Raziel's head popped around the door, looking in. Kain stood,
addressing another vampire and seemed focused intently on it. Raziel's head
disappeared a moment, then he crept by the door, followed quickly by Dumah,
Turel, Rahab, and Zephon. Melchiah, who had annoyed his brothers by
incessantly chanting, "Are we going yet? Are we going yet?" for ten minutes
straight, was safely gagged and in a bag over Dumah's shoulder. Once they
got passed the open door, they stayed quiet for about thirty paces more
(which seemed like an eternity to Zephon and Rahab—and Melchiah, who was in
the bag) before they took off running. Raziel stopped when they got outside
the building, then turned and continued running toward the mountains. His
brothers followed him. They had wanted an adventure, but had decided it was
better to avoid the remaining vampire hunters. But an adventure wasn't one
without some danger, so they headed up the mountains to the heights that no
one ever came down from again. Before long, the brothers were panting and
Zephon got Raziel's attention.
"Raz," Zephon called. "Let's stop and rest for a bit."
Raziel turned back to his younger brothers and nodded. Dumah set his burden down and opened the bag. Melchiah's head popped out.
"Are we going yet?" he demanded.
"Yes!" all five brothers growled in response.
"Yay!" The smallest brother, being the equivalent of five, climbed out of the bag and wobbled over to Turel. Turel nearly fell over as his clan symbol over his right arm was dragged down. He sighed heavily as Melchiah sat on his shoulders. Raziel looked at his brothers. It had taken some convincing to get each of them out there. There was Dumah who was the combatant, the fighter of the group, who craved to be first and to take over Kain's empire. Then there was Turel, who was the "lady's man," as the few they knew were completely smitten with him. Rahab was the jock and was the only vampire to show a growing resistance to water. He was the captain of the swim team. And its only member. His motto was, "Give it 110%!" Which he said. A lot. In fact, he said it so often he drove his brothers crazy.
Of course there was Zephon, the conniver, the prankster. When they got in trouble for setting traps, he was usually at the heart of it. He was always working on some explosive or another, and hit from a distance. And then there was Melchiah, the youngest of the group. He fit the typical place of the youngest: the whiner, for lack of a better term. True, the group was always picking on him, but he was so much fun to pick on.
"Come on!" Rahab shouted. "Let's get going!"
"Go bite a pig, Rahab," Zephon snarled between pants. "We need to rest a bit."
"Come on! Give it 110%!"
"ERR!" Dumah stood and glared down at his younger sibling. "If you say that one more time I'll—"
He was interrupted by the sound of lightning crackling as a single line of green electricity hit the ground fifteen feet away from them and sizzled as it continued to exist where it shouldn't have. It looked almost like a rip in space and time. A large form appeared and dropped to the ground. The creature could only be called a demon and it turned solid yellow eyes with black slits on them. The hide of the demon was a thick green and on each of its forearms from wrist to elbow was a plate that looked like a mixture of a weapon and a shield. It gave an ethereal rumble of a growl that sounded like the hissed words, "Come, vampires." It stepped toward them menacingly as the brothers drew together and prepared for battle.
"Pillar's Sacrifice!" a male voice shouted. A man dropped lightly to the ground before them. He looked mature, maybe in his mid-twenties, and his hair was silver. Not white-gray, or silverish-gray, but metallic silver. They all knew immediately he was not human or vampire on account of the pair of large bat-like wings coming out of his back and a tail that lashed violently. Both were the same silver coloration of his hair. He stood between the vampire children and the demon with a two-handed sword held to attack position. The demon growled again, and the name voiced was not pronounceable in the common tongue.
The man lunged forward, attacking in a blurry of movement that caught both the demon and the children off-guard. The demon brought the two plates together as a sort of shield, but the silver-haired man's blade easily cut through its tough hide. He attacked with a ferocity that rivaled a vampire in bloodlust. He slashed upward, cutting through the last of the demon's guard, then jammed the sword through its heart. The demon made a growl/roar in protest as it felt its life ebbing. The demon sank to the ground and the silver-haired man let it sit there for a long moment before he drew the blade out of the body. He turned to gaze at the vampire children. His eyes were silver except for a black slit. He looked down at them contemplatively. In spite of themselves, they backed up a step. They were the first sons of Kain, more powerful than any mortal, yet they knew that the being who stood before them was no mortal and could kill them with a flick of his wrist.
"What are you going to do to us?" Raziel finally asked.
"Hmm . . . I'm still trying to figure that out myself." After a long moment, he sighed. "Come with me. I'll ask the Empress what to do with you."
"The . . . who?"
"The Empress," he responded patiently. "She's the ruler of our people."
"And who are you people?" Zephon spoke up. The silver-haired man shot him a grin filled with sharp teeth. He turned and began to walk up into the mountains. After a long while, they came to a dead end in the path. He calmly placed a human-shaped hand with long claws on the rock face. The rock rumbled and morphed and melted away to reveal a long tunnel.
"My name is Ker'orin." He led them deeply into the rock, and after a labored climb, the tunnel suddenly opened to a huge city in the very rock of the top of the largest mountain. The city residents could see the sky and the land around the mountain, but no one from below could see it.
"Welcome to Tâlaeth, vampire children."
The brothers stared wide-eyed with awe at the city and its residents. They were all the same as the silver-haired man except for varying ages, genders, and colors. Some were at what was undoubtedly a market, others were flying in the sky above. Raziel eyed them enviously. The beings were all different sorts of colors: blood red, amethyst purple, ocean blue, metallic gold, and many others. They gazed curiously at the children, but when they saw they were with Ker'orin, they shrugged and turned away. Ker'orin led them to the other end of the city where there was a cathedral- like structure. Both doors were wide open, allowing any and all in. He continued in and met a tall woman who was walking out to meet him. She had lightning colored hair, the palest of white-yellows with an electric blue tint, and her bangs were ebony black. He greeted her in a hissing language that the brothers could not understand.
"Do you know what's going on?" Melchiah whispered softly into Turel's ear from where he was sitting on his shoulders.
"Not a clue."
"Shaté, mas Turias," Ker'orin greeted her. Greetings, my Empress.
Why have you brought the vampire children here and where is your partner? The Empress' voice, though female, was rumbling and demanded the eyes and respect of all who looked upon her.
My partner wanted to sleep in, so I allowed it. The twit was up late last night, and it was only a routine patrol. These children were apparently running around and a demon attacked them. I saved them and brought them here. I don't know whose they are, and even if they don't remember the Treaty, we do. And these children look like they could be His. They are old enough.
The Empress turned silver-gray with black slit eyes on the brothers and was silent for a long moment.
Hm. Perhaps. Have someone baby-sit them while I find out.
Who?
The Empress smiled maliciously. Your partner.
Ker'orin returned the smile and indicated to the vampires to follow him. He led them down long halls and finally stopped at a door and ushered them in. The room was an antechamber and had several more rooms attached to it. It looked like the place of a noble. He went to one of the doors and knocked on it, then stuck his head in.
"Hey! Wake up! You have guests."
A muffled voice grumbled from inside the room. The brothers couldn't tell if it was male or female.
"Come on," Ker'orin continued. "You're baby-sitting."
"What?!"
Ker'orin had already turned and gone out the door, shutting the antechamber door behind him and locking the vampires with whatever horrible fate awaited them. They turned back as they heard someone moving in the other room.
"Ker'orin!" the voice shouted. The door opened and a young woman stepped out, looking more than mildly annoyed. Her hair was ebony black except for her bangs which were a sapphire blue. Her wings and tail matched her eyes, a deep amethyst. She wore only a short silk nightgown which clung to her body like a second skin. Turel's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. She looked a few years older than Raziel. She sighed when she saw them.
"What am I supposed to do with you six?"
"I know what you can do with me," Turel told her. Her expression twisted into a mixture of an annoyed frown and an amused smile.
"Scratch that," she returned. "What do I do with the five of you? I know what to do with the sixth."
"Really?" Turel looked hopeful.
"Really," she responded. She moved over to him while swinging her hips, stopped in front of him and bent down so her face was inches away from his and level. Her hand rose to his shoulder and crept around as he leaned toward her. Her hand took a firm grip of the metal design across his chest and back which held his clan symbol over his arm and tossed him into the closet. She turned back to the rest.
"I always encourage people to give 110%," Rahab began, "but man! That guy gives 180!"
She blinked at him for a long moment, then he went into the closet. She turned back again.
"Then there were four . . ."
"Oh, don't worry," Zephon told her. "Go back to sleep. We'll be good."
She raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Really! We'll play cards." He began to shuffle and deal out cards. She sighed happily as she laid back on her bed. Her head hit the pillow with an explosion as several water balloons burst. Zephon began snickering. She calmly stood and let her aura become a raging inferno of physical fire surrounding her form. The vampires stared at her in surprise. She turned inhuman eyes of fire on Zephon who squeaked in fear and hide in a ball in the corner. The fire around her died as she saw the youngest was about to start crying in fear. She grabbed some old toys of hers and held them out to him. They looked like streamlined lizards with large bat-like wings. Melchiah stared at them for a long moment before shouting, "Cool!" He grabbed them and started playing with them. She turned to the two eldest.
"And then there were two . . ."
The two returned to playing cards and she settled down to watch them. After a while, Dumah stood.
"That's enough!" Dumah growled. "I'm sick of your cheating!"
He started toward Raziel swinging. Raziel pulled his head back and backed up slowly. He reached up, caught Dumah's fist, and fell back onto his back. His foot went up to Dumah's chest and Raziel flipped him over onto his back. Raziel was back up in an instant. Dumah took a moment longer to get up, but moved smoothly forward to punch him. Fed up, the young woman stood and caught his fist easily. Dumah was shocked. No woman should have been able to stop him.
The young woman, on the other claw, was immensely surprised at his strength, even for a vampire. She flexed the muscles in her arm and shoved him back. He wobbled and fell over. He was up again in an instant, outraged she had done such a thing. He launched forward trying to punch her, and probably would have succeeded had it not been for the fact she was expecting such a response. In retaliation to his attack, she twirled and kicked out with her foot, hitting him squarely in the chest and sending him smashing into the wall. To the surprised of the on-lookers, he didn't go through the wall, but there was a Dumah-shaped impression around him. She turned to the eldest.
"Then there was one."
"Don't worry about me," he told her. "I'm a lot more civilized than they are."
She snorted in a mixture of annoyance and amusement.
"Yes, you seem to be the most mature of the lot." She sighed deeply.
"I suppose now would be a good time for introductions," he continued. "This is Melchiah," he said as he ran a three-clawed hand over the littlest one's head. He looked up at her, said hello, then went back to playing with the toys.
"The one in the wall is Dumah. The one over there in the corner is Zephon. The two in the closet . . ." He paused. "The one who was talking about percents was Rahab and the one who was hitting on you is Turel. I am Raziel."
"Pleasure," she murmured.
"And you are?"
"I am Shay'Telnira."
"Ah." After a moment, "Anything shorter?"
She smiled. "Shay."
"Raz," Zephon called. "Let's stop and rest for a bit."
Raziel turned back to his younger brothers and nodded. Dumah set his burden down and opened the bag. Melchiah's head popped out.
"Are we going yet?" he demanded.
"Yes!" all five brothers growled in response.
"Yay!" The smallest brother, being the equivalent of five, climbed out of the bag and wobbled over to Turel. Turel nearly fell over as his clan symbol over his right arm was dragged down. He sighed heavily as Melchiah sat on his shoulders. Raziel looked at his brothers. It had taken some convincing to get each of them out there. There was Dumah who was the combatant, the fighter of the group, who craved to be first and to take over Kain's empire. Then there was Turel, who was the "lady's man," as the few they knew were completely smitten with him. Rahab was the jock and was the only vampire to show a growing resistance to water. He was the captain of the swim team. And its only member. His motto was, "Give it 110%!" Which he said. A lot. In fact, he said it so often he drove his brothers crazy.
Of course there was Zephon, the conniver, the prankster. When they got in trouble for setting traps, he was usually at the heart of it. He was always working on some explosive or another, and hit from a distance. And then there was Melchiah, the youngest of the group. He fit the typical place of the youngest: the whiner, for lack of a better term. True, the group was always picking on him, but he was so much fun to pick on.
"Come on!" Rahab shouted. "Let's get going!"
"Go bite a pig, Rahab," Zephon snarled between pants. "We need to rest a bit."
"Come on! Give it 110%!"
"ERR!" Dumah stood and glared down at his younger sibling. "If you say that one more time I'll—"
He was interrupted by the sound of lightning crackling as a single line of green electricity hit the ground fifteen feet away from them and sizzled as it continued to exist where it shouldn't have. It looked almost like a rip in space and time. A large form appeared and dropped to the ground. The creature could only be called a demon and it turned solid yellow eyes with black slits on them. The hide of the demon was a thick green and on each of its forearms from wrist to elbow was a plate that looked like a mixture of a weapon and a shield. It gave an ethereal rumble of a growl that sounded like the hissed words, "Come, vampires." It stepped toward them menacingly as the brothers drew together and prepared for battle.
"Pillar's Sacrifice!" a male voice shouted. A man dropped lightly to the ground before them. He looked mature, maybe in his mid-twenties, and his hair was silver. Not white-gray, or silverish-gray, but metallic silver. They all knew immediately he was not human or vampire on account of the pair of large bat-like wings coming out of his back and a tail that lashed violently. Both were the same silver coloration of his hair. He stood between the vampire children and the demon with a two-handed sword held to attack position. The demon growled again, and the name voiced was not pronounceable in the common tongue.
The man lunged forward, attacking in a blurry of movement that caught both the demon and the children off-guard. The demon brought the two plates together as a sort of shield, but the silver-haired man's blade easily cut through its tough hide. He attacked with a ferocity that rivaled a vampire in bloodlust. He slashed upward, cutting through the last of the demon's guard, then jammed the sword through its heart. The demon made a growl/roar in protest as it felt its life ebbing. The demon sank to the ground and the silver-haired man let it sit there for a long moment before he drew the blade out of the body. He turned to gaze at the vampire children. His eyes were silver except for a black slit. He looked down at them contemplatively. In spite of themselves, they backed up a step. They were the first sons of Kain, more powerful than any mortal, yet they knew that the being who stood before them was no mortal and could kill them with a flick of his wrist.
"What are you going to do to us?" Raziel finally asked.
"Hmm . . . I'm still trying to figure that out myself." After a long moment, he sighed. "Come with me. I'll ask the Empress what to do with you."
"The . . . who?"
"The Empress," he responded patiently. "She's the ruler of our people."
"And who are you people?" Zephon spoke up. The silver-haired man shot him a grin filled with sharp teeth. He turned and began to walk up into the mountains. After a long while, they came to a dead end in the path. He calmly placed a human-shaped hand with long claws on the rock face. The rock rumbled and morphed and melted away to reveal a long tunnel.
"My name is Ker'orin." He led them deeply into the rock, and after a labored climb, the tunnel suddenly opened to a huge city in the very rock of the top of the largest mountain. The city residents could see the sky and the land around the mountain, but no one from below could see it.
"Welcome to Tâlaeth, vampire children."
The brothers stared wide-eyed with awe at the city and its residents. They were all the same as the silver-haired man except for varying ages, genders, and colors. Some were at what was undoubtedly a market, others were flying in the sky above. Raziel eyed them enviously. The beings were all different sorts of colors: blood red, amethyst purple, ocean blue, metallic gold, and many others. They gazed curiously at the children, but when they saw they were with Ker'orin, they shrugged and turned away. Ker'orin led them to the other end of the city where there was a cathedral- like structure. Both doors were wide open, allowing any and all in. He continued in and met a tall woman who was walking out to meet him. She had lightning colored hair, the palest of white-yellows with an electric blue tint, and her bangs were ebony black. He greeted her in a hissing language that the brothers could not understand.
"Do you know what's going on?" Melchiah whispered softly into Turel's ear from where he was sitting on his shoulders.
"Not a clue."
"Shaté, mas Turias," Ker'orin greeted her. Greetings, my Empress.
Why have you brought the vampire children here and where is your partner? The Empress' voice, though female, was rumbling and demanded the eyes and respect of all who looked upon her.
My partner wanted to sleep in, so I allowed it. The twit was up late last night, and it was only a routine patrol. These children were apparently running around and a demon attacked them. I saved them and brought them here. I don't know whose they are, and even if they don't remember the Treaty, we do. And these children look like they could be His. They are old enough.
The Empress turned silver-gray with black slit eyes on the brothers and was silent for a long moment.
Hm. Perhaps. Have someone baby-sit them while I find out.
Who?
The Empress smiled maliciously. Your partner.
Ker'orin returned the smile and indicated to the vampires to follow him. He led them down long halls and finally stopped at a door and ushered them in. The room was an antechamber and had several more rooms attached to it. It looked like the place of a noble. He went to one of the doors and knocked on it, then stuck his head in.
"Hey! Wake up! You have guests."
A muffled voice grumbled from inside the room. The brothers couldn't tell if it was male or female.
"Come on," Ker'orin continued. "You're baby-sitting."
"What?!"
Ker'orin had already turned and gone out the door, shutting the antechamber door behind him and locking the vampires with whatever horrible fate awaited them. They turned back as they heard someone moving in the other room.
"Ker'orin!" the voice shouted. The door opened and a young woman stepped out, looking more than mildly annoyed. Her hair was ebony black except for her bangs which were a sapphire blue. Her wings and tail matched her eyes, a deep amethyst. She wore only a short silk nightgown which clung to her body like a second skin. Turel's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. She looked a few years older than Raziel. She sighed when she saw them.
"What am I supposed to do with you six?"
"I know what you can do with me," Turel told her. Her expression twisted into a mixture of an annoyed frown and an amused smile.
"Scratch that," she returned. "What do I do with the five of you? I know what to do with the sixth."
"Really?" Turel looked hopeful.
"Really," she responded. She moved over to him while swinging her hips, stopped in front of him and bent down so her face was inches away from his and level. Her hand rose to his shoulder and crept around as he leaned toward her. Her hand took a firm grip of the metal design across his chest and back which held his clan symbol over his arm and tossed him into the closet. She turned back to the rest.
"I always encourage people to give 110%," Rahab began, "but man! That guy gives 180!"
She blinked at him for a long moment, then he went into the closet. She turned back again.
"Then there were four . . ."
"Oh, don't worry," Zephon told her. "Go back to sleep. We'll be good."
She raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Really! We'll play cards." He began to shuffle and deal out cards. She sighed happily as she laid back on her bed. Her head hit the pillow with an explosion as several water balloons burst. Zephon began snickering. She calmly stood and let her aura become a raging inferno of physical fire surrounding her form. The vampires stared at her in surprise. She turned inhuman eyes of fire on Zephon who squeaked in fear and hide in a ball in the corner. The fire around her died as she saw the youngest was about to start crying in fear. She grabbed some old toys of hers and held them out to him. They looked like streamlined lizards with large bat-like wings. Melchiah stared at them for a long moment before shouting, "Cool!" He grabbed them and started playing with them. She turned to the two eldest.
"And then there were two . . ."
The two returned to playing cards and she settled down to watch them. After a while, Dumah stood.
"That's enough!" Dumah growled. "I'm sick of your cheating!"
He started toward Raziel swinging. Raziel pulled his head back and backed up slowly. He reached up, caught Dumah's fist, and fell back onto his back. His foot went up to Dumah's chest and Raziel flipped him over onto his back. Raziel was back up in an instant. Dumah took a moment longer to get up, but moved smoothly forward to punch him. Fed up, the young woman stood and caught his fist easily. Dumah was shocked. No woman should have been able to stop him.
The young woman, on the other claw, was immensely surprised at his strength, even for a vampire. She flexed the muscles in her arm and shoved him back. He wobbled and fell over. He was up again in an instant, outraged she had done such a thing. He launched forward trying to punch her, and probably would have succeeded had it not been for the fact she was expecting such a response. In retaliation to his attack, she twirled and kicked out with her foot, hitting him squarely in the chest and sending him smashing into the wall. To the surprised of the on-lookers, he didn't go through the wall, but there was a Dumah-shaped impression around him. She turned to the eldest.
"Then there was one."
"Don't worry about me," he told her. "I'm a lot more civilized than they are."
She snorted in a mixture of annoyance and amusement.
"Yes, you seem to be the most mature of the lot." She sighed deeply.
"I suppose now would be a good time for introductions," he continued. "This is Melchiah," he said as he ran a three-clawed hand over the littlest one's head. He looked up at her, said hello, then went back to playing with the toys.
"The one in the wall is Dumah. The one over there in the corner is Zephon. The two in the closet . . ." He paused. "The one who was talking about percents was Rahab and the one who was hitting on you is Turel. I am Raziel."
"Pleasure," she murmured.
"And you are?"
"I am Shay'Telnira."
"Ah." After a moment, "Anything shorter?"
She smiled. "Shay."