TVC II Chapter 7 - Return to the Silver Pinnacle

[Count Vashra]

Obviously fighting shadow with shadow won't work here, Niklaus thought. I have a burning need to avoid this, he added as a gout of flame approached. He concentrated his powers and managed to Shadow-merge for a few precious seconds, allowing the flame to pass harmlessly. He reformed, feeling slightly tired.
If he could not do anything about the shadow dome, then he would have to deal with the enemy Vampires. Approaching the raging battle, he looked for a suitable target. He had just spent a lot of Shadow magic, so attacking a commander or archer would not be a good idea. He wouldn't have enough power to Shadow-merge away from most of the attacks. His Lahmian speed would help, but he was only 4th generation, and young. There was a growing fight centering around Kithan, Mikhail and several dozen assassins. Numbers were the Council's main weakness at this time, and if he could help kill several enemies, then the scales would be tipped more evenly. And these assassins fought bloodthirstily, far more savagely than he was expected. Maybe these were the Young Bloods. Excellent. Their low age would limit their power.
He reached the battle, able to run his shadow sword through the spine of one, causing it to collapse. Three others saw and turned, snarling at the Shadowmancer. Niklaus bared his fangs, and smiled. He slashed empty air with his sword, sending shadows towards the assassins, wrapping around them. Usually this trick would restrain enemies, but with his powers limited Niklaus only used it to confuse them for a second, and then attacked, using his speed to its fullest.
He lunged towards the first assassin. it saw his sword at the last moment and dodged, attacking with its own weapons. Niklaus blocked easily, then parried an attack from the second assassin. He spun and attacked the second assassin, his speed overcoming it, and inflicted a number of wounds. He twisted to block a frenzied attack from the other two and, weaving a web of defence, stepped backwards, smiling. A challenge. He liked challenges. He left himself exposed for a split-second, encouraging a fierce attack. The Lahmian sidestepped and moved to decapitate the assassin, who barely blocked in time. The second before their blades met, Niklaus sent a quick burst of energy through his blade, making it stronger and knocking the assassin down. As it slammed to the ground, he made a second sword and quickly rammed it through the assassin's heart. He Shadow-merged in time to avoid another attack, then knocked the offender's sword out his hand, which proved to be a big mistake. Snarling furiously, the Young Blood lunged at his throat with its fangs. Feeling more tired, Niklaus quickly punched its face, sending it reeling back and injuring his hand.He had never learnt Necromancy, even the basics, and so would have to rely on natural Vampiric regeneration to heal the wound. The other assassin cut him in the side, and he hissed, slashing. The assassin stepped back. This was turning out to be quite a challenge.

 

[Count Magpyr]

The silver bolt slammed into Kithan's shoulder, shearing through the mail and plate of his ornate half armour. The pain was excruciating. With an effort of will Kithan's forced himself through, letting go of his hold on his mortal frame. Momentarily his body faded from view, the bolt, now unsupported by his tissues, fell to floor. It took even more willpower to hold onto his net and pull himself back together in the mortal world. Raising his head Kithan surveyed the battle field. By now several of the opals on his crown were dim with nothing more than a natural lustre. The green flames in his eyes flared and he came to a quick decision. Moving swiftly he marshalled his forces. Kithan glided forward and linked up with Michael and Nicklaus. The two cats moved up on the flanks and the 3 banshees rose behind them, their shriek rising in intensity. As one the council group moved forward bringing ruination and despair to the attacking vampires.

 

[Count Vashra]

Niklaus pulled back to where Kithan and Mikhail were, followed by the two assassins he had yet to defeat. He sensed Kithan's magic having greatly weakened. Hopefully the Wight would have sufficient power to continue fighting. The ethereal allies would be useful additions to the battle. Niklaus pointed at the ethereals, and wisps of shadow spread from his hand to embrace them. Not totally and not constricting, just enough to make them even more shadowy and unreal. 'Your ghosts may benefit from a little extra shadow, Prince,' Niklaus said, using the royal term to be respectful. Niklaus raised his sword and saw the two assassins had caught up to him. He was glad of the assistance Kithan, Mikhail and the ghosts would bring. He could hear the shrieking of the banshees. He reached towards the assassins and closed his hands. Tendrils of shadow coiled around them. He dissipated his own sword to allow himself the energy. He was primarily a mage, although annoyed have been so unsuccessful against two 8-year-old, albeit fierce and well-equipped, Vampires. "Prince Kithan, Mikhail," he said. "I invite you to finish these two traitors." He grinned at the assassins writhing against his shadow constraints. "It would be so much easier for you to fight enemies who are...tied up." He showed his fangs. He had been looking forward to using his magic here.
Mikhail took the opportunity provided by Niklaus, hacking at the trapped assassins with almost as much frenzy as the assassins themselves fought. Niklaus then ensnared three more. Tonight was his night. Tonight, he would prove why he was called the Living Shadow, shadow-dampener or not.

 

[Get of W'soran]

Many New Bloods fell to the combined assault of the Council only to arise again moments later.

Young though the thralls where they where still vampires and as such a particularly tenacious breed of undead. Even those who would have been mortally wounded had they been amongst the living where now standing once more with ease, ready to attack again.

This was not helped by Kylar's Necromancy which was undoing much of the council's work as he healed his underlings.

Kylar pushed his way through the New Bloods, chanting as he went, once he reached near the front of the large group he snarled at his enemies.

"Your time is done Council!"

With a gesture the large group began to use their superior numbers to surround the three Council Members. As they did so Sigmund and his surviving Templars charged forward with a roar however a moment later a silver bolt leapt from the hidden crossbowman within the group to slam into Sir Gunther's skull, killing him instantly.

With a smirk Kylar unraveled his silver serrated whip and leaping through the ranks he lashed his whip at Mikhail's face with devastating precision.

Meanwhile the new Bloods rushed around their Commander to attack Niklaus and Kithan in an attempt to break the Council members apart using their almost unnatural team-work and years of assassin training in their assault, bearing a wide multitude of melee weaponry amongst them.

At the same time a small group of New Bloods managed to push the injured Sigmund and his remaining Knight back, cutting them off from the Council.

With the Council now surrounded the first wave of attacks came from the more experienced Thralls.
It began as a tall assassin with a silver tipped spear lunged at Kithan whilst a shorter dagger-wielder attacked his side.
At almost the same moment a colossal New Blood with a Zweihander swung his huge blade at Niklaus coordinating his attack with one of his brethren who lunged forward from the back with a rapier thrust.
Of course, only moments behind these men the rest of the New Bloods prepared to join the assault.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Varelsa breathed a sigh of relief as the Assassins ignored him and the injured Sylvie, prioritizing their battle against the Council.

"Who don't stand a chance." he thought to himself "A man could be a great knight but faced against 10 mediocre swordsmen he didn't stand a chance."

The Ambassador supposed he could help...but he'd rather avoiding fighting unless necessary.

Turning back to the severely wounded Strigoi he lightly placed his hands on her "This won't be pleasant...I've never been much of a healer." he told her regretfully.

After a moment of silence Varelsa began to whisper the incantations of Nagash's lore that he had learned so many years ago.

 

[Count Vashra]

Seeing the pincer attack on him, Niklaus Shadow-merged and reappeared behind the rapier-wielding assassin, hoping but not expecting that they would hit each other. "I have not yet started, traitor!" he shouted at the Vampire who had spoken. When he reappeared, Niklaus did so with two swords of shadow. He immediately began slashing at the assassins he had just avoided, using both blades to fight two at a time. He was not, however, used to dual-wielding swords, and quickly found himself on the defensive. His speed was keeping him safe, but he couldn't risk being cut to pieces by the huge Zweihander. Holding the rapier back with one sword, he ducked to avoid a decapitating blow from the Zweihander, then before the assassin could recover lunged the other sword into the guts of the assassin with the Zweihander. He then allowed the shadows that the sword consisted of to split and spread around inside the Vampire, cutting him apart from within. Satisfied, he dismissed the weapon and called another as he leaped back from the rapier-wielder. He then used his two blades and Lahmian speed to outmanouvre the assassin, managing to deliver a killing blow, but not before receiving a blow to his upper arm. He was killing his enemies, but could not continue to take damage like this. He needed to kill a serious enemy. He searched for the Vampire controlling the horde, and soon found one radiating Necromancy and...Shadow magic. This would be interesting.
Several assassins blocked his path to the Vampire, though. He needed to take this...controller away from the rest of the battle. He reached forward, tendrils of shadow approaching the whip-wielder."'You think you can defeat the Living Shadow? Let us test you." After this there would be no more Shadow-merging. The dampener was reducing his power. In fact, if his target was nearly as strong as him, he would be able to resist the attempted forced Shadow-merge, especially with Niklaus expending more energy in turning to shadow himself.

 

[Get of W'soran]

Kylar pulled his blow short from Mikhail as the shadow tendrils made contact with him, a pair of newbloods with one wielding axes and the other a warhammer stepped inbetween their commander and the Kislevite as the Squad Leaders attention was distracted by the arcane attack.

"What?" he hissed.

"A shadow mage?

Kylar frowned and resisted the the forced-merge and returned with an attack of his own, making it difficult for Niklaus to retain his shadow-merge, copious amounts of Ulgu where used by both magi as they both phased in and out of shadow-form. Kylar made a swift hand-signal so that one of his thralls tackled the distracted shadow-mage to the ground once he gained corporeality once more.

"Back!" Kylar commanded causing the new blood to jump off Niklaus instead of trying to throw a killing blow.

The New Blood Commander strode forward, silver whip in his right hand and a steel messer in his left.

"He's mine!" Kylar roared as he lashed his whip at the other shadowmancer.

 

[Count Vashra]

Niklaus rolled away from Kylar's whip, cursing himself for leaving the single combat so late, when his energy was drained. He jumped to his feet, shadow-sword ready. He slashed at his opponent but failed to make contact. Niklaus sent more tendrils, but allowed them to disperse as he remembered that in his weakened state he could not force another into a Shadow-merge. He would have to rely on speed, cunning and fighting skill. And luck. He made a sword in his left hand, seeing his opponent had a whip and a sword. A silver whip, he realised. This would be tricky. a few blows from that and he would be finished. How to defeat a silver whip and sword combination? He allowed himself to be driven back as he considered this, until the point of the sword cut him and reminded him he needed to go on the offensive. He decided that he would focus on attacking the left side of his opponent, and use one sword to just try to hold the whip back, using shadow as necessary to entangle it. Even better, he decided, he would combat the whip with a shadow whip of his own. Niklaus lashed at the silver whip with the shadow whip and aimed a slice on his opponent's left.

 

[Get of W'soran]

Kylar frowned and danced back lightly, avoiding the slash as he easily disengaged his whip from his opponent's.

The weapon combination was a centuries old specialty of Kylar's and this rank amateur thought to copy him? Very well then....he would pay for his arrogance.

Kylar swiftly glanced into the crowd of assassins and nodded, before lashing his whip swiftly at Niklaus's face but the Lahmian was quick and managed to jerk back just in time to miss the silver whip which cracked inches from his face.

Kylar smiled coldly as his attack missed his opponent...and preoccupied him just in time as a steam of fire crashed into the shadowmancers side with enough force to lift him from his feet.

"Where is your power now Living Shadow?" sneered the newcomer. The Pyromancer was dressed in a similar fashion to the Witchunters of the Empire, in one hand he held a scimitar wreathed in flame and the wind of Aqshy blew strongly around him. He was Markus, a Hunter, an assassin trained with the sole purpose of murdering his own kind.

Kylar and Markus advanced towards Niklaus in almost perfect synchronization.

"You thought to Master the Shadows..." Markus rasped.

"We are the shadows!" Kylar hissed.

The silver whip descended as blades of fire soared through the air.

 

[Count Vashra]

Niklaus' eyes widened as he felt flames slam into his side and knocked him off his feet. He felt a pain in his side where the ire had crashed into him. Seeing the whip and flames descend, he reached for his power, managing to turn his right arm to shadow for a fraction of a second. When it rematerialised flame caught on his sleeve He Shadow-merged the arm again and with no sustenance in the shadows the flame died, but that left the whip. Niklaus crawled backwards and raised his shadow whip to tangle with the silver, aiming to push it back onto the wielder. He really needed a distraction. He knew that angry or overconfident opponents were more likely to make mistakes. "Pyromancer! You dress as a witch hunter. They never caught me. That will not change now." Niklaus bared his fangs for a second. He pointed his right hand at the Pyromancer and sent a cloud of shadow at his sword, then made one of his own and lunged at the centre of his chest, rising as he did so. He was starting to feel the damage from the accumulating wounds. He needed to finish this quickly, and Shadow-merging was not an option. He would show these traitors why he was called the Living Shadow.

 

[Count michael]

Mikhail frowned as Kylar lost interest in him watching in disappointment as the vampire fought Niklaus. Utterly confused at why the vampire wouldn't fight, the Kislevite felt slighted that he wasn't viewed as a threat compared to Niklaus quickly losing his temper. stepping back to avoid the heavy swing of the hammer wielding vampire, Mikhail struck upwards with his axe decapitating it in one stroke whilst grinning in anticipation as the other vampire hissed in anger. Rushing forward swiftly Mikhail ducked a heavy swing from an axe sliding in front of the surprised vampire, acting quickly Mikhail grabbed the vampire by it's throat crushing it's windpipe before leaning backwards planting his foot underneath the vampire's groin. Using his momentum combined with brute strength Mikhail hurled the flailing vampire towards the back of Kylar and Markus who had their backs towards the Kislevite since they were distracted by Nilkaus. "Where do you think you are going coward!!!" he howled as his crouched on all fours pushing himself forward as he rushed to Niklaus's aid "what's the matter bloodsucker, too scared to fight a lowly mortal" striking out with his blades

 

[Get of W'soran]

Kylar sneered as Niklaus attempted to trap his weapon with his magical whip, not only was the other vampire a poor and uncoordinated fighter but he was using Ulgu, one of the least susbstantial winds, to trap his physical weapon. With a flick of his wrist the Silver Whip sheered through the shadowy one.

Meanwhile Markus. ignoring his opponents taunts, sidestepped Niklaus's clumsy lunge and kicked him hard in the knee, dropping the shadowmancer to the ground. Markus grinned, he was glad the other wizard wasn't able to fully tap into his arcane prowess as his physical abilities where laughable.

Kylar drew his sword back for a killing thrust but paused when he heard the commotion behind him. Whipmaster and Pyromancer turned in time to see a New Blood come hurtling through the air towards them, with quick reflexes Markus snarled an incantation and blasted the vampire to ash.

Kylar stared at the other assassin indignantly "You killed him!" he accused.

Markus shrugged "He's only a New Blood."

"My New Blood!" Kylar shouted "I swear Markus, when this is all over we're going to have a talk about boundaries!"

Rolling his eyes the Pyromancer took half a step towards Mikhail before Kylar grabbed him. "No, you're a vampire hunter so hunt!" he instructed pointing at Niklaus.

"I will take care of the freak." Kylar assured him as he strode towards the Kislevite before suddenly lashing his sliver whip at Mikhail's face with startling speed.

Shrugging Markus turned to Niklaus and renewed the flames on his scimitar whilst taking up a fighting stance with the ease of a veteran swordsman "That seems fair. Get up boy, give me a little fun before you I burn you to a crisp."

 

[Count michael]

What's the matter having a lover's quarrel" Mikhail leered at Kylar. As Kylar struck out with his whip Mikhail barely managed to dodge getting rewarded with a stinging cut right on his chest as he stepped back quickly growling in anger and pain. Being forced back Mikhail was unable to close the distance to to the long reach of Kylar's whip.

What was worse was the beast inside him was getting more out of control if it carried on like this then who knew what would happen, each time he changed he got worse losing all control and had no idea if he would be able to change back at all due to the corrupting influence of chaos.

However Mikhail started grinning as a fools idea came to him, moving forward as Kylar struck out Mikhail made no attempt to block it letting it strike his shoulder causing a a sharp burning pain. Gritting his teeth before it was drawn back Mikhail quickly grabbed the end of the whip wrapping it around his arm giving a massive tug at Kylar still holding the other end using his brute force to try pulling the vampire off his feet and towards Mikhail. "Why don't you come closer, I won't bite"

 

[Count Vashra]

"Fun? I'll give you fun!" Niklaus said, jumping to his feet and brandishing two swords with an extra half-length each. He now needed to rely mainly on his speed, as his magic was nearing its limit and in any case seemed to be having little effect. With one sword he attempted to batter away the Pyromancer's sword, his own sword dispersing to wrap itself around the flame sword and the hand holding it. The shadow over the hand turned into small, sharp points, mainly to irritate and distract the Pyromancer. With his other sword he lunged for his enemy's heart. His third avenue of attack was two extremely sharp bolts from his eyes aimed at his enemy's eyes. He was fortunate Mikhail was distracting the whip-wielder, because he felt that he was no longer able to face both enemies together. 'Have fun with this!' he shouted.

 

[Get of W'soran]

Kylar bared his fangs at Mikhail as the mortal pulled on the whip, the unexpected movement caused him to stumble before the vampire's form bulged with unholy power and his face shifted slightly as the beast came closer to the surface, his human mask slipping. With a snarl he pulled back, his vampiric strength far superior to a human's causing the blade to tear violently into the other man's.

He hissed "Do you want to keep playing this game fool?" he spat, tugging again causing the serrated silver to dig further into Mikhail's arm and then, with the end still anchored by Mikhail, he swept his arm around attempting to loop the remainder of the whip's length around Mikhail's throat.


--------------------------------------------

Markus snarled an incantation as the flames of his sword flared, banishing Niklaus's shadow-trap around his weapon, the air around the vampire hissed as the temperature soared, the winds of fire blowing away the shadow assault and with practiced ease he easily turned aside the other vampire's thrust, the Council Member was the faster but his technique was poor in the assassin's eyes.

Markus had been watching Niklaus's eyes carefully, Henrick had always said a man's eyes never lied, as such he could see the Ulgu forming their as Niklaus began his spell...to make things easier the other vampire even shouted as he attacked.

Markus twisted aside, the bolts of power grazing his shoulder as he stepped in closed and rammed the hilt of his scimitar hard into the other vampire's jaw which also had the benefit of directing his gaze away so no further arcane bolts could follow the first.

Markus then stepped past the other vampire, drawing his sword swiftly along Niklaus's ribs and cutting in deep, the flames slowing or possibly stopping any natural vampiric regeneration.

As he turned around the vampire-hunter's hand whipped out to grab Niklaus by the throat, intending to squeeze hard enough so that the sorcerer would have no chance to cast his spells.

"You shadowmancers...always with the same pathetic tricks." he sneered as the heat around the vampire grew even more intense "You ruined my Coat weakling." he hissed referring to the torn and blood-soaked shoulder of his coat that had been grazed by Niklaus's bolts of magic. "For that I shall make you scream.

 

[The Dread King]

As Jäger's and Rikert's fight began in earnest, Jack and his shadow mirrored the duellers. The former leapt forth, axe in hand, intending to drive it up and split his opponent's head in two. The latter thrust his axe straight down, also intending to divide his enemy's face, but from the top rather than the bottom. Top to bottom. He wants to split my face from top to bottom.

Bottom to top! That's how I'll divide HIS face! I'll see how he likes it!

Top to bottom to top! Up and down his face the axe shall flow, yes, yes, up, and down, up...

Jack swung his axe up higher than originally planned, now speeding up his move at the cost of sacrificing its finesse and offensive edge. It became a defensive manoeuvre, and one brought about just in time to stop his arcane opponent from killing him.

Jack's axe wrestled with his doppelgänger's, his shadowy enemy having the advantage of gravity. However, although the magic that animated him was potent, it was not as potent as the centuries-old vampire he faced. Jack pushed upwards gradually, and then more quickly. It was almost too late when he realised that the acceleration of his progress was a trick. He hoped Rikert did not have many more tricks left for Jäger, or Jack definitely did not stand a chance in this fight.

The shadow of Jack sought to kill its creator by suddenly exerted pressure on his weapon, for a moment thrusting Jack's weapon down, before the assassin, who had preempted this, exerted pressure of his own, forcing his enemy's weapon up once more. Nonetheless, the shadow's trick - though predicted - still left a moderately sized cut in Jack's chest and elicited a hiss from its bearer, whose resistance had not been enough to stop the descending shadow axe to bite significantly into his flesh.

Grunting, Jack pushed his shadow's weapon to the right with his own with a final effort, throwing the aberration's arm back. With a high kick thrown off his left foot, the captain smashed his foot into his enemy's shoulder and found it pleasantly solid, instead of incorporeal (as any other shadow would be). His weapon arm further pushed back, the shadow creature stumbled and fell due to the momentum of the push he had received and the weight of his own weapon.

There's the up. Now...

"DOWN!" Jack screamed loudly, swinging his weapon downwards in an overhead strike. He was beaten to the punch, however, by one of Jäger's arrows. It found purchase in the shadow's chest, and the creature let out an eerie scream before melting into nothingness. "Spoilsport," Jack grumbled to Jäger, "you broke the cycle. Now it's coming back..."

Within his mind, the unfinished threat of thought ran through Jack's system like a disease. It ignored the pain caused from the wound the shadow creature had dealt Jack; it ignored all rational thought. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up up uppity up, and then down. And that's the end of it.

"Up!" Jack shouted cheerfully as he rose his axe once more, running towards Rikert, who had just been knocked aside by Jäger's explosive arrow. He leapt into the air, and the light caught on his bloodied grin. "Down!" he chuckled, bringing to bear the full force of a huge enchanted axe with the momentum of a charging vampire behind it.

----------

Theobold peeped over the edge of a carriage and grimaced. The fight was not going well for the council, and although his duties did not extend to comprehensive assistance of them, he still needed to ensure that the area around the disruptor was not breached. With his wound, he would be unlikely to survive close combat with any of the more skilled rebel vampires. Loosely interpreting orders was also forgivable when your captain was completely insane.

The assassin's eyes scanned the battlefield. Before him, a number of grim conflicts were taking place - in none of them were the council winning. The knights were dying like flies. Some might still be alive in the sprawling mass of new bloods, but they had been overrun and they would likely be unable to aid the council's fight for quite some time - at the very least, that was probably when this battle was over. The same was the case for the Kislevite's wight protectors, who appeared to have been swarmed by the tide of new bloods. The mortal champion was trapped within an arcane prison, and the ambassador Varelsa was occupied with healing the vampire whose rescue had caused so much trouble in the first place. Jäger and Jack had disappeared. The Kislevite was engaged in combat with Kylar, the wight prince Kithan and his scions were battling the new bloods, and Niklaus appeared to be getting killed by Markus. In fact, they all appeared to be getting killed (at different rates, of course). This was the wrong time for Jack and Jäger to go off hunting their adversaries. It seems as if intervention is left to me.

Theobold primed his dual pistols, each of them loaded with silver bullets. In truth, he would only use one at a time in his wounded state, using his free arm to defend himself from any incoming attacks and manoeuvring himself behind the Von Carstein carriage in case there was return fire from those he attacked. With his left hand, he gripped the top of the carriage, holding himself up to get a good aim at his target. It had already been chosen, of course. With his right, he fired a silver bullet at his adversary.

At Markus, that was. But a spasm of pain from his earlier injury - these had been frequent, but gradually weakening over time as the effects of his vampiric healing took hold - shot through his frame at the moment of firing, distorting his aim. He cursed, but it was too late. His silver bullet was already fired. He held his breath as it seemed to sail towards Niklaus, who Markus was holding in a stranglehold.

Perhaps it was a gust of wind. Perhaps it was an arcane boon, a redirection of sorts given by some other Council member to the bullet. Perhaps Theobold's aim really hadn't been as bad as he thought it was when he took that shot. Or perhaps it was sheer luck.

Whatever the cause was, it had a welcome result. The bullet avoided Niklaus, but hit Markus in the arm with which he was throttling the shadowmancer. Theobold smiled and reloaded his pistol. The effect of the bullet would be profound. It would not just afflict the vampire due to his vulnerability to silver, but would also interrupt his spellcasting, which could lead to some sort of magical mishap, Vashanesh willing. And how large such mishaps could become...

 

[Count Vashra]

Niklaus smiled when the silver bullet slammed into his enemy's arm. In the second he had before the Pyromancer recovered, he shoved his arm away and stepped backwards himself, rubbing his neck. "I must admit, you are strong."
Then he sensed the magic from the interrupted spell. Something could come of this. "But can you control that strength?" The Master of Shadows reached for the Pyromancer's magic. It was Fire Magic, not Shadow Magic, but it derived from the same original source of magic, and if nothing else was an energy source. And if he concentrated hard enough, he could do what eh needed to, though it would heavily drain him for a while. Not that he would be able to contribute for much loner.
Seizing the energy he needed, Niklaus slowly forced his weakened body into shadow, and moved away, reforming near Theobold. As he formed, he dropped to the ground, and rolled. At the end of his roll, he slowly pulled himself to his feet and turned to Theobold.
"You have my thanks." Niklaus gestured, magic flowing from him to the other Vampire. "Take what I have left. I can't kill their leaders, and as you can see, I'm quite weak. Heal yourself."

 

[Get of W'soran]

Markus screamed as the bullet struck his arm, the winds of Aqshy no longer flowed around him but rather for a short moment, through him.

It took mere moments for the pyromancer to regain control but it felt like an eternity. Markus collapsed to his knees breathing heavily with the fire winds once more under his control, scorch marks covered his coats and parts of his flesh where burnt.

Even through his pain and magical struggles however he had seen Niklaus flee via shadow magic.

"How?" he thought to himself "The winds of Ulgu are practically dead in the immediate area...but shadow-stepping should be impossible for miles around."

Shaking his head he dismissed the thoughts, they didn't matter right now.

The Assassin turned and saw his former brother Theobold standing and snarled as he recalled the loyalist's specialty.

"You five!" he snarled at nearby New Bloods "Kill the gunner!" turning he grabbed another one by the collar "Destroy that machine!" he commanded seeing that one of the disruptors had been temporarily left undefended.

Taking a death breath Markus started walking behind the five New Bloods who charged at Theobold and Niklaus, they could fail...it didn't matter...he would slaughter the two vampires himself.


------------------------------------------------------------------

Rikert deflected the axe blow, barely, as he spun out of the way and slammed a spinning back kick into Jack's temple. As he recovered he slashed with his sword to knock one of Jäger's arrows out of the air.

Reaching into his belt the former Squad 2 member threw a small bomb, equal parts magic and technology, onto the ground which exploded into a cloud of impenetrable darkness.

Jäger sensed the attack before he saw it, Rikert flew out of the cloud with a series of strikes aimed at the Archer's head, Jäger backpedaled blocking the first handful of blows with his bow before feeling a searing pain in his stomach.

Rikert give a grim smile as he twisted his sword before pulling it free and watched Jäger drop to the ground. "Silver-edged I'm afraid...you're not getting up from that...but I shall let you live long enough to experience the total failure of your mission old friend."

Rikert snarled an incantation banishing the arcane induced cloud from his bomb and chanted a new spell, causing his own form to blur and split into three.

One real and two illusions.

Rikert stared coldly at the remaining captain. "You're next Jack."

 

[Count Vashra]

Niklaus cursed when he saw the approaching assassins, and their handler. He'd barely escaped last time, and now was almost completely unable to fight. Almost. He really should carry a real sword around for situations like this, he told himself before standing beside Theobold. He would wait until the assassins were close enough, and then leap at one of the ones on the outside of the five and kill it with his claws and fangs. Then collect its weapon. It wasn't a very good strategy, but it was all he could do right now. And eh certainly couldn't leave a gunner unprotected. Niklaus snarled.

 

[Count michael]

Swaying side to side like a drunken fool humming madly Mikhail gazed upon Kylar with a insatiable hunger, with violent clarity Mikhail's grip of sanity snapped as he gave in howling like a maddened animal causing a few newbloods nearby to cringe back in surprise. Pupils dilating whilst foaming at the mouth Mikhail rolled forward dodging the whip as it threatened to strangle him. Rising in front of Kylar in a a berserk frenzy Mikhail hammered at Kylar relentlessly, each strike getting faster and stronger as he lost control little thought of defence utterly gone so intent on killing the vampire each wound suffered causing a rabid burst of energy to overwhelm the Kislevite.

 

[The Dread King]

Theobold nodded in thanks when Niklaus gave him the surplus dark magic. Although Theobold's own necromantic abilities were meagre, combined with the shadowmancer's magic they were able to dispel the lingering effects of the silver in his bloodstream. He would have sighed in relief, if he still had a use for breath. The relief that overcame him was quickly washed away, however, as he saw the oncoming assassins. To make matters worse, the disruptor that he had been entrusted with guarding - a task that he had had to temporarily abandon to ensure Niklaus' survival - was being approached by another new blood. The assassin knew that whilst he and Markus might be matched in terms of abilities - Markus' pyromancy negated the advantage brought to Theobold by his blackpowder speciality - Markus' training as a vampire killers, would give him the edge, and his servants were dangerous, too. Theobold and Niklaus were outmatched, and the assassin knew it. Grimacing, he resolved to kill as many of the approaching thralls as he could at range, reloading his pistol as they advaned. For every inch they drew closer to him, he lost a fraction of his advantage over them. Being fully healed, however, meant he did not need to support himself with his hand, and so he could fire dual pistols. This was a boon he intended to use well, so he drew his second pistol from its holster. It, too, was loaded with silver bullets. The reason for this was that this particular pair, unlike so many of the other firearms Theobold carried, had been prepared for combat with others vampires. If it had not already been apparent before, it certainly was now.

He fired his first two shots. Two assassins collapsed in a storm of blood and silver, one of them taking a bullet to the head and another to the right shoulder. He began to reload. The unwounded ones were only a few metres away from the carriages now, and he knew he'd they would engage him in under a minute. Firing again, he was dismayed to see one of the assassin's expert reflexes allowing him to narrowly avoided the bullet. Only one assassin collapsed and disintegrated into dust, and then the others approaching the carriage, anticipating the slaughter. Theobold tried to reload his weapons, but the catch on one of them had broken. He swore - there was no time for defects - and dropped the broken weapon onto the top of the carriage, priming his other one hastily after doing so. He prepared to shoot at an approaching new blood. He would never make that shot.

In the dust, the wounded assassin had writhed. The pain from the silver bullet was excruciating, even after he'd removed it from his shoulder. He would have his revenge - it was fitting that the gunner would be brought down by ranged weaponry, which happened to be his speciality. This new blood had shot both Kithan and Gunther, so getting Theobold too made that his lucky day. Lucky, apart from the bullet taken to the shoulder, the assassin reminisced, raising his crossbow. He fired a bolt, and its aim was true (although not of pinpoint accuracy, due to the effect of the wound in the crossbowman's arm). It hit Theobold in the right shoulder - definitely a mark of retribution on the crossbowman's part, although didn't reach the assassin's head as hoped. The wounded crossbowman grinned, and limped forward, managing to catch up with Markus, although with difficulty, given his wound. He started to ready his crossbow again, intending to kill Niklaus. He grinned. He would achieve what two senior brothers had not been able to, and it would be glorious.

Instantly after the bolt made contact with him, Theobold was thrown backwards and onto the ground, with a cry of pain. His loaded pistol went skittering off to his left, where Niklaus was standing. He looked up at the shadowmancer who had healed him with a bitter smile, trying to concentrate despite grappling with the pain shooting through his arm. He instantly knew that the seriousness of this fresh wound would incapacitate him for quite some time. The bolt had gone deep into his shoulder, and remained there. Not only was the arm useless, but the poison of silver was spreading throughout his body with every passing second.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to be of much use here," he said. It was clear that he would not be able to load a gun in time to launch off another round at the assassins before they bore down on him. "If you're too wounded to fight properly, take that weapon - " he pointed with his functional hand at the pistol lying at Niklaus feet " - and go. Leave this place. If you don't leave and you can't fight, I'm dead. If you do leave and you can't fight, I am also dead. But my responsibility here is partly to protect members of the Council from harm, as instructed by my superiors. The pistol has several rounds in it, though you need to prime it after firing each shot, of course. As for me, I have a surprise planned." Theobold heard the footsteps of the oncoming new bloods, and smiled. He removed a device from his coat pocket. A crude invention, it, too, used blackpowder. Theobold altered the position of some of the odd-looking levers that littered its surface. As he finished preparing it, a definite click could be heard. The assassin's fingers rested on the weapon, hinged over one final switch. "Leave now. Run away from this carriage, and they will follow. But only up to a point, you see: I always wanted to go out with a bang," he uttered with grim humour, prepared for the end of his unlife.

 

[The Dread King]

Jack received the kick with a grunt, falling to his knees but then turning that fall into a turn and rise to his full stature. He smiled at Rikert chillingly as his opponent uttered his words, and dropped his axe at his feet. It might be taken as a gesture of submission...if not for the rapid rearmament the captain carried out, taking his dual combat axes from his sides. A fight against three might work better with more weapons in this scenario, rather than a single slower, heavier battle-axe. More weapons, more killing!

More killing, more weapons!

Do the weapons lead to killing, or does the killing lead to weapons? We use weapons to kill...but we would not use weapons if we did not kill.

We should use the weapons to kill Rikert.

No, no, no! We should kill Rikert to use his weapons! What weapons? The weapons we're going to kill him with!

We're going to kill him with weapons?

Yes, stupid!

Weapons it is, then!

All of this deranged thought had taken place in a split second, after which the captain launched himself forward at the rebel. For a moment, it seemed as if this would be a straightforward charge at the three copies of the assassin. At the last possible moment - when Jack was just out of reach of Rikert's sword-length - he turned on his heel and spun around to the left, swinging towards the leftmost Rikert's ribs with one axe whilst holding the other close to his chest, to parry any incoming attacks as he swerved past the three identical rebels.

 

[Count Vashra]

Niklaus nodded, picking up Theobold's pistol. "I will tell them how you died heroically." Then he fired a single shot at the crossbowman, cursing himself for not having a versatile weapon ability for times like these when he couldn't use Shadow magic and not expecting to hit the assassin's chest, and turned and ran towards where Varelsa was, slower than usual due to his injuries, re-priming the pistol as he ran.
When he arrived, he turned back to face the battle, firing shots when the opportunity presented itself. he hit a few assassins, because there were so many, but most of his shots missed. He really needed to carry normal weapons around. "Ambassador, as you can see, the battle is not going well," he reported. "'Prince Kithan and his ghosts are surrounded, Mikhail is fighting someone with a whip, and I believe Theobold is about to set an explosive. My own magic is depleted and I barely got away. Theobold let me have his pistol. He won't ever need it again, most likely." Niklaus wondered how the traitors could be driven back, and how long it would take for Rowhaine to get out of his carriage.

 

[The Dread King]

The assassins rushed onwards, following Niklaus. They paid no head to their comrade's subsequent death, only noticing that deceit might have been in the making after Markus made his way past the carriages. He saw the form of Theobold beyond him, lying down with a device in his hand. He was seemingly unconscious and probably dying.

Then Markus heard the flick of a switch and a whirring emanating from the machine Theobold was clutching at, and his eyes widened. "Get back; it's a trap!" he shouted to the other assassins, but it was far too late to them. With his abilities compromised by the effects of the silver bullet that had ripped through his arm, and the limited timeframe he had, he was only able to summon a partial fire shield around himself before the bomb went off. The two new bloods that had rushed ahead of him were caught in the centre of the blast, and were utterly incinerated. He was scorched, but not severely. He hissed in pain and anger at the disintegrating remains of Theobold, and set off at a run to confront the shadowmancer. With despair, he saw that the vampire had found an ally - none other than Varelsa himself. For a moment, he considered turning back and mustering support to lead the attack on the shadowmancer. Then, he felt a sudden change in the winds of magic.

Whilst the first group of traitor assassins might have failed, the second unit had succeeded. The disruptor had been destroyed; the new blood had broken it in half with a powerful blow from his blade. And thus, the functionality of the other failed, for two were needed to stop shadow-stepping. Now, Markus - and every other assassin on the battlefield - had their shadow-stepping abilities back. As Markus approached Varelsa's and Niklaus' position from a distance, the new blood who had broken the disruptor following behind him, he grinned. The tables had turned, and it was his side that had ended up on top of them.

 

[Get of W'soran]

Varelsa stopped his spellcasting and nodded to Sylvie, she was certainly far from fully healed but she was well enough to fight.

"That is all I can do under these conditions I'm afraid." he informed her with an apologetic smile.

The ambassador's smile was replaced with a frown as he heard footfalls behind him. Turning he saw Niklaus, in a rather poor state, rushing towards them.

"Ambassador, as you can see, the battle is not going well,' he reported. 'Prince Kithan and his ghosts are surrounded, Mikhail is fighting someone with a whip, and I believe Theobold is about to set an explosive. My own magic is depleted and I barely got away. Theobold let me have his pistol. He won't ever need it again, most likely." he said as soon as he reached the Ambassador and injured Strigoi.

A few moments later the winds of shadow returned to the area, before Varelsa could speak a detonation could be heard in the distance causing the ambassador to grimace. "It seems you where right about Theobold..." he murmured.

Varelsa's gaze moved to look over Niklaus's head "It also appears that you where followed." he murmured.

The burnt and injured form of Markus came striding towards them...and then in a swirl of shadows he vanished.

"Move!" Varelsa roared shoving Niklaus out of the way as the assassin materialized behind him. Markus's scimitar was already singing through the air when he reappeared but with his target moved out of the way his blade instead was thrust into Varelsa's stomach.

The ambassador didn't seem to register the strike instead he simply grabbed the blade so that it couldn't be removed and swiftly backhanded Markus across the face.

The blow was struck with such horrific force that the assassin was hurled backwards through the air to land roughly on the ground, when he looked up from his back it could be seen that his jaw had been utterly shattered.

With a snarl Markus sank back into the ground as shadows swirled around him, temporarily retreating from the fight.

Varelsa tore the scimitar from his stomach and threw the blade at Niklaus's feet.

"I...didn't...want to...fight." he growled breathlessly as he looked at the shadowmancer, his eyes glowing yellow.

There was something clearly wrong with Varelsa and it didn't appear to be the wound which had already mostly healed. The strong smell of grave-rot could also not be ignored.

The ambassador took a shuffling step forward, his usual poise and grace having vanished. The huge vampire grabbed Niklaus by the shoulder. Closing his eyes for a moment when he opened them again they had returned to their ordinary colour.

"I need you help." he said, his voice returning to normal although his fangs where noticeably still longer than they usually where. "There is a suit of armour stored in a chest on the roof of my carriage, I need you to help me put it on as quickly as possible...I can not fight without it."

He let out a deep breath and released the other vampire's shoulders, straightening up once more. "Please."

-----------------------------------------

Kylar danced away swiftly from the berserking Kislevite, Mikhail was now too close for the whip to be used correctly but the vampire was still able to parry and score a few shallow cuts with a number of counter-strokes.

The Assassin-Captain was momentarily distracted as Ulgu flowed back into the battlefield, barely managing to parry a decapitating axe blow that sent him stumbling.

"Get him!" he roared at the observing New Bloods.

A number of the young vampires threw themselves at Mikhail trying to kill him but Kylar paid them little heed as he turned his back on the fight and swiftly strode away. Kylar eventually stopped as he found the New Blood he was looking for, a tall and thin vampire who was the most experienced and talents of the thralls.

"Cardin!" he snapped causing the young assassin to turn around.

"Sir?"

"Those Council fools let the disruptor be destroyed, they have lost. Take a few of your brothers and shadow-step away to the nearest patrol, find and gather our assassins...there are dozens if not hundreds of our men in the area. Go first to Captain Von Hauser, he's in charge of this area."

Cardin nodded and began to walk away with Kylar shouted a final command "Make sure they come together! One large scale attack to wipe this scum out!"

Cardin shouted a confirmation and waved to two of his brothers to join him, in moments the three New Bloods shadow-stepped away.

Kylar grinned and turned back to the fight to see how his men where doing against the barbarian.

 

[Get of W'soran]

Jack's axe came into contact with Rikert's side, who swiftly vanished into a shards of shadow like shattering glass.

The other two Rikert's spread out to try and flank their half-mad opponent.

After a few moments they both leapt forward, one thrusting high at Jack's face whilst the other dropped low at the last moment for a powerful leg cut.


Meanwhile, under the cover of a powerful invisibility charm, the real Rikert drew back his bow, silver arrow aimed for Jack's heart before he released, his shadow magic utterly masking both sight and sound of his attack.