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Pile of Heads

The vampire's fangs were nearly touching Fritz's neck. The decapitated head held by Ada kept getting shoved towards his weary face. The vampire's face was contorted in a mixture of pain and desperate fear. Its yellow, almost wolf-like eyes were hazy. Its jaw hung slack, as its long tongue lolled out to occasionally touch Fritz.

The dawn had finally crested the horizon. In the lull of battle the beastkin returned to their homes to scavenge supplies, before retreating back to the castle's keep and underground tunnels. Fritz and his companions retired to a private room in the castle. They sat around a circular table, exhausted yet seemingly unwilling to fall asleep. They had scavenged a barrel of ale, some cheese, and dried fruit for their impromptu celebration.

"Fritz, I killed the biggest one!" Ada shoved the face closer, the dead vampire's cold tongue licked him. He pulled away in disgust.

"Get it out of my face!" Fritz complained. "It's not a competition, Ada."

"But I killed the biggest one." She whined.

"He just had a particularly large head." Brenn teased. "Don't listen to her."

"He had a normal sized head! Stop lying!" Ada seethed. "In fact his head was rather proportionally very small for the rest of his body."

"Where's the rest of him then?" Fritz asked. "How could I even verify how big he was?"

"He was burnt to a crisp." Ada quickly retorted. "We set his body on fire. You'll have to take my word, that he was the largest."

"Can't you add it to the pile?" Fritz replied as he motioned behind him. In a corner of the keep's room a pile of heads resided. Pale skin met the lifeless eyes of distorted monsters. The beastkin warriors that managed to slay them had gifted them to Fritz. Excited hands kept offering him tribute in the hopes of great reward. Errant warriors kept running to him in the middle of battle offering him decapitated heads to hold onto. They were like excited pets delivering the results of their recent hunts. Fritz had been utterly baffled in the beginning, wondering what they hell they expected him to do with a decapitated head. Yet by the morning light, his confusion had entirely vanished, to be replaced with acceptance as his treasure horde grew.

His eyes wandered over the tags placed on each of their elongated fangs to mark the beastkin to be rewarded. Fritz felt a sinking feeling as he looked back at all the promises he needed to keep.

"No. This one's special." Ada said defiantly. "It can't go with the others." Fritz rolled his eyes. His clothes were filthy. Dried blood and powder residue dirtied his hands, neck and face. On the floor next to his chair was a water bucket with a rag. Bending down he reached for the rag, as he attempted to clean himself off.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Get rid of that thing. No one cares! You're annoying him." Marcelle hissed in annoyance. The lamia was situated right beside Fritz. Beneath her long bangs, she watched Fritz clean away the dirt and grime with rapt attention.

"He doesn't mind!" Ada interjected.

"Yes he does. Your not getting any reward." Marcelle hissed.

"No.... But.... What about my reward? I want another sword...." Ada whined.

"Maybe later." Fritz replied noncommittally. "Can you place it with the others, Ada? I'm tapped out currently. I couldn't give you another sword, even if I wanted to."

"Fine." The blonde beastkin replied before dragging her feet over to the pile of heads.

"It ain't the biggest one." Neva said seriously. "Forget it."

"I didn't see you kill any." Ada said after tossing the head into the pile. She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "How would you know?"

"I've already killed plenty. More than you." Neva replied.

"Fritz...." Brenn said playfully. "How many more heads do I have to bring you before we... ya'know?"

"Just go ahead and kill the rest. Then kill the zombies. And the skeletons. And the abominations. And the necromancers. And then bury them. And then carry me to Fehrenn. Then I'll think about it." Fritz took off his shirt, tossing the filthy wool onto the floor. He dragged the wet rag across his neck. The water pooled into his collarbone, before dripping slowly down his chest. Ada, Marcelle and Brenn were staring at him. Brenn licked her lips, giving him a wink. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing. Just admiring." Brenn grinned at him. Fritz reached for his ale, drinking deeply from the rich, dark liquid. Marcelle glowered at the short ratkin.

"All rewards for slaying vampires will be purely material." Fritz rolled his eyes.

"Since when?" Brenn asked.

"Since, I make the rules."

"Minion, you missed a spot." Marcelle said pointing to the back of his shoulder. Fritz moved his shoulder up, to get the spot. "No. No. Let me." Fritz was too tired to argue, handing the rag to Marcelle. A devious grin pulled at Marcelle's lips as she felt Fritz's body through the cloth. Hidden beneath her long bangs the lamia started to drool a little. Slowly and deliberately she started to explore his back, chest, and neck. Marcelle was winning, a small evil giggle escaped her mouth. Her tail wrapped around his left foot, pinning him in place for her diabolical machinations.

"You're doing a bad job. You missed a spot." Ada huffed as she walked over. Reaching behind Fritz's chair she grabbed another rag, before joining Marcelle. Brenn teleported out of her chair, joining in.

Neva hummed to herself, as she sipped gingerly from her mug watching the three spoil Fritz.

"Thanks everyone. I think that's enough." He said, while pushing their help away. Brenn continued on deliberately ignoring him until Fritz grabbed her wrist.

"You two ruined it. Your dirty, filthy hands have soiled him." Marcelle seethed.

"Huh? What are you even talking about?" Ada scoffed.

Fritz raised his hand to silence whatever approaching argument.

"We've got another long day ahead of us. Save it." He said.

"Long night." Neva corrected. Fritz turned his head to look at the pile of severed vampire heads resting in the corner. The majority of the forces were still alive. They might even be hidden in the city even now. The pile of promises to be filled by the fanatical beastkin reminded him of all the work left to do.

"I've got a plan. In case things go awry." Fritz said wearily. Standing up he looked at his companions. "Gaspard is busy setting up a proper barricade behind the gates. The undead are lacking siege equipment. They've underestimated us. It's clear they were betting on taking the gates by force, yet they've been unable."

Walking away from his companions, Fritz started searching for a clean quiet bed to collapse onto.