Vampire Hunter D Fan Fiction ❯ Vampire Hunter Ramika ❯ Surface ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter 2: Surface

**********

Ramika stepped through the open door to the trophy room, looked and sighed.
Even though the debris had not hurt the door very much, the tunnel beyond was blocked.
She put her hands in front of her and willed her innate power to come to her. Slowly the rubble ahead of her heated and fell away. A rush of stale air crept out as the hallway came into view.
Ramika knew the trophy room had fallen at least a floor or two, it had originally sat adjacent to her father's personal chambers, not at the opening of a hallway. She could only guess where the hall led.
Bits and pieces of the floor fell away as she climbed over the cracked and pitted surface.
"There must be another chamber or tunnel below. I must watch my step." she thought to herself as she inched along.
The floor became more uneven. Parts of the floor jutted up nearly to the ceiling.
Ramika had to crawl on her belly for several meters before she found a spot she could stand again.
She stretched her arms and moved to stretch her slightly aching muscles.
Ahead of her were the remains of a doorway. Only the roman-style arched stone frame was all that was left of the doorway.
Rubble and dirt were piled high to either side of the doorway. The rubble at its base was not as high, and well worn, as if the path were used quite often.
Ramika looked up and around. Burrow holes blanketed the earthen ceiling. Any wrong move would make the walls cave in around the small space she stood.
Ramika ran through the doorway as she felt a small rumble behind her.
Inside, she found the remains of a bedchamber. bits of broken, blackened, wood and moldy, charred, clothing were strewn about.
A few moments of digging through the numerous cobwebs and dirt, she discovered that these were the remains of her very own bedchamber.
She sat for a moment going through the contents of her small, stone jewelry box that had once sat on her dresser. She stuffed the contents into her pouch and pockets as she fondly remembered what her life had been like before D had come. She had some regrets, but they were few.
Since her father had revealed that she was not a full vampire and only a dhamphile, all of her former existence seemed to make little sense. The more she sat and thought, she realized how decadent and useless vampire life really was.
With her gems and jewels securely on her person, she stood and surveyed the rest of the room.
Not much of the room was left. It had mostly caved in.
The way that led to her private parlor was covered in thick spider webs.
“I wonder if the secret entrance to the outside is still intact.” She thought aloud.
Ramika looked at the blue ring. She held it in the direction of the thick webs. It glowed brightly.
“Perfect,” she sighed.
Ramika hated spiders and wished there was another way to get to the surface. She mulled around the room some more to see if there was a way around the thick webs.
She only found more webs and tons of small spiders.
Ramika stood and turned to tackle the mass of webbing, and found herself staring into the maw of a huge spider.
“Who dareths dithsturbths my sthleep? My children sthall have a fine meal thiths day.” The spider lisped out.
Ramika took a step back away from its jaws and spoke in the haughtiest tone she could to hide her fright. “Show proper respect to your master, or you will die.”
The spider blinked its many faceted eyes as it edged slowly back to get a better view of its prey.
“Lady Ramika? I did not recognithe you in thothse peathsent clothethes. I thought you were dead.”
“I am alive as you and I order you to let me pass.”“Aths you withsh.” The spider said as it backed around and up the wall near the doorway.
Ramika took out her dagger and carefully cut through the thick webbing. It took her several minutes to push her way through to the other side.
Several other large spiders waited for her once she had pushed through the webs. They chittered in delight as they inched closer and nipped their maws at her.
“Out of my way you vile things!”
“Oh, and why shthoud my children lithsten to you? You are not your father, and I sthwore no fealty to you. After all, you are only a filthy Dhamphile.” The huge spider said as she inched her way through the path Ramika had just made.
“So I see everyone in the castle knew but me.” Ramika said as she slashed at the smaller spiders.
“Oh no. I waths on the wall when he told you. I waths only the size of your fithst then. It dithsguthsted me that the mathster was wedding a filthy human. I waths dithsguthsted to find it had happened before. I refuthsed to attend the wedding, and thuths sthurvived. Sthinthce I am a mutant, I had many children and grew bigger. Sthoon I will cocoon and become like mother sthpider who died at the handths of that other Dhamphile.”
“You talk too much.” Ramika yelled out as she concentrated her power into her off hand.
Flames leapt to the webs, igniting them.
The smaller spiders fled off to the sides, as the huge spider rushed though the flames and tried to extinguish the fire.
In a matter of moments, the large web was no more.
There were no spiders to be found in the room. All had rushed out through various escape routes in the rubble.
Ramika sheathed her dagger and looked into the remains of her parlor.
A pile of bones from farm animals was heaped high along the wall where the secret entrance once was.
Ramika looked more closely at the bones and found a small shaft of light coming from behind them.
She walked closer to the light.
She placed her hand through the small opening in the wall.
She was surprised at the warmth on her hand.
It felt good. Ramika never realized that the feel of sun on her skin might feel good.
She slowly cleared away the rubble and bones and began to climb up the shaft toward the light.

**********

Sabattian ran to the surface through the winding tunnels.
He had fought the beast threatening the miners, a giant worm, with great ease.
As he felt the more powerful monster working its way to the surface, he wondered if her was wrong in assuming it would not be a danger.
He knew Spenser could hold off any monster that came upon them in the mines, so he had no qualms about leaving his brother to protect the miners inside the tunnels.
Sabattian was more worried about the villagers who had congregated around the mining camp.
The villagers had come to do cooking , cleaning and other ‘comforts’ to make the miners’ stay nicer. They also hoped their help might speed along the work, so that the cursed place would be left to itself sooner.
Sabattian knew that the encampment would provide a tasty temptation for any monster that worked its way to the surface, providing it did not burn up in the noonday sun.
Sabattian followed his supernatural sense to an area about a kilometer and a half from the encampment.
For any normal human, it would have taken at least a half of an hour, but for a Dhamphile with the skill of Sabattian, it took only a few minutes.
The area was riddled with jagged rocks, and from some of the lichens and weeds, seemed to be recovering from the destruction of Lee’s castle.
Sabattian was quick to note the size of the area that was still parched by the curse that destroyed the castle. It was much smaller than the size of a castle the size of the one Lee was supposed to have had.
As he sat on one of the rocky outcroppings to wait for the monster to surface, he thought about the rate of re-growth around the area.
“Hmm. It is possible that in another hundred years or so, no one would have known of this land being cursed.” He said to himself.
Sabattian’s ears began to ring as the monster came closer and closer to the surface. He drew his sword and ducked down behind the outcropping .
He watched as the monster slowly pushed away the rock and dirt.
First slim, ladylike fingers pushed the small opening wider.
Sabattian knew better than to let humanlike fingers fool him. Many mutants and monsters had human hands.
Arms covered by leather studded bracers and a fine shirt sleeves slowly followed.
Sabattian could hear the nervous breathing of the creature clearly. His own breathing began to match, as his senses felt the monster more clearly. He was not sure if the heavy breathing was caused by a rush of fear or excitement from the monster. He suspected it was a little of both.
Finally, the monster poked its head out of the hole and pulled itself fully to the surface.
Sabattian gasped, but caught himself midway through. He knew it could be deadly if his prey heard him.
As he looked at the dark haired girl, his heart beat wildly. He rarely saw a monster look so human.
It only meant one thing, a dhamphile.
To be fighting another dhamphile frightened Sabattian. Dhamphiles were often more dangerous than vampires because of their lack of weaknesses.
Vampire raised dhamphiles were more dangerous still. A dhamphile was often more ruthless than its vampire parent. Those raised as vampires were cold blooded killers with no sense of honor.
Sabattian hated fighting his own kind.
He took a couple of quiet breaths to steady himself.
Sabattian quickly and quietly climbed and crouched on top of the outcropping.
Oddly, the monster did not notice he was there.
She continued to look at the sun and stare in awe.
Sabattian took a couple of breaths and sat down to watch the dhamphile.
She still took no notice of his presence, even after he let down his guard.
He looked at the sword on her hip and took a deep breath. “Now I have not seen another of those before.” he thought to himself, “A Toledo sword made specifically for the Ordo Draco de Temlar. A heretic and witch killer.”
He paused and looked at the hand guard of his own sword. Both Sabattian and Spenser carried similar swords.
Sabattian and Spenser’s grandfather, Count Dracula, had given them to his generals during the holy crusades. Many of those same generals died by his grandfather’s own hands.
Dracula kept the swords because they were blessed by saints and imbued with great holy powers.
For a moment as he watched the girl, he reminisced when his father had taken him and Spenser to the ruins of Castle Dracula to collect the swords from a hidden vault. He killed some of his first monsters that day.
Sabattian looked up and noticed the girl getting the external quaking that most dhamphiles got who had spent too much time in the sun.
This girl had most likely never been in sunlight before, or even if she had, she had not seen the sun in a long time.
“You will get sick if you just stand there like that.”
Ramika jumped at the sound of the young man sitting on a rock watching her.
“How dare you! You nearly scared me to death.”
“Ironic, if you had come towards me when you escaped the hole, you would have experienced death, monster.”
“D?” Ramika shielded her eyes with the palm of her hand. “No, you are not D. But, your voice is identical to his. Where is D? Does he still live? I need to speak with him.”
“No I am not D. He sleeps somewhere far to the west and yes, he still lives. May I inquire who is asking?”
“Ramika, And You?”
“Prince Sabattian Lang Dracula, countess. My father told me of you. I believed you dead. Now, do you chose to fight me, or will you come with me before you expire of heat syndrome?”
Ramika took a few ragged breaths as she broke into a sweat and shook again. She simply nodded, walked over and took Sabattian’s hand.

************

Spenser and Nigel were having horrible problems in the mines.
First, they smelled a flash of smoke, then hundreds of large spiders broke through the ceiling of one of the tunnels and attacked the miners.
“Damn it, Sabattian. You call me irresponsible, then you leave me by myself to fight off this.”
"I am certain that your brother has his reasons." Nigel belted out as he brandished a torch at the spider headed in his direction.
The spider was caught on fire from the torch. It ran in circles, igniting several of its fellow spiders as it ran down the tunnel.
"Good tactic, Nigel, you might make a decent monster hunter yet." Spenser spoke out as he slashed through his ninth spider.
Several of the miners who joined in the fighting took the cue from Nigel's victory.
One miner wrapped his pickaxe in a rag and dowsed it with booze from a flask in his shirt. He lit the pickaxe with a wall torch and speared several spiders, killing them instantly.
Some of the other miners who had stashed their alcohol on their person dowsed the spiders and lit them with torches.
Before long, the entire mineshaft was ablaze.

"We have to get everyone out of here!" Nigel shouted, "There could be flammable gasses in these walls!"
By the time Nigel had mentioned an escape, the miners who were not dead had already left for the surface.
Spenser took no time to answer. He picked Nigel up and carried the old professor out of the tunnels.
"Let me be. I have to get the fire out."
"Leave that to the demolition crews, professor. You are in no shape to argue."
"But.."
"No buts. You have been stung on the leg. You will need some antitoxin in your system before you die."
"You also have sting marks on you."
"I have a resistance to most poisons. I may be sick, but it will kill you if you do not get medicine in you quickly."
Nigel's head began to swim and ache. He uttered no sound as he was carried to the camp.

**********

Sabattian kept a close eye on Ramika as they entered the camp.
He still did not trust her. He wanted to make sure she would not attack the humans in the encampment.
Sabattian also did not want her to pass out before he could get her buried to rest until the heat syndrome wore off.
On the way to his and Spenser's tent, Sabattian spied a woman who had set out a plate of large squirrels. The squirrels were already skinned and on sticks, ready to be cooked as soon as the ones she was already cooking were done.
Sabattian grabbed two of the uncooked squirrels and left some coins for the woman.
"Our tent is that direction." He pointed as he carefully tucked the squirrels under his cape.
"Our?"
"My younger brother is with me. Now go. You need to get out of the sun and partially buried. You will get very sick if you don't."
"I have already been underground too long as it is."
"Exactly. You need to acclimate yourself to life on the surface during the day. It will take time. Until then I have something for us to eat." Sabattian opened the flap to the tent and led Ramika inside.
Ramika sat on a small rug on the floor. She started to dig into the soft earth in front of her.
"You don't have to dig too far down. Just enough to cover yourself from the neck down. Think of it as a thin blanket of earth."
Ramika simply nodded as she continued to dig.
The dirt was soft enough that she was able to dig a pit wit relative ease.
She lay in the shallow hole and started to cover herself.
"Here, eat this before you lay down." Sabattian handed Ramika the raw squirrel. "Most of our kind can not eat cooked meat. That is why we rarely eat around normal humans. Bread, and plants are fine cooked, and I do like to drink tea from time to time, but I can not digest cooked meat of any kind. Spenser and father can't either."
Ramika nodded again.
She took the raw squirrel and gingerly sank her teeth into the tissue. Slowly, as she chewed on the raw meat, she began to feel less shaky, but she was still exhausted.
"Go ahead and rest. I have something I need to discuss with you, but it will wait until moonrise."
"What do you wish to discuss? Am I to be your prisoner?" Ramika handed the bones and the empty stick back to Sabattian as he handed her a damp towel for her to clean her hands and mouth with.
"No. You attacked no one when we entered the encampment, although you had ample opportunity to do so. You have earned my trust, for now. It has to do with my father. Rest now. My words will wait."
Sabattian helped to cover Ramika in the dirt. She fell into a peaceful slumber before he finished smoothing the earth over her.
Spenser ran into the tent just as Sabattian finished with Ramika.
"What in the hell did you think you were doing running out on me like that?"
"Shh, I just got her to sleep."
"Who the hell is that?"
"Countess Ramika Lee. Magnus Lee's dhamphile daughter. I found her out staring at the sun and wishing to speak to our father. Now, if you do not mind, keep your voice down."
"Are you out of your mind?" Spenser whispered, "For all you know, she may want revenge against father."
"For all we know, she may want to thank him. We will ask her when she wakes at moonrise." Sabattian whispered back.
"Since when do you trust a vampire-raised dhamphile?"
"She was not dressed like a noble, and she was carrying that." Sabattian motioned to the sword Ramika had lay on the rug next to her dirt bed. "You know very well that a sword like that would turn on her rather than let itself be used for malicious reasons."
"That is if she knows that Draco swords are partially sentient. She may not know."
"Let her sleep. If you want, you can stay awake and watch her."
"Like hell, Sabattian. I just finished fighting a large group of big spiders. Professor Almund got stung, but it looks like he will be alright. The excavation is a shambles. The professor and his miners nearly burned up everything in the tunnels trying to kill the spiders."
"Very well, I will stay up. It is not too long to moonrise. She may be able to help us with our problem if she can prove her trust."
"You can't be serious? You have gone insane if you think she will agree to rescue father."
"I would be insane not to take the chance. The old bitch that has our father knows us too well. She would see us long before we reached him. We can not take the chance she will move his sleeping body again."
"We also can not take the chance that the she will just destroy his body if she suspects we sent her a spy."
"Spenser, she will not turn Ramika away. Just go rest. We can discuss it later."

**********

Ramika woke refreshed. She was not sure how long she slept, but it did not matter.
She looked up to see Sabattian sitting on the cot watching her.
"Sleep well?"
"Yes, your Grace. I feel much better. The raw meat in my stomach helped tremendously."
"Enough of the formalities. I am just Sabattian, and the one sleeping over on the other cot over there is Spenser."
"Alright. What time is it?"
"The moon is half way up to peak. I was going to wake you earlier, but you still looked sick."
Ramika slowly pulled herself out of the dirt and tried to clean herself off the best that she could.
Sabattian simply nodded at her and left the tent to allow her a measure of privacy.
Ramika pulled off her boots and dumped the dirt of them. She took off the pants and shook the dirt out of them.
"I will never get these clean." She sighed to herself as she completely disrobed and looked at the state of her clothes.
She went over to a large bowl that sat on top of a discarded wooden explosives box.
Next to the box, was an urn of water and several towels neatly folded.
Ramika poured water into the bowl and wet one of the towels in order to clean the dirt off of her skin.
She wished there was more water to wash her long hair with. She picked up a mirror and looked at the state of her face. Her deep blue eyes shined in the faint lamplight.
"I should have guessed I was only a dhamphile before father told me so bluntly. I have always been able to see my reflection."
She took the blanket off of Sabattian's bed to wrap her body in as she threw the shirt into the bowl to rinse out.
"You look much better without the blanket."
Ramika whirled around to see Spenser sitting on the edge of his cot. His elbows were on his knees and his chin rested on his hands.
Spenser's gray eyes twinkled as he winked at her.
He was shirtless, and his blanket covered his lower half so Ramika could not determine whether he was unclothed below the waist or not.
"I see why my boar of an older brother did not attack you. With a body like that, any male would be completely enchanted."
Ramika pulled the blanket tightly around her breasts. "How long have you been watching me?"
"Long enough." Spenser winked at her again and puckered his lips into a mock kiss at the air. "Why don't you come over here? I am sure I can show you a better time than Sabattian ever could."
"You are disgusting."
"Oh, lady, Sabattian often reminds me of that fact."
"And I will remind you again to keep your hands and other parts to yourself, baby brother." Sabattian said as he walked into the tent.
"Oh, there you are. Shall we make it a three way?"
"Spenser, grab your clothes and that blanket and go outside to dress. Here, Ramika. I got you some breeches and a shirt that may fit better than the ones you had on. I will take the others to the woman outside to clean and tailor for you ."
"Aw, you are no fun." Spenser grabbed his things and quickly left the tent.
"Is he always like that?"
Sabattian smiled, "If I did not keep an eye on Spenser, the world would be populated with dhamphiles already. He has been a womanizer since puberty."
"Oh. I am glad he was only joking." Ramika sighed. She carefully held onto the blanket as she took the clothes from Sabattian's hands.
"I doubt he was. Like I said before, he is a rake. His libido never slows. I will leave you to dress. come outside when you are so we can discuss what I mentioned before."

**********

The clear sky was accented by a bright crescent moon.
The miners who had worked on putting out the fire in the tunnels were out of the shaft.
The soot-covered forms were laughing and congratulating each other on a job well done.
Women children were running up to the miners with towels, water, and food.
Ramika watched the scene with awe.
She had never seen any group of beings working together in such a fashion . The ones who were helping the miners refused coin and other such favors. Those there to help expected nothing in return.
The concept was alien to Ramika. The so-called friends she once had always wanted something from her.
She saw Sabattian sitting on a pile of rocks. He was watching the exiting miners as he polished his sword.
Sabattian seemed to have a similar fascination as Ramika did to the camaraderie.
Ramika slowly walked up to Sabattian. "Curious, aren't they?"
"Yes, and we will never belong to their world, no matter how hard we try."
Ramika sat next to him and looked at his sword. "That sword is not unlike mine."
"Truth be told, me seeing your sword is what saved your life. It was made by a master craftsman, wizard and alchemist in Toledo Spain. They were made specifically for my grandfather's regiment during the crusades. They are very rare. Each has a name. Mine is called, Accipiter, which means hawk in Latin. Spenser's is called Fortiter, which means gallant."
"Vindicare."
"Ah, the avenger. How did you come by it?"
"I found it in my father's trophy room. Do you know anything about my sword?"
"Swords such as these choose their owners. As to its former owners, I can not be sure. I do know its first owner was a man called 'Sasha'. Sasha was an illegitimate half-brother to my grandfather. The name Sasha was his nickname, his real name has been lost to time. Father told me that he looked very much like grandfather. He masqueraded as the Count to one of his mistresses. The story goes that the mistress was carrying Dracula's child. Sasha raped the girl and then cut the unborn child from her womb. Some suspect that the girl was actually a spy, and that she would use the child to worm her way deeper in to grandfather's confidence. Father told me that grandfather cried deeply as he stripped the sword from Sasha and had him impaled as an example. After that, the sword disappeared."
"Do you think it is possible my father stole it from Dracula?"
"There is no way to tell."
Ramika and Sabattian watched the miners as they cleaned themselves off and filed to their tents to sleep.
They listened to the giggling of whores as their customers took their pleasures with them.
After several minutes of silent observation, Sabattian stood and sheathed his sword.
"I suppose that Spenser has found one of the whores to keep him busy. I know it is inappropriate, but do you mind if I talk to you alone?"
"We have already been talking alone."
"I mean in my tent. I do not want wandering ears to hear what I have to discuss with you."
"Truth be told, I would feel safer without Spenser present."
"Very well." Sabattian turned and strode confidently towards his tent.
Ramika slowly stood and looked back at the few humans still mulling around the camp in the moonlight. She sighed as she turned and strode in to Sabattian's tent.
"Please sit down. Would you like some tea? I can make some."
"I suppose I could try. I have never had tea."
"Then you are in for a treat." Sabattian lifted a grate off a small brazier and lit the wood inside.
He carefully placed the grate back atop the flaming wood and placed a pot of water on to boil.
"What I need to discuss with you is my father and his present state."
"You told me he is alive."
"Yes, but he is asleep. The problem lies in that he was captured while asleep. The creature that captured him makes sure he stays asleep. She keeps him like some sort of trophy. Every time Spenser or myself have tried to rescue him, the monster has had him moved before we can reach him. She has other prisoners as well. The last we heard she has a fortress far to the west. So far, I have been unable to locate it. It seems the monster uses our connection to our father in order to predict our moves. "
"You expect me to rescue D?"
"No, I am asking if you will. It will be dangerous, and it is up to you to decide."
"You are a prince, any simple request I can not ignore. Yet, I do have my own purposes for finding your father. "
"You will help him then?"
"Yes, I will. Tell me about who holds him."
"An ancient being. She is vampiric in nature, but none know if she is truly a vampire. The only fact that we do know is that she is ancient. Some call her the Gomorian, because the rumor is that she once resided in the biblical city of Gomorrah before her un-death. I can not give you a name because she uses many, depending on her moods."
Ramika shuddered. "I do not know if I can defeat someone so old and powerful."
"I just need you to keep her stalled from moving her captives until Spenser and me can wake father. I can concentrate on your sword to find you. I promise, you will not be alone in this fight."
"Alright, when do you want me to start my journey?"
"Spenser and I will help you acquaint yourself to the duties of a hunter first. And, we will help you to accustom yourself to daylight. I suspect you were buried in the castle since it fell?"
"Yes."
Sabattian put two tea balls into two cups and poured the boiling water into them. He handed one cup to Ramika.
"Let the tea steep for a few minutes. Then sip the tea, it is far too hot, and rude to gulp it. It should take several weeks for you to adjust to life on the surface. You have been buried for at least seven-hundred years. But, I suspect you are strong enough in character to adjust quickly."
"Why are you trusting me? How do you know I will not kill D when I find him?"
"The look in your eyes when you first asked about him. The look was not one of someone who wanted my father dead, but someone who wanted his help."
"You are correct."
"Spenser says I have a talent for it. He thinks it is part of my gift of sensing the whereabouts of monsters." Sabattian slowly sipped his tea.
Ramika carefully watched the way he drank tea and tried to mirror his movements.
The tea was bitter, but not unpleasant for one who had lived on blood for many years.
As she sipped, Ramika found that she very much enjoyed the taste of the tea.

**********
Author's notes, Interesting Facts:
The incident described by Sabattian about the death of one of Dracula's mistresses is based on a true story.
It is documented that Dracula discovered one of his mistresses was a spy for the Turks, he did as was described in the story.
Although, it is highly debated whether Dracula himself was the one who actually performed the deed.
Dracula and his younger brother, Radu were both illegitemate. Their father, Vladistan III (Dracul), only accepted them once it was determined his wife would bear him no heir. There are documents that refer to other half-brothers. Although Sasha in my story is fictional, I based him on such documents.
On his rise to the throne, Vlad IV legitimized some of his half brothers to form his personal guard.
In fact, one of the brothers was said to have looked so like Vlad, that he often replaced his brother in situations where his liege would be in too much danger.
It is also a fact that Vlad did not like to sit for portraits.
It is highly debated whether the famous painting of Count Dracula is actually the monarch. Some believe that the half-brother who resembled him is the actual face in the portrait.
Skeptics cite that the crown on the figure in the painting is much too plain for a monarch such as Vlad. The skeptics believe the hat is more suited to a personage in the royal guard.

Please Review
Converting /tmp/php9zT8vC to /dev/stdout