Vampire Hunt Chapter

Vampire Hunt

Chiecra sat with the priest and the farmers. Ilkez and Viktorov also joined Chiecra in the zedelet. The one they rode in was not as tight as others were. Chiecra sat in silence pondering over the next mission he was undertaking. The trip went smoothly, hardly a bump on the road. Chiecra thought to himself 'It is a strange thing? Why are vampires out in the country  near the mountains?' He pondered over this thought until Ilkez interrupted his thoughts as though he knew what Chiecra was thinking.

"Vampires wish to slip away in the night without being seen. However, does it seem odd to you? You would think vampires prefer feasting on the innocent in crowded yet deserted areas. But they can't nowadays, since there are troops patrolling the streets heavily armed in the hundreds." Ilkez smiled and then winked at the cadet. The priest looked at both of them, confused yet observant.

"Wait a ... How did you know what was on his...?" The priest asked confused.

"I am a Zhenrai Knight Sir priest, and yes Chiecra I stayed to complete my training." He answered a question in Chiecra’s head

"So, you are a Zhenrai Knight?" a young farmer jumped into the small conversation.

"Yes weren't you listening?" he asked the farmer.

"Of course I was it's just the temples here are seldom visited by the Zhenrai these days. You'd think the Zhenrai disappeared from the world." The local answered surprised that a Zhenrai Knight was in the ranks of the Vestrisian Army.

"Never mind that for now my son." said the priest calmly "We must focus on the task at hand."

From this point, the group fell silent listening to the rumbling of the engines. It was sometime before anyone spoke. To them it felt like it was taking forever to get there. Chiecra was about to speak when the Zedelets came to a bumpy stop. They nearly lopsided out of their seats because of the jerking stop. Jumping out of the zedelets the party found themselves at the gates of a large town. Its wooden palisade had plenty of holes and logs broken and protruding inward as well as outward as if something big previously came through. The gate itself was completely missing. There was not a single trace of what happened to the gate.

            "Holy sh-" a soldier cried before his mouth was shut by a hand.

"Quiet, we must stay silent at all times. So they'll never know we're here," said a soft voice.

An elf dressed in a Vestrisian uniform clasped a hand over Casan's mouth to keep him quiet. Half a dozen elves in uniform came out of their hiding places from behind stables and a small shelter just outside the town. The commanding officer ordered the elf to release Casan.

"Keltho release that man. There's no need to be frightened fools around our brothers in arms." A commander said to the elf named Keltho.

"Get off me you twit! I ought to ...!" Casan released himself and poised to hit the elf.

"Stand down Private, there will be no need for violence toward fellow troops!" The Major ordered, but Casan did not heed this order. He went ahead and punched the elf in the nose. The Major observed the elves from head to toe. They had no weapons on them and their uniforms were torn. The officer spoke but the Major cut him off.

"Not now captain, explain your-self when we've done our duty and then attend to yours." Major Hawke told the captain. The captain thanked him with a salute and the six elves made a run for the Zedelets.

No one saw a dark figure fly out of a tower, except Chiecra. This shadowy creature swooped down and dove onto one of the elves. This creature forced him to the ground. The creature bit at the elf's neck and shoulder as he screamed in pain and horror. They all watched shocked by the scene of the elf struggling to get up with the bloodthirsty creature clawing at him. With no one else daring to take a shot, Chiecra aimed his rifle pinpointing his target through the sights. His eyes widened as he hesitated to take the shot. He fired one shot hitting the monster in the shoulder. The humanoid shrieked a high-pitched scream that pierced all ears. It soon turned to Chiecra's direction leaving the elf. Now all eyes could see the humanoid. This monster was a female infected with vampirism. This female vampire had brown curly hair, the face of a goddess and a short, gorgeous body. The only flaws were the fangs, blood shot eyes, and some corrupted features. She went for Chiecra, but was shot before getting close to him.

The vampire girl fell before Chiecra's feet as if tossed to him. He watched as white smoke came out of the holes where the bullets hit her. Her body started shaking as if electrocuted. She began a series of gasps in reaction to the burning. The others circled around her to see if this antidote worked or not. They all watched the damsel transform from vampire into a lovely young woman. Her appearance became more pleasant as her body stopped shacking from the spasms. A gorgeous girl of about the age eighteen or so lay before them. This brown haired dove was now at peace with herself allowing exhaustion to tire into a deep slumber. It was obvious from watching her chest heave up and down as she breathed. Viktorov kneeled over this poor wretch to examine her neck.

"Did it work?" someone asked. Chiecra thought the same question hoping it did work. Viktorov placed a hand under her chin tilting her head in search of the puncture marks of a vampire bite.

"Well the holes are gone." He then checked her pulse, lifting her wrist up.

 "And she is definitely alive. Her blood temperature is returning to normal. She should wake up in at least." Viktorov said as he looked at his watch. "In about two hours." There came a great sigh of relief all around the group of Vanguards.  

"Good work men!" The major complimented.

"You too Cadet Gwynor." The Major slapped a hand on Chiecra's shoulder. He beamed at Chiecra for a second then turned back into a stern, rough officer.

 "Alright men move out and scan the area!" He hollered these orders with immediate results.

"Gwynors go with me. Liviscart, Liviscart? LIVISCART!" A tall dark haired and red-skinned soldier came forth before the Major and the Cadet Chiecra.

"Corporal, you take this young woman to the zedelets and make sure she'll be alright." With a "Yes sir." the corporal picked up the paralyzed teen and carried her off to the zedelets. The two watched Liviscart run off to the zedelets with the limp body. The five elves took over the job of tending to the girl, not bothering to help their downed comrade. The Major stepped forward and walked to the helpless elf, the cadet trailing after him like a puppy. Corporal Liviscart returned to him, the Major immediately dismissed him.

"That'll be all corporal, now go scout out the area. Casan and Aibeth join corporal Liviscart and start searching for more of those wretches before we begin the full operation in the town."

"Sir!" Liviscart said getting the Major’s attention.

"What is it now Corporal?" The Major asked Liviscart.

"Do you want us to scout the area around the town?" Liviscart asked the Major.

"YES! Corporal the area surrounding the town, move out!" The trio obliged to their officer's orders and disappeared behind the palisade. The Major continued his little walk toward the shivering elf. Chiecra followed the Major.

"Ilkez, Viktorov get your butts over here!" The two Vanguards came forward joining the Major and cadet. The four of them towered over the whimpering elf.

"What do we do with him sir? Major Hawke Sir?" One of the Sergeants asked.

The Major stood there hesitating leaving the soldiers expecting an answer. He pulled out a pistol from his coat pocket handing his rifle to Chiecra. Major Hawke cocked the pistol pointing the weapon at the elf's back.

"Hope to Ipsul this works." He pulled the trigger once and paused for a moment. The once shivering elf was now a limp lifeless corpse on the ground. Hearing this shot the rest of the company gathered around to see what just happened. Major Hawke pressed the gun against his forehead, closing his eyes.

“Shit." he said in a paranoid voice.

"You think he's dead sir?" a Lieutenant asked from behind him.

"What do you care he was an idiot!" scoffed Brylkn. 

            "Shut up fatso!" yelled another soldier.

            "Why don't you just shut up and kiss my fat-" Brylkn tried to respond but was cut off before he could finish the sentence.

"Both of you shut it! That's an order!" yelled the Major. The two men fell silent. "Tell the farmers to bury the body."  They left the dead body to the ravens and farmers to bury.

The unit of Vanguards stepped up to the gates of the town, while the three farmers buried the elf's body. One priest followed eight Vanguards while two merchants stayed in the Zedelets.

"Gather around," the Major ordered and they circled in. "Casan, Aibeth, and Liviscart are scouting the perimeter." Several shots went off on the other side of town.

 "It is our duty to clean this town of vampirism..." The Major briefed to them and all listened. Chiecra was the closest to the gate of the town. Turning around he stared into the empty streets of the town. There was not a single soul wandering the stone streets. The line of houses looked dead and abandoned as if the inhabitants vanished. Chiecra did not notice an elf had approached them.

"Sir; I've just reported to HQ about our situation. And they've sent two more squads to aid us." He said to the Major.

"Good we will definitely need more men because the entire town could be vampires. Isn't that what happened soldier?" The elf did not respond he remained silent not giving him an answer. Major Hawke ignored the elf as if he was not there.

"Alright split up into two groups. Gwynor, Ilkez you are with the cadet, Curtian you go with them. The rest of you are with me."

"What about the priest?" a corporal asked. They all turned to the priest whom looked scared out of his own mind.

"This is unholy ground!" He yelled raising a religious amulet in the air.

 "We must leave this evil place and let the damned suffer in this heathen place!" The priest rambled on as he attempted to purify the houses by sprinkling water on them.

"This place is unholy, this place is unholy. There is no hope for these people!" The Vanguards tried to stop him, but he was too stubborn to pull away from the nearest building.

"Get back here you crazy bastard! You're going to die." One of the soldiers yelled at him.

            "No there is no hope. Here it is lost!" he yelled ignoring the soldier’s warning.

Driven by madness the priest ran down the streets tossing water here and there. Before they got to him, a swarm of vampires swooped out of nearby houses and attacked him. The infected citizens tore the priest to shreds. His screams were silenced just as they had started. Without hesitation, the eight soldiers fired into the crowd of vampires. The rapid fire from the squad overwhelmed the swarm of vampires. The wretched beings fell like timber chopped down in a forest. The eight soldiers had to shoot and reload for some time. The smaller ones, the children managed to slip away back into their hiding places. Few vampires fled down the street toward the town square. The eight Vanguards ceased firing as the last vampires vanished amongst the buildings. The soldiers kept their distance away from the structures. They ascended slowly down the street littered with unconscious vampires.  Each one was transforming back into normal beings. Amidst the bodies, they found the skeletal corpse of the priest in a puddle of blood.

"Holy-" Curtian yelped jumping away from the skeleton. Aloud burst of laughter came from behind them.

"Aw. Is Curtian scared of a skeleton?" The voice broke into even more laughter. Each head turned toward the source of the laugh. It was Private Casan standing with Corporal Liviscart and Sergeant Aibeth. The three had just returned from scouting the area. Private Casan walked to the young corporal with a crude grin. The Private pinched Curtian's cheek and tugged at the skin of his face. Brylkn joined Casan in heckling the corporal. Rage grew inside Curtian then he punched Casan in the gut and swung Brylkn's large body over his shoulder. The big man was slammed onto Casan's back.

"Quit messing around and let's get back to business here!" Major Hawke growled to bring back order amongst his men.

 "Report, Aibeth!" The Lieutenant responded quickly to the Major's demands.

            "Sir, yes sir. So far we've only run into a few vampires." Aibeth reported, telling Major Hawke they were making progress.

            "How many vampires?" the Major commanded.

             "I believe there were about seven, sir." Aibeth informed the Major.

"Identify them." Major Hawke said wanting to know if they were male or female.

"Two men, three women and two children, a boy and a girl." proclaimed Liviscart filling in for Aibeth.

 "Don't worry about them sir we've already taken care of them. They're safely by the Zedelets." Aibeth quickly said hoping the Major wouldn’t explode in their faces.

Major Hawke nodded his head in agreement. Chiecra stood there staring at the faces of the men, women, and children. Most of them had the same hair color as the young woman whom attacked him earlier. Many of the little girls and women almost looked just like her too. 'These people must be that girl's family' Chiecra thought.

He looked around at the buildings along the street. The buildings were constructed from stone slabs at the bottom and wood on top forming an old style.  All the roofs met at the top and went to the the stone slab foundations. Most of the houses were two story buildings with a few three-story buildings among them. One three-story home looked more like an inn located between two homes. These houses had garlic hung all over like decorations for some holiday. Chiecra stared into a house closest to him. It was dark with traces of light not even a candle. Save for a pair of red eyes that glared at him. They squinted and slowly disappeared into the darkness. Chiecra turned his attention back to the garlic covered Bymerian style homes. There seemed to be a hint of light inside both houses.

            "Sir." he said stepping forward and saluting.  He got the Major's attention.

"There are two houses that have signs of life in them," the cadet pointed down the street at the Lenai houses. They were only four houses down from them and three houses away from the town square.

"Good eyes cadet. There may be an early entrance into the army in the future." He patted Chiecra on the helmet.

"Come with me cadet; Gwynor, Ilkez follow suit. The rest of you begin carrying these people to the zedelets or clear the houses, which ever sounds better." The Major commanded as he walked down the street to some of the houses along the strip.