Maxim raised an eye brow at the alchemist, "Ever blunt as always, Sir Gonagle."

"You better believe it and I so much as see that blasted kurori make an appearance in here," The gnome muttered under his breath just before walked out of the cabin.

"Yeah, he's gone." Serna replied in a quick whisper.

"Eh. Just get going, will ya'." Maxim sighed closing the door again, "Don't mind that old gnome, young miss. He's the old fashioned type. Stubborn and down right cranky he is."

"That's okay, Mr. Maxim, I kind of like him." Sern smiled at the other Gnome, "Sir Gonagle strikes me as the kind of person who always lets people know where they stand with him. And I find that to be reassuring."

Maxim walked over and poured himself a glass of water and chugged it down before pouring another and sat down. He watched Serna's hair start braiding itself again and chuckled, "So it is true about what Sir Gonagle said, young miss. Don't worry I won't say anything but I do know of what happened in the past with your little friend."

"Thank you!" Serna replied with a smile, "And she said that she was sorry she did it. Although no amount of sorry can make up for that, I suppose."

He flicked his wrist towards her slightly, "Fah! I said I believe you, young miss not the trouble maker sitting on your shoulder acting like she's an angel. Whatever you do don't let your friend out of your sight on the airship, or I won't stop Sir Gonagle taking out his revenge. That little sprite not only brought down the airship but got into the inner workings of the engine, sparked a fire and destroyed half of the alchemist's research all because her kind don't like science. Which I might add is environmentally safe."

"Don't worry, Mr. Maxin, she's not going anywhere. I promise!" Serna reassured the man, "Now I see why he and everyone else on board is so angry at her. What she did was wrong. I'm just glad no one lost their life behind it."

The first officer coughed, "Just call me 'Officer or First Officer or Maxim. In fact, had that incident not happened I would let you come with below to see the inner works of the airship but I do not wish to tempt fate or hear the unending rants of Sir Gonagle for a second time."

Serna giggled, "That's okay, Maxim, I'm sure Captain Lion will give me a guided tour the moment all of this vampire stuff is over. But I am curious, how did you come to know Captain Lion? Are you from Earth too?"

"Every man on the airship hails from the same world that the captain comes from. An alternate Earth. Sir Gonagle and his fellows joined when we crossed over into the Realm. As you've noticed some of the mates are well not-quite human but we all respect the captain and his family. His wife is a master vampire slayer/hunter, it's one of the reasons that they became antiquated, er met. The vampires in the world we came from are an actual race but you can still be turned. Children are off limits to being turned, in other words if a child is turned they do not grow up and become the target of both human and vampires who view them as a serious problem." The first officer explained some of the history.

Serna sat completely transfixed by all Maxim was telling her, "Please, continue onward."

Again he got up and poured himself another glass of water and offered her some setting on the table next to her. He then sat down again, "The European continent outlawed the use of coal for fuel due to the hazardous black clouds causing all sorts of ailments to everyone unless you were a vampire. They ruled Eastern Europe having claimed it thousands of years ago. The captain comes from the second oldest vampire house. The Lion. He believed in a peaceful coexistence with us mortals as well as a few others in his house but there were some who wanted to rule all of Europe and thus came the First World War. Millions of lives were lost on both sides after four years of fighting. That was half of the human population that suffered the most. Captain Lion wanted no part of what his elder was planning, and came up with a desperate plan. He sided with Lady Elsbeth Norington, who later fell in love and became his wife. Even her fellow slayers wanted to end the vampire rulers in the east and the threat of another great world war was on the horizon. To tell the story is one thing, young miss, to see it and survive it is another thing entirely."

"I bet!" Serna replied with rapt attention, "Wow! Your planet had a war where EVERYBODY was fighting at the same time? Here in The Realm its fairly common to have some lands that are at peace while others fight in wars. But there has NEVER been a world war where everyone around the Realm was fighting at the same time. WOW! And I didn't know that Captain Lion was BORN a vampire. I thought he was fully Human, got bit by one and became a good vampire instead. That's new. Anything else I should know, Maxim?"

*******

The three of them rode their horses out of the palace grounds and down along the western streets the bordered the docks. The citizens of Eastport gave them a wide berth as they rode through. A few minutes later they arrived at the mouth of the cavern where Captain Lion and Quake waited patiently.

The air was damp and suffocating even at the entrance than Quake remembered. The floor of the cave was slick with moisture and the deadness was eerie as hell. The blood mage had prepared for their arrival waiting to lure them into a his domain where he had power. In the deep place of the earth.

Madeous reined his horse to a full stop and dismounted. He could feel the energy emanating from the cave and it made him shudder. "Watch your step. There is nothing natural about this cavern other than the burnt smell of charred bodies from earlier."

"Agreed!" Irzen brought his horse to a stop and quickly dismounted, "I was born in the UnderDark and I know its dangers well. This darkness is not of that stuff. It seems older to me, fouler too!"

Captain Lion had stepped out of the shadows in full view of them, "He is right. The blood mage is expecting us however, I am concerned about you two, Prince Birch and Lord Irzen. While I am neither living nor dead, King Madeous is cursed by Venger and Quake's blood is liquid fire making us immune to having our blood used against us."

Quake held up her hand and motioned everyone to be quiet for a moment. She thought she heard or felt something, "We should be fine until we get to the blood rock and then I'll change back to the real me."

"Okay!" The Swordsman looked at The Airship Captain, "What do you recommend we do, Captain Lion? Stay here and guard the exit should the Blood Mage slip past you guys?"

"I too am curious as to what you wish us to do, Captain Lion." Prince Birch added evenly.

Captain Lion pondered a moment when Quake looked at him giving that 'don't you dare' look. He held up his hand to her and pulled out two vials of red liquid in them, "Drink this. Sir Gonagle was able to modify some of my blood to give to my crew if something of this nature were to arise. You won't turn but it will enhance some of your senses such as hearing, smell, touch and blocking out any chances of become a puppet."

"Any side effects?" Irzen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No. No side effects, Lord Irzen." The Englishman said bluntly.

Madeous and Quake took point scouting ahead another twenty feet double checking the interior of the cave.

"Fine!" Irzen took the vial without hesitation and downed the liquid. Once he was done, his face screwed itself into a knot and he smacked his mouth in disgust, "EEEWWWW! It tastes like peppermint schnappes laced with battery acid and Diet Coke! YUCK!"

Prince Birch kindly accepted the vial and drank the liquid. Shrugging his shoulders, the Prince commented non-chalantly, "Tastes fine to me. Like rain water mixed with a drop of honey and a cup of lemon juice."

"If you say so," Irzen shook his head, "Let's get going, your Highness! And Captain Lion, thanks!"