From the wall we overlooked the city, the buildings were less tall towards the border. So we could see over a few rows of buildings, I could see them. The preternatural ways they moved. They were ruthlessly efficient, and their behavior varied. Some were more intelligent than others. So far my experience with them could be summarized with two groups. Some that looked more monstrous, and acted more monstrous. Unintelligent, no sentience behind their eyes. Just hunger. And another group, which took joy in pain and the thrill of the hunt. They retained their human features for the most part.
I hear a muffled crying from one of the nearby buildings. It was young and afraid. "You hear that?" I asked "No." Selendris says firmly, from the base of the wall. She had her arms raised like a toddler asking for uppies with a look of impatience. We don't have time to save everyone I suppose.
I hoist her onto the wall. "Stick close, it's easy to get separated in the dark." my father said and lept from the wall into the forest on the other side. It was a dark- the brush was densely packed around the redwood trees and would prove difficult to navigate. Raising up into the sky, the moonlight peaking through the branches into a dense fog. I helped down the duo, whose names I learned were Selendris and Kyle.
Once we were all in the forest, we started to carefully shuffle through the thick foliage. We could use essence to light up our hammers rather easily, but we didn't want to call attention to ourselves. We weren't the only ones with this plan and we could hear others making their way through the forest. Foliage rustled all around as other groups fled. My eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, and I could see a bit through the fog which floated just above the bushes. The moonlight created a ghostly blue haze when it passed through it. It was a haunting aesthetic. Every now and then I could see a shadow pass through the fog, a survivor or two no doubt.
We didn't say anything until we were a mile from the wall. "Do you think they followed us?" Kyle asks. "Lot easier to find people in the city, I don't see why they would pursue the harder game. Not very hunter-like if you ask me." my father said. Though we were speaking in a hushed tone, I suspected the loud crashing of foliage around us from the other groups of survivors telegraphed our presence enough.
"If they do, they'll eat those loud dumbasses first and we'll know." Selendris said, looking around into the dark. Honestly, I was worried that Selendris would be a liability at first, that her panic would cost us. But now I was more worried about Kyle. He was close to running face first into a tree multiple times. Eventually the noise died down, as survivors became more separated the further we got from the city. The sound of the burning city fading with distance.
I was considering lighting up my hammer, make our way more easily. But suddenly I was hit with this feeling. Something on the air was electrified, and aware. It's hard to describe the feeling of being watched. I feel a tug on my wrist, I look back to see my father casting a knowing look. "Wh-" Kyle began but Selendris put a hand over his mouth. We lowered them down into a crouch. My father whispered; "I saw some in the trees.".
I looked for their red eyes in the trees above, but it felt like paranoia after a few minutes. Then we heard a horrific scream not an acre away. One of the fleeing groups had been attacked. "Run!" a male voice said, echoing through the forest. "Don't look back Valarie!" we heard a women say. I look up at the trees and see silhouettes leaping across trees overhead. Another scream was cut-off so suddenly it sounded like someone surprised a goat, but in the opposite direction. Being one of the more quiet groups, we must of been more difficult to find.
All these thoughts regarding my survival started to flood my head. I could head back to town, hide inside an attic. Maybe I'll crawl an inch at a time on my belly until sunrise and I could see better. Maybe I'll find a hollow in a tree and curl up into a ball. We all froze in place, taking in the chaos around us. We couldn't see far, roughly fifty feet around us before the fog became too thick. Every now and then an orange glow of torches or magic light illuminated a section of fog in the distance.
We hear rustling again, something broke out into chase. It couldn't be too far, I could hear frantic panting. A man was high-stepping through the bushes as he ran. I could see him just barely in the distance. "Please-no- I've done nothing wro-" he said stealing glances behind himself. A figure fell from above tackling him into the foliage. "Ugh, ge-et off! Wha-what are-? AAH!" I hear a sickeningly peeling sound like game was being skinned. "AAH!" he screamed. Followed by many other morbid sounds. It's as if they were killing him as slowly as possible. After a minute of this, his voice was reduced to a gurgling misery.
A mousy squeak comes from Kyle followed by trickling sounds. Over the next hour, we crawl desperately on our stomachs. Kyle and Selendris couldn't strap their weapons on their backs so they had to leave them behind. A slow process, but we made progress. Every few minutes we heard torturous screams from varying distances. A person would be caught and tortured to death. We palmed our way through the soft earth. The air was cold and still, it was deathly quiet besides the hunted survivors. My father had the same idea I did, I suppose anyone would. We skulked away from the loud survivors and further into the quiet. So long as we kept getting further from the city.
And it worked, again the chaos faded as we slowly made our way. On our hands and knees, we weaved a path through the undergrowth. I heard the groan of a branch overhead, as if someone stepped on it. I looked up and another figure was leaping branch to branch almost soundlessly. A misplaced knee on a dry twig could reveal us. I realized as much as our stealth, luck played a huge role in our survival. Just one inch at a time, one breath after another.
Another scream resounded through the ghostly forest. But this one was different... A shriek, it was beastial, primal. The source was stomping around with no effort to conceal itself. We stopped crawling as it neared, and started peaking between bushes. He flailed into view. Their skin was greyed a bit, ears were pointed, and hair was falling out. Eyes glowing red. It was looking through the forest... Searching... Hunting.
He placed his spindly fingers on a tree before leaning in close and smelling it. It's head whipped in our direction- snarling. The skinny beast staggered towards us unnaturally fast. A rock emerges from the undergrowth just out of sight of the beast and careens into the distance. It crashes about sixty yards from us. It had flinched towards and started walking in it's direction, when a hooded person emerged just behind the fiend. Standing from the undergrowth. In a flash it stuck a dagger in it's bat-like ear. The ghoul collapsed soundlessly.
I hear a small snap, and look over my shoulder to see Kyle wincing. "Sorry" he mouthed at us. I turn back and the figure was gone. We returned to crawling. My knees were starting to get sore. After while we had to use the moon to keep our direction straight. We begun to hear water lapping in the distance. Likely a river, this area had a few. We headed towards it, my plan was that it could cover the sound of us moving through the foliage.
We came to a clearing, we couldn't crawl through it in order to reach the river. Kyle was furiously scratching his shoulders. He likely didn't identify that poison ivy we passed by minutes ago. The clearing was about a half acre in diameter. The fog thinned a bit. There were a few large rocks, a fallen tree, some elements of scenery we could sneak behind as we cross. But we'd be vastly easier to find compared to the thick undergrowth we were currently concealed in. It was deathly quiet. We waited, and listened before we would risk crossing.
As I said, luck was a huge factor in our own survival so far and luckily we waited a just a moment longer. A female figure stepped into the clearing from the side. Her eyes had a reflective red glint to them in the dark, but it lacked the red glow the feral beasts had. She casually strode into the clearing, dragging someone by their wrist. It was strange seeing this women who couldn't weigh more than a hundred and fifty pounds drag a 200+ pound man behind her. Mid twenties at most, she is clad in a dark brown leather armor. Her black hair was coiled into a braid and two swords hung at her waist. She neared the center of the clearing which a rock sat with a fallen tree leaned on it. With a final tug she tossed the lifeless man across the log which rocked slightly from the weight.
She hopped up and sat next to it producing a metal file from a pocket. She used it on her finger nails as she waited. Examining her work closely. A men approached not long after from the same direction she came from. He was a beast of a man, over six feet tall and wide as a doorway. He wore a matching set of leathers. His weapon seemed to be a large warhammer, a similar red reflective glint to his eyes. The women paid no mind to him. He spoke in a surprisingly moderate pitch. "Brought a snack with you?" he asked. "No, no. Not how I like to do it." she said. Holding her hands out, comparing their nails.
"I forget you like to collect." the large man grumbled. He walked over to a rock nearby and sat. We ducked a bit as he scanned the treeline. The women sighed, annoyed. "Almost none made it to our section. I fear I'm too good at my job, if we let a few get by us maybe they'll position us closer to the action next time." she mused, putting the iron file in a pocket. The man gave a *humph* before saying; "Anyone who can't get passed by the ghouls aren't worth dealing with anyways.". The girl looked down at the man draped across the log then nodded. "True, you can't find gold without sifting through dirt." -looking closely, I could tell that her captive was the man who had killed the elderly women before. If he was here, I hope his family fared well.
We sat huddled at the treeline observing the two in silence. I considered our options while they conversed idly about how bored they were. Their presence complicated things. Making our way around the large clearing would take time. We could try to make our way behind the rocks and log, try to sneak directly across. I feel a hand cover my mouth. My back straightens as I'm turned around, it's the hooded figure who took down that ghoul before. A man, mid thirties, early forties judging by the crows feet. He was pale, their hood transitioned to a green cloak and their face was covered up to the eyes by a dark fabric. They had light linen clothes but had daggers sheathed every where I looked. They raised a finger to their mouth. The others had been grabbed one-by-one it seems as they were all positioned just behind him. He gazed behind me into the clearing at the two cursed evil people.
After a moment he turned towards us, his glance swept over us lingering a moment longer on Kyle. He sniffed a few times, and sighs. Then he waved at us to follow and stepped into the clearing. He chose a path barely out of sight of the raiders behind some rocks and bushes. It was difficult to replicate his agility. He kept his eyes just on the horizon of the rocks. We followed single file stepping where he stepped. He puts a hand out, stopping us. "I like to set them free, with weapons of their choice. It's not worth it if there's no hunt to it. Makes it feel fair." the man said. Their conversation has turned towards how they liked to torment people.
"D'awe, you big softie. I like to be creative. Of course I keep some as pets. But sometimes I pretend to be on their side and help them escape. It's hilarious." the women says, giggling. The hooded man only rolled his eyes. He picked his moment and rolled across to another set of rocks, looking back at us and counted down with his fingers. On the final finger he gave a wave and I hurriedly crossed. He watched the two as I did.
One by one we went rock to rock. Cluster of bushes to cluster of bushes. We were about half way across. The man on the log stirred. The women in leathers stroked his hair gently. "Oh, It's waking up." she said. He stirred and looked forward which happened to be towards us. He might've saw one of us because he suddenly looked away from our direction. The women noticed and glanced towards the rocks we hid behind. We ducked further. "Did you see someone?" she said, her lips curling into a smile. "They've been playing it coy for awhile, but there's a group back there." the man said, not looking up from where he sat.
My mouth dropped. I thought we had been so clever. The hooded man quickly pulled a crossbow from beneath his cloak. The bow unfolded from the sides and clicked into place, a bolt already loaded. He created a W shape with his free hand and touched the center with his thumb. He started to shimmer as two additional copies of himself appeared at his sides. He pointed his crossbow and let loose a bolt straight at the man who pretended not to notice us. The two copies of himself took off, running to opposite sides of the clearing towards them. The women stood on the log with hands on her hips, her grin accompanied a insidious gleam in her eyes.
The bulky man sighed stepping out of the trajectory of the bolt walking towards one of the copies. "Time to go to work." he said. The man that was stirring suddenly spun around and swooped the womens' legs out from under her, causing her to crumple to the ground. The rest of us took off for the treeline. "Come on, help your friend!" the large man said. I turned back as we reached the treeline, feeling conflicted. I saw one of the copies of the man get crushed into a green smoke dissipating into nothing. And the man that swept the women had jumped down from the log to engage the woman. She was dodging his punches effortlessly. The hooded figure has been launching more bolts with his copy. Both shooting, hiding, and shooting again.
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"Should we help them? We could throw rocks! Or... Something.." I asked. My father seemed like he was considering it, he looked between them and the river which was now visible through the trees and grimaced. The women clotheslines the man knocking him to the ground, she stomps down but he rolls beneath the log. The big guy had started making his way to the real hooded figure with blinding speed. Finally he caught up. Just as he reaches him the hooded figure drops a ball at his feet, which suddenly bursts up into wire that unfurls around him- wrapping him in a reflective thin wire. The women begun chasing the man under the log as he rolled away. Crawling after him. She almost had him but he kicked a small rock that was pinned between the log and the larger rock it leaned on, causing it to roll off onto her. The log being so massive one would expect it to flatten her like a rolling pin. But it only pinned her to the ground.
"Now I'm starting to get annoyed." the bulky man said, wire constricting around his arms and legs. He flexes and the wire snaps. Luckily the hooded man already gained more distance, running across the log he shot another bolt. It thudded into the giants chest, though he doesn't seem to notice. The grey haired man in cargo pants kicked at the trapped women who was now trapped beneath the log. She dodged and her mouth opened unnaturally wide as she clamped down on his ankle. Blood sprayed into the soil "Argh!" he shouts angrily, he reaches down to free himself as if it were a bear trap. Punching and prying at her face.
They had 'em on the ropes, they just needed a bit of a distraction to turn the tide. I grabbed a rock and ran over to them. The hooded figure ran towards his duplicate and threw a smokebomb on the ground, covering a small 5 meter radius in smoke. The large raider hot on his trail. I reached the greyed man who was now punching the women in the face over and over ineffectively. Raising the rock in my hand, it glowed orange and I smashed it down into the side of her face. *SMACK* she releases his ankle and he falls to his back grasping his shredded ankle. She looked towards me in plain-faced annoyance and pulled an arm out from beneath the log, swiping at my legs.
I hear a grunt and look towards where the hooded man was within his smoke cloud. He was flung out and crashed into a boulder. The raider waving away the smoke as he followed him out of the cloud. "You can hit better than that!" the women said to me, drawing my attention back. I stepped just outside her reach. My dad stepped to my side and swung down with his warhammer. He hit her directly, the orange flashed the moment he made contact. She seemed unaffected despite the direct hit to her face, maybe a cut on her brow. "Mmm... A bit better." she said. Her other hand burst from beneath the log sending shards of wood flying. She grabbed the ground and pulled her self out from under it.
The grey haired mans ankle was spurting blood, but he pursed his lips and blew fire at the women. Yep- he breathed fire at her. She somersaulted backwards between me and my father and unsheathed the two swords from her side. She sliced at me causing me to stagger back. I rose my arms and they were slashed as I fell back. My father swung and it collided with her back shoulder with a *THUD*. She turned towards him with a flurry of slashes but he blocked most of it with his warhammer. She threw a sword into the air and my dad eyed it cautiously but she kicked him in the groin as he did so. He groaned and fell to his knees. The grey haired man begun limping towards her. My arms were stinging from the cuts, warm with blood as I stood readying myself.
"STOP!" a new voice said. We collectively looked towards it. It was the hooded figure. He stood with a dagger to the bulky guys neck. The raider was on his knees with several figures surrounding him identical to the hooded man. He had created more clones and all the knives that were sheathed along his torso were now drawn among them. Knives also impaled the raider all over. "Live and let live?" he asked.
The women relaxed her shoulders letting out a sigh. "You lot are so unpredictable. Just how many duplicates can you make?" She asked. "It's good to keep you guessing, after all I only pretended the ability was weaker to get you to drop your guard. Your arrogance lost you this fight." I could tell he was grinning beneath his mask. She scoffed at him in response. She looked side to side at the three of us surrounding her, considering how to attack next.
"Fine, have it your way. I bought enough time anyway." he said, stabbing into the large mans clavicle and slashing across to the other side. *SMACK* a rock crashes into the back of her head. Kyle had thrown it. In that moment I swing for the women, pulling my small smithy hammer from a belt loop. It was like hitting a wall, she ignored my strikes and focused on dodging my fathers hits instead. The man had ripped a branch off the log and swung it over head. *CRACK* her head swung down from the force. We all started hammering down on her, she was unable to dodge us all. She would knock one of us down, but another would be attacking her meanwhile. Kyle with another rock, me with my smaller smithy hammer, the greyed man with his branch, and my father with his warhammer. Hitting her all over, where ever we could. She covered herself with her arms in the fetal position eventually as we attacked. Her bulky friend was being disemboweled by the many hooded clones.
A shriek resounded from the treeline across the clearing. Several ghoulish humanoids gathered, red eyes glowing in the dark. "Why won't you die?" The hooded man asked the large one. "I ask that myself sometimes." he replied, choking on his own blood. He gave another stab as his clones charged towards the ghouls which began to charge in turn.
We doubled our efforts on the women, my fathers warhammer was doing the most damage. Leaving bruises, snapping bones. As soon as a bone broke though, we could hear crackling as they snapped back into place and healed. This was a battle of attrition and we wouldn't have the upper hand for long. Selendris ran up- "Fuck her, let's go!" she shouted. The hooded man looked up covered in blood from the raider. Who laid in a steaming pile of gore. "Run! I'll hold 'em off!" he held both his hands into a 'W' formation and three more copies appeared. He totaled in about twelve now. These three ran to attack the women who begun swiping out with her claws as she laid prone. The remainder fought the ghouls pushing towards us.
The main hooded man seemed to be getting tired, he was sweating and pacing. "Get across the river!" he shouted. I look towards Kyle, my father, and the grey haired man. We turn to run, my father scoops up the man who has his ankle practically bitten off. As I turned to run, I felt a tug on my ankle. I looked down to see the womens iron grasp around my foot. "Let go!" I shouted yanking it. "No!" she shouted back. I turned back and started punching her head, my fingers ached from the impacts. I grabbed her hair and yanked but nothing was working. I was about to grab my hammer again when one of the clones stabbed with their daggers which distracted her. They took our places around her stabbing down. Yet she refused to release my ankle, out of spite if anything most likely.
I drug my ankle to the side until her wrist was positioned over a rock. "Hit it!" I said. My father shrugged off the grey haired man over to Kyle who's small frame had difficulty supporting him. Dad squared his shoulders and slammed his hammer into her wrist, snapping it over the rock beneath it. "Ugh- fucking swine!" she shouted out. "Run!" the hooded figure commanded again, the clearing was a battlefield of hooded assassins and ghouls. The pile of gore that was that behemoth man was slowly knitting itself. My ankle slipped out of her weakened grasp and I ran. Others limped. We reached the bank of the river and tumbled down into it plunging into the rivers depths. The cool water was shocking, but we fought the current to the other side.
Me and Selendris made it first, and began helping the others climb up the muddy shore. "I'm bleeding out...I need a tourniquet." the grey haired man said sleepily. There was the sound of clanging metal and fighting on other side of the river. Then I heard someone running through the bushes after us. *THUD* a bolt embedded itself in a tree next to us.
There was a thin but taut wired attached to it, creating a silvery line across the river. The hooded figure flew across the river riding the wire with his crossbow. As he reached the other side he snipped it with a small pair of wire cutters mid-air. "Fucking hell!" he said as he landed next to us. My father pulled his belt free and wrapped it tightly around the wounded mans leg.
"Aren't they following us?" I asked. The hooded man shook his head. "No, running water is a problem for them. There are ways for them to get around it, but they're in no condition for that." he said. This man seemed to know about these cursed fiends. I was going to ask him more questions, but I didn't feel comfortable quite yet. We needed some distance. As a group we made our way from the river. After a mile or so, the hooded man spoke; "I'm Chlorus..." He paced, still catching his breath. "You guys handled yourselves pretty well back there, you know- for peasants." he said. The grey haired man spoke up first; "I'm a veteran, thank you very much- names' Malcolm." he said limping with my father. At that we all introduced ourselves.
"So, you said they can't cross water easily. Does that mean we're in the clear?" Kyle asked. "Yes... And no." Chlorus said as we walked, he was wounding wire on a spool built into his crossbow. "We don't know if there isn't more of them positioned across it. These creatures are known as vampires, every bit as cunning as the most disciplined soldiers. They were once human after all. But not anymore, they've been infected by a type of parasitic fungus." a fungus? Makes me think of what Selendris mentioned back in town... Selendris spoke up next; "A fungus that gives you super strength and heals you, sounds like a good deal to me." Chlorus shakes his head; "Trust me, it's not worth it. The fungus exacts a price. For one, you hunger for the blood of other humans... Without human blood they lose their self-control and given enough time can't even function." he said.
"There's many other weaknesses too, it changes you at your very core. You saw it, the way they immediately turned on the ones they cared about. Like they didn't matter anymore." he sighed, considering. My dad interjected; "So this isn't the work of some dark sorcery?" Chlorus nodded. "Yes -is the simple answer, some of our most ancient texts spoke of it. An ancient tomb dedicated to imprisoning vampires had begun to create spores, apparently. It would explain why abilities that dispel magic have no effect on their abilities. Their affliction must be natural. And there is no cure, yet." he closed his eyes for a moment somberly. We marched through the forest for another mile, my boots were thoroughly soaked. One of my feet aired out though, thanks to the missing toe section of shoe. My ankle itched where I was grabbed. Small hair like scratches along it.
We talked awhile at random, Chlorus filled us in on the vampires. They've been sacking cities and framing the attacks as raids or monster attacks. Leaving bodies left in mass graves and cities burned out. Capturing humans as they go and transporting them back to a 'domain' or a country they control. They've been hunted into extinction for centuries by people like Chlorus. But now that they've returned, so has his organization. Chlorus has been trained since a child to fight them. I had so many questions, but before any of us could ask more we arrived at another cobblestone wall. Slightly shorter than the cities walls and lined with black pointed bars. Covered in ivy. A cemetery.
We made our way inside through a broken crevice in the wall, the cemetery had wide flagstone paths that wined around plots of graves, large mausoleums here and there. Each had stairs inside that led to a maze of interconnected catacombs below. It was a city of death, really. There were overgrown hedges and rose bushes that have sprout up all over the place. The cemetery hasn't been visited in awhile by landscapers it seems. While most of the architecture was intact, it has been retaken by nature. Many bones and corpses dug back up and scattered. I look towards Malcolms shredded ankle. It was nearly bitten off. His foot was hung by a few strands of sinew and flesh. We would have to tend to it soon.
"How does one get infected by this 'fungus'?" I asked. Chlorus gave me a knowing look. "You guys are probably fine. It's a selective thing, and they often avoid infecting humans with potent essence. You all seem to be well off as far as that concerned, primed cattle candidates for them..." he shook his head. How diabolical. The lunacy of it all, how quickly it could spread. Chlorus continued after a moment of consideration; "Vampires can reproduce like people. Once they're at a certain level of the disease. Infection is mostly a military strategy to create forces behind enemy lines. Most become ghouls, a disposable force. A small part of the hierarchy that all serves a greater vampire." he said, with a tinge of disgust. What a haunting affliction. It wore your face, but spiritually, it wasn't you. It only wore you. "Their main weakness is that the different leaders end up warring with each other over resources and that often nearly leads to their own extinction... Not too different from humans I suppose.".
We made our way into a mausoleum the size of a small house. It's iron gate hung ajar. We went down the stairs into the catacombs below. Webs hung all over, piles of bones here and there. Urns and old crates laid pilfered. Occasional statue of some saint or patron deity. There were old lanterns the wax still present in them, which we lit and created a makeshift campsite. It was a bit cooler in the catacombs than the surface, making it officially cold. After a crossroad in the maze we picked a deadend near the entrance that held a few recesses.
There were tombs lining the wall, some were opulent and had carvings etched into the stone. Detailing histories and battles. Every now and then it was just a wall of bones stacked on top of each other packed into clay. We had placed what lanterns we could find in a perimeter around us. They provided little warmth, so we collected a few torches into a fire at the center.
The makeshift campsite was divided into three sides it seemed. Selendris and Kyle had a corner, me and my father another. Chlorus and Malcom mostly kept apart but seemed to have more in common than with the rest of us. We shared what supplies we had left, my bread was soaked in the river and was mostly inedible. But I also packed dried meats, a jerky. Travel rations. I brought extra canteens also which came in handy. My violin was also tucked in my satchel, which miraculously survived intact. "I'll take first watch." Chlorus said. "I'll take it with you." my father chimed in. Afterwards it would be me and Malcolm.
I 'fluffed' my satchel and placed it against a raised dias of a tomb. I plopped against it and tried to sleep, it felt like a full hour before I managed to. But eventually sleep came. I dreamed of the chaotic day before. Perhaps my mind was training me to survive this ordeal. Flashes of me running through the town, saving different people, abandoning different people, being killed. So many scenarios flew by as I slept. Sometimes I held up in my house and the monsters broke through boarded windows before pulling my intestines out. I was never woken up for my watch, I suppose they figured I needed the sleep. Malcolm, my father and Chlorus handled it.