20 - Vampire Track Meets and Other Events That Don't Happen on a Sunny Day
Pelensgrad’s Tunnel System, Already Too Much for One Day
Tim's legs burned, and his heart pounded as they dashed through the tunnels with the creature hot on their heels. Aiden struck a piece of flint on metal he acquired from the basket weaver to create a spark and belted out For Whom the Bell Tolls . A spout of flame burst from his palm and knocked the creature on its back. Tim pushed as hard as he could to put distance on the thing. The singed undead regained its feet and continued the pursuit, closing the gap.
It was a new experience for Tim, feeling his body and muscles work through the pain as his lungs struggled for oxygen. Back in school, he couldn't even finish the mile run without feeling like he was going to die. During soccer matches, he was the last one picked when deciding teams. Even a younger kid brother was likely to be chosen over him.
Now that he had this fabulous new body instead of the frail one he had back home, he wasn't sure if he wanted to give it up. It seemed that all his peers blessed with physical ability would receive praise from the faculty, attention from the girls, and be surrounded by friends. Jack was one of those people. The ones Tim called the physical kids. But now he was keeping up with Jack, even if it was because he had to run from a threat to his existence.
With his higher-than-average reading comprehension, impeccable computer skills, science literacy, and advanced math scores, Tim was never really allowed in the physical kid club, but instead was banished to the library to play DnD and Magic the Gathering. It wasn't that he hated being a nerd. There were plenty of cute girls who were nerds, even some good friends. He just secretly wanted to be a jock because he never really grew out of competing with his sibling.
Tim's older brother, Malcolm, was good at everything and currently enjoyed a full-ride scholarship to Notre Dame via his natural ability to play football. A trophy case right in the front of the school paid homage to Tim's kin, who had titles in football, basketball, baseball, swimming, wrestling, golf, and tennis. Malcolm could try a sport on a whim and be the best person in the school at it.
Whatever physical kid genes big bro had, Tim possessed the opposite. Before he was a dwarf, he had tried out for every sport the school had to offer and was rejected for every one of them. He was too weak for the football team. Too uncoordinated for baseball. His asthma was too intense for track or cross country. Soccer was a trip hazard for a boy who had broken his legs one too many times in life. His vision was too poor for tennis. Golf was an allergen fiesta. His body got hives from the chlorine in pools.
The only sport he hadn't attempted yet was the basketball team. He was too nervous to even try. He wasn't the right height. He'd lose control of the ball merely by trying to dribble and run at the same time. However, Tim had practiced his three-point shots ever since he was old enough to hold the ball when his dad took the boys to the YMCA.
Basketball was the only chance he had at beating his older brother. Malcolm had been on the team for only one year, and while he had set a record number of school records for the sport during that time, there was one record on the list that Tim was sure he could beat – three-pointers made. Tim didn't need to be a good player, just good at one thing, and maybe then, he'd have a shot at beating his sibling.
Of course, that was his old body. This dwarven crossbowman was the raw power he had lacked his entire life. The creature in pursuit of them would have already eviscerated poor, weak Tim. If they never found their way back, he could be Bolt.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The undead thing snarled, and Tim felt a claw bounce off his chain mail armor. He didn't think twice. He held his crossbow over his shoulder and fired. The sound of a body skidding to a halt on the floor caused him to slow to a stop and turn around. The thing was face down, at least from what he was able to see in the low light.
The creature twitched and grunted. Tim darted further through the tunnel until he could see light up ahead. It wasn't the eerie green glow from Annelise's dagger they had been following, but daylight. Tim charged forward.
Just when he was about to make it out, the creature leaped and tackled the dwarf. They both rolled end over end into a grassy field. Tim reached for his melee weapon, but it was too late. The creature had him by the throat. Being nervous about trying out for the basketball team seemed trivial compared to having his neck chewed through.
However, before the creature could bite down, Sissy directed a beam of light from the sun at the creature while singing a Beyoncé tune. Ralicuk hissed and backed away. Her shield glowed, and the strengthening ray caused the creature's skin to boil, and the maggots popped. It dashed back into the darkness of the tunnel. The light beam was not able to penetrate the shadow.
For a moment, the party and the beast gauged each other.
It snarled and said, "Lovantus."
"What?" Petra yelled. "What do you want with my boy?"
Tim fired a bolt into its eye. The undead howled and darted farther into the tunnels.
"What'd you do that for?" Petra yelled.
"Sorry," Tim said. "I figured if Sissy's spell doesn't work in the dark, my bolts would."
"It was about to tell us something!"
"Yeah," Aiden said. "Don't you know how video games work? When you defeat a bad guy, he'll direct you to the next plot point."
"This isn't a video game," Petra said.
"You don't know that!"
"It will only tell us lies," Annelise said. "That was a fell creature of the crypts. I suggest we leave before those soldiers notice we are here."
Annelise pointed to the town in the distance. A few of the rangers searched the cart of a dwarven merchant by poking holes in the side with their swords. Several dwarves were already dead at their feet, and the last one was stabbed while it knelt begging for its life. There was smoke coming from the town as places were set on fire.
"It won't take them long to discover our bodies are not among them," Annelise said.
Without further words, the party moved out.