by Bill Ricardi
Ames stared at me, then hissed, “What? Why did they have to build it there?”
Then I delivered the punchline: “They couldn’t afford another map.”
Those emerald green eyes stared at me in the darkness. Then Ames buried their muzzle in the crook of my arm and howled with laughter. I suppressed a giggle myself, and stroked the back of the feline’s neck as they did their best to muffle their mirth. I knew that the joke itself wasn’t that funny, but the fact that I was the one telling it caught my love completely off guard.
When the were-cat recovered, I got a little nip on the chin for my troubles. “You’re so bad. No more jokes for you.”
Our watch passed without incident, so we bedded down for the night. We maintained separate bedrolls, particularly in this hot climate.
I woke to the sounds of preparation. Toby and Ames had carved their own wooden spears as potentially vampire-lethal backup weapons. Similarly, Tara had carved each of us a more robust stake than the markers that Will and Rick handed out the night before. These could be used in melee without snapping, and could potentially punch through light armor with enough force to pierce the chest.
Breakfast was a local fruit and some trail bread. As we ate, I asked a favor of Ames. “Could you make me one of those spears while the mages study and the holy folks pray?” I explained my reasoning, and the feline was perfectly willing.
The taste of tangerine remained in my mouth as I studied my spellbook. The morning wasn’t the best time for me to participate in a temple assault. I would need to dedicate one of my more potent spells to attuning the Amulet of Enhanced Enchanting with Augment Intelligence. But as it was unlikely that I would find the time to summon and control an earth elemental, I sacrificed memorizing that incantation and simply got on with it.
We couldn’t wait around for me to mess about and optimise my day. Sunlight meant that we had an escape route if there were indeed vampires inside. It also meant that they didn’t have an escape route outside of the building for the next 12 hours. The time to strike was now.
The front steps weren’t the same bleached sea-stone as the rest of the structure. Flat, dark brown rocks had been used to create the lead-up to those massive wooden double doors. We mounted them, and then took up position around Ames.
The feline tried the handle. Locked. Tools both blunt and delicate were retrieved from the were-cat’s backpack, and the picking began. The feline’s ears twitched whenever there was a ‘tink’ or ‘click’. Ames was mapping out the inside of the lock by sound, and identifying the mechanisms that were triggered by the use of a proper key.
It was only a matter of time before the old lock gave up every last secret. Ames triggered the right things in sequence, avoiding the physical wards and the resets. A turn of the knob and the big wooden door was cracked open a fraction.
Toby took up position as Ames put away their tools. I was next in line, clutching my newly made spear. Tara and Ames followed, while Rick and Will brought up the rear. We cautiously made our way through the front door, leaving it wide open to let the light spill in.
The congregation area of the temple was in a sad state. Wooden pews were cracked and brittle from a decade of disuse and non-treatment in this hot, humid environment. The padding of the kneelers had long since burst open. Hymnals were just rotten, faded pages that had become the home of mushrooms and moss. The walls and ceiling, once covered with paintings created by the clergy, were stained by refuse and old blood in an intentional effort to blot those inspiring images from sight.
As we walked up the nave in our approach towards the temple’s apse, we heard a distant cackling. Someone or something was enjoying our discovery of their desecration; enjoying the tears that rolled down the fuzzy cheeks of both Tara and Toby. Whatever it was didn’t show itself, preferring not to offer a fair fight at this particular moment. We reached the chipped and fractured altar without incident. It looked like some kind of blood sacrifice ritual had been performed here, and more than once. The bottom of the parallelepiped stone was caked with the rust colored aftermath.
“These demons must die.” said Tara, grimly.
Circling the apse’s backdrop, the six of us saw a dark hallway stretching out of sight to the north. Will cast a Light spell on Toby’s buckler, while Rick did the same halfway up the shaft of my spear. The hallway still stretched out of sight, but that sight was significantly longer. About seven paces up, a door on the western wall begged our attention.
This door had no lock. In fact, it had no handle or knob either. I prodded it gently with the tip of my spear, and it started to open. When I stopped pushing, the door swung shut once again. I frowned.
Ames noted, “Spring loaded. Should be able to push through.”
I glanced back over my shoulder. Tara and Toby had schooled their emotions, although their cheek fur was still damp with shed tears. The big male nodded at me to indicate that he was ready. I put my shoulder to the door and walked through, letting my speartip lead as soon as it was able to poke it through the opening.
The light that I brought revealed devastation. This was a ruined library and tinkering area of some sort. It was five paces east to west, and stretched out of sight to the north. Shelves and benches lined the walls, the vast majority of them burnt to charcoal and cinders. Skeletons, presumably undisturbed for a decade, were frozen mid scream at their workstations. I would have been upset, if I didn’t have bigger problems.
There was a disturbance coming from the void to our north. It was clear that we were not alone. High pitched, mocking laughter filled the chamber. Ill-defined shapes danced nimbly at the very edge of the illuminated area. Shrill voices started to parrot back things that we had recently said.
“These demons must die!”
“Spring loaded! Spring loaded!”
Toby identified the creatures as the rest of the party entered the room and arrayed themselves behind us. “Thralls. Unliving, but not worthy of turning. Vampire pets.”
“Vampire pets!”
The sound of their mad tittering and screams plucked at my nerves.
Ames moved up to stand at my side while Tara did the same for Toby. The feline warned, “No flames in here. This is a tinderbox.”
We could see the figures array themselves just out of the radius of our illumination. They fanned out thin, as in if preparing for hit and run tactics against our four-wide front line.
Upon seeing this, Toby said, “Sorch? Now.”
I tossed my spear. Not at our foes, but in a shallow arc towards my friend’s awaiting hand. The bull-man caught and threw the projectile in one smooth forward motion. It sailed ten paces and planted itself deeply into the shoulder of the centermost thrall.
Besides the expected scream of pain, there was a visual result. The entirety of the chamber was now illuminated thanks to the Light spell that traveled with my spear. The accursed creatures were laid bare in horrific detail: Skin blackened with burn and rot, teeth stained with old blood and the decayed flesh of their last kill, heads bald from the gnats and mites feeding on their hair, these thrall were certainly not ‘fresh’. They had been strung along by their vampiric masters for years after their natural life had ended. In that time, their fingernails had grown into sharp claws and their eyes had receded into their skulls. Seven of them circled us, while an eighth crouched behind what looked like an old forge or fireplace on the east wall.
I quickly backed off and the three frontliners closed ranks. Rick and Will were chanting, and I started a few moments later.
Realizing that their melee advantage was larger than originally thought, some of the thralls charged towards us. But the response was staggered, confused. Five of the creatures ended up coming forward, and one of them fell to Rick and Will coordinating Magic Missile spells, and Ames putting a crossbow bolt in the thing’s chest. The combination of glowing darts and feline accuracy silenced the misshapen creature forever.
The were-cat quickly switched to the short sword and went on
the defensive when the next thrall flashed forward. It was fast, too fast, in fact, for Ames’ initial defense. Sharp claws, hard as steel, sliced through protective leathers and raked across the feline’s ribcage. The yowl and curse that Ames uttered was parroted back by half a dozen of the foul creatures. My Force Bolt knocked it back and left the thrall with a twisted and broken left arm upon impact with the western wall. This respite allowed Ames to readjust and prepare for the next assault. I felt the drain to my mind, but it was minor. I was still sharp, focused.
Toby fared better with his first vampire-slave. Although the creature dodged his first one handed swing, its claw swipe didn’t get past the minotaur’s buckler. Before it could dance away, the paladin’s backswing beheaded the creature, silencing its taunts forever. The second thrall that was tracking Toby came in low. The paladin’s chainmail leggings didn’t protect him, and two lines of blood appeared on his furred shin. The thrall caught a knee in the face for its trouble however, and had to stagger back.
Tara was doing better defensively, the big shield proving quite vexing to the monster facing her. But its speed prevented the cleric from landing even a single blow. It was a frustrating stalemate on both sides.
Rick was in a predicament, having concentrated primarily on fire magic during his preparations. Not wanting to set the room ablaze, the mage took one of the pots of holy water from his belt pouch. He didn’t care at all about friendly fire given the nature of the stuff. The taller human got an angle on the fiend that Tara was fighting and made his throw. The pot cracked on the edge of the cleric’s big shield, drenching both her and the thrall. But what was mere water to the cleric was pure acid to the evil creature. It screamed and clutched at its ruined face. The cudgel blow that followed took the thrall’s melting left ear off and caved in its skull.
The two remaining thralls in the backline saw their openings and charged, one at the wounded Ames and the other at now-disengaged Tara to keep her from flanking. The broken-armed thrall was back in the fight as well, charging at Ames from the left while the fresh one barreled in from the front. But this time, it was the enemy who underestimated the speed of their foe. With a lightning fast lunge, the tip of Ames’ blade found the injured beast’s black heart. Rather than present a defense to the other threat, the were-cat fell and twisted. This motion cruelly turned the blade within the chest of the first thrall, while propelling that lithe feline body at the knees of the second.
The creature tripped over Ames and fell right at my feet. I wasn’t really prepared for this turn of events, but my body reacted faster than my mind. I leapt on the fiend’s exposed back while drawing my dagger, plunging it into the screaming thrall’s shriveled liver. I only saw Will hurling his own pot of holy water out of the corner of my eye, and had no time to react.
The misfired clay pot smashed against the side of my head, just as Will’s cursing reached my ears. The good news was that the liquid coursed down my body and drenched the thrall below. Between my dagger sunk deep into its torso and the pool of holy acid it was laying in, the creature died a horrible death. The bad news was that the combined weight of clay and water rattled my brain and left me stunned and semi conscious on the floor.
I assumed that Toby, Ames, and Tara were able to dispatch the last two active thralls without too much effort. It took all of the strength that I had to allow Will to help me into a sitting position and prop me up against one of the ruined workbenches.
The ringing in my ears and the dull throb of my own heartbeat nearly drowned out the sarcastic clapping. I was unable to focus my eyes, but it sounded like it came from where the final thrall had been cowering.
“Very good, mortals. Speed. Coordination. Magic and martial prowess. I wonder how many of you we’ll be able to turn, and how many will simply die screaming?”
The voice was smooth, ancient. The timbre was almost hypnotic to my addled mind. I tried to focus my eyes again, this time on someone closer: My bloodstained were-cat. Ames was reloading that little hand crossbow, as quickly and quietly as possible.
I heard Toby’s voice bellowing, “Who are you, fiend?”
That silky voice replied, “A name? Really slave of Aro-Remset? Names grant power, and in the end I wish for you to be powerless. Powerless and begging as we dig those horns out of your still-living head. Your friends though, they’ll know my name. Eventually. Though they’ll only be allowed to call me ‘Master’.”
The sharp little twang of Ames’ crossbow was followed by silence.
My friends huddled around me, looking like giants from my perspective. I noticed that Toby had earned a much deeper wound to the back of his other leg, probably while closing out the battle with the final two creatures. “Toby, heal yourself. Stop bleeding on me.”
Ames poured some normal water over my head. The sting of it made me wince, and I realized that my scalp had been sliced open. “And heal Ames too.” I insisted. More quietly I murmured, “You got that last one?”
The were-cat’s head shook, indicating the negative. “Mist.”
I had to grit my teeth as my mate continued to clean up the head wound. I misheard what Ames had said. “You missed and it was fast enough to get away from everyone?”
“No Sorch, it turned into mist. That was one of the vampires in disguise.”
After assessing the condition of the wounded, Tara expended all but one of her healing incantations. One of the two more potent ones was on me, despite my protests. Toby and Tara each applied a minor healing prayer to Ames, and then both did the same for Toby himself. With the divine favor, I would be perfectly fine after a few minutes of rest. I just needed the room to come to a complete halt. Ames’ side would be raw and tender, but at least the bleeding had stopped. Toby, however, still needed to be bandaged after the healing. His mobility was definitely impacted.
Tara argued, “We need you in peak condition. Lay your hands on yourself.”
The big paladin shook his head. “You have a single healing prayer remaining today. I have only have a minor one remaining myself. And we still haven’t confronted the real threat. Aro-Remset will have to accept a somewhat slower follower for a little while.”
Ames helped me to my feet. I grunted as I suddenly found a small human wrapped around me. “Sorch, I’m so sorry! It was the adrenaline, I just overthrew that by… a lot. Are you going to be alright?”
I had to smile. I patted Will’s back. “You killed the thing before it could get up and turn on us. That’s all that matters. Accidents happen, but the job still got done.” Reassured, the small mage released me from his embrace. He straightened his robes.
I sighed. “Besides. I was the one who screwed up. I should have conjured an Invisible Shield and stayed in the front line. Now they know our ruse and will be prepared for three backline mages. I could have at least presented myself as a melee adept.”
Tara said, “You couldn’t have known that it was a probe for intel, Sorch. We’ve whittled down the amount of fodder they have available regardless. That’s worthwhile.”
“And.” added the other minotaur, “One of them has used their evasive trick for the day. We should press on, quickly. This ends now.”
Everyone agreed. A cursory search of the room revealed nothing but ash. I recovered my glowing spear, and we moved on. At a somewhat slower pace, we exited and turned left. The only other rooms on this level were a disused privy and the sacristy, which had been completely stripped and abandoned. At the end of the hall, stairs up. Once we were certain that the first floor was secure, Ames and Tara backtracked to tear down every black curtain. Natural sunlight flooded into the temple for the first time in a decade. This would not be an escape route for any vampires today.
After our friends rejoined the party, we cautiously trekked up the spiral staircase leading to the top floor of the temple. Once again, only our Light spells combatted the blackness of artificial night. Directly ahead of us was a convex wall, and the hallway curved away from us in either direction.
Tara murmured, “This is the dome of the observatory. Stay alert, there’s not very many places left for them to hide.”
We proceeded clockwise, Ames in the lead to check for any mundane traps. The hallway was fairly non-threatening, but the dome to our right was anything but. The creatures inside weren’t bothering to hide their presence. They could be heard laughing, mocking, and generally seeming to enjoy themselves. The sounds from inside only got louder as we approached the large copper-gilded door on the observatory’s eastern wall.
Ames checked the door. The handle rotated smoothly. Tara gestured and the were-cat stepped aside to let Toby take the lead. The big minotaur turned the handle and put his shoulder to the door.
That’s when the world became fire.
The explosive ward that we tripped was unlike a Fireball. It had real force that tossed Toby, Tara, and Ames back like ragdolls. Then a sheet of flame followed. I was directly in the line of the rolling inferno, which was fortunate for Rick and Will. The fire broke against my body and mostly spared them. I screamed, feeling my green skin scorch and my light summer robes ignite. From the other side of the hallway, I heard Toby bellow. He was in much the same situation, apparently.
Our companions were quick thinking. Waterskins were upended over my head, and when I was able to open my eyes, I saw that Toby was drenched as well. My thin cloth gloves were ruined, and I tenderly peeled them from my palms, which felt severely sunburned. I could tell that my face was worse. Every grimace brought stabbing pain from the burned flesh. My lips were cracked, bleeding. Glancing over at Toby, I saw that the bull-man was quite singed as well. The paladin’s face, too, was cracked and bleeding under his now-blackened fur.
The laughter from inside the room sounded almost manic. Our pain was their amusement. They started to boo when Rick cast his Detect Magic cantrip, and revealed a second ward on the ground just inside of the doorframe.
After making sure that I could continue, Will asked, “Sorch, may I borrow Rock?”