Chapter 8 Part 3

It was several hours later when Dylan awoke. Coran was still awake, but the others were asleep. Dylan got up and excused himself to go out doors to take care of bodily needs. Coran nodded as he passed.

Dylan stepped out into the half-light of the twin moons. A bank of clouds was rolling in and the moons were partially obscured. He stepped around the corner of the building and commenced to take care of his business.

It was while engaged in that activity that he began to sense the oppressive weight on his mind. Though he could see nothing and had no reason to think that anyone was nearby, Dylan encountered the sensation that strange alien eyes were upon him.

The smoke poured steadily from the chimney and drifted through the trees like a ribbon of hazy gray in the wind. The night was silent and the air felt still even though a breeze filled the night.

Panic began to build within Dylan’s breath as he finished his business and hurried back into the building. As he entered, Coran noted his anxiety.

“Are you ok?” the tall dark warrior asked.

“Yeah,” Dylan answered. “It’s just very creepy out there tonight.”

Coran smiled. “I suppose so. But don’t worry, I’m keeping watch.” Somehow that reassurance made Dylan feel much better. He really did not know Coran that well, but he trusted Gage, Coran’s brother, completely. Dylan returned to his bedding and went back to sleep.

A couple of hours later, Dylan woke again. Kraal was keeping watch and poking at the fire. He smiled as Dylan lifted his head. Dylan returned the smile and was about to lay back down when the strange feeling fell over him again. He glanced nervously around the room. His chief concerns were the door, the broken window, and the darkened stairway that led up into the inn.

Kraal did not miss Dylan’s start, and casually glanced about the room. But only Dylan, from his angle, could see the shadow drifting like a night mist through the broken window. In a dreamlike state, Dylan watched as the mist floated in and hovered momentarily before it began to take shape and solidify.

They would deduce later that Dylan was already under the hypnotic affect that their visitors often used to mesmerize their victims, but at that moment, Dylan simply stared mutely as the pale creatures took form. They looked like people. There were three of them, with sickly white flesh and vacant eyes. As soon as the first one had fully formed from the dark cloud, it reached out with a clawed hand toward Kraal.

By some unknown means, whether by luck, or by some inner strength, Dylan momentarily broke free of the spelled state he was in long enough to raise a weak alarm.
Weak as it was, the alarm was enough to alert Kraal who immediately jumped out of reach of the hooked claw that had tried to grab him.

The creature stared with eyes now filled with burning hunger and hatred at Kraal then at Dylan. The other two creatures had formed, and were joining the first while Kraal had awakened Gage and Coran.

The monster that had attempted to kill Kraal stared at Dylan. The awful presence settled upon the boy like the stinking cold of a slaughterhouse. Dylan gazed back, transfixed with horror as the unholy mouth opened to reveal the dagger like teeth, fangs which could pierce flesh effortlessly.

“Vampires!” Coran’s voice broke the trance, snapping Dylan back to reality. In one smooth motion, the warrior drew his sword and placed himself between the nearest creature and the boy. The creature that had been stalking towards the entranced youth pulled up short as the sword came up.

Gage also jumped to his feet. “Kraal, get the team ready. We ride immediately!” The centaur used the power of his equine body to leap across half the room to the door. With his rear pair of legs, he bucked and blasted the door from its hinges. Splinters went flying into the night beyond. Then the Janusian turned and bolted outside.

Gage grabbed Dylan by the shoulder and steered the boy toward the door. The three creatures hissed angrily and Dylan heard the whoosh and thunking sound of a sword striking flesh.

“Quickly,” Coran barked. “I can’t hold them long.”

“Outside,” Gage instructed his charge. “Go to Kraal, now!”

Dylan sprinted out the door, only narrowly missing an outreached claw as he passed.
Not knowing what occurred behind him, he scanned frantically for the centaur.

“Here, boy,” Kraal called to him from the wagon. He was tossing a set of bags over his body and reaching for more supplies from the wagon. Nearby Coran’s mount was also standing with a fair amount of baggage aboard.

“We haven’t the time to hitch the team. We can only take what’s important and escape as best we can. Help me get the things that’re needed.”

Dylan quickly scrambled into the wagon and began grabbing the things that he knew were important to his master. He, himself, did not have anything of value that they had brought with them.

Coran burst through the door with Gage right behind him. The mage turned quickly and made a gesture hidden from Dylan’s view. Immediately the interior of the tavern was bathed in the bright orange glow of an inferno.

Up the street, in the fire’s light, Dylan noted a multitude of the same kind of creatures slowly plodding towards them from the other buildings.

Gage retreated and helped Coran as the warrior, showing a blood soaked sword arm staggered to his horse. With Gage’s help, the warrior was mounted and with a swoop of strong arms, Kraal lifted Dylan up and placed him behind Coran.

“You will have to help him,” Gage told his apprentice. “He has been hurt badly and may lose consciousness.”

Gage checked the wagon to make sure they had not left anything of import behind, then vaulted upon Kraal’s back. The centaur broke into a trot with Coran’s steed close behind. In their wake they left the abandoned wagon and mules to the ravenous hunger of the undead predators that were infesting the town.

As soon as they were sure of the security of the riders and cargo, Kraal increased his pace as did Coran’s horse. Within moments they were out of the town, but not safe. The dark misty shadow that had formed the vampires in the tavern swirled around them as they rode.

Gage reassured his apprentice that in the mist form, the vampires could not harm him nor could they out run the horses. As long as they kept moving, they would be able to avoid danger.

But laden horses tire, whereas a floating mist does not, so it was not long before Kraal and Coran’s mount began to slow down. Gage became alarmed as the more rapid mists passed them by. It was obvious that they were moving ahead of them to resume their solid forms and attack.

“We have to change direction,” Coran ordered as they crossed an animal path. “I think this way leads to the river.”

“It appears that they are setting up an ambush ahead of us,” Gage agreed. He directed Kraal to follow the animal path. And Coran’s horse followed.

Dylan held tightly to Coran. The tall man coughed harshly several times and was beginning to sway in the saddle, but he kept his composure and would not give in to the fatigue and blood loss.

The forest abruptly burst forth with a wailing full of rage. Kraal claimed that it was the vampires just starting to realize that they had changed direction. “Did anyone get an idea of how many there were?”

“No,” Gage answered. “There were only the three in the tavern, but I saw others in the village and more than twelve passed us back there trying to get ahead of us.”

“How many’d you kill with that spell in the tavern,” Kraal asked between pants. The hard work of carrying Gage and luggage were wearing on him.

“None,” Gage told him. “Vampires are very tough. A little fire is hardly enough to kill them.”

“Can they catch us?” Dylan asked. The fear had crept in his voice. They had been fleeing for over an hour and he could feel the sweat on Coran’s mount with his legs.

“Eventually,” Gage admitted. “But we are very close to sunrise and vampires fear the sun. If we can stay away from them a little longer, they will most likely retreat and we can get away from them.”

Several moments later they broke from the denser forest at the bank of a river. Unfortunately they emerged at a bluff with an almost ten foot drop straight down into the deepest part of the water.

Kraal turned and followed the stream up river, away from the village, looking for a place to ford the waters. Though they could hear the howling and shrieking as the vampires pursued and searched, they still maintained a steady and quiet pace.

By the time they had rounded the bend, and the bluff gave way to a broad sand bar, the sky had started to brighten with the promise of approaching dawn.

Kraal led them out onto the sand and toward the quiet water. From their left, six of the vampires emerged from the forest.

“Hurry,” Gage urged. “Get into the water!”

Coran urged his horse deeply into the current with Kraal right beside him. The horse was about four feet deep in the gently flowing current when Gage called a halt. Behind them the vampires gathered at the edge of the water.

“I addition to sunlight,” Gage explained. “They do not like the purity of running water.”

“So we are safe?” Dylan asked.

“Temporarily,” Coran coughed. “Vampires often are led by a leader who can use magic. If that’s the case here, he could attack us and there’s very little that we could do. Gage can try to defend us for a while, but eventually we’ll be overwhelmed.”

The vampires groaned and wailed as their prey lingered just out of their reach. Then the small crowd of undead parted to admit a seventh member. This one seemed more coherent and less brutal. His eyes held intelligence.

The vampiric mage raised its hands and hummed a long loud groan. The noise was followed by a low buzzing sound as thousands of tiny insects emerged from the forest winging out over the waters. The swarm descended upon them like a living fog, all intent of delivering lethal stings.

“Stay together,” Gage urged. The mage was weaving a spell of his own. The swarm dove towards them only to be rejected by a dimly shimmering light surrounding them all. The shielding spell provided a temporary defense, but as the insects were turned aside, each one drained the shield a bit more. The sheer number of them was weakening the shield rapidly.

The lead vampire was not satisfied to let the insect swarm carry out the attack. While they were watching Gage’s shield collapse around them, he cast another spell.

Four blips of pale yellow light shot from the vampire’s eyes and flailed into Gage. The mage was thrown from Kraal’s back, and if not for the centaur’s quick reaction would have fallen unconscious under the water and drowned.

It was at that same time that the shield that Gage had erected finally collapsed. The insects attacked with renewed vengeance. Their closest target was Dylan, Coran, and the warrior’s horse. Coran, still conscious and coherent, threw himself off the horse and into the water, dragging Dylan with him. They both went underwater for a few moments.

When he resurfaced, Dylan saw that Coran’s steed was covered with the stinging insects. The animal cried in pain and agony as thousands of venomous stingers inflicted deadly pain. The animal thrashed and jumped trying to shake loose its attackers, taking it farther away from Dylan and Coran with each second.

Within moments, the poor creature succumbed and went silent as it slid into the gentle current and beneath the surface. The insects again took to the air seeking another victim.
What happened then would forever be in Dylan’s memory. It happened as if a dream.

Dylan felt his entire body become very calm and alert. The whole world seemed to move in slow motion. As the swarm of killer insects approached Coran and himself hungrily, Dylan raised his left hand and spread his four fingers and thumb widely. The he spoke the spell his master had taught him. “Sleep,” he ordered.

Instantly every last one of the insects went dormant and fell into the water. On the shore, the lead vampire screamed in outrage. But instead of retaliating, he turned to mist and drifted back into the dark wood.

Almost immediately the sun crested the horizon.