After several more mishaps with water snakes, Samael found himself in a large room, surrounded by immense walls with sunken in alcoves. Further inspection with his glowing pendant revealed their contents to be skeletal remains from thousands of years prior.
"...Just where I wanted to be, in a bunch of catacombs surrounded by ancient skeletons, cold, wet and filthy." His tone was bitter and angry. He strode through the room, heading to another hallway ahead. "No more water or snakes!"
Shit, I'm a hunter, but I can't stand the sight of a snake, he thought angrily. That sure says a lot about the hunter ranks.
He halted in the next room and immediately backed out of the room, his features contorted in disgust.
What lay in the room beyond was a desecration of humanity. He'd seen a lot of things in his time as a hunter, but never anything like this.
The walls were strung with corpses, most of them missing large portions of flesh from their bodies. Some were quite fresh, while others several months decayed and glistened with moss. The stench of death and rotting flesh permeated the room, and Samael felt his stomach churn at the sight. He turned away, sickened by the sight.
"Ugh... How long has..." He pulled his cloak over his mouth and nose, the smell of his cloak wet with the rank waters being more welcome than the stench of rotting flesh. "How long has this... been going on..."
"...Progress and learn, hunter Samael..." He straightened as he heard a voice from a dark passage ahead. "If your spirit is as strong as your armor, and your wit as sharp as your blade, then find me."
"Whoever you may be, you're not going to be alive much longer," Samael snarled angrily and broke into a jog down the passage.
=+=
Daniel lay on a bridge, reading a book, listening to music, and enjoying a day in the sun. He wondered again where Samael was, what he was doing, and decided to ask around about the hunter. But as he began walking towards the center of the city, he caught a bit of a conversation.
"...I still can't believe the hunter went into the Catacombs," a young man snickered.
"Well, that's how things are, you know," another replied. "They're brave."
"What do you mean the hunter went into the Catacombs!" Daniel shouted, suddenly worried about Samael.
"Yep, he went into them, after he heard that the vampire might be down there."
"Why! Didn't anyone tell him about the danger!" Daniel was livid as he took off running for the lower regions of the city.
Do you really think that would have stopped him? Daniel asked himself as he ran. Because if you do, you know nothing.
=+=
Samael groaned as he opened his eyes and realized he was lying on a cold, damp floor, his hands bound behind his back. He tried to rise, but a wave of dizziness and nausea that washed over him discouraged that for the moment at least.
His inhuman eyes adjusted well to the darkness, and he glanced about gingerly. Stonewalls with generous growths of moss, a heavily rusted door. He didn't know how he'd gotten here; the last thing he remembered was charging a shadowed figure and receiving a harsh blow across the back of the neck. But upon inspection, he bore no armor or weapons. His cloak was gone as well.
A strange hissing caused him to leap to his feet in spite of dizziness, and he gazed about himself in fear as he saw several ribbon-like forms slithering slowly into the room. He shuddered at the sight of dark snakes, whose eyes glittered in the darkness like embers.
"As you can see," the victorious voice of Moresenth called out to him, "you are no match for me."
"You son of a - " He uttered a sharp cry when he heard the hissing behind him as well, and wheeled to see more of the serpents.
"Ahh, but your fear was more than apparent during your venture down here, hunter." The vampire's tone was sardonic. "I'm afraid you've lost this round.
"Because my pets have a taste for flesh, and the results of their bites are rather... unpleasant.
"Oh, and don't count on being saved." Moresenth's voice was fading. "If the mayor's brat comes, I guarantee he will have problems of his own."
=+=
Daniel charged down the streets towards the canal, spying Samael's tethered horse before him. He searched the bags and packs slung over its saddle and came up with a light and a short sword without decoration. He pulled it free of its sheath and took the light in his teeth before lowering himself into the fetid waters of the canal to search for the hunter.
He only prayed that nothing had happened to the man.
=+=
Samael shivered in uncontrollable horror at the sight of the serpents and backed against the wall, where he knew they couldn't sneak up on him. But they kept growing closer and closer.
"Stay back!" he shouted, daring to kick at them slightly, and realizing the mistake when he nearly lost his balance. The kick only seemed to encourage them to come closer, and he had to skitter away from several sudden strikes aimed at his legs.
"Get away from me!"
=+=
Daniel was halfway across a ledge over water when he thought he heard someone's voice from far ahead, shouting fearfully. He hurried across the ledge and halted when he saw a black-cloaked figure approaching him. Hooded, with a mask over the face, and clad in a body suit with a plate of armor over it. A long sword was slung across his back, and a few strands of black hair hung into his face.
"Samael! You're alright!" Daniel cried joyfully, running to the hunter.
Samael's eyes narrowed cruelly, and he suddenly drew his sword from the sheath and struck at the youth, who barely managed to dodge it.
"Samael! What the hell are you doing!" Daniel cried, dodging another blow from the long blade. "It's me, Daniel!" His only response was cruel laughter.
He blocked the next attack as best he could, using the short sword he'd gotten from Despin's packs, and nearly had his shoulders wrenched from their sockets. He hadn't realized that Samael was so much stronger than he was.
"Samael, it's Danie - AUGH!"
=+=
Samael froze when he heard a boy's scream far down the halls, and his eyes narrowed in rage. He dodged a few more strikes from the serpents and managed to maneuver his wrists in such a manner that the ropes fell away.
He uttered a cry of fury and managed a leap over the serpents and slammed full force into the door, barely wincing as he felt it cut into his skin through his body suit.
"OPEN UP!" he screamed, focusing all of his rage, pain, and fear onto one point. The wood strained and metal groaned the serpents grew closer, and Samael fought to open the door.
Finally, the hinges broke with a loud screech, and Samael ran out into the halls, feeling a snake bite at one of his boots as he ran, its fangs scratching against the tough leather and not penetrating.
=+=
Daniel fell back as the sword blade pierced his shoulder and retreated as far as he could from the bloodthirsty hunter.
"Samael... Why..." He felt tears welling in his eyes as he watched Samael approach, eyes filled with an evil sense of pleasure -
- Only to be slammed into from behind by none other than...
Himself?
"Samael!" Daniel cried joyously, seeing the familiar eyes, disciplined and focused rather than the empty rage of his attacker's. His savior and teacher caught hold of the sword blade in his bare hands when the dark Samael tried to slash down, ignoring the gashes it opened in his palms. The evil Samael let out a cry of rage as the sword was yanked from its hands, and it lunged the real Samael with the claws on its fingers -
- Only to receive a harsh kick in the stomach and a strong arm that caught it around the neck.
"A doppelganger, huh?" Samael's tone was vicious and amused at the same time. "Well, the copies are never as good as the original." With that, he viciously brought his arms around, bringing a satisfying crack from the thing's neck. It disappeared from existence even as he released its body.
"Samael!" Daniel managed to run to the hunter in spite of his wound. "I'm so glad I found you! I... thought you needed help, and I heard you were here, and I came - "
=+=
That was as far as he got before Samael wheeled upon him and grasped him by the shirt front.
"Never follow me again!" Samael spat out slowly. "Do you understand me!"
"But I-"
"I don't give a rat's ass what you were thinking!" Samael's tone was unlike any other Daniel had ever heard. "Never follow me unless I tell you to; I don't want to have to drag your lifeless body out of some castle or catacomb!"
"...You think I'd die?" Daniel's voice was slightly relieved. "You're worried about me?"
"Caldues Nai, kid!" Samael spat in the hunter language so viciously that Daniel was forced to smile. "What in the name of God gave you THAT idea! I couldn't care less if you - "
"But you just said you didn't want to have to carry my lifeless body out of - "
"I know what I said!" Samael released the boy and noticed the injury. Daniel watched the hunter's gaze soften instantly and saw something like regret and pity there... fleetingly.
"Great, you go and get yourself hurt, Dovesde." Samael retrieved his cloak from the ground and ripped a length off it, then bade the boy to remove the shirt. "Maikoku shonoi dei!"
"Who did what huh?" Daniel couldn't help but wonder what was being said.
"Caldues Nai means what the, well, I won't say that in English." Samael smiled bitterly. "Dovesde means idiot, and Maikoku shonoi dei means for Pete's sake... loosely translated that is." He spoke as he deftly bound the makeshift bandage around Daniel's shoulder and chest, then tied it tightly. "Can't believe you'd be so moronic as to - "
"Admit it, you were worried about me when you heard me cry out." Daniel smiled coyly. "I know you can't be as cold as you seem to be, great hunter Samael." The hunter jerked at those words.
"Cocuroi dainosei!?" Daniel didn't need a translation for that one. Sounded just like Are you out of your mind.
=+=
He was tired.
Samael sighed as he sank into bed in the room given to him for his time here. It was heavenly compared to long months spent sleeping on the ground, with only his thin bedroll beneath him, which didn't amount to much.
Exhaustion had sank its claws into him during their ride home, and he had only taken enough time for a thorough shower before falling into bed. The sheets were cool against his flesh; he was clad only in a pair of lightweight pants, which ended at the middle of his shins. Oh, did it ever feel good to lie in a bed like this; to truly relax for the first time in weeks, maybe even months. Samael didn't really remember the last time he'd managed to relax like this.
This mission was a bit more difficult than he'd originally believed. Perhaps Moresenth wasn't as young or foolish as Samael had first believed, and then again, perhaps he was just lucky. Samael had experienced the same troubles here before, when he'd eliminated Lord Tharos sixty years ago. And though he highly doubted it, there was always a possibility of Moresenth being one of Tharos' creations.
If he followed procedures dictated by the Council of Elders, he would wait a week. Then, his opponent would either be off-guard or too expecting. Either way, there would be room for error.
He shifted, feeling the soreness of a pulled leg muscle as he moved. From dodging those damn snakes earlier probably; he'd most likely managed to twist it when he almost lost his balance, and had been too distracted and frightened to notice. He'd moved wrong, and it had pulled a muscle. But he would let nothing deter him.
It was high time for Samael to finish with the pleasantries... and to move forward with his plans.
