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'Master?'

'Yes, my cutie?' asked Ulric while he ran through the damp and dark forest towards the place where the river entered the tunnel through the mountain, his breath so hot it turned to fog in the slightly chilly air.

'The potions are done. Handil is heading towards your end with them.'

'Thank you. Great work, my sweet cutie.'

Kaui smiled and blushed. She would do anything for his praise. 'Be careful with them, Master.'

Ulric chuckled once and knew what would make her happy. 'Of course. We have to return safely so I can reward you.'

Ulric was glad he reached the cave without being seen by anyone, although the people probably would have been too afraid to see a bloodwolf to pay close attention to him. Handil made him out at a short distance from her spot inside the cave, and flashed her flashlight twice to show everything was all right. He relaxed at her signal and went towards her. 'Hey.' he said to her as she walked out of the cave. 'No troubles coming here through the tunnel?'

She held out the satchel with the vials to him. 'No problem. How are you doing with the plan?'

Ulric checked the contents with the darker green and yellow potions. 'The vampire we met is showing the layout of the burg to the others and teaching them about the Old Ones' habits.' he said, and noticed the question written on her face. 'Rachael is all right. She's a brave one.'

Handil relaxed a little. 'Be careful. All of you.'

He gave her a reassuring smile while he slung the satchel around his neck. 'We're all coming back, even if I have to tear down the whole burg to make it so.'

She chuckled once at his confidence. 'Okay.'

'Be careful on the way back.' Ulric said, and hurried back to the burg, looking back once to make sure she had left.

***

Muni kicked an old, cracked skull aside and looked at the skeletal remains scattered around on the ground in front of the tower's large entrance. 'Nice lawn decorations.' he said and looked up at the various carved skulls of different demon species adorning the doorway.

Tarrence squatted at a skull with a spine. 'Killed a long time ago. Looks like one of those ape things.' he said while he examined the grooves across the back of the skull.

Elyta looked up at the looming black tower, still contrasting the darkening sky of dusk. 'I'm used to plenty of things, but even I think something's eerie about this place.'

'There's the lingering scent of death.' said Muni. 'But I guess we can't skip this popular vacation spot.'

Tarrence walked to the open entrance of the tower, followed by the others. Heavy, iron doors stood wide open on the inside, and the black stone slab floor was partially covered with dirt. No light other than what shone through the doorway revealed a huge ground floor with a wide spiral stone staircase without any support leading up in the centre. Muni looked up at the open centre of the staircase into the darkness above. 'I'm not taking any bets that the artefact isn't on the top floor.'

Elyta followed his gaze. 'The prize is always at the place that's most out of reach. You expect that to ever change?'

Tarrence knew things weren't as they seemed, but thought it best to not disturb anything until it was necessary. 'Make some light. We're going up.'

Gigacks lit torches and handed them to the others before they ascended the black stairs.

***

Ulric climbed through the crack and into the lower basement of the burg. 'Missed me?' he said when he saw his girls sitting in one corner with Malyssa.

Iphigenia giggled. 'Even before you left, Wolfie.' she said and kissed him when he approached her.

He cupped her cheek. 'I don't like being apart from you either.' He sensed the uplifted mood from his girls through the link and smiled gently at them. 'Any of you.'

Malyssa vaguely remembered heightened emotions for a boy when she was a young girl and couldn't imagine all of them feeling that strong about a beast like him.

He pulled out the vials from the bag, and Conchim pulled out her daggers and coated them with the potions according to Kaui's instructions, and Valdys cast a spell to bind the potions to the heart while Ulric went over to Malyssa. 'Who's the best one to take down first?'

She pondered for a moment. 'Grozev. He usually retreats to his study around this time of the day to rest, and he's located at a quiet corner of the burg.'

'Can we go there undetected?'

Malyssa walked to the wall near a corner and pushed against a brick below one with a lighter colour. A stone click sounded and a low door sized section of the wall turned inwards. 'There's a maze of passages throughout the burg. Only a few of us have passed through them because they're of no use to us. I think they were once used for servants to move around without disturbing the burg's original family, and as escape routes. Not even I know all the passages, but I know the one to Grozev's study.'

Ulric lit his flashlight and shone it into the old passage, then looked at the others. 'Ready to set our plan into motion?' The girls confirmed, and Malyssa stepped first through the doorway.

Despite how long the passages weren't used, the cobwebs were limited to the corners of the ceiling and Ulric was glad he didn't have to pierce through layers of the sticky stuff as if it was a horror movie. He was also glad the passages were large and wide enough to move comfortably through them, despite what the doorway made it look like. He glanced back to check on Yingshien, and was glad she had no problem passing through them when she tucked her wings in close.

Malyssa slowed down after leading the party through various passages and junctions. 'We're close.'

They moved without a sound until Malyssa stopped at a niche with a wooden wall. She gestured at her ear and the wall, and Ulric stepped up to the wall and put his ear to it. Without hearing a sound for a while, he gave a nod to Malyssa. She pulled a lever at one side of the wall, and it swung inwards with a soft, wooden creak. 'This is the study, with the bedroom behind the double door at the far end.'

The room was large enough to hold enough guests for a small party, and the interior consisted of elaborately decorated furniture lit by candles, and Ulric chuckled once. 'Well, this fits the stereotype of vampires that I'm familiar with.'

Malyssa moved to the study's door and took a quick peek outside. 'You'd better find a place to hide quickly. He could come here at any moment.'

Without much choice other than the secret passage and the bedroom, the girls divided themselves between the two places, and Malyssa stepped into the passage. She looked back at Ulric while he looked around the room. 'Aren't you going to hide?'

He grinned slightly. 'I have my own way of hiding. Close the wall and be ready to open it at any moment. A little puzzled, she closed the section of the wall.

Ulric gave a nod to Iphigenia, who closed the bedroom door behind her, and moved to a corner at the back of the room where a large, dark wooden desk stood. The corner was barely lit with a trolley packed with books far enough from the wall for him to sit behind. He hid Conchim's daggers underneath his arms, and concentrated on his camouflage ability.

A while later, Ulric picked up the sound of footsteps outside the door, and when they stopped for a moment, the door opened, and a lanky vampire dressed in a combination of dark purple britches with black boots and white dress shirt walked in. Ulric thought he shouldn't have been surprised to see the black haired man looking as if he was in his thirties, seeing how vampires were supposed to live forever. Grozev's dark eyes betrayed the wisdom of ages though as they scanned the room while he stood in the doorway with his hand still on the door handle.

He glanced behind him. 'Have someone bring in a fresh pot of scented herbs and flowers after my rest. The stink of slaves and beasts has become stronger again.'

A young boy dressed in simple servant attire appeared from behind Grozev. 'Yes, my lord.'

'Dismissed.' Grozev said, and the boy closed the door behind the vampire as he stepped farther into the room. He went to a table at the side, opened a box, and turned the key embedded in it. The tingle of music filled the room while he picked a book from a shelf, went behind his desk, and sat down.

Ulric waited long enough for the vampire to open the book and write a few sentences in it, before silently rising from his hiding place while keeping his camouflage in sync with the view directly behind him. The desk stood far away enough from the back wall for Ulric to stay out of sight, but he still moved as slow as he could to keep silent and hidden as much as possible.

Grozev didn't notice anything over the scratching noise of his feather pen and the pleasant pinging from the steel teeth in the music box, until the drop of a book on the floor at his side startled him. He turned in his chair and noticed too late why the space beside him looked warped.

Ulric stabbed both daggers hard into the vampire's chest with a snarl.

Grozev let out a long shriek as he shot back with his chair. 'What are you!?' he said while he touched his chest and the growing blood stain in his shirt.

The bedroom door and the section of the wall slammed open, and Iphigenia and Elzbieta stormed into the room ahead of the other girls.

Grozev realised the danger of overwhelming numbers immediately despite his own powers, pulled the daggers out of his chest, and transformed into his animal form to escape. The big pack of rats shaped in human form fell apart across the chair and ran off in all directions.

'Block the doors!' said Elzbieta, and Tipper, Caylais, and Yingshien posted themselves in front of the closed doors and wall panel.

The rats ran around looking for another way out while attacking the girls at the same time, but the three weren't fazed by the rapid rodents. Tipper slammed any close to her with her spade, Caylais made them jump and twitch as she zapped them, while Yingshien torched them with her controlled beam of fire. The other girls killed off the scattered rats one by one while Ulric listened and smelled intently.

He closed his eyes to focus. Filtering out the scents of the room, the girls, the blood, he found the distinct scent of Kaui's potion. He turned his head and pointed his ears towards the direction it came from. The rapid thumping of the vampire's heart was loud enough in the noise, and he opened his eyes. The target rat huddled behind a large vase in a corner. 'Elz, it's behind the vase.'

Elzbieta followed his gaze and spotted the rat's tail. She exchanged her sword for her bow and nocked an arrow. 'You need to expose it for me, darling.'

'All right.' he said, and swatted at nearby rats, barely hitting them to throw a couple into the direction of the corner. Jumping around, he moved close to the vase. 'Now!'

Elzbieta pulled the bowstring and aimed at once when he snatched the vase away.

Grozev's scattered mind busy with avoiding the attacks of the girls, suddenly focussed on the most vulnerable part of his animal transformation, and gazed straight at the point of the arrow in the elf's bow.

Elzbieta loosed her arrow.

Grozev willed the tiny legs to move.

The arrow skewered the rat and pinned it against the wall with a thunk and a sharp squeak from the fake rodent.

The other rats trembled and squirmed as Ulric quickly wrapped the heart rat in his large paw. His face and stomach twisted with disgust as he squashed it.

He felt only partial relief to see the rats and the remains seeping through his fingers turn to dust.

Iphigenia noticed his disgusted expression. 'Are you all right, Wolfie?'

He wiped the vampire dust from his paw. 'Yeah. It was as sickening as I imagined, killing it like this. I'll need to wash my paw for days to lose that sensation.'

She chuckled once and stroked his ear. 'I'll help.'

Malyssa opened the wall panel again and peeked into the room . 'Is it done?'

Valdys turned to her. 'If what you said is true, then this Old One is no more and never will be again.'

The vampire girl stepped into the room and looked at the ashes littered all over the carpets and floor. She began to think her plan would work out better than expected. 'Oh, this is good. Very good.'

Ulric wanted to finish this as soon as possible to lessen the chance of discovery. 'Who's next?'

'That would be Naopte. Her private chambers are close and she is always there, but I can let one of you in under the guise of reading to her. She loves to be read to by young women.'

'Well, that would be me then.' said Iphigenia. 'I'm the only inconspicuous candidate.'

'I'll fetch a fitting dress.' said Malyssa as she moved to the wall panel. 'Wait here.'

She returned later with a lightly faded velvet dark green dress. 'You need to dress nicely, but not too nicely because slaves have no new clothing.'

Iphigenia slipped the dress on, glad for the wide skirt to conceal her sword. Ulric gave her a little appreciative smile. 'Doesn't matter that it's old, you look good.'

She giggled. 'Silly Wolfie.'

Malyssa checked Iphigenia's look. 'This will do. I don't know how to reach Naopte's chambers through the passages, but there's usually no one around here, so we can take the normal way if we're careful.'

Ulric glanced at the others, who agreed. 'All right, let's go.'

The strange parade moved silently along the hallways, until a door opened and Celesta stepped out of a room.

Valdys was closest to her and covered her mouth immediately. 'Quiet.' Celesta nodded, and Valdys let go of her.

Celesta glanced at the others. 'Are you doing it right now!?' she whispered.

'Yes. It's best if you stay away.'

Celesta nodded. 'I know what to do.' she said, and walked swiftly down the hallway.

'You know her?' asked Malyssa.

'We met her at the village.' said Iphigenia. 'She agreed to stay silent while we're doing this.'

Malyssa didn't expect the simple servant to become a problem. 'All right, we can't waste time here.' she said and moved on.

She stopped at a small hall linking two passages and three chambers, and pointed at double doors on one side. 'Those are her chambers, the others are unused. Are you ready?'

Valdys handed Ulric the newly prepared daggers, and he looked at Iphigenia. 'I'll be right behind you.'

Malyssa looked puzzled at him. 'Naopte will see you even if you hide behind the dress.'

He grinned. 'She won't.' he said and gestured with a nod at the doors. 'Lead the way.'

Malyssa had no choice but to trust what they were doing because they succeeded once already, and led the two to the doors. She knocked politely. 'Lady Naopte? I brought someone to read for you.'

'Enter.' replied a voice which couldn't hide the many years behind it.

Malyssa entered the room in front of Iphigenia and stepped aside. She glanced quickly behind the dress and barely saw an outline of the bloodwolf. Iphigenia cleared her throat, and she turned her attention back to the introduction. 'This is Iphigenia. She is available to serve you now if it pleases you.'

***

Celesta hadn't expected and couldn't quite imagine how they managed to take down one of the Old Ones already, but assuming they were successful in eliminating others, she had to act quickly. She hurried a couple of floors down and knocked on a door. 'Master Invato? It's me, Celesta. I bring urgent news.'

'Come in.' said the man's voice, and she slipped into the chambers of her master. He stood naked at the drinking cabinet while pouring a drink, and her heart pounded again at the sight of his firm body. He had been turned when he was barely forty and possessed strength built on hard labour, even though he had been a minor lord. She hadn't been able to resist him years ago when he first invited her into his bed, even without a need to control her, and had shared his bed at least once a week since then.

She approached him. 'It's about the Old Ones.'

He gestured for her to stay silent. 'Malia, time to leave.'

Ruffling of clothing came from the bedroom, and a few moments later, a young black haired woman appeared. 'Yes, Master.'

He gave her an amiable smile. 'Thank you for your services.'

She bowed slightly. 'Yes, Master.' she said, and left the chambers while Celesta gave her a cold look.

Invato cupped her cheek and gazed deep into her eyes as he leaned a little closer. 'Tell me, what about the Old Ones?'

She lost to his intense gaze and her heart rate increased. 'There's a party in the burg to kill them. They killed at least one already.'

The vampire straightened his back at once. He had never expected outsiders to come in here unnoticed, and certainly not to kill one of the Old Ones, but Celesta couldn't lie to him. 'Then we must make use of them.' He felt cheerful and bold at the prospect of removing the Old Ones, since taking over as senior lords had been a wish for him and his friends for a long time. He kissed her hard briefly. 'We must move. If we become the new rulers, you surely have deserved your place as my eternal lover.'

Celesta's heart pounded even harder while she watched him hurry into his bedroom. She wanted to become a vampire from the moment she crept closer to the age of thirty and thought losing her beauty would become inevitable. She also wanted to live in the luxury of the burg and no longer need to help the village, and laughed softly at seeing her new future take shape.

***

Naopte sat in a chair at the fireplace at the back of the room, and wore little make up as she didn't care much about hiding the signs of her fifty-four year old appearance, but she did enjoy wearing fine dresses. She approved of the dress the new girl wore and her fresh beauty, and would think about letting her try on several of her own dresses to see how they looked on her. The tip of her tongue caressed the top of her mouth at maybe even having a little bite and a sip of the blood of such a fine being. She gestured for the two women to come closer.

Ulric followed them until they passed two sofas around a low table, and hid in the shadow at the back of one of them.

Naopte gestured at the book lying on the seat of the chair opposite of her. 'Let me hear your voice.'

Iphigenia picked up the book, and opened it at the bookmark.

'Like sunset and the waxing of the moon

Time follows its inevitable path

Light dims towards the last dark

And voices cease on their breath

For some the journey is long

For some it ends when it begins

Cold embrace hunts the warmth

Into the final stage of life'

The ancient vampire enjoyed Iphigenia's pleasant voice, nodded once in approval, and looked at Malyssa. 'Very well, you may leave.'

'My lady.' she said, and stepped out into the hall without a glance at Ulric or the girls posted at either side outside the doors.