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Date Posted: 14:58:54 02/03/02 Sun
Author: Baeraad
Subject: Tabaal
In reply to: Baeraad 's message, "Chains of Love" on 14:52:46 02/03/02 Sun

"The very same, my dear lady. The very same."

Sira turned slowly, making an effort not to appear hurried. Some vampires jumped at people who appeared to be scared of them, as if they were dogs being infuriated by the smell of fear. Some of the other guests apparently did not share her knowledge of vampires; they were fleeing out through the kitchen door as fast as their legs could carry them. Others, who did know a thing or two about the undead, followed more slowly, but everyone was going. It did not pay to be around a vampire about to fight his enemies; innocent bystanders got hurt.

The only ones not deserting the inn with any level of discretion were Sira, Carn and Bavon, the former two because Tabaal would just hunt them down � and vampires excelled at hunting people down � and the latter presumably because he was Tabaal's employee and therefor relatively safe.

Tabaal was tall and thin, almost gaunt. His face was that of an elderly gentleman who was still very handsome in a mature way. He was dressed in a black coat, not a uniform like Bavon's but an elegant display of fashion sense, and was wearing a top hat. Under the coat he wore an embroided shirt and a pair of voluminous trousers. He was leaning on a finely carved walking stick with a golden knob at the top. He looked very elegant, but then, vampires normally did.

Sira grinned.

"Hiya," she said. "I'm Sira of Eritagon. I'll be the one to finally kick your very deserving ass into a grave you won't get up from."

Tabaal looked at her as he might at a cockroach. Or rather, he did not. People did not, as a rule, look at cockroaches with contempt. Why would they? Contempt required some sort of failure on the part of the receiving person. Cockroaches were actually very skilled at being filth-eating, quick-breeding, shadow-skulking pains in the neck, and that was all anyone ever expected of them. Tabaal looked at Sira as he might at a human who had started behaving like a cockroach.

"Lady, I very much doubt that. I am quite a lot more powerful and experienced than you. The likely result of this evening's events is that you will join me in my recreational activities. However, there are things I need to handle first. Kindly be patient with me." He turned to Bavon. "My dear friend, it appears that you have no dealt honestly with me. This is most unseemly."

"She threatened me, my Lord!" Bavon shrieked. His low, rumbling voice had turned into a little girl's falsetto. Despite the less than promising situation, Sira could not help chuckle quietly. "She said she'd kill me if I didn't talk!"

"Now, now, Bavon." Tabaal shook his head. "That is really no excuse. I expected loyalty from you, and I gave you quite a lot of gold to gain that loyalty. I am most disappointed in you. Actually, I think it would be for the best if you chewed your own wrists up and bled to death."

Sira gave off a short laugh of surprise at the outrageous order. Then she looked at Bavon. He was sinking his teeth into his left wrist, tearing the veins open. Blood was already dripping from his mouth, but he kept on chewing, tearing up his own flesh to satisfy Tabaal. Sira quickly looked away; she did not want to see this.

"Impressive," she said.

Tabaal swept his hat off and bowed deeply.

"You are too kind, lady."

"I know, but it's in my nature."

Tabaal turned his steel-gray eyes towards Carn.

"As for you, old friend, I do believe I have a score to settle with you. I do not normally take well on people who reject my hospitality. Be that as it may, you have done me a great service tonight by bringing a Triangle member within my reach. It will be most interesting for me to test if her endurance to pain and humiliation is as great as the legends maintain. Therefor; leave us. I might change my mind at a later date, but not tonight."

Carn nodded, pale as a sheet. Sira could not find it in her heart to blame him. This was the nightmare of his past, after all; the monster that had given him that network of scars on his abdomen, that had hurt him and hurt him and hurt him until he had managed to escape. And even then he had spent all his nights hiding in his house, with its walls of defensive spells, waiting for the dawn to force Tabaal into hiding for another day.

The magician turned and ran, following the other out through the kitchen. Bavon had collapsed in a puddle of his own blood. It was just her and Tabaal. A single woman and an ancient vampire. No matter how formidable she was � and she was very formidable indeed � there was no winning a fight like that.

"You might be able to kill me," she said conversationally, "but I won't serve you. Ever."

Tabaal smiled. It was the smile of a nice old uncle.

"Sure you will," he said kindly.

And then the power of his mind struck her.

It was� bliss. All other concerns melted away. There was nothing left in her heart except a wish to please him, aid him. It was complete and unrestrained love, surging through her veins and making her feel like she was flying. Tabaal was everything. She was nothing. It was right that she was nothing � it was good that she was nothing. She no longer needed to think; she just had to wait for Tabaal to tell her what to do, and then she would do it, gladly. In the self-imposed slavery, there was a freedom beyond words. She felt an expression of rapture appear on her face.

"It feels rather pleasant, I believe?" he said.

He� he spoke to her! Sira's heart felt like it was going to explode from happiness.

"Yes, master!" she said eagerly. "Oh, yes! Thank you, master!"

He nodded, smiling.

"Now we will go to my home, Sira," he said. "Would you like that?"

"I� I want to do whatever you want me to do, master," she said shyly. Would that please him? She wanted to please him.

"Then come with me," he said. He turned around and walked towards the door, and Sira quickly followed. She wanted to be close to him.

Then she heard Carn's voice behind her, chanting in a strange tongue.

"� caad melis ber'ennae, sid barom�"

A ripple appeared on the smooth surface of her mind. Hey� just what the Hell was she doing�?

Tabaal turned around. The look of a kindly old relative had disappeared; now he was snarling, pale lips drawn away to expose a pair of long, thin fangs. Sira sank to her knees and covered. Was he mad at her? She thought she might go insane with shame and sorrow if he was mad at her.

"Carn, you foolish whelp!" Tabaal growled. Then a bit of his previous refinement came back into his voice. "Sira, I want you to kill him. Do it quickly."

Killing him. Yes. Yes, she could do that! And it would please Tabaal. Sira got to her feet again and spun around, knife drawn. Carn was standing in the door to the kitchen, arms raised in incantation. She had seen him fight; he was not very good at it. She could do this in a heartbeat.

"� reqq eniban ber'ennae�"

Why, though? Was it really that important to obey Tabaal? She was not in a habit of obeying anyone. If he wanted Carn dead so much, he could do it himself. He was the vampire, right? He should be better at killing people than she was.

Tabaal put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it tightly.

"Sira, go over there and kill him," he said firmly. "Do it now. Otherwise, I will be most displeased with you."

Displeased? No, anything but that! Sira ran over the room and jumped at Carn, pushing him to the floor. She raised her knife to stab it into his chest. Carn did not even try to defend himself, obviously knowing the futility of it. He just kept chanting.

"� es callodar satt ber'ennae�"

Sira hesitated. Was she really running errands for a vampire here? Something with that just did not seem right. She was a vampire slayer; she was supposed to be killing them, not killing for them. Granted, Tabaal was wonderful and deserved every service she could possibly grant him, but� but�

She slowly lowered the knife. Wait a moment here � just wait one damn moment here! Something was very wrong. Tabaal had told her to do something, and she was in the process of doing it. But he was a Goddamn vampire! Why did she obey a Goddamn vampire? She obeyed no one � well, possibly Tianna at times, but that was just because they were friends and Sira did not want to argue with her.

"NOW!" Tabaal roared and pulled her out of her thoughts. She would have to think about this later; he was getting angry, and that was that last thing she wanted. She raised her knife again. Just sink it into Carn's heart; such a little thing, really. She had done it hundreds of times.

"� emesh'tae!" Carn gasped.

The vampiric influence Tabaal had placed on her broke to pieces. Sira blinked. What the Hell? What the Hell?

She got to her feet and turned towards the vampire in a single agile movement. Her fingers tightened around the knife's hilt.

"You son of a bitch!" she screamed. And ran at him.

"Stop! I command you!" Tabaal snapped. Sira could feel the surge of authority, but it did not even touch her; Carn's spell protected her.

Tabaal swung the staff at her when she came near, and she retreated a few steps before going at him again. For a few moments, they exchanged attacks and parries. Sira's blade, blessed by a priestess and turned into a weapon against all that was Goddess-spawned, cut through Tabaal's elegant clothes and made deep gashes in his skin and flesh, gashes that hissed and smoked. Tabaal's stick struck Sira's sides and lower arm, the power behind the blows enough to make her feel like her bones would crack. The battled back and forth through the room, breaking chairs and knocking over tables as they went along.

But in the end, Tabaal was a surprisingly bad fighter. He was quick, but his reflexes were all wrong � he had no idea when to attack and when to parry, and only the slightest grip of dueling tactics. He was strong, but he had no idea how to use his strength. Sira was by far the better warrior. And why not? Tabaal had never had to fight in his entire undead existence. His power to command had been so strong that he had always been able to simply tell people to fight for him.

No wonder he had been so afraid of Carn's spell. The magician had come up with a way to make him virtually defenseless. Tabaal's only way to survive had been to not let anyone know just how weak he was, behind his self-confidence, and now even that had been taken from him.

Finally, Tabaal collapsed over a table, his legs more or less useless from the severe injuries Sira had inflicted on them with her blessed knife. He glared up at her with gray eyes that burned with helpless fury. His hat had disappeared somewhere, as had his stick.

"Let me be!" he ordered, and once more Sira could feel the overpowering command strike at her, but be diverted without even touching her. She grinned.

"Boss me around, would you?" she said and plunged the knife into his heart. Tabaal gasped, and the next moment he was gone. His clothes collapsed on the table, empty, and a cloud of dust poured out through the sleeves and collar. Sira coughed and stepped back. Vampires always left a mess behind when they died.

"In! Your! Face!" she shouted and did a little victory dance on the spot. "That's how it goes! Yeah! That's how it goes when you screw with me!"

She suddenly remembered that she was not alone and turned to Carn, making sure she did not look as embarrassed as she felt.

"You really are a Triangle member, aren't you?" he asked. "I got nervous for a moment."

Sira grinned.

"No need. I had everything under control. Not that I didn't appreciate some help, of course. It might have taken all night otherwise."

Carn chuckled.

"Which one are you?" he asked curiously. "The King? The Priest?"

"The Warrior," Sira said. "Me, be the Priest? Really!"

"Hmm. I see your point." He smiled wearily. "Thank you, Warrior."

"Thank you," Sira said sincerely.

Carn shook his head.

"Don't. I just saw the perfect chance to get rid of Tabaal. A Triangle is supposed to be stronger than anything except another Triangle, right?"

Pretty much � but that went for a full Triangle, not one third. Sira decided not to tell Carn that, though. He might get a heart attack from realizing how much he'd gambled.

"Still took guts," she said indifferently. "I guess this takes care of your problems with girls, doesn't it?"

Carn blinked.

"In what way?"

"Well," Sira said, "if people stayed on the good side of Tabaal's friends because they were afraid of what he might do otherwise, won't they stay on the good side of your friends now, because of what you might do otherwise? As far as anyone saw, four people were left in the tavern when they left, but only two will walk out of it."

An amazed expression spread across Carn's face.

"I� hadn't thought about that," he admitted.

"Think about it." Sira leered. "That girl you were so worked up about? If you want to, I think you'll be in her arms before midnight. And in her bed before dawn, I might add."

Carn laughed, still a bit shocked. Becoming a great vampire slayer all of a sudden must be a bit unsettling.

"I will, won't I?" he said.

"Of course," Sira said, "that is if you want to. I mean, we're talking about someone who didn't have the courage to stay with you. Now, not that I'm any authority on love and all that crap, but something about that just doesn't sound right, does it?" She grinned. "How about you forget about her and show me how to have a good time in Semerra?"

Carn stared at her for a moment. Then he laughed again, louder this time.

"You make a tempting offer!"

"I do, don't I?"

"But no thank you."

Sira frowned. Rejection was not really something she was used to. Men were usually tripping over their own feet in their hurry to please her.

"Why?"

Carn shrugged.

"Because this is Semerra, I suppose. If you want sex, there's always someone who thinks you're attractive enough that she'll give it to you, or at least someone who thinks your money's attractive enough that she'll sell it to you. But if you want love� well, if you want love, you can't be all that picky about it. You take what you get, basically."

He turned and walked for the door.

"Then why would a romantic live here?" she called after him. "Why not move someplace where people are less mercenary, no pun intended?" He did not turn around, just looked at her over his shoulder. He was silent for a long while, as if he had never asked himself that question.

"Because there's no place like home?" he said, making it sound more like a suggestion � even a question � than a statement. Then he left.

Sira sat down on one of the few standing tables. She was tired, if not quite tired enough to go to bed, at least not before she got something to drink. She wondered if there might be something of the more unhealthy kind in the house; there was no one left to watch it, anyway.

She remembered how it had felt when Tabaal put her under his spell. Complete devotion, complete surrender. A single overwhelming feeling drowning out all other thoughts and emotions.

She shook her head. How was it possible that some people actually wanted to feel that way? It was like sitting down on a vampire's dinner plate and begging to be eaten�

She grinned. Well, according to Carn, while love was scarce in Semerra, there was ample opportunity for related activities that suited her better. She was no romantic.

Now, where could you hope to find an incredibly hot guy to inflict permanent injuries on at this time of night�?

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Replies:

Re: Tabaal -- Ashera, 11:34:29 02/04/02 Mon
Re: Tabaal -- Ashti, 05:24:55 02/05/02 Tue