The graveyard was ominously quiet as the party entered through a pair of rusted metal gates, Olrik entered first with his warhammer at the ready. The group entered cautiously, checking every corner and shadow before Annara took the lead again.

“Don’t let the silence fool you, people have been through here - recently.” Annara murmured as she knelt on the floor, examining the fresh footprints in the damp ground.

A large mausoleum stood with a sense of grandeur at the back of the graveyard, the group surmised that was the entrance to the crypt that they were looking for. Each step echoed in the silence and the air was cold and bitter. Kaelem tightened his grip on his blade staff; the empty focusing socket a reminder of his unfinished preparations. But it was certainly a step up from being completely unarmed.

Vex walked besides Kaelem, she had cast a light spell that had left an impression on Kaelem. Periodically it would send out a sonar-like pulse, highlighting everything nearby for the party in a faint glow before disappearing. Rod had assured him that nobody outside of the group could see the light, making it perfect for giving them vision without alerting any distant observers.

They cautiously approached the crypt door, Annara signaling that the coast was clear and free of traps or surprises. She dropped her guard for a moment to relax, inhaling deeply in the brief moment of respite before she started examining the door.

“I can’t break into this, there’s no lock or mechanism to undo.” Annara said hopelessly, she then turned to Olrik. “We’re going to need brute strength boss.”

Olrik let out a smug grin. If Annara was plan A, then Olrik was plan B. He handed her his warhammer, posturing up to the door and rolling his shoulders. He then began to fumble at the bottom of the stone door, finding the correct hand placement.

“What’s he going to do, lift a stone door open with his bare hands?” Kaelem whispered in disbelief.

Vex cast a casual glance at Kaelem, pacifying him with a simple smile.

Olrik managed to bury his fingers into the dirt to shimmy them under the door to get enough of a hold, Kaelem failed to comprehend what happened next.

Olrik raised the door, with his bare hands. As if it was nothing. He could see the muscles in his arms contracting, as if he was channeling all of his strength and more, but he made it look so effortless. The door smoothly rose up into the air until it was above Olrik’s head. His arms stretched out, he continued to push until there was a satisfying clunk and it locked into place.

Olrik took his warhammer back from Annara before turning his head to look at Kaelem, beaming from ear to ear as he absorbed Kaelem’s look of utter disbelief.

Rod walked past Kaelem with a smug expression on his face, walking under the stone door, he tapped Kaelem on the stomach as he passed him saying “Belt of Jotun.”

Kaelem’s awestruck expression quickly melted into one of reluctant understanding.

The group entered the crypt, a dim light spilling onto the stone staircase which descended underground. Olrik led the way again, his warhammer poised ready. His large burly figure, amplified by his plate armor, blocked the rest of the group from seeing past him.

Olrik stopped suddenly on the stairs, stooping his figure just enough for the group to see past him. At the base of the stairs two figures lingered, standing guard. Their eyes glazed with a dull red glow, they stared at the group but didn’t move as if they were statues.

Rod reacted instinctively, nocking two arrows into his bow with his middle finger separating them. He took aim between the two guards and released the arrows simultaneously. They whistled softly in the air before impaling both guards cleanly square in the chest.

Their eyes filled with life, the dull red glow becoming brighter. But it was already too late, they both looked down grasping at their chests before erupting into flames, reducing to a pile of crumbling ash within moments.

“Thralls,” Vex said calmly. “They’re controlled by stronger vampires, but are usually kept barely alive to do menial tasks.”

“Stay sharp,” Olrik muttered, gesturing for them to continue. “They’ll probably be expecting us now.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The air grew colder as they continued their descent, the smell of mildew and decay clung to the walls. They kept to the shadows, silent like mice. Annara took over leading the party, scouting the path ahead. Rod behind her as he kept an eye on their surroundings.

The way the group moved together, their silent language had impressed Kaelem in the goblin mine. Perhaps it was because he had a bit more experience, but he was noticing more this time just how well they worked together. Each of them covering an angle, watching each other's blindspot. He felt like an imposter, worried he would let the team down. But he tried to watch Vex’s back as much as he could.

The crypt corridors were not as narrow as the goblin mine, they had room to breath, but it was still a tight space. The walls were made of brick, with alcoves every so often, Plaques adorned the walls, presumably describing which deceased had been laid to rest behind it.

In the dimness of the next corridor, Annara spotted a guard lurking by an alcove. They didn’t actually appear to be aware of their presence just yet, because he was reading one of the plaques.

Annara signaled to Rod who acknowledged it with a simple nod, she crept forward, her steps so quiet you wouldn’t be wrong for thinking the air itself parted and made way for her. With a swift, single motion she took a fistful of something from her pouch and forced it into the vampire’s mouth. Her other hand reaching around him and punching him in the stomach, in one swift practiced motion he must have inhaled in shock. A light cloud of silver escaping into the air from Annara’s hand as the vampire collapsed into a blaze of ash on the floor.

Moments later, Rod caught sight of another guard rounding the corner. Without missing a beat he had already taken aim and released an arrow, striking true in its chest. The creature let out a pitiful snarl with its last breath while it crumbled.

The corridors continued, Kaelem noted the village of Mornfell must have had some history based on the sheer size of the crypt. He strained his senses as he tried to hear past the silence, faint cries echoed from deeper within the darkness. Pulling them forward like a beacon, their muffled pleas from the shadows made Kaelem’s pulse quicken.

At last they reached a large chamber, rusty iron cages lined the walls. Each one holding villagers in various states of fear and exhaustion. Some clung onto the bars, whispering frantically as they noticed the intruders, others laid curled up on the floor, either barely conscious or too weak to react.

“Quiet,” Annara whispered to one group of captives. “We’re here to get you out.”

Before they could look for keys to unlock the cages, a feral hiss sounded from the shadows. Vampires began to emerge from all directions as if they had been lying in wait for an ambush, their eyes glowing with an unholy hunger. Olrik and Annara quickly moved to the front, coating their weapons with a flash of holy water.They formed a protective line with Rod, Vex and Kaelem behind them.

The one leading their charge snarled as it lunged towards Olrik with its fangs bared. Olrik met the monster with a swing of his warhammer, hitting it cleanly at the neck with such force that it was decapitated in an instant.

Annara spun around another vampire, landing precise cuts with her daggers, each slash igniting into a smoldering blaze as she dispatched her foes in an elegant dance.

Kaelem drew the runes for light and impact, channeling the spell through his blade staff as he thrust it towards a vampire that had tried to break through the line. It was hit by a wall of dazzling light, pushing it back and onto the ground. The creature tried to shuffle back with its legs, its hands over its eyes as it tried to recover from the blinding light.

Vex meanwhile had summoned a string of orbs made from light, each flying towards an attacker at her command. As they made contact with a vampire they exploded in a flash of searing brightness.

Rod was also dispatching them with impressive efficiency, each of his arrows finding its target and reducing it to a smoldering puddle of ash.

Olrik charged forward, his warhammer a whirlwind of strikes that cleaved through his foes. However as he cut down the last of them, an ominous silence settled over the crypt.

From the shadows where the other vampires had emerged a figure wearing a dark gray ensemble emerged, its tunic reeking of nobility. His pale skin was almost translucent, with eyes that glowed like embers in the pitch black. An unpleasant feeling spread as his gaze swept over them, cold and oppressing. His presence commanded their attention and his very being seethed with power.

“Do you know how hard it is to find good help?” the vampire sneered, his voice was a chilling whisper that echoed around them. “I’m afraid you came all this way, just to meet your pitiful ends. Foolish mortals.”

Kaelem could feel his heart pounding in his chest, the weight of the vampire’s gaze was oppressive and suffocating. Every instinct was telling him to turn and run, but he stood firm. Reinforcing the grip on his staff with resolve as the sound of the villagers held in the cages spurred him on.

Olrik raised his warhammer, coating it again during the standstill as he stepped forward to confront the vampire. “There’s no point in talking to it,” he said with a steady voice edged with fury.

The vampire merely laughed, a cold mirthless sound that sent chills down Kaelem’s spine. “Well that’s just rude, but I’m afraid this really is it for you,” he said with a mocking tone, looking down on the party like insects as his smile faded.

With a flick of his wrist, the vampire summoned a torrent of shadows that coiled around him, forming into tendrils of dark magic that lashed out at the party. Vex was already mid-cast, releasing her shield of light that deflected the tendrils, causing them to bounce against the dome of golden light.

Rod released an arrow at the vampire, before Kaelem could even see it leave Rod’s bowstring the vampire had stepped to the side and caught it in the air, snapping it like a twig between his fingers. It wasn’t just the vampire’s speed that shook Kaelem, it was the unnatural grace. As though they were being toyed with.

Olrik and Annara charged together, flanking it from opposing sides. But the vampire moved with supernatural speed, evading the strikes and retaliating with a blast of dark magic that sent them both fling backwards.

Kaelem responded with a surge of his own power, conjuring a wall of thin needles made of blue light. He aimed it directly at the vampire who raised a wall of shadows to counter the attack, however the raw magic embedded into Kaelem’s needles caught the vampire off guard. Cracking its wall of shadows, the vampire was forced to move out of the way to avoid being hit. It quickly recovered, but shifted its focus to Kaelem with a gaze filled with an intense fury.

“An impressive display,” the vampire sneered, its voice dripping with contempt. “But just that: a display.”

The vampire raised his hand, gathering a storm of shadows around it that resembled a cloud of bats. Vex stepped forward, her magic blazing as she focused her magic, preparing to meet the darkness head on with a spell of her own.

In that moment, Kaelem felt a surge of resolve through Vex’s own strength. He glanced at his companions, each of them standing firm despite the overpowered adversary in front of them. The odd’s weren’t in their favor, but the fight was far from over. They were all prepared to face this demon together.