"

The camera suddenly hit the floor as foot steps could be heard retreating, the girls screams echoing through the catacombs, before her screams were suddenly stifled and the group knew that whatever had captured the young man had found her. They watched now as the skeletons moved in on the limbless young man, his scared whimpers gurgled in his throat as they smothered him, blood seeping from between them, Akieen growled as one of them drew close to the camera, hissing and baring fangs before disintagrateing back into the ash. Nothing was left of the young man, no bones, no blood...nothing. 

"...Akieen..."

She looked over her shoulder at Dark.

"What?"
"We have a problem..."
His light brightened some and she looked down as he pointed, ash covered the floor, clinging to their shoes.

"We should move...keep an eye out and if you see, smell, hear anything call out."
They moved slowly now, alert and on edge, Akieen suddenly stopped, her growls bubbling up, Kayin frowning.

"Something the matter?"
"The ash is shifting, we need to move faster."

"Are you sure?"
"Positive. Go to the left, the air is fresher that way."

Kayin nodded moving the others in that direction, but jumped slightly as Akieen growled more, baring her fangs, her eyes bleeding violet. She suddenly moved in front of him, her back arched as she shifted slowly, the transformation smooth and seamless til the hulking white wolf stood in her place growling dangerously. She looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes softening slightly as she nodded to him before looking forward again, the molted skeletons shuffling towards them, the red glowing eyes baring into them. Akieen's growls grew in volume as they moved forward more, pausing just a moment to take her in before they hissed and lunged forward, Akieen meeting them mid air, crashing into the harshly, her growls rumbling through the tunnels, her teeth snapping and echoing though the area. The others had paused for a moment to look back before moving forward, Dark turning back before Kaying put a hand on his shoulder.

"She'd never forgive you if you put your self in danger."
"She's my oldest friend, I can not simply let her do this alone."
Dark pulled him self free of Kay's grip, the light in his hand igniteing into a fierce flame as he sprinted forward, Akieen's pain filled howl pushing him to move faster. As he drew closer he could see through the dark her hulking form covered in red spots from here they had bitten down into her. She slapped one to the side causing it to shatter on the brick wall. 

"Akieen, back to back."
She growled letting him know she was less the pleased to see him there, she pushed him away, her voice growling out.
"I wanted you all to stay together...the whole place is covered in ash Dark!"

His face paled some and he cursed as Akieen picked him quickly and dashed back towards the others. The smell of brimstone and the sinking feeling of death approaching spurred her to move faster. Kayin and Barracus both shifting, meaning they were all in danger now. 

[Inuyasha Fandom]

"Dark, we need something done about all this ash!" Akieen huffed as she sprinted to the others. Dark could feel not quite solid things trying to claw at the two.

"You think I don't know that?" He retorted. "This ash and dust isn't normal. If you'll let me go I'll attempt to do something about it."

Akieen oblidged him, and Dark turned to the skeletons and churning dust. He waved his hands in front of him, and the air began to move sround him. With a deft motion, he sent the mass of moving sir down the tunnel, blowing the ash away and leaving the group in the clear. Thr skeletons still advanced, but there were fewer materializing. Dark sighed, and he turned. "Come on, let's get going. We need to get to Sanctuary."

The others nodded, and Dark sent another blast of air dpwn the tunnel to clear the way of more ash. "This isn't a permanent solution, but at least there's less ash in our path. Let's go."

Dark and the others rushed through the tunnels, trying to make it to safety. Dark took up the rear, lobbing the occasional wind gust and fireball. He smiled some when skeletons exploded into fiery chunks. The others made headway, and the air improved slightly with every step. 'I hope this Sanctuary is close." Dark said. Edited March 17, 2013 by Inuyasha Fandom

[Darth Vectis]

Barracus' change had been swift, a very different feeling for the Lich as he was in his desicated form with minimal effort. He felt different now, he felt more powerful, he felt a strength seeping into his bones and a vigor he hadn't felt in centuries. He moved quickly with the others as Dark was pushing the ash away with the blasts of wind, fireballs being hurled as well to shatter skeletons. While, it seemed an effective effort without a second thought, but the blasts seem to only scatter the lost ones and the dust continued to creep forward with all the effort expended to keep it at bay. The dust on their clothes and skin was feeling heavier by the second, with each attempt to swipe it away it clung with an unimaginable amount of strength. Barracus had tried to shake it off himself, only to find it still hanging tight before his mind had a thought and called forth his power. His power seemed amplified, a sneaking suspicion that the arm he had collected was providing the extra support, even though it had not done so before. For now, he wasn't going to question it as he peeled the fine layer of vampire dust from his body and sent it whirling back into the tunnels. Gripping his staff firmly in his hand he started to fall to the rear of the pack, Dark hurling more fire and wind down the tunnels at their pursuers.

 

"Nos postulo ut tentaret novam daemon." (We need to try a new approach daemon) Dark looked over his shoulder briefly before lobbing another ball of fire down the tunnel.

 

"If you have any suggestions Lich then I am all ears, but this seems to be working well enough." The Lich cracked a small smirk, his skin wrinkling and cracking from the effort.

 

"Bonum, tu me intellegant." (Good, you understand me.) Barracus looked down the tunnel as they made another turn, the dust suddenly roaring forward as the assault stopped long enough to push forward, shapes pulling themselves back into form upon the temporary reprieve from the hail of fire and storm of wind.

 

"Permitte mihi daemon, habeo ideam velim implorare." (Allow me daemon, I have an idea I wish to implore.) Dark stepped aside with fire waiting to lash out, though Barracus was sure it wasn't going to be necessary any longer. Holding out his staff, the black stone atop the staff pointed down the tunnel and he summoned the power with a sudden flood of energy as he let it flow free. The dust suddenly halted in its tracks, thought it did not recede away from them it remained stationary as long as he focused on it, the smirk cracked on his face once more as they all kept moving, Barracus walking backwards as he followed them, the dust following still but at a greater distance now. He could hear someone voice from the head of the party.

 

"Well that's a nice trick, wish you had done it earlier."

 

"Hoc enim non conceditur."

 

"what did he say? Can anyone understand him when he gets like this?"

 

"He said don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Dark piped up then, extinguishing the fire in his hand as they kept moving. Barracus keeping the barrier up as the dust tried to claw at the invisible wall, the skeletal remains forming once more but not daring to draw any closer. One, however, allowed it's inner animal to take hold and lunge at the barrier, passing through it but instantly charring into a solid mass before completely dissolving into nothing. None tried after that, the trip suddenly seeming like it was going to be a smooth venture from this point forward as Barracus held fast.

 

"Velocius movere oportet, quamdiu poteris nescio talem formam."

 

"What did he say now?" This time, he identified the voice as Akieen herself.

 

"He says we should move our asses." The group began to move faster, another turn here and another turn there, Barracus following as quickly as he could while holding the undead back. It all seemed to be going well until he felt the surge begin to fade within, the barrier still held strong but it began to grow smaller and the lost clan took advantage of it. A few more launching themselves into the invisible bubble and evaporating like the ones before, but it was getting more difficult to maintain the power now. Barracus was growing concerned as this shouldn't be happening, only a few things could interferer with his power and the realization of what it could be made his withered lips pulling back in a snarl.

 

"Satus currit, impedimentum deficiente!" (Start running, the barrier is failing!) Barracus turned then and started to run, the barrier following him but he could feel it was starting to collapse around him and the party.

 

"I don't need a translation to know what he's doing, everybody move!" Akieen was in the lead as Barracus hung in the back, Mikhail and Baldr we're near the originator, Kayin was with the weredragon and Dark held the rear with him. The barrier finally failed as the power waned within, he knew he had enough for direct attacks as he whirled around for just a moment to launch a blast of sickly green darkness at the lost coven. The unfortunate creature let out a shrill screech before evaporating like the others. The light soon appeared, the way out of the damned underground as they all put their effort into running to the outside. As they broke into the fresh air, they all felt a sense of relief, the dust on their bodies floating away without a problem now as the creatures remained within the tunnels. It was a small victory, but one they needed none the less, Barracus was the only one to not let himself relax in the slightest. The sanctuary wasn't far now, but his mind was on more then just the safety of the angel haven, Allister was sure glad to be out of the dampness and near the sanctuary. They all continued forward, Barracus' eyes shifting around as he quested with his power to try and find him, the one he knew was around and had finally found him. His questing was answered as he was picked up and thrown through the air, the open area they had come too had given him ample room to fly and land in a heap. Charles appeared instantly, manifesting from nothingness as he stood near his master with the horsewhip in hand, the others turning to see where it had come from. He tried his best to rise but felt weakness spreading now, his plan having worked too well and he looked to the party and uttered the only word he knew he could speak plainly to them.

 

"Death!" The others were readying themselves as they let their powers come free, the were creatures changing form and the energy was flowing freely. The combination of positive and negative energy form them all was enough to help Barracus recover, and just in time to feel his trophy start to twitch and move within the bag he carried. He gripped his staff in his hand tightly as he saw Charles react, the whip was raised and lashed out instantly snagging something as Charles pulled hard on it. Whatever it was, showed greater strength and yanked Charles off his feet, Barracus watched with indifferent eyes as the 2nd appeared and tore his undead minion in half with little effort. His eyes only looking down to the stump on the 2nd's arm before coming back up and looking into the single orange eye of the 2nd.

 

"You have returned at last, I was wondering how long it would take you to find me." The 2nd had no expression on his face, but his eye showed his hatred for him and the want of his arm back. Barracus held up the arm in his bag, shaking in a taunting matter.

 

"This is what you desire, but you will not be needing it after today 2nd." A snot came from the other Lich.

 

"You shall be the one to die today 4th, we will make sure of it." Barracus felt it then, the second presence of another he hadn't expected to see quite yet. Another desicated form appeared, his left eye a solid blue and his right a solid green, Barracus squeezed his staff tighter.

 

"3rd, I see you cowered out and called in help. Afraid I am going to destroy you like last time since your vampire isn't around?"

 

"Hardly Barracus, both of us wish you dead, and Rasputin has made it possible. Your companions will be of no help to you, they will be busy with other matters."

 

"It is of no consequence, I will defeat you both today. You simply saved me the trouble of finding both of you, I hope Rasputin welcomes your ashes!" Barracus struck then, launching a bolt black lightning tinted with the necrotic green. The 3rd stepped in the way, reaching out with a lengthy arm and creating a shield with a purple hue that the bolt crashed into and pushed the 3rd back. Barracus moving with the opportunity, the inky blackness obscuring their view long enough for him to launch another blast. The effort failed as the 2nd shielded them form it this time, Barracus trying is best to launch out more but found his tactic was in vein as they blocked and batted away his assaults. With their combined power, one shielded from the blast and another started to launch their own attacks, Barracus had to move and throw up his staff to break the attack. He couldn't get his bolt out anymore as all his energy was going into defense and evasion, Charles would be of no use as he would simply be destroyed once more. Barracus felt his options running low, but he wasn't going to die today if he had any say in the matter. His chances improved quickly a she suddenly saw a blast of pure lighting arch at the pair, the power was deflected but it changed their attention as Barracus saw the half-demon free of whatever had tried to trap them. However, he was the only one he saw was free a the time, and though he hadn't asked for the help he wasn't going to complain about it as he sent out his own bolt of black lightning.

 

"I will take both of your power today! Your lives are mine!" The effort was even now, the shielding and attack tactic was proving to leave them at a stalemate as Barracus provided the shielding and alternating attack while Kayin assaulted with full force. Barracus growled as he held the shield, feeling them pound down on them before suddenly the fire stopped. Both were ready to lob their attack when they saw both Lichs form a channeled beam and Barracus held up both hands to create a greater area of shielding. The beam smashed into him and pushed him back as Kayin stayed within the shielding, but the 4th could feel his strength waning as the concentrated effort form them both was breaking down his wall. He grunted as the staff in his left hand gave extra support, but it was draining quickly and time was running out.

 

"Lich! I can't see them to fire back, we need a new plan!" Kayin roared over the sound of black energy smashing into the barrier and Barracus had only one idea as he dropped his hands, the barrier vanishing as he swiped one hand toward Kayin creating the same barrier to push the half demon away as he moved himself out of the path of the beam just fast enough to dodge it. He charged then, the staff held out as he raced forward, his corpse form moving with all the speed and grace of a living being and found a target as they both pulled away from the beam. Barracus' staff collided with the 3rd square in the chest, the black stone piercing into the broken flesh and jamming itself into his chest cavity.

 

"You're mine." The power surged through the staff, a wail erupting from the lips of the 3rd as the black energy poured into his body and filled him entirely. The power that laid in his chest resisted and fought, but failed as it was consumed by the blackness, Barracus felt the change in power as his eyes changed color then, one solid blue the other solid brown as he took his new position in the ranks. The body of the 3rd was ripped apart as the blackness pushed its way out of every orifice and ripped the skin and bones apart until all the remained was a black mass that dissolved away. Barracus turned to attack the 2nd, only to be met with a wave of black wave that smashed directly into the face of Barracus and tore away some of his head before sending him tumbling several feet away and laying on the ground. He struggled but th new power raged in his body and he needed to time for it to adjust, he was too weak to fight back now as he climbed to his knees and couldn't go any further. His eyes saw only the feet before him as he tried to reconstitute the shambles of his head, finding the process sluggish and almost painful.

 

"You were never going to defeat me 4th, I will have my rightful place as the 1st." Barracus waited for the end to come, looking up to make sure that his killer could see the defiance in his left over eye and the rebuilding head as Barracus gritted his teeth at him. The hand rose, and the he could feel the power grow as it was about to be unleashed when another body crashed into the 2nd, sending the two toppling in a close quarters fight claws and teeth ravaging and tearing at the body as the 2nd fought back. The fight ended with the 2nd flat on his back in pieces, and the solid form of Mikhail standing over him with his shoulders lifting up and down. His skin was torn and blood running fresh down his back and arms, Barracus rose and hobbled over to the 2nd laying on the ground and a wicked grin on his face as he stood over the broken Lich.

 

"In the end, I will always win and I will be the 1st." Barracus was about to plune his staff into the broken body when he felt a clawed hand grasp his staff, his eyes looking to the werewolf holding him back.

 

"We should question him, he has spoke to Rasputin." Barracus looked hard at the creature before him, his only desire was to spear the corpse below him and take his place but things seemed to have grown more, complicated.

 

"I had one task for you Mikhail, you have done well, but it seems you are no longer willing." The wolfs eyes grow wide as his muzzle pulled back.

 

"You speak English now? About damn-" The attack was sudden, the power brutal as the power struck from right under his chin. The black stone of the staff pressed into the lower jaw and sent the necrotic power upwards, eating away at the steel like skin with his new power and then blasting into his brain. The energy bouncing around and eating everything as it dissolved within his skull, the werewolf crashing to the ground in a heap as the eyes stared empty into the world. Barracus turned to the 2nd then, fire burning in his eyes and he slammed the staff into the 2nd, the same process happening as Barracus took his power as well. Feeling the power burn brighter and flowing freely in his veins, the 2nd's body dissolving like the last before Barracus' eyes went to the now human form laying on the ground. His body restored, he held up the staff and summoned the black energy to carry the large man and turned to walk away to find the group and tell them of their companions demise by the hands of the 2nd.

[Inuyasha Fandom]

Dark shook himself as the confining energies dropped off, and then looked around. Kayin was floating in the air as the lich used his magic to carry him back. Dark saw that Mikhail was gone, and his eyebrow twitched and he felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. The lich let the unconcious half demon slip to the floor, and Akieen rushed to him, feeling for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief, he was alive.

Dark moved over to Barracus, aensing his power had greatly increased. "Where is Mikhail?"

Barracus closed his eyes. "I am afraid he has departed to the next world."

Dark sighed. "What a waste. I pray he has found peace." Turning to the half demon, Dark kneeled down. He placed his hand over Kayin's chest, focusing on his heartbeat. "Naptime is over, wakey wakey!"

Kayin stirred as Dark sent a wave of spiritual energy into him, waking him. Dark stood, and he shook his head, feeling dizzy. He'd expelled a great amount of magical power, and in a very short amount of time. He needed to rest some, but there was no time at the moment. "We need to get going. There is no time to waste."