ALASHA THE VAMPIRE SLAYER

Dundee, Scotland 1551
The Stone of Zion

.....Demos followed Europa as she led him towards the Stone of Zion, the first Bloodstone that corresponded to the element of fire. Demos was looking forward to releasing its protector and watching as he planned to direct the Elemental towards the city for a little fun. However, the real fun was going to be the arrival of the Slayer and he looked forward to the addition as soon Alasha was going to be a vampire just like Europa. Perhaps he would let them fight for the ultimate gift once he had the five Bloodstones.

....."It is not far now," said Europa as she could see the outline of the rocks where a Watcher had hid once before she had killed him. "So, you are sure you can release the magic that protects the stone?"

....."Europa, you are in for a show my young apprentice," he snarled back at her. "I will simply release the protector, a fire Elemental who will proceed to Dundee and do quite a bit of damage to the city I imagine."

....."What about Alasha and Gordon?"

....."Well, I have plans for Alasha. However, I think I will kill her Watcher, or maybe the fire Elemental will do it for us."

....."Why so much destruction? I mean, can't we just take the stone without destroying Dundee?" Europa knew that she couldn't kill Gordon and she was not too crazy about Demos' plan. "Demos, all this grandstanding will be your downfall."

.....Demos lashed out with a heavy punch sending Europa sprawling to the ground as he said, "Never question me again. I am a Vampire Lord and you can be assured that I know what I am doing and you are not that important to me that I would not think twice about killing you."

....."Fine," said Europa as she stifled her anger. She was not very happy about his plan and now he had dared hit her. She would bide her time, but he would one day regret it and she was determined to make sure of it. "There it is," she said as the Stone of Zion appeared before them standing alone in the clearing just as she had left it. Demos walked over to it and allowed his hands to hover over it as he felt its power. He smiled as it registered just as he had predicted.

....."Great salamander of the bloodstones, I come to free you, to relieve you of your guard," as he said this he reached inside his cloak to produce a small satchel of herbs which he sprinkled on the Bloodstone. He then muttered some very unintelligible phrases, which seemed to be causing something to happen. Yes, something was indeed happening as Europa saw the shimmering of fire that appeared out of nothingness. The flickering glow intensified and then took a humanoid shape, the fiery shape of a man. She assumed that this was the fire Elemental.

....."Oh great Lord of the Salamanders, go forth to Dundee and release your fury," commanded Demos to the Elemental. It looked at him briefly and then turned and began walking towards the city. The ground sizzled with each step as its fiery feet burned footprints onto the earth.

Dundee, Scotland 1551
The City

.....No sooner had Alasha gotten out of the carriage, she heard screams not that far away. She didn't know what was causing them, but somehow she was certain that Europa or Demos were involved. She reached back into the carriage and grabbed a stake and then raced in the direction of the screams. She was glad that she had changed into her new tunic when they had stopped for supper earlier that evening. Gordon and Silvae ran after her trailing her by a good five or maybe even six paces.

.....As Alasha saw the cause of the screams, she came to a complete stop and stared at the Elemental for a second in disbelief. It was shaped like a man, yet it seemed to be made of fire and anything it came into contact with would burst into flames. She was certain that the burning houses behind the creature where part of its handiwork as there were a trail of burning homes from the North side of the city right up to the center where it was now standing. A fire monster, how was she going to fight it as she was certain that a direct assault would not be very effective and would only hurt her as she wasn't in the market for a few burns.

....."A fire Elemental," said Gordon as he reached Alasha. "We are going to need some water, a lot of water." Alasha just nodded in agreement though she had no idea where she was going to get any water.

....."I have an idea," said Silvae. "If you can hold it off Alasha, I can quickly teach Gordon a few of the basics of a rain dance my grandfather once taught me."

....."A rain dance, can you make it work?" Gordon looked at Silvae with a slight look of bewilderment on his face. He had been against her coming on this trip and here she was the only one with a working plan.

....."Sure, it is rather simple and it always worked for my him," she replied smiling back at Gordon. "Alasha can you distract it and keep it busy while we make it rain?"

....."Sure, I will get creative," she said as she picked up a large branch which she wielded like a club as she approached the Elemental. She caught Gordon and Silvae beginning some sort of dance moves out of the corner of her eye. She would have to bug them later about it. The Elemental was mostly ignoring her, but if she didn't get its attention, it would walk on to a more populated area and the fires would most likely get out of control. She got close enough to feel the heat prickling at her skin, close enough to swing her makeshift club straight at the demon's head. It merely passed straight through its head combusting in the process. However, it did get the Elemental's attention as it stopped its advance and turned its attention towards Alasha.

....."I hope you two are almost done," she hollered at her friends. The Elemental lunged at her and she leapt out of the way completely, which was good, as this had to be a no contact fight. If she were to block a punch, that simple action would cause her to get burned and she really didn't want to have that happen. For a second she wished it was a Water Elemental, then at least, it couldn't hurt her; well somehow she could imagine that that would not be the case.

.....Silvae and Gordon chanted a bunch of musically timed 'Umms,' and 'Bahs,' as well as a few other strange mantras. They did this as they danced in a circle, almost feverishly as the intensity of the dance would reflect on the intensity of the rainfall, or at least Silvae's grandfather had said that to her once. Gordon had to admit that it was going to work, he had no reason to believe this, but he just felt that it would work and when he felt the first rain drop, he smiled as that feeling was right.

.....Alasha rolled to her left just narrowly avoiding a fiery leg that lashed out trying to kick her. As she rose to her feet she felt the first raindrop and felt quite relieved as Silvae had come through for them. Within a second, a downpour burst down from the heavens and the Fire Elemental screamed in agony as the rain extinguished its flames. Within seconds, there was not even a trace of the Elemental. Alasha ran back to join her friends and she hugged Silvae with a smiling Gordon watching them.

....."I hate to break this up but I think that if we follow the trail of fire, or ash now that the rain is extinguishing it, it will lead us to Demos and Europa," said Gordon back to his serious mode.

....."I think you are right, let's do it then," replied Alasha.

Dundee Scotland 1551
The Stone of Zion

....."This rain, it will not be very good for the Fire Elemental," commented Demos as he prepared himself for one more act of magic. "Now Europa, let me show you how to move a bloodstone." As he said that, he made a few more magical gestures over the Stone of Zion and said a few more words that were once again unintelligible. She was certain that she had heard him mention something about a bloodcharm in his chant and within moments this became obvious to her as to what he meant.

.....The stone began to shrink as it collapsed in on itself to a point that there was but a small pebble with a hole in it remaining. Europa was amazed at this though she knew it was the bloodcharm he had rambled on about in his chant. Demos then stooped over and picked it up with one hand as he fished a silver chain out of his cloak with the other. He threaded the chain through the crimson rock's hole and it made a charm for his necklace, which he fastened around his neck.

....."Now do you understand, the Bloodstones become Bloodcharms so that one can bring them all together as we shall do Europa," he said with a certainty in his voice. She merely looked at the stone and wondered how bad things might get if he has the chance to unite the stones.

.....Alasha watched as Demos put on his necklace that contained the Bloodcharm and she knew she had to do something even though a straight on assault was most likely crazy. However to allow him to leave unmolested with the Bloodstone was even more insane and she was simply going to have to attack them and hope for some luck. She walked out from her hiding place and charged at Demos.

.....Europa watched as Alasha made her attack on Demos, she thought that she should probably help Demos, but if Alasha were to kill him, it would suit her plans and as such she would just watch. Demos turned to face the attack and he easily deflected the kicks and punches that Europa tried to deliver to him. Alasha had no idea what she was up against, then again neither did she when she died at Demos' hands. She caught more movement from the bushes and noticed that Gordon and some girl had arrived to join Alasha. This was interesting though she planned to somehow protect Gordon, as she wanted to see what was going to happen with him. The other night had been very interesting and she knew she had to explore it some more.

....."You will lose," said Demos as he deflected another punch from Alasha. "As a matter of fact, you will be a vampire like Europa within a few minutes."

....."Don't underestimate me," replied Alasha as one of her kicks got through and landed a blow to his face. "You will find that I am very resourceful."

....."Yes, I imagine you are," he said shaking off the kick. "And you too will find that I am unbeatable." He punches Alasha in the chest sending her sprawling backwards into a roll. Alasha is slow to get to her feet as the force of his hit was like running into a tree.

....."Alasha," cried Gordon, "hit him low, he favors his arms."

....."That hurt," said Alasha as she tried to kick his feet out from underneath him. Demos just leapt over the kick and to disprove Gordon, kicked Alasha in the head with enough force to flip her body in the air so that she landed heavily on her stomach. Gordon pulled out a cross and ran to block Alasha from the advancing Demos who merely knocked away the cross and shoved Gordon heavily towards the rocks. Europa managed to catch him as if he had hit the rocks, he would have been dead with the force of Demos' push.

.....Silvae screamed and charged Demos in hopes of giving Alasha enough time to recover. Demos grabbed her and threw her into some nearby shrubs where everything went black for her. Demos then knelt next to Alasha as she was struggling to get back up. He grasped her head and tilted it exposing her throat. He smiled and then his fangs descended while the yellow glow appeared in his eyes and the demonic ridges flared across his forehead.

....."You lose," he said as his fangs edged closer to her neck.