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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Funeris" data-source="post: 2756307" data-attributes="member: 22792">Chapter 5: Nightfall - Part V.“Now, priest!”  Rhynos’ arm snapped out, shattering the Cael worshipper’s jaw.  The human slumped to the floor.  His hands grasped at the broken bones, trying to staunch the flow of blood and spit.  The beast flared with the scent of fresh blood.A soft, smooth humming filled the room; a soft, inky darkness spread between the priest’s fingers.  He removed his hands—the wounds were gone.“Not until I have my wife.” “Because of the two of you I could tear my own hair out in frustration!”  The cleric of Cael smiled inside from the response—his face kept its unwavering glare.  “You will get your wife when—And only when—I have received the blood wine.  And I mean all of the blood wine.”The vampire stomped toward the first of only two windows in the small domicile.  He threw the shutters open.  Outside, the pristine, velvet sky warmed to a beautiful rose red along the verdant horizon—the ancient trees of the Draeul Forest.  To the west, the towering giants of the Matz range twinkled in the dawning sun—their white-capped peaks bounced the light rays into the valley.  If the vampire had glanced south and west, he could’ve watched those giants stoop and crouch until they disappeared into the vacant, flat horizon formed by the Dead Sea.  But he had seen enough.  It was time to push the priest.“I gave you until the last few moments before daybreak.  Day is now breaking.  Your wife’s life is forfeit.  Tomorrow night, I will return for you, coward.  Get you as far away from here as possible under the light of the sun; offer me at least some sport—although, one as lazy, fat and cowardly as yourself will be an easy slaughter anyway.  Until tomorrow.”  Rhynos stepped away from the window, sliding the door open a sliver.“WAIT!”  The vampire grinned without turning.  “I have your bloodwine.”“All of it?”“Yes.  Here.”  The priest flew from the entry and into the small kitchen.  Rhynos heard the clatter of dishes and other rummaging noises.  He turned to the kitchen and the cleric poured through the cramped doorway with a large box in his hands.  “It’s all here,” he huffed as he set the box down cautiously.“All fifty vials?”  “Yes.  Each and every last vial you requested.”“You wouldn’t try to betray me, would you priest?”  Rhynos’ left eyebrow arched with a measuring movement.“Not when my wife's life hangs in the balance,” the cleric replied—fingering the holy symbol in his pocket.  “Good.”  The vampire knelt and transferred the vials into his satchel.  “And my wife?”  The priest cautiously queried, his hand gripped tight about the symbol now.  Outside the doorway, the first true rays of sunlight were slithering across the dirt.  “I have one more task for—”“The deal was the vials for my wife!”  The holy symbol had leapt from the cleric’s pocket still embraced between the shocked-white fingers.“Don’t do anything hasty,” hissed the Grimhand.  He finished shoveling the vials into the leather satchel and secured its straps.  Inside, the vials quivered and clinked—glass against glass.  “Your last task for me,” the vampire stated as soothingly as possible, “is to remove your wife from her prison.  I have no more need of her; she is wasting valuable enough space as it is.”The priest blurted, “She’s alive then?!”  He sighed, releasing a breath full of worry.“Yes,” and here Rhynos chuckled, “although she is tired—positively drained.  That’s no real surprise though, is it?”  His face broke into a cruel smirk.  “You’re not even half the man I am, or was.”  Frowning, the holy man shuffled his feet nervously; to say anything could jeopardize his wife’s rescue.  “Of course she wants something of me that I cannot give.  And she has more in common with you—a weak, sack of flesh.  So, come with me and I will take you to her.  Then you both can be rid of me.”Taking steady strides, the vampire crossed the threshold and into the bright morning rays.“NO!  Wait!”  The priest of Cael threw himself at the vampire; a vain attempt to protect the demon from the damaging rays of the sun.  Rhynos sidestepped, allowing the minister to fall gracelessly onto the earth.  His body took the brunt of his weight; his robes absorbed the brunt of the moist earth.  Onto his back he spun, horrified to see the vampire, a creature unable to tolerate the light of day, standing calmly within its bright grasp.“But—the sun’s—its light—”“It will take effect soon enough, priest.  Have faith.”  A sizzling pop echoed the truth of his statement.  His flesh began to singe and blaze.  It sagged and then just as quickly drew tight across the bones beneath.  Wide holes tore into being; boils that burst and spread a pale ash into the drifting winds.“Get out of the light!”“Grab my hand, priest.”  Rhynos stretched his arm out and down.  His flesh peeled back from the tips; muscle separated; his bones pushed into the warming air—the jagged barbs were at the very edge of the white.The priest hesitated then reached up to clasp the bone.  Rhynos’ arm darted back.  A crackling green energy engulfed the bones and the forearm surged forward.  The bare fist slammed into the priest’s head fracturing his skull and pushing the holy man into a deep, tumbling darkness.</blockquote>

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