Undead city-Altraud
Inside the dungeon of shadow
Inside the rabbit chamber,
The ceiling cracked due to the loud reverberating sound of the dungeon boss from the distance causing the sand and rock to fall on Peter. He jolted up in fright and hid behind Ervin.
“Ervin, I…I am scared, please do something” he requested while meekly peeking at the roof in fright.
Ervin tried his utmost to calm him down. It took a few minutes of consoling to make his trembling stop and when he did, the group turned to the only exit path and found it completely clogged.
“What now? How do we go out and fight?” Arya asked with a confused look and glanced around for any possible ways to go out.
Her eyes inevitably fell on the few wolves that managed to dig their way into the chamber when she was unconscious. Ervin had shot an arrow in their eyes and killed them but they did make it into the chamber.
Ervin too was staring at them and after a bit of pause turned towards Arya and Peter,
“No other choice, we need to dig”
Though a bit reluctant Arya nodded at his suggestion and Peter followed suit as they dug the ground around a corner of the chamber but even after digging for hours they didn't manage to get to the surface.
“Why is this so tough?” Arya groaned and slumped on the floor too tired to do anything.
Peter handed her a piece of meat to help her regain some stamina and she gobbled it down in one bite.
“Brute” Ervin quipped and only received a stink eye from her as she was too tired to even argue with him.
Laying back on the floor she stared at the roof and found a large beak-like structure peeking through it. She poked the irritated Ervin and pointed at the roof.
“What now?” he asked while glancing at the direction she was pointing towards and froze stiff as the roof was ripped open by the beak, exposing the large metallic Crow and its flock flying in the sky.
“Well, that's our way out” Arya cheered and jumped out before Ervin could stop her and attracted the attention of the crows towards herself. They all rushed in to attack her but a flurry of arrows pierced them and sent them to oblivion.
“I want to fight too” Ervin exclaimed while releasing another batch of arrows, “but this is not the time, stop causing problems” he screamed and jumped out of the tunnel while holding Peter in his bony arms.
It was then that Arya finally observed Peter and saw him trembling. He had a downcast look and was clinging to Ervin for dear life.
The sight of the large flock of blackbirds in the night scared him to no end and the thick bloodlust permeating the surroundings did not help.
‘Am I putting his life in danger? Am I bad? Will they hate me?’ she asked herself and to her horror, the answer she found was a resounding yes. The realization crushed her from inside and sent her mind into a chaotic mess.
She glanced at the trembling Peter and bit her lip,
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‘he is like that because of me. My blood attracted these monsters? My impulsive actions led to this situation. I don't deserve to be alive’
Her thoughts spiralled out of control and before long she just stopped moving.
With the large bird as a lead, all the other small ones rushed in and attacked her yet Arya didn't react.
Wounds piled up in her body and were overwhelming even her regenerative powers yet she just reflexively protected her heart and brain and let them do as they please.
Ervin was also overwhelmed by the sheer number of crows and hence couldn't help her.
Peter could only observe everything around him with gritted teeth.
His legs were trembling and he was scared yet more than anything else he was angry, angry at himself.
‘Why again? Why am I such a coward? Why can't I help them?’ he asked himself while trying to control his trembling body but it just wouldn't listen.
The situation was all too familiar to him. He had always been a coward. During his birth, he just hid like a rat and was scared of everything around him.
When the humans invaded his home, he was again powerless and scared.
When Ervin lost his best friend in the war against humans, he just sat with trembling hands and did nothing.
When Maya parted ways with her only family, he was too preoccupied by his fear of humans to say anything.
But she was different. She was small, just like him but was not scared. Her situation was far worse than his but she never showed any signs of fear. He wanted to learn that from her. He wanted to be brave like her.
He called her teacher and imitated her every move so that one day he could be brave like her but that very girl now looked confused and…scared.
“No, don't stop. Do something, anything. Just don't stop” he screamed at her but she remained still until a rock hit her and brought her back to reality. Glancing around she found Ervin fighting a flock of crows yet somehow he found the time to throw a rock at her.
“What are you doing? Stop blaming yourself and help” he ordered while killing another pair of crows with a single arrow.
That was the first time he asked for her help. Taking in a deep breath Arya slapped herself on the cheek and used
“Can I get some meat? I am running low on stamina” she asked after approaching him and received a large chunk of meat which she promptly gobbled down. With a newfound resolve, she turned to face the crows but to her surprise, they stopped fighting and flew back to the forest.
“What's happening?” Peter asked confused and the other two had the same question in their mind.
That was until they saw a large 4m tall black-furred Panther walking majestically towards them. The furry cat had a pair of long canine teeth protruding out of its upper jaw and a sharp horn grew atop its forehead giving it a menacing look.
A pack of wolves led by a pack leader followed behind the Panther and the flock of crows joined them after paying their respect to the furry cat.
Ervin gulped nervously and said “We better run” while glancing at Arya and for once she had the same opinion as him.
They all nodded and turned back to run but it was already too late as the black cat in the distance disappeared and reappeared in front of them in the blink of an eye.
Understanding that escape was no longer an option Arya and Ervin prepared for a fight when a 2m tall undead bird with flamy green eyes landed between the duo and the Panther.
“Ouch, that was a bad landing “ Maya jumped down from the bird and gave it a scornful stare. Turning around she saw a whole band of beasts heading towards her, led by a large Panther.
She let out a loud groan and gave her teammates a withering glare
“Why am I not surprised? Well, do you guys have a plan by any chance?” she asked almost expecting a no and her team didn't disappoint. They all shook their head in denial.
“Of course, thank God I made some preparations” Maya sighed and dropped four bags filled to the brim with green blood in front of them.
It took only a second for Arya to guess where it came from.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let's fight” she gestured Arya to use the blood as they all prepared for the fight.
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Human camp
Border of human and undead territory
In one of the remote tents, Blaze sat in a cross-legged position and placed his hand on a small hemisphere in front of him while activating his
Within seconds the hemisphere emitted a thick mist that turned into a vague human shape.
“All the preparations are complete. I will kill the captain today and invade Altraud in two days” Blaze announced and waited for a response from the misty figure.
It took a few seconds but the mist finally responded with a nod
“Capture the vampire girl alive. Attack during the undead birth ceremony and abduct her. Most importantly create a mess and keep the undead busy” the misty figure said and dissipated into thin air.