Serna thought for a minute, "As for why I am here, I am here because my friends wanted to visit Prince Birch as we headed south. But I have a question, Maxim, why are the vampires so focused upon me? East Port is a big city and I bet it has a lot of kids my age just like me. Why am I so important?"

He coughed and rubbed his temples slightly. This would be a lot easier if he was a woman. In a deep breath he replied, "It's because you're a virgin. Your blood is pure and so is your soul. You haven't come of age yet and therefore are a magnet to those who desire and savor young blood."

Serna's blood turned cold and her face visibly lost all color. Now that she realized why the vampires were after her, the knowledge chilled her to the bone.

"And that's the reason Captain Lion brought you onto the airship. I see he gave you his amulet to wear too." Maxim's attention turned to the cabin door opening.

Sir Gonagle stepped inside, "Well. That's done. Eh, what's wrong, lass?"

"Maxim just told me the REAL reason why the vampires are after me," Serna replied in a small voice, "And I think I'm going to be sick."

The alchemist took off his goggles and walked over to the girl, "Now. Now. We can't have you throwing up in here. The captain wouldn't like that very much. Here drink this, it's a tonic to help settle your stomach. It's berry flavor. You do like berries don't you?"

"Blue berries specifically," Serna chirped as she took the tonic and slowly began to drink it. The Shield Maiden drained the cup until it was empty, "Thank you, Sir Gonagle, that was very tasty. Although I never tasted that kind of berry before. What is it?"

"Mixed berries actually. Blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry, which I might add are very good and healthy for you. All the right nutrients to keep someone like you feeling good." The gnome adjusted his goggles again before he stepped back to sit down. Then pulled out a deck of playing cards and began to shuffle them.

Maxim came over and sat down adjacent from Sir Gonagle and turned to Serna, "Care for a game of War or Old Maid?"

********

The light from Madeous's aura lit up the inner cavern in a thirty foot radius. The place made his skin crawl and in the back of his mind, he could feel what Alyson felt being in the presence of this fiend. Looking at the river of blood, he pointed at with his weapon, "Stay clear of that! It's acting like an ooze, black pudding, or gelatinous cube."

"That's going to be tough to do," The Swordsman confessed, "Its kind of all over the place. And the last time I checked, I can never fly nor hover."

Captain Lion eyed the movement in the river of blood rising and then falling like a heartbeat. A gate guard, watch dog of sorts.

The mass in the river of blood stopped flowing and instead began to pool in around itself forming into what look liked a dire wolf only bigger. The creature growled at them the closer the party came to the blood rock and then let out an ear splitting howl.

Both Irzen and Birch covered their ears with their hands as the foul creature cut loose with its deathly howl.

"Can someone please shut that thing up?!" Irzen yelled above the din.

Seeing the both Irzen and Birch covering their ears, Madeous drove his sword into the ground. The thunderous smite echoed throughout the cavern interior and reverberated into a single focused blast effectively shutting off the creature's howl. It also sent it slamming back against the wall behind it. "Ask and you shall receive. Now if you don't mind we have a fiend to slay."

"Agreed!" Irzen uncovered his ears and shook his head fiercely, "Just as soon as that bell in my head stops ringing."

"I'm ready to go!" Prince Birch unclapped his ears with a smile, "Onward!"

Quake inhaled deeply and let out a blast of lava into the creature. It howled in pain as the side bubbled and churned from the intense heat. "Gah! I thought wet dog smell was bad! P.U.!"

"Not exactly hell fire and brimstone, Quake," Irzen smiled at the end result of the Elemental's handiwork, "But effective none the less!"

Captain Lion pulled out one his pistols and aimed towards the ceiling. The shot broke off a slender stalactite crashing down on top of the creature.

It pinned one of the hind legs to the floor and lashed out towards the platinum knight who was closest. It's jaws clamped down hard nearly biting through the plate armor only to taste divine radiant energy and was forced to spit him out. "A little help here!"

"On it!" Irzen charged forth, raised his sword and in one swift stroke decapitated the creature in the hope that severing its muscles in its neck would force it to loosen its grip upon Madeous.

The head of the creature hit the ground with a splash as Madeous scrambled back to his feet with the help of Quake. The body jerked and fell to the ground.

"That was too easy." The platinum knight muttered under his breath.

"Uh, guys," Quake blurted out before something sent her flying to the far side of the cavern.

Captain Lion moved so fast he was a blur when he grabbed both Madeous and Irzen from the jaws of not one creature but two. "Gentlemen our odds of getting past this guard dog just got a lot harder."

Quake pulled herself out of the wall easily enough and ran back over, "When I hit it with my breath weapon it didn't multiply like that. What do you guys think?"

"It's made of liquid. It's not elemental is it?" Madeous pondered.

"Definitely not elemental. I should know I'm fire and earth put together. What about you, your highness, got any spells that might stop those things from multiplying?" The elemental looked to the prince.