On the Red Plains, it took only a moment for the soldiers from the Wrath faction to realize that their leader had been felled. This severely dampened their spirits, the Chaos faction immediately gaining the upper hand.
Only a lone dark figure in the thick of battle had truly seen what had happened. The one referred to as Kath'tan wasn't dead, he had been spirited away by an incredibly powerful summoning circle.
He flashed away from the battleground, standing in the far east of the plains. He could still see the battle from where he stood, hear the clanging of metal, warcries, and deathcries merging into one deafening cacophony.
As a proud assassin, he had never failed a mission before, and he wasn't about to start now. So he settled in to wait, knowing his target, he would be back in no time, no doubt attempting to kill his summoner. Whoever summoned a Fiend, however, was surely prepared for the consequences; even someone as reckless as Kath'tan was bound to soon meet his match.
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Kath'tan stepped through the partly broken wall like it was merely cloth, the sun had set completely, the night sky vast and peaceful.
He was enraged but resigned to losing the battle he had intended to win. There was no chance of fulfilling the damned Vampire's request, and it would be a waste of his time even if he bothered to. The soulless wretch had no way to pay him.
He wanted to squash the creature to paste, and then raze the environs to the ground, but he had far more important things to return to-- there was no time to indulge.
Dulce stared up at the night sky, grateful that he had chosen to live so far away from the village, as this would have certainly sent the Queen's soldiers after him. He peered at the enraged Demon, contemplating whether he should tell him that trying to kill him was a waste of time.
He took one look at the hell waiting for him in those purple eyes and wisely kept his thoughts to himself. There was no reason to stir the pot further, he truly was afraid of pain.
Kath'tan ripped out one of the beams from the cottage roof, causing Dulce to wince. He didn't notice this reaction, pinning the frail Vampire to an unbroken piece of wall so he could stake him through.
Dulce wailed in pain when the beam was forced through his already injured chest, it was as big as the trunk of a sapling, taking up most of the space there. The beam pierced through the wall, essentially impaling him to it.
It was torment, being held up by shattered bones and torn flesh. He stifled his screams, not wanting to attract undue attention, as that would only lead to the death of whoever was unfortunate enough to kindly check up on him.
Kath'tan was slightly soothed by the squirming, snivelling Vampire. He got comfortable on the grass a short distance away to wait for the creature's inevitable end.
Despite the rage burning through his veins, he was still grudgingly impressed. A stake through the heart would have killed about any Vampire, yet this frail, delicate wretch was still well and alive, if rather pale.
Slow torture wasn't his forte, but Vampires were tricky creatures to kill, he could smash the wretch completely, and he would still cling to life. Sunlight was completely undebatable; as soon as sunrise came, he would be home free.
He settled in for the wait, purple gaze drifting around. He had never been to Earth, completely lacking the interest and the reason to. It was unsettlingly peaceful, birds singing quietly, sheep bleating in the distance, it made his skin crawl.
Dulce had also heard the sheep, lifting his head with difficulty, his face gleaming with sweat. "C-Could I trouble you to herd the sheep into their pen?" He asked sheepishly, his voice strained.
Kath'tan slowly looked around at the Vampire, who he expected to have been knocked out from the pain, his eyes flat from shock.
"All... All you have to do is open the pen and ring the bell," Dulce kept trying to convince him, certain that the sheep would have gathered around the pen, the habit deeply ingrained in them.
"You will die," Kath'tan slowly enunciated. Perhaps the grave injury had affected the creature's reasoning. "If not soon, in a matter of hours."
"So it should not cost you to assist me in this matter," Dulce said, grimacing from the effort it took to speak. He fell quiet again, his head drooping.
Kath'tan ignored the Vampire and his foolish request, laying down on his back to watch the sky. It was a strange color-- in the Hells, the skies were in shades of red, suns and moons littered in the bloody sky.
Here, there was a single delicate moon, it was curved, with strange, twinkling dots littering the deep blue sky. It made him clench his teeth, how distasteful.
Time meant nothing to creatures like them, they had long, almost infinite lifespans as long as they managed to stay alive. So a single night was nothing but a speck in the time they had, and as the sun started to rise, the dark sky changed into a much lighter blue, the moon and the strange dots disappearing.
Kath'tan rose to his feet- how fortuitous, he had staked the Vampire to the very direction the sun was rising in. "Have you died yet?" He asked curiously. There hadn't been a word out of the chatty Vampire for hours, it wouldn't be a surprise if he was dead.
How disappointing, Kath'tan had hoped that the Vampire would keep entertaining him.
Dulce slowly lifted his head and winked open an eye, closing it hastily when he realized how close the Demon had come.
Kath'tan grinned, sharp teeth dangerous. "Good," He applauded, stepping back as the sun's golden rays were cast out, anticipation in his eyes as he waited for the inevitable.
A moment passed, and then a minute, and then ten. Dulce winked open an eye again, wondering if pretending to be scorched by the sun would lessen his punishment.
Kath'tan, on the other hand, was frowning, so hard that it turned into a scowl. Even he could start to feel the sun's strength, yet there was no change in the Vampire. If anything, the sun seemed to bring some color to his pale skin, his pale hair blinding in the morning sun.