Abruptly in a flash of blue light came both the Bronze Man and the Elementalist. Alyson looked around to see everyone armed to the teeth. "Over kill much?"

"Says the woman who has a Bronze Dragon as her back-up!" Irzen quipped with a sardonic grin.

Lazheros merely shook his head, "Who will accompany myself to guard the rulers of East Port?"

"Having royalty all in one place is not a good idea, Lazheros. It makes for an easy target for a vampire master's minions to hone in on." The platinum knight suggested.

"I agree!" Irzen added, "Lazheros, you can stay here and guard the princess. Meanwhile, I would like to have Prince Birch accompany us on our raid on the docks. He is one hell of a warrior with a sword in his hand and we can use someone with his battle skills."

"So I guess you're idea is to have Quake and myself permanently bury any vamps underground, Irzen. But hey its your idea. Have fun with my uncle then." Alyson shot him annoyed look before she headed out with Quake and Sir Gonagle.

"What was all that about?" Irzen asked no one in particular, "Alyson, if you have a better idea, now would be a good time to share it with the group."

"Fine Quake, Sir Gonagle and company and myself will go to the caverns. I'm tired of arguing with you, Irzen." Alyson climbed onto the railing and jumped over the side. A minute late a gold dragon flew back up to let the gnomes climb on as well as Quake.

"Staying put on this ship is a good idea for Serna, however, I said I will remain to protect Princess Cauladra in the palace, swordsman. I have my own methods of her highness safe." Lazheros told him.

"Okay! That works for me." Irzen replied with a grin.

Maxim approached the swordsman, "Half of my men with go with you and half with the platinum knight. Lead on."

The gold dragon banked hard right towards the northern caverns and landed out of the sight of the airship.

Madeous gestured to the hunters to follow him, "Prince Birch, I will patrol the perimeter outside the castle walls and the surrounding areas. Am I to guess that you and Lord Irzen will be searching the palace itself?"

"You are correct, your Highness!" Prince Birch offered, "Come, Lord Drow, I know every square inch, every nook and cranny, and every crawlspace that those verminous vampires could be hiding in! We shall ferret them out for sure and finish them off for good!"

"Lead on, your Majesty, lead on!" The Swordsman followed taking with him some of Sir Gonagle's retinue.

Lazheros escorted Princess Cauladra back down into the palace itself and kept a eye out for trouble. To pass the time he began a conversation, "Your highness, I can only guess that something of this rarely happens in East Port?"

"It never happens in East Port, my good Cleric," Princess Cauladra corrected The Bronze Man, "While our corner of The Realm is relatively active due our status as a port and trading center, we are also relatively quiet. Neither pirates nor privateers attack us, storms are infrequent and dangers are far and few in between. From whence the vampires came I do not know. But it will be good to put our backs to them once and for all."

*****

The gold dragon made sure everyone debarked including Quake who was literally hugging the ground again.

"Oh sweet earth! I missed you so!"

Sir Gonagle and his fellow let out a chuckle and turned to see the elementalist joining them. "Ah, I didn't know you could do that."

"Do what?" She asked.

"You know shapechange er polymorph." The alchemist pointed out.

"Well, it all started with the Legion of Evil incident down in Storm Haven but that is another tale for another time." The elementalist reached down and helped Quake to her feet.

"Oh boy, lady. Thanks." Quake said sheepishly, "Right, we've got some vamp hunting to do."

******

Madeous followed Lazheros and the princess to the edge of the palace and departed with his company. The slayers that accompanied him were a blend of melee and ranged. All trained by Captain Lion and Maxim, the two veterans.

*****

"Prince Birch, where would you suggest that the hunters set up?" Maxim said quietly surveying the area.

"You can use the main courtyard as your staging area," Prince Birch replied, "Once you are setup, the Clerics and Palladins I have summoned should arrive. They can bless our weapons and then we can begin our hunt throughout the palace in earnest."

******

"There's food and drink and I have a small library if you're interested in my cabin." Captain Lion walked the perimeter of his ship.

"A library?" Serna beamed from ear to ear, "Thank you, Captain Lion. I'm quite full from dinner but I would love to see your library. I love to read."