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."

**********

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!"

Maxim went over to his men who were wounded. He took the butt of his crossbow and knocked each of them out. He then motioned to the others to get a stretcher for each, including the severed limbs and bring them to Lazheros asap. "Our job is done. The suns are up and the damned have no choice but to return to the dark."

"Our job is NOT done!" Irzen corrected Maxim as he walked over to him, "And don't you think for one minute that it is!"

"It's not?!? Prince Birch looked at Irzen with a raised eyebrow.

"No, your Highness, it is not!" The Swordsman added as he helped Maxim's men with the wounded, "I'll explain once we are back with the others."

*******

"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."

The gunner took notice of the suns coming up in the east, "Captain. The light has returned."

"And so it has," The Englishman said backing up towards his cabin. He stopped briefly looking at the Shield Maiden, "I must remain here until I appear normal, young lady. I do not want to give the princess any more of a reason to execute me for what I am. She is addled as is and so I must respect her judgement."

"I doubt Princess Cauladra would try and kill you, Captain Lion," Serna explained, "She knows that you are here to help them not to hurt them--regardless of your appearance."

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."

The first of the two suns breached over the horizon in the east. The rays burned away any vamp unable to reach the safety of the shadows. From everywhere, there were screams and hisses turning to ash and dust. The party certainly had stirred up a lot of them.

"That's right!" Irzen smiled with a vicious grin as he heard the screams and hisses on the wind, "Burn, you bloodsuckers, burn!"

********

Alyson arrived in the throne room to see the bronze man and the princess talking to each other. "I bring news. Some good. Some not so good. Quake is heading over to help my uncle and then meet up with Prince Birch and company."

"My heart sees with joy to know that you and your friends are well, Lady Alyson," The Princess looked relieved as she sheathed her sword, "Pray tell! What news do you bring from the battlefront?"

********

The elemental found the platinum knight and slayers watching the fireworks. She also noticed the body of the goliath lying on the ground, "Sire. Wasn't that one of the bodyguards in the Dandy Muse?"

Madeous turned to see Quake approaching, "Yes. Which makes me believe the one they were guarding is one of the masters. Come dawn is here and our duty is done for now. Prince Birch and Princess Cauladra will have some peace of mind that their people are safe now."