((This is a continuation of The Unquenchable Thirst))

Seraph stood there and watched the lupine trail off into the darkness. When she was gone from his sight, he bowed his head. He did not want to fight, but now that it was settled, he would not back down. He turned and left the street feeling down about the night's events. His curse had gotten him into trouble now. If fate were kind, she would let the lupine kill him quickly.

One week later, Seraph returned to the spot where he had agreed to meet up with the lupine. This time he came armed with his dark sword ready for battle. The sun had not yet vanished from the horizon so the vampire hid in the alley hiding from its deadly rays while he waited.

Seraph's eyes did not leave the spot were only a week earlier he had slain a poor woman. It had only been a week, and the thirst was already beginning to return to him. The thirst was getting stronger with each passing day of the vampire's life. He feared it would one day overtake him. He feared that soon he would need to feed daily, and that he would not be able to stop himself.

"Come out, Lupine," he said to himself impatiently, "you wouldn't stand me up would you, or did you go and get yourself killed before our match? I thought it was odd that you didn't destroy me in the streets a week ago. I didn't realize you were a coward."

Fashionably late, the white-furred lupine arrogantly strode into the afore-mentioned battle ground, her mind a deadly calm. To make sure of this, and to settle her nerves, she had been engaging in a most relaxing activity for the past few hours, soothing and preparing her, both physically and mentally, for the battle ahead. How did she do it? Meditate? Pray? No.
…
…
…
She napped. But hey – it worked. Now fully refreshed and bouncing with energy, the lupine was ready to go, to show that she was by far superior to the vampire who had dared consider him her equal. In the end, the wolf warrior had decided on buying no new weapons – As if I’d need them She’d thought, dismissing the notion. Besides, she really needed to save up her hard-earned gold.

As the dying light caught Quess’ fur, turning it a soft yellow, her eyes scanned the shadows, lips curled back in a sneer. Had the vampire come? Or did he not dare show his face? Ah, wait, there he was.

“Hiding in the shadows, vampire? How fitting.” snarled Quess, adrenaline already pumping through her veins. Almost absent-mindedly, she hooked her fingers around her trustworthy dagger, slowly withdrawing it.

“Spare me the formalities, would you?”

(Ack, tiny post. Sorry.)

Seraph smiled; his wait was worth it. The lupine had showed. “Very well then,” he replied to her, “let’s make our way to the battle stand then, shall we.” He walked out of the alley way and in the dim lit street. He made sure every bit of his body was blocked from the sun’s dying view. Even when the sun was not at it full strength it could prove quite deadly.

Seraph turned away from the lupine leading her towards the arena. He did not say another word the entire way there. He did not think about the fight. It would not do him any good to dwell on it. Only insecurity could come which would hinder him in the conflict. He needed a clear mind and so he blocked it out of his thoughts.

By the time Seraph reached the arena the sun had fully set, but the battle stand was surging with life. Several had come to see the night’s performances. The vampire approached a guard and announced that he wished to fight the lupine. He promised the guard it would be the fight of a life time and the crowd would not be disappointed. The guard agreed and told him they would be up next.

Seraph stood at the gate and waited for their turn. He could hear the battle raging behind it. Roars from a beast could be heard echoing around the stadium. Screams of bloody murder cried out for mercy. Eventually the arena went silent then quickly erupted into applause. The fight had ended and next was their turn.

Seraph walked into the arena as his name was called. It was announced to everyone what he was, but they did not scream in terror or yell out threats to him. Instead they cheered him on. They wanted to see the beast destroy his opponent. These people were no better than himself. Even if they were not the one killing other, they rejoiced in it. “But,” Seraph wondered, “how will they react when they find out my opponent is also a beast. Will they root for the bloodsucker or the bone crusher?”

Enjoying this calm before the storm, Quess padded behind her shorter adversary quietly, taking the opportunity to perform her pre-fight rituals. First, she scanned over the vampire in front of her with her probing green eyes, evaluating his apparent strengths and weaknesses. He seemed strong for a human – Quess did not know that vampires were more physically adept than humans, and probably even lupines. Possibly a fatal mistake, it was, to not do one’s research. Quess gleaned the creature of the night had at least some battle experience, but concluded that all in all it would be an easy battle. Ah, how arrogant the lupine was.

For the guard’s sake, the tall wolf woman ignored his obviously mocking stare, brusquely shouldering her way past the human. An evil place this coliseum is. All this bloodshed is all so unnecessary…But the “civilized” races take sport in it, apparently. Such imbeciles. No. Like a wet dog, Quess shook her head, trying to clear it of her negative thoughts; a clouded mind – and therefore clouded judgment, senses, and logic - on the battlefield was death. Without hesitating, she stepped out into the moonlight, basking in its reassuring glow, the slightly-chilly night air ruffling her fur. This was her element. Vampy over there had no chance.

Standing stiffly before the crowd, and trying not to let the jeering spectators unnerve her, Quess became hesitant for the first time. What was to happen now? With no experience of formal duels outside of her clan, the lupine had no idea what to do. Fortunately, an announcer up in the crowd – too cowardly to do it properly from ground level, no doubt – clarified things, wasting no time.

“Ladies and gentlemen! I trust you have been enjoying the show thus far? Well, you’re in for a treat – we can testify that this next match is going to be the bloodiest, most violent, most satisfying fight of the nigh! Instead of the traditional man versus beast, we’ve opted to pit monster against monster! Without further ado…Begin!”

Cheers roared from the crowd; the fight had begun. Seraph tuned them out focusing on his target, the lupine before him. He was determined to end this quickly. This was the first real test of his dark powers, and he planned to bring them out earlier and strike first. “We will see who the true master of the night is! Come wolf let us play!” Seraph shouted, allowing a little indulgence to his vampiric ego.

Seraph thrust his right hand in front of him awkwardly. The crowd of barbaric townspeople gasped wondering what would come next. At first, nothing happened, but then the night hardened around his arm. The darkness felt cold to the touch, but the vampire soon adapted to it. He smiled as the black mass took the form around his arm in the shape of a claw. “Look,” he said happily, “the darkness obeys my command. It yields its powers to me.”

The vampire suddenly disappeared, and instantly reappeared standing behind the great wolf. The crowd screamed with excitement at the display of the vampire’s powers. The vampire charged quickly trying to be as quiet as he could hoping the crowd would not give him away. He threw he black claw forward at the lupine as he closed in on her. I’ve got you now!

Fully prepared to butcher a mortal of natural powers, the overconfident lupine was taken completely be surprise when the agile vampire rushed her with reflexes that no human could achieve. And, Quess Quess wasted her one instant to react by wondering, what was that flash of darkness? Magic? Or…Stunned, the white lupine did almost nothing to avert the imminent blow, before snapping to her senses – a little too late – and diving to her left. Even as she belatedly dodged, she could already tell that there was no way she could completely avoid the speedy slash.

Expecting a searing pain, Quess stumbled backwards as black claws raked across her back mid-twist, delivering instead a chilling coldness. With an instinctive yelp, the tall wolf woman tried and failed to shrug off the freezing sensation as she warily backed away from the vampire. Her green eyes narrowed, pushing all thoughts of arrogance out of her head now. It was not so much the physical pain – what really stung was the lupine’s pride, reeling from the blow of being struck by so frontal a blow in front of this large an audience.

What…Is he?...It doesn’t matter. Because he’s GOING to be dead!

Snarling hatefully, Quess ripped herself out of her state of momentary fear, slicing her way through the air in front of her with a speed that rivaled even the vampire’s lightning reflexes, ready to take his throat out for the humiliation and disgrace that he had inflicted upon her.

“D-Die!” she shrieked.

((Congrats on becoming an ARPer))

The crowd roared with excitement as the lupine took a hit. They applauded Seraph for his display of dark powers, but the vampire did not acknowledge them. He held his focus on his opponent. A smile spread across his face. Confidence washed over him. He had not fully realized the powers that he had as a vampire, but he was beginning to understand his strength as he allowed the darkness to flow through his body.

The darkness around Seraph’s hand cracked as the spell ended. Slowly it crumbled into a vapor of darkness then vanished into the night. The vampire grinned as the spell left him. He pondered how he should use his powers next. He was excited to see what he could do.

But the lupine did not wait for Seraph to decide. She bounded towards him with her massive body ready to detach his head from the rest of the body. Apparently she was agitated by the first attack and the roaring crowd. That sent mixed feeling through the vampire’s body. First, he felt a shiver a fear at having awakened the beast, but he also felt stronger knowing that the wolf was angered by his power.

Seraph did not move or try to get out of the way. He instead reached for his dark blade. Taking a step back he aimed the sword in front of him. He was not hoping to impale the beast with it, although the crowd seemed to think so. Black veins erupted from the handle of the sword and raced along the katana’s shaft. As they reached the tip they exploded off of the Dark Storm and towards the lupine as magical bullets of dark energy.

Angered by the jeering crowd – on top of their cowardice, their screams were not only hurting her sensitive ears, but also severely impairing her hearing – and still hurting from her supernatural wound, Quess was much more reckless than she would normally have been as she threw herself at the vampire before her. The white lupine was deeply confused now as to what this vampire was exactly; it was clear that is what superhuman in speed and abilities, but what else could it do? Or was it magic? But the furious wolf woman staved off this cloud of confusion – and with that came fear – with her boiling anger, clearing her mind of anything but what would be useful in the battle ahead.

“Grawgh!” she growled when she was forced to skid to a stop as the creature of the night raised his sword. Against a mortal, Quess could have deftly sidestepped the blade and torn her adversary apart, but she was subconsciously more careful now that she’d already gotten her head handed to her from arrogance once. Glaring suspiciously at the raised blade, the white lupine was more prepared this time when the vampire struck out with his black energy, whatever it was, and was able to throw herself out of the way in time. But still – she was uneasy now, afraid even, that this man had the power to shape darkness and use it as the most deadly of weapons.

Unwilling to admit this fear, Quess hid it behind an even thicker veil of hatred and anger as she renewed her offensive strike, putting all her energy into this strike, hoping to end things quickly – before the vampire had the chance to call upon the darkness once more. After all, it seemed it would take him a second to draw upon the dark energies – or so she hoped.

Seraph was caught off guard as the lupine dodged his dark projectiles. He was a little too arrogant, and it would cost him. The lupine quickly advanced at the vampire unchallenged. She threw her massive claw forward with great strength trying to destroy the cocky warrior with one blow.

Seraph had little time to react. He thrust one arm forward holding his sword in the other. His current strength would not be enough to match the great wolf, so he quickly cast a spell over his body giving it a magical boost. His arm met with the lupines, and the vampire once again smiled in his arrogance as he deflected the attack, but as the arm’s momentum cause it to slide across the vampire’s arm the claws caught in his skin and ripped his flesh.

“Argh!” Seraph screamed as a sharp pain surged through his left arm. Blood trickled down to his hand. The crowd roared with excitement at seeing the fresh gore. Wincing, the vampire pulled his arm in close and teleported backwards getting away from the lupine for a moment.

Seraph continued to snarl at the beast as he looked down to his injured arm. “You will pay for that,” he called to her, “you will pay.” He began to laugh, and his eyes began to glow. Suddenly the flow of blood from his arm stopped, and then flames burst from his wound. A jet of fire shot out of the vampires open mouth and into the sky. “Come wolf, face me and all the fires of hell!”

(*Late* Thanks! I didn’t think I’d make it, actually…)

Still snarling with the adrenaline that pumped through her veins, Quess warily dropped back a few feet as the vampire, acting before she had the chance to crow with victory after her first drawing of blood, seemed to vanish and reappear somewhere else once more. The lupine shifted her eyes, not knowing where Seraph would appear next should he decide to teleport again. But it appeared that he didn’t, and was opting to further fan the fiery passions of the crowd with his flamboyant displays of fire. Mastery over this element certainly unnerved her, though Quess would never admit this. She had clearly underestimated the powers of the vampire.

The white wolf paused, biting back a cutting reply as he made his foolish boasts. She wanted to, but decided to conserve energy. Deciding it would be foolish to arrogantly proceed unarmed, Quess made a show of withdrawing her one and only weapon – her trusty dagger. Giving it a little twirl, the wolf woman tightened her grip on the worn handle, preparing herself for another charge.

Wasting no time – so that fear and hesitation could not catch up with her actions – Quess flew into action again, throwing the dagger. But the projectile was nothing more than a bluff; it had been a wild throw, almost certain to miss, and its main purpose was to serve as a distraction to buy her a few precious seconds of time. Charging him again, once again a direct assault with no thought as to tactics, Quess knew this would be her last shot for luck. If he parried or evaded this blow, she could not blame the vampire’s survival on luck anymore, but on skill, much as she would have liked to find another excuse.

“You will not be so arrogant when I make you eat your own innards!”

Seraph laughed as he easily side stepped the rogue dagger. “If that is the best you have got, you might as well let me kill you quickly rather than drag out you imminent demise,” the vampire jeered at the wolf woman. The crowd loved the snide remarks that the two combatants yelled at each other. Their taunting only elevated the noise in the arena so that it became harder to concentrate.

Seraph smiled seeing the wolf charging him again. She isn’t too original, Seraph thought to himself, if she keeps up these attacks, it won’t be hard to defeat her. The vampire did not raise his arms or try to avoid her, but instead waited until the last second before casting a spell on himself.

Seraph’s body burst into a gas like form and swished around the lupine as if it had been nothing but air. Once behind the wolf, the vampire materialized again with a huge grin on his face. That was the first time he had used that spell, and it had been quite a sensation. He would never have guessed being a gas would feel so… cool!

“You are too hasty,” Seraph said softly. He quickly adjusted his posture ready to counter the wolf’s attack. He spun around on his heels carrying the blade of his sword around with him. As he began to rotate he exhaled as stream of fire adding to his attack. The vampire became surrounded by a fury of his own fire and steel.

Quess’ howl of frustration and anger as Seraph seemingly vanished into the air again, dodging death by a split second once more, was almost lost with the thunderous jeering of the crowd. They were so loud and so many, that the wolf woman had long since given up all hope of attempting to figure out what they were saying. It was probably just as well; it hadn’t taken Quess very long to realize that humans spouted nothing but nonsense anyways, a good deal of it slanderous lies about lupines. Ah, but her qualms with human nature were best left a battle for another day – assuming she survived this one – especially since she was obviously dealing with something supernatural at the moment.

Immediately Quess wanted to twirl around, as having one’s back possibly exposed to an unseen enemy was one of the worst feelings there were, not to mention the blatant danger. Unfortunately, it seemed that her momentum and all the laws of physics decided to betray her again as she was unable to stop, wasting precious seconds as she skidded to a stop. When she finally whirled around, however, Quess found herself wishing that she’d kept on running; directly in front of her was a barrier of flame and steel, protecting the vampire and launching an offensive in one smooth stroke. Had Quess not despised the man she would have been impressed. Now, however, she only spat on the ground, pretending she wasn’t the least bit afraid.

“Too hasty, eh?...Meh. I was wondering something though – it seems I don’t know very much about vampires – other than that you are vile, wicked beings – but I seem to recall…Fire kills vampires, does it not?”

Leaving the question hanging there, she made a suicidal run towards the vampire. The sword was only one thing – she could easily evade it, she thought. But the barrier of flame…There was no way around that but through it. Holding her breath and clamping her eyes shut, Quess launched herself through the fire in an attempt to set the creature of the night aflame, despite the agonies it would cause her.

The flames of hell whirled around in the air as the lupine disrupted them by launching her hand into them. Some of the flames caught a hold of the vampire's clothing as he was thrown back by the blow of the wolf lady. The fire did nothing to harm him because of the spells protections, but the singe clothing left a nasty smell lingering in the air. Seraph did not see whether the lupine was also caught by the flames, but he decided not to wait.

Seraph reached for his belt pulling out five shurikens. They seemed to be the same, but Seraph knew that one was magically tainted to return to him like a boomerang. He knew that it would be magically propelled to find him if he threw it away, and he hoped he could catch the lupine off guard with it.

"Taste my fury," Seraph yelled as he slung the five steel stars towards the lupine but with the intention of missing her. All of the passed her by on her right as the whirled toward the ground. The crowd booed at the vampire's poor accuracy. Four of the shurikens lodged themselves into the dirt, but one of them skimmed across the surface as it turned around and began to turn toward its master.

Seraph tried to shift backwards placing the lupine between himself of the steel star. He attempted to look nervous as though he had not thought his attack would fail. If the wolf detected that he had thrown those stars to purposely miss she might be able to dodge the fifth as it returned.

(Sorry for poor quality.)

A ghost of a grin crackled the wolven woman's usually immovable face, despite all the frustration and injuries that she'd accumulated in battle. Arrogantly she stood there, completely certain that the projectiles that the vampire'd flung would completely miss her. Luckily, fate did not slap her in the face (this time) and she proved right, as each and every on eo f the shuriken-like things spun past her. Now she would make her move, Quess told herself - but she had to be careful. She'd taken the initiative before, and had charged him recklessly, only to com ecrawling away in defeat. No more. Quess would be careful this time. Precise.

It is ironic how much people stress the need to learn from one's mistakes - because at that moment, the white wolf had learned her mistakes and had adapted, and this was her undoing. In her restraint, Quess found herself hesitating before drawing forth her strength once more, confident from the vampire's ashen face that he was out of tricks. So, more than for caution, the lupine wanted to draw things outfor herown pleasure and satisfaction. The intention was clear - if he was going to throw her around with that all-too-arrogant look on his face, then Quess was going to give him hell in return.

The first step. That's all she got before the boomerang shuriken curved back in a deadly arc, and stabbed into her back, unprotected save for a thin coat of white fur. The damned crowd's oohs and aahs should have tipped her off, but the warrior was far too concentrated; she had senses for naught but the wicked vampire before her. Tuning out the enviroment was of course, a grave mistake that the lupine should not have been making - but to her defense, shehad not expected much from this batch of screaming morons. Instantly the pain spread through her body - it must have hit a vital tendon or something - and while the weapon itself had little knockback,, the tall lupine found herself staggering forwards, hunched over.

Instantly, Quess tried to force herself upright, but this endeavor proved only to shoot fresh waves of excruciating pain through her. Giving a faint whine, more out of confusion and suprise than pain,she at last lost herbalance, her lanky form crashing to the floor beneath her. It was clear to her, finally, that she had been defeated. Had she even been able to touch him? That was what she bitterly wondered as she tried and failed to push herself up. Light green eyes glared up at the creature of the night, wordlessly daring him to finish her.

Cheers erupted as the shuriken whipped around and caught the lupine unprepared. Blood dripped from the wolf lady's back, blood to repay the gash that she had given Seraph on his left arm. The lupine struggled as she took a few steps forward. It was clear that she would not be able to continue to fight the vampire. The surprise shuriken had worked batter than the fiend could have hoped.

Fire still burning in Seraph's veins he gripped his sword with tightly with both hands. In a surge over anger that was not common in him he swung his blade around aiming to behead the defeated beast, but his senses took over just in time. He held his blade still about an inch from the wolf's neck. He looked into her teary eyes. Why must he kill her? She was no different from the vampire. Why must he take her life?

Breathing intensely Seraph scanned the crowd. Cheers were still erupting. Many were screaming curses at the fallen warrior. "Off with its head," they bellowed. These fools, they had no idea the curse upon the two warriors races. One was a daughter of Ita, the other a son of Raku. Both were forever cursed to be enemies of the 'civilized.'

Seraph let a small curse escape his lips. Why was he fighting the wolf. How was she his enemy. As far as the vampire was concerned his enemy was Mordecai and his master Raku who had made him. He stood there for a second considering the situation. He knew he could easily escape if the crowd became hostile so he made a conscious decision to deny them their request.

Seraph moved his blade away from the lupines neck and whispered to her, "I am sorry I took this fight so far. I am sorry for what I am. I cannot change what I am, but I no longer will stay here and allow my curse to plague these people. I will take my curse and return it to the one who gave it to me. I will never be able to stop feeding, but I will make sure that I only feed on those who serve Raku. If you are willing to accept my apology I will let you go."

As Quess found herself to be what she assumed to be her final moments in the world of the living, she found herself scrambling for final thoughts; she felt that her last ones should be suitably dramatic, but she couldn’t bring herself to find any. Instead of the profound wisdom that she searched for, she found only anger and bitterness that she should fall in battle before she could prove she were a true warrior. So it was just as well that, after an awkward lapse of movement, the lupine opened her eyes to gaze directly into the eyes of her would-be killer. He seemed to be evaluating her, or odder yet, hesitating.

Unable to bear the delay, Quess opened her jaws to snap at the vampire - to tell him to hurry up and end it - when he inexplicably lowered his voice and dropped besides her.

“Wha-?” blurted the wolf woman, confused and a little surprised at the sudden gesture. The twitching of her ears was all that betrayed her attention - the rest of Quess was still as death. Listening to the creature of the night before her, the lupine quickly summed up its attentions in her mind.

He wishes to spare me. Have I underestimated the nobility of this creature?

Uncertain and confused, Quess took quite a few seconds to respond - seconds in which the crowd began to grow impatient. Beginning to jeer, they made their intentions clear; they wanted blood, and nothing less. The white lupine’s eyes grew grim.

“The fools demand blood. Should you fail to meet their demands…” Quess left the statement hanging, imagining pitchforks and torches. But still, in what she saw as cowardice, Quess realized she wanted to live. Hers was a simple life, but it was all she knew and she enjoyed it.

“I’m sorry…” she breathed weakly, dispelling the notion that all vampires are wicked.