On their first day in Old Oaksfield, Nil and Lise followed the thralls and their cart through the city. The hooded men pushed the cart into an almost abandoned neighborhood. The rough wooden shacks and haphazardly slapped-together buildings suggested that it was once a slum. The squabbling pair stopped along the city’s central canal just before it disappeared into the sewers. Then they uncovered their cart’s contents, revealing a mound of naked human flesh. Nil thought they were dumping corpses at first, but then noticed signs of movement.

“Half drained,” Lise had commented.

The thralls didn’t seem to care that most of the people were alive. They threw the people into the water, groaning and grunting while working. Nil had to clench his jaw and fist as he contained the urge to rush to the victims’ rescue and break a few bones.

“What now? Follow the bodies to the coven?”

Lise shook her head. “They’re transporting bodies from the coven’s heart or one of their operations.” She continued in a mumble, talking more to herself than Nil. “Are the half-drained for the dwellers?”

“Dwellers?” Nil asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Vampires that have physically and mentally deteriorated following long periods of blood deprivation. They might as well be beasts. Covens or overlords use them as soldiers and fodder when going to war. If there are Dwellers under the city, it means they’re preparing for something big.”

“Let's follow the bodies and destroy them, then. We can’t let them feed and grow stronger.”

“No. They’re stupid and easy to deal with once their masters fall. We follow the thralls to the heart of their operation.”

“Shouldn’t we try to save the half-drained? They can’t be all dead.”

Lise grabbed his hand when he stepped forward, shaking her head. “The dwellers will have a blood or psychic connection to the vampire they serve. If we do anything, the coven will know. It's better to let a few perish so we can save the remaining thousands in the city and the many more that come here for work or are just passing through.”

Nil didn’t like the decision, but he knew she was right, so he accepted it.

The thralls led them to the Cockratice and Hedgehog Inn—the establishment where Ruby worked. Energy Instinct and casual surveillance had helped the fake couple discover that the minions in question were none other than the inn’s landlord and stable boy. The thick Death Magic radiating from Ruby and the near-invisible tethers connecting her to the thralls told the party that she was their master and the vampire.

Now, Nil had played his role as bait, and his part of the plan was over. He lacked the stomach for torture and whatever interrogation techniques his companions wished to employ. So, he went to bed and got much-needed sleep. Unfortunately, it only lasted about four hours until Ruby’s ‘father’ came pounding on the suite’s door. Misu had installed silence and privacy wards on the lounge’s walls and doors. Lise had warned them that it would only work until the thralls felt their master’s pain and terror. The fact that it took him four hours to realize something was wrong confirmed their belief regarding the vampire’s age. She was young. Perhaps turned sometime in the past year after the first of the coven arrived in Old Oaksfield. Her pretty face and allure made her perfect as one of their new members.

“Didn’t you say vampires pursue beauty and perfection?” Nil asked Lise after they settled on her as their target and spent the first night in Old Oakfield watching her. “Sure, Ruby is attractive, but I’d call her more cute than beautiful. She’s too innocent.”

“Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,” Lise had explained. “In this case, the beholder is the vampire herself. If she sees innocence as beauty, that’s what she’ll want to nurture and perfect. Little Miss Ruby still needs to work on her act, though. She slips up far too often. You can tell she’s a young one. She can’t seem to differentiate between lust and hunger. All the bodies in the cart and everyone she hit on is fairly good-looking.”

Ruby’s father broke into the room, followed closely by the stable boy. The smell of rotten flesh followed them, and they came at Misu and Lise in a blind rage, swinging axes and clubs. Nil tackled the inn’s puppet landlord. The man had inhuman strength, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t manage. A single Expend-powered punch separated his lower jaw from the rest of his head, and a second turned his head into smithereens. Lise and Misu had explained that thralls were no longer human and in a state of slow decomposition. It's why they were so strong but fell apart so easily. Apparently, it was because of how sunlight affected Death Magic. Thralls that stayed in the dark lasted longer.

The second thrall fell to Lise’s axe. She took its head off with a single swing. Ruby screamed bloody murder and cried tears of thick, dark blood when her father died. Then, she stiffened when she heard a heavy stomping coming up the stairs.

“Don’t kill my mother,” she begged. “Please. Just not my mother. I forced her to drink my blood. She never wanted this.”

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“You know what we want then, creature,” Lise tightened the silver chain around her throat and neck. “Where is the coven? Where is your creator?”

Nil captured Ruby’s mother when she entered the room, holding her against the wall as she struggled. The vampire spilled the beans, telling them everything she knew about her master, where she hid, and how they were slowly taking over the city. Several rich and powerful individuals had turned, become thralls, or willingly agreed to work with the coven. Ruby knew nothing about the thralls or servants in the Order of the Silver Crucible.

It was good enough.

The vampire hunters had agreed to free Ruby and her mother in exchange for the information. They were to leave Old Oakfield and disappear for good. Lise never intended to keep the promise. Neither of the men in the party protested. Dawn had come, and they opened the windows. Sunlight burned and melted Ruby’s body, turning her into a pile of ash and burning sludge. Nil saved the crying landlady from the horror of watching her undead daughter die again and put her down just as he had the landlord. The act turned his stomach and left his chest tight. But he knew it needed to be done.

Afterward, they secured the inn. The building only had three bedrooms and a suite. Nil and Lise had taken the latter, and Misu took the adjoining room. The rest of the building was vacant. When the party checked in, there were other guests, but their beds were empty, and their luggage was gone. Odd articles of clothing and a few articles remained. Lise was sure Ruby had drained one and sent the rest to the coven. So, after they locked down the building and put the closed sign outside the door, they had the place to themselves.

The party finally got some decent sleep. Since Nil had already enjoyed a few hours of sleep, he kept watch. Then, when the others woke up around noon, he got a couple more hours of sleep while they prepared and looked out for thrall activity.

According to Lise, thralls did most of their work late in the night and in the early half of the day. Life got harder for them closer to noon when the sun was at its strongest, so most retreated to their lairs to rest until just before their masters awoke. It was the perfect time for the hunters to attack.

When Nil heard vampire, he expected crypts, abandoned mansions, or great stone castles. Instead, Ruby’s information took them to the Old Oakfield’s red-light district. They passed brothels and drug dens. Either would’ve made for excellent vampire lairs. However, the coven used neither as their home. They picked the city’s largest and most popular casino.

“They’re playing the slow game,” Lise said. “Instead of just wiping out the population and multiplying, the bastards are building a blood farm and dweller army while they slowly take over the local economy.”

“Clever,” Misu commented. “They must have an old leader.”

“Or we have a cabal of merchants who turned to vampirism so they can hold on to their wealth forever and grow an empire.”

“Have you really seen that before?” Nil asked.

Lise nodded. “My first quest involved assassinating one such vampire merchant. He was alone and young and got infected to stave off death and achieve his goals.”

Guards patrolled the establishment, and pairs stood at every entrance. The trio circled the building until they found the best possible entrance. Nil needed combat to raise his ability’s ranks, but he didn’t complain. Finishing the vampires without risking their lives or infection was the smarter way forward. They would need to purge the dwellers in the sewers afterward, anyway. Misu and Lise promised plenty of combat once the time came.

Before starting the quest, the party discussed their individual abilities. This was vital so that when battle inevitably came, they wouldn’t get in each other’s way and could support one another. Everyone had used their individual expertise thus far. It was finally time to test their abilities.

The assault began with Misu revealing his mushrooms. His ability gave him the power to conjure spores, rapidly grow fungi and control them to a limited extent. Tiny purple growths sprouted on the arch above their targeted doorway. It took a few minutes to see the intended result. A cloud of fluorescent dust rained on the guards under it. They eventually swayed and slumped against the wall, sliding down it into an almost crouch. Then, the party covered their noses and mouths before rushing through the door.

As the vampire hunting party’s frontline, Nil took the lead, entering the building with Absorb active. Misu followed close behind him, with Lise, crossbow ready, bringing up the rear. A group of thralls waited just beyond the entrance. After their surprise passed, blunt and chopping weapons attacked Nil, charging Brutal Battery.

A cloud of spores fell over the enemy’s rear line. The marksmen and pair running off to raise the alarm collapsed, coughing and gasping for air. Meanwhile, Nil and Lise tore through the front line. Nil didn’t need Expend to break bones and put down the rotting thralls. Instead of wasting bolts or time reloading the crossbow, the latter of the pair dove into the fray with her dual handaxes.

It was a quick, clean, and one-sided battle. The trio put down the ten thralls without drawing unnecessary attention. They crept through the building, working their way in deeper and looking for the basement. They put the enemy down without hesitance and as efficiently as possible whenever they encountered more thralls. The creatures were strong and intelligent, occasionally getting the jump on the intruders and forcing Nil to use his energy stores. Unfortunately for them, their rotting flesh left them less durable than an ordinary human. He guessed many hoped that their master would eventually turn them, stopping the decomposition, and then they could restore themselves with human blood. It sounded like the perfect lie to enslave the delusional and stupid.

Lise’s ability made the infiltration easy. By Earth’s standards, she toed the line between rogue and knight. The woman nullified all their sounds and contained noise in an enclosed space, reducing the chances of others hearing their battle. She also could create audial distractions to misdirect patrolling guards or lure them into a trap. Then, either Misu put them to sleep or, when magic conservation became an issue, Nil put them down.

Almost an hour passed before Lise’s expert knowledge led them to the grand door and stairway leading to the casino’s underground vault. When the party reached it, their easy ride ended. The coven’s waiting protector had detected the intrusion and lay in wait. As soon as Nil crossed the threshold, it attacked, unleashing an ear-drum-shredding cry.