Anton goes to lift Basilio - but the Lasombra shoos him off.
"I can walk myself Anton, I just... I'm fine."
Tendrils sprout from Basilio's clothing and wrap themselves around the dark one's limbs. They replace his ruined muscles, and the dark lord walks uneasily through them. Shuffling painfully to the exit, Basilio looks back at the three.
"Kiril, bring Husayn to Jorgi, he will keep him in stasis. When he wakes, we can deal with him. Come to me after, I need to speak with you."
A pang of something - perhaps jealousy? Or is it guilt at what he is about to do? Runs through Kiril. He ignores it, he will need all his will and focus and strength for what is to come.
Basilio leaves, Anton trotting after him; the ashen knight standing guard.
---
Kiril eyes Husayn.
The tendrils restricting the assassin are still in place, though they are not necessary - even unrestrained the assassin would be helpless, so great was the damage he'd sustained. Magnificent, truly, was his skill - and his devotion as well. He could have killed Basilio - easily in fact - had Kiril and Anton not been warned. Three times in that fight their presence had changed the tide of battle, three times Husayn suffered a terrible loss.
Now it is time he suffers a fourth.
Kiril kneels before the assassin, lays a hand against the blackened skin of his already dark face, and pushes slightly, revealing the assassin's neck. There is a dull pain as his fangs spring out.
---
About halfway through the labyrinth, Basilio stops and sits against the wall - if it were a mortal Anton would think he was having a dizzy spell.
Before he can ask what's wrong, or if the lord needs help, or before Anton can look away to save his sire his pride, Basilio speaks.
"I can't forgive him for this."
---
Kiril sinks his fangs into the assassin's neck.
Immediately he is conscious of but one feeling - pure and almost uncontrollable ecstasy.
It overwhelms him almost completely - Husayn's blood was rich and powerful, within it hummed energy unlike anything he could imagine - but there is so very little of it. In less than a second he takes the minuscule remaining amount of lifeforce suffused within Husayn's blood, sucking the assassin dry.
Then he strains himself, pulling harder, rupturing the ancient's veins so as to drain him of that which meant the most - the seat of his vampiric power, the cage of his beast, the lair of his soul. Kiril starts drinking the Heart's Blood.
---
"He tried to kill me."
Basilio does not yell, or scream, or show anger - but as he speaks he reveals a pain that stuns Anton. He has never seen his sire so weak.
"I'm surrounded by enemies, by spies, by assassins - and now, the one Cainite I thought I could trust..."
---
Through his fangs Kiril gasps - in pleasure, surprise, pain or astonishment, or some combination of the four, he does not know.
Memories that are not his flood through him.
The second son of a wealthy merchant, Kiril grew up in and around the marketplaces. Though he was never one of the ragged children who swarmed to such places, Kiril learned many skills from them — stealth, how to lighten a rich man's purse, and, most importantly, how to talk his way out of trouble. A hidden observer watched Kiril's maneuverings during one night time foray, noting his quickness and grace as well as his gift for words.
---
"You're all that I have left, you and your brother. I have nothing else of consequence. Even this damned city, that I once thought to be my legacy, my dream, to be accomplished with Husayn."
---
The Heart's Blood courses through him. Kiril feels Husayn's soul waking, he feels the assassin realize what's happening - and it reacts, striking back at him.
As Kiril started home that night, the Assamite who had watched him kidnapped him and claimed him as his apprentice. Kiril rebelled against his enforced training at first, but as he realized the skills he was perfecting, he began to revel in his abilities. After a seven-year apprenticeship, Kiril was inducted into the Assamite clan as a full member. Where he had once been a brash boy, he now adopted order and structure as the keys to personal power and stability.
---
"It has all been for nothing."
The elder Lasombra gives a long sigh, and for a while, there is silence.
---
Kiril begins to struggle. He feels pleasure now, but he no longer wants the pleasure - the pleasure is distracting him, weakening him.
He's losing the fight.
Husayn strikes at him again, and for a second, Kiril sees his soul through Husayn's eyes. He sees it and feels small, for he is little more than a sputtering green flame nearly engulfed by some necrotic, malicious thing that dwelled within his own hearts blood.
The Beast
Kiril's gift for diplomacy led to his current assignment. He has presented himself to Prince Basilio of Sofia as an ambassador from the Turks, claiming to share a common enemy — the Transylvanian and Bulgarian Tzimisce — with the Lasombra leader of Sofia. In actuality, Kiril has come from Constantinople at the request of an old enemy of Basilio's, a Tzimisce named Gabor. This Gabor feels he deserves to be Prince of Sofia and overlord of all Bulgaria. Kiril is charged with the assassination of Prince Basilio.
---
"I'm leaving Sofia."
Basilio's statement comes as a surprise - Sofia was important to the elder. What would happen to it now?
---
Kiril sees that sputtering flame grow weaker and weaker. Even his beast weakens sadly under the strain of Husayn's soul. Kiril feels the weight and power of centuries pressing down on him.
Even Gabor does not know the full story, however. While it is true that Kiril is ostensibly working for Gabor, Kiril is actually carrying out the orders of the Saracens, who requested that he accept Gabor's assignment. His masters wish for him to spy on Sofia and assassinate the prince of the city when it is most convenient for their plans of conquest. Whether they actually want Bulgaria or not, destabilizing the rebellious country at the proper moment could seriously weaken Constantinople and draw off a number of her armies, Besides, if Bulgaria suffers as a result of the assassination, the native Cainites will blame one of their own — Gabor — for causing the trouble.
---
"I'm going back to my homeland. To my sire. I need time to think... perhaps I shall take to the seas again."
Basilio goes quiet again, in contemplation. By now Anton realizes his master will speak again soon, he just needs to clear his mind.
Was this how he would speak to Husayn?
---
No thoughts this time. He is too weak to think coherently.
The Assamite has resided in Sofia for nearly two years, and Gabor is beginning to wonder why Kiril has not made his move. Kiril claims that he is merely taking his time, waiting for the moment of greatest effect in the larger scheme of things. He is actually waiting for orders from Alamut. Further,
he has grown fond of the prince, seeing in the Lasombra a desire for civilization and order that Kiril finds intriguing when compared to the arcane and convoluted maneuverings of the Cainites he has known.
---
"Before I leave, I must ask one thing of you, Anton. It will take a few months for Husayn to recover from his attack on me. I will call in a favour Sandor owes me and he shall craft Husayn new arms. You will then accompany him to Constantinople."
---
Kiril's arm twitches, and moves. What little remains of Kiril's consciousness is overwhelmed by fear.
It was not he who willed his arm to move.
Kiril hopes to delay fulfilling his contract as long as possible, but he realizes that sooner or later he is honor bound to obey its terms. He knows, unfortunately, that the Lasombra is no match for him. Though he cannot hope to avenge his friend's death, Kiril has sworn to himself that Basilio's final night on Earth would soon be followed by Gabor's end as well.
---
"You and Husayn will kill Gabor for putting this price on my head. Don't look so surprised, Husayn told me everything before he attacked. Then you will let Husayn go free of his debt to me with my blessing."
---
Not long after, Kiril went on a trip with Basilio, where he saw Basilio's two childer - Anton and Husayn. They had just built a castle with the help of some other kindred from notable elders. They were strong - stronger than when he had last seen them. An idea began to take form.
The day the order came, Kiril took a letter he'd carefully written months ago, and sent it away by messenger.
---
"Before I leave I will summon master Boukephos to the city. He will impart his blessing onto Kiril here, and he will be made lord of Sofia. None would dare defy a monster such as him."
---
He stalked the two brothers within the church, speaking to them, slowly warning them. They were so clueless, so young. They knew nothing.
But with their help, Basilio could defeat him. Kiril made every preparation against Basilio. Never did he factor in the aid of his childer. Nor was he going to now.
He stabbed carefully, precisely. Knicked Anton's heart and left Husayn on the ground, paralyzed - then he rushed off to Jorgi's spa. He'd incapacitated the ghoul earlier that day, now he just took his disguise and waited.
---
"You will like him, I think. He is a wise man, and will have much to teach you. He loves to meet his grandchilder and great grandchilder, one day you will likely do the same for whoever you choose to make your own."
---
He made his way quickly down the slickened stairs, keeping his balance and position with barely any effort. Through a secret passage the brothers never found around the wall of stone, he came across Desiderio. The mystic had but a moment of surprise before Kiril struck, faster than a blink. He drove the stake through the mystic's heart, then forcefully shoved iron rods through each limb against the right wall.
Taking off then, Kiril takes a secret passage around the right wall smack in the crossways.
---
"Once he proclaims Kiril lord of Sofia, he will accompany you to Krondstadt, where he will proclaim you lord there as well. I understand you've been having trouble with the Teutonic Order. You will have no more after this. Lord Jürgen is a fly to Boukephos."
---
Moving carefully to avoid the traps, over the pit, soon he came to the Leviathan. The creature struck unexpectedly fast, its shadows burning Kiril's shoulder.
Kiril moved fast, spraying acidic blood onto the shadows. They dissipated with a whine-like scream. He saw the statue from which darkness crawls and stuck rapidly, shadows moved in front of him but were cut away by a bloody blade . Kiril broke his fist on the unnaturally powerful stone.
The tendrils seized him and begin to crush. Mild fear, for a second. He might not make it through - but no, Kiril is an assassin of centuries, skilled and experienced. He has faced more dangerous foes than this.
Blood poured out of Kiril in a horrid Blood Sweat that encased his entire body. He expelled the blood violently and it coated everything in his vicinity, burning and eating away at the stone and darkness alike.
The statue, weakened by the acid, broke open on Kiril's next strike. The abyssal essence ate away briefly at Kiril's hand, but then faded, banished back from whence it came.
---
"For too long you and Kiril have been my childer, Anton. It is time you become my sons."
---
Kiril takes a second to heal himself of what wounds he could. The burns on his shoulder would not heal, but the rest of him did beautifully. He moves smoothly, not rushing, up to Basilio's room, where the Lasombra waits for him. The two begin talking, and talk for a while, before Anton and Husayn enter the room.
---
"More than that, it is time you become lords. You are lord of Krondstadt, Anton, but no longer are you under my thumb. I release you from my service. You may ask any one boon of me, for what you have done today."
---
Kiril lies immobilized, held helpless by tendrils now. He feels a brief pain, followed by an intense pleasure at his neck. His soul wakes, and he soon sees it - Husayn? But Kiril has already lost, he is no longer an enemy but the most faithful friend, why?
Kiril starts back to wakefulness. His soul resurges in strength. He is conscious again. He feels the Heart's Blood on his tongue.
---
"No longer are you Basilio's Ashen knight, Anton. You are the Dark Lord of Krondstadt. Wear your power well."
---
Kiril feels great sorrow, and he understands. As he saw through Husayn's life, Husayn saw through his. He knew why.
Husayn does not fight back this time.
Kiril feels sick of the pleasure.
---
Anton leads Basilio back to his chambers, where the Lasombra goes to rest and recover from his wounds. Basilio insists Anton leaves to rest himself, while Basilio's ghouls stand guard.
Deep within a labyrinth, in the heart of the city of Sofia, within the chambers of the city's prince, a great sacrifice and a great evil have just taken place.
Kiril rises from Husayn's ashes, the assassin's body having crumbled sometime in the past few minutes - he is not quite sure when. He feels... he is not sure what he feels. He remembers a lot of things he doesn't know, and feels he has forgotten many that he should. Carinus should be able to help him realize what happened.
Slowly, Kiril remembers why he is here, and what he has just done. He can feel the black stain on his soul. He can feel that he is no longer alone - perhaps he will never be.
Kiril leaves the room.
Basilio would spend days grieving over his friend, who died in that room from his final suicidal attack. But he would recover eventually.
Kiril was there for him.
So ends the tale of the master assassin, Husayn Al Fatin.
End Sidequest