“Where are they all?” I turn to Leyanne feeling her on my heel as we carefully descend and keep scanning where I’m stepping so I don’t fall as her light once again shines the way. Carmen pushes in front of me to watch my step, while Sierra stays on our rear, both femmes close and forming a shield. Sierra seems quiet, lost in thought and I wonder if this brings back unwanted memories of battles of old.
“It seems this mountain only held a small amount in recent days… I’m guessing Lord Varro has pulled them where he needs them, and it wasn’t here. It was half empty when we got in and made finding the witches way easier. Your Meadow, is quite the soldier.” Leyanne seems impressed by that and not at all fazed by her first statements. Although I spin on her in alarm.
“And the witches, they are where?” I blink, reeling thoughts splaying out, remembering that she had to take them on alone to break the spell and as of yet, I’ve only seen vampires. If they are a threat in here, I want to know about it. Will they now be something else to have a showdown with?
“Dead…. They weren’t much of a challenge. Took all seven of them to make that spell, but faced with me and panicking, they didn’t achieve much before I disintegrated them. Such pointless wee beasts they were. Quite disappointing really.”? She sounds almost guilty for a second, or maybe truly deflated, and I flash a look her way, catching an odd moment of somber I wasn’t expecting and then it’s gone. It also confirms that despite not seeing much evidence of it, she is obviously as powerful as Sierra told me. Seven witches who managed to hold so many of our pack hostage for a week, and yet she blows in and takes them out without messing up her outfit or her hair.
“I’m sorry you had to kill your own kind.” I try to console, feeling I should, but she shrugs with one shoulder. That cool demeanor back in place and that care no less expression firmly on that attractive face. She still reminds me of Carmen in a way, only brunette, with dark eyes.
“You have to weed out the bad to benefit the many sometimes. They were practicing things they have no place to mess with. They were no sisters of mine; they were something the world could do without, and the high council will agree when I present them with my findings on why I rid them of an entire coven.”
She seems to want to end the conversation and moves past me fast to flash bomb a creature in the face as it stuck out its stupid head into where we are moving. So fast Carmen didn’t have time to react even though it was right at her side. It’s semi shadowy here, it obviously didn’t expect a blinding light to expand its face all over the wall in a dramatic and disgusting fashion.
I recoil in ‘ewww’ and dodge the flopping body before I make the last speed dash down to the final floor below, skipping over and seeing even Carmen grimace with the up-close body showering she just got from its blood.
“Thanks for that!” Carmen mutters sarcastically, back at the witch and shakes herself to try and remove the worst of it. I jump back so her spray doesn’t get to me then realize it’s futile. I am covered in my own blood and God knows what else, I can’t even imagine how I truly look from all angles.
“You’re welcome. It’s not like you could smell any worse.” Leyanne bites right back and I eyeroll at the constant power struggle of personalities. Sighing at Carmen’s snarling growl and push her onwards to stop them.
When we get lower, Colton is already gone and heading down tunnels in hot pursuit of what’s left of the enemy. When we get to the ground floor fully, I gag on the smell down here. It’s thick, vile dust, overwhelming stench that coats every surface. The ashy remains of fried vampire and I notice the throne, crude, and carved without skill as it sits in one corner and seems to be the one form of seating in this place. I gesture towards it and Leyanne narrows in on it too, Carmen walking over to sniff at it and recoils as though the scent is painful.
“Covens have lords. This one was no different, but he was another halfling and your mate already took care of him. I think he was newly promoted.” Leyanne points at the unbreathing evidence and I turn to the lifeless body slumped in the corner that Colton discarded. Still intact due to not being in direct light but it has no head. One sure fire way to end a vampire is to take its head clean off its shoulders and I know from experience it’s Colton’s preferred method. He’s strong enough to do it with just a little flick of the wrists. It’s also why he’s covered in blood as it’s probably the messiest way to kill one.
I also note how most of these vile creatures are naked and nothing like the ones we encountered in the woods who were more human than these. They are nothing compared to Darrius in any way, and I wonder how many sub species these things have. I thought from what he said, there was them, and these. Yet, this is something entirely different. We have never seen them fly at all.
“These are different, and some have wings.” I point out in a questioning tone, leaning down to peer at the so-called leader, then straighten up to push it over with my foot and have a proper look. It has remnants of clothes that look like they were shredded from its body a long while ago, and all ribs and protruding bones all over as though it was malnourished. The ones we have fought were dressed and not like this, I’m sure. Well maybe, but we never saw them naked. From memory they didn’t seem this skinny and almost alienlike.
Long nails, yellow and brittle looking, but fiercely sharp. Waxy white skin, covered in a soft down of ugly hairs, on arms and legs and weirdly oversized rib cages that are not in proportion to their bodies in any way. They’re uglier than I thought like this. Bony, no connections to the human qualities of Darrius.
“Various degrees of DNA dilution. These are mongrels. Or as Darrius would call them, gutter rats.” Leyanne points out as Carmen and Sierra turn to human to join us. “Wings are common in pure, just not so much in rats.”
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