Chapter 5
The Baali
The open road was harsh during the day. Their covered caravan kept threatening to let the sun through its cloth and Jaffar constantly woke during the day. His dreams were filled with memories of the sun against his flesh only to become nightmares as he remembered the pain of fire toy across his body. Najir and Khalid laughed slightly upon hearing his dreams. They had told him, several times since the fight, that the fire had been an illusion. Nothing more then a figment of his mind created by the Ravnos woman.
He hated the Ravnos. Stupid clan with a stupid power. What kind of vampire threw fire? He should have known it was a trick of some sort. He felt ashamed he had run from the fight. The emotions feed the Beast inside of him. The Beast had told him to run, it was the Beast that made him cower from that woman and her childer.
The bumpy road caused the carriages to shake. The long road had caused him to become hungry and when they had stopped in Susa he made sure to find mortals to satisfy his needs. Khalid had disappeared during their visit to Susa. He had returned before their departure but he had a look of unease about him. He had thought nothing of it then but now, as they were reaching Babylon, Khalid’s unease seemed to grow.
The night air was cool and quiet so when they reached the point were they could see Babylon in the distance they could clearly hear the sound of horses making their way toward the caravan. Four men on horseback made their way forward. As they came clearly into view there was no mistaking the men as soldiers. Jaffar held his Eye of Arrgos close.
“The man in front is a vampire,” he whispered to Najir and Khalid. They both looked at him and then back to the approaching vampire.
Najir took the seat as the driver and motioned for the ghoul to hide. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.” Khalid sank back into the carriage. Best not to be seen. Jaffar disappeared and took his seat next to Najir. The men finally reached their carriage before pulling their horses to a stop. The vampire came forward.
“Stop your carriage and no harm will come to you.” He spoke with a clear and proclaimed voice.
Najir sneered at him “Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is harbor a Baali.”
Jaffar thought back to his days at Alamet. He was told that sometimes vampires didn’t always sire childer from their clan. Sometimes they sired bloodlines, vampires not apart of a clan, vampires with no founder. They had told him of the many bloodlines that were out there. When they reached the topic of bloodline Baali it was kept very brief.
Kill them.
They were demons in man’s skin. They were the evil in the night and all that was unholy. They made pacts with demons and sot to destroy everything. They were unworthy of Caine’s gift and must be killed.
“We are harboring no such thing,” Najir stood up and picked up his mining pick. The threatening gesture made the vampire laugh.
“We know one of you is a Baali. However, I don’t wish to harm the other two unless you wish to protect the beast.” He pulled his own sword from his sheath.
Najir looked at the three men accompanying the vampire and then back to him. Jaffar slipped down from the seat and moved closer to the vampire. If a fight were to start the vampire would regret he interfered with their travel.
“How is it you know one of us is a Baali? Do you have any proof?” Najir stood firm on the carriage and refused to move.
The vampire narrowed his eyes. “I have the power to detect what clan a vampire is by the taste of his blood. If the three of you were to submit to a simple test and hail from different clans then I will be on my way. However, I cannot stand around and watch a Baali go free. I will find him.”
Najir narrowed his eyes and thought about the vampire’s statement.
“Very well,” Najir jumped down from the carriage and spoke out to the night. “Jaffar, show yourself.”
Jaffar dropped his powers of invisibility. It was apparent that no one here could sense him as even the horses became startled when he appeared.
Najir stepped forward and then turned toward the carriage. “Khalid, come out, would you?” From the back of the carriage, covered in more clothing then Jaffar remembered him wearing, Khalid stepped out. Najir then took out a small dagger and cut along his arm, drawing blood. He handed the dagger to the vampire. Upon getting close the vampire finally saw Najir for what he was. He licked the blade anyway.
“Nosferatu. I’m sorry sir for having bothered you.”
Najir look of annoyance intensified. Jaffar looked back to Khalid as if expecting him to do the same. The look in Khalid’s eyes worried him. He was looking at the vampire with an intensity that would kill. He took Khalid’s silence to mean it was his turn now.
He stepped forward and followed Najir’s lead. Withdrawing his own knife he cut his arm and handed the now blood soaked weapon to the vampire. The vampire took a quick lick and returned to him.
“Assamite. Warrior. Sorry to have bothered you, sir.”
Jaffar turned back to Khalid again to see he was still concentrated on the vampire. The vampire turned toward Khalid as well.
“Will you present your blood or is violence your answer?”
The vampire readied his sword and moved his horse closer. Najir turned in annoyance toward Khalid. Najir held whatever he was about to say when he glanced up at Khalid. Stepping closer to the vampire Khalid looked him straight in the eye.
In veil words that echoed with unholy powers he heard Khalid whisper to the vampire.
“Your stupidity will lead you into the depths of Hell where you will burn for all of eternity.”
The words help unknown power. Jaffar could tell the words sank deep into the enemy vampire and a slight shiver of fear ran down Jaffar’s spine. He turned to see the vampire shaking unable to look away from Khalid. After a moment of what appeared to be pure panic he grabbed the reins of his horse and took off full speed in the opposite direction.
Even the vampire’s men were confused with that had just happened, the only one not distracted was Najir who came swinging at one of the guards. A miner’s pick slammed into the back of one guard’s head as he went sailing to the ground dead. Jaffar caught himself before it was to late. One of the guards regained their composure and took at swing for his neck. He rolled away in time to Khalid move forward in slight panic.
“The vampire can’t be left alive,” he muttered as the vampire ran off in the distance, closing in on Babylon. Najir turned to him and looked back at the vampire while still holding off one of the guard’s attacks.
“We can never catch him now. Help us fight!’ He turned back and hit the horse with his pick.
Jaffar ran up and slashed the man’s arm. That must have been enough for the man as he turned his horse and headed for the tree line in the distance. Khalid walked in the direction of the vampire.
As Najir delivered the killing blow to the last guard Jaffar caught sight of Khalid. His arm was engulfed in black fire. The flames seemed to ripple from his skin as he thrust his arm forward sending the flame firing toward the vampire. Jaffar watched in horror as the unholy flame fell and engulfed the vampire, killing him and his horse. Unable to look away at the pile of ash that used to be a vampire Jaffar just stood, dumbstruck.
Khalid grabbed the edge of Jaffar’s robes and pulled him out of his thoughts. “Kill the other man! He can’t be allowed to live!” He pushed Jaffar toward the horse of the first guard. Feeling confused and unsteady he climbed up onto the horse and rood off at full speed toward the tree line. The man had already reached the forest and catching up would be hard but the urgency in Khalid’s voice told him he would be furious if he came back with reports of failure. He spotted the man some distance away now moving at a slow trot. Thought you had escaped, huh?
Jaffar urged his horse faster and before the man could coax his horse to do the same he was missing his head. Jaffar threw himself from his horse and went to retrieve the man’s body. The Assamites had always told him to punish the unworthy… Since the man was already dead to turned to the near-by horse. Taking the fresh innards he refreshed himself with its blood and then spread he organs across the forest. He made sure anyone visiting this site anytime soon would know of the horrors here. It’s body stretched out across the land in an odd fashion and it’s head placed in the branches of a low hanging tree.
He returned a while later to Najir and Khalid silent in the carriage.
“I killed him.”
Khalid looked up. “Good work.” He gave an approving glace at his blood soaked robes. Khalid then pulled the robes over his head and moved to the very back of the caravan. “We shouldn’t return to Babylon for awhile.”
Najir moved toward the front of the caravan. The miner ghouls he had brought were cowering in the second wagon when they were finally found. For the remainder of the trip to the Mediterranean Sea Najir and Khalid were silent. They would answer when he spoke to them but they kept to themselves and almost refused to talk to each other.
So Khalid was a Baali. Training told him now was a time to reclaim the blood. Jaffar looked back at Khalid and then up into the starry night. I can’t break my word to a coterie member. I said I would protect him. I wont kill him because of his blood. His actions will determine his worth. Alamet never has to know… How would they ever find out I travel with a member of the Baali?
Kakeyo Silverton Community Member 
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