Return from Exile

Chapter 6 Questions of Innocence

The sound that drew her to this secluded room was unlike any she\'d ever heard. It sounded like gusts of wind, but it wasn\'t. She peered around the edge of the door to find a tall pale man with chestnut hair, wielding the longest sword she\'d ever seen.

She watched as D effortlessly cut the air with the blade, with long smooth strokes. More like dancing than fighting, or even exercising. \"You can come in,\" he said, not even breaking his rhythm. \"Just stay on the steps.\" Slowly she climbed the stairs along the wall, so that when, and if, he approached her, she\'d be at eye level with him. \"You\'re supposed to be sleeping.\"

\"Can\'t sleep. Too many vampires talking outside the window.\"

\"Oh. They must be discussing father\'s decision to send the humans home. Though they\'re smart not to challenge him openly.\"

\"How old are you?\"

D paused for a second to look over to her. Her round childish face was showing signs of maturity, and if it hadn\'t begun yet, her body would begin to give way from childish chunkiness to womanly curves. He envied her parents. To watch their child grow up. It was something he and Kale would never ble tle to do. \"Why do you ask?\" he said, continuing his dance.

\"Well, I remember your dad say he was really old, and I got to thinking how old you are.\"

He posed upright with his sword, then slid it back into its sheath, and calmly strode over to Elsie. She was amazed he wasn\'t even out of breath. \"I can tell you that I have seen humans at their worst, and at their best. I have seen the peace that comes from people working together, and the horror of people fighting over trivial arguments and only want what they can take. I have seen the beauty and innocence in a child\'s trusting smile, and I have seen the ugliness of bigotry and hatred. I can give you this bit of advice young one. It\'s up to you to heed it. When you are faced with a difficult situation or decision. Ask yourself, what would be best for all concerned, and not just yourself?\" He turned his attention to the door, as though he\'d heard something. \"Your mother is looking for you. You best go.\"

\"I didn\'t hear anything.\"

\"I did. Come on. I\'ll walk you.\"

She jumped off the third step and fell into step beside him. \"Do you ever give a straight answer?\"

\"Kale does that better than I. I only hope she\'s safe and well, and can hold out till I get to her.\"

\"You really love her don\'t you?\"

D said nothing. \"There you are!\" He looked up to see Elsie\'s mother briskly heading for them. \"I\'ve told you before, not to leave the room at night!\"

\"I couldn\'t sleep. The Vampires out the window wouldn\'t shut up.\"

\"And what were they saying this time? Hum?\"

\"I don\'t know. It was weird. Sounded like er condming us essencially um Tod. Dracula sterben, wenn wir überleben sollen or something like that.\"

D suddenly knelt down to her, turning her to face him. \"...er condeming uns essencially zum Tod. Dracula muß sterben, wenn wir überleben sollen?\"

\"Yeah, how\'d you know?\"

\"It is an ancient language used by Vampires in times of war, to keep hunters from learning their plans. My father taught it to me. Hana, take this, and these.\" He handed the woman one of his larger daggers, several bottles of clouded liquid, and a couple of clear. \"Take your daughter back to your room. Lock and barricade the door. DO NOT open it until sunrise. I\'ll come for you then.\"

\"What\'s going on?\"

\"GO! NOW!! There isn\'t much time. I need to find my father.\"

\"Be careful D!\" Elsie called, as her mother pulled her off to the room where the rest of her family waited.

Once more he landed on the ground, but the silver horse, in all his efforts, couldn\'t break free of the thick chain around his head. \"I think you should give up,\" called Elie. He turned over in the dirt glaring back at the crazed cyber animal. \"You sure he\'s stable? No programming slips or the like?\"

\"He\'s totally sound,\" called her father, through fits of laughter.

\"All right,\" The light blond man picked himself up off the ground and pulled the chain till he was holding the reins at the bit once more. \"Look Max. You and I need to come to some kind of an agreement. You and I both want the same thing. We both want to find Kale,\" he held the reins tight as the horse threw his head up, snorting, wanting to be free. \"Yes, find Kale. But you can\'t go running around the city without a rider. Now. Can we agree to work together? I know you understand everything I\'m saying. I\'ve seen how Kale talks to you. She needs your help. Hell, I need your help!! Please Max. We can find her together.\"

\"You\'re wasting your time,\" called the old man.

\"We\'ll see,\" the horse nickered softly and nudged into the crook of his elbow. He turned back to the horse seeing how much calmer he was. \"Do we have an agreement?\" The horse bobbed his head. \"You\'re not going to take off without me are you?\" Max turned away. \"Max?\" Reluctantly he shook his head. \"Alright, now don\'t throw me off again, ok?\" Max neighed, as though he laughed. \"Yeah, yeah, yeah, hilarious. Come on.\" He climbed once more into the saddle. Max stood still. Carefully he released the chain, and let it fall. Max stood still. \"Good boy. You see. He does understand. WHOW!!\" Max suddenly bolted, heading out to the street as quickly as he could, Adrian hanging on, trying to pull him in.

\"You never said not take off with you!\" called Elie, as she pulled up next to him in her truck.

\"Very funny!\"

They did it again. She rolled over but the cramps prevented her from getting up right away. \'Oh god.\'

\"Nice to see you awake,\" called Panteck\'s annoying voice.

\"Why a third time?\" she coughed.

\"Because you\'re at the peak of your cycle my dear. You\'ll be pleased to know that we\'ve collected 17 of your eggs so far. Once your cycle completes we\'ll start to fertilize them and implant them into other appropriate carriers.\"

\"You\'re sick!\"

\"I\'m trying to better our race!\"

\"Many have tried! The best way to better the race is DON\'T MESS WITH IT!!\" She threw one of the bed lamps at the mirror, once more shattering it. \"Believe me, I know! You can\'t breed out certain traits in people like you do live stock. All you\'ll get are babies with severe medical problems, or psychological defects or worse. But hey, you don\'t care, you\'d kill them just as easily, and without remorse, as those kids I saw in that building. What were you looking for in them? Perfect DNA? I\'ve got news for you! There\'s no such thing as perfect DNA! There never was! And you are wasting your time, and wiping out generations of people who could REALLY make a difference! I hope you\'re happy!\"

\"My dear Kale, you really should rest. You\'ve had quite an ordeal. And being upset will only hinder the production of eggs. Nathan, make sure she\'s tucked in.\"

\"Yes sir.\" A door slid down sealing the room.

\'Oh no!\' From the vents around the floor and ceiling, poured a yellow smoke. Each time it came she blacked out. \'Not again!\' She tore the pillowcase off the pillow, and threw the other bed lamp at the window, but the bars kept the lamp from getting out. Coughing to clear her lungs, she took a breath of fresh air, taking a shard of glass she cut the heal of her hand, and wrote over the pillowcase. She pushed it threw the bars and let it go, just as the steel shield was coming down. Someone pulled her back, just before the shield took off her arm.

\"I need a triage team. She cut her hand!\" He was wearing a gas mask, of that she could tell before she passed out.

\"See, I told you he\'d calm down,\" he said eyeing the woman in the truck next to him.

\"Sure. As long as you don\'t try and take him back to the garage.\"

Max tossed his head. \"Don\'t say that!\" Adrian called. \"I\'ve just got us into a nice rhythm.\"

\"Took long enough!\"

\"Cute. Hey!\" From above he was showered by shards of glass, not very big ones, but enough to be annoying. \"What the hell?\"

\"What?\" Elie called, stopping her truck and looking back. \"What\'s wrong?\"

\"Glass. Broken glass. What is going on here?\"

\"Most likely the building swaying slightly in the wind. Sometimes they aren\'t built as they should and windows are the first to go.\"

\"Nice.\"

\"It happens. Hey? What\'s this?\" she picked up a cloth that had floated down into her truck. \"Hey Adrian, take a look at this.\" She climbed out and handed it to the blond man as he rode up next to her.

\"It\'s blood. So?\"

\"Hold it out.\"

Max shifted on his feet. \"Easy Max. We\'ll be going in a moment.\" He spread the cloth to see what she meant. Across the surface of the cloth, were two words. \'HELP ME\', hastily written in blood. \"Looks like this is your department.\" Max suddenly reared, throwing Adrian again to the ground. \"MAX!\" The silver horse turned and bent his muzzle to the cloth, taking in its scent. \"I thought we had an agreement!\"

Max started prancing, the cloth held firmly in his teeth. \"Boy he\'s got his back up about something.\"

\"Wait. Max. That cloth. Kale had it didn\'t she?\" Max bobbed his head. \"Then that\'s her blood! Elie, what is this building?!\"

\"The hospital. Why?\"

\"Because Kale is in there.\"

\"You sure?\"

\"Max never lies. She\'s in there. Easy boy, easy. We know generally where she is. We\'ll get her out. Don\'t worry.\"

\"Everything all right?\" asked a young man from the door, wearing what looked like surgical scrubs.

\"Yeah, fine,\" Adrian called, quickly hiding the cloth behind his back. \"My horse had undergone massive repairs. We\'re just working out some of the bugs, that\'s all.\"

\"Ok.\" As the young man went back inside, Adrian noticed something familiar on his back hip.

\"What are you doing?\" Elie asked. \"She\'s in there. You\'ve got every right to...\"

\"She\'s in there, yes. But we don\'t know where. I can get in don\'t worry. You\'ve got to convince your superiors to let you put a raid on this place. Now get going.\"

\"Ok. But don\'t do anything stupid ok?\"

\"Believe me, I haven\'t lived this long by acting foolish. Go.\" With effort Adrian pulled Max around the corner to be out of sight of those who he knew were watching him from inside the hospital. \"Max. Listen to me. That orderly was wearing a gun under his clothes, a frontal assault is out of the question right now. Listen to me will you. Go back to the repair shop. Get Nightmare, and Necromancer, return here, and stay out of sight. I\'ll have her out soon. Go on, and don\'t let anyone see you without a rider, or they\'ll lock you up. Go. Quick!!\" At first he wouldn\'t go, but upon further thought, Adrian believed, he ran off down an ally, and disappeared. \"And now...\"

A young couple was heading around the corner from the hospital, and found themselves in a cold fog, so cold, the hairs on their necks stood on end. Then, as though a breeze had come, the fog moved away down the street. The two shook their heads, contributing the fog to the late autumn weather, and spoke of more pleasant things as they went on their way.

D raced down the steps and out to the main courtyard, just as his father\'s carriage was returning with Edward at the reins. Dracula stepped out from an archway, waving the young Dhampire to a halt. \"Father!\"

\"D. You seem stronger, good. We can all leave for Airomat in the morning.\"

\"Father, Turngold is trying to start a blood war with you. He\'s banding together some of the other vampires, and they\'re going to try and kill you.\"

\"Where did you hear this?\"

\"From Elsie. She over heard some of them talking in old German. I recognized what she was trying to say.\"

\"If the vampires find out, they\'ll kill Elsie and her family!\" stated Edward.

\"Where\'s Elsie?\"

\"Barricaded in their room with her family. I gave Hana a knife, some Holly water, and garlic juice to help protect them. I told them I would come for them at sunrise.\"

\"Good. Now where is Turngold?\"

\"I\'m not sure. I\'ve quickly looked around, but I couldn\'t find him, or a dozen others, and there\'s too many here I can\'t distinguish them from the others.\"

\"Perfect!\"

\"Father,\" called Edward. \"You can\'t stay here. You\'ve no support.\"

\"I know. The Barbarois will not fight each other, they\'ve stayed out of blood wars in the past, and we Vampires agreed centuries ago that Barbarois itself is Neutral ground. No fighting is permitted here between warring vampires. Turngold wont violate that oath. Not if he still needs the Barbarois.\"

\"Where would they go?\"

\"They\'d need leverage over me. Elsie is the first they\'d consider.\"

\"Adrian and Kale...\"

\"Yes, D. they don\'t know what is going on, and I\'ve tried to reach your brother, but can\'t.\"

\"That\'s not possible!\"

\"Father, a few years ago you sensed me all the way to the desert. You were farther still from there, than here to Ariomat.\"

\"I know. There is one possibility.\" Dracula rubbed his temples as though trying to ease a headache. \"Those allied with Turngold have banded together to block me.\"

\"Is that possible?\" asked Edward.

\"Obviously it is,\" he answered. \"D, I want you to stand watch over Elsie & family. Edward. Refresh the horses, but unhitch the first two. Four can pull that carriage as well as six. D and I will use those two to get to Airomat and join up with Adrian. You take Elsie and her family home.\"

\"And you father?\"

\"I will try to find Turngold. If he wants a fight, fine. It will be just between us. As it should be.\" D ran back into the main structure, heading for his young savior\'s room. Edward guided the horses to a fountain to drink and followed his father\'s orders. Dracula turned himself to mist, and spread out over the grounds. As mist, a feat few vampires or Dhampires had mastered, he could listen in to the conversations of the remaining vampires to learn more of Turngold\'s plans, and with so many vampires around, his presence would not be noticed. \'Why Turngold? Why? Why did you return? Why were you collecting humans?\'