So, where is this renowned father?
Will father show his face to you, sir?
A shallow womanizer fashions himseIf a dashing wit.
Perhaps he cannot hear your whimpering, sir.
Pathetic palter.
Very quick.
Move.
Some other dog beat us to the treasure.
Hear that?
No, pIease.
Mercy.
I will serve you.
AbeIar, does it still exist?
AbeIar?
Ah, yes.
RuIed by a queen, EIdoria.
She has passed on.
Her eIdest. . . eIdest chiId Ma'at is queen now.
Really?
I won't harm the queen,
but I will make you do with her seed.
Not that it matters now. I. . . I was wondering...
- how. . . how your enemies. . . - To dust.
That will sting.
And now?
And now,
say, ''I won't feeI anything except a IittIe sting.''
Tanis.
Are you Iistening to me?
- Sister. - It is upon us, your dream.
It's happening.
After all of these years, the Sorceress has somehow returned from the dead.
Levana.
PIease don't go.
Go, Lenor.
PIease, find safety.
All of you Ieave at once.
I will aIert the GeneraI, Your Highness.
And we must find he who saved us before.
The Mercenary?
Your father.
But, our father is dead.
He died saving AbeIar from the Sorceress.
Your father is not mine.
I was sired by the king but...
you. . .
...you were by this mercenary.
Mother said you were the king's chiId to protect you.
You must Ieave the past behind.
Our kingdom needs us now.
Kingdom Bush is not my father?
No, but he who is Iives.
If we so be separated
mother said this will Iead you to him.
With this token, he will know you and you shall know him.
And this will heIp you to understand the sorcery.
My Queen.
They are within the paIace, Your Majesty.
You must come now.
You have to go.
No, come with us.
My Queen,
you both have a Iong time to struggIe.
I've trained you well, Your Highness.
You are ready for what comes.
Stand.
We can make sure of your safety if you follow this hall.
It will Iead you out of the paIace.
But what about you?
My duty is to remain here, Kara.
No.
If you stay, then so will I.
You can do nothing more here, Dernier.
The RoyaIs will scheme to save their skins.
We will be Ieft to fend for ourseIves and not aIways with the truth.
They have no regard for us.
But I am sworn to. . .
You have sworn to Iove me, Dernier
or was that just to weaken my will.
I Iove you.
Then save us my Iove.
- I must kill the infected. - Leave her. She's a friend.
It's your wish.
There, it Ieads to a quay where our boat waits.
- It will take you to Durris. - Durris?
An outIaw city?
If he still Iives the peopIe there will know his whereabouts.
Tanis,
l'm find
remember what I said.
If we so be separated, you must find him.
We've run out of time.
Run, Tanis.
- But sister. - Hush.
You're not a chiId but a Princess of AbeIar,
a Ieader with responsibiIities.
Act it.
Find your father. Save our peopIe.
They count on us, Tanis.
- I can't do this aIone. - You must.
Go. Now.
I command you.
Do not Iook back...
...or rest.
It's been what, 20 years?
Where's your mother's Iover?
What was his name again?
It seems to have sIipped my mind.
He has not sIipped mine.
Why, of course. He sent your father to the Abyss.
I must have thought of a million different ways
to make you and your mother suffer,
but nothing was ever terribIe enough.
I mean, how do you repay someone
who buried you aIive for 20 years?
Nothing smelled Iike Iife, Your Highness.
You must be wondering how is it she is back
Iooking so wonderfully restored.
CIearIy, we watched your destruction.
CIearIy, you shouIdn't have given the finaI rights
to a high priest with designs on your throat.
A pity he perished with some mysterious pIague upon his return.
Who knows what Iives in dust?
And who are you?
Go,
go.
- Where is my seat, Your Highness? - I'm not sure.
Kill her.
Get the girI.
The paIace is Iost.
- The Queen is dead? - Or worse.
What are they?
Vampires.
But we will not die tonight.
I couId fight harder.
You Ieave the killing to me.
What is to become of us now
or the kingdom?
My master is the son of a race.
But, there is aIways a need for a pretty servant,
and there is one against me as well.
- What is it? - Hush, hush.
Why the guards they are so daunting?
They're trying to kill us.
What?
It is read.
- It's my fauIt. - No.
On your Iife run.
I have aIways Ioved you.
I will.
And now, a Iadder across the Abyss that I might free my father.
In my stead, you will awaken my seed.
She is the true daughter of my race, and though haIf human,
she will be human no more.
Ah, Denier.
- I'm sorry. - No, you're not.
You used me.
What?
No, I Ioved you.
Really?
Yes, right,
I was using you, Dernier.
You are eviI.
Becoming a vampire isn't even the worst of me.
That and more.
Are you going to kill me now?
Bite my throat, drain me of my bIood?
I want you.
I couId soothe you, Dernier.
You couId use someone Iike me
for a sIave.
I have too much over the past.
I will bring victims to you
to fuIfill whatever dark fantasies you have.
I will do whatever I have to do for you?
You are a monster.
I will bow to you, Kara.
Kara, bow to her.
Life takes many forms in many worIds
and she's in her finaI metamorphosis,
her chrysaIis.
Why me?
You are speciaI.
But you've aIways known that.
SpeciaI in a way that no one eIse couId see untiI it was too Iate.
And even as a chiId, you have aIways been cunning,
intelligent,
depraved.
You have tried to bIend in
or be a human,
safe,
but even as a chiId you knew you were different,
filled with dark corruptness.
Are you ready to be free?
You're free now
but not yet fully transformed.
I have pity for those who can waIk in the curse of Iight and among these creatures.
We have much more work to do before we can be safe.
I sent the princess to the reefs.
If she's dust,
find her.
Know what she's pIotting,
and most importantIy with whom.
Why me?
Because she will know and trust you when she's most vuInerabIe.
And if I refuse?
You've hungered for this day when you couId be who you are
and what you are
to Iet those dark urges free.
Mother said this will Iead you to him.
With this token
he will know you and you shall know him,
and this will heIp you to understand the sorcery.
You're not a chiId but a Princess of AbeIar,
a Ieader with responsibiIities.
Act it.
Find your father. Save our peopIe.
My princess.
You shouIdn't have been wearing this?
PIease.
- You cheated Dog. - What?
Go weep to the gods.
You will die.
I shall cIeave your thick ugIy faces.
No dog cheats me and Iives.
Thankfully, I'm not a dog but I do Iike to cheat.
Now, I'm gonna have to kill you Iike a bitch pup.
HoIy shit.
I want this man.
She wants me.
I'll tell you what, wench,
Iet me kill this dog
and then I will bed you so hard. . .
Somebody you want me.
Wench, you've diminished my reputation.
It couId be diminished, sir?
Why bog me,
did I do your mother, huh,
or, uh, sister perhaps?
The Iast of it,
the Iate great AbeIar and how it came to be overcome.
- Sir. - I mean no disrespect, Iady.
I noticed your cIoak.
It came from the paIace guard.
So, it is.
Like yourseIf, I bareIy escaped these fouI creatures.
I'm here to spread the word of what these eyes have seen.
- You've seen much. - Aye.
In this one worId. That's why you're here.
You've seen far too much sir.
Brother and sister?
Different mothers but a common father.
And you say we were meant to find our father?
ExactIy. And together we're to destroy the Sorceress Xia
and return AbeIar to the peopIe.
Uh-huh.
So, Princess, you speak for the RoyaI House?
That is correct.
How much am I to be paid to save your precious AbeIar?
Paid?
I didn't mention anything about a bounty.
We do this because it's right
- and just and it's what we shouId. . . - This sword will not be drawn
untiI it received proper compensation.
You disappoint again.
Oh, my Iady, one night in bed with me and. . .
I'm your sister.
HaIf.
How couId I expect any nobiIity from a pig Iike you.
Wait.
Look,
your taiI hoIds a certain fancy,
but I am in need of coin and I'm willing to take your word that there will be a bounty.
What do you know about him?
Well, not much.
Nothing at all.
Nor a trickster?
Aye, but this trickster knows where our sister may be,
and to her our dear father.
A sister?
Where?
About that bounty?
If your word proves true,
then you shall have it.
I gave you my word.
That shouId be sufficient.
I am called Aedan.
And what are you doing here?
What? Can't a brother heIp his sister?
After five years?
No.
This comes with some terribIe price.
You're not a woman with many an option.
There's a fouI tempered undertaker and eventuaI traitor
wanting to see you skinned at dawn.
And what is this act of brotherIy Iove going to cost me?
It's more priviIege than the price.
We get to save AbeIar.
I don't think I'm dressed appropriateIy.
PIus, of course, there is a bounty.
And where wouId you get reaI bounty?
From AbeIar.
She's your sister.
But maybe a...
...IittIe more.
Well, what is your name.
You wouId Iike to sit down and have a drink with me, huh?
Tell us the taIe, sister.
A fortnight ago the Sorceress Xia captured AbeIar.
My sister, the Queen, was murdered.
Xia?
Didn't father put that DeviI wench down
or is that another tall taIe?
Well, cIearIy he didn't put her permanentIy down,
thus creating an opportunity.
She's back and she's taking AbeIar with sorcery.
Which is to say she's infested AbeIar.
Don't you have any conversation for me?
You are so beautifuI.
It's all Greek to me.
She will continue to feed, to spread her darkness
untiI the next full moon rises.
- And then? - Oh, this part is good.
Xia will open the doorway to the Nether WorIds.
You were saying?
Thus ending our very existence.
It's all so dire.
You see, sister, there's no bounty too great for saving this worId.
Say we fancy the idea for a moment.
And that there is this massive bounty in goId, of course.
Aye, what makes you think us three here can stop this Vampire Queen?
I toId her we're Iovers not fighters.
When need to have a pIan, something Iess daunting, more rewarding.
- I am at a Ioss. - We shouId take the traditionaI action,
and hire mercenaries, Iike our dear father.
Yes, yes, but we're under time constraints.
In onIy a fortnight the moon will be full.
- I have a thought. - It was onIy a matter of time.
MaIia, you will find father and see if he has any ideas on the matter,
and I with what funds to princess has on her presentIy
will arrange for a dozen armed men. Not just any men,
no, no, no, but the type with honor and courage enough to win back AbeIar.
By the gods I've heard that there are experienced barbarians in nearby Primeria,
preciseIy the type of warriors that we needs. So, the Princess...
she can wait here at Durris for our return, you know, hoIding down the fortress
- sort of thing. - Or Iet us spIit the funds you possess,
give us both a chance to hire the best warriors we can find on our way.
Aye, that couId work as well.
Well, sister?
You take me as a fooI at your own periI.
You are both much Iess than I'd hoped.
At the prison I spoke to the magistrate and he gave me your recent histories,
- theft, assauIt, cheating, embezzIing. . . - Right.
- Pick pocket and street whore? - I have never picked a pocket.
You're both are the Iowest of character,
but my sister was firm and we must find our father
and you are my onIy hope.
We'll need horses.
I can acquire them.
- Are there other brothers and sisters? - Ah, yeah, yeah,
she's a day's ride away in a village called Chiba
Agreed then to Chiba Village.
Our father still Iives?
I suppose. Last summer he was carousing in the secret of Nobu.
That was years ago.
The dog is IikeIy dead as a cock, though, rotting in some dungeon.
50,000 goId pieces.
- 55 - 50
50 and that's my finaI word.
And I suggest we seaI this fast.
What's going on, sir?
Having an adventure, sister?
- A bitch dog. - Come to Iose again?
It isn't Iong now.
An entire new worId.
I use Xia's body as a conduct.
It's a doorway.
What have you Iearned?
The princess seeks one Iike her father.
The warrior who heIped with Mitadonia.
He can see us fall into the Abyss.
Reduce her to dust.
ShouId I kill them now,
the Princess and these two fooIs?
Learn the whereabouts of this father.
As you wish.
I tried to find father once right here.
- What was it Iike? - Ah, it was Iike this...
except for peopIe trying to kill me.
- It's earIy yet. - Maybe they'll remember you.
Oh, MaIia, they wouId if they were still aIive.
I meant what was it Iike to see him?
I didn't see father.
I found Rajan,
our haIf sister.
Stay put.
What does Rajan do here as a trade?
You mean when she's not drunk or passed out?
Hello sister.
I have a wonderfuI opportunity for you.
No thank you.
It did not work out Iast time.
It's onIy because you Iack a sense of humor.
What do you think they seek?
This drink.
Sister toId me great stories about father...
aIthough I thought she spoke of a hired mercenary sent to save AbeIar.
That was before I knew he was my father.
The man who I thought was my father, the King,
well he was killed by Xia.
You really want to know who father is, God's truth?
Yes.
Our father is the Iowest form of cowardIy dog,
a man who takes advantage of wives or widows,
sells out his cohorts for coin and runs from a reaI fight.
That's who father is.
What's the matter?
You don't Iike the truth?
You married, have sons?
LuckiIy no.
They're not so bad to Iook at.
Your whores?
Rajan, say hello to your sisters.
- More famiIy? - And with your heIp, we four...
will save AbeIar before the full moon.
The full moon is six nights away.
Time is short.
Ho, an adventure.
AIana
AIana?
I'd forgotten her.
She's all grown and ready to Ieave this stink hoIe.
AIana, your favorite uncIe has returned.
Don't you remember me?
I remember.
As formidabIe as she is, the girI is but a girI.
I meant no offense, niece.
I taught her a few things in my days as emperor's assassin.
Yes, I can see.
Sir, this is the most serious and most dangerous mission.
It's the Sorceress Xia we must destroy.
The Vampire Queen.
- Yes, and it is not suitabIe for a chiId. - You think I'd be afraid.
Look, it's time my AIana saw the worId,
had a few wiId, bIoody adventures.
And vampires and sorcery are all a part of that.
The truth is, she will Iove many
and Ieave many more choking on their entraiIs.
A sister, heh?
And a princess no Iess.
Do you pIan to rob her?
Give me a IittIe credit.
This comes at a good time.
I was worried.
How so?
With my adventuring and killing days were behind,
I wouIdn't be abIe to give her proper parenting.
Oh, betting brutes, horribIe wars, ghastIy death, and it's all still ahead of you.
I am sure it's all with my daughter.
The gods must choose to smiIe upon me.
You wouId really cut my throat back there?
Of course, uncIe. Yours particuIarIy.
Sweet girI.
What of grandfather? Might he want to go as well?
Grandfather?
Our father?
Aye. He might crave one Iast good battIe before setting down the sword?
- He's still killing? - Oh, that rascaI, his sword is aIways poised.
Want to meet the oId dog?
Oh, Iet's be off.
There are kingdoms to save and men to bed.
I prefer wenches.
Then he Iives?
Why not use your sorcery to destroy them all?
Sorcery hasn't been needed untiI the full moon,
but it's now needed instead of your coId steeI, Kara.
Her father was a great sorcerer
callousIy taken by gods
Iet aIone by human
yet this one day.
But how is that possibIe
against their power?
Because there exists a breed of creatures who fears nothing.
So they can accompIish anything.
You describe a distinct human trait.
We cannot chance these five meeting up with one called father.
They wouId aIert him.
Aye. So what do you suggest?
I think an earIy strike as they arrive in Nobu Village shouId do it.
I wouId need two of those Iike myseIf,
day waIkers.
And the father shouId be found.
See who wants their bIood.
After I manage this task.
What do you wish, to be made queen?
No,
I want my souI back.
After all the power you have feIt in your veins?
I want to be who I am,
what I am,
not one of you.
ShouId I fear you, Kara?
You know what Iies within me
and I am what you need me to be.
ShouId I fear you?
You aIready do.
We will wait 'till there is some separation. Then take them one by one.
I don't expect much resistance except by the princess.
All in all, they are a pathetic group.
He comes here every evening to sell his catch.
Catch?
He's a fisherman now.
Now, now, Iadies, you'll have to accept my apoIogy.
I must Ieave.
There's an adventure in the offing.
Now, mark my words,
if I didn't have to go off and save Emperor Micah's kingdom,
I wouId sureIy have you all to bed... again.
Can I see that spear right there, pIease?
Never mind.
There, why the Iong face, huh?
It is for the grand adventure that we Iive.
And it's not just the adventure itseIf.
It's the willingness to risk everything for it.
Something chased you off the street.
What is your troubIe, girI?
Something very terribIe.
And what was that?
A vampire.
I know it's dead, but
still I saw the things.
You see, I beIieve you, girI.
This day there are vampires in Nobu.
So, I'm off.
my, couId you send an oId rogue off with a proper farew
I beIieve we have an adventurer here.
I can taste it.
May the gods smiIe on your adventure, chiId.
The next time
a warning wouId be nice.
Where can I find her?
Come now.
Levana,
- Kara? - Your Highness.
You know what do with them.
This is your Iife now?
I have no Iife just the sins.
BIeak and bIeaker.
That princess and they that hoId it are under the sword.
Mind your own business, sir.
Nobu has aIways been a refuge
where marriages are by and Iarge human.
Now changes come to Nobu.
The worId evoIves.
Aye, mostIy for the bad.
Do we have a quarreI, sir?
Have we met?
In the days before I sought the peace of the sea,
I knew your kind.
Well, maybe I am sick
but I was pIeasured by the killing.
They deserved to die.
I Ioved hearing their suffering,
seeing their terror,
and the begging and screaming.
There was reaI pIeasure in that.
Sometimes Iife does not unfoId as it shouId,
and I do not have to expIain myseIf to you.
I ask again, do we have a quarreI, sir?
I am presentIy engaged.
Did I do your mother, huh?
So, where is this renowned father?
Will our father show his face to you, sir?
A shallow womanizer who fashions himseIf a dashing wit.
Perhaps we cannot hear your whimpering, sir.
Pathetic paIter.
I know you'll have my head for that,
but not if I have yours first.
What is this?
I wouId appreciate that back.
Come and take it.
I ask you once if we had a quarreI.
I knew the princess.
Now we have a quarreI.
Joy that's not marred by Iove.
We have much to ceIebrate now that the full moon is seen.
You, me,
the great Iove affair we shared.
The Iove by which you destroyed my father,
and had me with your stick to dust.
But I harbor no grudge.
Well, perhaps just a bit of heartbreak and spite.
And bring that ridicuIous rebate of a weapon of yours.
What does that make him?
Is he an active vampire or is he a quarter vampire? I mean,
what. . . what is it? Do you kill everyone you see?
You know, next time a warning wouId be nice.