Black Death's Arrival

The ship sank its anchor. Finally, it had reached its destination. Eighty miles north of Kostas territory. Two divers dove into the frigid waters. Down they swam until they came across a sunken ship, where  the map and informant said it would be. Entering through a hole in the side of the ship, the divers searched it thoroughly.


Pocketing a few gold pieces, the divers where about to leave the spot when the flashlight's beam shown across what appeared to be a chest of sorts. Swimming closer towards the object, coral fish quickly swam from their hiding spots, bubbles trailing after them.

The chest was lifted and brought aboard the ship using a crane. Encrusted with barnacles, sand, algae and other microorganisms the chest was of a rich mahogany wood, trimmed in black, with a deadbolt to hide its secrets.

His head snapped up, looking around from where he had been perusing a book that was older then most people who were still alive. It had been written in the time spanning from when he had been imprisoned, and when he had escaped, or been released, depending on your perception of the event. He sat the book down, and stood, shaking off the dust that had accumulated over the last two days of zero movement. "I have got to stop staying still that long." He muttered to himself as he made his way out of the small cottage he had built for himself. His castle, shortly after he had returned, had drained itself of power, so, had sunk back into the earth from whence it had build drawn. But, this was ok, for, he was planning on a new structure, larger, more efficient, fed from the blood of slaves. "There has only ever been one person who was able to touch upon my mind like that." He said as he walked under the trees, pausing before leaving their protective shade to pull up his hood, before stepping out into the late afternoon light.

He made his way down into the docks, though it was dark by this time, and saw people grouped around a boat tied to the dock. Brushing past a lone person, he saw the pools of dried crimson on the deck of the craft. Kneeling he touched it, and, yes, it was dried blood, which was accompanied by a very faint scent, her. Standing again, he made his way off the boat, she would no longer be here, which meant, she would be a royal pain in his vampiric backside to track down, as she had been trained in stealth and avoidance since birth. He could feel a very, very faint trace of her energy, but it was spread over a very large area. He began to move back forth across where he felt it, trying to ascertain where she had gone, or where she was going, though, he knew she would need to feed, and for her to feed, she needed vampire. "There is a coven in this city somewhere, whether they refer to themselves as such or not, im not sure, but, she will be hunting them." He muttered aloud as he continued to methodically follow what he could feel.

Pulling the hood over her head, the suns rays making smoke rise from her hands as it blistered them. Not looking back, she stepped onto the dock that led into the city, hurring past the busy fishermen and meat markets. She wasn't worried about being noticed, as the inhabitants would soon forget they ever saw her.
Throwing herself into the first abanonded building she found, the darkness surrounding her, she closed her eyes as she melted into the shadows.
The night was hers. It had been three days since her arrival. Half crazed with starvation, smelling of the sea, her once prestine robe, now tattered; trash. Not wasting time, the first night, she bandaged her wound and then headed out to map the area. She planned escape routes from the sun and if an enemy come for her. The news of the ship she arrived on had spread. The humans in a panic.
After mapping out her emmediate surroundings, she went back to where the merchants were selling their wares. The gown she stole was almost like the one she had woren, a bit tighter and flashier, but she could manage. She also stole a new robe incase she got caught out in the sun. This time around, she sparingly drank from the surrounding humans. It wasn't enough;however, as she needed vampire blood to fully regain her strength and to hold down the human blood.
She drifted from shadow to shadow picking up on the various conversatoins, thanks to the memories she got when she drank, the picked up on the language and was able to understand about half of what they were saying.
It was on the fourth night that intersting news reached her ears. A body had been found down in the rat invested ship yard. The young woman had punture wounds on her body, drained of blood.
She brought the drink to her lips, the red liquid going down easily. She watched as he approached the woman at the bar. His was oridinary, simple. Shaggy brown locks, hung about his face, he dressed in a colared white shirt, black slacks and matching shoes. Taking the seat to the right of the female, he extended his hand taken her hand in his. His eyes caught hers as he spoke low. The dim witted female smiled back, snared. Lost.
His smile grew as he escorted her towards the door, past the lone table and its empty red stained glass.
She dropped from the roof tops, landing behind the woman. She grabbed her wrist twirling her around to face her. Only a moment of eye to eye contact and the silent comand to flee was instilled in the girl.
Enraged, the male advanced, cursing his unhappiness. He lunged at her, not realizing what she was. Thinking she was just another woman for him to feed from. Des' arm shot out, catching his arm, she side stepped bringing his arm around him, swiftly kicking out his knee to right leg. He snarled as she broke his leg, his body going down on that one leg causing more pain. The hand holding wrist, applied more pressure just enough for him to stop struggling. She stepped closer to him, her hands reached for his hair, grasping firmly she yanked his head to the side and his back against her front. Her teeth sank through his flesh.
This time she was prepared witht he onslaught of this ones memeries, as his blood entered her system. The wound she sustained begain to heal. Her grip tightened as she sucked harder, more blood, more substances.
Not wanting to drain him dry, she stopped her frenzy, her gripped loosened its hold on him. Unconscous he slummed to the ground. Weak and pathetic he was, but at least he would be good for something.
Her pink tongue traced her lips, she reached for the leg that wasn't broken and dragged him to her hide out where she kept him for two days. Getting stronger with each feeding. By the end of the second night, her strength had returned.
He had taken another girl, as she knew he would based off of his memories. She could feel the chain she had stolen, weighing around her hips. She had attached a fishermens blade to the ends. A make do weapon, for now.
He had entered the house off from the beach. She waited for him to enter, the door almost closing before she slipped inside.
Marcus led the female into the house, reasuring her that all was well. Down the stairs to the basement he led her, his thrall blinding her from the blood that smeared the walls and the decaying corpes littered around the living room.
Down in the basement his harem flocked him, “We are so hungry Master!” they hissed. Dried blood caked at the edges of their mouth.
Des was silent as she watched, taking in the three newly turned vamps, their blonde hair mussed and unkept, still dressed in their evening dresses.
Marcus pushed his latest victim forward and watched as the woman vampires pounced on her.
The chain slid into her hands. She had enough, fingers gripping the hilt of the blade, the other holding the chain. She moved quickly, the blade leaving her hand, sailing through the air. It embedded itself in the blonde’s face that was going for the kill bite, splitting her face in two. Blood sprayed from the open wound. She yanked the blade from the female vampires face, moving her body to keep the speed and momenutum going. The chain slide off her body with ease as she sturck her next victum. Bloode spraying in all directions coating the walls and pooling around the bodies. A cursed scream and then there was silence.
The three female vampires and human woman were long dead, Marcus stuggled to stand, not yet ready to die. His eyes blazed with thatsupernatural glow.
She reached for him, her fingers circling his chin. “Markus Laronzo, you have been found guilty of a most heinous crime! ” Then she struck his neck and drank until there was nothing left of him. She let his body fall to the floor.
She stood in the shadows watching as the fire department fought the blazing inferno, she felt almost like her old self again and it was time to move on

He brushed through the bar, inquiring, though he knew it was pointless, if anyone had seen a woman fitting her description. Though he asked a multitude of people, he received no direct answers, but, a small few of the people he questioned seemed to almost doubt themselves about having never seen a women fitting her description. These, he knew from past experience, meant that she had indeed been through here. After further asking if there had been any, particularly alluring individuals, male or otherwise, they told him that there had, in fact, been a few of those. He nodded as he vanished from there sight, though he still stood in front of them. Walking out, he cast about for any particular scents, and found one, the distinctive scent of a vampire, and, very, very faintly overlaid, was her. "Poor poor bastard," He said to himself as he tracked this new scent.
.....................
The scent of consumed blood, but, no death, she had set upon the other male here, but, had not killed him, for his scent continued on. Up, from here, she had gone up, taking one more deep breath, he identified the scent, so he knew he could track it. With one last look for clues, his cloak flapped up, as his wings extended, and, with a flap, he vaulted into the air, and soared over the town, searching for her. It took him but a moment to see the roaring fire off in the distance, which, he promptly headed towards.
.....................
With a last flap of his great velvety wings, he settled on a rooftop near to the conflagration. As his feet touched the roof, he folded his wings back up under his cloak, he looked down at the roaring flames, and saw a figure resting on the rooftop below him. He instantly knew who she was, though he examined her for a few minutes, in silence, before dropping his displacement. "Feeding upon lesser vampires huh? I hope at least one was a coven master, he would be the most beneficial to you. Though, I would think, I would be better." He said, breaking his silence, watching her.

Watching as the firefighters fought to put out the fire was the most amazing thing she had come to witness thus far; the machines that carried them here. To the hose that granted them the water. She had a lot to learn in this new day and age.
Perhaps it was the sound of wind against cloth, the beat of wings, or perhaps a sense of knowing. That sense you get when your lover is behind you, you smile and turn to gaze at him with longing. .. or so it should have been. He, who was supposed to be her everything, her salvation, for all time, to spend her nights with for eternity... her happiness was him. It had been since the dawning of a new day, just after the war, they had started anew, together, to rebuild that which each had lost, to salvage their lives, to survive. And they had, for a time, enjoying each other’s company, growing closer with each passing day, until they had both come together as male and female. The joining was beyond what she could have imagined, pure bliss.
And so she had dreamed after their time together, dreamed of what it would be like now that they had taken that next step. Theirs, her, happiness could have only been greater as they were as close as two beings could be, only to awaken to a new world. To discover that she had been rotting at the bottom of the sea for 2000 years!!
The blade handle slipped from her robes to rest in her palm, her fingers curled caressing the hilt. She spins dropping low, sweeping out her leg to knocks his out from under him. His body starts to fall to the side to her awaiting blade.
Slice! She stood above him, his blood dripping from her blade. His cheek split open pouring blood. "Yes, Lucius, you're blood would be much much better." His aroma almost intoxicating her and she hadn't even had a taste of him.

He licks his finger, and rubs it across the cut, sealing it off. "Desi, dear, calm down." He said, staying calm, and watching her. "Had I known for an instant that you were still alive, dont you think I would have tried to find you?" Lucius asked, knowing she could be very volatile when she was angry. His wings flexed out from under his cloak. He was ready for her, if she attacked again.

"If you can calm down, you can have some blood, and we will sort everything out, understand?" He said, pushing some authority into his voice.

((Sorry about the poor quality))

She would not let the thousands of emotions she was feeling at this moment show on her face. He had somehow aged, if not by the number .. by something. He looked..tired..for a lack of a better word.

Having fed on the lesser of their race, the pangs of starvation were barely there allowing room for thought and better judgment when it came to her action. She was still poised to fight him, but her main focus was to survive. Right at this moment, his blood would stave off decades of malnourishment. She could be healthy… 100%.

Her posture eased but the glare in her eyes didn’t leave. “I believe nourishment would well receive. Thanks for the offer.” She stayed were she was, he would either offer up a part of him or she’d drink it from a glass, either was fine as long as she got it.

She wondered what he had been up to all this time. Had he been with others? A flare of rage flickered in her eyes. He had best been celibate. She rarely became jealous, but when it came to Lucious, he was her in every way.

“Well, how about that drink?”, and an explanation, she thought as the wind whipped her hair across her face, bringing the strong scent of smoke and ash.

"Yes, how about that drink, and where better, then from the source itself." He said, as he unbuttoned the top few buttons on his over shirt, revealing the base of his neck. "Come, drink, and i will talk." He said, tilting his neck to give her the access. "Like I said, you, were the lucky one, you were able to sleep, actually sleep, the millennia away. I, was awake for ever, single, tick, of the clock." Lucius said slowly, emphasizing the last words.

"Just before I sent you away, rather, the reason I sent you away, was to protect you from a battle, one larger than anything you could possibly have been prepared for with your, limited, training as a death bringer." Pausing, he watched the flames, still burning vigorously despite the people fighting them. "I had all of our best warriors by my side, and then all of the soldiers we possessed outwards from there. The battle, it waged for nearly 3 months, as undead warriors fought undead warriors. We had the advantage of training, but, that only gives you so much until atrophy begins to take its toll. After the 3rd month, that began to show quickly, we took as many of them as we could, but, i still wound up surrounded by a circle of mages, who, knowing they couldnt kill me without risking unleashing the Nashda Marada upon the world." He laughed at this, thinking of the ancient force that was bound to his blood line.

"So, the imprisoned me withing a damn mountain tomb, and sealed me, not only withing a coffin within the tomb, but, within my own damned body, awake, unable to move, unable to feed, but able to feel the building of the thirst. For centuries upon centuries, with only my own thoughts, until, one day, an unfortunate hiker released me with his blood. Poor fool didnt know what hit him." He licked his lips, feeling his hunger building again as she fed. Looking down, he asked, "If your finished,now its my turn to feed, and, I am feeling vindictive and destructive, shall we hunt?" He inquired, waiting for her to finish.

Not needing to be told twice, she let the weapon gently fall to the roof, as she crossed over to him. Her hands where gently as she positioned his neck better, pressing into him before her fangs sank in and she began to drink, her eyes closing in ecstasy at the pure blood. She almost didn’t listen to him as her body craved more nourishment, but she recalled her training and the fact that although she was as sleep she was older and needed to act her age.

Not wanting to take too much, she stepped back after licking the wound closed. “Thank you, Beloved.”, she says with a soft smile. Her eyes are troubled as he speaks. “I am sorry, we were both dealt a shitty hand by fate, but fate has deemed it to where we are together again.”

“Yes, lead the way dear husband.”

As she removed her fangs from his neck, he rolled it, making it creak and pop. Then, stepping over to the edge of the building away from the fire, he looked down, and grinned. "Ah, a fresh meal." He chuckled as he stepped over, dropping to the ground, snapping the mans neck with a quick flick of his hand. Grabbing him before he could hit the ground, Lucius sank his teeth into the, now, deceased mans neck, draining most of the blood from his corpse in a matter of minutes. Letting the man drop, he wiped the remaining blood from his mouth. "Much better, now, what to do with the body?" He muttered aloud, casting his gaze about to see if there was anything suitable to use in his idea.

"Ah, perfect." He said, pulling exposed pieces of steel bar from some broken concrete. He then proceeded to crucify the corpse to the wall, and, using some of the remaining blood, he marked his ancient runes on the wall around the corpse.

She licked the last drop from her lips. Her body singing with renewed strength. It wasn't long before her mate found his dinner. "Must you be so crude, Lucius,....Please keep in mind that we do not need the humans to know of our existance. It'd be best if we got rid of the corpse..", she muttered. "Is your appetite apeased? Or will more humans be guzzled down?" she said with light humor.

As she tried to find away to reconnect with him, all this was filled with uncertainty. Once she knew of her live, what she was supposed to do. Her purpose. And now she has woken to a brand new world. Nothing that she knows exist any more. Except for him.

He laughed, a touch of mania tinging the laugh. "They shall know that I have returned, even if these simple humans are far too stupid to realize just what they are dealing with." He chuckled as he began to walk down the alley way, his thirst for blood had been piqued, and now he desired more. Running his tongue over his sharp canines, he saw a group of rather buxom young ladies walking down the street, giggling, talking, and having a downright good time. And boy, did they look delicious, so, he decided he had to at least sample them. "Good evening ladies." He said, appearing from the shadows a short distance away from them. They froze in a typical prey manner when confronted by an apex predator.

"Hello," the blonde of the group said tentatively, "Who are you?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "Ah, I am Lucius," He replied, manipulating his voice to have a soothing effect. After a few minutes of talking, he was slowly leading them down the alley, towards the crucified corpse, and he had them happily and comfortably chatting with him, he stopped just far enough away from the corpse for the darkness to obscure if from their human eyes. They were his playthings now, his dinner.

Lucous antics were not unknown to her. She had had plenty of time to guide her anger at his actions. To hold hate, but not to act. The giggle females stopped short as they saw him approach, the boulder of the three asking his name. Fools! her mind screamed. Didn’t they know danger when it presented itself? What had this world become. Dim witted humans. And damn Lucious. He always make her job more difficult.
Had the Vampire Hunters survived this day and age? Would they soon come to this city and seek to destroy them?
Not wanting to witness whatever evil deed he was about to do, she kept a watchful gaze on the path incase danger for them approached.

Her head swiveled to the door the woman had just exited, a man emerged looking up and down the road.

“Where the hell those woman get off to!” was his response.