Deathslayer: A Return to Damnation

Chapter Eighteen - Reunion

Before Styrkar earned the title of deathslayer he had an army. This army had nine generals, and these nine have been scattered across the world ever since. This was common knowledge. Edowin never thought he'd meet any of those generals but after seeing the corpse of Jormungandr at the site where the battle between the deathslayer, two unknown subjects, and the poverty king he knew that it was about time for him to pay a visit to some of Xenovar's close associates.

As he entered the manor he immediately was overwhelmed with a feeling of dread. Proktek manor wasn't a place many got in or out of without being part of one of the Prok brother's special security force. Edowin entered with his blackened armor plates clinking against one another, announcing each step and making him more nervous. God only knows what the hell was in here. He took a look at the letter he had received with instructions. "Edowin, go up the stairs and to the second door on the left," He followed the instructions exactly.

He entered a huge great hall made of dark brown wood and went up a grand set of stairs with a long red carpet coming down it. He ended up in a long room with a table, as soon as he entered he heard a mechanical clicking as the door locked behind him. There were two men and a woman at the table.

The woman wore a black and red dress, it flowed off her legs and onto the floor with a large window around the chest area showing off her cleavage. She leaned forward, almost flaunting it towards Edowin. The man sitting across from her was an older man in a gray suit smoking a cigar. The man at the head of the table was cloaked in shadow, whatever outfit he was wearing he could make out that it was dark black and red.

"So you're his new lap dog? Last one was hotter," The woman said, leaning back in her chair with an almost disappointed look. The older man spoke up with a rickety old voice that still sounded commanding, as though he was in charge. "Watch yourself Lila, this is Xenovar we're dealing with-" The man at the end of the table delivered an almost painful chuckle and his hand slapped the table limply. Both of the others  went silent and looked at him fearfully before turning back to Edowin. "Please, take a seat black knight," they told him. Edowin slowly sat down and readjusted in his chair. "I was told to come here and see what you were doing about the deathslayer problem? You know he's here? In Zira?" Edowin told them.

"We have a plan in place, it's called the reaper initiative," The older man said. The woman shot him a look before turning back to Edowin stating "That initiative is just a massive load of bullshit, Xenovar should know that we can handle ourselves." Edowin considered the situation, "What is the Reaper Initiative?" He asked. The older gentleman stood up and walked toward Edowin, reaching into his blazer and pulling out a blueprint which he handed to Edowin. "One consciousness, near limitless bodies. Mass produced at a factory, he can take out one strong opponent but thousands of opponents is something the deathslayer has struggled with. We sent one after him previously and even though it was destroyed it managed to get a hit or two in," the man smirked, proud of himself for this accomplishment.

Edowin didn't know much about Styrkar as he had never met the man but if any part of what he heard was true then he knew that this wouldnt work. "And what about you?" He turned to the woman in the room. "What would you do?" He cocked his head to the side, curious what she had meant by claiming she alone was powerful enough to take on the Deathslayer. "Simple," she smiled and Edowin noted the two sharp fangs that protruded from her teeth. "A vampire? You're a bloody vampire?" Edowin stood up, frightened. Both her and the older man laughed loudly, but then a third laughter joined in, a much louder one. The others fell silent and the man at the table kept laughing. Edowin still couldn't make out his face through the shadows but he watched as the man's hand shot to his head and heard the squelch of  flesh as the hand descended back down out of the shadows with a knife which he stabbed into the table. The blade was covered with blood. The madman's laughter eventually died out, and the room fell silent once more.

"So you're reginald Prok I take it?" Edowin turned to the older man. He nodded and pointed towards the woman, "This is Lila Prok, my sister," he told Edowin. Edowin nodded, before looking at the ominous man at the head of the table. "And who are you?" He asked. The madman tapped the table seven times before stopping. He tapped it seven more and then stopped, the room remained silent. No one responded to him for a bit until Reginald finally spoke up, "That's my ward, Ferin."

Edowin stared into the darkness for a bit, "And your brother?" he asked. Reginald frowned, "Too busy in the lab to bother coming here, he's not one for meeting new people it seems." Edowin nodded, in all fairness with the business they were in he knew that it was a tough decision. Edowin decided that he needed to take a stand, make these people understand that it was serious. He sighed and pulled out a dagger, walking towards the madman in the darkness. He quickly held the dagger up to the man's neck and pulled his head back. "You people need to understand that this isn't a joke, this man is coming and it threatens Xenovar's whole plan- you need to-"

That's when he heard a choking sound coming from below him. He quickly backed up and grabbed a torch from the wall, holding it near Ferin's face. It was a tan man with scars going from the ends of his mouth to his ears. Blood was covering most of his face and his eyes were wide and bloodshot as they moved slowly to look at Edowin. It took Edowin a minute to realize that he had no eyelids. He had long black hair that was slicked back in a fancy sort of way and was wearing a long black coat with black gloves. His coat had red rose designs running up it. He chuckled at Edowin before standing up, and that's when Edowin realized who Ferin was. Edowin dropped his torch and ran for the door, grabbing the handle and tugging with all his might but the door wouldn't budge.

He turned around and watched as the man's lips curled back to reveal razor sharp teeth.