++++

"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."

Just then another group of vamps entered and were rebuked violently by the hallowed room. The weakest of them burst into ash, while others were lit up with fire. The smell of burnt flesh permeated throughout the halls.

Princess Cauladra covered her mouth with a handkerchief and turned towards Lazheros, "Grand Cleric, I see now the wisdom of your tactics this night. I thank you with all my heart."

**********

"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.

The goliath staggered backwards and just stopped himself in front of the siege weapon. His eyes went wide when the hunters released the bolt at point blank. It hit with a sickening crunch piercing the enemy's torso. The spine broken with bits of muscle and bone sticking out. With one last smite, Madeous brought down his great sword and beheaded the large humanoid.

**********

"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!"

Whirling around with his great axe, the goliath flicked another corpse at the swordsman. He followed through with a great cleave nearly missing the agile drow. Swinging the great axe around once more, he clipped two of the hunters by the leg, taking one off at the knee and the other by the ankle. Both men screamed in sheer agony and pain.

Irzen danced and dodged his way around the Goliath's attacks. When corpses were thrown at him, Irzen was able to side step them with ease. When the Goliath attacked him directly, the Swordsman as barely able to dodge the blade of the great cleave. Irzen felt for the two hunters that were clipped by the Goliath but he knew the best he could do was keep the Goliath distracted while his allies found some "heavy artillery".

Maxim aimed the porcupine directly at the goliath and fired. Fifteen rounds of spiked bolts impaled themselves into the goliath's chest, arms and legs. "FINISH HIM, IRZEN!"

In a move worthy of Legolas, the Swordsman charged at the Goliath, leapt his way from spiked bolt to spiked bolt until he came face to face with the creature. Then in one broad swing of his sword, Irzen decapitated the Goliath and landed on his feet striking a pose worthy of Voltron.

First, the Goliath's head rolled off its neck, then it dropped to its feet and then it crashed face first to the cobblestone ground beneath it.

Irzen came out of his pose and turned towards Maxim and Prince Birch, "And that, gentle sirs, is what I call teamwork! Nice one! Guys! Nice one!"

*******

"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 THAT'S 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."

Alyson cocked her head sideways at Serna for a moment. She had nothing to say to her. There were more serious things on her mind. "I'm off to find the others. Quake you can stay here or come with."

Quake just shrugged, "I'll find your uncle then. I'm sure he'd appreciate some help."