Carpathian 03 - Dark Gold

starlight and glowed with red flames, the flickers of ruby matching the blood on his face.
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    The bat hesitated, then began to lengthen and grow into a grotesque creature with talons and a razor-sharp beak. The creature moved sideways, approaching Aidan but favoring its right side.
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    Aidan remained motionless, a statue carved from stone. Only his eyes were alive, flaming with deadly resolve.
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    His stare stopped the creature, intimidating it until it changed again, reshaping itself into a tall, thin, pale man with cold, pitiless eyes. Ramon regarded Aidan warily. "I do not think you are right this time, Aidan. You are gravely wounded. I will prevail, and I will take the woman for myself."
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    "It is an impossibility, Ramon. You may bray like a donkey, but no one, not even you, will believe your bravado. Come to me, and accept the justice of our people, as you know you should. You have committed crimes against all humanity."
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    "I have power! You are weak, a fool. Your life has been dedicated to a false purpose. Where are those you fight to save from one such as me? The humans you protect would drive a stake through your heart if they knew of your existence. Your own people have condemned you to a solitary existence, without even the soil of your homeland to nourish you. They have left you here alone in this place. Join me, Aidan. I can save you. Join with me, and we will take over this city.
    Do you not believe we deserve to do so? We can have it all. Riches, women. We can rule here."
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    "I have everything I have always wanted, my old friend. Come to me as you know you should. I will make your end swift and painless." He had to make it swift. Time was running out. His life's blood was on the ground now, his enormous strength draining away.

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    The vampire was edging closer, attempting to throw Aidan off with the illusion of bats winging right toward the Carpathian's blood-streaked body. Aidan remained still, those red-starred golden eyes never leaving Ramon's gray face.
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    The vampire launched himself. As he did so, Aidan felt Alexandria merge with him, pouring her strength, her will, her courage, her belief in him, into his mind. It was a priceless gift, and Aidan used it with all the speed of which he was capable. At the last possible moment he simply stepped aside, his arm locking around the vampire's neck, snapping it like a twig. The head flopped to one side, and Ramon began to howl, a high-pitched, agonized cry that went on and on.
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    Taking a deep breath, Aidan finished it, plunging his hand straight into the thin chest until he reached the pulsating heart. He removed the organ and flung it away from the vampire, stepping back quickly to avoid the spraying blood. Almost immediately his strength gave out, and he found himself sitting on the ground, helpless, open to any attack.
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    She came out of the darkness. Her scent reached him first. Though the smell of blood was driving him slowly insane, he did not attempt to utilize the vampire's contaminated blood to replenish himself. Then suddenly she was there, fresh and clean and pure in the face of evil. And he had tainted blood on his hands and death surrounding him. He could not look into her eyes and see the condemnation there. He couldn't face it.
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    "Stefan! Tell me what to do."
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    Her voice was musical, as soft as an early-morning breeze. To die with her voice in his mind and heart was not so bad. But Aidan did not want her in this place of death. "There is nothing you can do. Walk away, Alexandria. Go to the Carpathian Mountains, as you promised me." His eyes were closing, far too heavy to keep open. "Go to my homeland, and I will feel as if you took a part of me with you."
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    "Oh, shut up," she snapped impatiently, horrified at the sight of him. She didn't even glance at the fallen vampire. "No one asked you, Aidan. And you're not going to die. I won't allow that, so stop the macho act and cooperate. Come on, Stefan! What do I do for him?" She was already applying pressure to the worst wound, the one in his thigh. She had never seen so much blood spilled. It was a red river soaking into the ground. She concentrated on Aidan, keeping her gaze away from the fallen, disfigured bodies.
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    "He needs your saliva mixed with soil. Pack the mixture into the wounds," Stefan said quickly, kneeling beside them.
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    "It's so unsanitary!" she