“Fine,” said Jeanne.

“Not bad,” said Kveldulf.

“Glad the zombies are dead … again,” said Benkin.

“Same here,” said Leonidas. “Gabriel, how’s your back?”

Gabriel grabbed a chair and turned it around so she could lean forward against the back. “Hurts like a mother fucker,” she said.

“I’m not hurt,” said Silvius.

“I’m doing well,” Hypatia said.

“No problems here,” said Maeryn.

“Good,” Cid said, “Doctor, if you could look at Gabriel, please?”

“On it,” Leonidas said as he walked over.

“I think I found a bottle of Blood Wine,” Kveldulf said as he handed Gabriel the bottle.

“Oh, you are a lifesaver,” she said as she began pulling the top off, while Leonidas walked over and began pulling out his needle and thread.

Jeanne walked over and grabbed herself a chair. Taking a deep breath, she looked around at the room. Woven tapestries hung from the walls depicting scenes of magnificent hunts, gallant knights slaying dragons and other monsters, and maidens being courted by poets. Braziers hung from the ceiling, the light flicker and giving the chamber a golden hue as the light flickered and danced all over.

The carpet beneath was rich and soft and the wooden floor could reflect her image from under her. Plates and bowls still on the table were crafted from bright porcelain and elaborately painted. The fireplace on the other side burned with firewood still crackling from the flames. Jeanne wondered how long this place was in such a state, or if this place was under some hex of sorts.

“What place is this?” she heard Hypatia ask.

“Either it was the county lord’s residence, or someone’s summer home,” said Cid. “Though my money’s on the latter.”

“I’m surprised someone would try to hit this place,” Silvius said.

“When you spend more of your time and energy on demonstrating what you’ve acquired instead of letting your actions speaking for themselves, you usually have a bigger target on your back than you’d imagine,” Benkin said. “You just need someone who know what they’re doing to get the job done.”

“Not a fan of the finer things in life,” Gabriel said.

“I can only take so much of the good life before it is no longer good to enjoy.”

“What is our next move, Cid?” Silvius asked.

“It’d be foolish to think that fight wasn’t heard by anyone else,” Cid said, “and I think we should do a clearing out of the room to make sure there isn’t anyone else here to catch us by surprise.”

“Who do we put to make sure no one slips out?” Jeanne asked.

“Hypatia, Silivus, why don’t you two stay put by the entrance in case someone or something tries to escape. Everyone else, you know how this works.”

“This should be fun,” said Benkin, “been a long while since I got to kick in a few doors.”

“Might even find some nice trinkets and jewels to wear,” said Hypatia.

“You think that’s a good idea?” Silvius asked. “A lot of these could be custom works, and someone could recognize we’re not the original wearer.”

“We can handle that problem once this place is clear,” Cid said, rising from his seat. “Doctor, how is Gabriel?”

“Almost done,” Leonidas said, wrapping up the stitched area, “the blood wine seems to be speeding up the healing process a bit.”

“That’s why I drank after the stitching,” Gabriel said before taking another swig from her bottle.

“I’d thought you’d do that before he went to work?” Kveldulf asked.

Gabriel shook her head. “It’d make it harder for his to do his thing, and then the stitching would get messy … and painful.”

“It’s true,” Leonidas followed. “It’s not pleasant.”

Kveldulf shrugged, “All right, good to know.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Once Leonidas is finished working on Gabriel, we’ll start taking care of whoever’s left over.”

Everyone grabbed their equipment, and once the barricade was taken down, moved out of the room. Silvius and Hypatia took their positions by the entrance to the front hall as the others journeyed into the manor. Jeanne was at the front with Gabriel and Benkin, Kveldulf had Maeryn and Leonidas with him, and Cid was in between both groups.

With light steps they travelled down the hallway, none of them daring to speak a word, their weapons unsheathed and ready to strike at the first creature they came across. Jeanne could feel her clothes beginning to get damp and cling to her skin as she tried to steady her breathing as she felt her legs growing restless. She found the lavish nature of the manor adding to the uneasiness of the situation.

Gabriel, on point, stopped mid-step and raised the palm of her hand to the others. She then used the same hand to point to her ear as the soft sounds of feet patting the ground began to heard. The shadow grew from the adjoining hall ahead of them and began growing in size. Jeanne recognized the shape as another hound patrolling the home.

As the creature emerged before them Gabriel threw her spear at the hound, striking it behind the shoulder and toppling it to the ground. Before it could recover, Gabriel rushed over, remove her weapon from the animal and struck with such force it became deathly still. Gabriel then turned her ear up for a brief moment before looking back to the others.

I don’t hear anything, Gabriel gestured to the others.

Good work, Cid gestured, Let’s keep going.

As they began rounding into the hall, Jeanne heard Leonidas cry out from behind. She turned as saw him engaged with an undead man engulfed in flames, as he cleaved the enemy’s head into two. “Where do they keep coming from,” he whispered to the others.

“You all right, Doc?” Kveldulf asked him, pointing to a section of his arm were the creature scratched him.

The doctor pulled out an ointment to clean to wound and quickly bandaged it up. “It’s not that bad, should be all healed before tomorrow.”

Gabriel tapped on Cid’s shoulder. “I think there’s another one,” she said, pointing to another hallway.

“Go take it out,” Cid said, “Ben, back her up.”

Both nodded and went off to intercept the roving undead. Cid turned to others, “Maeryn, do you hear anything?”

Maeryn closed her eyes and listened for a moment. “I think there’s someone in this room,” she said as she pointed to a chamber a short distance further down the hallway.

“Does it sound hostile?” Cid asked.

“Can’t tell, it’s hard to hear clearly,” she replied.

Gabriel and Benkin return. “They’re taken care of,” Benkin said.

“Good, Maeryn, check the room for any traps,” Cid said.

Maeryn nodded and moved over to the doorway. She looked the entryway closely before turning back to the others and gave them a thumbs up. “I think we’re good to go.”

The rest move up as Maeryn gently turns to the handle and pushed the door open. Looking inside they found a bedchamber furnished with richly ornate wood furniture and art pieces covering the walls and other vestures finer living. Maeryn entered the room first, looking puzzled at first, with Kveldulf saying as he moved in, “Where was the noise?”

“I don’t know,” Maeryn said, but I know I heard –” before she could finish, they heard a loud muffled cry from the other side of another door. “There, it’s there,” she said to Kveldulf

“You don’t say,” he replied, faking surprise.

“Jeanne,” Cid said, “Would you please.”

“With pleasure!” she said before kicking the door. After the first kick the slab stayed upright. She turned to the others, “I got this, I got this,” she said before kicking it down from its hinges. As the piece hit the floor, she could see a elven man, stripped naked and bound and gagged staring at her. His color gone from his face, trembling lips and shaking as he saw her look into the room.

Jeanne turned Cid, “I found who was making the noise.”

Cid walked over and as he saw the elven man, he called out, “Leonidas! We need your skills here!”

Leonidas came over and began looking at the elf who began writhing violently, breathing erratically, while trying to get away from him. “It’s all right,” the doctor said to him, “It’s all right, you’re safe now.”

The elven man slowly began calming down as he carefully watched Leonidas examine him. “Well, aside from the obvious, he’s seems all right.”

“Is he safe to cut the bounds?” Kveldulf asked.

Leonidas looked at the man before turning back to Kveldulf, “He’s not turning if that’s what you mean.”

“Cut him free,” Cid told the doctor.

Leonidas pulled a knife out and said, “Give me one moment and I’ll have these off you.”

Once the bonds were cut, the elven man removed the gag from his mouth and hugged the doctor tightly, tears flowing down his cheeks. Leonidas looked at Cid, Jeanne and Kveldulf, “I think he’s happy,” Leonidas said.

The man then hugged Cid, Kveldulf and Jeanne, thanking them profusely. Jeanne, looking unsure what to do, awkwardly patted the man’s shoulder. “There, there,” she said to him. “There, there.”

“What’s your name?”

“Ciaran,” the elven man said, wiping tears from his eyes, “it’s Ciaran.”

“Do you know what happened here, Ciaran?” Cid asked the man.

“The other day, I was tending to my duties here when these two men showed up. They were talking to the buteler, as our lord doesn’t normally see guests unless they’re personal friends or family. And after a moment of conversing they attacked the man and quickly murdered everyone. They save a few to turn over to guard the property, and those they left alive … they fed on.”

“Oh gods,” Maeryn said. “That’s what they did to the woman’s home when they attacked there.”

“Probably something of a modus operandi,” Cid said. “Other than the undead guards is there anyone else here, that you know of?

Ciaran shook his head. “I’m not sure, but I think the younger one left. Something about keeping an eye on their ‘families,’ he said.”

“That leaves just the older brother,” Jeanne said.

“We could take the older one and put the dog down,” Benkin said.

Cid nodded at Benkin and Jeanne, “All right, Ciaran, grab whatever clothes and gold you can and get back to town, if anyone asks, you don’t know anything of what happened here, understand?”

“What about you all?” Ciaran.

“We’re The Wolf Company,” Cid said, “We’re in our element when on the hunt.”

The elf nodded and made his way out of the small room and began dressing himself. Cid turned to Maeryn, “Go get Sil and Hy, and get them back here, I want us in full force when wo do this.”

“Right,” Maeryn said as she left the room. She returned shortly with Silvius and Hypatia in tow.

“Hope things were quiet on your end,” Kveldulf said to Silvius and Hypatia.

“There was a zombie trying to make it’s way out,” Hypatia said, “but we took care of it without any issue.”

“Good,” said Cid, “I up you’re warmed up, because we have a son of a bitch to put down.”