Malek didn't spend as much time in the war parties as the others. He still carried the responsibilities that came with membership in the Circle of Nine. In the last two years, he had become a very powerful warrior, skilled in the ways of magic as well as the blade. He had proven himself capable of taking on whole packs of Vampires and Werewolves single-handedly, coming away with barely a bruise.
His warrior skills weren't the only aspect that had developed over time. His relationship with MeLoom had come much further. The Sorceress had flirted with him for several months before either of them had acted on their attraction. Malek smiled under his helmet as his horse rode relentlessly towards where his friends were camped. Appropriately enough, it had been the heat of combat that had given birth to their passion...
***
Months before, Malek and MeLoom had been scouting for the party when they were ambushed by a group of Vampires, including an elder. This last Vampire had proved a powerful foe, strong, quick, and possessing impressive magical skills. When Malek had swiped at him with his polearm, the Vampire had turned into a mist form, allowing the weapon to pass right through him. An unremarkable trick, except that somehow, the Vampire was still able to fight in his insubstantial form. How he had managed this, Malek still did not know, but the force of the blow the misty fist had dealt him had stunned him nearly fatally. Had MeLoom not blocked the Vampire's deathblow, the Circle would have needed a new Conflict Guardian. But in the end, the elder still fell to them. Trapped in a small tornado conjured by MeLoom, he was forced to return to his original form, one which had been unable to match Malek's attack. But MeLoom's tornado caused a violent storm to erupt, forcing the Sarafan to seek shelter in a small cave nearby.
And small was the right word - the two had had to press tightly together to keep out of the storm's path. MeLoom's fingers had dug into his skin like claws, reaching between the plates of his armour. Her eyes were still wide and wild, as if the battle trance had not left her, when she pounced onto Malek and tore off his helmet. Malek's mind had been shocked by that. He remembered a voice in his head yelling a warning about how a Sarafan knight is supposed to behave, but his body was not about to pay attention...
***
A wild cry broke Malek out of his memories, as he was tackled off his horse by a hyperactive MeLoom. The two rolled on the ground, laughing.
"Malek! You're back!" MeLoom cried. "Are those a few extra muscles down there?"
Malek didn't have time to answer, as Raziel, Turel and Lania appeared. Raziel tried to look stern, but the other two didn't bother hiding their amusement.
"Shame on you two." Raziel quipped. "The way you were screaming, I thought the bloodsuckers must have been torturing you terribly!"
"No amount of torture could make MeLoom scream that high." Turel grinned. "How goes the training, Malek?"
"Hard." Malek got up, his arm around MeLoom. "Ever tried to battle a horde of Mortanius' zombies? The damned things don't feel pain, and I swear that they keep on coming after you've cut them in half..."
"Such complaints from a member of the Circle." Lania deadpanned. "Surely such things are beneath the strongest warrior in Nosgoth?"
Malek rolled his eyes. "You've cut me to the quick, Lania. But how goes the latest campaign."
MeLoom shrugged. "Interesting. We found records and maps to a location in the mountains, one apparently of great interest. It is nearby, if you wish to take a look."
"Any parasites remaining?"
"No. It was abandoned by the time we stormed the place, leaving...well, see with your own eyes."
Malek followed his friends to meet up with the rest of the party, camped outside the entrance to the site. Lania led Malek into the giant cave, which Malek easily recognised as unnatural.
"This is no cave. The walls look too smooth. They must have been carved out."
"You are correct. This was definately made by the hands of Vampires."
"Do we know its purpose?"
"I would guess that it was created to house this..."
Lania indicated into the central chamber. It was a fantastically artistic chapel, glistening white and black marble, centering around a beautifully-crafted sarcophagus. Malek quickly took in the sights, noting the style of the chapel's decorations.
"These statues and murals all seem to bear the guise of winged Vampires. Why? Vampires do not have such wings."
"One is said to."
Malek nodded. "That damned Audron, if you believe the tales. But his wings are supposed to be leathery and scabbed, not these angelic feathered wings."
Lania shrugged. "Possibly the monsters' misguided belief that Audron is some sort of Vampiric angel. Who knows? But what do you make of the tomb in the centre?"
The sarcophagus had already been forced open. Malek looked in. It was empty, save for some odd resin in the interior. The resin had a familiar smell, though from where Malek could not recall.
"One thing is certain. This tomb was never used to store a corpse. Not even one that became a Vampire."
Lania nodded. "I believe it may have been used for a Vampire to rest while he evolved."
Malek thought about this. He knew that Vampires supposedly evolved new forms and powers in occasional stages, such as when a fledgling evolved into a stronger, more mature Vampire. But surely not all Vampires would have had grand places such as this to hide in while they evolved. This Vampire must have been influential or important. And there was something else...
"Something about this place seems familiar somehow."
"How?"
"I cannot say. Yet...no, I cannot recall."
Lania frowned. "I will be back momentarily."
The Sorceress left the chapel. Malek took a piece of hardened resin in his hands and sniffed it. What was it that the resin reminded him of? A Vampire? No, the resin didn't seem...organic enough, more artificial. Something about it, and the style of the chapel, seemed wrong...
"That's it!" Malek exclaimed. He remembered where he'd seen resin like this before. Some of the Sarafan had experimented with a mechanical device, an armored transport to carry war parties of Sarafan through dangerous territory. It had been abandoned, due to the failure of one critical element, a magical fluid that kept the seperate parts working as one. In colder temperatures, it had hardened into resin, eventually causing the transports to break down.
But why would such a thing be found in a sarcophagus? The lid had been a simple lid, and tombs had little use for mechanical workings. Malek sat on the tomb's edge, frowning, looking around the chapel. His eyes rested on a statue of a winged Vampire. Its right eye glistened oddly, differently from the rest of the marble. Curious, Malek examined it. His eyes widened when he saw a tiny speck of the resin under the eye, like a crystallised teardrop. Acting on a wild suspicion, Malek pressed the eye. It sank into the statue. A quiet scraping noise came from the tomb, and Malek discovered that the bottom was false. A murky staircase led deeper into the cave. Grabbing his polearm, Malek leapt into the tomb and followed the stairs.
The stairs were long, but at the bottom was a smaller, simpler chapel. Malek smiled slightly at the deception. An ornate chapel, obviously abandoned, left unguarded. Anyone coming across it would see that whatever Vampire had used it was gone by now, and simply leave the chapel to rot. And by doing so, also leave behind the real chapel, hidden beneath the decoy.
In this real chapel was another sarcophagus, this one much blander than the decoy, blank but for a bronze plate fastened to the lid. Malek tried to read the plate, but the lettering made no sense.
"Blood Script." Malek cursed. Thge Sarafan had not come across enough examples of Vampiric writing to form a translation. It seemed that Malek would have to take a more direct approach if he was to find any answers here. With not a little effort, he pushed off the tomb's lid, to find...
Nothing. The tomb was empty. Malek's shoulders sagged in disappointment. After all this, he was to be denied answers at this stage? He heared Lania call his name from above, and started back up the stairs. Maybe with the others, the chapel would yet give up some information.
Once Malek had left, one of the shadows in the corner of the dim chamber stepped out. Vorador allowed himself a sigh of relief as he dropped his mist form. As much as he would have liked to tear apart the intruder, it was little more than an hour after he had emerged from the state of change, and he hadn't felt this weak since he had first woken up after Janos Audron had brought him across. Even using his mist form to hide from the Conflict Guardian had been very tiring. He could see and feel that his body had changed. The skin was a dark green, and his head and fingers had radically altered. But he had yet to discover what new abilities his change had gifted him. One thing he did know, though - until he had a chance to feed and recover, he did not have the strength to take on a Sarafan war party. Hearing movement from above, he pushed in one particular brick into the wall and slipped into the passage that opened before him, and rushed down the dark corrdior even as the hidden door slipped back into place.
"Another time, Malek." Vorador vowed as he fled.
***
"Blood Script." Neve said, just as Malek had minutes before. "Probably identifying the Vampire who rested here."
Raziel shrugged. "It was good working discovering this chamber, Malek. A shame that the fates did not see fit to reward your diligence with answers. But whatever vile creature rested here must have made his leave long before you ventured here."
MeLoom patted Malek's shoulder sympathetically. "But at least we can destroy this place, and leave the monsters one less hideout to roost in."
Malek smiled. In his mind, though, he felt that he was missing something. There was clearly nothing new here, yet he felt as if he had missed something on his first visit, something that had now left. Almost like a presence...
Malek shook his head and left with MeLoom. Now he was just being paranoid.