A Black Destiny (Ch9) THE END!!!

The mist rose steadily as Edwin rode into the cemetery. His body tingled with anticipation. He could absolutely feel the nearness of Aelfric Cromwell. Dismounting the horse, Edwin began to search on foot. He strode arrogantly down the path which lead deeper into the graveyard until he was amongst the old vaults, dank and gray with age and mist from the deepening night. Edwin sensed he was close, so close to Cromwell he could almost point right at where he was. His body was compelled to the right, off the cobbled stone walk way through the maze of vaults and over the grassy knoll, through a less structured gathering of old vaults. There, built into a rock facing at the edge of the woods was a large stone vault. It's giant metal doors were banged and rusted, the bolts nearly invisible beneath the years of oxidation. The entire structure was laden in decay and covered in moss and winding strands of creeping vines. 1

As Edwin approached the vault, he felt his heart begin to race, pounding mercilessly inside his chest as adrenaline coursed through him. This was it. "I have you now, you blood thirsty daemon!" he hissed. Silently, Edwin pulled a long, thick stake of wood from the satchel he held in his left hand, dropping it and grabbing the brass ring on the vault doors. As he braced himself to heave on the massive doors, Edwin felt a stir of air just behind him. As he turned, he saw nothing but a flash of black before he found himself lying on his back in the mist-damp grass. Perched atop one of the vaults infront of him, Edwin saw a shape shrouded in black, like a man crouched with wings raised toward the full yellow moon. 2

"And so you come for me, Lord Edwin?" Aelfric said in a soft, icey tone. Edwin staggered to his feet, an unbelievable pain rippling through his left side. He felt his ribs scrape and crunch beneath his spasming muscles. He'd already taken a hit and he had not even been prepared. The stake was a few yards away now, lying on the ground just feet below Aelfric's perch, having been knocked away when Edwin was hit. "What do you want to prove, Edwin? I have already won. I have your sister as my bride..." Aelfric stood and simply stepped off the edge of the vault, floating weightlessly down to the ground. He walked forward until he was toe to toe with Edwin. "She is with child after tonight, for sure. You can not have the last vampire. There are now three. You would not kill your own sister, surely?" 3

"I will kill all of your kind, no matter who they were. My blood or not my blood, Maharani now thirsts for the very thing that relates us. If she must die, she must." Edwin spat at Aelfric's feet. Aelfric reached out and grabbed Edwin violently by the lapel of his tunic. Suddenly, a sharp pain coursed through Aelfric's side. Looking down, he saw Edwin's hand wrapped about the handle dagger that was burried clean up to the hilt in Aelfric's side. It was just enough of a distraction for Edwin to sweep Aelfric's feet from under him and tumble to his own knees, grabbing the stake that lye close by. He turned back and raised the dagger to strike, only to find the dagger stuck straight into the ground, with no signs of Aelfric. 4

Edwin turned frantically to find Aelfric behind him, rearing back for a kick to Edwin's hunched midsection. Edwin grabbed Aelfric's foot as it swung through the air, sending Aelfric falling onto his back, Edwin coming up quickly above him, the searing pain in his already injured side not a deterant at all. As Edwin raised the stake and Aelfric took the breath he believed would be his last, suddenly a sickening 'Crack!' echoed through the graveyard, bouncing off of the stone vaults and tombstones. Edwin's neck snapped beneath the blow of the tombstone, and he collapsed, keeling over as the stake fell from his lifeless hand and was lost in the grass. There stood Maharani, a broken tombstone in her hands which were yet raised above her shoulder,ready to make another swing. 5

"I really never liked him much anyhow." She muttered, dropping the stone as she gave one last distasteful kick at her brothers slowly chilling body. Somewhere in a giant house with a giant domed room, a book of prophecy wrote it's final page and shut, to be opened again at a later date to ensure the knowledge of the great rebirth of The Children of The Darkness would be known by all Vampires when their time came.6