The night had come, the small creatures hid in their snuggly little holes for wormth, the basilisk lizards hid in their caves. the sand dragons slowly disapeared from mortal site and the desert became a wasteland. A small huddled figure lay in the midst of the emptyness, huddled into his cloak. His teeth chattered, his pet bat snuggled at his chest. A cold wind blew, nearly freezing off the mans face.

Vincent had been walking, simply walking, thinking about why he was brought back from the grave he was just recently enclosed in. he could still hear screams, his own screams, as he bloddied up his fingers scrapping at its mythral casings. After a year he had given up, and nearly starved till an unlucky grave robber picked the wrong grave.

He lay now, he could feel time returning to him, but from what he had seen already he wished he had never been captured. APerently he had not been the only vampire to be buried. Their had been a campagne (spelling?) against vampires, he had been one of the first. Very few remained in these lands. Vincent needed to know, why he was back, why he was here, and why now?

Slowly a sand storm began to kick in. VIncent jumped up and ran, as the wind quikened cutting his face with the quarts crystals that made the desert. He found refuge in a cave. it was loanly and dark but it should do for awhile. VIncent sat and pulled off his cloak, letting viscoxi fly up to the cealing to sleep for awhile, untill the storm ended.

A winged figure-a griffin-fell from the skies, slamming into the rock above the cave, making it shake with the impact. The bloody creature staggered to it's feet, form shifting as it stumbled for the cover of the cave, falling forward once it got in, dropping into a pool of it's own blood.

It's form finished changing, and a very battered humanoid was on the floor of the cave, clutching at a broken arm, and whimpering in pain, blood dripping from cuts along her arms and legs, and a nasty scrape on her forehead.

Her fingers dug into the skin of her arm as she hissed in pain, then a small flicker of blue light spread from her hand, and she released her arm, flexing it cautiously.

She'd been using a higher level spell than usual, and had flown rigt into the sandstorm. There was sand in the cuts, and she could feel it sting as she moved, not noticing the other being in the cave as she used the edge of her cloak-which, amazingly enough, had stayed intact, despite the obvious beating-to get some of the sand out, without getting all too much back into the wounds.

Vincent sat staringas this figure staggered around. For a few moments he thought about taming the beast and using it as a ride, yet then it changed. It slowly shrank untill it took the form of a woman. How odd, he thought to himself. He glarred at her and watched her struggle with her wounds and begin to heal herself. Vincent smirked and stood up. He signaled viscoxi to fly down to him. No responce. He signaled again. Once again no responce. Vin shrugged he wouldnt need viscoxi's help for much.

"welcome to the cave unto which i have made shelter..... and i use the term shelter very leaniently." vincent said looking around in disgust. Just because he had bat sences, didnt mean he had the style of a bat. "i see you are injured" vincent said eying the blood.
"Perhaps i may be of some assistance i am skilledin many... crafts..."

Zin stared at him, blankly for a few moments, blood dripping down from a cut on her forehead. She glanced up at the blood slipping down her forehead. "...I think you could be right..." She sighed.

"What kind of crafts?" her ears twitched slightly as she spoke, and one eyebrow raised-seeming of it's own volition.

Vincent looked at her , he didnt think she would actualy have asked. "oh you know this, that, a bit of regeneration, so on so forth" he said grimlly. He could tell his magic abilitys were far weaker then hers, she could heal herself alot better then he could kill a man, and thats saying somthing.

VIncent attempted to lacate viscoxi, but to no avail. VIncent sighed, he was going to have to get to the point soon. "i am vincent, a lowly.... traveler, you might say. And what might your name be?" vincent said staling for time so viscoxi could fly back with his dagger. Being a vampire his speedy matabilsm had already digested his last meal. He was gettiing hungry again.

One of the thin curling antennae atop the girls' head-both were still hidden by the hood of her cloak-twitched slightly, and she nodded. "That's...diffrent. I wouldn't of though that was a craft, per se, but I suppose it is..." She paused, then leaned forward, holding out her hand.

"Zin. Talas Guard." She smiled sweetly, her next comment a rather cruel chirp. "Specializing in Magic, unlike most of the thick-headed idiots that the city employs."

Vincent looked at her hand for a second. It took him a moment to register. " oh right..... physicle greeting gestures right. sorry it been awhile since ive been around people who actualy use hand gestures" he reached out and shook her hand. Vincent didnt like physical contact unless it involved blood, he had bad experiences with hand shakes; they usualy had somthing to do with dirty merchants sellling him fake blood then regreting it later.

"Might i ask why you are out in this abyss of death" vin said. Vincent felt somthing move several hundred feet behind him. Vincent silently cheered inside, assuming it was viscoxi. Vincent reached into his pocket, a small bottle of basilisk blood vin had stolen from a merchant who tryed to sell him fake basilisk blood rest in his pocket, the perfect seasoning.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's...uncommon, in my experience." She pulled her hand back, then made a small motion, sparks trailing behind her hand as she did so-casting a spell for the sake of the thing-and she shrugged. "Practicing. I haven't used a polymorph spell very much, and I still need practice."

Fur rippled across her hand, then faded back into her skin, then scales, then feathers, then back to normal. "I can't hold the spell that long yet, but I thought I could get ahead of the storm. Needless to say I did not do so."

Vincent shrugged, he had been places where few mortals have ever even dreamed of. "If youve been where ive been you would'nt be surprised, afterall our universal language is infact sound. All creatures, smart or dumb, will use sound. Take bats for example. Vincent yawned out, and cracked his neck.

He watched zin as she transformed her hand. VIncent took this as an insult. "do you think me a fool? Only a master can transform into a griffin and the polymorph spell isnt even strong enough, it requires a higher level spell only acheived by great wizards, mages, and clerics. DO you think i havnt been around long enough to know this, or do you enjoy testing my intelect?" vincent yelled, jumping to his feet. vincent took a deep breath after his long breathless sentence. Then he calmed "sorry, i lose my temper easily, it is somthing that im not proud of and somthing that is very dangerous"

Zin looked rather shocked at the sudden, vehment reaction that the strange man had to her simple comment. "Mm...I get the names mixed up, and, despite a high level of magical training, nothing beats practice on a spell you can't control." She scowled, a bit miffed. "There's no reason to be so easily angered, no matter what you are. Even a fire mage can keep their temper in check!"

Her violet eyes blazed from beneath the hood, wide and annoyed. "And yes, I realize it's easy to be insulted, I know the feeling." She scowled, then shook her head. "I suppose I can't say I can do the same however, so I don't have any reason to be angry with you for your temper."

Vincent rubbed his head. he hated thinking too much. WHen he actualy sounded smart it meant he had been deep in thought about the subject for awhile. polymorphing had been on his mind while he had walked through the desert. He had been thinking about a vampires natural ability to change into bats, and the spell, how similar they were composed.

Vins stomach growled. "jeez, im getting hungry, whatabout you when was the last time youve eatin, i was thinking about maybe some pork with a dash of spice..... oh wait i dont have any pig.... hmmm, maybe theres somthing in this cave worth hunting.... are you vegitarian? " vin rambled on, ones again he felt somthing moving in the cave, but it was closer now.

The half-elf laughed. "I don't really remember. All I've been eating is bread and near-toxic liquids lately." She smirked. "Alcohol. A bit depressing that it tends to be cheaper than most foods. Unhealthy, but...it doesn't have much of an effect anymore, so it doesn't matter."

She grimaced. "It's pathetic to think that someone can survive on alcohol as a basis for their diet. Utterly pathetic." Her eyes closed halfway and she sighed. "No. I'm not. Far from it, and I'm going to assume you aren't either..."

Vincent laughed "you know the irony is alcohol is made from the same wheats as bread" vincent pulled out a loaf of bread he had stolen off a lone traveler. He thought maybe of using it as bait for a large lizard or somthing. "im not vegitarian i couldnt live of of vegtibles. impossible you know. I am a vampire after all" vincent smiled exposing his large pointed teeth. "Im afraid that i may have to resort to less then civilized manors of getting food. You see when i dont eat my judgment fails i become barbaric, in a sence. " vincent stood up and Pushed back the hood of his cloak. Exposing his long red hair, and red eyes. "You might recognize me now, i am vincent zik'ieth. One of the few remaining vampires of the old age. Of corse the new generations seem to have a less and less intrest in history these days."

The half-elfs' eyes flickered over Vincent's fangs, her face rather blank, without any real reaction of horror or revulsion. "Hn...That's certainly diffrent. I can't say it's at all worrying though. I've dealt with murderous cousins and dwarves and I deal with a demon every day. I can't say I'm hard to scare, but the terror I should feel is dulled by ths fact that I have a bad headache because of the demon screaming at me in my skull."

Her head tilted to one side as she eyed the bread. "You're not going to eat that then...Can I have it?"

Vincent laughed. "sure nots like i can use it for much" vincent tossed the peace of bread to zin. Vincent listened as somthing rustled behind him. "you eat up your solid food, as for me well i have somthing different in mind" vincent drew slowly drew his sword and lifted it to eye level.

THen suddenly A large roar burst out from behind vincent a large basilisk came charging at him. Vincent jumped up in the air landed on its neck and stabbed down, rendering the beast parylized. Viscoxi flew up behind vincent and landed on his shoulder "finally it took you long enough" vincent scowled.

Zin caught the bread, and grinned slightly. "Thanks." She was about to ask what he had for food when the basalisk charged, and with a yelp she covered her eyes, making sure that the creature's gaze wouldn't end up killing her. "I...never knew that those...beasts...were still alive..." She shuddered, then sighed.

"Cheers." She nodded towards the vampire, keeping her eyes turned from the basalisk, and tore a chunk of the bread off, and ate.

Vincent sat down and put viscoxi onto the ground "there is an entire colonie of them living in the deepest parts of this cave. I sent viscoxi to go lure one here. It took him awhile though." vicnet smiled and pushed down onto the creatures nose. Vincent turned to the beast its eyes where closed, but its eyes shot around inside its sockets. He patted the crest of its brow and the eyes slowed slightly. "basislisk blood is very valuable... especialy to vampires. human blood gives the main nutrients we need ,but to gain power we need somthing stronger." Vincent climbed over to the beasts temple. He drew is sword of poison and stabbed right into the skull. The eyes stopped moving. Vincent climbed down to the beasts mouth a pulled it open. The teeth oozed with poison. then he stabbed up into the brain from the inside. Vin took a step back and let the jaw drop. "cant ever be too careful... perhaps you would like some meat to go with that bread.... but im not sure how edible basilisk meat is...."

"A whole colony?" The half-elf shuddered. "Hate to run into any of them. Poisonous and deadly to look in the eye..." Her eyes opened and she watched as he finished off the basalisk. "So magical beings give you extra power then...like dragons and celestials and demons? And Viscoxi is...that bat then."

She grinned, and walked over, sitting down to stare at the bat. "Strange little thing...Sure, it could be dangerous to eat...but I should know a spell that might work to stop the poison, if it's in the flesh."

vincent nodded his head "yup unicorns, dragons, ect. Of corse a basilisk has magical powers that require blood so healthy they could be mistakin for a magic made liquid. Makes it better." Vin began to cut his way through a layer of skales around the side of the neck with his sword. "me and viscoxi have been partners for as long as i can remember. He even came back to me after i was buried alive by a preistess." vin pulled off the layer of scales and began to cut into the soft skin. Once vin had carved out a large square, he pryed it out with his sword. Beneath the skin was a pouch that seemed to be filled with a boiling puss. "the posion sac...."

Zin shuddered as she craned her neck to see. She sighed as she realized that this would not be easy to accomplish, and stood after putting the bread into her pack-a tattered thing that had managed to get through the storm without being filled with sand. She gagged as she looked at the basalisks' sac of poison. "Disgusting!" She paused, then laughed, snatching a dagger from her boot. "D'you mind if I try to cut it open?"

She didn't wait for an answer, carefully peeling away scales, starting from the area that Vincent had uncovered. "So why'd the priestess bury you? You don't seem that bad, despite being a vampire, and it's not like you can help being what you are after all."

Vincent slightly grinned at her question "no not at .... all" he muttered as she began to cut it. "just make sure you make sure a bit stays in, i need to collect some" vin put his sword away.

At the end of the next question vin smil faded into a frown. Vincent turned around and walked back a few steps. "i dont really want to talk about it..." vin said. Obvously she had never heard of vincent the tirent before. He had litterally wiped out three villages, one castle and, two small clans. He didnt want to lose his new companions trust. Vincent watched as zin cut into the soft flesh. Then vincents eyes shot up "NO! DONT TOUCH THAT!!" as zin irritated a small purple gland around the bordes of the cut. All of the sudden a horrible smell shot though the air. The death gland. Every basislisk had one. Vincent had my sure to cut the connection between it and the basilisk befor it died.

A loud roar came from the back of the cave, followed by another and another. "umm... yeah... the colonie just woke up..."

Zin literally jumped at the vampires' sudden yell. "Don't touch w-Oh gods!" She clamped a hand over her mouth as the smell crashed into her, and her eyes watered. "What is th...oh...joy..." She shuddered. "Well...they didn't seem that tough...one at a time...unless you're just incredibly strong."

She snapped her dagger back to its' place on her belt, and unsheathed her own blade, a katana. "...not dangerous at all..." She was twitching slightly, and looking more than a little scared at the prospect of facing down several basalisks...

"Uh...how many did you say there were...to make up this...colony?" Her voice was at a strange high pitch now, an annoying squeak.

Strange to be afraid of a basilisk, and not a vampire...

Vincent raised his sword with his right, holding his nose with his left "well a basilisk colonie usualy consists of a alpha, the alpha's mate, a number of alpha's children, their' children, and an elder. A basilisk usualy lays about ten eggs in its life time, but usualy only three lives past the age of thirteen. Id say..... around fifteen." vincent didnt like these odds. When facing multiple opponents he usualy ended up flying through a wall. "did i mention the one i killed was only a child?" vin yelled over the growing roars and foot steps. Vincent looked into the darkness, the faint shapes of the gigantic beasts grew larger. "id saw we have a few choices. try and out run them, mind you when they burrow they are extramly fast. Fight and get eatin. or fight, kill a few, then get eatin. Your choice." vincent forced a smile.

"...a baby..." Zin paled as she watched the basalisks approach, skin slowly turning pale. "In that case...Running's good. Very good idea. Wings are good too."

She shoved her weapon back into its' sheath, and, with forced laughter, started walking backwards. "How high can they jump? If it's fairly low I could try to turn into something with wings. A dragon maybe..." She grimaced suddenly. "It's still storming outside, isn't it? That...that's going to hurt..."

Her body was already changing shape, patches of scales appearing on her face and arms as she stepped backwards.

Vincent jumped toward viscoxi scooping him off the cealing. "Jump? well, at their basic speeds under the ground, they could probibly get like fifty feet into the air, but thats just an estimate" Vincent tossed viscoxi into the air, sending him into an immidiate soar. Vincent looked back at the corpse of the basilisk. He sighed "the things i do for my friends" vincent sprinted towards the corpse drawing out his dagger. He quickly began to cut around the pouch. He had to get this poison. The poison when mixed properly could be made into an elixer, one so powerful that it could cure a man turned to stone. Vincent continued to cut, as the horrible eyes of the basilisks began to appear behind him.

"Uh...I think they're coming...Coming now." She stopped, and shook her head. "Tug on my wing whenever you think it's a good time to leave, alright? Because I won't be looking with my eyes. Because I'm not going to have my eyes open, because I don't care to be killed by looking at something..."

She shut her eyes as the shapeshift spell finished, turning her into a fairly small black dragon. She was more than happy she still had her spells however, and concentrated, sending several bolts of dark energy towards the basilisks-hoping that at least one hit, to send a bolt of sharp pain through the monsters' body.

Vincent quickly struggled with the few remaining threads of the sack. "just a few more moments!" vincent growled listening to moans of pain coming from the ever growing shadows. VIncents sweat shot down his face like tears. "almost...... GO!!" vincent yelled as he ripped the last threads of the sack from the skin. Vincent might have well punched zins wing with the way he did it. Vin mulmbled a few words and his body molded itself into a small bat shape , the pouch closed tightly around its claws. vin shot into the air, beating his wings at high speeds, as the figures of the basilisks slowly emerged from the darkness.

Zin bit back a yelp, and spun, eyes opening as she raced towards the exit, wings pulled tight to her back so she could make it through the entrance. 'Runrunrunrunrun...' She scrabbled through the exit, scraping off several scales as she did so, and whimpered as she heard the slither of scales on stone coming closer quickly.