— ✦ —
— ✦ —
A head bounced twice and rolled forward, coming to a stop.
“So, you’re the vampire that Inquisitor Orenthis wants dead,” a voice rasped from the man carrying a dark green blade.
Blood dripped onto the grass from its claws.
The woman stood atop a small pile of corpses donned in white armor.
Another adventurer with a large shield leaned in next to their leader and whispered, “Darwin is in position.”
He gave a slight nod.
The man’s eyes shifted behind the woman atop the pile of corpses.
A tall fortress loomed over her, still under what appeared to be construction, or rebuilding.
“How many do you think there are?” the shielded man’s voice was low in tone, eyes peeking above his shield.
A woman's bow quickly aimed from one place of the walls to another.
“One, maybe two hundred.”
Dark red heads poked out from the wall’s embrasures. Large wooden ballistas dotted every couple of paces along the wall, pointed at the small party of four. The goblins had their crude wooden bows pulled back, ready to fire at a moments notice.
Atop the wall gates stood a large dire wolf. White hair beautifully flowed in the wind of the day. It snarled at them from above.
Lightning crackled around the white dire wolf’s snout. A long red horn stuck out of its forehead.
The leader of the group nervously chuckled to himself, staring at it on top of the gatehouse.
“You have quite a city here, Lilith, and the numbers to defend it.”
“Leave.”
“While you still have the chance.”
His smile flinched for a split second.
With a blink, the woman had disappeared, and was standing atop the gatehouse, just in front of the large dire wolf, which towered over her.
“I will not repeat myself,” her voice pierced the silence of the standoff.
A moment later, the leader sheathed his dark green blade.
He began to turn, his eye catching his comrade’s.
“We’re done here.”
“Huh?”
“Not worth the risk. The monster does not come close to the rank described in the quest. We’re leaving.”
The woman beside them lowered her bow, sticking the arrow back into her quiver.
The tall slightly fat man began to lower his shield, sighing, “Yes boss.”
Rocks on the ground began to vibrate ever so slightly, the way a spell fires off in the distance.
The leader’s eyes widened as he began to turn to the castle behind him.
“No!” he shouted out, stretching out his hand.
A massive, blue super-heated fireball roared over them from somewhere in the forest, blasting into the gatehouse.
A shock-wave shot out from the impact in all directions. Dust lifted into the air, and smoke began to rise.
His eyes darted from one place to another.
The woman atop the gates was gone.
He blinked.
Her claws inches away from his face.
Deep red eyes burning with hatred stared into his soul.
“That fucking church!”