Of Vampires, Shades, and Shifters

Orion tore out of the room, eyes glowing fiercely with the eerily sapphire hue that never dulled. Ahead, he could feel the shade's presence; it was like a burning under his skin, and it ripped at his soul. It clouded his mind and yet drove him on with a clear and single-minded purpose: destroy the Shade. Conversely, another voice, buried far back with the painful memories of the past but gaining in strength, urged him to do the opposite: join the Shade, assist it, but, more importantly, find its Master. Between the two impulses, he was at an almost complete loss; though he still followed the Shade, confusion and fear replaced his single-minded purpose. He was so involved by the struggle in his mind that he didn't notice that his current whereabouts were unfamiliar; he was following the Shade to a part of the castle that was, at least to most of the guests, unknown. Finally he realized that the Shade had stopped moving, and that was enough persuasion in itself to make him run faster. He stopped suddenly in front of an open doorway, his eyes still fiercely glowing with a strange power; a dark feline shape against the castle's gray walls. Inside the room, a deadly confrontation was taking place. Though the shade was still holding Vrolok, still surrounding him with its dark shadow-like form, Vrolok seemed hardly to notice, for standing in front of him was his own image. His twin, exactly like him in everyway except the most important, and his enemy. Umbrael was smirking smugly, evidently very pleased with himself. He didn't seem to notice Orion at first, who was still paused at the doorway, watching this most curious scene. The powers that were so strong a moment ago, urging Orion to act despite what he had wanted to do, had suddenly faded, distracted as Orion was by the scene in front of him.
"Well, well, well," began Umbrael, still smirking. "I-or, should I say, we-have caught you, my pathetic, confused alter ego." Vrolok interrupted before Umbrael could continue.
"I was never your alter ego, you damned narcissistic fool." Vrolok's voice wasn't raised in anger, but it somehow managed to convey both smoldering hate and fury with a sense of conviction. Umbrael's eyes narrowed slightly, but his voice remained smug.
"Still avoiding fate, I see," he goaded, circling Vrolok as if to emphasize who was held captive, and who was in control. It was then that his black eyes alighted on the panther.
"And...Orion, if I recall right, how nice of you to join us. I'm sure He will be pleased that you've returned of your own accord." Orion's fur bristled and he snarled softly, showing his powerful fangs. He wasn't sure who Umbrael was referring to, but he didn't care for the insinuation that he was in alliance with someone Umbrael knew when he obviously wasn't...unless...with a determination born of desperation, he pushed those thoughts away and focused once more on the conflict in front of him, for Umbrael had turned once more to Vrolok.
"I knew it would work...capture the vampire huntress, and add your eternal weakness to the bait you already couldn't refuse..." Umbrael sneered again. "You actually have gone soft, haven't you? You can't kill her...I've watched you," he whispered, taunting Vrolok still, "and you just can't bring yourself to do it...can't bring yourself to sink your deadly fangs into her smooth, pale throat, forever destroying any chance of the humanity it's so obvious you desperately crave." Suddenly, Orion felt the presence of another mind in his own; just barely a flicker, then it was gone. He eyed Vrolok warily, able to identify his aura. Then it came again, only this time, a simple picture; no words, just an image of Orion attacking the shade while Vrolok, freed, lunged for Umbrael. The mental communication was so basic, barely any conscious thought was needed to use it. Which was probably why, Orion figured, Umbrael had not reacted to its use. Orion understood easily enough what Vrolok wanted; but he hesitated a moment, unsure if helping Vrolok was the right thing to do. He did want to kill the Shade, oh yes, that was easy enough to decide...he supposed that perhaps if he let Vrolok go, the vampires would kill each other...and that would end many conflicts at once...and now that he thought about it, he realized he probably would rather have Vrolok live than Umbrael, though that was due more to an increased knowledge of Vrolok and what he was about rather than an emotional attachment. He discarded the dangers of what would happen if Umbrael prevailed; he wasn't worried about death...And with that final thought, he sprang into action. Though it was the panther who sprang from the ground, it was the oh-so-familiar unicorn who landed, hooves flashing and horn glowing, beside the Shade and released Vrolok from its grasp. It was an almost subconscious shapechange; the Unicorn, a symbol of his defiance, of what he had chosen to stand for after his dark past, and an obvious adversary to the Shade, which had no conscience to speak of. Orion cornered the shade, which was unable to drift through the nearby wall, snared in the magic flowing around the Unicorn, snared in the horn's unearthly light which revealed it for all that it was: simply a servant, with no truly independent mind or will, cloaked in its own evil deeds. Orion was winning his battle, he could feel it; the shade's power was slipping away, undone by the light and by the sheer will - this time truly Orion's and not some other's urging - which it could not understand. Though it shrieked in fury and leeched away Orion's strength and purpose, though it weakened him, it could not do enough to stop him and finally, with one last shriek of disbelief, the Shade lay stilled under Orion's glimmering hooves, and dissipated into nothing. Orion then was only barely aware that Vrolok and Umbrael stood facing each other, ignorant of the fate of Unicorn or Shade, before blackness and an incredibly empty feeling overwhelmed him and he knew no more.