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Chapter 5

Blood

For Days Meyu trains Razuki, teaching him what she is, and now what he is. The Methuselah have most of the powers of your typical vampire; superhuman strength, the ability to jump ten stories straight up, to see though walls, levitate, to warp the minds of those they meet the gaze of. These powers Razuki can mimic, Meyu also demonstrates the ability to become invisible in shadows, to instantaneously travel from one place to another, and pyrokinetics, these Razuki can't copy, yet.

Razuki has a week to practice with his new found gifts before Meyu guides him away from the safety of the manor. the two of them step out of the shadows, Razuki starts to look around at where they have 'landed'. Everything is covered in a blue fog but Razuki knows where they are nevertheless.

Meyu looks to Razuki with a grin "you know where we are?"

"Wales England, Buckingham street is that way, we are outside 'the Watory Institute for the Gifted ', my school." Razuki turns to face the vampire-esc girl. "but why?"

Meyu's eyes gimmer an entrancing yellow "to do what it is I resurrected you to do. Name in heir anyone here will do, then you can return to oblivion if you so like. Maybe the girl you saved from the burning house? Or your friends 'L' or 'K'?"

"and what happens to them if I cast this spell or whatever it is?" Razuki's voice runs cold.

"What does it matter? You won't be here to see it."

Razuki lowers his eyes "why should one man suffer over another? Perhaps I was meant to fight after all." The shadows on all sides of Razuki pull together forming into at first a discreetly human shape then pull apart leaving behind a tall silver haired man dressed in a WWI trenchers outfit. Razuki remembers this man well "Dr. Karingson?!"

Meyu steps before Marks "how goes the mission doctor?"

"I have secured Snake Gekks, El Driver, I have made contact with Lances Jacob but failed to move him to a safe location as of yet but I do not believe he is the key bearer anyway, Lucca Wingate is with Mac, and assuming that you have talked 'N' into joining us I would be willing to say things are going swimmingly."

Meyu looks disappointed "that is four, we had 13 keys at one time."

"the keys that were hidden by Larry Gekks and Richard Black have been moved outside of my reach. As has the one that I lost." Marks explains

Razuki joins in on the conversation "Seven, that leaves six unaccounted for."

"five," Meyu pips in "what of the key in Belmond's care?"

"next on my list." Marks smiles.

Razuki looks back and forth between them. "I'm happy to play numbers games all day but can one of you two please fill me in on what all this is about?"

Marks looks to Razuki "I tried to tell you five years ago but you were uninterested at the time."

"Im interested now." N's voice rises slightly.

Meyu nods to Marks, Marks nods back "our world is under attack, N, by a monster from outside time. Everyone on earth now knows the name Cravixs. Cravixs is coming, and when he arrives we all die. But Cravixs is not the only one of his kind, he has a 'brother', Sa-la-day-namO. Sa-la, has sided with us in an attempt to protect this world. Meyu and I are friends of his, we are helping him to gather the tools he needs to fight this evil."

Razuki's expiration melts off his face like half-cooked eggs sliding off a plate, determination turning to hopeless existentialism "I need to sit down." Razuki falls to the ground hiding his head in his hands as he struggles to except what he was just told, his world of math, puzzles, empirical investigation pealing away.

Marks looks down to Meyu "I don't know if he is ready yet."

"I will need to make him ready, time is running short."

***

Magdalen St. Frances sits in silence in her study, a silver succor with a cup of tea balancing atop it in one hand, the other hand sturring the cup, her eyes turned to study the stain glass window across from her. The cardinal's ceremonial red robe cascading on the ground around her.

The greasy Father Dale Headsmen pushes Joe Dove into the study. Joe yells at Dale as he is walking out of the study "you know, I am a senior citizen, you could go soft on me if you wanted."

Magdalen speaks up "I really had my heart set on finally meeting the illustrious Wright von Richton, but she sends me her old dog instead. I am starting to get the feeling that you von Richton's are less then found of me."

Joe tugs on the sides of his coat straitening it. "Shut it. You called, I came, let's make a deal."

"on to business I see." St. Frances turns to look at Joe. "You have one of my men. What will it cost to have him brought back here in one peace?"

"cooperation, Maggi, you and I are both people with influence. We have had trouble getting along in the past, but it is time for a change." Joe folds his hands sitting at the table with the cardinal "You know as well as I do what is about to happen. But I think if we can get: the von Richton's, the Jesuit, and the Letters, all working together we may just be able to pull off a fool's gambit and send the devil..."

Magdalen cuts Joe off "you are looking for the Keys of Salvation, so am I."

"I know. That is why I bring it up."

The Cardinal turns her eyes to Joe, her voice escalating "You have no idea what you are talking about do you? You have men running around the world looking for any scrap of magical power they can find in hopes that you will trap a monsoon in a wineglass. The walls are cracking, the storm is raging. Throwing more sandbags at the ground will do nothing to slow the flood any-longer..."

"And what are you doing about all this?!" Joe snarls like an angry dog.

The Cardinal smile "I am building a raft."

Joe looks perplexed "what does that mean?"

Burning velvet eyes fade into the room, a shadow of a man sits long side them. Blake hear flows like a majestic cape, skin shimmers like ivory, body is wrapped in a shroud of oily silk. "It means 'Joe' that the Jesuit have already agreed to help me. The Arc-Cardinal has decided that she should like to ascend into dreams at the end of time."

Joe twist the handle of his walking stick drowning his sword shouting "Cravixs!"

The evil god stands over Joe outstretching his arms as if awaiting embrace, Joe grips his sword in foolhardy defiance, God and man prepare to clash in this holy house. Joe shots at St. Frances "for a thousand years our family has been preparing for the apocalypse and you turn coat on the 11th hour!?" Cravixs closes his eyes with a sadistic grin, Joe nearly starts barking like a dog "It wasn't you was it? Someone had to open the door for Cravixs to come here..., to trigger..."

Crow cuts Joe off "don't bother shouting. Magdalen can't hear you any more, she has slipped into the dream." Cravixs walks around Joe, his hands folded in a diamond. "do you remember when I told you, 'your son would watch your death.' The hour of proficy is only days away. Do you have your earthly affares squared away?"

Eye's gleam with madness, Joe smirks like a man whom sanity is taxed to its braking thread "Don't count on it. I plan on living long enough to see you fade into obscurity." Joe unsheathes his blade running at the evil god, a spartan howl shatters the stillness of the library, lunatic rage overtakes Joe's very being. Dove sticks Mammon with the vengeance of humanity at his back.

***

Jazzman, Blake, Malagaurd, Davis, and Dufrain pull over at a 'Park and Go' miles out into the flats of New Mexico. After a long wile of deliberation they come to the conclusion that tracing down Belmond is the shortest of the jobs there for the first one that should be executed.

Jazzmen stands isolated from the group as they gather around a table and grill looking over a collection of photographs and a map provided to them by another Watcher at their last stop. David leans over another table at the park noticing some carvings on it.

Hunters for generations have been communicating with each other via codes. Some historians beilve that 'the Hunter code' emerged around the same time as the continental railroad was under construction. Around this time immigrant labors would walk cross country, some chasseing the railroad, others just looking for an honest day's work.

A hand full of gentle souls among them felt it to be a worthwhile effort to start leaving notes for travelers that may be coming from the other direction. But then how? First, keep it simple, explain only a hand full of relevant fact like: dangerous animals about, clean water nearby, trading outpost next stop, bandits about keep weapons on hand.

Next how are you going to say what you need to say? Migrant workers couldn't count on everyone that fallows them to speck the same dialect. so, pictographs, use symbols off of maps to describe the area and images that are (or where) common place. For example, "X" or crossed knives is danger, the cross mean trade, triangle 'up' would be a message relating to a man encountered nearby, triangle down is a woman.

At some point some Hunter's deciphered the code and to this day most 'legacy' hunters still know it and use it. Jazzman specks softly to himself as he reads a message left by the last hunter to pass though. "Water, City, one man, bird, knife... what is this symbol?" Jazzmen digs around in his coat pulling out a map.

As Jazzman is absorbed his own thoughts one ear wiggles. Charlit has turned on the radio as a distraction to herself having lost interest in the conversation at hand once Blake and Marion started shouting at each other.

The radio plays, everything seems to stop for just a few seconds. Jazzman looks over to his team, everyone but him is frozen in place it looks like. Jazzman walks over to his companions and clicks off the radio. Without another word he walks back to his bike revving up.

Blake calls over to Jazzman "What's up?"

"radio tower around here is emitting a hypnotic sound. You should probably tell von Richton." Jazzman explains

Marion looks up "what are you doing Devil?"

"you go ahead with plan A, im going to go set up plan B." Jazzman peals off racing in the sunrise.

Marion looks over to Milli "Kill him for me." She orders.

Milli lowers her ears to the sides of her head "did Jazzman just go rouge?"

"Go!" Marion orders.

Milli nods then runs after Jazzman.

Blake looks over to the table Jazzman had been studying "I think he saw something we didn't"

Charlit looks confused at the radio "A hypnotic sound? Why wouldn't David have been effected by it?"

Blake leans over the table Jazzman had been examining "maybe because he is an alien?"

Charlit calls back "Take a head count, we all are."

Blake pulls a phone from his pocket and takes a picture of the graffiti "were you born on earth Charlit?"

"yeah, my mother was human it was my father that was Sethkallion." Charlit nods.

"Marion, you?" Blake looks over to the elf.

"both my parents are Faykin but I was born after the immigration." Marion digs around in her backpack for a firearm.

Black nods, "I was born on earth also."

Charlit's antenna spark "Milli wasn't..."

Blake yells over to Marion "call Joe, this was a setup."