Nephalim

Chapter 2: Orsha

The sun had set over the city. No fights tonight down at the arena. As much as I enjoy the thrill of the arena, crushing my opponents skull beneath my fists, there was much work to be done. Not only to find the killer of that poor An'girla slaughtered and left behind, but also to find answers regarding the Ulfhednar and it's potential involvement.

Earlier that day, Borrin and I had taken a sample of hair from one of Cain's discarded hats, without him knowing. Though it is the cowards way to sneak and steal, we had a suspicion that this dead An'girla was his mother. Our suspicion held true when the results came in. Cain Adamson was the descendant of the An'girla, brutally murdered and drained of blood. Despite all that, I believed the Ar'tak to be innocent, especially after the events of the night before.

We presented our findings to Ar'tak Foley. The small, pudgy, pixie gave us clearance to work with Cain and follow his leads, however, just as Markus has done, we must report all our findings to Foley and Foley alone. I groaned at the prospect of being forced to spy on the Ar'tak Nephalim. His deeds during the Necromancer Conflict, and his steadfast loyalty to all Orc kind, has made him a hero amongst my people.

After some witty banter with the Drow, my dwarf companion and I went back to the blood bar known as the Jugglar. Not much had change since our previous brawl from the night before, barring the police caution tape, and the removal of corpses and injured vampires. Inside, near the door to the pit of death, stood Cain as well as the Lycian, his silver chains behind held by Markus, and the elf Ma'gara known as Lo'rran.

I pressed my fist against my chest and bowed before the Nephalim, greeting him in Orcish: "May war bring fortune."

He responded in kind with: "And may glory follow." He then spoke in common, "Good to see you again Orsha, and you as well Borrin." Borrin nodded.

"Tell me Ar'tak," I said, continuing in Orcish. "What do you know of the celestial who passed?"

He looked at me quizzically. "A strange question to ask, and even stranger to ask it in this tongue."

"I have read the profiles of the others here, they do not know how to speak Orc. Not even Borrin knows the mother tongue."

Cain looked down, the others looked at us as if pondering what we were saying. "In that case," he said, sitting on a half broken stool. "All I know is what information the police, yourself included, have provided me, and from what I have gleaned from my investigation so far. She was a late stage Celestial, more than likely several thousand years old. A creature of immense beauty, judging by the corpse she left."

I nodded. "Are you aware of the DNA report as well as what the autopsy revealed?"

"No."

"I suspected as much. Well, her autopsy revealed that she had given birth at some point in her long life, but we are not sure when. However we did run her DNA against known celestials on fi-"

"Sorry to interrupt your private conversation, Miss Orsha," said Lo'rran in the common tongue. "However, I do believe we have some pressing matters to attend to, and, with Mr Miguel being under lock and key, I dare say our time is limited."

"The elf is right, Orsha," said Cain. "We will have to discuss your findings later."

I bowed my head. "As you wish, Ar'tak'

*.  *.   *.   *.   *.

Using the magic of the elf, we descended once more into the pit. The stench of death was heavy despite the removal of corpses by the investigators. We followed the path around and into the halls of house Tepes.

"I always found it curious that the sons of Nosferatu were given human names, such as Vlad and Adrian, but have since renounced their names and gone with Dracula and Alucard," Borrin mused.

"Wasn't as simple as you make it out to be," Cain responded whilst rummaging through the ashes of a deceased vampire. "The modern legends will tell you that they renounced their names, but the truth is much more..." A crash down the hall cut off the Ar'taks words, and immediately, we drew our weapons and moved as to investigate. The lycan, Miguel looked uneasy.

"Where is it?" came a voice. We moved in closer. "Where the fuck did my idiot brother hide it?" Cain was in front, and motioned for us to remain silent as he waited by a corner. Footsteps approached, I readied myself for combat. With in a flash of an eye, Cain had grappled the unknown being around the corner,  and threw him to the ground.

Cain snarled, placing the barrel of his revolver against it's head and said "Pleasure to see you again, Vlad Tepes, son of the Dragon. Dracula."

"Cain fucking Adamson," said Dracula in a cool, even voice. "I should have known it was you by your rotten stench. Are you going to let me up?"

Cain smiled at Dracula. "No, I think you are fine there. You may be an elder vampire, but you and I both know who won that duel in Targovishte."

"If I recall, you only won because my half-wit of a brother told you of my sever garlic allergy."

"Like that's that stat secret. The entire world knows of it, to the point where they think garlic works on all vampires."

Dracula cracked a smile, showing his elongated fangs. "How foolish the mortal races are."

"Pardon my intrusion," said Lorr'an, "but I believe there are more pressing matters to attend to."

"Long ears here is right," said Markus, approached the subdued vampire. He knelt down before asking, "So where were you last night, Mr Tepes? While you are at it, tell us about the night before."

"Ah, an interrogation is it?" Dracula turned to Cain, "This doesn't have to with that nasty business of that dead angel?" We all exchanged glances.

"How did you know about that?" I asked.

"Well, sister Orc," he said looking my way now. "I have eyes and ears everywhere, even more so than my father. You there, elf. I can smell the stench of the magi upon you, what rank do you hold?"

Lorr'an for the first time looked uneasy, before saying: "I am Rank 3 amongst my order, mostly due to my age, and my vocation."

"Lycanthropy Studies and Affairs?" Again we all shared uneasy glances. "Come now, it's not so hard to deduce seeing as there is a Lycanthrope amongst you in chains. The stench on him is far worse."

Miguel snarled.

"What is your point, Vlad?" Cain demanded, a certain fire lined his words.

"My point is, my dear half-breed, is that as a Magi of the third rank, that elf has access to a truth spell so powerful that it can be used even on the likes of us. It requires my consent, which I will freely give if that means you get the fuck off of me."

"This is true," said Lorr'an. "I do have the ability, and the necessary reagents to cast such a potent spell. However I am concerned by the fact that you would know such secrets about my order." 

"Do it," Cain demanded, getting off the vampire.