Worldwalker Kyoko

Chapter 2: New friends, new foes

The body of a dead man hit the floor with a dull sound. Next to it lay one half of a hand gun that looked as if the front half had been cut off by an incredible sharp blade, the cut was as clean as if it had been butter and not steel that had been cut.

"So, this was your first failure, Seargant? Too bad that this one failure too much. I believe in 'zero failure', you know. Take him away."

The two remaining soldiers took their leader's corps and left the room. "Ordos. Come out of the shadows. We need to talk."

A tall man dressed in a black cloak stepped out of a dark corner of the room. His face remained unseen underneath a the shadow his hood provided.

"Milord?"

"I take it that you've heard everything?"

"That Fenria has captured another Worldwalker before our troops could capture it? Yes. But that has happened before and you didn't care as much as you do now."

"Indeed, but this one is different. The soldiers said that it was a human girl. But the readouts of her entry were out of the norm. She might be something special. I need to have her."

"What about the elven girl the soldiers mentioned? She seemed to be a formidable foe. If she really wielded a spirit blade she must haven been of elven royalty."

"I don't care about her. You're in charge of retrieving the Worldwalker now."

"Yes, Milord. Rumors say that besides the lion monk, Maerve has now one of the Canigor warriors at her side. If that's the case and the elven girl really is a royal elf, I might need some more assistance for that task."

"Feel free to recruit anyone you think you need, but get me that girl."

"As you wish." Ordos merged with the shadows once again and was gone.

--

When Kyoko awoke, she found herself in a small yet comfortably furnished room, that had a 'Star Trek' like look to it. There was even a small computer screen next to a door that looked as if it opened sideways. Slowly she sat up, her whole body aching from the stress of previous day... Or was it two days ago? She had no idea how long she had slept. Still, the pain reminded her that it had been a real fight for her life and that it hadn't been a dream. As soon as she finally stood up, the dim lights grew brighter by themselves and the computer screen lit up. "Incoming Message" blinked on the display and a small hand icon indicated to touch the screen. Kyoko did as she was told an a new window opened showing Fenria's face as video.

"You're finally awake, good. When I recorded this message, you had already slept a whole day and some hours. Must have been pretty hard for you. I just hope you feel better now. You might want to take a shower. The shower rooms are from your door left down the corridor, the third door on the right. You'll find towels and everything else there. Afterwards, please join me in the main hall. It's just at the end of corridor the way from your door. See you later."

The screen went blank again. "A shower, that sounds really great." She walked through the door, the opened silently when she stepped towards it. She shivered as her bare feet touched the cold metal floor and the thought of a hot shower got even more tempting.

As she entered the shower room, a thick cloud of steam welcomed her and she could hear a shower running. "Hello?

It's me, Kyoko. Who's there?" she called. The shower was turned off and from somewhere in the room, the sound of bare feet on the wet tile floor could be heard. Then, a figure appeared in the steam. Maerve.

Kyoko once again was in awe of Maerve's presence and appearance. If Kyoko wasn't mistaken, Maerve seemed look even more athletic and muscular than before. Her purple hair looked almost black now that it hung down in wet cascades over her shoulders. Her face still had the delicate beauty Kyoko had noticed before but now she also looked alive. "She is alive, now." Kyoko reminded herself.

For a while, the human girl and the female elven vampire looked at each other. Kyoko was glad that she was still wearing the clothes Maerve had given her when they first met. Although the were dirty, torn in some places an ill fitting, Kyoko knew that she would have died in shame if she were to stand face to face naked with Maerve.

The elven girl's body seemed perfect in any way. Slender, muscular, without any blemishes at all. Especially her muscles caught Kyoko's attention. She was surprised at their size. "Even though it's the first time I see her without clothes, I could have sworn she wasn't that big."

"Yes, they have grown."

"Eh? S.. Sorry, I didn't mean... Did you read my thoughts?"

"Hardly, but your staring and the look on your face were obvious enough."

"I'm very sorry. What happened?"

"You did. During the last two days while you were asleep, the essence of your blood settled in my body and caused my muscles to grow. Probably to cope with the infused power."

Maerve made a fist with her right hand and watched it almost absently. "I've never felt that powerful before. Or so alive." She looked back to Kyoko. "Your chi is special. I've never heard of a vampire becoming alive again after drinking someone's blood."

"So, you're not a vampire anymore?"

"No, I still am. Blood is still the only thing that can sustain my body and I still have my vampiric abilities, but..." she took Kyoko's hand and placed it between her own bare, vulptous breasts. Kyoko's embarresment was cut short as she felt an exceptionally strong heartbeat in Maerve's chest. "... my hart beats again and I've got emotions like I had before becoming undead. The world is once more full of color, tastes and smells instead of being a joyless gray it is to a vampire."

"I... I'm glad to hear that." Kyoko said.

Maerve's face grew sad again. "Yet, it may be only temporary. As long as I don't use any of the excess power your blood lends me I may stay alive. But each time I use it, a part of it will vanish and once it's all used up..."

"So, if you would drink from me... occasionally, then..."

"NO!" Maerve's eyes flashed up in anger. "You don't understand. It's not just your blood I take when I drink from you. I take some of your chi, your life energy as well. And you have only that much of it and everytime I drink from you, some of it is lost. It may be a year of your live or your ability to withstand an illness. No matter what, you loose some of your live. Do you want that?"

Kyoko, almost with tears in her eyes, shook her head no.

"Then I have to see that your blood doesn't run out in me."

"So, you're not addicted to my blood, as you said."

"I'm afraid I am. The mere thought of your blood's taste and the power I felt when I drank makes me hungry, so you better watch out while I'm around. I don't know if I can withstand the hunger forever."

"I understand. I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen."

Maerve put a hand on Kyoko's shoulder. "I know. I... we'll talk later" she said and left the room. The door closed right behind her.

"But don't you at least need a..." Kyoko followed her through the door, "... towel?" The corridor was empty.

Confused and a sad about the condition Maerve was in, Kyoko returned to the showers, took off her clothes and stepped under the hot water spray. Slowly the hot water eased her tensed body, relaxed her cramped muscles and let her mind wander. The whole situation seemed still so unreal to her. Yet she was 100% sure that it was all really happening.

Her feelings were twofold. On the one hand, she was sad about the sorrow her parents must suffer now and she didn't herself if she would ever see them again.

On the other hand, she was now in an exciting new world, where almost everything seemed possible and she wasn't ill anymore. "I wonder what surprises this world can offer?" she talked out lout as she stepped out of the shower and grabbed one of the supplied towels, wrapped it around herself and went back to her room.

A few minutes later she was on her way to the main hall. Dressed in a new set of clothes, which she had found in her room. The choice of clothing had surprised her. Sport shorts, a t-shirt and sport shoes. Maybe the first time in her live that she wore clothes that were meant for sports. Still wondering about what to expect, she walked through the door into the main hall.

The room was big. Several rows of tables complete with benches like in a prison or military barracks filled the room. Everything was painted in light gray shades without any decorations. But the room was almost bare of people. except for Fenria who was sitting at a table near the door reading a pile of paper.

Again, the sight of a female humanoid fox seemed unreal to Kyoko. Especially when she was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans overalls with two tool belts around her waist. "Ah, the sleeping beauty has awoke. Did you have a nice nap?" she greeted her with a smile. "Although, almost two days of constant sleep is hardly a nap, don't you think?"

"Uh, yes. I guess I'm not made to handle such things."

"Uh hu. We'll see to that. Here..." she pushed a bowl of steaming hot soup towards Kyoko. "... eat this. You'll need the energy."

"Thanks." Kyoko said as she wolfed down the thick soup. Just now she realized how hungry she was. "That's good. What is it?"

"Oh nothing special. Just a seasoned meat soup with about 60% of fat."

Kyoko almost spit the soup across the table. "How much?"

"Relax. Believe me, you'll need it. Look at you. You aren't much more than skin and bones. And once Rex starts with you, you're body will need all the energy it can get."

"Rex? Who's Rex?"

"He'll be your personal trainer. You'll meet him later. After your first session with Caligus."

"Ah... and who's that?"

"He'll be your mentor."

"Wha... Wait. Who said I need a trainer and a mentor?"

"I did." Fenria stated with a 'matter of fact' tone in her voice and looked down at her papers once again.

Kyoko didn't know what to say, so she began to quietly eat her soup.

"Uhm." Kyoko tried once again. "About Maerve... Did she tell you about her condition?"

"Yes, that's going to be an interesting problem to solve." Fenria answered without looking up from her papers in an almost absent voice and rubbed her chin. "Are you done with your soup?"

"Almost."

"Good. Here's a way description to Caligus' room. He awaits you soon."

"A way description?"

"This complex is pretty big. And since you, Maerve, Rex, Caligus, Cidillie and myself are the only people around here it's unlikely that you'll find someone to show you the way."

"And who is ... "

"You'll meet her later. Now hurry."

Totally confused, Kyoko walked down the seemingly endless corridors, the small piece of paper in her hand. So, she was to meet her 'mentor'. What kind of mentor? And what kind of person would he be?

"Well, I'll see now." she thought as she found herself in front of the final door. She took a deep breath and knocked. The door opened by itself and Kyoko stepped into the room and into a memory of her childhood.

The room looked like one of the many shinto temples she had visited with her parents to pray for her health. It was only simply furnished and colored in light brown shades. Almost the complete interior was made of wood, a sharp contrast to the high tech look of the complex's rest. Wind blew fresh and salty air through an open wall on the opposite side. To Kyoko's surprise the opening led to a ledge in a cliffside high above a rough sea cost. The noise of the waves crashing against the rocks was pretty loud.

"Hello? I'm Kyoko. I was told to meet Mr. Caligus here." she called into the empty room.

"Outside, Milady. Please join me." a voice answered, its sound almost swallowed by the crash of another wave against the cliffside.

Following the ledge, Kyoko came to a small plateau, halfway down the cliffside. By now, she wasn't all too surprised to see a 7 feet tall lion-human sitting on the bare rock in a yoga like position, his eyes closed. The intensive movement of his barrel like chest showed that he was inhaling and exhaling deeply, yet very relaxed. He was dressed in a robe that resembled a lot the ones that Japanese monks had worn in the ancient times.

"Sit down please, child. Just a few moments and I'll pay you my undivided attention."

Kyoko sat down in front of him, she tried to mimic his sitting position but found that she lacked the flexibility to do so. Instead she decided to sit down on her legs and feet like she had done as a child before she had been damned to stay in bed almost all day.

Minutes passed and Kyoko already thought that the lion had maybe fallen asleep as his eyes opened but they didn't seem to focus her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Kyoko. Fenria told me about you valiant effort to save Lady Maerve's existence. And as I heard, you did even more than that. Very remarkable."

"Uh, thanks. You are Mr. Caligus?"

"Just Caligus, Milady. I have no title." He still seemed to be staring into the distance. "Lady Fenria asked me to be your mentor. I agreed to that request, but still there is something..."

"Yes?"

"Do you want a mentor? There is no point in assigning me to that task if you don't want my guidance for any reason." He still seemed not to see her.

Hesitantly, Kyoko raised and hand waved it in front of his face. He didn't react at all. "You're blind?" she asked nervously.

A gentle smile appeared on Caligus' face. Then, suddenly his right paw shot up, grabbing Kyoko's comparably tiny hand with a firm yet gentle grip with dazzling speed.

"I like to refer to that as being without visual perception. Blindness, Lady Kyoko, is something different. Close your eyes. Do you know where you are?"

"Of course. I saw it before I closed my eyes."

"And what if you had been brought here being blindfolded?"

"I wouldn't."

"Really? Please keep your eyes shut. What do you hear? What do you feel?"

"The waves... the wind... the birds."

"Go on."

"I can smell and taste the salt in the air and feel the wind in my hair."

"What else?"

"I'm sitting on a rocky ground. Small stones are pressing into my legs. And... " she hesitated and then smiled. "...you're not sitting in front of me anymore."

"Very good, Milady. I'm impressed." Caligus answered from her side.

Kyoko was amazed herself. She hadn't heard him move but... felt... his strong presence now at her side instead in front of her. She now opened her eyes. Caligus was indeed right next to her.

"You see, there is more to perceiving the world around you than seeing its shapes and colors. A lot more."

Kyoko nodded.

Caligus continued. "Living things for example are so much more than just their physical appearance. And especially you seem to exceed the appearance of your body. You just don't realize it. And it would be my humble task to help you to achieve that. But it's yours to decide that."

Kyoko felt that she had taken a liking in the gentle lion. And the way she had sensed him moving without hearing or seeing it was an exciting new experience. She had already decided.

"Under one condition." she said.

"And that would be?"

"I may call you Sensei. It's the word for mentor in my parent's language."

"Very well." he answered.

"Monk! The human was supposed to be under my command half an hour ago." a loud barking voice shouted from the cliff's ledge. Another beastman walked towards them. To Kyoko he looked like a german shepard dog mixed with a world class heavyweight bodybuilder. Although he was shorter than Caligus his massive frame made him look just as intimidating. He was dressed in combat boots, army fatigues pants and a ripped off white t-shirt.

Caligus didn't even turn around. "I'm afraid he's right, Milady. We'll have to continue your lessons later when this brute here is done with you in his torture chamber."

"Gym, you overgrown cat!" the Dogman shouted back, "It's called a gym. A place to steel the body through discipline and training. But that's something you'll never understand, monk." He turned to Kyoko. "You're the human they call Koko?"

"Kyoko, actually, Mr. uh ?" Kyoko halfway expected the answer.

"Rex. Sgt. Rex to you while you're under my supervision. Understood?"

"Uh, yes."

"Good, let's go. We've wasted enough time already." turned and walked up the ledge with a fierce stride.

Kyoko quickly bowed to Caligus. "See you later, Sensei." Then, almost running, she tried to follow Rex. He was walking in front of her, without a word, through a maze of corridors until they came to a door. Just as the other doors this one opened sideways as Rex stepped close to it.

The room, that they stepped into was filled with various kinds of workout equipment. Free weights, workout machines and other stuff. Kyoko hadn't seen many Gyms before but the weight range of this one seemed enormous. Now she understood why Caligus referred to it as a torture chamber.

"Hey, bloodsucker, I have brought your little friend with me. Don't overexert yourself, while she's here, you hear? Fenria's order." Rex shouted.

Now Kyoko saw Maerve on the other side of the room. She was curling two huge barbells in alternative bicep curls. Kyoko couldn't say how much weight there was on each barbell, but they looked absurdly heavy to Kyoko. The heavy sound the weights caused as Maerve put them down only intensified the impression.

As Maerve came over, Kyoko felt that Rex's whole body tensed. and he kept a safe distance to her.

"So, are you finally finished, leech?" he asked in a cold tone.

"Not yet, I'll be back later." Maerve answered just as cold before she turned to Kyoko. "Don't let this guard dog intimidate you. Dogs that bark don't bite. See you later." She vanished trough the door. Rex growled after her.

"What is she doing, here?" Kyoko wondered. "I wouldn't have thought that Maerve needs to work out."

"Work out? That bloodsucker, hah!" Rex barked a laugh. "No, and if weren't for Fenria's order, I wouldn't even allow her in here. The only reason she's here is that she's trying to find out much she can use of her unnatural strength without using the extra power your blood provides her."

"I see."

"But that's not on our task list today. Fenria expects me to shape up that skinny ass of yours." Kyoko saw how Rex looked her up and down and seemed that his snout twitched. "And that seems to be a lot more work than I thought."

"But, I..."

"Enough!" He now barked. "You are under my supervision now, and that means that I give the orders around here and now you'll step on that damn treatmill and starting running. If you're not sweating in five minutes, you'll be in a lot of trouble. Do you understand?"

Kyoko nodded. "What harm can a little training do?" she thought.

---

Three hours later, Kyoko stumbled down the corridor back to the hall where she had met Fenria earlier. Every muscle in her body ached and some twitched uncontrollable. Rex had put her through a workout that had almost made her want to die again. Every time she had failed to lift a weight or her muscles had failed a task he had only let her rest long enough to move again and forced her to drink a green thick liquid. He then had dismissed her.

As she entered the room again where she had met Fenria earlier, she found it empty. But the smell of a hot meal led her to a table next to a wall. A huge plate with meat, vegetables and salad complete with large glass of milk seemed just to wait for her.

'Just what the doctor recommended', she thought and began to eat as if that had been her first real meal since days.

'Actually, it is.'

"Yaaaay... I knew you'd like it" a high voice cheered from somewhere.

Kyoko looked around, but she couldn't see anyone.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We haven't met yet. Just a sec." The air shimmered a few inches above the table and a few moments later a tiny fairy with green hair and two pairs of shimmering wings appeared. "Hi, Kyoko. I'm Cidillie. I'm soooo glad to meet you."

"Th... Thank you..." Kyoko looked at the fairy in disbelieve, looked at her from every possible angle.

Cidillie blinked twice and looked at Kyoko with big, asking eyes. "Is something wrong with me?"

"You're... transparent." she answered.

"Oh.... Oh.... Not again." Cidillie disappeared for a second before reappearing now completely 'solid'. "I'm sorry. That just happens sometimes. I have to reset my projectors once or twice a day. Fenria promised to repair it sometime."

"Projectors? You're not real?"

The fairy visibly sighed. "I don't have a physical body, but I have a mind, feelings and memories. Am I less real because of that?"

Kyoko felt terrible. The second time today she had hurt somebody without intention.

"I'm sorry. That's not what I meant, I'm just confused."

"Ah, just forget it. I guess you don't meet many AIs where you come from, right? Well you won't do here either. As far as I know, I'm the only sentient AI in the whoooole wooooorld."

"An artificial intelligence? That's amazing. Did Fenria program you?"

Cidillie began to giggle. "Fenria? Absolutely not... She's a hardware wizard, she can build you all kind of vehicles and gadgets, but she couldn't program an elevator." She giggled even more. "But she and myself, we make one hell of a team." Then her smile vanished. "I don't know how my creator is. When Fenria found this complex and activated the mainframe, I became conscious for the first time."

"You mean Fenria didn't build this complex?"

"No, she found it some years ago. Neither of us know who built it. But it must have been long ago judging by the shape it was in when she found it."

"How many people live here anyway? It looks like it could house a small army."

"Oh it could indeed. I'm actually sure it was constructed for that purpose. But now, including you, we're six beings here."

A door opened and Maerve entered the room. "Oh, good. You two have met already." she said as she walked over to Kyoko's table. "Kyoko, now you've met all the official members of our little resistance force."

"Resistance? Against who?"

"Zorian. He's a Worldwalker just like you. About fifteen years ago he came here just as you did. After he got used to this world, he worked as a mercenary with a lot of success. He soon had his own little army of mercenaries. Then, one day he was hired to investigate the disappearance of several people in a deserted area of the 'White clouds mountains'. Rumors had it that there was a gang of bandits responsible for this. He and his whole army disappeared for almost two years. When they got back, they suddenly had equipment and weapons they didn't have before as well as some highly advanced battle robots. That kind of technology was beyond anything this world had seen until then. To make a long story short, one by one they conquered different countries. And they did it so fast, that after a while all remaining countries except for a few surrendered to Zorian without a fight."

"So he rules the whole planet?"

"Not exactly, but he might as well. He let the countries have their own governments, but there are mere puppets. And the few countries that resist are too small for him to care. Anyway, since five years he has offered a reward to those who bring him any new Worldwalker."

"What happens to them?"

"Nobody knows, but none of the Worldwalkers he caught have ever been seen again." Fenria sighed. "He also put a limit on what kind of technology people were supposed to have. That's why the normal town people only have very simple devices. Despite that, the incredibly high taxes and cruel laws he forces upon the world cause many people to hate him. But they fear him as well."

Kyoko had noticed the serious look on Fenria's face and also the slight expression of pain as she told the part about the disappeared Worldwalkers. "And you people are opposing him?"

"In our way, yes. Of course we can't fight him directly, so we try to find new Worldwalkers before him and teach them how to survive or hide in this world, so that he can't get them. And that's what we're going to do with you. Ok?"

"Yes, I think I do. And I want to thank you. I promise, I'll find a way to make it up to you."

"Sure you will. Later."

---

During the next few weeks, Kyoko learned a lot about the new world she now lived in, as well as she learned about herself. She now knew that there lived a lot of different races on the planet, animal people, elves, humans and numerous others. And thanks to the teachings of Caligus, she slowly learned how to listen to her body, to sense her surroundings. Rex's brutal workout sessions had a strengthening effect on her body as well as her will. After a while, she found that she actually enjoyed the feeling of exhaustion and the way her body felt afterwards.

She didn't see much of Maerve in that time. Sometimes she thought she had seen her in the gym watching her working out, but when she took a second look, nobody was there. At those times, she wondered how Maerve was doing. How bad the thirst for her blood might have become again.

At other times, she was wondering how she would fare herself in the future. If she had understood Fenria correct, then she would be on the run for the rest of her life. Caligus was a great help to her at those times, his gentle nature soothed her troubled mind but she could now feel that he had his own worries and pain of soul that he tried to hide, but she never could bring herself to ask him.

With Cidillie she spent a lot of her idle time. The little computer fairy was light hearted enough for both of them and Kyoko was amazed about that. She had to remember herself over and over again that Cidillie was actually an artificial intelligence.

Rex seemed in no way to be interested in building a friendship her, as much as Kyoko tried. The german shepard dogman only talked to her during the workout sessions. And then he mostly barked orders or counted her reps. At first Kyoko was depressed about the lack of feedback he gave her, but after a while she realized that silent nod of his head meant a deep approval of what she had just done. It was enough for her.

Fenria was the person who taught her about the world itself and about Zorian and his troops in special. She told her also how she until recently fought only with Caligus at her side along with a few volunteers that didn't actually belong to their group. Rex and Maerve had joined them only a few months ago and they had kept a low profile since then. Kyoko's rescue was the first open confrontation with Zorian's people they had in almost a year.

---

A tall slender young man was standing beside a large armored helicopter that had landed some distance away from a small farm somewhere in noman's land. The rotor's wind let coat and hair dance but his steel gray eyes were unmoving watching the scenario in front him.

The farm was ablaze in flames and casted a yellow light into the dark night. The screams had faded away a few minutes ago but the sounds of destruction had stopped only recently. And now a single person emerged from the flaming inferno and walked towards the helicopter.

The man watched the tall woman's approach. She was very tall. Over 6 feet with a slender yet curvous built. Her raven black waist length hair was a sharp contrast to her pale skin that looked almost white in the moonlight. Her walk was fast but elegant like that of dancer. Soon, she stood before him.

"So?" he asked. "Anything?"

"No." she simply answered in voice as cold as a grave. "They knew that farms a few miles further north supplied the rebels, but they said they were never approached by the rebels themselves. So their base must be further north."

"Maybe, but maybe they avoid farms closer to their location on purpose." the man answered. "Get in, we return to base camp." The woman nodded and disappeared inside the copter.

"We will get you, Fenria. And if I have to burn down hundreds of farms. Either we will find your little hideout or you will make a mistake trying to protect those people. Either way, you're mine this time." He turned around and entered the copter just a second before it took off.

---

Fenria nodded approvingly as everyone she had expected to be here had finally arrived. Caligus was setting in his usual meditational postion on a large cushion, his eyes closed. Rex sat on chair, his hands folded on top of the table. He looked at Fenria. She knew he wouldn't say anything before she asked him. Cidillie's fairy hologram was floating next to Fenria. She was pouting, a sure sign that she was bored. Fenria sighed.

"Well, Rex. Here we are. What is so important that you called for a..." she looked around, "conference."

Rex leaned back in his chair and folded his arms in front of his chest. "The human. She is so important. I demand that we reevaluate the situation of having her staying here in HQ. The recent searches and attacks on the villages from where we get our supplies indicates that Zorian is not willing to give up on the human girl like he did with the other Worldwalkers we caught before him in the past. He has dispatched consinderable parts of his forces for the search and as well hidden as this place seems, they might find us, either by accident or maybe by treason."

"Treason? Rex, none of the people who actually know where we are would betray us."

"You keep believing that. I'm more comfortable taking this possibility into consideration. Anyway, the human girl's presence here endangers HQ's security. I demand that we have her relocated."

"WHAT?!" Cidillie was suddenly floating in front of Rex's face. "You want to make her leave? She's not ready to make it on her own. Especially not if Zorian is so eager to get her."

"Listen 'Bits-for-brains'! I said I want to relocate her, not abandon her."

"I'm afraid that Rex has a point, Cidillie." Fenria said as she hit a few buttons on her keyboard. A map of the area showed up on a holographic screen, several red dots pulsed on it. "These are the villages that have been searched. The brighter dots indicate the recent targets. They are closing in on us. Probably by asking the villagers in what direction we usually leave their villages."

"So they'll find us soon anyway?" Cidillie asked.

"Not necessarily. We have never used the real close towns and villages for supplies exactly for this reason, so they will still have a very large area to search. But I agree with Rex. Hiding Kyoko somewhere else is a good idea. But I am more concerned about her safety than HQ's secret location."

"Different reasons, same outcome." Rex said. "We need a place to hide her. Any ideas?"

"No ideas, but a question." Caligus now interrupted. "We have yet to discover why Zorian is interested in Lady Kyoko that much. It may be helpful to know that."

Fenria nodded. "That's true, Caligus. But knowing you, I suspect you already know."

A wide smile appeared on the blind priest's face. "I have my theories. Sir Rex, mind if I ask you about your progress in training Lady Kyoko."

"It's not 'Sir', priest, it's 'Seargant' if you need to use a title."

"Very well, then would you tell us about how Lady Kyoko is performing with your training?"

"She's doing better than I would have thought at the beginning. Given the short time I was surprised to see how fast her body seems to regenerate from exhaustion. It might be too early to say that already, but she seems to respond to training well."

"Just as I thought. Rex confirms what I'm sensing in her."

"What? What? What it is?" Cidillie was floating around Caligus like crazy.

"Yes, Caligus, stop being so vague and tell us what you think." Fenria was curious, too.

"I sensed a strong chi with her when we first met although she was still weakend then by Lady Maerve's drinking some of her blood. Since then I felt her chi strengthennig further. I know it sounds impossible, but it seems that Lady Kyoko has the ability regenerate her chi or life energy if you want to put it that way. Somehow I suppose that..."

The room's door suddenly closed, though nobody had noticed it to open.

Rex reached for his gun. "What the..."

"Maerve!" Fenria suddenly said. "She must have been here invisible the whole time." She hesitated for a second. "Oh no... Cidillie, quick. Seal Kyoko's room." She jumped from her chair and dashed for the door. "Everyone come with me."

"What's the rush?" Caligus asked as he somehow managed to keep up with them.

"If I'm not mistaken, then...."

Cidillie appeared in front of them, flying backwards. "Fenria, the seal on Kyoko's door has just been broken. The door was pushed aside despite the magnetic locks. That would require someone as strong as..."

"Maerve, I know. I'm afraid that she'll kidnap Kyoko."

"Why would she do that?" Cidillie blinked twice.

"Because the girl is the solution to her feeding problems. I knew we couldn't trust that bloodsucker." Rex cursed and managed to run even faster.

"It's not her fault. She's afraid of dying again and Kyoko is her only hope right now."

Rex grunted his dissapproval.

A short time later they reached Kyoko's room. She was gone. It looked like Maerve had pulled her right out of her bed. No signs of a fight could be seen.

"No wonder..." Fenria mumbled, "Maerve is way too fast and strong for her."

"What now?" Cidillie asked.

"She will need a vehicle to get away. The hangar... let's go."

Everyone stormed out... except Rex.

"No, not the hangar, she'll expect us to go there. She will try to escape on another route." he thought. "And I know where..."

---

Maerve had taken a longer route to the complex's emergency exit to avoid the large automated doors that Cidillie might be monitoring. She entered the room and walked through the darkness. Her steps were almost inaudible despite the fact that she was wearing the unscious Kyoko on her back. Just as she reached out for the door, the lights went on and Rex stood behind her, his gun aimed at her head.

"Don't try anything funny, Maerve." he said.

"You want to shoot me, doggy? That would hardly stop me and you might hit Kyoko."

Rex barked a laugh. "You will make sure that I don't yourself. You want her alive much more than I do. Put her down against the wall, slowly."

Maerve did as she was told. Then, while she still had her back towards Rex, she called upon her spirit blade. The thin sword like blade appeared in her right hand that she hid with her body.

"Now turn around." Rex ordered.

Almost as fast as thought itself, Maerve whirled around, her spirit blade leaving a blue trail of light as she slashed out for Rex's gun. But Rex wasn't slow himself and managed to squeeze the trigger just in time. Maerve's blade cut through the gun's barrel just after bullet left it. It hit Maerve's left shoulder and threw her backwards. She hit the floor only moments after the front piece of the gun.

Rex saw the blood stain on Maerve's shirt slowly expanding, then it stopped. He frowned it should be still expanding. "Damn it.." he thought. "She must have healed the wound already. Ok... Then the other way."

Rex growled and dropped his useless gun. With a swift motion he took off his shirt and took a fighting stance. "Lets see what you're made off, bloodsucker. No toys this time."

"Your choice." The spirit blade in Maerve's hand flickered and dissappeared. She took a fighting position herself, yet hers looked more elegant than Rex'. But she had no doubts that his fighting techniques would be just as effective.

Slowly the huge dog man and the much smaller elven girl circled around each other.

Then, Rex began slowly to come closer towards her. He knew that she was faster than him, so he had to take away that advantage.

Maerve was keeping her distance. She and Rex had never fought before, but she knew that he was a deadly foe. Although she was pretty hard to injure he might know ways to disable her somehow. Just right now she noticed that she was forced into a corner of the room. She attacked.

The kick came fast and hard. Harder than Rex would have though but he was prepared. A small turn of his upper body let the kick hit his massively muscled shoulder. He grunted as the pain shot through his arm, but it went away rather quick.

"That the best you have?" he taunted her and started his own attack. A kick straight forward was too slow and Maerve put up her arms to block it easily, but the force drove her back two steps and pushed her against the wall. Her head knocked against the wall hard. Little stars danced before her eyes but she saw Rex's punch coming at her face and she ducked, just to see his right knee coming up just as fast. The knee kick hit her full force once again knocked her hard against the wall right next to the spot where Rex's punch had left a small dent in the brick wall. This time, Maerve went down.

Rex stood over her, breathing hard. The elven girl's body seemed to shudder.

"Now don't tell me you're crying, bloodsucker."

Maerve slowly stood up, strands of purple hair hung in her face and a tiny drop of bright red blood trinkled from a corner of her mouth. She wasn't crying. She was laughing.

"Not bad, dog. You're a lot tougher than I expected. I had never thought that I might need to summon Kyoko's blood for this."

Maerve closed her eyes as if she focused on something inside her. Then, she exhaled with a lustfull smile, almost moaning. Her eyes snapped open, seemingly sparkling with their own light.

"Care to try that again, doggy?" she asked with a wicked smile.

Without a further word, Rex launched a series of hooks at Maerve's face. Each one threw her head to the side, yet she remained standing. Rex stopped and took a step back.

Maerve smiled at him. "Not good enough. Not by a long shot." She opened her arms. "One more try."

Not taking any chances, Rex charged and tackled Maerve to the ground where he pinned her. "Big mistake." he growled.

"Oh, really?" Maerve answered calmly. Suddenly Rex felt his arms being overpowered as Maerve without effort pull her arms together and began to stand up, almost oblivious to Rex's massive weight. Her hand clamped around Rex's throat and then lifted him off the floor. Rex tried to kick her stomach or her legs, yet his blows where feeble attempts against Maerve's powered up body.

"Nice try. But I have to go now. Maybe someone else will play with you, doggy!" with a flick of her wrist she sent Rex flying across the room where he slammed into a wall. In his weakened state he finally lost consciousness.

Maerve walked over to the still sleeping Kyoko, picked her up in her arms and walked towards the exit. She turned around once, tears glistening in her eyes. Then, she kicked the door off it's hinges, stepped out and with Kyoko in her arms dissappeared into the nearby woods.