Quake let out an audible, "Huh," as they entered the throne room which made Lazheros look over and he stepped back from Alyson.
Madeous gave the princess a courtly nod and was glad that things were far better in here than outside. He looked at the bronze man, "We ran into one of two goliaths we saw back at the Dandy Muse."
"And we ran into the other one!" Irzen stormed into the room with a quick bow with Prince Birch not far behind. Once Prince Birch arrived, Princess Cauladra ran to her husband, gave him a hug and checked him out, "Are you hurt, my love? Are you injured?"
"Nay!" Prince Birch responded with pride, "Thanks to Lord Drow I am well. Some of our allies have fallen but our clerics are tending to their wounds."
"We need to finish what we started and we need to finish it now!" Irzen said to the assembled company, "We've got the vampires on their heels and they know it. We took their best shot and we're still standing. NOW is the time for us to take the offensive! NOW is the time for us to press our attack! NOW is the time for us to end them!"
The elementalist turned around and walked right up to the swordsman silently. She cocked her head sideways again and seized him by the throat slamming him to the floor with incredible force.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Irzen snapped though he was barely able to breathe.
Princess Cauladra visibly gasped.
"Release him at once!" Prince Birch commanded, "At the very least, we should hear his strategm out before we accept it or reject it! I order you! Unhand him NOW!"
Madeous slowly walked over to his niece and slowly talked to her, "Alyson? Stop this madness. You need to stop. He's not worth your rage. Let go...please."
"ALYSON...LET GO...WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" The Swordsman gasped between breathes as he grabbed her arm in an attempt to release the pressure on his windpipe.
All Quake could do was hold her breath. Even she had never seen the Lady act like this and it scared her. Lazheros knew of blood mages through the stories of adventurers he had met in his travels. None of the stories were good ones. He also knew that the elementalist was continually annoyed with the swordsman's decisions of battle.
Slowly Alyson released her vice grip from Irzen's throat and backed away but never taking her eyes off of him. The helm of the red dragon burned brightly as she spoke, "You're insane strategies for attacking an enemy we know little of will get some of us killed. We DON'T even know where their nest is! While you were staking vamps up here on the surface, Quake, Sir Gonagle and myself ran into a Blood Mage. According to him, they've been expecting us to arrive here in East Port. That they've been here longer than the elves, and from the look on your face, you've never encountered a blood mage before. They make necromancers look like amateurs. They don't just dabble in necromancy, they can manipulate the blood in your veins as if you were a puppet, and three, their magic often turns them into abominations. In other words, they are possessed by demons speaking in multiple voices. The one we encountered down in the cavern, was unlike anything I've ever heard about them. He could literally become one with blood itself and that, Irzen, scares me. It chills me to the bone that he knew exactly who I was and who we all are."
"AND YOU HAD TO GRAB ME BY MY THROAT AND DAMN NEAR CHOKE ME TO DEATH TO TELL ME THAT?!" The Swordsman snapped as he scrambled to his feet, "WELL SCREW YOU, WOMAN!"
Irzen half-stumbled and half-stormed his way out of the throne room all the while fighting to catch his full breath.
Madeous could feel the rage emanating off his niece. It was raw and primordial. He had seen once before, a long time ago. When her parents abandoned her after a failed bank robbery. "Stay here. I'll go and talk to him. Everyone else, keep your distance from Alyson. For your safety."
******
A pair of royal guards were cleaning up the remains of fallen vampires in the hallway as the swordsman came stumbling out. They paused briefly and then went back to work. One of the servants, a an elf girl came over to him cautiously, "My lord? Are you alright?"
******
******
"So, the adventurers have arrived. They are quite capable of handling themselves in such a situation." One of the masters inquired from his chair.
"The elementalist just needed a little push. Oh, I could feel her rage." The blood mage smiled from the fountain of blood.
"And now the swordsman has found himself alone. Perhaps this will be easier than we believed possible. Our puppet will bring him right to us." Came the voice of ancient vampire from the darkness.
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