Adult-FanFiction.org : Anime

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlines	By : devilsdoormat Category: +S to Z > Vampire Hunter D Views: 1732 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Vampire Hunter D is obviously not my original property. I will make no money and benefit only emotionally from sharing. The title character, D, is pulled from both animated movies and not from the manga.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
"You've been unusually quiet today." The raspy voice chided him.

D didn't bother with a response, choosing instead to ride on. The horse under him was moving so quickly that the sand was spraying behind them like a vapor trail. It had been this way for hours, traveling on the dry and dusty flatlands. The sun was bright and oppressive, but at least there was a breeze created by the speed at which he rode.

"The silent treatment, eh?" The voice spoke again, "You're not regretting taking this job, are you? I would regret it. It's a long, miserable journey for a very dubious payoff. Sure, the pay sounds great, if you even get paid for it. Do you think St. Peitre's Hamlet is going to welcome you with open arms? Or maybe you'll get there and it'll be too late. That representative looked pretty fishy if you ask me. But you didn't ask me. You're still not asking me. You should. I can tell these things. He's hiding something."

"He's scared." D finally responded.

"He speaks! Haha! Oh, yes, he was very scared. But was he scared of you or was he scared of what he was doing out there? He was about to swallow his tongue when he was giving you the details, wasn't he? And there were gaps in the story. Holes that would have sank a ship. Morrow Valley and its Vampire King. Hidden villages far in the north. Wealthy Lords who have returned to their besieged home towns to save it instead of fleeing for their lives. A land under attack for fifteen years that we've never even heard of. That's all suspicious. I don't like it." The voice went on.

"It sounds like he wants hunters to travel through Morrow Valley Pass." D said, his voice low and his collar up, shielding his face from the sand in the wind, "The alternative is the swamps."

"If you want your horse to rust, feel free." The voice muttered, "Personally, I'd be curious to see this Vampire King Romulus Morrow. The people of his town love him so much, right? I bet! This whole thing stinks of dark magic and intrigue."

"Romulus Morrow isn't my job." D said.

"But you aren't going to leave that town under his thumb, are you?" The voice chided, "Not getting paid for a job has never stopped you before. And what if they do love him? What then?"

"If that is the case, they don't know what he is." D stated, "Again, Romulus Morrow is not my job."

"Ah, yes, that would slow us down. How mercenary of you." When the voice came again, D raised his left hand and clenched it, "Mmph! Watch it! Am I wearing out my welcome again? Look, we should focus on this Raziel Morrow. Son of King Romulus. Maybe on the way back we can.. consider helping Morrow Valley Pass, but that isn't paying you fifty million, is it? And who knows what we'll run into on the way. Barbaroi. Those other hunters. The woman is a witch, I can smell it on her."

"Not a powerful witch." D commented.

"Still a witch, so watch your step." The voice stated.

He rode on for another few moments before the voice chimed in again.

"You'll have to stop soon. Get out of the sun for awhile. I can't keep narrowly escaping death by heat syndrome because you won't consider both of our lives." It muttered.

D pressed on, not having a reply for those words. They were words of wisdom, but they were going to be left unheeded for just a little longer. He knew his limitations. Perhaps he'd overestimated himself once or twice, pushed himself too far and almost perished, but he hadn't died then and he wouldn't die now.

"I see. Suicidal as always." The voice grunted.

***

The mountain pass was approaching at the far horizon, D could see the peaks raising as though growing from the earth itself as he drove the horse ever onward. He felt the warm press of exhaustion wearing his nerves thin but pushed back on the urge to rest as soon as he'd reached the mountains.

Soon, D had slowed his horse to a trot and was entering the wide berth of the pass, noting the tire treads that were a day old. The hunters had come through already.

"Careful now." The voice, "I smell magic."

D kept that note in the back of his head as he studied the high canyon walls on either side of the mountain path. The path had to be fifty feet across, dug into the mountains by time and the hands of men and monsters. This was a route he'd taken before, but it had changed subtly over the years. Sometimes there were bodies in various states of decay, fresh corpses or old bones, left strewn in awkward positions at the edges of the path. Sometimes there was a vehicle for a long, long time, sitting and rusting until someone or something came along and scavenged it until it disappeared.

Sometimes trees tried to grow from the mountain sides. Sometimes there were boulders blocking some of the road. Sometimes there were hordes of enemies waiting to attack. Brigands, mercenaries or common robbers. Maybe hungry beasts.

He kept an eye out ahead, seeing that the path was clear, and kept his horse trotting. It had felt like an hour before D noted a very familiar rock jutting from the mountain to the right, up ahead.

"Something's wrong.." The voice came, "Let me see.."

D stopped his horse and lifted his left hand up. There was a churning in the flesh of his palm, a formation of skin shifting and growing like a tumor. The eyes, black and narrowed, opened even as the slits of its nostrils flared and the wide mouth opened to expose scattered teeth.

"Ah! Smell that? That's magic! I knew it!" His left hand was speaking, the voice grating.

"What sort of magic?" D asked it.

"That witch left us a present." It spoke again, chuckling, "We're in a loop spell."

"I see." D looked up at the canyon walls on either side of himself, "The transition was weak. She didn't put much effort into this."

"That or she isn't very powerful. I'm going to hazard a guess at the second option." His left hand let out another chuckle, "Clever little minx. But not too clever. Give me a second and we'll be out of this presently."

Its mouth opened, the blackness within a hollow pit, and it began to draw the air in from around them. Blue, shimmering lights began to appear along the walls of the path and pulled back, peeling the air around them like an illustrated veil toward the vortex that had formed. It all lead right to the gaping maw of the thing on D's hand, and it was swallowed up just as quickly as had been promised.

The thing smacked its lips.

"Tastes like gray magic." It stated, "I wonder if she was proud of that."

"We only lost an hour." D said and began to trot his horse again.

"I'll bet she wanted you to rot in this mountain pass." His left hand commented, "We know now though. You should thank her when you see her again, if you see her again."

"There's no reason to do that." D said calmly, "It didn't slow me down enough."

"Bah! You're boring." His hand muttered.

***

"Ahh!" Val let out a soft cry and sat straight up in her seat.

They'd been driving with some music on for a day since leaving the mountain pass and were now driving through a rather dense forest on a bumpy, muddy road.

"Mm? What? What is it, Val?" Renshen was startled awake.

"Uff.. I.. I don't know.. Wait.." Val touched her forehead, her eyes closed and her lips pulled back, "I think the Dunpeal broke my spell.."

"That wasn't three days, Snowflake." Gencho grumbled.

"He's stronger than I thought." Val whispered.

"Well, we got a day and an hour ahead, that's good at least." Renshen was lighting up a cigarette, "So the Dunpeal's strong? We've gotta be faster. We've made an enemy now, after all."

"Dammit." Val cursed.

"Good going, Val. Great spell." Tengen chastised her and crossed his legs where he sat, bobbing one foot in the air as he hung his arms over the back of the bench seat in the back, "First Class Witchery."

"Shut it, Tengen. I tried." Val snapped back at him.

"Quiet, kids." Renshen said, "Get your heads on. Look up there.."

"It's a woman.." Gencho murmured.

Up ahead, where the road suddenly opened up a bit more, there was indeed a woman. She was standing there, absolutely still, a shorter figure wearing black and red robes. Her pale face was visible but only the lower half, her eyes hidden by her hood. Crimson red hair hung down her shoulders, some white strands mixed in.

"Stop the car." Renshen said.

Gencho slowed the Bella down and came to a halt perhaps twenty feet away from the woman standing in the middle of the road.

The hatch to the car opened and Renshen stepped out, his hands exposed as he came around to the front of the vehicle. It was early evening, still light out, and the shadows were long on the ground.

"Madam, we gotta ask you to move, Ok?" Renshen said, "We're kinda comin' through this way, and I don't wanna run you over."

"Crazy lady in the road. Move!" Gencho blared the horn of the Bella, yelling loud enough to be heard first. The sound of the horn shook the surrounding trees and sent birds scattering into the sky.

Renshen winced, frowning.

The woman smiled.

"You are hunters, aren't you?" The woman asked. Her voice was lovely and melodic, leaving her lips like music. There were fine wrinkles at the corners of her mouth, "Coming to Morrow Valley Pass?"

"Passing through." Renshen said, "Why?"

"Because I would advise you to go around, hunters." The woman told him.

"And why would we do that?" Renshen asked her, placing his hands on his hips.

"Because Morrow Valley is a peaceful village, and you bring hate and death. If you go there, you will certainly cause trouble, and I cannot have that, no I cannot." The woman went on. She tilted her head and then pointed to the left, "You can take the next fork to the left and pass through the Shangor Swamps. If you stay on the stony path you are less likely to get stuck or sink, I assure you. Those swamps are my home after all and I know them well."

"I'm sorry, lady, but we're passing through Morrow Valley." Renshen still had his cigarette, "Who are you anyway?"

"I am Elsie the Swamp Witch." The woman told him, "And you don't know what is ahead of you. There are Barbaroi guarding that village. I also guard that village. I cannot let you go there."

"Barbaroi?" Renshen exhaled, "Look, I've no quarrel with you, Elsie. Step aside, let us pass or I'm afraid we'll have to use force."

"Just drive! She'll have to move!" Tengen yelled from the car.

"A witch, huh? Maybe she'd like to spar with me!" Val was hopping from the car, stepping onto the dirt road in her black boots with their tall heels. She strutted over to stand beside Renshen and looked down at the woman many feet ahead.

"Oh, sweetie, you'd be outmatched." Elsie chuckled, "Save yourself the trouble and go back to your tank. You should all leave now."

"We're on the way to the Castle Thanos." Renshen finally stated.

"Hm? To kill Raziel Morrow?" Elsie laughed, "You're all going to die then."

"Woman, let us pass." Renshen said once more.

"Fine then, I will, but only so you can make the next left. If I see you in Morrow Valley I will kill you all before Raziel has the chance." Elsie whispered, grinning, "If you harm anyone in Morrow Valley, you will never stop regretting it."

Gencho blared the horn again.

"Old! Lady! Out! Of! The! Way!" Gencho yelled.

"Old?" Elsie smirked but then stepped back, "Drive safe, hunters."

In an instant she was gone, evaporated.

"Huh? How'd she.." Val shook her head.

"Let's get back in. Keep driving." Renshen ushered Val back to the car.

After Renshen and Val had taken their seats, Gencho turned to Renshen and scrunched his brows, his lips twisted into a snarl.

"So, we uh, we stayin' on this road?" Gencho asked.

"Yeah, we're passing through Morrow Valley." Renshen shrugged, "I'm not deviating from a plan because a crazy witch in the woods told me to."

Renshen scowled, his hand coming to his chin to stroke at his own beard.

"Though, let's play it cautious. We don't attack anything unless it attacks us first." Renshen added.

"Teleportation spells are some pretty serious business." Val said, her eyes closed as she leaned into her chair, "Even casting illusions aren't easy. That woman was a real witch."

"And you aren't, Valeria Talbot?" Renshen asked her, "Don't worry about it. She said she was the swamp witch. We're not gonna be in the swamp."

"Sounds like this swamp witch is guarding that town we need to pass through though." Gencho was starting the Bella. She rumbled to life and then Gencho shifted her into drive.

"We'll worry about it when we get there." Renshen stated.

"Val, get better at magic. Fast." Tengen pointed at the blonde woman.

Val muttered something under her breath.

***

The sun moved across the sky, turning the morning into the early afternoon.

The Bella had been rumbling down the road for six hours before Gencho once again slammed on the brakes. This time, all aboard were alert and aware. They'd stopped at another widening of the road, the trees pulling back on either side and exposing long grass and flowers. This continued on for as far as they could see. There was a broken welcome sign, old and worn many yards ahead. The name of the town had long since faded away, stripped by rain, snow and wind.

They weren't interested in the sign though.

Gencho had slammed on the brakes when he'd seen the tall girl in the white and gray cloak coming out from the treeline. She'd come to the edge of the grass as if to watch the Bella pass by.

"Girl." Gencho stated.

"Keep driving, Gencho." Renshen waved a hand at the other man.

The girl had stepped into the road, studying the car. She had on gray slacks, tall black boots and a blue blouse, the sleeves rolled up. She was wearing brown gloves which came to her elbows. The girl was slender, shapely and curious. Her hand had come out to touch the front of the Bella. Had she never seen a car before?

"Can't now. I'd run her over, wouldn't I? I should go out and say Hi." Gencho grinned, "Didja get a look at the legs on this one, Tengen?"

"Oh man, they go all the way up!" Tengen exclaimed, standing next to Gencho at the front window.

They could see the girl out there, her hood lowered and covering the majority of her face.

"You boys are foul. She's probably a local. Probably missing all her teeth and most of her hair too. Just go tell her to move, Ok?" Val said, her tone sharp and unfriendly. She was beginning to stand, "No, y'know what? I will. I'll do the talking this time."

Val strutted over the hatch, lifted it and stepped down from the Bella onto the dirt road. She came around the side of the vehicle and met the girl face to face. Val found herself looking up as the girl was indeed very tall, and Val squared her shoulders.

The girl had a peachy complexion, freckles on her cheeks. She had a pleasant smile and bright blue eyes. Some light red bangs were visible hanging close to her left eye.

"Hello!" The girl said, "Wow, are you guys travelers?"

"Eh, yeah, sure." Val said to the girl, her hands on her hips, "And we're trying to get through, so if you don't mind.."

"I really like your car!" The girl said excitedly and touched the front again, looking up suddenly to see Gencho waving at her and grinning, "Hi!"

"Great. So if you'd move.." Val began to speak again.

"Get back here!" Renshen called out, still inside of the car.

Boots hurried down the metal steps from the Bella.

"Well, hello, my lady." Tengen was outside then and approached the girl in a swift and purposeful manner. He extended a hand out to her and was impressed at her height as she was just as tall as he was, "May I?"

"May you what?" The girl asked him, tilting her head.

"Heh, kiss your hand." Tengen waggled his open palm at her.

"You don't want to do that. I was touching a lot of gross stuff." The tall girl told Tengen, "And my hands have been in gloves all day. We can just shake, right?"

"Uh, Ok." Tengen shook her hand, "But yeah, you're gonna havta move, lil girl."

"Lil girl?" She chuckled but offered a little sneer, "You're funny. Who are you? Where are you going?"

"Well, we're heroes and we're on our way to save a lot of people." Tengen told her.

"Quiet, Tengen." Val took a swipe at him.

"Hey there, pretty thing!" Gencho yelled, his voice audible from inside the Bella.

The girl waved at Gencho, blushing and showing teeth as she smiled widely.

"Well, this was fun, bu-" Val started to speak.

"She's just a kid.." Renshen had stepped out from the car and eyed the girl, "Sweetheart, it'd be awfully nice of you if you let us pass. We've important business to attend to."

"Like killing a vampire." Tengen spoke.

"What?" The girl jumped back, obviously startled, "Why? Why would you do something like that?"

"I bet this is one of those townies that love their vampire king. Good job, Tengen." Val muttered, "I'm gonna have to tie her to a tree out here so we can pass in peace."

"You're going to kill the king?" The girl asked them, her eyes wide and horrified.

"What's going out here?" Gencho was stepping out of the car., coming to stand by Renshen, "Why are we still standing around talkin' to this chick? I mean, yeah, she's totally bangable, but we've got places to go."

"My name is Meredith!" The girl exclaimed, "I have a name. And you can't be serious!"

"About which part?" Gencho grinned, one eyebrow lifting as he studied her.

"About the killing!" She exclaimed, shaking her head.

"Oh, we're deadly serious." Tengen smirked.

"Huh? But why?" Meredith looked at the hunters, eyes wide under her gray hood, "Why would you want to kill my father?"

"Your father?" Tengen asked, his grin widening, "Did you hear that, team? She's the blood sucker's spawn. And out during the day too. Are you a Dunpeal, little girl? Eh?"

Gencho Jones was taken aback and then scowled.

"Filthy." Gencho muttered, fingering the trigger of his long musket. He'd swung over his left shoulder but twitched ever so slightly as he eyed the girl. His expression had gone cold, as if he'd been insulted, "Give me the word and I'll take care of it."

Renshen Bui raised one of his massive, muscular arms and placed it out across Gencho's chest.

"Settle down, Gencho. She's merely a child." Renshen spoke, his voice deep and resonating.

"A little Dunpeal is still a Dunpeal." Tengen muttered, his hands on the hilts of his long, slender swords, "Renshen, if we let her go she'll just warn the Barbaroi guarding the village."

"So we don't let her go." Valeria stated, walking over in her high boots, "We'll keep the little Dunpeal Princess."

"You can't keep me." Meredith said.

"Oh, we certainly can, you pretty little monster." Tengen grinned ear to ear. He raised a hand to his eye patch and lifted it. The eye underneath was perfectly fine, but the pupil was huge and black, taking up the majority of the iris, "I'll keep both eyes on you, I promise."

"No, I mean it." Meredith's expression had gone calm despite the small, coy smile.

"You back away from the Princess." A grating, metallic voice cut through the evening still. It was lost in the trees, sinking in and out of the growing shadows. And then, Shoyan stepped out into the moonlight, her arms already formed into black blades.

"They are hunters, Shoyan." Came a low, masculine grumble, "Let us just kill them and get Mere back home. I told Gallicker that I would beat him at cards tonight."

The huge and ominous form of Aatrak was half hidden in the trees many yards away, but his voice could be heard quite well. A clawed hand slid around a tree trunk and his talons dug into the bark, tearing some of it away. His yellow eyes burned brightly. He must have been half shifted.

Meredith had never been so happy to see her babysitters.

"You're going to lose." Gallicker said, his voice sharp but equally powerful. He was crouched upon a nearby stone column, and had appeared there silently, "You're going up against a master. Slight of hand has always been my specialty."

Gallicker's eyes were black pits, his grin wide and filled with long, serrated fangs. He wore all black, his long, thin limbs very spider-like as he crept along the broken rocks. His head was shaved save for the top, where the black hair was allowed to grow long only to be combed over. There were blades in his hands, blades along his arms and heels. He was quick, sharp death.

"Well well well.." Gencho laughed, "What do we have here? The welcome wagon has arrived."

"More like a rescue party, seems to me." Valeria was placing a hand upon one of her guns, which sat at her hip, "Or this girl's own personal band of body guards."

"They want to kill father!" Meredith grabbed at her white and gray cloaks and stepped back, away from the hunters, "Please don't fight, and please, please don't hurt my dad! Just go back to where ever you came from! Our village is peaceful! My father wouldn't hurt anyone!"

"A vampire who wouldn't hurt anyone?" Tengen coughed, grinning. He'd already lowered his eye patch once more, "That's rich, kid. How many innocent people has your pop drained in the last few years, eh? I'll bet hundreds. And what kind of peaceful village employees Barbaroi goons?"

"The kind that wishes to protect itself against the real threat. People like you." Shoyan pointed at the hunters from where she stood and then began to approach. She walked like a predatory cat, her black cloaks liquid as she paused. Her eyes were bright green, her hair shifting and churning.

"I do not foresee a way for this to end peacefully, Mere." Aatrak said and came out of the brush and into the moonlight, "Please step back. Let us handle this."

He was taller when he shifted, nearly eight foot tall, and his fur was a deep black with flecks of gray scattered about. The gray mostly gathered at his muzzle and the high furry ridge at his shoulders. His clothing had been shredded, an unfortunate side effect of the change, and his hands were now massive claws. His tail swished behind him and he tilted his head. Those long, canine fangs were shown as he snarled, lips curling up. Aatrak was a huge, humanoid wolf at the moment, his ears flicked back. The silver loop of his left earring glittered in the light. If he shifted the entire way, he'd be the biggest wolf anyone had ever seen, but Meredith hadn't seen him do that too often.

Only when he hunted.

"Three Barbaroi against four hunters. What do you think of our odds, Val?" Tengen asked the woman standing beside him. He was grinning, apparently looking forward to the looming skirmish.

"The odds do seem to be in our favor. Unless the girl fights too." Val laughed, the sound soft but insincere, and then began to draw her pistols from their holsters on her belt, "Unless 'Princess' can't fight."

"Hey, don't be a shitbag!" Meredith pointed at Valeria. The young Dhampir had worked steadily further away from the group, trying to inch her way closer to her bodyguards, "Nobody is fighting anybody! You guys just scram, Ok? Just get out of here and leave us alone!"

Valeria Talbot looked genuinely surprised and then laughed again. Tengen and Gencho joined her in the boisterous amusement. Tengen wiped at his one eye, shaking his head.

"What a mouth on this one." Gencho exhaled, still smiling, "I'll enjoy shutting it. Permanently."

Renshen made an unhappy sound in the back of his throat.

"Look." Renshen pointed down the dark, dirty path toward the patch of shadows that was now approaching.

It was a small figure and, as soon as her red and black cloaks had become visible, instantly recognizable as the Swamp Witch.

"What did I tell you?" Elsie asked, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Mom?" Meredith made her way to the small woman and bent down to speak with her, "I know that you and dad told me not to wander this late, but you see-"

"Not you, Meredith. But we will have words later. I meant these fools before us." Elsie narrowed her ice blue eyes at the band of hunters standing in the road, "I told them to travel through Shangor Swamp, avoid the town and harm no one until they'd passed these lands entirely. And here I find them about to attack my daughter."

"This is your kid?" Tengen scowled, "Man, lady, you really are a crazy old bat. You made it with a vampire?"

"What an idiot." Gallicker mused out loud, having a chuckle, "Insulting the Black Madam in her own element. I can't wait to see her pull you inside out."

"The Black Madam?" Val was now sincerely taken aback, "You.. You're the Black Madam.."

"Yes." Elsie responded, pulling her hood away from her pale face, "I am Elsira the Black. I gave you fair warning, hunters. You have decided to disobey me, and now I must destroy you."

"Wait, mom." Meredith touched the woman's shoulder.

Elsira turned to look at the girl.

They both had almost the same lovely shade of red hair, though Elsira's had some white streaks along her temples, her hair also more crimson than her daughters. Meredith was much taller than her mother, favoring the vampiric lineage in her own blood. Both had the same blue eyes, but Meredith's were warmer. When Meredith pulled back her hood she exposed her pointed ears.

Elsira in her black and red cloaks stood beside Meredith in her long, white and gray cloak.

"Don't.. don't kill them, mom. Just make them leave, Ok?" Meredith pleaded, her eyes large and her lips parted, "They're just stupid and scared. Just like dad said all hunters were. They can't help it."

"Stupid and scared?" Tengen called out, "I'll show you, you little leech bitch!"

Tengen charged at Elsira and Meredith, his swords at the ready. Gencho joined him and pointed his musket at the girl, letting out a triumphant battle cry as Valeria drew her guns and aimed. Renshen drew his long bo-staff with the twin blades at each end but did not attack.

Gallicker let out a shriek and leapt toward Tengen.

Aatrak was almost at Gencho, his claws and teeth eager. Shoyan's knives were about to pierce Valeria through the chest as Shoyan materialized from the shadows near the hunter.

Gencho fired his musket. Valeria fired at both Shoyan and Elsira.

Meredith watched the bullets fired from each weapon, seeing time slowed so much that their movement crept along as the air rippled in visible waves around their metal edges.

Elsira frowned, raising a hand, and then drew her arm back.

The entire area exploded in shadow, the bullets reflecting away and each person being flung to the ground. The sound was deafening, shaking the forest around them. Echoes blasted across the treetops and back, reverberating in the bones of the shocked and fallen.

"Fools." Elsira muttered, "All of you. Yes. All of you. Barbaroi, go back to your master, Lord Romulus Morrow. Take Meredith with you. I shall find her later. As for you hunters, consider this a favor. I will not tell you again. If you must enter this village, do so peacefully, or you will surely die. I am only offering you this kindness because of my love for my Meredith, who has pleaded for your lives."

"You.. you think you're doing us a favor?" Gencho coughed out a laugh.

"I could have torn you limb from limb, Gencho Jones." Elsira pointed at the man.

He was suddenly lifted, arms and legs stretched out, and he let out a cry of surprise and pain. When the others in his band made a move they were captured similarly, their arms and legs splayed. Shadows danced all around the path, becoming tendrils which held each party member securely.

"How.." Gencho began to ask, voice stuttering. She'd known his name.

"But I did not." Elsira's eyes were red, glowing brightly as she cut off his words with her own.

"S-Saint Elsie, the S-Swamp Witch.." Tengen grimaced but chuckled.

"It would behoove you to heed my advice." Elsira stated, her lips pulling back, "I'll merely kill you. Romulus and his other children will eat you. Consider that. You've obviously chosen to travel through this town, so I will allow it, but do not harm a single person. You'll do better attempting to face Raziel and his own Barbaroi than fight an entire town of humans who love their Lord."

"This town..really.. loves.. the vampire?" Val choked.

"Yes, my father is much beloved." Meredith nodded, smiling.

"Barbaroi, take my daughter to her father's castle. Now!" Elsira barked.

"Yes, my Lady." Aatrak said.

There was a rush of movement as Aatrak went to pick Meredith up.

"Aatrak! Don't you dare pick me up! I can walk! That's an order!" Meredith swatted at the half shifted werewolf and turned on her heel, doing a spin as she moved, "Fine! I'll go."

Gallicker was snickering as Aatrak shifted back to his more human form, which was still feral in its own right. He hadn't shifted entirely back, his jawline still a bit fuzzier than usual and his fangs more pronounced. Aatrak's clothing was ripped, looking more haggard as he changed back and shrunk down to his normal, but still incredible, height.

"Can't carry her anymore, can you nanny wolf?" Gallicker pushed into Aatrak on purpose before skittering away into the shadows.

"That game is still happening tonight, Gallicker, you ass." Aatrak followed after Meredith and was soon flanked by Shoyan.

Soon, the hunters were left with Elsira.

"Waiting until she leaves to kill us?" Renshen asked. Of all of them he looked the calmest.

"I'm not going to kill you." Elsira dropped them all to the ground very suddenly.

They were all clambering to their feet within seconds.

"There is another hunter, isn't there?" Elsira asked.

"Huh? You mean.. you mean the Dunpeal?" Tengen rubbed at the back of his head.

"Dhampir, not Dunpeal. Dunpeal is a crude and derogatory term." Elsira's eyes glowed red again in the fading light, "He is close behind you. I saw him. You really did a good job getting so far ahead, didn't you?"

"If you're judging us for the trap, then whatever." Gencho chuckled, "We want that bounty and we're not losing it to some Dunp- Dhampir hunter."

"I'm sure he'll remember that." Elsira smiled, "Though I think that one's had much worse than what you left for him. That was an interesting little spell."

Val stepped forward.

"That was me." She stated, "My mother was Persephone Talbot. Maybe you've heard of her."

"Ah, Persephone Talbot, the Gray Lady. Yes." Elsira smiled but there was no mirth in her eyes, "Now I understand why you knew me, child. Why you looked so afraid while your friends stared like empty eyed sheep. You did not stay with her, I see. You didn't study under her for very long."

"I hated her." Val placed her hand on her hip, "But I learned a few tricks from the hag before I ran away to become a hunter."

"That you did, I see." Elsira laughed, "This hunter that trails behind you, he will not attempt revenge. He will merely press on. He'll most likely beat you to your quarry, just so you know."

"Not with our head start." Tengen grunted, "But he could be gaining on us now, what with all this talking. You gonna let us pass, lady?"

"Well, tell me if you're going to pass through the town peacefully." Elsira said to them.

"We're going to have to. We're running low on supplies." Val said, "Look, we won't attack anyone, Ok?"

"This was a huge mistake, and I think we all see that now." Renshen stated, "We do need to pass through, stay a night and rest."

"What, spend a night in vampire town?" Gencho sounded baffled.

"You're safer there than anywhere else." Elsira began to turn to walk away, "By the morning the other hunter will be here. He will need to stop too. You will most likely gain a lead once more if you leave right away in the morning. It will be a long day tomorrow, and you must cross a vast desert to reach the next valley. That will be a day's journey in itself. The Dhampir will need to wait to travel."

"I want to say thanks, but a minute ago you were about to draw and quarter us." Val said to the witch as she walked away, "Why are you helping us?"

"I'm not helping you. I'm just telling you what is going to happen. I don't care who kills Raziel as long as he is stopped." Elsira muttered, "And as long as Meredith is safe. If I am feeling especially benevolent though, I think I will aid your quest. Tomorrow. If I am feeling benevolent tomorrow."

With that, the witch disappeared.

It seemed more like early evening again instead of dusk.

"Well, looks like we're staying a night in vamp town." Gencho muttered, "I'll go get the car."
- 2
- 3
- 4
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlines