Iliana Van Helsing's Arc

Chapter 2 of 6

Iliana stood in the throne room of Castle Dracul with her charm at her throat. It marked her as an equal. It did not make her safe. Dracula had named four clans that would hunt her the moment she signed his truce. So she asked him to summon them. If she could not name the knives at her back, she would face them here, tonight, and force each to swear. They came one by one. Sigurd Erikson entered first, shirtless under a fur cape, still smelling of the beasts he bred below. He looked at her weapons and grinned. "A hunter walks in and lives. That's a fine trick." Jiro Minamoto followed, sword at his hip, topknot tied high. He said nothing. He only measured her the way a swordsman measures reach. Then came Dawit, robed in black and gold, keeper of the clan's blood stores. Last was Sofía, crowned in feathers and gold, her red eyes cold. Iliana faced them. "You want me dead to prove your king weak," she said. "So I offer a trade instead. End the hunts. My family stops the killing. In return, I give each clan what it wants more than my throat." Sigurd laughed. "And what do I want, girl?" "Iron and silver worked to bind beasts, not kill them," she said. "I build weapons. I can build cages strong enough to hold what you breed." His grin faded into thought. Dawit spoke plainly. "I do not hunt for sport. I want my clan to stop needing human blood at all." He held her gaze. "If your truce ends the raids, my shamans have less to fear from your kind. That is worth something to me." Jiro's jaw tightened. "Your ancestor drove my clan from Japan. Witch hunters, on holy ground." He touched his sword. "Why should Minamoto trust a Van Helsing?" "Because I am not them," Iliana said. "I broke with my father to stand here. Kill me, and you get one dead hunter and a war. Swear peace, and you get the one Van Helsing willing to call off the guild." Sofía had been silent. Now she stepped forward. "I feed on animals. I want no more blood between us." She looked at the others. "She offers what none of you will admit you crave. An end." Dracula watched from his throne. "A blood pact," he said. "An oath bound in blood cannot be broken without cost. If they swear it, they cannot hunt you. Will you swear, my clans?" One by one, they cut their palms. Dawit first. Then Sofía. Sigurd, laughing low. Jiro, last and slowest, but he cut. Four vampires bled onto the stone and named her protected. Iliana's hands shook when it was done. She had proof now. Not a charm, but four oaths sealed in blood. Then Dracula rose. "They have sworn," he said. "But I have not. Summon your father, head of the Guild of Monster Hunters and the Van Helsing family.”