"How much further do you think we need to go?" Kyrike asked, holding Varos' reins firmly in his hands. "We passed the border about ten minutes ago, and Morthal is most likely fifteen minutes from here, so I'd say we could stop for the night and head out tomorrow." Valie replied, looking at the scorched trees that loomed over them as they slowly rode through the eerie swamplands of Hjaalmarch. "In truth, I'd rather not stop at Morthal. The vampire problems are worse than they were before you disappeared. The way I hear it, some poor bastard gets snatched up in the dead of night every week." Kyrike informed her. Valelia sighed. "I know things are bad nowadays, but we've really got no other choice. We're stuck between a rock and a hard place…either sleep at the town's inn with risk of vampire attacks, or sleep outside with risk of dragons, chaurus, spiders, and more vampire attacks." She replied, brushing her overgrown locks of hair from her face.
Several loud screams were heard off in the distance. "Dammit. Trouble's coming. We have to go help." Kyrike gave Varos a gentle tug on the reins, and he galloped at the speed of light to the town of Morthal, relying solely on the Twin Moons to light their path.
"Help! Guards!" "Oh, Gods! My girl!" "Please, someone do something!"
Kyrike gave a nod to Valie, and she unsheathed her new glass sword. Kyrike quickly took his katana from its sheath, and the two dismounted Varos. Varos gave a whinny of reassurance, and he trotted off towards the nearest building to wait for the two. "Mama, papa, help!"
Kyrike and Valie ran around the corner of the building until they saw a crowd of figures, some panicked, some giving chase to others. A man was tackled to the ground by a woman in red and black armor with a cape. He yelled out as she bit into his chest, then into his throat as his cries of pain ceased. Valie dashed over to the vampire and stuck her sword through the woman's heart. She hissed and reached out for Valie for a brief moment before she went limp.
While Valie ran off to deal with some of the other vampires, Kyrike turned around when he heard a shrill scream. A lanky girl who looked to be about fourteen was struggling to push a vampire off of her. The man pulled her arm closer and bit deeply into her skin. She screamed as he pulled away, a chunk of her flesh in his fangs. Another vampire woman crept up behind her and bit into her neck, the girl wailing as her blood was drained by the leechlike undead.
Kyrike ran forward, shoving his katana through the male vampire's head. The woman released the girl, and she collapsed, weakly crawling away as she whimpered in agony. Kyrike quickly pulled his weapon from the slain vampire and raised it, making a rapid slice through the woman's neck. Her head bounced several feet away from her limp body and landed in the lake with a splash. Kyrike turned back to the severely injured girl, who weakly lifted her arm as if trying to tell him something. Kyrike felt icy fingers on his neck, and he threw his head backwards, stunning the vampire who had hoped to catch him off guard. The man shook the ache out of his head and gave a fierce growl, pushing Kyrike to the ground before he could raise his katana.
Kyrike snarled, using his arms to keep the vampire's face away from his neck. He stared into the man's fangs, red with fresh blood of a recent victim. "Give up, mortal. You are but cattle to us and our Lord, Movarth." "Never! I refuse to die this way, bloodsucking scum!" Kyrike spat back, trying to shove the vampire off him.
A blade ripped through the vampire's forehead, nearly stabbing Kyrike. The vampire's blood sprayed him in the face, and his skull melted under the flames that had suddenly dashed across his head to his body. Kyrike threw the burning vampire off him, the heat of the flames just barely licking at his skin. "Are you gonna just lie there all night, or are you gonna help us?!"
Maclyrniarth kicked another male vampire in the groin, causing him to bend over. Her hand burst into flames, the fire creeping up her pointed dagger. She plunged the dagger into the vampire's head, the blade leaving as quickly as it had entered. The man fell to the ground and his body was swallowed up by the flames in an instant. "Mac, did you follow me here?" Kyrike asked in disbelief as he got off the ground. Mac scoffed. "I got here first, idiot. Why would I be following you?" She sarcastically asked, the flames in her hand disappearing.
Kyrike clenched his fists, blushing with anger and embarrassment after having asked such a stupid question. Instead of arguing with the woman who had just saved him from certain death, Kyrike sheathed his katana and looked at the carnage around him. Several people lay dead and dying, others severely wounded, their only glimmer of hope being a healing potion, bandages, and a potion of cure disease. Kyrike looked back at the injured teenager who looked up at him with fear in her eyes. "Don't…leave me…" She gasped, grasping at her neck with her uninjured arm. Kyrike didn't hesitate to walk over to the girl and carefully lift her into his reassuring arms.
Mac watched as Kyrike carried the bleeding girl to her mother and father, a mixture of sadness and softness appearing on her soot-stained face. "Just like Alwiil…"
"Oh, Oriebbi!" The grey-haired woman cried, running to take her daughter from Kyrike's arms as her husband approached them. "Thank you so much for saving our girl. That's the third time this month she's been nabbed. They've never gotten this far, though." The bearded man looked down at his daughter, flesh missing from her arm and blood streaming down her neck. "Will she be alright?" Kyrike asked, concern in his voice.
"Lami's the alchemist here in Morthal. With the increased vampire attacks, she's also had experience patching up people's wounds and making potions of cure disease. The infection is a nasty thing, you know." The man grimly smiled. "Jorgen, I'm going to take Oriebbi back to the hut. Round up the injured and infected and get them there quick, I'm going to need to make a lot of potions tonight." Lami told her husband. She gave Kyrike a smile and a thank you before trotting back to her alchemist hut. Oriebbi looked over her mother's shoulder and gave Kyrike a meaningful look of thanks before she disappeared into the hut.
Several of the extra guardsmen came to collect the bodies of the dead for burials, and Valie approached Kyrike and Mac, who eyed the woman curiously. "It's been a long and rather traumatizing day. I'd like to meet your new friend, Kyrike, but I really need some rest. It's been ten years." Valie yawned, cracking her neck before heading off towards the Moorside Inn. Kyrike followed the exhausted redhead and turned back to Mac as he was halfway up the steps to the inn. "You coming?" He asked. Mac shrugged with a sigh. "Okay."