Hybrid Trilogy

Chapter 25 Drake

Cassandra arrived back at the single story two room dwelling, that Mandrake and she had commandeered after the lady Alcina had spirited away all the surviving noms and their children, in territory 6, Mandrake pounded the table in anger roaring as he did, the power of his blow collapsed the table this just served to aggravate him still further "HOW IS it THAT, THAT INFERNAL WITCH BESTED me? HOW CAN THAT BE WITCH ANSWER me!!! He bellowed then with infinite speed had Cassandra pinned to the wall holding her by the neck looking ominously at her, a fury so intensive, the like of which she had only ever seen in his father, with an almost deity like calmness she placed her hand on his wrist encouraging him to relax his grip around her throat "she is the lady Alcina none here can better her not you, not me, she holds all magic within her, my lord, there is only one chance we have to defeat her" Cassandra said as Mandrake appeared to calm slightly "to channel the magic of others through you & then into me?" Mandrake asked curiously "forgive me lord, but you cannot hold magic no Vampire can, your father tried, and channeling it would not be sufficient I will need to commit occidit fratres" she paused, and using magic, summoned a lamb into the room for Mandrake to feed on, he reluctantly took the animal snapping its neck as he drained its life "and this occidit fratres you speak of, is this power beyond your capabilities" he asked disdainfully, not expecting a positive response. "No my lord, it is deemed amongst my people as a most grievous crime, but, I am no stranger to this sin, as you may recall I was able to drain the magic of the coven leaders here before you fed, by draining the magic of other Witches & Warlocks I will increase my power & this will enable me to defeat the old Witch then, we can go back to the world of man and kill the child & stop the prophecy from coming to fruition." Cassandra stated with a wicked defiant grin."very well Witch, then we will seek food form me and my army can grow, as can your power" he said as he headed for the door, she ran to bar his way placing her hand on his chest and looking up at the young teenage Vampire with a sweet innocent demeanour "my lord it is day and if you venture out you will undoubtedly perish, as your day light protector and also having been asked by your father to guide you in the ways of the Vampire" she said softly upon hearing this Mandrakes face turned from one of dismissal to one consumed in a rage so incandescent there was no way to calm him, he grabbed Cassandra by the neck lifting her and throwing her across the room, she was however luckily able to use magic to soften her landing, unfortunately her skirts ended up over her head and Mandrake was on her before she had time to recover, "MASTER, PLEASE, MY LORD I MEAN NO DISRESPECT, PLEASE DO NOT KILL ME. " She screamed but it seemed to be to no avail her futile attempts at placating him had failed, as he pushed her back down to the floor "I AM YOUR MASTER WITCH" he bellowed as he unfastened his britches "I cannot kill you, I have need of you, but I will prove to you who is master here do not for one moment believe you are my equal or that I need the guidance of you or anyone for that matter in the ways of the Vampire". Mandrake growled, then by way of humiliation and subjugation he brutally raped her, whilst beating her.

At its conclusion Cassandra lay in a bloody bruised heap on the hard wood floor, as Mandrake straightened out his clothes "tidy yourself Witch, I require food!" he sneered coldly, and she gingerly stood adjusted her dresses and made her way out giving Mandrake as wide a birth as the room would allow. She walked across the open square past the upended cauldron tears in her eyes, but trying to remain as composed as possible walking unsteadily with as much dignity as she was able to muster, even though she knew that it would be some time before she found anyone, as the lady Alcina had taken all the noms from the territory, she sent an image of herself back to the cottage "my lord, I must travel into the next territory, there is no one here to offer you" Mandrake went to grab at Cassandra and his hand passed right through her  apparition that wavered slightly and she remained calm although winced just a fraction "why are you not here Witch" Mandrake said angrily, "as I said my lord I must travel to the next territory, and it is morning, I do not believe you will be able to make any journey without food" Cassandra said and faded, before Mandrake had chance to voice his displeasure so took his anger out on the furniture, whilst Cassandra  continued on to territory 7 once there she used her magics to regain her I damaged beauty & was again faced with an almost identical centre as territory 6, a large open square with a lighted steaming cauldron at its core and was about to capture one of the younger Witches, when the sky suddenly darkened, fork lightning shot across the unexpected cloud base a white mist formed and from it stepped the lady Alcina, resplendent in her full length white linen dress, her pure white almost platinum hair that ran halfway down her back, wasn't disturbed by the tumultuous wind that blew, causing swirls of dust to dance about, her bright emerald green eyes remained fixed on Cassandra conveying none of their usual warmth, but her gaze remained calm & resolute. Cassandra took stance, and launched black lightning at the lady, who responded in kind, the white and black lightnings converged on one another next to the cauldron, which was catapulted to the side of the square, spilling it's steaming contents as it landed. The lady's magic was the more powerful of the two and engulfed the black lightning, almost consuming it as the white travelled back along the path laid down by Cassandra's. She was able to avert the danger by instantly transporting to another part of the square "ah I see you have mastered the skill of transport, although I suspect that you are only able to travel short distances as yet?" The lady said confidently Cassandra chose not to engage in idle chat but to again level a magic blow at the lady Alcina, she blocked the attack with ease, and returned an attack, Cassandra felt the pang of disappointment within her, she had long held a desire for revenge against the lady and all her kin, at the tender age of 6 she had lost her grandparents in a power struggle against the lady Alcina and her people, and her mother had sort to avenge the death of her parents, but had lost. and as punishment the spell of removal, was invoked this would have the effect of peeling back the years of its intended victim, the lady had then banished her father after he tried in vain to avenge his wife's painful death although in his attempt killed one of the lady's Warlock staff, powerless to the world of man as she thought. Back in the single-story shack, Mandrake waited less than patiently for Cassandra to return and whilst he did an apparition appeared to him, a tall dark haired, refined but pale looking man, he was taller than Mandrake but there was no hiding their resemblance to each other "who are you sorcerer and what business have you here" Mandrake said coolly, his senses did not betray him this time and he knew that this phantom was just that and not real. "Careful  boy, I am not above smiting my son for insubordination, my name is Drakon and I am your father" Drakon replied with sinister deliverance, Mandrake, looked a little sheepishly at Drakon and dropped to the floor "father" he began bowing his head how may I be of assistance my lord" he said in a low voice" Drakon looked at him disdainfully "I have no love for you boy, it is a weakness, you cannot help me I am dead, but don't think that I cannot exact a vengeance on you from my place at Abaddon's side" he said darkly as he sat down in the only chair "your attack on Cassandra may well have a consequence, as my lord Abaddon warned me when you were conceived" he continued waving his hand, producing two pewter goblets of blood for himself & Mandrake. "The only reason why Vampires have not procreated is not because they are fundamentally dead, but because in a prophecy it is said that a union of the bloodlines, Vampires & Witches could result in a child that will bring down the Vampiric regime" he paused taking a sip of the blood "mmm I do so miss the taste of life. Be warned boy if the Witch Cassandra is with child, then you must rip it from within her, lest it bring life to this foretelling" and then he was gone. Mandrake just looked where Drakon had sat then all of a sudden he was back "if you cannot kill the child then you MUST ensure it is raised as a true Vampire, love will be its...No it will be the downfall of the Vampire" and again he vanished.

After a short time whilst Mandrake seemed to be wrapped in his own thoughts (has my own selfishness brought an end to the Vampire)  Cassandra reappeared and slumped exhausted into the chair, and there was no mistaking the fact that she was with child, with lightning speed he was at her grabbing hold of her unborn child tearing it from her body, blood spatters cascading over both of them. Cassandra screamed in pain as she looked at the massive open bloody wound where her baby once was. Mandrake turned and threw the bloody carcass across the room, believing that it was now addressed and that he would receive a new daylight protector, he turned back expecting to see the dead body of Cassandra, only to see her sat there a look of total panic, disbelief & fear on her face as she looked down at her swollen tummy once more. Mandrake reached down again ripping the pregnancy from Cassandra's body, again she screamed out loudly in pain and again within moments she was with child, he continued to assault Cassandra and was about to do so for the tenth time when Cassandra put up her hands defensively "PLEASE MY LORD" she pleaded "no more please my lord I beg of you" having disregarded her plea, he was about to strike her again when he remembered what his father had said (if you cannot kill the child then you MUST ensure it is raised as a true Vampire) he stepped back and again seemed to be wrapped up in his thoughts then he turned again to Cassandra who was still gawking at her unborn bump her clothes ripped open and stained with blood but her tummy was as swollen and shiny as it ever was. She immediately again put her hands over her belly to protect it, she had no idea why she and her baby had survived the attacks, but the pain was so very real, even if it was as if for the briefest of time each time Mandrake ripped the baby from within her, she experienced not only the physical pain, but also the emotional trauma of child loss. "Fear not Witch, it is clearly not meant to be, so the child will be raised as I command, when it is born you will play no part in its upbringing" he began "my lord I cannot guarantee that this child" she interjected pointing at her swollen tummy "will grow at the same speed as you" Cassandra said timidly  "very well it shall have a wet nurse, to see to its needs, you can use magic to capture a suitable candidate, and keep them compliant, if it just takes small amounts of blood it will not kill the nurse "Mandrake said in his..newly acquired Germanic accent with next to no emotion. "Forgive me lord but it must be allowed to grow before it feeds on human blood as this will halt its growth. By this time Cassandra had used her magic to redress and once again restore some personal order, "my lord it is time for us to go to the world of man, we need to remain hidden until  the child is born and my strength returns" she began "I know of a place where we can go to" she paused "I WILL NOT HIDING FROM THESE IMPUDENT HUMANS" Mandrake shouted "once again please forgive my impertinence, but you are as yet young and the humans what they lack in strength, they more than make up for in numbers." As Cassandra said this it enraged Mandrake but he was halted when visible only to him the shimmering image of his father's head appeared "listen to her boy she speaks the truth" Drakon said in a deep cavernous voice "very well Witch" Mandrake barked at this Cassandra waved her hands the room filled with a black odourless smoke engulfing them both, when it cleared they stood on a windswept peninsula on the isle of Skye in front of Dnscaith Castle, also known as the fortress of shadows.