~~~~~~ Back at Jupiter~~~~
The hunter parted the screen of grass and looked out. There were only a few more yards of Stony ground and a water flow to catch up with him. He must have overheard he was being chased and taken to his heels.
"There he is, Martin called out to the others and pointed his fingers. They couldn't pick up his scent earlier because he had something on him that shielded his scent, but now they've found him, they can't lose him. "Go after him immediately" he ordered them
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Thin smokes from the burning houses were yet to relieve the atmosphere. And faint cries from little ones could be heard as they were dugged and forced out of the holes they were hiding in. The few survivors came out of their tunnels and were shocked to see what was left of their universe. It was going to be a memory that would last throughout the years of their eternal life.
Strahd strode through the streets of their coven with his spear still in his hand. He was surrounded by chasms of empty air. He paused by the palace gates and took a deep look. They were many wounded vampires lying still, unable to move or speak. Most of them he was sure won't make it in hours, unless they are given something to feed on and heal themselves. He shuddered and blinked twice.
"Strahd, hey son, Strahd...." He heard a familiar voice call out to him
Forcing his gaze off the disappointing sight and facing the direction of the call. He found his voice. "Father, Grandfather" he forced his feet to move until they carried him out of his spot.
Urado held a wet cloth in his palm. He was administering healing to the sick. Strahd approached them both then noticed that Azazel's palm was sweating and realized that they trembled subconsciously.
"How have you been son? Are you alright, are you hurt, where have you been?" They asked all at once
"I've been all over, and am alright as you can see. He took a little spin to assure them, have you seen Martin or Hercule, I told Hercule to go in hiding, do you see him around?" His mouth was tight and pale
Urado mumbled confusedly "I don't...I haven't seen either of them"
"No I suppose not" his face wrinkled with worry as he wondered about where Hercule must be now. Azazel clutched his sides as he groaned loudly dropping to a knee.
"Father, Urado held him up, are you alright" his face wrinkled with worry
"Am alright, don't you worry" he beat off his son's hand as he stood up straight
"No you're not, you're bleeding" Strahd pointed at the dark blood from his sides that dripped down his robe
With wide eyes Urado screamed terrified "but father you kept telling me repeatedly that you were alright"
"And I am, is just a scratch, why do you keep bothering your head" Azazel assured them
"Then let me have a look" Urado insisted
"I said don't bother" Azazel drifted from him uncomfortably
"I insist"
Swiftly Strahd tugged at his robe from behind quickly and his injuries got exposed
"Father, that is not just a scratch, Urado stood wide eyes, that is a....." He was speechless
Azazel's sides were bitten off, his ribs were exposed as the flesh that covered his internal organs were bitten off.
"What...what the hell happened to you?"
"Ohhh don't be full of it, I'll heal once I've properly fed myself, I was just attacked by a very strong omega," he said and stubbornly tied his robe back on
"You've got to have that properly checked out and treated by the medical vampires," Urado told his father
"don't bother about that now, we've got more matters on our hands to worry about, rather than sulking about my injury"
"Yes, you're right, Urado agreed and crouched, his back shapeless as a sack, what do we do now?" He asked his father
Azazel took in a deep breath, he raised his arm above his shoulder high above, then gazing at the sky he brought it to his mouth and bit in deep draining his blood for a few seconds. They stared at him, mouth agape. Suddenly, some source of power began to pulse in Azazel's body. His injuries were covered up just like there was no scratch on his flesh. He became his former grumpy self once more.
"Call an assembly at once, both the children and elderlies and those injured, I want everything that breathes to be in attendance" he ordered. They both ran an eye over him before they stirred and ran off.
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"Here, take him, if I had delayed even by a second, am not sure he would be alive," Celestine said as he handed over an unconscious Cody to Mortica
"What the hell happened to my boy, a huge frown lines formed on her face, I swear I'll kill whoever dared lay a hand on my son" she raised her voice as she proceeded to get her spear
"Mortica that isn't necessary now, we've gotten what we wanted haven't we?" Gabriella asked looking at her face
"But....but they are still out there, I can see them, I can feel them"
"I think you should listen to your daughter, Celestine calmly said, yes there are still some of us left out there but, we are only a few. I mean more like what?....ten... fifteen. Hell we can't even grow to a stronger coven with the vampires we have left" he explained convincingly
Mortica's lips tightened as she threw a side glance at her son.
"I want him" she grimaced
"Who?"
"I want whoever did this to my son" she yelled as her eyes turned dark blue
"Mortica you can't, he is a very skilled and strong vampire, trained by the ancestors themselves. You want to risk your life and soldiers just to have revenge?" He asked giving her an unbelievable look
"Yes, I want to pay him double for what he did to my son, just lead me to him already" She raised her spear and poked him on his shoulder, her rage was at its peak
Celestine's voice tended to either disappear or come out too loud. That he didn't want to raise his voice at her, cause he would end up dying cause as a vampire, he was surrounded by large parks of werewolves. Werewolves that didn't trust him the least. So his only safe alternative was to roll the dice with her, even though he was losing his Patience.
"Mother....mother" hearing the thin voice calling out to her Mortica's lips quivered and her eyes returned to their dark color. Her rage phase immediately cooled off and she fell to her knees beside Cody. That was the first time Gabriella called her mother with so much respect. She couldn't believe it.
"Yes, Gabby? What is it" she answered calmly
"I think we should listen to Celestine, he has no reason to hide anything from us whatsoever. And we've gathered all the food and animals we need to survive the rest of the months. So there's no need to make a fuss. She glanced at her brother, and Cody is not that badly hurt, he'll get better in no time" she concluded hoping Mortica would adhere to her.
"Sure, why didn't I think of that, she heard Gabriella's heartbeat calm down, we've got everything and everyone we want, without many casualties. So there's no need to wait any longer. Why don't we head back home" she rose back up with a sick smile playing on her face
Celestine heaved a sigh of relief as he bowed his head low " his name...I want his name" Mortica held him up.
"Mother, Celestine had served us well, am sure he needs to head back to risk his being gone too long and him being exposed" Gabriella warned
"Very well then, she released the vampire and brushed his cloth respectfully, let's head out" she called out to the others.
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Celestine divided the tall bushes with his hands as he raced through. The footsteps from his predators jerked him as they drew nearer. He held a sharpened stake in his hand for self-defense. He messed up... He messed up pretty badly. He pondered how the vampires got to find out he was the traitor. Diving off a tall bush, he crouched under a thicket a few yards from the shore and yelled,
"What do you sons of bitches want from me?" He got no reply. Peering into the obscurity beneath the thicket he saw no one or heard no sound. Seconds lengthened to minutes. He got bored and leaped out of his hiding. His eyes studied the area as his body swerved slowly. A sudden tap on his shoulder alerted him. His legs straightened from shock. Damn how can he miss that, how could he be so careless?
With speed, he burst forward and without looking shot his stake at whoever was behind him. Swerving to the side, Martin caught the stake and aimed it back at him. Aiming not to kill or burn him. Celestine dropped down unconscious.
Approaching him, Martin plunged the stake out of his right hand and wiped the blood on his shirt.
"I think our mission here is complete, take the traitor to the court hall for judgment" he concluded and walked away, dipping the stake into his pockets...