Roses Fall at the Feet of Kazhan Dul

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"I know you're in there, mortal. I can smell you."

Fuck.

@--`^---
Roses fall
at the feet
of Kazhan Dul
---^`--@

"I won't do this anymore! I can't! Kazhan Dul granted us clemency. He gave us a sanctuary. Why should we be afraid to walk outside? This is our fucking world. We were here first. We're God's firstborn. They're the work of the devil. Fucking Lucifer."

Jareth watched the man pace back and forth across the gravel floor. His face was red with a heated anger. Sweat beaded on the sides of his forehead from a fever that had slowly crept up on him. It had crept up on them all. The room was darker, the windows tinted and barred. Candles were lit on the few tables they had. There was an overhead lamp hanging loosely, but the bulbs had long since been burnt out. Now it served as a coat hanger.

"Calm down, Henric." Jareth tried to soothe the angry man. "Things will be better soon. Kazhan Dul will see to that."

"Fuck Kazhan Dul." Henric spat.

A few gasps escaped the lips of people who sat near Henric. Jareth sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. He wished there were words that could calm Henric and the others. He wished that he could promise a bright future for the human race, but there was indeed none that he could see. The vampires had doomed the human race to a lifetime of slavery. Though, it was better than death. If it hadn't been for Kazhan Dul, the human race would have been ultimately extinct.

The vampires had come out of hiding without warning. They had been building their strength and numbers for centuries, waiting for a time when they could come forth and take control of the world. They had found that time when Lord Vonaeur came to rule. For centuries, it had been ancient vampires who had ruled jointly over the vampire race. Never had it been one sole ruler. But Lord Vonaeur had proven himself in strength and power and his quickly rose to the top. There was not a vampire who didn't fear him. With the power that he aquired, he created the sunwalkers. It was a new breed of vampires, hideous and mindless, who came forth during the day and killed mercilessly. No mortal was safe against the army.

Once the human population had been decreased to a suitable size for Lord Vonaeur's liking, the vampires came forth. They brought cities to ruins, tortured and killed humans, fed until they could feed no more. Those that weren't killed by vampires were forced into hiding. But they were found. There was no safe place in the world for humans to hide.

Until Kazhan Dul offered the humans a sanctuary, free from the merciless killing of the vampires who followed Lord Vonaeur. Kazhan Dul and his followers protected those who declared their loyalty to him from the vampires. In exchange for sanctuary, the humans gave their blood. Vampires who bore the mark of Kazhan Dul were able to feed at will, but they weren't to kill. Soon, Kazhan Dul held all of the remaining humans on earth in his sanctuary. The vampires who still held allegance with Lord Vonaeur starved or joined Kazhan Dul.

"Fuck Kazhan Dul?" Jareth whispered, snorting a laugh and looking towards the door. A silver cross had been soldered to the back of the door. There was an eyehole to look at who was standing outside of the door. Near to the door was a small side table with a basket that held silver tablets. It was protection against vampires. "Kazhan Dul saved out lives, Henric."

"No he didn't!" Henric whirled. "This is not saved, Jareth. Hiding in this hole is not saved. Saved would be us with decent jobs, worrying about the stock market and whether or not we're going to catch the Super Bowl or be stuck going to the church's potluck. That is saved. Living in this shelter, or living as slaves to Kazhan Dul is not saved." Henric put his head in his hands and leaned against the wall. He slid down and sat with a sigh. "This is not saved."

Jareth chuckled again and watched as Henric's anger burned out and he laid his head back against the wall. "We're gathering numbers, Henric. We'll do just as the vampires did to us. We'll hide here, training generations of slayers, each one better than the last. And when the time comes, we'll take them down. Every last one of them."

Henric turned and looked at Jareth. "And what about your blessed Kazhan Dul?" He asked.

"We'll worry about that when the time comes. We won't be there to deal with him, Henric. It will be our descendants."

Henric shook his head and let out a strangled laugh. "Do you really think that we will be able to hide a population of slayers from the vampires for that long? They'll find us, Jareth, and when they do, they'll kill us. Not even Kazhan Dul will stand for this."

"We'll keep moving. We'll send scouts out to find new places where we can build strongholds. The vampires linger near Kazhan Dul's sanctuary. The further we get away, the better our chances." Jareth leaned forward. "That's why we sent Cristof out. Right now, he's looking for a place where we can go."

The two men became quiet for a while. They marvelled in the quietness of their stronghold. It was almost peaceful being there, not a slave. Many of the people who had come to the rebellion had left family in Kazhan Dul's sanctuary, family that they knew they'd never see again. Jareth had left a sister. Henric had left his wife and unborn baby. Maybe that was why he was so anxious to get rid of the slavery. He knew that every day his wife was being fed on. When his son or daughter was born, they would be fed on too.

"Do you think she's okay?" Henric asked, his glazed eyes staring at the opposite wall.

Jareth knew immediately who he was talking about. It was the same person he always talked about. "I'm sure she's fine, Henric. Kazhan Dul gave his word that no harm would ever come to humans that followed he. He gave his word, Henric. Kazhan Dul doesn't go back on his word."

Henric snorted. "You talk about him like he's God."

"He is."

A loud banging sounded at the door that startled both Jareth and Henric. Two more people rushed forward with them as they stood behind the door. Jareth opened the eyehole and looked out at the person behind the door. He quickly closed it. "It's Marcus." He said and unlocked the the deadbolt, along with four other locks and a silver plank across the door, before he opened it. Marcus stumbled in and helped to lock the door up behind him.

Jareth took a silver tablet from the basket on the table and held it out towards Marcus.

"Jareth..." Marcus said, disgusted. "It's me."

"Get used to this." Jareth said, shoving the tablet forward. Marcus rolled his eyes before he opened his mouth. Jareth placed the tablet on Marcus' tongue and closed his jaw. After a few moments, Jareth nodded and Marcus spit the tablet into his waiting hand. "Guess you're not a vampire."

"I could have told you that." Marcus said, shaking his head. He shoved pass Henric, who still stared at him suspiciously, as he always did. "I think I found a new place." Marcus sat down, grabbing a can of baked beans from a shelf. He reached into his boot and took out a knife. Using it, he stabbed the can and then scooped out some beans to eat. "Looks like it was an old grocery store or something. But there's a basement that we can use. And we've got food upstairs anway, so it's perfect."

"Are there many windows?" Jareth asked.

"Not many. They'll be easy to board up." Marcus paused and looked around. "Where's Cristof?"

Jareth snapped his head towards Marcus. "What do you mean? He's out looking for another place too."

Marcus dropped the can and stood up quickly, holding his knife out in front of him. "No, we met up and I told him to come back here because I found a place."

"How long ago was that?"

"Two hours." Marcus started walking towards the door. "I'm going out to find him."

"Marcus." Jareth put a hand on Marcus' shoulder. "It will be dark soon."

"I know!" Marcus whirled, snapping Jareth's hand off his shoulder. "That's why I need to find him." There was a sadness in Marcus' eyes. The sadness was reflected in Jareth's eyes as well. They both knew that if Cristof wasn't back by now, he was not coming back.

"Marcus..." Jareth just shook his head.

"No! Jareth, no! I have to find him. I have to find him." Marcus screamed turning to run to the door. Henric stopped him in a bear hug. Marcus struggled to get lose, but after his body was spent, he collapsed in a fit of sobs.

"I'm sorry about your brother, Marcus." Jareth whispered, sitting down next to the sobbing young man and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Fuck those vampires." Marcus sobbed. "I'll kill them all. I'll kill every single one of them!" He screamed.

A woman in the room started to sob as well. "How can we fight them? We won't win against them. We won't win against those monsters. We're all going to die here. We're going to die here!"

Jareth closed his eyes. It wasn't true. They weren't going to die. They had a plan, a strong plan. They were going to train generations of slayers and they were going to win against the vampires. The human race had never lost a war before, they would never lose one. They were the strongest, they had wills of their own. No vampire race was going to take that away.

"Do not fear the rule of Kazhan Dul." Jareth began to recite the oath they had all heard at one time. "He gives hope. The sun will shine again. Dreams will be colorful, screams will be wordless. Do not fear the rule of Kazhan Dul. He will enlist the gods to bring down protection upon the heads of mortals. Kazhan Dul will rise above all others. Roses fall at the feet of Kazhan Dul."

Jareth held the sobbing Marcus in his arms, cradling him. "Roses fall at the feet of Kazhan Dul."

---^`--@Kazhan Dul@--`^---

"I know you're in there, mortal. I can smell you."

Fuck.

Cristof leaned against the door, his eyes tightly shut. He pressed himself as close as he could to the wall. This was not suppose to be happening. He wasn't suppose to be here. Marcus had told him to go back and he had gone back, just like Marcus asked. But he had been cornered.

"Come out, come out." The vampire coaxed him.

Cristof felt tears stinging at his eyes. He wasn't suppose to die, not like this. "I'm under the protection of Kazhan Dul." Cristof whispered. "If you kill me, he'll kill you and the gods will damn your soul to an eternity of torture."

The laugh that penetrated Cristof's ears made him cringe. "Do you really think that Kazhan Dul has the gods on his side? What miracles has he brought down on your mortal race? None! Kazhan Dul is a deciever."

"No!" Cristof yelled. "He is our leader. He saved us!" Cristof sunk to the ground. When he opened his eyes, the vampire was standing in front of him. He tried to scream, but the vampire reached forward and clamped his hand around Cristof's throat. Cristof gagged.

"He saved you from what? From us? It doesn't look like you're saved. Kazhan Dul is a deceiver." The vampire came forward, straddling Cristof until he was almost crushed. Tears flowed freely from the young man's eyes now as he stared at what was soon to be his murderer. "Do you really think that the vampire race was stupid enough to eliminate all of their food? We prepared to come out of hiding. Why do you think we were ready?" Cristof could only shake his head. "We were ready because we don't need to drink the blood of humans anymore." He leaned forward and put his mouth near Cristof's ear. "We merely like to. We've found a new source of food. Kazhan Dul is keeping you alive for his own guilty pleasures."

The vampire let go of Cristof's throat. "It's not true. What else would you eat? It's not true."

"We're dead. We don't need to eat."

Cristof sobbed and started receiting the oath.

"Do not fear the rule of Kazhan Dul
He gives hope.
The sun will shine again.
Dreams will be colorful,
screams will be wordless.
Do not fear the rule of Kazhan Dul.
He will enlist the gods
to bring down protection
upon the heads of mortals.
Kazhan Dul will rise above all others.
Roses fall at the feet of Kazhan Dul."

"You forgot the last part." The vampire smiled. Faster than Cristof could comprehend, the vampire ripped his throat out. As he was dying, he heard the last words. Words that had not been uttered before.

"All will die beneath the rule
of our beloved Kazhan Dul."

@--`^---
Roses fall
at the feet
of Kazhan Dul...
and humans fall
beneath the blade
of the deceiver.
---^`--@