While Landen’s texture is the same mix of archaic buildings from the old era, decorated with the steampunk accommodations that the people use and enjoy daily, each part of the city has its own special trait. Its personal, distinct miasma, is exposed through its peculiarities that distinguish it from the others. The northern part is home to Salazar, an old, rundown sewage. East, home to the factories, is considered the heart of Landen, and its large technological advancement far surpasses the other districts. South is the beginning of the town’s outskirts. Avoided by people, only hunters ever venture into those parts when there’s an expedition. While the center of Landen is where most of the hunters reside and network, the Western part is Landen’s jewel. Most of the humans reside in the West, enjoying all of Landen’s faculties while receiving the most protection from the hunting community. Clean streets, lighted alleyways, and buildings erected by humanity’s top architects (well, the ones that weren’t eaten).
Walking through the West, even as a Landenian, is an experience evoking first-time sentiments over and over again. Even the grumpy Aaron can’t deny the district’s beauty. The crystal moss in the cobblestone walls, the colorful patterned pavement, and the number of shops full of humans chatting their troubles away were all adorned with the newest advancements on the restarting railways.
Cassandra is Landenian, and even she is enamored with the district…
Cassie: A wonder indeed…
Aaron looks over at her, intrigued by the girl’s fascination with the streets despite her Landenian origins…
Aaron: What, you’ve never been here before?
Cassie: The nightingale is of humble origin, unfortunately. Thus, the fabled sights of the western streets are a first for her…
Aaron: Ow…
Shroud gives a subtle elbow bash to Aaron while Cassie’s gaze is averted…
Shroud: Nice going, dumbass.
Cassie: Speaking of beautiful sights. Bossman, your surname is Willheart?
Aaron: Can’t see how that’s relevant, but yeah.
Cassie: Bossman, this surname could even reek of the word “beauty” when you utter it. Are you related to Florence Willheart?
Shroud: …
Aaron: Ugh, yeah, she was my ma…
Cassandra’s gaze turns from curiosity to confusion…
Cassie: That is odd. Lady Florence never sired a child, as we know by now…
Shroud: Adoption. He was an orphan when she found ‘im. She lent ‘im to me before she bit the dust, the poor lass…
Cassie: So you are both related to the Florence Willheart!? She was an inspiration to us all, everyone looks up to her!! How I wish I could meet her!!
She jumps onto Aaron, latching and not letting go, despite the boy’s attempts to pull her away…
Cassie: At least now, I have the chance to work with the byproduct, bask in the grace of her creation, and earn her favor from the heavens!! An opportunity of the Lord’s design destined for the nightin-
Aaron: Get the hell off me, you freak!!!
Shroud We’re here!!
Stopping in the middle of a small plaza, in front of its lapis lazuli-adorned fountain, the two rookies look around. A beautiful violin concert by a quartet accompanies the area’s beauty…Confused with Shroud’s action, they ask…
Aaron: What are we going to do here? Savoir-faire?
Shroud: I tried once with you, but it didn’t work. And Mergrove being Sarah’s student, I don’t believe there’s any development there either.
Cassie: Mentor’s skills with cutlery are not suited for dining, yes.
Aaron: And where’s Beryl? Don’t tell me he is waiting for
Beryl: A SHOWMAN’S INTRODUCTION!!!
On top of the fountain, without a care for his wet leggings, the army-style hunter jumps and lands with a somersault on the ground. Quickly regaining stance, he stands at attention and greets the trio with a high voice.
Beryl: Beryl Grut!! Hunter at VHC for almost 7 years!! Trained under Shroud the Butcher, I stand before you, ready for work!!
Aaron: Always a loudmouth, huh?
Shroud: Dammit, Beryl, ya could’ve just come from behind. Did ya’ hav’ta sprinkle water all over us?!
Beryl: I excuse myself for this choice of entrance. But this sort of reunion, junior and senior, has gotten me excited!
Beryl and Aaron shake hands, palms tightened, and smiles teethy and big…
Aaron: Couldn’t have said it better.
Beryl: I heard of your adventures, Aaron. So, you a leader now?
Aaron: Not a chance in hell. But I got myself some new partners…
Beryl: I see. And this must be one of them. Sarah’s kid, right? Cassandra Mergrove! I heard about you too!
Cassie: Mentor spoke of me?
Beryl: She wouldn’t shut up about you! From what I hear, you and she are like peas in a pod!
Cassandra smiles with the information, content of her mentor’s delight…
Shroud: So, Beryl, ready for today’s gig?
Beryl: I prepared myself accordingly, sir!
Aaron: What are we doing today?
Beryl: Hunting!!
Aaron: Yeah, and?
Beryl: That’s it.
The two rookies rest confused…
Cassie: I fail to understand, why are we here by afternoon then?
Shroud: The bat you guys are chasin’ is hiding somewhere here.
Aaron: Huh? In the most guarded district in the city? Why the hell aren’t the rest of the bats just jolting for south and out?
Beryl: They do. That’s why we were stationed south the past 3 days, killing every vampire on site. Whoever chose to stay here must be affiliated with the Ripper, or so dangerous that he’s confident enough to remain within city grounds…
Cassie: Then I can only imagine that any vampire choosing to hide amongst hunters is dangerous and confident enough…
Aaron: Well, no bat is gonna squat in heaven for long without taking a few victims. How many?
Beryl: None! That’s what baffles me!! I need your help to ask around for any sightings or anything out of the ordinary. Three heads are better than one, as they say!!
Cassie: Isn’t sir Shroud going to help?
Aaron: “Sir” Shroud has left the vicinity and has shut himself in the pub just ahead. I think he’s entering the cellar…
Beryl: Oh well, this is our mission anyway. So, my lovely juniors, I wish you good luck. I’ll take the south, you take the north.
The three separate. The plaza is filled with people grabbing their afternoon coffee…
Aaron and Cassie try their best. Hitting from the coffee shops to random bypassers in the street, none of the locals seem to be able to provide decent information. Some of the drinkers seem too relaxed and aloof to even remember anything noticeable. Mothers playing with their children suddenly seem too busy and preoccupied with their children to even pay attention to the hunters. The elderly doze off mid-conversation, even under the afternoon sunlight through the clouds showering the plaza…
Feeling exhausted all of a sudden, the pair sit on the fountain’s edge, gazing around the plaza…
Aaron: No one could answer. Do they even live here?!
Cassie: Their attitude does strike me surprised. It is like…they do not even mind the fact that a vampire might live among them…Could we be dealing with a dependent plaza?
Aaron:…I’ve checked for dependents. Though that would clear things up…
Cassie: Is the security in this district really that efficient? Ignorance truly is bliss…
The hunter remembers Cassandra’s unfamiliarity with the western district’s reputation…
Aaron: Ugh, seems logical when you are in paradise. No one living here has probably seen a bat for the past 5 years…
Cassie: Our security is THAT good?
Aaron: Figure of speech, idiot. But…yeah. This place is Landen’s prize jewel. Beryl told me once, even in Pirou, Assia, and Afreeka, they think of West Landen as some sort of “safe haven” …
Kids play throughout the plaza, under their mothers’ watchful eyes. Elderly couples sarcastically bicker while taking their daily walk in the adorned streets. Officials, workers, and teachers gather in the pubs and shops, laughing and smiling as they browse, consume, and chat…
Aaron: This is a paradise for some people. What the hunters strive to achieve…
Cassie rests amazed by her partner’s description…
Cassie: Intriguing. The southern district holds no candle against this…
Aaron: You’re… from down south?
Cassie: Huh? Oh, yes. The Mergrove clan finds its origins in the sorrowful outskirts of the city. Not a lot of people other than farmers live there, so I was the only huntress working there, along with my senior…
Aaron: So this is your first time here… (That explains those rumors about the heads)
Cassie: Yes. And now that I’ve witnessed Landen’s jewel, I’m even more excited to pursue my goal as the nightingale…
She stands up, posing as the heroine once again, much to Aaron’s dismay…
Cassie: The south is my home. The Mergrove’s home. One day, I’ll kill every vampire in Orbia, and make the south Landen’s new jewel!!
Aaron: That’s gonna take a while. You can barely cook by yourself, you almost burned down the kitchen yesterday.
Cassie: Culinary skills have nothing to do with vampire hunting, bossman.
She points to Aaron’s nose, dramatically, much to his dismay…
Cassie: And I’ll certainly need your help in this!!
Aaron: Calm down, weirdo! We can’t even do an investigation today!
Beryl: That is by no means your own fault!!!
Beryl jumps from the fountain’s top down to the ground once again…
Aaron: Shit!!! Where did you come from!??
Cassie: I barely noticed him…
Beryl approaches the two rookies. Standing tall and proud, he looks around the plaza, smiling proudly at Landenians’ achievement, cruising through daily life regardless of the vampire threat…
Beryl: Sounds like your search has been rather fruitless, my juniors!!
Cassie: A true disappointment for the nightingale’s journal, Beryl…The locals seem somehow…ignorant of the situation.
Beryl: Well, you can’t blame them. Who wouldn’t want to be ignorant in this place?
Aaron: How’s your part going?
Beryl: I’ve amassed enough information! But let’s give another try to your section of the plaza. I’m still not sure about something…
Cassie: Have you figured out the hiding location?! Where is it?!
Beryl: Patience, young huntress. You’ll notice soon enough…
Beryl starts approaching the locals. To Cassie’s surprise, Beryl seems to be more than just familiar with them. Children run around him in excitement, which he happily picks up and lifts in the air with his large arms. Mothers joke around with him, instead of politely apologizing for their children’s behaviour. The elderly hug him, compliment his form and manners, and chat away with him for a variety of idle matters, which he patiently listens to. The rest of the locals beg him to sit down and have a coffee with them, which he politely declines but reassures them that next time he will accompany them with pleasure…
Cassie: Is…this man some sort of folk god in here?!
Aaron: Oh yeah, Beryl has been guarding West Landen for a while before I started officially hunting. Makes sense they would warm up to him faster…
Cassie: I feel foolish and incompetent…
Beryl returns to the duo…
Aaron: Any luck, showman?
Beryl: Quite enough, Aaron!
Cassie: Sir Beryl, how did those locals warm up to you like this?
Beryl: Well, 5 years guarding this place has its merits. Most of these people were cold to at me first too…
Cassie: But, in a matter of seconds…Aaron knows the plague doctor long enough too, and yet he fails to have him take off his mask…
Aaron: And that’s how it going to stay.
Cassie: Nevertheless, they sure admire you a lot, Beryl!!
Beryl: Pish posh…I would just be some shmuck if it wasn’t for their love and support, hell I still am!
He points at one of the elderly couples…
Beryl: Those two have been patching my outfit fight after fight with the bats. A great seamstress and an amazing tailor. I saved them from a vampire hiding in the mannequin storage east…
He changes his direction to a mother and her daughter playing…
Beryl: That kid…After I saved her support soldier father in a cave during an expedition, she’s been giving me hugs and roses ever since. Couldn’t feel more glad I’m a hunter…
Lastly, a well-dressed man sipping tea…
Beryl: That guy vouched for my seat in the last expedition. Said VHC would be nuts to leave me hanging around here…
Aaron: I don’t think that was vouching…
Beryl: Each one of them has been a bedrock to my foundation as a hunter, and a standing proof that the Landenian jewel really is a safe haven to look out for…
He poses with his arms against his waist, chest forward, shoulders back…
Beryl: So do not frown on a little drawback my juniors!! Through perseverance and effort, we find results!!!
Cassie’s frown turns upside down…
Cassie: Sir, yes Sir!!!
Aaron: Sure, but did you find anything helpful?
Beryl: Not at all!! We’re stumped!!
The rookies sit down again, falling in despair…
Beryl: Despite their ecstatic nature, most of the locals have been pretty clueless regarding the intruder. The only thing of notice is some strange, out-of-pocket singing they hear at night…
Aaron: Huh?
Beryl: “Like a fair maiden singing her woes throughout the night.” People thought it was a bat, but support found nothing, and no one has been complaining about anything strange, so they left it alone, thinking it might be some lonely musician's soul…
Cassie: So, our only lead is…(yawning) some midnight mystery entertainer…
Aaron: Damn, what’s up with you? I feel tired too, but not that tired, it’s still…(looks at his watch) Huh, that’s strange…
Beryl: What?
Aaron: Well, normally it should be around 3 o’clock. Watch says it’s like 5 and a half…
Beryl: Probably unwinded…Try moving it around…
Aaron: I had it fixed yesterday…
Beryl’s mind races through thoughts and insights, igniting with a spark of shock…
Beryl: Aaron. How much did it take you to finish the interrogations?
Aaron: Huh…Around an hour? But now that I think about it…it kind of felt like a lot more…
Cassie: Yeah… How can one hour feel so… long and tiring?
Beryl: Intriguing…
Aaron: Beryl, if you’ve got some extreme theory in your head, send it to Url. Me and weirdo girl here aren’t the brightest tools in the shed to-
Beryl: We’re stuck in a trap.
Aaron: That was simple.
Cassie: A trap? When?
Beryl: Allow me to explain.
Beryl points to the pub senior Shroud frequented at the start of the mission…
Beryl: The pub.
Aaron: Yeah, Shroud’s favorite hideout.
Beryl: I’ve been 5 years in this place, I’ve never seen it there.
Cassie: Not to be the devil’s advocate, but they could have opened recently.
Beryl: I thought so, so I asked around, but no one really remembers it ever being constructed.
The rookies start to follow Beryl’s thoughts…
Cassie: Huh…
Beryl: That’s one. Secondly, the confusion concerning the hours. You are right, we haven’t been here for long, and yet we feel the exhaustion of three days in a row…
And then, the hunter looks around at his acquaintances…
Beryl: The locals are what gave it away. Even in their excitement, 5 years of conversations and trust, and for the first time, they’ve been avoiding the subject of the vampire…but it’s weird…it’s not as if they want to…
Cassie: Actually, it is. I think the problem is, they don’t realize it.
Aaron: God, this is burning me up, where’s the pub?
Cassie: When me and bossman were searching for info, the locals seemed confused. It’s like they knew they had info, they wanted to give it at first, but in a matter of seconds, they either forgot, or they were too busy to talk…
Beryl: I see…It fits…
Aaron: So, if I got this straight, we are under some hypnotic spell and at the mercy of some coward bat?
Beryl: Seems like it. But if it’s the mystery singer, how did they manage to
The violins playing loudly in the plaza when the hunters arrived come to Cassie’s mind…
Cassie: The violins…
Beryl: Huh?
Cassie: What if they hid their voice through the instruments when we first arrived?!
Beryl: Could be a possibility…No, it’s our best shot…
Aaron: Why would they shut us inside the plaza?
Beryl: That’s what scares me. I’m worried about the residents though…
Cassie: Hmm?
Beryl: This vampire can make people ignore major events of the day through some unknown spell…So it wouldn’t be illogical to think they could be torturing the citizens daily and making them forget…Oh my god…
Aaron: Calm down man, they seem ok physically, at least…We can worry about that right after we figure out how to break the spell. Which means we should find that vampire as soon as possible.
Cassie: It must be hiding somewhere dark enough to protect itself from sunlight…I say we burst inside the darkest-looking apartment!!!
Aaron: Now you’re talking my language!!
Beryl holds the two running hunters with little effort from their clothes before they commit vandalism in one of the city’s richest plazas…
Beryl: Maybe we should think this through before we rush into any reckless behavior…
Cassie: But the bat could be anywhere!
Beryl: And if it’s smart enough to pull this elaborate defense mechanism, it’s probably smart enough to not hide in the most obvious place for a hunter to start looking…No, we must search better…
Aaron: Can’t see a better place to hide in the sunlight-filled plaza.
The army man looks around the plaza, noting every single detail that could be amiss…Raising his arm to point at the violin players…
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Beryl: Let’s start with the violin players.
Cassie: Sounds fair, but I can’t think of a vampire willing to play the violin under the hot sunlight…
Beryl: No, but it’s the only type of music playing right now, so the only possible source of the spell. So, Aaron, go talk to ‘em.
Aaron: Huh? Why me?!
Beryl: You’ve been squatting away on your ass for the past 20 minutes, seems enough to regain your strength!! And Cassandra’s the sharpshooter, she needs to stay in the backline!!
Cassie: Go, Bossman!!
Through grunting and grimaces our hunter gets up and walks over to the quartet of white-shirt violin players, humbly toying away with their instruments and producing a calm, innovative sound for the residents to hear…They notice the youth approaching, so one of them steps forward to greet him, still playing the instrument unbothered…
Violin Player: Excuse me, good hunter!! What could I do to assist you, today?!
Aaron: Oh, friendly! A nice change of pace here…so listen! Have you guys’ been hearing any strange sounds the past few days? Like any singing or…
Violin Player: Hmm, well there has been this midnight mystery singer. We tried to locate them to have them join our quartet, but they’re almost impossible to find!!
Aaron: Yeah, almost like he just…flies away once the night ends, huh…
Violin Player: You couldn’t be implying they’re… a vampire?
The violin players overhear the conversation. They snicker at the mere thought of a vampire hiding away on the rich rooftops of the west…
Violin Player: Sir, I’ve been playing here for two years, bringing calm entertainment to the residents and visitors of this beautiful plaza. I can assure you, I haven’t seen a vampire since the time I went to the north district. There’s nothing to worry about here!!!
Aaron: Oh well, better safe than sorry. I mean, wouldn’t you worry if some nutjob was singing at 1 o’clock midnight?
Violin Player: Worry? The word worry does not exist in the western district’s vocabulary!! This is paradise!!
As the violins play away, the people laugh, greet, drink, and eat to their heart’s content, not a care in the world when surrounded by the safe, adorned walls of the plaza…
Violin Player: I would advise you to leave behind your business preoccupations when strutting through these here streets. We have no time to worry about the vampires, we are too busy indulging in the Lord’s gift of haven.
Aaron: I see…Ok then, thanks for the help. Oh, your shirt’s a bit messy…
Violin Player: Oh, this!!? Happens when I play nonstop!
Aaron: Lemme help…
The boy shakes off the white shirt, tucks it properly, and makes sure to fix the turtle neck, all while the musician keeps on playing…
Violin Player: Amazing…
Aaron: My ma taught me how…Anyway, thanks for the heads-up!!
Violin Player: My pleasure!!
The young hunter walks back to his group, who have approached the quartet’s proximity…
Aaron: Beryl, all clear. Go.
Beryl:…
The army man, with a small smile on his face, approaches the quartet. Despite the man’s friendliness, Beryl suddenly strikes him hard in the face with his silver knuckles, planting him on the ground and knocking away the violin…The music stops…
Cassie: Huh?! What are they-
Aaron: Look!
Pointing at the bleeding musician, they notice vampiric traits, like pointy ears, a clean set of canine teeth, pale skin…Turtleneck again messy, Cassie’s eyesight notices a bite mark on the player’s nape…
Cassie: Dependent!
Aaron: Had he just avoided the subject like the rest of them, I wouldn’t have checked for bite marks…
The other three violin players start whispering while avoiding the tall, army man who just knocked out their comrade…
Beryl: Now, to kill the rest of you so we can get out of this mind spell…
Suddenly, cracks in the air appear. The sky breaks in shambles ass if a glass dome shatters away, revealing a dark, starry plaza under the moonlight…
Aaron: That was unexpected…
Beryl: (So, the spell wasn’t some hypnosis, but an illusion? No, no, the effects on the citizens were apparent! So, this could mean that these guys were taking care of the illusion spell to make us think we still day, and thus reject the idea of a bat out in the sun…)
The violin players spread their wings and float away from Beryl. Flying in the sky in circles, they taunt the hunters with a cacophony of rampant screeching and awfully executed violin notes…
Unbothered by the screeching, the hunters look around the transformed environment. The adorned cobblestone walls were now sprayed with blood, cracks on the floor, broken chairs, smashed windows…and not one of the happy citizens on site…
Cassie: Eeh...what happened here…
The lovely plaza, one part of the Landenian jewel, was now a compromised crime scene from hell…
Beryl looks distraught. The blood all over the scene and the disappearance of the residents do not add up well to his already worried mind…
Beryl: Where are they…
Aaron: Beryl, don’t go there. We still don’t know if…
Beryl: Where are they, bats!!?
The vampires abruptly stop their chant…
Vampire: Silverhead’s probably talking about the squatters…
Beryl: Huh?
Vampire: Yes, the squatters, yes…
Vampire: Got what they deserved, they sure did…
Cassie: What are they talking about…
The vampires change tunes. Their violins pull out slow, grim notes signaling sadness, grief…despair…
Vampire: This plaza, the jewel of Landen…
Vampires: Jewel of Landen, yes…
Vampire: Home to the human’s luxuries and pleasures…
Vampires: Luxuries and pleasures, yes…
Vampire: And yet, by what right does a human deserve to bathe himself in such luxuries and pleasures?
Vampires: Unjust, unfair…
Vampire: What is a jewel worth, resting on a man’s dirty paw? What makes it “just” that a vampire rots away in a stone prison and livestock indulges in riches beyond its own value?
Vampires: Illogical, incomprehensible…
The music’s pace hastens, the tone of the notes slowly rises…
Vampire: So, we took action. Free of our bonds did we recover a part of our life stolen by us and punished the evildoers along the way!!
Beryl: You…killed them?
The vampire stares at the army hunter kneeling in despair…
Vampire: Isn’t…that the hunter rumored to protect this plaza?
Vampire: And here I was thinking this place was too easy to breach. Happy he won’t be when he finds out about the rest of them…
Vampire: About the elderly couple we killed to hide in their apartment?
The violin turns even more violent…
Vampire: Their noble we tortured for information?
More and more grim…
Vampire: The woman we fed upon in front of the child?
The grim, violent notes, accompanied by the cold, unfeeling words of the vampires make Beryl’s head spin around. He tries to hold on. A hunter as disciplined as him should be able to keep himself focused…But something is afoot…as if his mind is forcefully pushed through despair at an alarming rate…
Despite the duo’s effort to reach out, Beryl rests kneeled and distressed, unable to tune out the bats…
Aaron: Shit!! It’s the violins!!! They’re egging on in his grief!!!
Cassie: I’ll shoot them down then!!
Cassie draws out her bow, while Aaron tries to call out his comrade…Cassie’s focus is abruptly distraught. Slightly dizzy and slightly jumpy, she misses three of her shots, leaving the flying bats unscathed…
Aaron: Anytime now, Mergrove!!
Cassie: I…I feel…weird…
Aaron: (Shit!! They got her too? How strong are these guys?!!)
The deaths of residents run through Beryl’s mind. Unable to get a grip on reality, a figure is seen walking towards him from behind, surprising Aaron…
Shroud: Move.
The boy wastes no second and leaves the hunter for his job. Shroud steps in front of the kneeling Beryl, smoking a cigarette, and ignoring the vampires slowly approaching while avoiding Cassie’s shots…
Shroud: Oh, Beryl…What the heck are ya’ doin’, eh?!
Beryl: …
Shroud: Since when did ya’ let the bat haters get ta’ ya head? These guys could just be mublin’ fer all we know!
Beryl: …
Shroud: Never the less…If the people here are cooked….it ain’t gonna be you wailing down like some hussy that’s gonna avenge ‘em, now is it?!
He picks up the slowly returning hunter, and helps him up…
Shroud: Now go there and hunt!!!
Beryl: Sir Shroud…You are right!!!
The hunter’s back at his feet, to Aaron’s amazement…
Aaron: What happened?!
Shroud: Must be that hypno spell you guys were talkin’ ‘bout! The Beryl I know would never let anything like two bats talking down to him tamper with his job…
Aaron: But how did you escape? Can’t be a “friendship transcends all barriers” shit…
Beryl: I don’t have a grasp on it yet, but I think the spell isn’t strong enough to capture every person’s mind in little to no effort… Nevertheless, our job right now is to knock these three out for information!!
Shroud: Couldn’t agree more!! Shitstains’ must have finished the whole brewery ‘cause I found nothin’ in the deposits!!
Aaron: That’s your reason for fighting!!?
A vampire escapes Cassie’s hold and rushes for the trio. Before the young react, Shroud calls out his axe, a humongous, silver, one-handed axe with drawings of teeth and a menacing red eye on the blade. The bat’s kick lands on the axe protecting them, barely shoving the hunter back…
Vampire: (What is this…)
The vampire flies back, but not without receiving a few shots from Cassie, who still struggles with some minor confusion…
Vampire: Tch! I’d advise you a lot to either leave us be or take those arms and chop your heads off immediately!!
Aaron: Like we’d let you go after the mess you’ve done here!!
Cassie: You’ll pay for what you did to these folks!!
Despite Cassie’s disability, the bats still find difficulty in securing an assault. They instead fly further above, their wings flapping away…
Beryl: (Those wings…More developed than other body parts…They’ll probably specialize in air combat…Which only means…)
The bats start playing once again, now high, slow notes, heard throughout the plaza…From the broken windows, and smashed shops, come out hordes of imps, accompanied by no other than the rest of the citizens, now turned to vampire underlings…
Aaron: Guess this solves the disappearances…but who turned them…
Shroud: Probably the guy behind turning our brains to mush for the past couple of hours…Who cares anyway, now the fight can finally-
All of a sudden, a mellow, calming voice is heard along the violins, chanting indistinct nonsense to the human ears…Shroud starts getting dizzy, and immediately falls unconscious, face all red…
Aaron: NOW’S NOT THE TIME TO GET DRUNK!!!
Beryl: I bet the spellcaster made it so that Shroud would remain sound and conscious, probably to avoid having him realize the trick by accident…Now, he’s just useless…
The vampires slowly approach, while the violin trio remain mid-air, playing away their instruments, and encouraging their comrades to attack…
Beryl: Aaron, lock Shroud in the brewery, it’s the only place without bats!! I’ll cover ya’! Cassandra, just keep firing!!
Aaron and Cassie: Yeah!!!
While Aaron picks up his senior to safety, Beryl calls out his pair of silver knuckles, with the words “Heavy Hitter” engraved in the silver ingots on the edge of the weapons…The army man grits his teeth, and smashes the knuckles together, creating a white, glowing effect on both ingots…
Imps start piling up. Facing a small wave, Beryl concentrates, and readies his right fist for a haymaker…
Beryl : (Right is…”Blow”…Left is…”Disintegrate”…)
As the wave approaches, imps baring little fangs and little claws ready to slash away at the hunter’s skin, the man smashes the first vampling before him…
Beryl: “Blow!!”
Along with the imp’s face being smashed by the silver ingot, a strong, violent wind shot is ejected from the ingot, sending most of the imps back a few feet, while the rest of the wave disperses, leaving the hunter unharmed…
Beryl: “Seems like my luck starts turning for the better…”
Beryl’s Holy Weapon, “Heavy Hitter”. By smashing the silver ingots together, the knuckles become enchanted, allowing the owner to activate one random incantation from the Lord of the Sun’s Bible. An interesting armament, requiring rather adapting skills than actual training to counter the randomization disadvantage…
Beryl : (I should be careful with my enchantments. The more I use the weapon, the more I risk mental fatigue…) Anyone up for some more!!!??
One of the violin players plays a different tune…The imps then start encircling the hunter, and each attacks him from different corners, but weirdly aiming for Beryl’s left fist…
Beryl : (She must be ordering them to waste their bodies against my other enchantment…)
One of the imps latches onto the right arm, carelessly biting it, in hopes that the hunter will punch it away…However, Beryl just falls to his side and crushes the imp. He finishes it off with his right fist, then barely rolls away from following attacks to regain his stance…
Beryl: (Which means that once the enchantment’s off, a dependent will lunge at me…)
Finishing off the imps with his right arm, he notices a resident lunging at him. He uses his left fist, shouting away as he punches him repeatedly, not letting him move an inch to regenerate or even react. The bat dies, and Beryl rests cold and shocked at his former friend’s wounded face…
From behind, another resident confidently tries to attack him. Beryl, notices and turns around, punching with his left once again.
Beryl: “Disintegrate!!”
From the ingot spreads a wave of light, engulfing the dependent’s body and leaving him burning on the ground. Beryl lunges forward and keeps on attacking, striking away at his opponents…
Aaron locks Shroud in the brewery. Calling out Eisenwald, he starts chopping imps left and right until he notices Cassie struggling to shoot at the violin players while avoiding the ground foes…
One of the dependents starts throwing imps over her way, hoping to somehow stop her in her tracks and allow for an opening. The imps latch onto her bow and cape, almost overpowering her…
Cassie: Ugh!!
The girl’s ongoing confusion barely allows her to fight back adequately. Before the imps completely overpower her, Aaron rushes in and pulls them away. He then grabs Cassie, rests her on his shoulder, and starts running around, imps and bats in chase under an aggressive, hasty violin tune…
Cassie: Bossman!!! I don’t know what’s happening!! I can’t see straight!!!
Aaron: Must be the spellcaster!!! Look, I’ve got a plan, You just try to shoot anything trying to follow us, whittle their numbers!!
As Aaron runs around nonstop, Cassie manages to land a few shots on some imps and vampires following. He notices Beryl and calls out to him…
Aaron: Beryl!! Let’s do the “Wall”!!
The hunter nods in agreement. Finished with his group, he rushes towards Aaron, smashing his ingots together again… Once close, Aaron jumps over the hunter, and continues his path…Beryl rushes to the horde, and proceeds to smash the ground before him…
Beryl: “Shield!!”
A broad wall of white light forms in front of the hunter. The horde finds no time to react and falls on the wall. The construct fades away…Some other dependents chose to attack the open hunter…However, Beryl hits his left fist on the ground again, once every bat comes close…
Beryl: “Searing Lights!!!”
Up from the ground, thick pillars of light pierce through the monsters, leaving them on the floor bleeding. Before they even think of regenerating, Beryl disposes of them, tears falling from his eyes…
Beryl: (I’m sorry…I’m sorry…)
The violin players gaze in fear…
Vampire: An entire squad…
Vampire: What are we going to do…
Vampire: Send out the rest of the opera…
Vampire: But they aren’t ready yet-
Vampire: I said now!! We must protect Lady Tragoedia!!! It’s our duty as aristocrats!!!
The violins play another aggressive, hasty tune…From the upper windows, fly away another horde of bats…Beryl watches their arrival, realizing some of them are the residents he was talking to earlier…
Beryl: Those bastards…They even took the elders…
Aaron rests his hand on Beryl’s shoulder…
Aaron: Remember Beryl. There’s no going back for them now. Hospice can’t do anything at this stage…Let’s at least give them a rightful death…
Beryl shakes off his shock…The other vampires pull out violins…
Vampire: Hear us, oh humans bathed in luxuries!!! This plaza is now rightfully recovered by Lady Tragoedia and her personal opera guard!!!
Aaron: Tragoedia? Does it ring any bells to you?
Beryl: No…but judging from the timeline of events, she must be another aristocrat locked in Salazar, reunited with her cult…
Playing their instruments, the horde dives towards the hunters. The melee hunters struggle to fight back, failing to land a hit mid-air, while Cassie’s confusion still prevails…
The vampires attack in turns, flapping their wings and using cacophonic music to disorient the hunters with small illusory clones. Kicked around and beaten relentlessly, Beryl punches a vampire that tried to grab Aaron from Cassie, with his right fist …
Beryl: “Flash!!”
A bright flash, accompanied by a crippling sound, stuns the swarm and allows some time for the group to disengage. The horde flies back up, once again, to regain their perception…
Aaron: Ugh…We ain’t gonna win like this…
Beryl: Cassandra, how’s your eyesight…
Cassie: It’s like…anytime I try to shoot…some feeling of dizziness disrupts my vision…and a cold sensation all over my arm, telling me not to shoot…
Beryl: Can’t think of any way to cure that. We should have stocked up on meds…
Thinking back to Shroud’s speech, Aaron’s mind cooks up a plan…
Aaron: Maybe we don’t need meds…at least not for this particular problem, weirdo’s head is filled with a lot of nonsense…that’s about to save us…
Beryl: What do you have in mind?!
Aaron: I wanna try something…I might be able to wake weirdo up from her troubles…
He grabs Cassie’s shoulders, much to her embarrassment…
Cassie : Eeh, bossman ?
Aaron: Nightingale!!
Cassie: Huh?!
Beryl: Huh?!
Aaron: When I took you in, I thought I’d have the Mistress of the Night to fight alongside me in trials such as this! Where is the nightingale you’re so fond of recounting, time and time again!?
Cassie: What are you…I don’t know…
Beryl: Aaron, what are you…
Aaron: Tell me, Mergrove!! Is this how your family’s line ends?! In the Western plaza, under the mercy of some servant vampires??!! Answer me!!
Cassie: Aaron, I…No, of cour-
Aaron: Then show me something better than this sorry excuse of showmanship!! The Huntress under the Moonlight Sky, the Slayer of all Vampires, The Black Warhorse of Landen, Incarnation of Van Helsing, the one and only, Nightingale!!! Cassandra Mergrove!!! Show me Her!!
Cassie’s smile starts to grow uncontrollably, her eyes tearing away at the sound of her teammate’s repeated use of her self-appointed honorifics…She poses once again…
Cassie: I, nightingale, from this point on, shall not fail you anymore!! My bow is now yours to command!!! Assuming the spellcaster won’t use any more tricks…
Aaron: That’s why I got a nice failsafe for you…And a way for us to take out these fuckers once and for all…Beryl, rest here and try to recover…
The hunter suddenly picks up Cassie again…He runs a few steps away, then stares upon the flying bats, who start to regain their eyesight and hearing…
Aaron: Ready, nightingale?!
Cassie: While I’m over the moon with you admitting my title, I still don’t understand your plan. My bow could still be under the influence of the spellcaster…
Aaron: Well, you almost got one part of it right… you are over the moon…
Aaron lifts Cassie and starts spinning her relentlessly around, despite her scared screams pleading for help…
Aaron: Now fly, nightingale!!! Soar through the skies and take out our enemies plaguing this plaza!!!
Beryl: Huh?!
Cassie: Bossman!!!!
The boy throws our huntress up, his enhanced strength being enough to send her over the bats’ heads…She gazes upon the night sky. Mesmerized, she looks down on the violin opera, who appears ready to attack her as she descends…
Cassie: (This plaza…denied of so many beautiful moons, by these bloodsucking ruffians…Yes, bossman, the nightingale shall exterminate these abominations!!)
As Cassie slowly glides thanks to her large cape, she conjures small, sliver arrows…Weak to kill, but fast in the air, she quickly draws and shoots at the vampires’ eyes, blinding them enough to send them off their tracks and crashing into walls, rooftops, and windows. Her keen eyesight and huntress instincts make the illusory tricks obsolete. Climbing on top of others by impaling them with the blade edges of her bow, she shoots normal arrows, managing to even kill a few before she is grabbed by Aaron on her fall…
Beryl finishes off the rest that crashed…One woman remains, trembling on the hunter’s sight…
Vampire: Please, understand!! Our lady’s health was at stake!! It’s our noble duty to
Beryl: I don’t give two shits about your duties!! Feeding your lady didn’t require killing every resident here and calling this place your own!!
The vampire bites her lips…
Vampire: Humans like you should have never had gifts such as these to yourselves!! Do you know what your prisoners had to endure just to live!!? Do you know what my Lady had to witness?!! How dare you lecture-
Beryl: How dare you lecture me on justice and what’s fair!!? These people fight hard, we fight hard so this place can remain a paradise for the human race!! You belong in Salazar, you belong in Hell because you’ve never been even a spec of kind in your long life!!
Beryl prepares to kill her…
Vampire: …Lady Tragoedia!!! Please hear me!!! Save me from this brute!! Save me from him, please!!! I don’t want to die!!!
Beryl: Like you beasts to beg for mercy…
Before Beryl even raises his fist, a sudden feeling of…sleepiness, of a coming slumber engulfs him…He rests unable to walk forward, only hearing a mellow voice singing him goodnight…
Vampire: Hah…hahahah…my lady’s voice…She has managed to entrap you once again!!!
Beryl: (What…is this…)
Aaron tries to help, but his head is governed by the same sudden feeling…Cassie tries to draw her arrows, but her head is struck by sudden pain instead…
Cassie: Shit!! I must have used too many arrows!! Did my regaining control divert the spellcaster’s target to them?!
The vampire smiles, and creepingly grabs the violin’s bow, lunging with bare fangs onto Beryl…
Vampire: I’ll kill you!! Do you think this paradise belongs to you?!! No human trash should ever have the right to witness a life worthy of a vampire!!!
Before she assaults him, a giant axe flies towards her side, crashing her…She tries to lift it and kickstart her regenerative factor, but Shroud picks it up and chops whatever remains of her, unfazed by her gasping cries for help…
He then walks up to the two hunters, and slaps them awake…
Shroud: Ain’t no time for naps!!!
Aaron: YOU WERE SLEEPING THE ENTIRE FIGHT!!!
2 hours later, the whole plaza has been canvassed. Scotch and fences surround the area, support soldiers collect blood and remains, and our hunters gather around to discuss the next steps to take…
Shroud: So this whole thing was somma’ witch bat’s magic singing?!
Beryl: She must have been hiding her voice behind her cult’s violin players. Do we know of any cults following some aristocrat named Tragoedia?
Shroud: Tss, none that I know of…
Cassie: Didn’t know we had so many aristocrats in Landen…
Beryl: Aristocrat sightings are extremely rare in our era. After Dracula’s fall, they slowly started disappearing…
Aaron: And why the hell are they starting to group up NOW of all times?
Beryl: That Ripper wasn’t just trying to whip up another fright night in Landen…He’s searching for something, and he needs the chaos and the brawn to find it…
Beryl's eyes start to weaken. Small tears slowly fall from his chestnut eyes and down his cheek. His tired, weary arms are shaking, no matter how he’s clenching them, visibly holding his feelings on a leash…
Beryl: And because of that…And because of me… all of them had to die…
Aaron looks around. The plaza he once regarded as a jewel, is now the gravesite for its poor residents. Through the cracks in the floor, the blood sprayed on the walls, now covering the beautiful moss decorations, Aaron hears and sees the smiles of children and laughs of the denizens, slaughtered over the vampire’s jealousy and complex…
Cassandra firmly grabs the sulking army hunter’s delts, and looks into his teary eyes with determination…
Cassie: No one’s to blame for this, Beryl!! Especially you!! You were the first to figure out what was happening with the plaza!! It was thanks to you we managed to take revenge for the poor victims of this place!!
Beryl: But, we couldn’t save anyone…And that is-
Cassie: Sad, yes!! I can’t say, I’m also devastated by this night’s results!! But, had we not slayed these bats tonight, had we not found out their nest, they would’ve kept on torturing and squatting on the prize jewel of Landen…
Beryl: It’s just a plaza…
Cassie: Not the plaza, Beryl!! The poor residents. The ones that had to suffer through torture and witchcraft to sate the vampire’s needs!!!The ones the bats tortured because they were living the lives we all hope to have!! The lives we deserve to have!!! We might not have saved their bodies, but at least their souls are in peace now…
Beryl’s tears stop…A soldier calls out to them from afar, approaching with a group of kids in tattered clothes and bruises…
Soldier: Sir Shroud!!! We found these kiddos hiding out in the brewery’s cellar!! No bites, no weird traps!! Seems like the residents hid them before the bats turned them into slaves…
The kid’s eyes and Beryl’s meet. Through their beaten bodies, they gasp in excitement and relief, and rush to the man’s open arms, crying his name in chaos…
Cassie: Guess we saved someone today too, huh…
Aaron: So, wait, Shroud was so blackout drunk, that he didn’t notice a bunch of kids hiding out in the brewery with him?
Shroud: They must’ve been the ones that woke me up…bet they were’ too scared ta’ talk ta’ me, or else one of dem’ bats could’ve found dem’ out…
He looks around on the rooftops…
Shroud: Still, tha’ question remains…Who’s the noble crap that got out of our palms dis’ time?
Cassie: Let us keep “Tragoedia” and her ability to mind control people through her voice.
Aaron: If Danno’s an example, that must have been her Virtue…We should look out for any other aristocrats popping around…
Shroud: Well, that’s fer’ tomorrow to think over! You kids did well today, go and rest, we called over a carriage to take ya’ home. I’ll stay with Beryl, help him pick up the mess…
The youngsters leave their seniors. Beryl thanks them for their help, and salutes them with his signature army salute, showing the duo he’s not done yet…
Aaron: God that guy…He’s always the same tough nut…
Cassie: You too, bossman!! I see from where you get it!
Aaron: Huh?
Cassie: In the sewers, when we were chasing Danno… I could see you were worried for your crew…but you kept your cool, and didn’t let that stop you or hold you back…
Aaron: Ts…I was only worried because they could have gotten lost or something…
Cassie: Nevertheless, I see his influence in you…and Lady Willheart’s!! You really are her son!!
Aaron: Huh…thanks…
Cassie: Of course, your decrepit work ethic and unnecessary sarcasm are far from what these individuals seem to portray, I have no idea where that popped up from.
Aaron: You damn-
Cassie: But, to the matter at hand…Something of great importance has popped into my mind, bossman…
The young man’s eyes meet with Cassandra’s. She ducks and grabs ahold of his tired hands, gripping them firmly, and staring into his silver eyes…
Cassie: You have finally acknowledged me as the nightingale!!!! Does this mean I have officially gained your approval to join your team!!?
Aaron: Huh?! That was just to wake you up from the spell!!! Don’t go all weirdo on-
Cassie: But you said it yourself!!! (Poses inside the carriage, shaking the box) “Then show me something better than this sorry excuse of showmanship!! The Huntress under the Moonlight Sky, the Slayer of all Vampires, The Black Warhorse of Landen, Incarnation of Van Helsing, the one and only, Nightingale!!! Cassandra Mergrove!!! Show me Her!!” That was you!!! You are finally acknowledging the Nightingale!!! Let us celebrate!!!
Aaron: SIT DOWN, YOU’LL KNOCK OVER THE CARRIAGE!!! DON’T GO OUT THE DAMN WINDOW!!!!
The carriage drifts away as Cassandra screams her titles out the window, while her bossman desperately tries to pull her inside…
From a random rooftop, a figure looks at the bloodied plaza. A female, red-haired vampire, wearing a long, white, nightgown and a golden dance ball eye mask, holds her hands together as if she was praying…
Vampire: My dear guard…I beg for your forgiveness…Thy sacrifices shan’t be in vain…But our treasure was not here…
She departs, spreading her wings and making sure she flies away from the hunter’s watchful sights…
Tragoedia: I wonder if the rest have found what Lord Ripper is searching for…I hope brother is faring well too…