The Dark Edge Chronicles - Clan War

Negotiations

He paused to look at the grim Ventru High Lord.

"And finally you have come face to face with the force behind the effort to erase Ventru from off of the vampiric map. What do you say, Lash? Shall we finish it?"

"So, using the Nordstrom was your idea, then?" Lash pressed instead of directly answering.

Romanescu's brow lifted in surprise at the question. But he didn't hesitate to answer.

"The spy and their ground troops against your border forces to pull your attention there, yes. Anka, no. That was Demaskieros, looking to sow chaos through the conclave." Romanescu leaned forward slightly.

"Did it hurt when she ripped off your manhood with her teeth, Lash?"

The big vampire stared at Romanescu for a long moment. He had thought such information wouldn't have left NachtFeuer. With the slaver revealing his awareness of the more painful details of his encounter with the erstwhile Nord lilith, he reasoned either Romanescu had hacked the lilith fortress's database to access that information. Or one of the liliths had a Blood Guard that betrayed their vows for the promise of money and power. It would be information he needed to share with them as the soonest opportunity.

Then, with one hand, he began to undo his utility vest.

"Since you're so curious, Marius, I'll hurt you in a way that you'll feel what I felt," he flatly stated. Then he looked over at a frowning Demaskieros.

"As it turns out, traitor, you're right about blood duels to the death. So I will remove my armor and weapons. But you forgot they also have to be witnessed by representatives of the major clans. Barring that, representatives of the council."

Lash smiled thinly as he let his vest drop to the floor.

"As it turns out, I happen to have representatives of the major clans here to serve as witnesses." And he looked over his shoulder at the column he had appeared from behind.

"I am Captain Truk Vandergren of House Lash," Truk stepped from behind the column right on cue. "I will witness for Clan Ventru."

"I am Sergeant Sasha Orimov of House Trotsky," the lean Vorinov soldier said as he stepped out from behind a different column. "I will witness for Clan Vorinov."

"I am Lord Tanis Sebastian of House Sebastian," Tanis said as he stepped out from behind the same column Lash and Truk had stepped out from behind. "I will witness for Clan Nosferatu."

Nodding in satisfaction, Lash looked back at the Toreador traitor, his expression expectant.

"I am Lord Elan Demaskieros of House Demaskieros," the lean traitorous councilor finally said after a long hestiation, his expression stoney.

"I will witness for Clan Toreador."

Lash slowly nodded as he disconnected his EM generator, took off his tunic and peeled away his upper body neuron armor to carefully set them beside his utility vest. He had expected Demaskieros to play a part in this farce, although he didn't think he'd shed his disguise as the Vorinov councilor to do it.

His weapons were the last to find themselves added to the pile. Then Lash was carefully straightening up.

"And the weapons we'll be using, Toreador?" he asked, his tone hard and cold.

"Car'deith stone daggers," was the imposter's instant reply.

So, a weapon that can kill with a scratch. With his EM generator on board, that wouldn't have been an issue, the generated field more than sufficient to protect him from the radioactive blade's deadly touch, letting him worry only about being sufficiently damaged by a stab wound that he would be incapacitated. But he took that off to adhere to the ancient code of the blood duel.

A look at Romanescu had him carefully handing the detonator to his co-conspirator, Demaskieros before he too began taking his body armor off. The question now was: did the White Flame nanites that undoubtedly polluted the slaver's bloodstream grant him protection where Lash would have none?

The big vampire's expression tightened as he tore his eyes off Romanescu to step to one of the nearby dead Hand agents to flip them over and draw their car'deith dagger from its shielded sheath on their waist. He would have to assume the nanites would, indeed, protect the former Qos Viran operator from the radioactive dagger's deadly effects. So it would be a sure kill shot he would have to land to defeat him. All while preventing Romanescu from even scratching him.

Lash carefully flipped the heavy weapon around in his hand to get a feel for it. Then he was looking up as Romanescu picked up his own car'deith, also from a fallen Hand agent.

"Witnesses. I stand ready," he said in a formal voice.

Romanescu immediately looked up, then nodded to see Lash armed.

"Witnesses. I stand ready," the Nosferatu traitor echoed in an equally formal voice.

"You will duel in the open space to the left of the table," Demaskieros directed.

Lash hazarded a glance at the indicated space. And found it far from empty, the floor covered with dead Hand and White Flames. He mentally shrugged. It wasn't like this would be the first time he fought over the top of bodies.

Stepping to the edge of the space, he then turned back towards Romanescu. And found that the slaver had followed him at a slight distance to take up a position on the opposite edge of the space.

"Begin on my signal," Demaskieros said as the witnesses carefully stepped to four equidistant spots around the space to observe the fight.

The lean Toreador then made a show of looking first at Romanescu, then at Lash. Then he was snapping a single word:

"Begin!"

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