Lazheros blessed the main entrance and entire perimeter of the throne itself. He stopped to help the royal guards who were wounded, bitten, and cured them of any disease as an added measure. "The throne room is consecrated ground now, your highness. No undead or evil shall set foot in here less they erupt in holy fire."

"That is good to know," Princess Cauladra re-sheathed her blade and went to help one of the royal guards who was wounded, "I feel safe knowing that you are here, Grand Cleric, although I cannot help but wonder how do the rest of our allies fair this night."

"Do you wish to remain here or join them?" Lazheros asked her quietly.

"I would like to remain here, Grand Cleric," The princess replied after she thought about his question for a minute, "I do not wish to be a distraction to my husband while he fights this evil which has descended upon us. I have no doubt that he has a lot to deal with right now."

Looking about the throne room a moment longer, he nodded, "Hmm, I believe Alyson and her company will be joining us sooner rather than later. Something tells me they had an encounter with something or someone down below in the caverns."

"Vampires, no doubt." The princess quickly surmised, "Although there are many tales of creatures dwelling within those caverns. Everything from Cave Worms to Kuo-toa are rumored to be there. I am not surprised they have encountered something other than vampires in that area."

**********

Quake caught wind of something and turned up her nose, "I know the smell of blood anywhere but somethings off here. It's smells black...foul...corrupt."

Alyson held up her hand for everyone to be quiet as the blood collected at the base of the seeping rock. The crimson liquid rose up into a humanoid form, elf like but far taller and broader than any elf. It smiled at them and focused its eerie gaze at the elementalist.

"Ah, I wondered how long it would take you to arrive, elementalist. We've been expecting you and your friends for well over a century. This place is far older than those miserable elves who rule up top. It's a shame that you came with friends, you and I could of danced well together, little human." The blood mage grinned.

She was about to light the cavern up when the blood mage's amorphous form dropped and reformed up out of reach of them.

"Tsk. Tsk. I come to treat with thee. Fare thee well, little human." The blood mage was gone.

"Lady, are you alright?" Quake came over and hugged her.

"Yeah. We need to head back and tell the others about this. This place is creeping me out." She turned around.

Sir Gonagle and his fellows followed with Quake in tow.

******

After scouring the side streets and house for the common folk, Madeous marked it off on the map. "This area is clear. Move onto the next street."

A goliath and a handful of vampire spawn met the platinum knight in the middle of the street. Now Madeous grasped his holy symbol and his platinum armor materialized around him. He was after all a paladin of Bahamut and his armor surrounded the hunters with a holy aura. The light from him radiated another thirty feet forcing the vampire spawn to retreat into the shadows.

"We got the vamps," One closest to him said.

"Stay together. Close quarters but stay out of the reach of that great weapon. It'll cleave two of you in half. Get in only to give precision strikes and I'll keep his attention focused on me." Madeous said in a low commanding voice.

The platinum knight studied the goliath and realized that it was one of the two guarding the man in the back of the Dandy Muse. "Where is your master, goliath? Has he sent you in his stead because he's too cowardly to come himself?"

The goliath raised his battle axe and charged. The rage was followed throw with a cleave only to be countered by the vorporal great sword of Madeous. A loud clang echoed throughout the street between grunts and screeches of both men and vampire spawn.

The hunters made quick work of the vampire spawn staking them on the sides of the buildings. They screeched to get unstuck but their fate was clear. To the East, the first light of the suns were coming up.

Madeous brought his great sword upwards with a Thunderous Smite that left the goliath dazed causing him to swing around blindly. That gave the hunters time to construct a make shift balista aiming at its backside.

**********

A handful of paladins accompanied by two clerics remained behind while Maxim and the rest of the slayers moved from the courtyard to the manor proper. There waiting for them was a single goliath wielding a massive war axe. Fresh blood dripped from the jagged edge and all over the ground were broken dead bodies of elven guards.

"This is the finest in all of East Port? Bah! They were lambs to the slaughter. My slaughter. Meat for the beasts that guard the Masters!" The goliath roared.

"And where in the Sam Hell did you come from?!" Irzen looked up at the monster, "How in the Realm did something as big and as ugly as you sneak their way past the royal guards unnoticed and into the palace?!"

The golaith drove his weapon into a corpse and threw it at the swordsman to distract him. "RRAAUUGGHH!!"

Irzen ducked below the flying body, rolled to the ground and came back to his feet with sword in hand.

"YE GODS! WHAT A MONSTER!" Prince Birch cried out in pure surprise at the Goliath they faced. The prince was able to side step the flying corpse as he took in the full sight before him.

Maxim and his slayers ducked out of the way and retaliated with their own counter attacks. Their silver swords connected leaving gashes on the exposed skin of the half giant but the hide armor soaked a lot of the damage. He yelled out to Irzen and Birch, "He's a Berserker!"

"Prince Birch, Maxim, find some siege weapons to take this guy down!" Irzen cried out as he ran towards the Goliath, "I'll keep him busy. Now GO!"

"Excellent idea, Lord Drow!" Prince Birch smiled, "You do know how to think on your feet, don't you?"

Maxim nodded with half of his slayers to help the prince while he and the rest ran to the other side. A catapult was too big and clumsy to use at point blank range. But a Porcupine would be just right. Maxim wondered how elves got a hold of it in the first place. It would take all of them to wheel it out into position.

Looking towards the Goliath, the Swordsman cried out, "Hey! Rocks for Brains! Over here! You want a lamb to slaughter? Why don't you try the black sheep of the fold? Look at me! I'm a poor little lamb whose lost his way. Baa! Baa! Baa!"

*******

When Captain Lion turned around to face the girl, she saw what appeared to be a vampire looking at her. He relaxed somewhat and his claws disappeared leaving only the blood red eyes and fangs. "I can assure you, young lady of this, I am immune to being turned. For in another time, I was a true vampire and despite how much my sire wanted me to give into the bloodlust, I refused. My love for my wife is what saved my soul from being damned. Upon slaying the one who sired me, there were some permanent side affects."

"I see!" The Shield Maiden replied, "My sister, Lysana, looks Human enough too! However, her eyes always betray her lupine traits. Just like your eyes and fangs betray the vampire-like side of you. Wait a minute! Does Lazheros know that you have these vampiric qualities? I saw him smite War Scribe once because she was Undead. I don't want him to do anything like that to you."

He studied her for a moment and then said, "Sister as in friend, close friend? Ah, good. He does know of my condition, young lady as does my lovely wife and sons. In words that you can understand, I do not have to sleep but sometimes it's necessary. I do, however, must drink some blood to maintain my strength but its mixed with wine. Which is why I spend most of my time patrolling the Fire Sea region for threats like this one. My crew are well aware of what I am and have accepted it."

"Lysana is my adopted sister. Kana too! Although, Kana looks more like a Wolfen in appearance while Lysana looks more Human." The Shield Maiden added, "But does Lazheros know? Remember, I saw him smite War Scribe once because she was Undead and I would hate for anything to happen to you."

"The Grand Cleric knows what I am, Serna." He repeated himself louder this time.

"I'm sorry! I didn't hear you the first time you said it." Serna rolled up the sleeve of her tunic and held out her right arm, "And, Captain Lion, if you are in need of blood to maintain your strength then you can have some of mine."

Captain Lion closed his eyes, "No, young lady. I will not bite you. No one here will, do I make myself clear."

"Okay!" Serna lowered her arm and rolled her sleeve back down her arm.

The gunner and two others who's eyes were also red nodded, "Yes sir!"

The Englishman knelt down in front of the Shield Maiden, "You are pure of heart and soul, child. You may believe you are doing a noble thing but you have much more to learn about life. Do not forsake yourself when there is no need to."

"I was only trying to help," Serna replied sheepishly, "I mean't no harm, Captain Lion. You seemed to need some blood and I saw no reason why you couldn't have some of mine. That's all."

"As I said, we don't need it. The others and myself can go quite a long time without it. Sir Gonagle and his alchemy is highly valued on the ship and it is because of his particular skills, that those of us who once were, or almost turned can use our abilities for the good of others." He stood back up when he heard the sound of dragon wings approaching.

"Well that's good to know," Serna replied with some relief.

The gold dragon returned with Sir Gonagle, Quake and company. Lowering a wing, they dismounted with news.

"Captain?" Sir Gonagle took notice of the man's condition, "What happened? Is she?"

"Everything is as it should be. A vampire dared to board the ship." Captain Lion said bluntly.

"Ah. I see." The alchemist looked up to the girl, "And you're okay with the captain like this?"

"Sure, I am." The Shield Maiden shrugged, "My sister Kana is a Wolfen. You haven't seen her when she becomes fully enraged. Now THATS scary!

"We have a new problem, sir. One of the masters is a Blood Mage." Quake brushed herself off.

Captain Lion looked at the elementalist now that she returned to normal. He could tell now why she had such an aversion to him when she was little.

"Yeah. Makes sense now. Makes total sense. The caverns are clear. The interior of the palace still needs to cleared, although my gut tells me the vamps are avoiding for some reason. Maybe there's something there they can't touch. Some ancient relic that prevents them from entering." She pondered.

"From the sound of the fighting I hear coming from the palace, Alyson, I don't think the vampires are avoiding ANYTHING right now." Serna replied honestly, "Just listen, you can hear sounds of battle upon the wind."