((A collaboration between TheWyrm and gorgenmast))

Kanes footsteps were soundless as he paced down the long dyed-red carpet that led toward the double doorway of the throne. He could see light streaming through the open doorway, casting a brilliant light upon the corpses of a dead knight and several fallen guardsmen. A fourth corpse lay just beyond the light, tumbled in a corner, entrails spilling across hands that had failed to stuff them back into a vicious stomach wound. A broken sword stuck out from the throne room doorway, a pikehead snapped off just below the shaft lay near a severed leg. There was no sign of the legs owner.  

A sudden crash of metal on stone made him pause, his ears straining to hear more of what might be happening beyond. No signs of battle echoed from the room and the breeze that blew strongly through the shattered castles brought only the sickly sweet smell of recent death. 

An abrupt crunch and a slurping sound told him all he needed to know. He knew all to well the sound of a feeding Vampire, and just how powerful they could be if they went unchecked. Which of the brothers it might be, he did not know. Nor did it matter. He ripped his sword free of the sheath and stepped into the room. 

Ulrek Bathroy was bent over a guardsman who was feebly attempting to escape even as he paled before Kanes eyes. There was no preamble, no attempt at conversation - Kane raised his sword and charged.

It was at the penultimate moment that Ulrek noticed the attacker descending upon him. Only when the vampire hunter had entered Ulrek's peripheral vision did he notice his assailant's presence. With a bestial snarl, Ulrek bolted up from his victim and caught the attacker with a powerful swat to the chest. Nascent claws pierced through the flesh of Ulrek's fingertips, piercing armor and cloth and penetrating down into skin and meat. A percussive thud rang out as Ulrek's reactive swipe catapulted the vampire hunter across the throne chamber. The attacker was slammed into one of the columns with a grimace-inducing thud and then tumbled down to the base of the pillar while his sword clattered onto the tiles a few feet away.

Ulrek studied the would-be assassin laying upon the floor with a bemused scowl. How had this man so-nearly slain Ulrek without his presence being sensed until he was just out of sword's-reach? And how was he still alive after such a blow? Ulrek could sense the attacker's heart beating even now. That furious beat had not slowed a bit; his attacker was not even unconscious - just stunned or unwinded. Ulrek was bewildered and so he probed the attacker's mind, curious to see what sort of a man he was to survive such a blow delivered squarely to the chest.

Nothing.

Ulrek's scowl relaxed into a smile for the first time in a long time indeed. He wiped the blood coating his mouth and lips into the palm of his hand.

"Solomon Kane," Ulrek said, striding across the faded carpet to his sword embedded in the tiles alongside the mangled remains of a slain royal guard. "I have wondered when we would meet again."

"Do you remember when we met, all those months ago? You never introduced yourself, you never gave me your name. But even so, I knew [i]exactly[/i] who you were."

"Surely, you know full well that vampires can read the minds of mortal men," Ulrek continued as he drew Pthaalma up from the cracked and broken tile and inspected the blade, holding it up to the beam of orange twilight filtering in from the opening in the crumbling walls. The silver patina was pitted and marred, exposing flecks of bluish mithril underneath. "Vampire hunters know this better than anyone. They know tricks to keep a vampire from knowing their true thoughts - short rhymes repeated in the back of the head - that sort of thing. All of the other vampire hunters you arrived with at my court did these things."

"But not you."

"I knew you were Solomon Kane when I probed your mind and for the first time in my nearly-three hundred years of life saw [i]nothing[/i]."

Satisfied with his inspection of the sword, Ulrek casually made his way down the faded carpet toward Kane.

"And when I could not probe your mind, I will admit that for the first time in my life, I knew fear. Fear, perhaps, there was some truth to the stories I had heard of the greatest vampire slayer that had ever lived. And there was indeed some truth to those legends. You are, without doubt, the greatest vampire slayer that has ever lived. You killed my father, my brother Matteas, and all the other vampires that inhabited this city."

As Ulrek approached Kane, he gently kicked Kane's sword well away, denying any hope of the vampire hunter rearming himself.

"But it was foolish of me to fear you, Kane," Ulrek said, raising his sword to plunge down on the vampire slayer. "For even the greatest vampire slayer is helpless against the greatest [i]vampire[/i] to ever live."

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVfcjmqdTxw]Suggested Listening[/url]

Kane could not have anticipated the strength and power of Ulreks blow. Sheer surprise, followed by burning pain, ripped through his mind and body as he hurtled through the air to slam into a support pillar. Stars exploded before his eyes and he was instantly aware of an agonizing pain throughout his chest. He gasped for air, each breath like a thousand small needles in his chest. His lungs had been punctured. He could not move his legs. His back was broken. There was undoubtedly more damage, more pain, but it paled in comparison to the fire that burned in his chest.

A mere mortal would have died in that moment, but Kane was no mere man. [i]I am the son of God. This is but the beginning.[/i] Though the pain remained, he could feel it begin to diminish as his body regenerated the damaged organs and close the vicious wounds to his torso. [i]But this is not the Ulrek I knew all those months ago. There is something else here. Something deathly powerful. I have underestimated him. I was prideful And that was my sin.[/i]

He was dimly aware of Ulrek trying to probe his mind. He paid the mental attack no heed. He did not fear such simple vampire tricks, but the sheer raw power was something else altogether. He remained still on the floor. Unmoving, allowing his body to continue healing. Even when Ulrek began to speak, to lecture him, he did not move. Let the fool talk. Every second was another second toward regaining his movement, his ability to fight back. He would not die on this floor amid the ruins of a failed undead dream. 

His eyes tracked Ulrek as the Vampire strode to his sword, the famous Pthaalma, where it was embedded in the stone floor. Kane cursed himself for not noticing the weapon when he entered the room. No common vampire would have been able to drive a blade into stone with such force. He had woefully underestimated his enemy. Still, he suspected that Ulrek was similarly unaware of who Kane truly was. [i]A worthy opponent then. Our battle will be legendary![/i]

The pain in his chest had faded to a dull ache by the time Ulrek began to walk toward him, Pthaalma in hand. His own sword, its white and silver colour seemingly dull against the grey stone, was causally kicked aside, skittering across the stone to lodge against the broken tile. No matter. He did not need a sword to fight such a creature as a vampire. Not anymore. 

"But it was foolish of me to fear you, Kane," Ulrek said, raising his sword to plunge down on the vampire slayer. "For even the greatest vampire slayer is helpless against the greatest vampire to ever live."

Even as Ulrek began to drive the sword down, Kane moved. He rolled swiftly to his right and was already rising to his feet when the sword slammed into the stone where he had been lying a moment before. More tiles exploded into pieces and Kane had a brief moment to enjoy the look of surprise on Ulreks face before the vampire turned on him with a snarl.

Kane wasted no time as he launched himself at Ulrek. His shoulder slammed into the vampire, sending the undead princeling tumbling away from the blade - leaving it vibrating in the stone - a steady humming sound emanating from the steel. The Prince slammed hard into the wall beneath a tapestry proudly showing a lone vampire sitting upon a great throne, surrounded by human vassals saluting him with their swords. Kane offered Ulrek a broad smile. His armour was torn where Ulreks claws had ripped the mail but no blood leaked down the pure white links of mail. As the vampire watched him warily, Kane reached down and took hold of Pthaalma's hilt. 

"Yes, Solomon Kane is my mortal name, and yes, I was a vampire hunter," As he spoke he slowly began to draw the sword from the floor. The vampires eyes widened - the strength a human would need to accomplish such a feat was impossible. "but today, I am judgement. You have undoubtably heard the call of the faithful."

With a sudden jerk he ripped Pthaalma the rest of the way out of the floor and took the blade in one hand, still maintaining hold of the hilt. For a brief second the two glared at each other until, with a voice like thunder, Kane spoke. "God Wills it!" And he snapped Pthaalma in two.

Ulrek's eyes widened as his sword - a nigh-indestructable piece of dwarven mithril - snapped in Kane's hands as though it were made of dryrotten wood. What manner of sorcery did Solomon command to break mithril with his bare hands? Kane did not need to probe Ulrek's mind to see a twinge of of worry on the vampire's face - to know that his fear of the vampire slayer had returned at least in some part.

Ulrek's claws extended another two inches from his fingertips as the blood in the vampire's belly digested. Yellow-white claws of freshly-exposed bone parted the flesh of Ulrek's fingertips, tapering down into sharp points. Ulrek's eyes narrowed as he closed the distance between him and Kane. Kane may have broken a mithril sword with his bare hands, but that still left him bare-handed.

The vampire princeling swiped at the vampire slayer, air whistled around the claws as they sailed inches over Kane's head. The vampire slayer ducked to miss the claws and then lunged up into the vampire's bony chest. Ulrek tumbled backwards onto the carpet as Kane reached for his throat. A vicelike fist clenched down around the vampire's neck as Kane held the vampire to the floor, pressing his knees down into the vampire's torso while his other arm reached for something on his belt: a wooden stake - no doubt.

Just as Kane had found what he was reaching for on his belt, Ulrek freed his left arm and delivered a swipe to Kane's neck. The vampire hunter tumbled aside, releasing his grip from Ulrek's throat and allowing him onto his feet once more. Kane rolled at once and was on his feet - only to meet a powerful clawed blow from the vampire princeling. Kane tumbled through the air once again into one of the hanging tapestries hanging on either side of the chamber. The linen tore from its mounting brackets and tumbled down around Kane in a thick heap as he landed on the floor.

While Kane struggled to free himself from the fallen tapestry, Ulrek went over to Kane's sword laying on the floor just a few feet away. He may have ruined Pthaalma, but Ulrek wouldn't give Kane the chance to break this sword. Ulrek seized the hilt of Kane's sword and allowed its weight to sit in his hand as he assessed the distribution of its weight. As the hilt laid upon his palm, pale yellow flames burst from from Ulrek's hand. The sword felt as though it was just removed from the forge, leaving a sting that radiated up from his hands all the way to his shoulder. Ulrek dropped the sword at once and inspected his palms. White smoke still rising from burns on his hands - burns that were not at all unlike the burns Ulrek received when he began immunizing himself to silver. But there was not a trace of silver on the sword laying at Ulrek's feet.

The musty stench of the tapestry choked the air from Kanes lungs as it enveloped him. A faint smell of burning came from the ancient fabric as he kicked at it, finally managing to heave it off of himself so that it fell against the wall with a thud. He was surprised to find Ulrek staring down at Kanes sword in surprise, the vampires hand smouldering slightly from the touch of the hilt. Kanes eyes narrowed as he saw the elongated claws of on Ulreks fingers. 

"Monster..." Kane hissed. He hurled himself across the room, his shoulder catching the vampire just below the sternum in a heavy tackle that sent the two crashing to the ground. Kane recovered quickly and began to pound his fists into the vampires face. He could hear bones begin to break, his or Ulreks he did not know, but he could sense he was hurting his enemy. Blow after blow rained down at the vampire fought to free himself, vicious claws raking across Kanes flanks. Silver scales and blood flecked the floor after every strike - there was no words to describe the pain that consumed them both.

At last Ulreks strikes began to weaken, his face a broken mesh of bone and gore. Kane did not relent as he continued to pummel his enemy, knowing only that the attacks on his flanks had ended. He could feel blood running down his hips and smell the rich iron that came with it. In that moment he lost focus for a brief second and that was enough for the vampire.

The undead prince lunged abruptly, kicking his legs up, forcing Kane down toward him like a lover might do. But there was no kiss, instead he sank his battered fangs into Kanes neck and bit down. In an instant Kane could feel Ulrek begin to drain him. Fear, true horrible fear, shot through him and he tried to shove the vampire away but the beast hung on. Kane scrabbled frantically at his belt and managed to seize upon the hilt of a silver dagger. He wasted no time drawing and ramming it into Ulreks chest.

The vampire shrieked, letting go of Kane at last, and the two fell apart at last. Kane rolled sideways, staggering to his feet and taking up the sword that had lain not five feet away. In its burnished blade he could see the horrible bite mark on his neck and, already spreading, a blackening of his skin. He could feel his neck twitching and he clapped a hand to the wound. He would not heel in time, he would simply need to finish the battle.

As necrotic flesh slowly expanded across Kane's neck, Ulrek's wounded flesh sloughed off of his face. Like a spider emerging from its old molted carapace, the bloodied and damaged face fell away in wads of loose skin and dark vampiric blood to reveal a new and frightful visage. Staring at Kane with a malicious smile was a twisted and demonic caricature of the vampire he had been fighting moments before. Ulrek's already gaunt and pointed face was now pulled taught like the skin of a drum against a skull and jawbone expanding and warping to accommodate the vampire's newfound strength. His gray eyes were now beads of black obsidian, sunken and recessed into deep sockets. His ears, before merely long and slightly pointed, were now as long as a horse's, rippled and throbbing with veins of black vampiric blood. Ulrek's long nose was now a long, fluted proboscis with convoluted grooves and ridges instead of nostrils which protruded over an arcade of sharp fangs still stained with Kane's lifeblood.

Kane's power was godly, and so his lifeblood conferred godly power. As Ulrek digested what little blood he was able to siphon from the vampire slayer, he rapidly approached the zenith of his strength. Vampires were simply hybrid beings of human and demonic parentage, and so as Ulrek's power waxed, his more human characteristics were shed in favor of the demonic traits. Ulrek's black silken shirt tore open from the back with a loud, popping rip, falling to his feet in a tattered heap as a set of clawed and membranous wings unfurled from his back.

"God wills it?" Ulrek said at last, his voice coarse and shrill. He vampire looked over his shoulders, stretching open and gently flapping his new pair of wings as he admired them. "You are mistaken, Kane, for I am God."

Ulrek gave a mighty flap of the wings - launching himself at the vampire slayer. Before Kane could dodge or counter, a clawed hand had struck the vampire slayer and threw him into the nearest column. Crazing cracks spiderwebbed through the stone of the column as Kane's body slammed into it. 

Even when thrown against the column, Kane did not fall. Staggered from the blow, but remaining on his feet nonetheless, the vampire slayer propped himself against the crumbling pillar and drew the silver dagger from his belt, holding its blade toward Ulrek as he approached.

Ulrek's claws, now almost a full foot in length, flashed out as Kane made an anemic attempt to lunge at the vampire lord. Ulrek's claws slashed deeply across Kane's fist and arms. The dagger's silver blade was broken off, plinking against the stone tiles and leaving only a jagged stump of a hilt in Kane's fist. Ulrek swung with his other hand, raking up across the vampire slayer's chest in a savage uppercut that once again sent him across the room. Kane landed with a crunching thud at the very foot of King Zacheaus' vacant throne, landing right on top of the sooty stain in the faded red carpet that had been the vampire king days earlier. A dozen silver scales from the vampire slayer's scalemail cuirass littered the carpet around him, bright red blood trickled through the deep gouges in both his armor and chest. Kane's inflating lungs poked through a deep gash in his ribcage with each wheezing breath.

(([url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E49v3imcXU&list=PLGut6N0q5XK_DlQl2lBj2rjt3uIwX82]Suggested listening[/url]))

Ulrek sauntered up the carpet toward Solomon Kane, the vampire slayer's sword clutched in his claws. White smoke billowed out from Ulrek's sword hand, leaving a diffuse contrail of smoke in the air as he approached, but the burning did not seem to bother the vampire lord. Not anymore. Even as Ulrek strode through rays of red-orange sunlight filtering into the throne chamber through the opening in the ceiling, and the sunlight set the vampire's skin to smoke and smolder, Ulrek seemed perfectly unfazed.

"A fitting place for you to meet your end, Solomon Kane. The final obstacle between me and the throne of this land."

Ulrek stopped at the foot of the throne and contemplated for a moment the dying vampire slayer laying in front of him, watching Kane's lungs poke out through the wound in his chest with each labored breath. Even as he lay dying, Kane looked up at Ulrek with a hateful glare and gritted teeth, defiant to the very end.

"What a pity that you should die like this. What an asset you could have been. For even now, other vampires draw breath. Fewer now, yet some remain. One thing you and I had in common was hatred for other vampires, yours only slightly greater than mine. I could have made you wealthy beyond your capacity for imagination. I would have rewarded you handsomely to destroy every other vampire in the world while I rebuilt this kingdom - to eliminate every possible threat to my future reign."

"But even then, I suppose, we would find ourselves fighting to the death at the end. I could never abide such a seasoned vampire slayer to live for very long, and you, of course, would never be satisfied until I was dead. And so - sooner than I would have preferred - I must bid you goodbye."

Ulrek stooped down and seized Kane by the neck with his free hand, effortlessly holding the vampire slayer up to his sunken, black eyes. Ulrek looked over his battered adversary as he squirmed against his grip.

"A grievous wound you have taken," noted Ulrek, seeing Kane's lung protrude from the wound in his chest. "I suppose you are no longer able to speak, and of course I cannot probe your mind to know your final thoughts. A pity, for you were a worthy adversary, and I would have liked to have given you the honor of uttering your last words."

Ulrek attempted one last time to probe Kane's mind, and of course, saw nothing. But as Ulrek focused and listened for any thought, another mind's thought boomed through the castle.

[i]Farewell, your majesty![/i]

Ulrek was caught off guard by this strangely familiar mental voice and honed in on it. As he focused, Ulrek recalled it to be that of his former chamberlain from Felboge Keep, who had escaped several months earlier. Ulrek probed his mind just in time to watch through the chamberlain's eyes as he threw a pickaxe with all his might against a pillar of stone. A wide crack ripped through the pillar and buckled, and Ulrek witnessed a thousand tons of stone fall upon him and instantly end his thoughts.

At once, a loud crack resounded throughout the citadel and the whole structure began to shake and tremble violently beneath Ulrek's feet. The supporting pillars in the undercroft - Ulrek quickly remembered. His rogue chamberlain must have sapped the supporting columns in order to sabotage the castle. But how, Ulrek thought?

"God wills it..." Kane croaked at last from underneath Ulrek's choking grip. The vampire lord was so distracted by his chamberlain's last act of treachery, that he did not notice the jagged wooden dagger hilt in Kane's fist until it had been planted deeply and firmly into the pale flesh of Ulrek's bare chest.

Ulrek's dark eyes went wide as black, viscous blood ran down his chest from around the broken hilt planted in his heart. The vampire gasped, spraying spittles of blood out from between his fangs onto Kane's face. The vampire's grasp slackened, releasing Kane to fall to the floor as Ulrek fell over backwards onto the faded carpet carpet. The vampire gulped for air as trembling claws grasped at the wooden hilt sticking out of his chest. After fumbling for several moments, Ulrek finally grabbed the hilt and yanked it from his chest, eliciting a painful wince and spasming of the crumpled wings beneath him. A trembling claw brought the wooden hilt fragment up to Ulrek's eyes to inspect. An improvised wooden stake to the heart - just like the one that killed his forebear Nosferas so long ago. Ulrek had been right to fear Solomon Kane.

The vaulted ceiling above began to buckle from the trembling of the unstable citadel. Blocks of stone began to fall down and crash against the tiles of the throne chamber, freeing one of the pillars damaged by Ulrek and Kane during their duel. Ulrek could do naught but look up into the sky opening up through the ceiling as the column fell over sideways directly on top of Ulrek Bathory. The pillar fell through the floor, opening a yawning chasm mere feet from where Kane lay. From the edge of this gaping hole in the floor, the vampire slayer could see the lower floors of the citadel collapsing down far below into a fast-growing pit of rubble. The fallen pillar that crushed Ulrek fell down into a dark and dusty pit and was quickly buried as the rest of the castle continued to collapse into it.