Legacy of Seras: Kain's Arrival in Vasserbünde [Episode 134127]

As I expected, no remark was made upon my entry into the town, my false guise holding true. This lack of remark pleased me, for now I would not be forced to fight just to travel the land... a necessity in the quest I find myself forced to complete. So it was to no small surprise that I heard the cry of "Vampire" echo through the town.

At first I worried that my disguise had not been as complete as I had hoped, and that I was already discovered, but it took not a moment to realize that it was not I that caused the alarm.

Following the guards and gypsies, I came upon a scene that both confused and awed me, for it struck at the very foundation of my existence.

It was hard, at first, to see why the alarm was raised. The girl that was being accused did not look at all like a vampire... and I should know, being one myself. She was dressed in foreign clothes of a style that one would expect to find only in a brothel, not out in the streets, and for a moment, I wondered if it was jealousy over the woman's well defined figure that was the true cause for the accusation. At least, until one of the guards attacked her. With a single kick, she sent the man flying, his armor badly dented. No human had that kind of strength.

I was forced to admit to myself that the woman was, in deed, another vampire... one to whom Unlife had been far kinder than it had been to me. But this left me with even more questions... what was another vampire doing here? Very few had been seen anywhere in Nosgoth since the end of the Vampire Purges. But the motives for her appearance could wait, as something far more remarkable happened.

Someone poured a bucket of water down upon her, from the building she was next to. It was not a bad tactic, actually, and one that I had taken pains to avoid being trapped in, myself. But the remarkable thing was... this other vampire only got wet... and that was an impossibility.

It was commonly and widely known. Even peasant children are taught this truth. Vampires, no matter their age or power, all hold to two true vulnerabilities. Water burns them, and being impaled through the body renders them immobile. These vulnerabilities were absolute - even with my recently acquired immunity to rain, it would be foolish to risk a deluge such as the one she had weathered. It would not kill, but the pain and damage inflicted would have rendered me easy prey.

And yet, to her, it was nothing more than being wet. She didn't even seem to understand that what she had just done was impossible, judging by her response to the second bucket. She seemed reluctant to truly fight these people... it appeared she would have been content enough to leave, and had the townsfolk been wise, they would have let her.

Yet such wisdom was obviously not present in these people. Stunned momentarily by gypsy magic, another guardsman took the opportunity to run her through with his pike. To myself, that would have been the end... not even the fabled Heart of Darkness could have saved me from that, for while a vampire is impaled, it cannot heal. And rendered stunned and immobile by the impalement itself, would have left me completely at the scant mercy of the townsfolk.

Yet this golden-haired vampire did the second impossible thing I'd witnessed in less than a minute. With a snarl of rage, she pulled the pike from out of her, as though it had been a minor inconvenience, at best.

By this point, most of the citizens had chosen to run, rather than face this strange vampire... only the gypsy fire-wielders and the guardsmen stayed behind to fight. Or rather, to die.

For a change came over the woman. The snarl of rage transformed into a bestial smile. Never before had I seen a single act totally transform a person... for in the place of the woman who just wished to leave, was a creature with a lust for battle I had never witnessed.

With speed beyond human ability, she returned the pike she had pulled from her own body to the guard who had wielded it... point first, running him through like she had been. Then, she swung the pike around with such for that the hapless victim was thrown off the spear, his corpse flying into two other guards. Meanwhile, the woman had grabbed the head of one of the remaining, standing guards, and rammed it through the side of the building, pulping what brains he may have once possessed.

It was at this point that my attention wandered from the carnage, and turned to the gypsies once again. I could feel the magic they were calling upon now, and it was a more powerful spell than the simple fire they used earlier. I admit, my curiosity over this new vampire overcame me, and while I suspected that she probably could survive whatever magics they called up, I decided to intervene myself.

Besides, I was feeling a bit hungry.

Cloaked under my Disguise, the gypsies did not notice me until it was far too late. Within moments, their withered, drained bodies fell to the ground, their magic unused.

I looked back toward the other vampire, and saw another curious sight. The remains of the guardsmen littered around her, save for the one she still held in her grip. She was feeding from him, drinking right from the neck. A rather slow method of feeding, considering the melee that had been going on, and, should more guards tire of life so much as to challenge her further, could start again at any moment.

And then, as the man's body withered, I could see the beast she had become recede from her eyes... and to my amazement, she just collapsed in horror at the sight of what she had done. She touched her gloved hand to her lips, then raised it to look at the traces of blood left on her fingers.

And then she screamed.