Sometimes it felt as though I had been hand-picked to run the gauntlet of every Villain in the nearby area. A trial for being so bold as to try and better myself and atone for the wrongs that I had wrought over the centuries. If that was to be my lot in life, I would willingly accept it - fight it tooth and nail along the way, of course, but I understood I was owed no favors from karma. It was the fellows I traveled with I truly felt for, and wondered just how far down into the muck I was dragging them.

It was almost as though acknowledging the fact that something was clearly wrong in the village was enough to pierce the veil. What started as cold glares and apprehensive gestures from the locals started to become something more sinister, and even their body language was now posturing toward further hostility. Standing out in the town square, a place filled with smooth shrubbery and flowers not quite in full bloom, it almost seemed out of place to be so widely hated. The disdain in their faces was easy to see. The man we had met at the stables came over closer with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Perhaps you should leave. Your kind is not wanted here," he said.

Ah, there it was—the cliché phrase that had echoed many a time in my past.

"And why is that?" I asked him, my eyes narrowing as I looked around. We were slowly becoming surrounded by the villagers - all adults in their thirties and up, around twenty-six males and twelve females. They didn't appear to be armed - at least not visibly or extensively.

"Your kind tends to drag up bad omens."

"We're not even going to be here long," Florence scowled.

"Is that all you will be doing, though?" a woman asked from the other side of the square. "Or do you have fouler intent in your hearts?"

"Just what are you accusing us of?" Angelos inquired, managing to hold the coarser language from his tongue lest he invoke further ire from the woman.

"We have been told that you are a bad omen and that we should see you away."

He clenched his teeth together. "Who told you that?"

No answer was readily apparent, and those who weren't constantly staring us down exchanged brief glances. It was enough to know that they were likely talking about the eye and whatever entity or person it represented. We had just got done dispatching a small cult. I wasn't particularly enthused about diving headfirst into a second one. However, I didn't appreciate being bullied out of this brief respite just because we were a bad omen.

"I am a bad omen," I said, "and unless you're intending on finding out why, I would leave us well alone."

My tone was stern; I tried to keep it friendly, although I did not possess the commanding glare or presence I used to have at my beck and call back as a powerful vampire. My physique was imposing enough that any person healthy in the mind would be well-advised not to get themselves into any mortal danger around me.

I went to step forward, and a couple of figures sidestepped to block the road ahead.

Florence was practically seething. "Do you intend for us to leave or not? Make up your minds."

"If you leave, you'll come back." One said. "Either leave with your wagon or..." another began.

I felt my hand tense, ready to reach for my greatsword. I wasn't intending to start the day by slaughtering humans, but they were quick to extinguish any other options that didn't result in violence.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"The Great One says you have a bad stink about you," an elderly man holding himself up with a wooden cane extended a wrinkled finger towards me. "Your kind should be in the dirt."

Did he mean me specifically because of my ancestry? I tried to get a better read on the man. If this Great One could sense that I was a vampire, then perhaps they had some manner of power that we should be wary of. "Just who is this great one, then?" I asked with a shrug. "May I meet them?"

"You may not meet them; you are unworthy," the old man replied, his glazed-over eyes briefly dancing back towards the main part of the village.

I followed his amateur misdirection and turned to look behind us, beyond the tavern, and there was a slightly larger building near the far end of the village that might be some manner of town hall. Perhaps a bit cliché now that these evil entities seem to be congregating in halls, but they did have more room for foul activities.

"If I go in there," I said slowly, jerking my thumb backward towards the hall, "might I find some kind of eldritch abomination who is perhaps controlling all of you, or holding you hostage?"

"You dare speak such ill of the Great One!" A man, red in the face, waved his fist towards me. "Heathen, that is sacrilege!"

I heard Angelos chuckle to himself. Based on this outburst, any entity purporting to be some kind of deity and was controlling the village by force through either coercion, manipulation, or force wasn't one that deserved such piety.

The potential prospect for murder on the square was tense now, as we came into a bit of an impasse. They didn't want us to leave if we were to return, but they also didn't want us to be in the village anymore, bringing supposed bad omens. If we retrieved the wagon and left, that would perhaps make them happy, but we had gone and stumbled ourselves into more filth that needed a good clean and scour in the light of day.

"If this thing has control of you, allow us to dispatch it and set you free," I proclaimed. Almost sounded heroic, too.

A chorus of voices grumbled and bit back, rebellion coming to a boil. More villagers had now pooled around to the edges of the square, surrounding us. A good fifty, no, sixty-four humans now stood around us, looking ever more like they might turn into an angry mob. Angrier mob.

"What do you guys think?" I asked.

"This place is evil," Florence said in return. Jacob just grunted, and Angelos rubbed his bald head, giving me a skeptical look.

"Looks like we just can't help falling arse first into trouble, eh?" The Guardian remarked.

"At least they are right on one thing, I guess. I do seem to be a bad omen." I raised my hand into the air. "You leave us no choice. We seek to find and destroy this 'great one' that has control over you. Any of you that stand in the way will taste the sharp edge of my blade.!"

Their displeasure turned to a wave of threats that echoed through the square as the villagers withdrew knives and short clubs, charging towards us. We backed ourselves towards one of the buildings flanking this side of the village square, drawing our weapons. A dim dome of gray light radiated around us as Angelos held out his spell book.

"Well, that's a fine fucking mess we've gotten ourselves into. First, we had to put down the grieving werewolf. Now we have to deal with a village of mind-controlled bastards."

"Are they truly lost?" Florence asked.

We stood and watched as dozens of figures gathered around the orb and struck out at it, the light flaring from each of their hits. It wasn't strong enough to break the protective barrier, but they were unrelenting.

"It's hard to say," I shrugged. This kind of thing wasn't usually so cut and dry. Unless there was an obvious creature controlling them, and we had a clear path to them without harming the villagers, then I didn't know what the best answer was. Hopefully, not mindless carnage, the temptation of so much blood and flesh for my wanting fangs.

"A lot of the thick fuckers will be worn out after ten minutes of beating off on my dome," Angelus tilted his head.

Florence smiled. "If you're thinking that the source is the main holdup there, then there's a possibility we could push past and outrun them. It seems like it might be better for public relations, at least."

Angelos agreed. "If word got back that we'd killed and razed a whole village, I don't think the Guild would be looking to polish you off with a new Rank."

"No, you're right. We don't want to be seen as Villains," I rolled my eyes. "I guess once the shield runs out, drop your firewall and create us a small path. We just have to knock a couple of people to the floor, and we should be able to get a head start on them and hope whatever belies in wait for us is easily squandered." An easy enough plan on the face of it. There was enough of an alley ahead of us where the brief blockade of flame would allow us to at least bottleneck the angry mob.

"Smart thinking, Victor. What could go wrong?" Angelos nodded as Jakob looked ready to run already.

I responded with a grim smile.