Chapter 5
2866words
Karma tilted her head, her long red hair flowing over her slender shoulders, and suddenly leapt into the air with a loud squeal.
Taken aback, Alice stopped walking and gripped her staff tightly, searching for something dangerous nearby.
“It's a pink lizard!” Karma shouted enthusiastically.
“A... pink lizard?” Alice asked, still taken aback.
Karma turned around, and sure enough, she was holding a pink lizard. “Isn't it erotic?”
“I think you mean exotic?”
“I said what I said!”
The lizard leapt out of her hands and scuttled away rapidly before Karma declared that she was ready to proceed.
Most of the day was spent walking and talking, drinking from nearby streams, eating fish and various berries growing nearby, and when they weren't searching for food and water, they were talking.
Actually, even when they were looking for food and water, they were talking.
After hours of traveling, they both suddenly grew quiet as they approached a small village, a group of about 20 people gathered in the village center.
The pair approached cautiously, as the villagers seemed concerned about something serious.
“May I ask what troubles you, good sir?” Alice asked an old man who was standing a fair distance from the crowd, his index finger pressed against his lips in deep contemplation, and the moment Alice spoke, he jumped.
“Apologies, milady.” he spoke softly, almost whispering. “I'm afraid 'tis not such a fair time to visit us.”
An old woman sneered at the old man. “Who you bloody talkin' to, James?” she crowed.
“Weary travelers, Ginny!” he shouted back. “Sorry, miladies. That's me wife.”
“It's alright, sir.” Alice smiled. “We're actually out here investigating some recent attacks on the roads, and we were hoping to find some information, if it's not too much trouble.”
“Oh, no trouble at all, miss.” the old man scratched his scruffy chin and smiled, his teeth brown and crooked. “What kind of attacks are they?”
“Well, we're not entirely sure. One group of victims seemed to be traveling merchants – a man, a woman, and a child – and they were all killed by something we haven't been able to identify.”
“Anything on the necks?” the old man seemed nervous to ask.
“We never got a chance to see the bodies. They were all buried before we arrived.”
“I see. Any other clues, miss?”
“Just blood stains on their cart. Not a lot, though it did not look like an animal attack.”
James scratched his neck and sighed. “Ain't much to go on, milady, but I have a good idea of what might be causing your difficulties.”
Karma tilted her head, but remained silent, watching him with unnecessary intensity.
James looked into Alice's eyes and said, “We've been having... a bit of a vampire problem of late.”
“Vampires? Here?” Karma blurted out before grinning foolishly and slinking back behind Alice.
“Aye, vampires.” James replied calmly, looking around to see if anyone overheard. “Rumor has it, there's a whole nest of 'em somewhere nearby. I hope to the gods it ain't true.”
“I see. Any other rumors going around that might be of interest?”
“Aye.” he said cautiously. “There was someone looking for the vampires not long ago. Wouldn't say why, but he was well dressed. Looked like some kind of... emissary or something-or-other like that. Had a pin on his jacket. Looked awfully regal to me.”
“I'll keep an eye out for him.” Alice said with a smile. “Who knows what kind of information someone like that might have.”
“There was also a strange fellow in full knightly armor. Spoke strangely and everything.” he scratched his neck as he spoke.
“Shiny guy?” Karma blurted out.
“We've met the knight, actually.” Alice smiled as she spoke. “I don't think he's a danger. He was actually quite a gentleman.”
“Well,” James said softly. “Whatever he may be...” he trailed off as he peered over Alice's shoulder and his face went pale. “Vampires.” he hissed, fear filling his voice.
Alice turned to where he was looking and could only see two people standing down the road, dressed in black and holding umbrellas. She turned toward James, who seemed intentionally disinterested in further conversation.
“I thought vampires were deathly allergic to sunlight.” Alice stated calmly. “Or is that myth incorrect.” Not really a question.
“Make haste, milady.” James spoke softly as he began walking toward the rest of the villagers. “They're watching us at all times. Like birds of prey, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Make haste, both of you. Please.” James' voice nearly sounded like begging at the end.
Alice gripped her staff and turned toward the three figures down the road, but they were gone.
“Karma?” Alice started.
“Yes milady?” Karma asked sarcastically.
“I think we're about to have a problem. But if we keep heading north, I get the feeling that we'll find what we're looking for.” Alice gripped her staff tightly in her right hand and took a deep breath, held it in for a few seconds, and finally breathed out a deep sigh. “If it's vampires we're dealing with, we don't have much time before the sun goes down and the advantage becomes theirs. Are you ready for a fight?”
Karma flashed a devilish grin and gripped the scabbard of her sword in her left hand.
“I am always ready for a fight.”
The beast let out a deafening roar that pierced the night and forced all four men to cover their ears. It looked at them one at a time, it's blood red eyes darting back and forth frantically as it sized up the men standing before it.
“Is that a vampire dragon?” Kuma asked as he created a large blade of solid ice.
“A vampiric wyvern, yes.” Trinady replied, gripping the hilt of his sword.
“Can we take that?” Bertrum asked as he drew his sword.
“We don't have a choice.” Trinady replied. “Alright boys... no dilly-dallying.”
“I won't be dallying no dillies.” Jathom replied, drawing his sword and removing the small shield from his back.
The wyvern charged frantically, awkwardly using her wings as forelegs as she ran straight for Trinady, who rolled to the side, searching for an opening, but finding none as the beast slid to a stop and snapped her razor sharp fangs in his direction, stopping only inches short of their destination. Kuma struck from the left as Bertrum and Jathom ran behind her.
Kuma's blade struck the scaly neck with a loud clang, and the wyvern whipped her head in his direction, snapping her jaws around his blade, ripping it from his grasp and flinging the blade like a missile in Trinady's direction, narrowly missing as Trinady dodged, and with a simple flick of her tail, both Jathom and Bertrum were airborne.
Trinady swung his blade with all his strength, the tip of his sword gouging a thin line across the wyvern's cheek, causing her to glare at him menacingly, her blood red eyes seeming to glow in the darkness of the night. As her attention was on Trinady, Kuma slammed an ice coated fist into the back of her left jaw, hoping to dislocate the joint, but the ice shattered, and the wyvern whipped her head to the left and spat a small blob of molten mucous, forcing Kuma to fire a blast of cold from his hands just to cool it down enough to make it harmless.
The wyvern spread her wings and leapt into the air, flapping to stay airborne as she roared once again, and her chest began to glow with a dull orange light.
Trinady searched frantically, but there was nothing to take cover behind, save for the large iron barn doors.
“In the barn! Now!” he shouted as he ran around the wyvern, grabbing Jathom on his way.
Kuma grabbed Bertrum and ducked behind the iron barn door with Trinady just in time for a torrent of molten slime to spew from the wyvern's maw, gushing like a volcanic waterfall and spreading slowly around the ground, burning everything it touched in its path. She stopped spewing volcanic mucous and coughed loudly, making it apparent that something was wrong with her.
With a powerful swish of her large wings, she flung herself backward and into the barn so hard that she crashed into the rear wall, causing the entire building to shift as though it might collapse at any moment, and she let out another deafening roar before shaking her head and charging once again.
Kuma let loose a powerful blast of cold from his hands directly into the wyvern's face, causing her to take a step back and frantically cover her eyes.
“Can you transform?” Kuma shouted over the whooshing sound of his power.
“It won't help!” Trinady called back. “Fangs and claws are useless against these scales!”
Bertrum cursed violently.
“Big weapons it is!” Kuma shouted as he flanked the wyvern.
Jathom took his sword up and ran around the wyvern. “I have an idea!” he shouted.
Trinady protested, but wasn't quick enough. The wyvern spun around, striking Kuma with her tail – sending him flying up to the loft and into a pile of straw – before snatching Jathom up in her powerful jaws, her long fangs piercing his thighs, eliciting an inhuman scream from the young man. She held on to Jathom for only a few seconds, but in that time, he went pale, and she tossed him into a pile of hay in the corner before turning back toward the remaining two, the cut on her right cheek slowly fading away.
Trinady cursed, and readied his blade for another attack, and the wyvern snarled in his direction as she slowly approached, reeling back in preparation to strike, and she spread her wings as a faint orange glow rose in her chest.
As the glow rose in the back of her open maw, Kuma leapt down from the loft, a massive battleaxe of ice clutched in his hands, and with all his might, he drove the blade into the back of the wyvern's neck. The blade only went half through the neck, and seeing this, Trinady ran behind Kuma and used him like a springboard, launching himself into the air as high as he could jump, and planting both feet firmly on the handle of the ax, driving it straight through into the soil beneath the beast, severing her head.
The now headless wyvern stumbled and twitched chaotically for a few seconds before finally collapsing, blood gushing from the open neck wound.
Silence fell upon the quartet for what seemed like an eternity before a long and slow clapping sound echoed throughout the barn.
The vampire walked into the barn slowly, clapping his pale hands in a deliberately slow rhythm to showcase his boredom with the entire situation.
Jathom rolled off the pile of hay and wobbled to his feet, blood trickling down his legs. “Bloody hell, I think she drank me.”
“I believe she tapped into a major artery in your legs, my young friend.” the vampire said, almost melodically, as though he were pleased with what he was witnessing. “At any rate, a deal is... well, a deal. You may have my blood to do with as you please.” His boredom was even more apparent as he held up a small vial filled with dark red liquid. “However, your troubles may only be beginning.”
“I'll take my changes.” Kuma spat as he tied a makeshift tourniquet around Jathom's thigh to stop the bleeding.
Trinady grabbed the vial of blood from the vampire's hand and stuffed it into his pocket before helping Bertrum walk to the barn's entrance, and just outside, he realized they were surrounded by the villagers.
No... not villagers.
The sun was nearly set.
Alice and Karma had been walking for hours along the main road, and every village they passed along the way was full of reluctant villagers, seemingly desperate to keep their doors closed to any outsiders, most likely out of fear. The few who were actually willing to speak to them spun the same tales of a vampire nest nearby.
And every time they stopped, the same three figures watched them from the road, clutching their umbrellas and watching menacingly.
And just as before, they disappeared in the instant Alice looked away.
Alice and Karma walked for some time as the sun sunk lower and lower, increasing the gloom that extended from the nearby forest, stretching its shadowy fingers further by the minute.
Alice stopped walking and stamped her staff against the ground by her feet deliberately.
“So,” she started. “You finally decided to stop messing about?”
Standing behind Alice and Karma were the three figures, their faces covered by their umbrellas.
Karma cracked her neck and drew her sword. “Vampires?” she asked, sounding truly serious for the first time since they met.
“Indeed...” Alice replied. “Still ready for a fight?”
“Wait...” the lead figure spoke softly, calmly, his voice filled with antipathy. “We did not come here to fight with you, humans.” He slowly tilted his umbrella back in the low evening gloom, revealing a slender face and long, white hair, his eyes bright red, even in the low light. “We came here with a proposition.”
Alice placed a hand on Karma's shoulder calmly. “Fine. What is your proposition?” Alice spoke soft, but showed not weakness in her tone.
The vampire slowly spread a disgusting smile that never reached his eyes, his fangs glistening in the evening gloom. “Join us, and you will never know fear again. We could use a powerful mage in our ranks, after all.”
“Pass.” Alice stated flatly. “There are not many things in this world that I would surrender my life for, but becoming one of you? That's a line I could never cross, no matter how much fear you might think I experience in my life.”
“Indeed...” the vampire drawled, slowly looking up to see the barrage of magic arrows floating above Alice, all pointed in his direction. “I see. That move with your staff earlier was not just a show of standing your ground.”
“These arrows are faster than you are. They may not kill you, but they'll slow you down enough for my companion here to finish the job.” Alice glared at the lead vampire, her blue eyes glowing with intensity.
The vampire's eyes widened horribly along with his vicious smile. “I guess we'll find out, won't we.”
In the blink of an eye, the lead vampire was gone, and in another blink, the other two were riddled with magical arrows and slowly falling to the ground.
Karma was quickly removing the heads of both of them while Alice raised her left hand.
A flash of light sparked from behind Alice with a metallic twang as the lead vampire struck at her from behind, but his claws collided with her shield, and he swung again, aiming for her head as she turned around, slamming her staff into the ground once again, and once again showering magical arrows in his direction, but just as before, he was gone in the blink of an eye.
Karma stood at Alice's back and her keen green eyes scanned the surroundings. “He's so fast...” she whispered.
Alice slammed her staff into the ground again just as sparks flew from above them as the vampire struck from above.
“That barrier is a nuisance, girl!” he growled as he disappeared once again.
Alice's eyes glowed with magical intensity as she twisted her staff into the dirt, and a ball of light formed in front of her before firing off in ten different directions at once, and the sound of songbirds followed every portion of light as they flew around the women.
Sparks flew once again, followed by foul cursing as the vampire dropped to one knee on the ground beside them. “Artificial sunlight?” the vampire hissed. “What kind of mage are you?”
“The kind with no patience for monsters. The kind with companions to find.”
“Ah, the wolf, the bear, and the humans.” the vampire chided. “They're probably meeting the master's new pet right about now. He's real proud of this one.”
“Where are they?” Alice slammed her staff into the ground and summoned more than a dozen magic arrows above her head, all pointed at him.
The vampire only grinned sadistically. “Keep going north and you'll find what's left of them.”
Alice slammed her staff into the ground again and watched coldly as the vampire was impaled by every magic arrow she had summoned, mostly focusing on his legs, causing him to drop to his knees, and before he could finish another foul curse, Karma slashed her blade across his neck and sent his head rolling down the road.
The pair watched in silence as the bodies turned to dust and blew away in the wind.
