The powerful illusion of temptation slowly crept up from behind the party. No one was safe. Now standing before was the guardian at the gate. Beautiful, deadly and hell bent on staying.

"Birch! What are you doing?!" Irzen cried out to the prince, "Snap out of it!"

The pleading turned into a smile. A wicked smile and evil laugh, "Mwhaa! Ha! Ha! Ha! This is so much fun! It's been an age since I've had this much fun! All of you succulent mortals coming into my lair for me to feast upon. Regardless of origin, I will devour all of you, even you vampire because you have a soul!"

The illusion melted away to a four armed, twelve foot, armored demon with multiple eyes and rows of jagged teeth. "NOW I SHALL FEAST!!"

"Feast on this, jerk wad!" Irzen cut loose with a barrage of crossbow bolts as he moved to Prince Birch's side to back him up!

The pride demon lashed out with a lightning lure snagging Irzen and Birch like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, "GET OVER HERE!"

Both Irzen and Birch cried out in sudden pain as they felt the lethal sting of this brutal magical attack.

Captain Lion fired off three shots from his rifle one after another. Madeous charged forward in a wide arch slicing through the lightning lure and freed both Irzen and Birch.

Quake slammed her long tail down onto the hard cavern floor that sent a series of tremors down and underneath the demon. The demon side stepped easily enough and laughed, "Mwhaa! Ha! Ha! Ha! Is that all you got, elemental?"

"DON'T ENCOURAGE IT, QUAKE!" Irzen roared in pain, "JUST DROP IT LIKE A BAD HABIT! NOW!"

+++++

The Bronze Man grumbled, "For someone of your renown and lineage, Sudestren, how could you be so naive as think it was just another vampire nest?"

"I take offense to your words, Grand Cleric of Bahamut!" Sudestren snapped back at Lazheros, "Yes! I know who you are. Your fame precedes you even here. By all appearances East Port was infected with a nest of vampires! By all appearances it seemed to be nothing more and nothing less than that! And by all appearances I, along with the others of my calling, believed that this problem was well within the hands of our prince and princess to deal with. If they needed our aid, they needed only to call upon us to give with. No Cleric, Paladin, Champion or Sage who resides within East Port would have refused them. So do not question me, Dragon, on matters of East Port's security--something of which you know nothing about!"

Lazheros narrowed his eyes at the haughty elven sage. "It is unwise to raise your voice in the presence of royalty. Wouldn't you agree, Princess Calaudra?"

"Her Majesty is no longer here, Grand Cleric," Sudestren replied evenly as he mockingly shook his head, "She has gone to find a messenger to contact Sylvus Kiltani about your request. But I am sure she will be more than happy to answer your question upon her return."

The elementalist came over to the sage in an very calm multi-voice said, "Mmmhmm. Making assumptions always gets one into trouble, mortal. We've have been where you are now and know this despite your arrogant response to a simple question that can and will get you killed or worse, turned by one of them, Sudestren. Perhaps, you need to see it for yourself."

"Show me what you will, my lady," Sudestren encouraged Alyson, "I will neither shrink away nor resist."

"Very well." The elementalist reached over and placed a hand upon Sudestren's shoulder. She looked at the Bronze Man for a moment. ~Something tells me the grand cleric knows a lot more going on in the city than he's letting on. Be careful, Lazheros.~

The Bronze Man let out a heavy sigh and left to find the princess.

Princess Cauladra was walking back up the stairs towards the room when she spotted The Bronze Man coming towards her, "Grand Cleric, I have sent for our counterpart. He is not far away and shall be here shortly. He had just finished vespers when he received my summons. By the by, where is Lady Alyson and Noble Sudestren?"

"It seems the sage took offense to my inquiry and demanded that he see the entrance himself. The elementalist agreed and thus they have left for the journey below the city, Princess. Cauladra." Lazheros told her.

"My apologies, Grand Cleric, I should have warned you that while Sudestren is very wise he is also quick to take offense," The princess confessed, "He takes ill any comments about his competence. Upon their return, mayhap, an apology on your part would go far to cool his anger?"

Lazheros shook his head, "Very well but I suggest you take caution about the Grand Cleric, Sylvus Kiltani. If the elementalist is concerned about him and his whereabouts or his intentions on the matter of vampires. It begs to be prepared."

"Do you think the Grand Cleric is in league with the vampires?" Princess Cauladra gasped, "Labelas Enoreth would not stand for such evil being displayed by someone in such a high position of authority."

"No one is above corruption or temptation, Princess Cauladra. Even I was tempted long ago when Alyson's life was in danger by the Shadow Man to leave her to her fate but I was reminded of the bond she and I share by the Seelie King himself." The Bronze Man confessed to her.

The Elven Princess replied in pure disbelief, "YOU?! You were tempted? If you don't mind my asking, what did the Shadow Man tempt you with? What could he possible offer to you, a Grand Cleric of The Lord of The North Wind, that could have tempted you to abandon a friend?"

*******

Both Alyson and Sudestren vanished in a flash of light and reappeared down below at the cavern's entrance. The boulder that the sage spoke of was only pushed aside but cracked as if someone with incredible strength flicked it aside. Just then a handful of vampires rushed out towards them. "Stay directly behind me, sage. Don't move no matter what happens!"

"Unbelievable!" Sudestren cried out in pure disbelief as he moved directly behind Alyson, "How can so many vampires do that to a rock so big! Even someone wearing Gloves of Troll Strength would have been hard pressed to move that boulder--let alone crack it."

"Troll strength? Ugh, the greatest pair of gauntlets one can attain are the Gauntlets of Storm Giant strength." The elementalist raised both hands as the gauntlets appeared and seized a vampire in each of her claws burning them to ash. The remaining vampires tried to flank them and went up in flames from the fire aura of the red dragon's helm. Just to make sure there weren't any more vampires, the elementalist cut loose a torrent of flames into the cavern interior. The subtle shrieks of lesser vampires perished hiding the darkness were reduced to ash.

"Impressive! Most impressive!" Sudestren stared in pure disbelief.

"A blood mage can move it, Sudestren. One of them has the power to do so at the expense of others willing to 'donate' their blood." The elementalist said in a hushed tone as the cold stamped out the sudden warmth that the flames laid down in the cavern.

"So I see." Sudstren gasped, "Then perhaps it is best that Grand Cleric Kiltani and his acolytes take charge here. The sequestration of The Black Gate is their responsibility and I am sure they will be more than happy to seal it up once again once they know that it has been disturbed."

"Is that fear I smell from you, elf?" Came a sinister male voice inside the cavern. A figure made of liquid blood walked to the opening and stopped. It looked at the elementalist for a moment before turning its attention back to the sage, "Come now, Sudestren, Sage of East Port, have you not encountered my kind before?"

"Not like this!" Sudestren replied evenly casting his gaze downward, "I have interviewed vampires before but never, never like this!"

The elementalist's form glowed with bright light and intense to keep the blood mage away.

"Soon, you will become one with us, sage. Time is meaningless to us. All of East Port shall be consumed and the black gate will burst open fully!" The blood mage's form grew into a large form of a multi-eyed demon that towered over the two of them.

Sudestren said not a word to the Blood Mage. He merely hid behind Alyson and said a quick prayer to his deity, Labelas Enoreth, begging him for aid.

"Hehehehahaha!" The demon laughed at the sage cowering behind the elementalist, "Your god has no power here, elf and your faith is shaken."

Alyson's form shifted into a large gold dragon long enough to grab a hold of Sudestren and fly him out of the cavern and back into the city proper. "Stay here. Do not venture back down there. If you do, you will not return the same as you left and I will smite you, understand?"

"Perfectly!" Sudestren replied as he visibly shook from all he saw, "You need not worry about smiting me for such an indiscretion. I happily will do as you command!"

With that said, the gold dragon's wings spread out with such force that it knocked the sage to the ground. Flying back down into the cavern once more.

Sudestren dusted himself off and ran back to the Palace with all deliberate haste.

******

***BLINK!!!***

In a flash of bluish-white light within the captain's cabin on the airship, Caliaphy appeared. The light was so blinding, that left everyone seeing spots for the next few minutes. Sir Gonagle barely managed to put his goggles on in time. Spencer and Maxim fell out of their chairs and Serna found a very tired Kurori asleep on her lap.

When Serna's eyes recovered their focus, the Shield Maiden looked down to see Caliaphy asleep in her lap.

Caliaphy clung to the girl's tunic in her sleep, snuggling up against her chest.

Maxim and Spencer rubbed their eyes in disbelief while Sir Gonagle merely shook his head. "Well, are we going to play or not?"

"Let's not!" Serna replied as she dropped her cards and wrapped her arms around Caliaphy, "You guys can go elsewhere and play. Whatever Caliaphy was called upon to do has clearly exhausted her. She needs her rest. Okay?"

Sir Gonagle let a sigh and gathered up the cards placing them in the case. Spencer stayed where he was, "I'm gonna stay with Serna for a bit."

Maxim got up and nodded, "Very well. Sir Gonagle and I will do our rounds on the airship."

"Thanks, guys, I really appreciate it," Serna smiled at all of them, "And when Caliaphy wakes up, I'm sure she will appreciate it too!"

Spencer got up and poured himself a drink and one for the girl, "Here. I can't imagine what your friend did to expend so much magic. That's gotta take a toll."

"Thank you, Spencer," Serna took the drink and gulped it down eagerly, "I don't know what she did either, but I do know this, a little rest could do her a realm of good."

The young gnome poured another for Serna, "Well to be honest, I will be glad to head back to Asylum after all of this."

"Oh, so you're from Asylum," Serna smiled, "It would be good to return there. I would love to see how my friend, Neven, is doing now that he has settled down there."

Spencer adjusted his shirt a bit and looked at her, "You're welcome to come with us, Serna. I'm sure the captain would be delighted to have you aboard."

"Captain Lion wants to adopt me as his daughter!" Serna replied honestly, "He likes me and I like him. But I am not ready to give up life on the road or the company of my friends. Do you have any family, Spencer?"

"I have four brothers and five sisters. We gnomes either come from large families or small ones." The young gnome replied.

"That's a pretty big family," Serna replied, "But, I am curious, what would you do if you were faced with the same choice that Captain Lion laid out for me?"