With a swing of his claws the father hurled Katlin to the ground in his throne chamber. The black haired vampire wizardess crashed on the floor with a whimper and he landed in front on of her and turned back to his human appearance. "Where - is - the - heart - of - darkness !", he gnarled through his gritted teeth. Kaitlin looked up at him, her black long coat and the lacen dress flowing over the ground like a messed carpet. "It is gone. I could not retrieve it. IT IS GONE !" Then she dropped her face into her palms shaking her head not accepting the disatrous result of their mission. "Is, she alright?" "What do you mean - it is gone - kid? You three were not able to retrieve it from a BOY ?" He leaned forward and grabbed Katlins collar, pulling her half up from the ground hate and rage in his blooded eyes. Katlin looked at him in fear. She had just escaped the terror of being under control of the Torqua priestess now being in a likewise but more savage danger. "No, we followed it, a sorceror from the plague bay had already acquired it and was fleeing the city with the whole cult of torqua behind him. The whole city was in turmoil and chaos and that little queen of a vampire stirred it even more up." She looked at him with pleading eyes. "They.....they got Maria! I could not do anything for her. She got caught by the grand inquisitor himself and a bunch of elite knights. She....she couldn´t even use her sword for a single strike. BUT I managed to follow the sorceror out of the city and then caught him in the woods! He could fend me off for a second and teleported to a pocket dimension with the heart of darkness. But I have his blood inside me. I felt him alive but not on this earth. I found his anchor to return to but.", her face turned contrite,"but then the torqua priestess appeared and all my powers were gone. She was even so graceful not to kill me but talk with me and I had to surrender the anchor to her. I DID NOT KNOW THAT YOU WERE COMING!" Katlin squeezed her eyes in pain. Then opened them looking at him pleading. "I would not have given it to her if I would have know that you come to save me father!"
His face got closer to her and then he shouted at her "So that stone is in the hand of the Torqua cult now !" He smashed Katlin again on the ground and she felt her pelvis bone breaking and cried out loud. collapsing on the ground. The father stood over her and grabbed her at her shoulder, his claws piercing into her flesh like daggers. "This is the utmost worst outcome of your mission Katlin! You lost one of your sisters, you lost the heart - no you not just loose it but you also deliver it to the damned torqua priesthood!" Katlin cried out in pain again and nodded "Yes father. I...." She cried again as he close his fist in her flesh. "I DID ALL THE BEST I COULD IN THIS SITUATION!" "Decades of education, of siphoning of power into you and this is all you can deliver!" He pulled Katlin up from the ground and with a fluent movement hurled her 5 meter along the room smashing against the stone walls. With a cut of cry Katlin crashed against the wall and fell down to the floor and didn´t move anymore. "You are worthless. Useless! Why didn´t they caught you and let me rescue Maria?" The father shouted with clenched fists. With a single jump he landed besides katlin and pulled her up again. With a gurgling, blood suffocated, voice a faint cry left katlin as the father pulled her behind him as he walked out the door. "You and me we are not done already girl. That has just the beginning of the rewards for your efforts." Pulling the broken body of the vampire woman behind him like a bag he walked up the stairs into the tower. Katlin´s mind was flooded by pain and in horror she felt her body already healing and using of her energy. In her feverous mind pictures of Raderak and Lenesti arose, when the first born of the father literally killed Lenesti again, bashing her to a lump of flesh again and again until all her energy was used off and she was not able to heal herself anymore because she had so disrespectful acted towards him. What would the father do to her would be worse. If there was anything worse she was going to experience it now.
Her head crashed on each step of the stair while he was pulling her up and her consciousness starts to faint. She was all heat and pain, by far to injured to concentrate on helping herself with magic. Yes she has failed him severly. He had worked and longed for that heart for decades and now as it was in their grasp his three most skilled and powerful pupils had failed. And his most beloved one was lost too. Whatever was the worst punishment that a vampire lord has to deliver - she was going to receive it in a few minutes. She closed her eyes, shaking, terror reigning over her body and her mind but out of control of her devasted body. She wanted to die. End her awful existence. Here and now just not to face what was going to come in close and closer future.
Then they arove at the top of the stair and with a swift movement of his hand the father hurled katlin against the rock ceiling of the room. The impact make her spine splinter and her consciousness blacked out as she fell down again and crashed onto the floor. As she blacked out he heard his voice from far away. "Don´t worry I will make sure you enjoy every single moment of your reward."
Lenesti was struck by the pain which flooded her mind and broke down on her knees. Pure agony filled her mind and pictures of Katlin being tortured by the father rose inside her. She was still in Uhlheim and stirring the mob to search for the Wizard. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth to fight the pain which overtook her mind and whispered "Nooooo!" Her eyes opened wide in terror she barely could hold herself on her knees and she squeezed her eyes to make the pictures vanish only to open them wide again as another wave of agony washed over her. Then slowly the pictures fainted and Lenesti breathed heavily. The memory of her own torture by Raderak came up. She quickly rose from the ground to not draw any attention and leaned against the wall of a house in the small alley where she actually was. She breathed heavily still trying to push away the feelings and the pictures in her mind trying to regain her composture. "By the devils", she thought, "father is utterly annihilating Katlin. This means she had failed. We have failed." And suddenly she became aware that she was facing an equal treatment. The blood started to boil inside her in fear. Her mind raced. What could she do? She had planned to return to the castle but. But that would mean to face the rage of the father too. By no way she want to experience something like what she had with Raderak. And last time she could at least be sure that the father would not tolerate that Raderak will utterly destroy her. But now? What would keep the father from destroying her? She was by far the most useless of the three in his mind. He never thought high about her powers and her way of life. She had to leave. Leave him. Leave the city, far, far away where he would not be able to feel her. Was this even possible? But she had to try. When he was done with Katlin he would of course think about his two other pupils. She had to hurry. But she had no super human travel powers like katlin nor could she sprint for hours like Maria. She had to use her own powers to get away from him. But no. If she could feel Katlin´s pain over such a distance the father, whose blood was inside her would feel her everywhere. There was no hiding of fleeing from him. She walked slowly out of the valley, her hood drawn into her face and crashed into a person. Looking up in surprise she looked into strict but warm brown eyes - of a knight of torqua. Her pulse exploded but she got her composture quickly "Excuse me, noble knight. I was all in thoughts. Sorry for my mindlessness." The man looked down into her face and mustered her cold. "It´s alright lady, nothing happened to me. Are you good? I hope my armor did not hurt you." She smiled faintly "I am alright Sir. God I am glad to see you! This city is such a turmoil. I just came to visit my sister and then this hell brake loose. I am really afraid." She softly leaned at the knight and laid her hand on his arm. " His eyes got softer and he answered:"Yes, I understand you well. It was really a hell braking loose. We had servants of the evil ones inside the city but we took control again. Don´t worry, they can not do anything to you right now in my vicinity." Lenesti´s mind raced. That was a knight of Torqua but he apparently had not discovered that she was a vampire. Yes her skin was still rosy and her eyes had their natural greenish tone. Maybe....maybe they can not recognize her if she doesn´t use her powers in there presence? But also no one else could! An insane plan rose in her mind and she turned her head towards the knight again looking with big pleading eyes into his "Dear sir, I am still freightened and my home is far away in the capital. I wonder, I mean, I want to ask ", she stopped and looked deep into his eyes, "doesn´t your order give shelter to those in fear and danger?" The knight smiled at her and she felt his pulse accelerating "Yes mylady. If you have no home here and if you are afraid of the evil in the town we can give you shelter for a night or two. The order of mahjagoth lives to defend and protect the unprotected." She smiled shyly, looking down to the ground, softly grabbing his arm with her hand. "Would you be so kind and take me there? I am foreign in this town and" she stops for a moment and then looks into his face with fear. "and I am afraid outside alone. I have already just escaped to get caught by three wild sailors." The knights eyes widen for a moment and he quickly answered "Yes of course! Don´t worry anymore, I bring you to the castle. No one will bother you there." "With a soft and fearful voice Lenesti answered "Yes please, can we hurry? Please?" The knight nodded and she left her hand for some more seconds than necessary on his arm and then removed it walking silently besides him.
And unhindered and unrecognized Lenesti of the dark ones, the third daughter of the father, passed the gates of the castle of mahjagoth at the side of Sir Barnhelm and received a simple cell to sleep for the night. And as she passed the gates she vanished from the sight of the fathers inner eye who was unaware of the betrayal of her youngest daughter because his focus was filled with rage on Katlin and his energy was still spend on torturing her disassembled body.