The Devil's Mark: Encounter with Tepes

Monday, October 5, 2009

Encounter with Tepes

It had been over a month since Lamia had attacked Lady Ravenswick and the
demoness couldn’t deny that she was more than curious about the witch. Though
she knew that various members of Lex Talionis -- mostly Rowane de’Dannan -- had
made the Ravenswick Chateau just west of Paris proper their second home, Lamia
wasn’t too concerned as she approached the building. Imri had gotten rather close,
she knew, and observations of her own led her to believe that tonight it was nearly
empty. Nearly, however, didn’t mean completely.

She found Alucard in the study. Books were strewn haphazardly across the desk and
tables, and even parts of the floor, thanks to the constant use the room was getting
from the Lady of the house and her guest. Lamia disregarded all of this and tiptoed
her way over to one of the armchairs. Having barely been able to get cozy in her
crouched, hidden position, Lamia was rather alarmed when Alucard spoke.

“I can smell you, demon,” he said in an almost casual tone as he looked up from his
work. In an instant he was out of the chair, the book tossed aside. Crouching, he
watched Lamia, his sword at the ready.

She smirked at the marquis and took a few steps towards the center, more open
area of the study. Toying with her lance, she said, “Cute.” A soft laugh passed her
lips as Alucard summoned a golden barrier around his body, and when a swirling,
runic rapier appeared next to him, Lamia tittered. Taking a defensive stance, Lamia
bristled when Alucard spoke to a small being behind her. “Lock the doors,” he said.
“Let nobody enter.” The demoness sneered, knowing that only the staff were in the
house. She didn’t care about any of them; her gaze was set on the man crouched
before her.

Lamia offered taunts laced with mirthless giggles, looking to rile him in any way
possible. Nothing seemed to move this alabaster man, and he even offered taunts of his
own. His, however, were more affective against her. She snarled and stabbed her lance
into the floor, then, in a graceful movement, she swung her body around the pole and
actually ... balanced herself atop the lance.

Alucard stared at her, looking completely boggled by action. “That’s the most combat
ineffective thing I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Does that really work?”

The demoness tilted her head as she watched Alucard. It was her turn to be boggled.
“Combat? Are you serious?” She chuckled and smirked at him. “You’re injured and
I’m only here to observe.”

“I’m injured,” Alucard repeated, confirming the fact, “Which means you might actually
have a chance.”

He was graced with another giggle from Lamia. “Do you truly want to do this?” Tee-hee.

Alucard answered, “Very, very badly.” Then he sprung, kicking at the base of the lance,
his rapier stabbing high toward Lamia. She twisted her body, grabbing the end of the
lance to swing her body around. As the lance fell to the carpeted floor with a small ‘thud,’
Lamia landed in a rather cat-like pose, the rapier blade just missing her.

“Still cute,” she hissed, lunging at Alucard. It wasn’t her smartest move, as she found
only Alucard's floating rapier. She heard him behind her, and he struck out at her
several times, one of his blows landing. She hit the ground hard and rolled away from
him, narrowly avoiding his rapier's strikes. Annoyed and in pain, she scrambled to her
feet. The redhead edged around Alucard in a wide circle, avoiding him and the rapier for
the time being. Suddenly, with a hiss from

Lamia, a small demon crawled out of the shadows. It dove at Alucard’s ankles, its fangs
glistening.

This didn’t phase Alucard. With a flick of his hand, the devil was engulfed by a large, red
fireball, and the man lunged at Lamia, suddenly appearing behind her. Again he struck
quickly, all while his rapier rained blows from one side, and a little imp attempted to stab
from another.

Somebody was a dirty cheat, wasn’t he?

Lamia fell to the ground with a scream as the attacks rained down. She kicked out at the
imp as she reached for the gun strapped to her thigh. The woman managed to get off two
rounds directed at the imp before she was able to roll away. Alucard countered this with
a kick towards her head, which she barely avoided. Two demons crawled from the
darkness this time and launched themselves at the rapier. Lamia quickly fired two rounds
at Alucard, moving for her lance.

One of the shots connected with his shoulder, but he was still able to hurl another fireball
at the two devils attacking his rapier. As Lamia rolled out of the way, this time with her
lance, the man suddenly appeared directly in front of the demoness, greeting her with a
one-armed swing. Lamia suddenly found the grip of her lance, and swung wildly at
Alucard, simultaneously firing another shot. The frustrating man seemed to blur at the
edges, as her attacks passed through the mere mist he had become. He resolidified a
second later, swinging viciously once again.

The demoness shrieked as he evaded her attacks, and tried again to connect with her
lance, but was cut short. His sword bit into her torso, and Lamia momentarily froze as
Alucard sent more fireballs to deal with her ever-stubborn minions. He swung at her again,
not giving her the opportunity to rest. With a quick roll, Lamia dodged his attacks. Her
wounds had already begun healing, but her blood was still on the carpet. She fired off
another frenzied shot.

Alucard attempted to dodge, but was already slowed by his wounds. Her shot connected
with his torso. He grimaced, but continued pressing his attack, ignoring the blood that
ran freely down his chest. Lamia quickly reloaded, stumbling away and madly firing more
shots at the man. He spun, but another round connected with his back. He dropped to one
knee, panting.

The two of them paused, for a moment, and Lamia was not pleased to see the man licking
her blood off his blade. With an offended grimace, she fired the rest of her clip at him.
Suddenly, he again reappeared elsewhere; he crouched atop the desk, staring at the
demoness. His hair was now dark, and his face was more bestial. This was not good.

Lamia snarled angrily at the man, who stepped off of the desk, stalking after her. She
watched, equal parts surprised and annoyed, as her shells fell out of his body. With a
shriek, she attempted to run from the room, fed up with this game. On her way out, she
directed every minion at her disposal to attack him. The demoness felt a burst of heat
from her back as she fled from the chateau.

After making it to the street, Lamia stopped momentarily, trying to process all of this.
She looked around, trying to get her bearings, and was again unhappy to see the
infuriating pale man walking toward her at that same slow pace. He smirked at her.

"I'll find you, little demon," he promised, still walking toward her. "I'll send you back to
Hell, where you belong. I'll drink your blood and show you what real darkness is like." His
eyes glowed with an intense golden light as stalked toward her.

"You have a power which you don't know how to use," she assured him, backing away.
"You can't kill me. You can try, but you won't succeed. I can promise you that." She
continued backing away, noticing that he didn't seem too intent on perusing her closely.

"Your blood, it tastes good, little demon," he called to her, with a vicious grin. "I can
promise you that I'll suck every last drop from your cold husk and burn you alive with
my own hellfire."

She laughed, gaining a big distance on him as she ran. "No, no, but you can dream. I'll give
you your dreams," she said to him.

Alucard grinned again. "Meanwhile, I'll give you your nightmares," he promised.

She turned with a grimace. "Doubtful," she yelled, silently cursing her new found enemy.

Lamia confided at 4:07 PM 0 comments

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"I know I can't slow down, I can't hold back even though I wish I could. Oh, there ain't no rest for the wicked until we close our eyes for good."