Chapter 10: Vampire hunters

"So… We're finally left alone once again. It's been a stressful week, not gonna lie." 

Harrison the human warrior said while he slowly cleaned and oiled his shoulder pauldron. His gear laid next to him, with his magical axe within grasp. 

The party warmed themselves up with a small firecamp in the entrance of an abandoned mineshaft as they recuperated from a whole day's travel on foot through the thick temperate forest near the lake town Sigeum of the Gawon Kingdom. 

"I never knew there were so many vampires around here." Roselie hovered her freezing hands above the fire 

"Lady Immith is intense huh? She just blasted through the lair with spells after spells. I could only down two thralls after all." Elluin pouted as she worked on fletching an arrow "But this time she's not here. Will we be okay? I heard Roderick say that this time we are taking down a very old vampire who has consumed and turned many."

"Well… Well! Master Immith said that our party must fend for ourselves and improve quickly, she said that you all have great potential and could grow much much more!" Lissa the halfling perked up and tried to lift the mood "And… and the hunters will join us on this operation! I think Master Immith is challenging us to, you know… unlock your potential."

"We still have plenty of holy water and I still have a spell scroll lady Immith gave us. We are as prepared as we can be." Roselie checked her component satchel for the umpteenth time.

"The hunters are cool and all but… dare I say they are as sloppy as us silver ranked. Only Roderick and the leaders could really catch up to lady Immith."

"We can't blame them!" Lissa said "There were so many of them! I almost got trampled by those… uh… lesser vampires if not for the help of the hunters."

Wind howled outside the desecrated wooden mine door, rattling it and blew in a gust of bone chilling wind.

Harrison pulled the leather belt taut and fixed his pauldron back to position, satisfied with the cleaning, he started to unpack a package of ration and devoured it. The ration was cold and hard. He wished that he could sip on a bowl of soup at that moment.  "We should rest as much as we can, especially you, Roselie. We absolutely need your divine spell to take down the master vampire tomorrow. I'll take the first guard."

The night passed without much incident, except for the slight rain near dawn, casting a thick layer of fog to the forest between the party and their destination. They packed up and left the mineshaft before the first chirp of bird sounded, for they were in a hurry. At noon sharp, they and two groups of vampire hunters will assault a lair of a master vampire, and they still had hours of travel before them.

But not sooner than half an hour walk before Elluin halted in her track and called out to the party

"Wait… there are footsteps here. Look."

The elf archer bowed down and dusted the snow with her gloved hand.

"Someone tried to cover their tracks, they were looking for someone or something. Look here." She pointed "Multiple footsteps pressing onto each other. Must have been through here a couple of times. Although only one pair of print, indicating one person. The trails continue." 

Without a word, the party wielded their weapon and slowly followed Elluin's lead, their eyes sharply casted to the forest surrounding them. Expecting an ambush, Elluin also traversed the snow-ridden ground with care. For traps could immediately push the party into a bad spot. They were deep in vampire territory, not too far from their feeding ground. A thrall or lesser vampire must have scouted them but lost track in the night. 

"There. On that tree."

Elluin crouched down and lifted her longbow aloft, an arrow nocked and trained already onto the branches of a tall black fir tree. In the middle of the tree, almost impossible to spot by untrained eyes, a darkened and pressured patch of needle leaves indicated to the elf archer that something big was taking refuge amongst the crown of the tree.

"Whatever it is, it might have not noticed us yet." Harrison whispered, branding his axe "Cover me, I'll move forward."

With Elluin and Roselie behind, Harrison and Lissa approached the trunk and readied their attack, waiting for initiation. The elf released her finger, letting an arrow loose into the hiding spot as a male voice frantically called out, not in pain but surprise, and a figure fell down right where the party's ambush awaited.

"W-Wait! Don't attack! Friendly… oh…"

The warrior and the halfling stopped in their tracks as the figure raised their hands above their head in surrender. And Lissa called out in bewilderment: "Oh it's sir Charlie!" before pouncing on him and gave the figure a hug.

Yet, Elluin, Harrison and even Roselie did not lower their weapons. They knew that they were in enemy domain, and the creature before them might not truly be their ally. Vampires were notorious for their ability to trick even the most experienced adventurers.

"Charlie? Are you truly you?" Harrison asked, his axe threatened to arc down onto the figure's neck at any moment. "Or are you merely an illusion to trick us?"

"Woah woah hey! It's me! I've been tracking you guys for a day now, but could not catch up." Charlie said while attempting to pry the small, child-like person latching on him. He definitely did not know her, although somehow she knew his name. "Uhh… do I know you, miss?"

Lissa raised her head to meet his gaze, she was clearly pouting and somewhat resentful of what he had just said. "You really don't recognize me?"

The sight of her face pulled on Charlie's heartstring.

"I… uh… actually no?"

"Doesn't matter." Elluin said coldly, her aim did not even leave Charlie's head for but a moment "Prove to us that you truly are Charlie. Roselie, do you have the spell?"

"Y-Y-Yes! Please give me a second to prepare."

Roselie dragged her golden staff on the snow with one hand, creating a circle while she simultaneously chanted a verse in the holy scripture of her church. Before long, the clumsy circle drawn on the ground glowed brightly before settling down into a perfect magic circle with multiple holy sigils unknown to Charlie. And he was carefully escorted into the circle, no doubt for the interrogation session.

"Alright. Who are you really?" Elluin asked, her brows furrowed and her ears pressed to her head. Her arrow still trained on him.

The ranger smiled, his hands had been tied behind his back when the cleric girl prepared her ritual. 

"My name is Charleston Fogsorrow, and I have been adventuring with our party for more than half a year. Recently, I have been severely injured and was sent to a hidden place to heal up."

"He… He's telling the truth!" 

As soon as the cleric confirmed the integrity of the ranger, his companions immediately lowered their weapon and audibly sighed. It was truly their friend and not a fiend who disguised themselves.

"Well, I can continue." Charlie smirked with a devious look on his face "Before we face the stone golem that knocked me out, Harrison and Elluin revealed an itsy bitsy secret to me that is…"

"Whoa whoa whoa hey now!!" Harrison yelled out loud "The trees have ears, brother! I trust you now. But now it's not the time!"

"Yeah I know. I'm just teasing you. Let's go, and fill me in on the mission."

Lissa the halfling put her hands on her hips, thrusted her chest out a bit and proudly announced "I knew he really was Charlie already! We are still connected by my telepathic bond, you know?"

"Wait… telepathic? Lissa? Is that you?"

  ===

The sun had reached its zenith as the party arrived at their predetermined position for the assault. 

A giant lake in the middle of the forest, with a tall and majestic waterfall casting an enormous amount of water downstream. However, the water from the lake seemed to be of a slight pinkish color, almost as if it was part blood part water. If not for Harrison's explanation - the only person native to this land, the party would have been stressed out for no reason.

"This is Flowerfall, I dare say the most beautiful attraction in all of this continent." He said with just a bit of pride "The water is not pink, it's from the cherry petals grown on the banks of the river above the fall. Tis the right season for us to be here."

"Woa… You've never brought me here." The elf archer said. She was taken aback by the marvelous sight before her as she bowed down, cupped her hands and drank from the lake.

"Hmm… So where's the entrance to their lair? I would never expect vampires to make a lair this close to a river." Charlie said, casting his gaze around cautiously.

He had to be cautious, for he was the inexperienced one of the party at the moment. His friends have had multiple contacts with vampires when he was still recovering, and they had plenty of battle experience from fighting with extremely powerful people. He was under-prepared, and he was anxious because of that.

"True. I was surprised when lady Immith told us their location. She herself told us that vampires can not pass any flowing water body. " Harrison proclaimed "But it's fine. They won't come out in broad daylight, and if they do, the hunters scouting the area would have warned us with a bird messenger like the last time." 

"Mhm. It's currently high noon. I think we have to wait an hour for the rest of the hunters to arrive." Roselie said as she spread out the picnic blanket and set up dry tinders on a stone surface "May I suggest we eat something hot to revitalize ourselves before the siege?"

"Brilliant idea!" Harrison immediately nodded. He had been craving warm soup for the longest time. "Do you mind, Charlie? Oh, I almost forgot, here."

The human warrior gave the magical Bag of Holding back to its designated carrier. He had been holding on to the bag for the party while Charlie recovered, and now the bag had been returned to its previous holder.

Quickly and almost rhythmically, Charlie quipped up a hearty pot of soup with the ingredients the party had. Some aromatic herbs from Roselie's material satchel, some wild onions growing nearby and the star of the meal, a jar of salted pork that Charlie bought in the Elder Birch market in Niliphy. It was a perfect type of meat for adventurers: salted so it could last for months if sealed, yet still tender unlike ration dried meat, conveniently packed in a ceramic jar that fits the bag of holding or just any type of backpack and satchel. All in all, a beautiful creation of the pig farmers for the season when pork was plentiful. 

After enjoying a meal with his companions, Charlie felt whole again. He had been waiting for this day since the day he could move around. It was a weird feeling, he admitted to himself, but he might have been addicted to the companionship that his party brought him. Furthermore, now the will-o-wisp he helped a while ago also had a humanoid form, making the party more rounded. 

But the time for leisure activities had come to pass.

A wood owl brought a message from the hunters. It seemed that they had got into position and were all prepared for the assault. It was finally time.

The cavern entrance was located to the side of the waterfall hill, carefully hidden by the thick foliage of dead bushes. Charlie held his pistol on his left hand and placed his right on the ornamented rapier that doctor Peftís entrusted to him as they slowly approached the cave.

And it was then Charlie saw the vampire hunters that his friends had mentioned on multiple occasions. Well trained warriors cladded in darkened leather armor with chainmail on the outside, they were also equipped with a multitude of weapons and potions, as well as spell scrolls and trinkets. There were 10 hunters in total, elves and human and dwarves, all seemed ready to exterminate the vampires. Around the entrance were many wooden spike barriers set up to slow down any escaping target, with traps scattered on the ground and even on tree branches - Vampires were elusive and could easily escape if one was not prepared. But these individuals were vampire hunters. They have trained their whole life to slay the creatures of the night. They knew what they were doing.

"Leader." Harrison greeted a woman with a giant warpick on her back "The adventurers team has arrived and ready. You say the word."

The leader then primed a giant ballista on the ground and stood to face Harrison and the gang. "I was told there would be four. Why are there five of you?"

"We picked up our ally on the way." Harrison replied "He is a skilled ranger. I believe in his ability to help us."

Just a second of hesitation, but the leader of the hunters nodded quickly after.

"Alright everyone. Today, we are taking down one of the pillars of the vampires in Gawon. I will not mask it, this vampire is very strong and cruel. It had consumed many a men, wiping out at least five villages in the area and slain no less than a dozen companies of militants. But today, we are putting down this damned dog, this blood sucker who plagued our kingdom, our home and our family. For the glory of the Dawn Brigade!"

A cacophony of warcries shouted as the leader released the bolt of the ballista, sending a giant javelin with multiple bottles of liquid on its body flying in the cavern. And as it crashed on the far side of the cave, a ball of fire exploded from the chemical reaction of the bottles and signaled the beginning of the siege.

Charlie rushed in behind Harrison, carefully observing every platform of stone inside. Screams and howls of thralls who were set on fire by the modified javelin filled the cave. It was not a big cave by any means, and there were 20 lesser vampires and other undeads. There were tables and chairs, cages to keep prisoners and piles and piles of bones and skulls.

Elluin leapt onto an edge of the stone wall behind her and climbed onto a wooden beam before letting loose a rain of arrows down onto the horde. She was determined to be better. She was inspired by the massive gap in their party and Immith the grand magus' ability. And her arrows hit true. The arrowheads made of tiger fangs easily tear the throat of the thralls before another embedded itself into their head. Yet, the elf archer was holding back her explosive arrows for the master vampire, for she knew it would spell trouble.

Roselie immediately lit the cavern up with a spell as she reached the center, for many of their men were human, and unlike elves and dwarves, they did not have darkvision. Moreover, the sudden burst of light also temporarily blinded the darkness dwellers, so she also bought everyone an opportunity to attack.

The undead all roared and reared in fear of the sudden light.

It was very effective.

Harrison and Charlie fought side by side, with Lissa supporting them from under. The human warrior shoulder checked a lesser vampire before slamming his axe onto the unfortunate creature's torso. It growled in pain and blood gurgled out its mouth, and before it could swing its claw in retaliation, Charlie skewered its temple with his new rapier. The blade, enchanted in nature, easily pierced the skin and bone of the vampire, making a sickly moist sucking sound before killing it completely.

Lissa also did her best. Following Master Immith's instruction, she stayed on guard near her allies and only attacked when the opponent was distracted. The little halfling ducked and weaved, her battle gown bobbed with her movement as she drove her dirk into the ribcage of a thrall before retreating behind the armored warrior. 

With small attacks as such, Lissa distracted her enemies for Charlie or Harrison to deal the finishing blow.

But outshone them all might be the leader of the hunters. She flung her warpick in a perfect arc with an incredible amount of strength as she came into battle. The pick, made from pure silver, was a weapon made with the intention of puncturing armor and breaking shields, so it almost slid into the vampires' skulls too easily. One of her powerful swings took out three vampires, but her attack did not end there. As the war pick reached its farthest angle, the leader pulled out her crossbow and launched a bolt into the thorax of a thrall, saving a hunter from its claw attacks. 

"Don't bother with the stakes yet! These lesser leeches can't turn to fog to escape. Just bash their head in! HYAH!'

Charlie took his time to observe the situation. He was stronger and faster now, and he felt as if his body was lighter even though he was wearing armor and cloak. He ran the rapier through the heart of a thrall fighting a hunter before securing the kill with a bullet into its head. He reloaded his pistol quickly before engaging a well dressed vampire, no doubt it was of a higher station.

Yet, he knew that vampire was not the one they were looking to kill - it was not worthy of the term "master vampire".

It bore its fangs as it slashed a hunter's handguard to shred before launching her away with a kick. It then faced Charlie, its slitted pupils widened and its deep red tongue dropped out of its mouth. 

"Fooolsss! Youuu dare disssrupt Master Olevier's sssslumber. He sssshall drink your blood, one and all! He ssshall rissse ssstronger than ever!"

It launched itself towards Charlie with great speed, but as if orchestrated before, similar to the first time Charlie took out a dhampir in Immith's mansion, Lissa launched a lightning bolt biting it in the shoulder. The shock made the vampire recoil and roared in pain as Charlie unloaded three bullets into its chest. The ranger then followed up with a wide rapier slash to force the vampire to take a step back as he loaded cartridges into his gun. He had Lissa's support, he was fully aware of the surroundings. The vampire was injured, but it did not seem like it suffered lethal damage, for vampires were hardy undead, who can tank many injuries before going down.

As Charlie brought his pistol up again, it hissed and lowered its body, ready to launch an attack at the halfling. But before its right leg could stomp the ground, Harrison's axe slammed into its torso from below, flinging it into the far wall of the cave. 

However, as the vampire slammed into the standing stone coffin laid on the cavern wall, it cackled like a maniac. Blood and sinew dripped out of its wound, yet it still had enough to reach and opened the coffin wide.

"Massster Olevier! Sssslay them all!!!" 

  It was difficult for any living creature in the cave at that moment to describe the terrifyingly heavy pressure that washed over them all. The stone coffin lid slammed onto the cavern floor and broke into pieces, revealing inside a figure.

Dressed in the most expensive clothing one could buy with money, the master vampire cladded itself in a midnight blue outfit, the tunic had golden patterns sewn on similar to the wear of the highest of nobles. Its cloak hung around the clavicle, with two enormous rubies on its clasps, the inside was lined with linen and wool.

One step.

And another.

The cavern suddenly fell silent as those who were assaulting the undead suddenly found themselves unable to move or react. Even the surviving lesser vampires stopped fighting and kneeled deeply. 

The master vampire called Olevier casted its blood red eyes to the beaten vampire under its feet. And without missing a note, Olevier slammed his entire fist through the unfortunate vampire head before kicking it off of his arm. Crimson blood soaked the sleeve.

"I do not like being told what to do."

The master vampire spoke.

Its voice was soft spoken, yet so clear, almost demanding to every being inside its lair. Everyone's hair suddenly stood up as if lightning just struck nearby. It then nonchalantly snapped its finger, as the hunters observed in terror, the lesser vampires prostrating on the ground suddenly screeched and retched before clawing out their own hearts in the most grotesque way. The death throes, the screams. All became silent as the master vampire absorbed the life force of its spawns.

Their hearts turned to ash as they returned the color back to the vampire's skin.

It looked healthy. It looked human-like, yet, it was far from it.

Charlie's sense slowly returned to him as he felt his left hand gripped the pistol so tight it turned white. Sweat poured out on his forehead and back. The creature before them had an unmistakable aura of domination. 

Fear. Fear swelled inside him.

He felt his legs locked in place, numbed out.

His instinct was screaming "Run!".

However…

They must take it down before it can escape and slay everything else in its path. It must not leave the cave.

Those objectives quickly formed in Charlie's mind, but he could not bring himself to initiate. He felt deeply embarrassed and horrified. He glanced over to the human warrior beside him only to find the same cold sweat dripping off his cheek, and a gray expression on his face.

"So? Are you filthy meat sacks going to get things done?" The master vampire said, stepping away from the twitching corpse "You came here to find me. Come and get me."

It was the leader of the hunters who let out a warcry, revitalizing the battle. Every hunter and adventurer immediately got back into action. For they knew, if they kept standing around, they would undoubtedly be killed. Multiple crossbow bolts ripped the air and almost found purchase on the vampire before they all stopped short and lifelessly clattered to the ground. The leader rushed forward and brought her warpick down with such force that Charlie could swear no metal could withstand. 

But the vampire simply allowed the weapon to slam into his shoulder blade as it created an ear shattering sound. Yet the vampire stood, its arms loosely relaxed to the sides, almost as if the attack wasn't even an inconvenience.

"Such strength. Such power. Came from a woman warrior no less. You must have trained days and nights for this, isn't that right, lady leader?"

Two arrows, fast as a bolt of lightning, found their marks on the creature's ribcage before a thorny vine bursted out from the wooden shaft and restrained the vampire. The elf archer, perched on a wooden beam, had already nocked another arrow onto her longbow.

"Very precise. Bravo, elf. Your arrows perfectly avoided my ribs and punctured my liver and my lungs. Although I do not have the use of them anymore, I would prefer it if my organs were kept pristine."

Charlie carefully aimed at the master vampire's head with his shaky arms before pulling the trigger. The loud explosion of the pistol shook the cave as the metal bullet perfectly pierced the creature's forehead and went through to the other side. A single drop of blood ran down on its beautifully pale face as its fangs slowly grew longer and its veins popped out from its temples. 

"Human with a fire spitting piece of metal. How interesting. Is that invented by the rock humping dwarves?"

"Alright. That is enough. How boring. My turn."

The vampire reached forward, breaking the restraining vines Elluin casted with ease and grasped both of the leader's wrists as she attempted to retreat. She yelled out in pain and slumbered to the ground as it crushed both of her arms and bit into her neck and violently pulled its head sideways to rip her entire throat apart. The wound on its forehead instantly closed as it savored her blood with a smile. Delicious.

It was then everyone sprung into action. An arrow pierced its right shoulder and exploded into a cloud of flame. The force flung the fainted leader away from the vampire as a slim column of sacred flame materialized from the cavern ceiling and slammed onto the creature. 

Intense heat radiated outwards, blowing up clouds of dust.

Roselie rushed to the bleeding out leader and pressured the wound with a piece of cloth as she parted healing energy into the unconscious warrior.

Three hunters rushed to face the vampire bravely, thrusting and slashing with their swords and spears. It retaliated with claws slashes, lightning fast and scarily precise. All of its cuts were aimed at the jugulars of the hunters as high pressure blood sprayed out and blemished its blue shirt. Yet, the look on its face was ecstatic. It was enjoying the massacre. 

A brilliant blue lightning bolt slammed into its torso as Lissa the halfling retracted her arms and brandished her dirk. It wasn't much, but every bit helped, especially against such a dangerous opponent. 

Harrison also began to act. He poured a slow acting healing potion and an energy potion into his mouth before rushing in between the creature and Roselie with the leader. He carefully observed the nonchalant vampire as it walked over the unconscious body of the hunters towards him. But he wasn't willing to let it continue, he was going to bring the battle to it. He rushed forward and brought his war axe into a vertical arc. The vampire met the blade with its bare arm with its utmost uncaring expression, yet for the first time, the expression changed. From the impact of the axe, Harrison slammed a bottle into the shaft - the bottle he grabbed from Roselie's hand as he shielded her from the creature's gaze. The holy water drenched the vampire and immediately burned it as part of its pale flesh reddened and sizzled, causing it to release the axe and take a step backward.

"Filthy humans and their filthy tricks." It hissed, but it was immediately met with a dizzying blow to the face as Charlie fired a salvo of bullets from the side. The holy water had weakened the vampire, so the party must take advantage to take it down as fast as possible. 

Another arrow found its purchase on the master vampire's thigh and exploded, blowing bits of burnt flesh to the side, revealing the vampire's bone. But it was still standing, albeit injured.

It roared and, in a blink of an eye, thrusted its fist into Harrison's plate armor. Steel and claws collided, creating sparks and embers. The attack shook Harrison to his core as the vampire knocked him back several steps and onto his knee with a major dent in the armor and an undoubtedly bruised chest. But it was not finished attacking. Far from it, actually.

The master vampire raised its arm forward as it buried claws and rendered its own flesh. Instantly, four vile rays of necromantic energy slammed into the human warrior, the cleric girl, the elf archer and a hunter. And all of the recipients of the spell felt an unbearable exhaustion had built up on them, as if they had run continuously for a whole day. 

And its head turned to Charlie with an unnatural angle as its crimson red eyes turned pitch black. It had casted a spell, and soon after, Charlie bled out of his eyes and nostrils as his stomach churned, forcing him to bend over. He felt extremely sick as his body temperature shot up.

Elluin let loose another arrow, but unfortunately, the vampire caught it as it smiled sadistically and snapped the arrow in half. Her arms felt tense and drained.

"Well fought, well fought! I will grant you all a brilliant death! Your spines will decorate my throne and your skulls will pour blood into my lips! GRAHAHAHA"

Harrison gritted his teeth, overcoming the lethargic feeling and brought his axe up from under. The axe slashed the creature's stomach, ripping off its tunic and revealing a bloodied body, yet incredibly well toned, a creature in its peak form. As the axe reached its zenith, Harrison brought it down again, this time with such force that it bit deeply in the bubbling wound from the warpick. The warrior smiled as he unleashed part of the axe's magical essence into the wound, causing ice to grow out of the vampire's chest, immobilizing its left arm. He knew every second bought is a second closer to victory, so he must keep its attention to him.

The master vampire bore its fangs out in an attempt to terrify the warrior, its grotesque and almost otherworldly look, and especially its toothy maw and blood red tongue would send any unprepared souls into hysteria. Yet, Harrison stood proud and steady, holding tight onto the axe as if attempting to restrain the vampire. 

He was not afraid of any abstract horror. His will to fight was strong and he knew it.

Two bolts slammed into the vampire's chest as the remaining hunters finally moved into position. 

"Hold him still for a second!" Roselie yelled out as she laid the leader to the floor. The female warrior was stable, thanks to the healing power Roselie had administered to her.

The cleric girl dug into her satchel and retrieved a scroll made of a strange leather. To the untrained eyes, it did not look special in any way. Yet, it was one of the most valuable items in the possession of the party at that moment.

A spell scroll, personally enchanted by the grand magus of the ivory tower.

The arch librarian Immith Murnyethera had imbued her arcane prowess into the scroll a spell so advanced that it would took Roselie years of scriptures learning to even beginning to understand the basis of it. 

Written in ink made of gold and silver, Roselie slowly read out loud the content of the scroll while simultaneously approaching Harrison. An unknown feeling washed over the cleric girl as the arcane words gradually glowed brighter and brighter. 

And the vampire knew something was amiss. Each word of power rang out and permeated the room with a warm glow, and there seemed to be a thunderous chime of bells in the distance.

Two giant black wings bursted out from the creature's back, ripping off what was left of the outfit and the tattered cloak. It flapped its wings with such force that Harrison almost lost footing. It was trying to escape.

The thrashes and struggle broke off a large chunk of ice when the master vampire propelled itself forward and ripped both of the pauldrons off of Harrison's shoulders. Its toothy maw extended into a monstrous and malformed trunk, deep red in color and dripping with viscous, venomous drool. It targeted the human warrior's neck.

And it was too much for the mind of a simple human to withstand.

Harrison let go of the axe and instinctively arc his head backwards, raising both of his arms up to guard his vitals. He did not willingly prioritize his own life, yet the scarring image of a horrendous monster had forced a primal and pure fear out of him. His heart pumped faster, and it delivered adrenaline around his body, for all he could think of right at that moment was to run away from the monstrosity.

The master vampire was waiting for that moment, as it spread its wings violently and lifted off of the ground, leaving behind a bloody blur and stone dust. Charlie panicked and raised his pistol, landing shots yet ineffective, for the thick skin of the wings easily warded off the bullet.

"Take him down!" Barked Elluin as her arrow pierced the arm of the creature and once again, restraining vines wrapped the vampire's torso. The elf archer leapt down from her vantage point, she desperately looked around to find a way to force the vampire to land, yet the cave was barren, and the creature still strong.

Amidst the chaos, Charlie felt a tug on his coat, pulling him away from the almost dazed state of the sudden sickness that was casted upon him. Lissa the halfling looked at him worryingly, yet her voice stout and brave.

"Sir Charlie. Please throw me to the vampire! It's the only way!"

The ranger immediately understood the plan of his little companion, yet he hesitated. Even if he was healthy, Charlie wasn't sure that he could make the throw. Not mentioning he was in pain and weakened too. Moreover, a part of him did not want to put someone close to him in danger.

But it had to be done.

The vampire had already reached the ceiling and took but a minute to gaze down upon its enemies. Hatred and violence burned in its crimson red eyes. But for now, it must retreat, for whatever the damned cleric was casting with her scroll must have been extremely effective in taking down vampires. Every word of power chanted by the brat had so much authority that it singed what was left of his soul. There was no doubt that if the spell was casted successfully, Olevier might not be able to escape at all.

Olevier was a master vampire. A vampire so ruthless and demoniac that even rivals the elder vampires of the land.

He had consumed countless lives. Men, women, children of all species. He bound the lesser vampires to do his bidding, to capture and imprison humanoid lifestocks. He kept them alive and fed on them daily to grow stronger and stronger.

And recently, he had joined the force of many others of his brethren, those who broke free from the chain of the Elder Heathcliffe the Great, to serve under a greater will. A god of the vampires. A being who dared to directly oppose the other puny gods. 

Olevier was sure that he could ascend and become an elder vampire.

He knew he could.

But their plan was foiled by a bunch of ragtag hunters and adventurers.

Olevier will exact his revenge. He had remembered every face and smell of those who came to hunt him. He will retreat, he will heal up with the lifestocks from his other lair, and he will hunt down every single one who dared to attack him and their family. 

Yet, so sudden.

A burning pain pierced his back and shoulder as an unknown weight forced him to rebalance in the air.

Magic? No…

A dirk had penetrated his flesh and anchored onto his ribs, and at the hilt of the dirk was a halfling, who had just rammed a dagger to his clavicle on the other side.

Olevier involuntarily roared in pain and lowered from the ceiling. The dirk was enchanted with an unexpectedly strong magic. A spell that could put most sentient beings to slumber. The master vampire slowly lowered its altitude in a daze, and before it could shrug off the effect of the incapacitating magic, multiple hunters rushed to it and thrusted spears with serrated heads into its torso and thighs before holding onto them. 

Olevier wings were strong, but that much extra weight was too much as he crashed onto the cavern floor.

And once again, pure hatred burned inside the master vampire.

How dare these puny mortals defy him? How dare they pull him down from whence he rightfully reigned? His anger broke him free of the slumber he was being put in as he violently forced his claws into one of the hunters who was attempting to stab him with his shortsword.

Too easy to kill, too fragile, these mortals.

They could have just surrendered and he would have let them live. As lifestocks. And he would force them to reproduce food for him, like how humans cultivate cattles.

But no.

Foolish.

His claws tore the hunter's neck apart as he squeezed onto his spine and crushed it. No hope to even revive the poor soul.

Though he was too late. He had tarried too long, for the cleric had stood before him, golden staff pointed at him and the spell scroll slowly consumed and burned into light specks. The spell had already been casted.

Olevier panicked and thrashed his whole body, breaking multiple bones from the hunters and the halfling still hanging onto him with his wings. 

And a brilliantly radiant column of sunlight blasted from the cleric girl staff into him and the hunters, immediately setting fire on the clothes of and skin of those who were directly hit by the mote of light. Yet the hunters hung tight. They were trained for this. They knew to take down such a strong creature, lives must be sacrificed. If they were lucky, they could be revived. If not, it was worth it, every time.

Olevier screamed and retched in pain. He forgot the pain of sunlight for so long. He had never screamed like that after becoming a vampire. His vision was immediately destroyed, his skin burnt off even more so than the hunters'. He could not turn into mist to escape from the grasp of the mortals.

He was going to die.

Olevier cracked his neck and turned his head around to face the halfling. He must escape, no matter what. He must live on to serve the Greater Will. His fangs protruded and bit deep into the halfling, crushing her right shoulder under the immense pressure. He must try to regenerate from the blood of his victim.

Yet…

What touched his tongue was not blood but a viscous liquid reeked of oil.

He was confused for a second. But he understood quickly that the halfling before him was not a living being but an automaton doll controlled by a soul. That explained the unnatural hardness of her bones and skin. And he roared in anger as the halfling grinned and blasted a ray of blue lightning into his face, setting the oil in his mouth on fire.

Olevier kneeled down as his body gradually crumbled away. His skin flaked off as it burned, ashes poured out from the numerous crevices and wounds.

A faint voice. A shaking voice he heard. 

He turned and could see the faint outline of the cleric amidst the blinding sunlight.

"Deplorable and pathetic vampire, heed my words. Thou have disobeyed the gods, plagued this land and terrorized all living beings for far too long. Under Lathander I serve, as her vessel and her creation, I, Roselie Tressel, will banish thee from this plane of existence, thou godless creature. Whatever is left of your soul shall be destroyed forever, never to rejoin the Sea of Souls and the Cycle of Life and Death. Begone, thee shall leeches life no more."

As the sunlight faded from the gleaming golden staff, bands of words coalesced inside the palm of the cleric girl as she stood tall in front of the kneeling, blackened figure. Lissa stepped to Roselie, holding her injured shoulder. The surviving hunter pulled his unconscious friends away.

All was silent, except from the humming of the radiant words, now swarming around the head of the staff.

Roselie raised it and slammed it down onto the unmoving husk of the once master vampire as the bands of words exploded, purging the impure ash of what was left.

The master vampire was defeated and utterly destroyed.

For the glory of the Dawn Brigade.