“Jean-Baptiste. Fetch.”

With a swish of his wings, Madeleine’s dragon pushed off her shoulder. The ghoul shrieked. Before it could move another muscle, Jean-Baptiste had pinned it to the ground and Madeleine breathed out as she pointed her revolver. The sound of the shot vibrated through the sewer. She fastened her weapon and whistled for Jean.

“Gods be damned, was that the fourth or fifth one?”, she asked as he settled back on her shoulder. Jean ignored her, instead nibbling at her braid to demand scratches. His turquoise scales reflected in the dim torchlight.

“Rude. Well, it’s too many for my taste. Wonder when they last cleaned the sewers” she scratched his wing and he purred loudly, wrapping his tail around her neck. “Hey, you’re on the job. No purring.”

He snorted loudly but obeyed. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped. The light of her torch illuminated the bleak stone walls around her, not penetrating through the ominous and knee-high muck she stood in.

Madeleine stared absent-mindedly at the ghoul on the ground. She hadn’t seen another human being for several hours and felt a wave of sadness at the thought. The life of a dragon trainer could be lonely. Despite the unquestionable job satisfaction that came with being part of the pest control sector, from joining the endless fight of keeping beasts away from settlements, from improving beside her dear dragon she was so very proud of, it was always the dragon trainer that had to spend the shift without partner.

She shook her head and patted Jean. His claws pressed tightly into her shoulder harness.

“Enough self-pity. What have we here?”

As she bent down to inspect the ghoul, something drew her attention. There, immersed in the muck, were the remains of a bright blue jacket. She pulled at the material, noticing blood on the ripped-up garment. Jean buried his nose in it.

“Anything?”

He took another moment to sniff, then pushed his head into her hair, away from the jacket.

“Pity. Suppose the sewer water didn’t help,” Madeleine rummaged further in the watery dirt, hoping to catch something else with her fingertips, yet the jacket seemed to be the only remnant. “Alright. Let’s get this back to Yvette.”

The dragon snorted in agreement. One last time, Madeleine glanced at the passage in front of her, unable to see past the range of her torch, before retracing her steps. She chewed her lip as she walked. A month ago, the report of a missing merchant had shocked the small town of Odette, and not long thereafter, his remains had been found in the entry to the sewer. Since then, three more townspeople had found bitemarks on their necks, and neither of them were still alive. She supposed the red jacket had belonged to one of them. And the only conclusions so far? The creature had to be of vampiric nature and it seemed to control the ghouls of the sewer. An intern could have told them that.

“Usually, we make faster progress than this, right? Can’t believe you haven’t sniffed out the lair yet. No judgement! But it must be one hell of a clever beast. What do you want? Left here? Could swear it was right. Yeah, yeah, I believe you. Anyway, at least we’re not completely empty handed. Poor bugger, whoever wore that jacket.”

She continued on in silence, ignoring the distant shrieks coming from the countless junctions leading off into darkness. Jean pricked his ears, but stayed on her shoulder. She smiled, making a mental note to praise him for this in their next training session. He was still young, but had learned more in his first year than any of her other dragons.

After a while, the welcoming sound of voices filled the sewers. She quickened her step. In the light of the torches, she could make out the others in the big cavern ahead. There was Yvette, the campaign leader, passing a bag of sandwiches to Anton. He was the baby of the group, with this being his first campaign in the pest control sector. “Don’t you dare scare him off”, Yvette had warned them on the day before he had started, her tone painting a clear picture of what lay in store otherwise.

Next to them, Lucille and Percy were absorbed in a heated discussion. The rest of the team was busy above the surface, interviewing the residents of Odette. Madeleine shivered at the thought of having to conduct interviews – despite the muck, she would choose the sewer. As she entered the cavern, Yvette jumped up.

“Madeleine! How was your section?”

The short black woman had the energy of a teen in the body of a 40-year-old. Her long black braids swung around her. Madeleine helped herself to a sandwich while reporting. She had taken a liking to Yvette since their first joint assignment a few months back. She was Madeleine’s personified dream of a campaign leader. Practical, direct, no fluffing about. She was still counting her lucky stars that she had joined Yvette’s team again. Being able to work with colleagues she knew was a rarity.

Yvette inspected the jacket, then shrugged.

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“Well, if Jean hasn’t sensed anything, I think it is safe to say the west corridors are a dead end for now. Active lead or not, it’s good you have found something though. We are on the right track with the sewer then,” she stowed the jacked in her bag and clapped her hands together. “So, everyone, I know it’s been a pain to stake out this lovely setting, but at least you lot don’t have to write the report about it. Next, let’s start on the East corridors before we call it a day, alright? Madeleine, Jean, you are with me. We meet back here in two hours.”

Jean flapped his wings and wiggled his long tail excitedly. Madeleine waved to the others and followed Yvette into another narrow passage. The air smelled considerably worse in this one.

“I’m not sure why Jean hasn’t found the lair yet,” Madeleine said as they walked deeper and deeper into the array of tunnels. “If that creature lives in the sewer, he would have signalled that there is another scent apart from ghouls.”

Yvette secured her braids in a bun. “I have wondered the same. It would prove my theory that it is of higher vampiric nature. Gods beware, that would be a pain.”

“What about its feeding patterns though? If it is a higher vampire, wouldn’t it need more blood than the victims it picked so far?”

“There might have been more victims than reported. It could feed in small batches but larger quantities, leaving people drained but alive. Nobody would be any the wiser, apart from a headache the next morning. Or it could be feeding on the surrounding villages as well. We have to – “

Jean growled.

Madeleine dropped her torch and readied her revolver, pressing herself against the wall. She couldn’t see any beast ahead, yet, as always, eliminating creatures as far away as possible was the highest priority. If a beast came within a five-metre radius, a revolver wasn’t much use. Only Jean could help them at a close distance.

Yvette had taken a pouch out of her pocket, which Madeleine recognized as one of the improved lightbombs her team had talked about a day earlier. She signalled Madeleine to stay put, then threw the pouch. Light exploded, illuminating the empty passage ahead and the turn off into a smaller tunnel directly to their left. If she remembered right, they had 60 seconds until the light would extinguish. Madeleine tried to pick up any unusual noises, but could only hear the dripping of water. Then, Jean snapped his jaw. Approaching beast. Yvette signalled to aim ahead while she covered the tunnel to their left.

45 seconds. A moment later, there was the sound of claws against stone. The first ghoul appeared in the light, shielding its eyes from the glowing bomb. Before it could come closer, Madeleine pulled the trigger. A shot, and the ghoul fell.

30 seconds. More footsteps, she noted, surprised. Usually, the first shot alerted the fellow lower creatures to scram. Jean growled on her shoulder and she gave a short whistle. Stay. In front of her, Yvette fired at a creature sneaking up on them from the smaller tunnel. Another ghoul appeared in the light. Shot. A shriek, and a third took its place. Shot.

15 seconds. Madeleine was out. She shouted at Yvette and the campaign leader covered for her. Forcing herself to remain calm, Madeleine hit the cylinder release latch, revolver up, smacked the ejector rod, revolver down, and inserted the speed loader. What was up with these ghouls? She took over again, executing two more beasts as Yvette prepared another lightbomb.

5 seconds. Yvette threw the pouch. It landed, but there was no explosion. Then, the light went out.

“Shit.”

The ghouls roared. Claws scraping on stone, she could hear them scramble towards them, no longer cautious about the light. Madeleine whistled sharply and Jean pushed off her shoulder. The swishing of wings intermixed with ghoulish screams.

Another bomb exploded, casting light upon the chaos. Jean had decimated most ghouls in the passage ahead, but the left tunnel was now filled with creatures drawing near. For each one they shot, she could hear more behind them.

“Too many. I will use the trailblazer,” Yvette screamed over the shrieking and Madeleine signalled Jean to retreat. Noise. Take cover. With a flash of turquoise scales, the dragon zoomed past her, trying to get as far away as possible. The bomb in Yvette’s hand was larger than the first, and painted bright red. As she threw it into the mass of bodies, Madeleine covered her ears. It blew up in a cloud of silvery dust. A high-pitched sound tore through the tunnel. The ghouls screeched as splinters bore into them, most of them scattering away.

Only a handful made the decision to scatter towards the opposite direction – towards Madeleine and Yvette – and freaked out as they realized their error. Yvette called something, busy dodging the one closest to her. Before Madeleine had time to react, the two remaining ghouls lunged at her.

“Jean-Baptiste!”

It was too late. In the last moment, she ducked underneath claws reaching for her, the tip of them scratching her cheek, and shot the first in the stomach. Her ears rang. Mud and dirt splashed around her. The second one shrieked, covering her with spit, and leaped at her. Her dodge wasn’t fast enough, and she felt a searing pain in her forearm. Jean crashed into the beast not a second too late, jaws closing on its neck, submerging it into the muck. It struggled for another moment, then fell still.

Yvette had ignited her torch again, the dim light an insult to the bright bomb from before. Madeleine checked the passage, glad to see that the remaining ghouls had retreated. Her arm was stinging. The white colour of the open wound contrasted against her brown skin. There was no blood yet but she knew it would start any second. Dirt from the sewer had gotten into it. Yvette ran towards her.

“Bastards, they’ve got you good,” she said, inspecting the claw wound. Jean landed on the floor beside them, pushing his head into Madeleine’s leg.

“It’s not too deep, luckily,” Madeleine accepted a fresh cotton cloth from Yvette and pressed it onto the wound.

“Is it only your arm and that scratch on your face? Good. I’d say let’s continue, but if you get an infection from the dirt, management will kill me.”

“I can get Jean to clean it.”

She had done that plenty of times before. The antibacterial dragon spit worked wonders. In her profession, scars were at the very bottom of the priority list.

“No. We are done here anyways. This section needs a proper clear out, I’m talking fire. Ghouls that confident can only mean they haven’t seen proper consequence in a while.”

“Should I get Jean to gather the others?”

“Yes, do. And once we are out, go to the ER. It’s on the entry of the Rue des Écoles.”

“Really, I can clean it myself.”

“No arguing. Management will have my head, I’m telling you. Rue des Écoles.”

“Understood,” Madeleine gave in, hiding her irritation. Merde. She was too impatient for hospitals.