Chapter 6: The Heretics (I)
There had not been signs of Glacia yet. The Growlithes roamed around the trees of the wilderness, yet those sharp noses could not pick up her scent. The squad members did not find any indication of hideout as they examined each tree they passed by.
They had spent the entire previous day searching high and low but the result was none. Thus they kept moving forward to the east as the plan. Now they were near a large city, another place for them to search through.
Among the trees, Squad A along Steven and his vice chief made their post. From a small hill they peered to the large, extravagant city. The closer they look they could see large sculptures of Mysticals on the city wall, also statues of figures on the towers. The coloring of the houses seemed vibrant from afar. Truly a sight to behold.
"I must admit, they have good aesthetic value." Sidney said.
"Maybe later I'll ask them about rare stones." Steven joked.
"But I digress."
Then Sidney handed over a binocular he was using. And Steven scanned that city over the yonder. The city gate was closed, firmly sealed when the sun was still high in the sky. Fortunately, a name was written above the gate he was seeing.
'Jubilife'.
"Jubilife huh… what city?" Steven said.
"Sir, report sir." The squad leader came to them.
Both of them turned to him, a horrified expression plastered on his countenances. The squad leader seemed to be in disbelief. Then he spoke up,
"While surveying, the Tailows spotted shady figures immolating a man."
"Elaborate further." Steven said.
The squad leader steadied his breath, a few times he tried..
"Two figures under cloaks exposed who was an unconscious vampire, under the sun." The man reported.
Steven and Sidney were silenced by the report for a while.
"Where and what time?" Steven asked.
"Around a mile from the city wall, and around an hour ago by now since the discovery."
Steven nodded, the report was somewhat disturbing, but there was more from the happening. After all, a vampire under daylight was equivalent to a human at midnight.
"Was there anything else you inferred?"
The squad leader thought, and then an answer came.
"Yes sir. When we arrived there, I saw they had a letter written on their cloak back."
"It was a 'G' letter."
The revelation stirred Steven's interest now. His soft smile that always was there turned to a flat, pondering mood. That letter was not a mere coincidence.
"We can't chase them now, but…"Steven muttered.
The squad leader waited for his superior's decision, who took time to consider.
"Pardon sir, what is our response?" He asked his superior.
For a while, Steven was silent. And what when opened his mouth, the answer sparked a flint of objection from Sidney.
In the large city full of towers, the Devon members managed to snuck in again. The wall was made of stone in this instance, fortunately there had not been signs of those dreadful metal Mysticals. From the top of the wall two thick ropes were dropped. The Devon Foundation scaled down slowly without any noise.
Not too long after, they made it to the ground. The spectacle in front of them was a large building, a house but much wider that commoners could afford.
"Guess they didn't expect guests huh." Sidney commented.
Though looking above the wall, the security was loose, but in there it could be different. Thus Both of them looked at their surroundings for a while, they seemed to be behind buildings near the wall. Then Steven waved his hands to someone above.
Two squad members followed after their chief into the city. Four of them watched their left and their right once again before setting off, and it was clear. Being too careful would not hurt for Steven as long as time was on their side.
"You're still sure, Steven?" Sidney asked.
"Yes."
Sidney smirked. And quickly they went according to each way. Steven went to the right with one squad member, and Sidney segregated to the left. No banters, and the hole was closed by the mystical with four arms. But inside Sidney's head there was a film of an hour ago playing.
The notion was not strategic for Sidney. He was thinking so while sneaking along the alleys. The Growlithe with the squad member led the way, sniffing the scent that might be the one who was behind all of these conundrums.
"Secondary objective, eh." He muttered.
Soon they reached an avenue, empty it was. There was a clock tower in the middle, circled by fences. The long hand pointed at three, while the short hand was between three and four. And quickly they followed the small tiger past the empty avenue, passing various buildings, and shops.
Without any warning the Growlithe ran to a certain alley and stopped right before the entrance front. When Sidney and the squad member catched up, they were curious why it suddenly picked up pace. But they did not bother to ask, nor chastise it. Instead they heard quietly into the alley. Sidney shushed the squad member and she nodded, the voice went on.
"... corpse been burnt?" A male voice said.
"Yea, the turned one is now ashes." Another male replied.
"Hidst thou from the guard?"
"I did, the guardsmen certainly saw me not."
Eavesdropping the conversation certainly gave him certainty. Both of them readied their weapon, Sidney with his saber and the female squad member with her rifle. Yet, Sidney did not give the signal to move yet.
"Very well. May the Banished One be pleased."
There was a slight pause in the air. Though he was curious whom the cult member was referring to, Sidney had his sword tightly held, and the squad member braced herself.
"Pray tell, doth message from the Priestess come?"
"Now, Priestess ordereth, return to Eterna."
"Let us go."
From the footstep sound, the shady figures were heading opposite from the alley entrance. After a few moments, Sidney gestured to her and they moved in. The Growlithe keenly followed the smell, like a flame surging through a line of black powder. Sidney smirked. And thus, the stalk began.
Elsewhere, Steven and the squad member that was with him approached what seemed to be a large complex. It was similar to an academy from outside, spanning wide with a tower on the entrance. The ornaments, the bricks, and the small metal towers on the roof edge gave the impression of old age.
The sniffing tiger cub prowled around the windows back and forth. Then it headed to the front entrance and barked softly. But of course, nobody let their front door open for strangers to enter freely.
"Should we enter, sir?" The squad member asked.
A nod was enough from Steven. He looked around, the facility was locked at the first glance. He shrugged his head, the shut entrance was out of question, the forceful entry idea also was scrapped. Then he looked up, to the endearing ornaments on the rooftop, he smiled at the sight.
A hook was thrown upon one of the metal spires on the roof. The rope was firm, soon Steven and the squad member scaled the wall, which seemed more than a score of cubits high. A minute later and they set foot on the sloped black clay.
`Thump`. The squad member lost his balance and stepped loudly.
Steven eyed him with a look of disapproval. Immediately the squad member steadied himself, crouching and strengthened his stance on that slanted foothold.
What he saw from the vantage point was a courtyard. A big statue dwelled in the middle, seemed to be a sculpture of a mystical with wings and four legs. A majestic yet eerie sight to behold. His vision was fixated upon that particular courtyard ornament, somehow he had an ominous feeling just by seeing that beast in the form of a breathless idol.
"Sir?" The squad member asked.
"Ah." Steven mumbled.
Steven snapped out of his mysterious daydream. Then both of them climbed down the wall by shifting the rope over to the inner side. As he was descending the steep beige bricks, he could not shake that unsettling feeling from his heart.
They were in the midst of a large courtyard of gray stone floor. The Growlithe was resummoned from its orb and it sniffed the air for a while. Finally picking up upon the trail, the small fire-breathing tiger ran to a certain direction. Without much waiting both of them followed it, heading to a canopy which led to within the large building.
The large twin, heavy wooden door was thick. The carvings on the pair of doors were various. And Steven pushed the door open. It seemed this was the correct path for Steven. They proceeded cautiously, his pistol was loaded, his sword was drawn, poised to strike. While the squad member aimed to the front.
What they saw was nothingness inside. Quickly, the Magnemites lit the dark hallway that this building had. There were two options for Steven, to the left or right.
"Remember, if you bleed, use the potion and bandage as soon as possible."
"And we will retreat if we are outnumbered." Steven said.
"Yes sir."
Then the Growlithe followed the scent it was latching onto, to the right path it went tither. The dreary air greeted them, as they searched deeper.
They passed through the windowless hallway, with a concise tempo and carefully done steps. Along the way, the fiasco on the ceilings showed this place was something significant. There were doors from their left and right. But the Growlithe did not stop at one of those mysteries.
There had not been any sign of dangerous vampires yet so far. Even so, the stillness was not a good sign for them. The question was what this place was? And why would the scent lead here, only one way to find out.
A while later the Growlithe halted. It led them to a big door, a twin doow similar to the entrance which differentiated this from the other door. The Growlithe made a stance, facing the door, the small tiger stared at the big gateway with indignation. As if the cub was ready to pounce, so it was behaving.
Steven put his ear on the heavy door. After a while, the chamber behind the door bore only a quiet atmosphere.
"Should we enter, sir?" The squad member asked with a hush voice.
"Wait, listen." Steven said.
For a while, he thought there was nobody inside. Minutes passed, yet there had not been any sign of strange activities.
Footsteps sound came from behind the door. Then came a few chatter, vague and hardly interpretable. But there were a few words Steven could clarify to himself.
"Hath… retur…?" A male voice spoke.
"… but … should… now." A woman replied.
The words were barely delivered to him, those were what Steven could catch. But the number of individuals inside was still unknown.
Light shone at the end of the corridor suddenly. A figure was thrown into the corridor. A series of clashes followed. Gunshots and swords clashing to each other were happening. Both of them turned to the source, from far away, it was unclear who attacked who. Though they could see, one figure was thrown into the wall. But it was a little of their concern soon.
"What was that? Inspect the noise from tither."
"As thou sayest." The female voice answered.
Immediately Steven's adrenaline was pumped like a torrent of water. And the squad member turned frantic.
"W-what now, wha-?" The squad member asked.
"Listen, I will engage at the front. Back me up" Steven cut him
"Yes sir." The squad member nodded.
The squad member then turned to the Growlithe and nodded. The two hovering Magnemites focused their flash to the door solely now.
"On my count of three…" Steven said.
The Growlithe was ready with its flame from within.
"Two…"
The squad member calmed his hands and settled his aim.
"One!"
`BANG!`
Instantly Steven kicked the door open with his full might.
Suddenly a stream of flame was spouted to a figure under the hood approaching the door. She screamed as the hot flame touched her. As the Growlithe stopped, Steven charged in with his fast-delivered punch to the female cult member. The cult member staggered but quickly retaliated with a sword and Steven parried, thus the fight continued.
The squad member shot one of the four cult members in the chamber. The cult member ducked behind the row of benches. Without waiting, the cult member fired back in an instant with a burst of slicing air waves.
The other two cult members summoned two mystical bats with large mouths and glistening sharp fangs. The bats swarmed toward Steven who was ganged up by the three cult members. Looking at Steven, the squad member shot the bats, keeping them from him. But the cult member that hid, shot another blast and the squad member took cover outside.
Elsewhere, at the entrance, Sidney rose up after being thrown to the wall. He parried the oncoming slash and attacked the cultist's neck which was blocked. And the fight continued with Sidney launching a slash empowered with malicious aura. But the attempt was met with the cultist's blade edge.
The now angry cultist pushed Sidney back. In merely a second the cultist closed the gap between them. His right hand was coated with translucent violet liquid, and he was delivering a jab. But Sidney hit him first with his empowered sucker punch. The hit knocked the hood off, revealing the male vampire's face.
"Now die, bastard." And Sidney continued the assault.
Outside the door, the female squad member shot the other vampire. The vampire fell on the ground but stood up quickly. Ignoring the pain, the vampire rushed in a blink of an eye at her with an axe. The sheer force made her drop her rifle and the vampire kicked it afar. Then she drew her sword, a saber with less ornaments compared to Sidney's. And the melee fight ensued.
As the danger was imminent, she let the unnecessary tension go from her legs. The vampire slashed at her thrice in a row. She narrowly dodged each time the axe came. The agility saved her. But the vampire had a nasty trick, then suddenly a breath of fire came at her. The squad member yelped. Her agility did not save her totally from the burning heat.
She summoned her mystical from its orb, a Growlithe. The cultist reciprocated by summoning a mystical by activating magic. A pentagram appeared on the floor, thus a bipedal blue croak appeared. The fire-breathing tiger blew flame and the croak hopped away. Quickly the tiger charged while cloaked in flame. The croak mystical dodged around in the courtyard while their master clashed.
While inside, Sidney managed to impale the vampire cultist precisely at heart. He panted a bit, while staring at the sprawled pale corpse. Then he was reminded of his underling, quickly he headed outside.
The female squad member managed to hold herself against the cultist. The cultist slashed at her stomach and she backed away. Her cuirass managed to protect her enough this time. But before the vampire proceeded any further, Sidney shot from behind, scoring a head shot. The cultist crumpled down. Without much waiting, the squad member proceeded to behead the vampire. And the vampire's mystical creature fled soon enough.
The female squad member walked to her rifle yards away, picking it up and reloading it as she walked back to Sidney.
"Let's head in, I think Chief Steven was inside." Sidney said.
"Yes sir."
Quickly they entered the building. The banging sound, the metal clashing sound, and the noise was beckoning from the other end of this dark corridor.
The surprise advantage had waned by now. The bats proved to be hard to be chased aways, the Growlithe struggled to land it with its flame. While its owner exchanged shots with the cult member, the squad member's ammo was depleting. And the Magnemites which lit the room were getting tired, each of their eyes was closing.
He calmed his mind down. Like a serenity in the midst of the chaotic noise. He opened his eyes and calmed his breath down. He peered into the room, and aimed carefully. The vampire appeared out of cover and was just about to launch an airwave. Less than a second later, he pulled the trigger. And the bullet penetrated the heart of the vampire.
At the same time, Steven kicked hardly the cultist approaching from his right. He closed the gap and attacked one of the cultists, focusing solely on that cultist. A punch was delivered but the cult member dodged. Steven stabbed but failed as the vampire parried. The cultist struck by an overhead strike which was tough to block.
The other cultist caught up to Steven's pace. The other cultist's sword slashed horizontally. Steven could only block that strike from his right. He broke the lock and backed away. But the three cultists struck Steven simultaneously, which he could shrug only one. His arm muscles were tightened.
Steven toppled over the bench behind him. Frantically he backflipped and landed on a bench a few rows behind. Forgoing his dropped sword, he drew his pistol, and gunned down the three cultist members. One was hit and fell down. The other one was shot by the squad member from the door.
But one jumped to Steven with a pointing dagger. To Steven's surprise, Sidney suddenly intercepted with a slicing slash. The vampire was quickly bisected, blood painted the benches as the corpse pieces fell down.
"That was close." Sidney said.
Steven calmed himself down, his breath was becoming steadier. He stepped down from the bench and picked up his longsword under the long bench. He headed to the three fallen vampires, inspecting each one of them. Minutes passed by, it was clear they had not perished yet except for one.
"Gather these vampires, we will question them." Steven ordered.
Quickly the two squad members dragged the two weakened vampires to near the pulpit of the hall. The vampires groaned in pain, helpless as they were pulled across the floor. One vampire tried to resist, but nonetheless he could only lay down before the steps to the pulpit.
Suddenly the other cultist lunged at the unsuspecting male squad member. The vampire managed to pin him on the floor in mere seconds. But just as the vampire was about to sink his fangs, his head was decapitated. Sidney was having his kill streaks increasing fast. He grinned at the surprised squad member who promptly removed the headless corpse.
Steven was looking at the last cultist. His smile was strict yet benevolent. While the vampire looked at him with much disdain and mockery. His fangs were shown off, but Steven was not fazed.
"I believe we can have a civilized talk, before we are set apart." Steven said.
"What askest thou, O mortal? Should I say, O heir?" The mockery was there.
And Steven's smile became lessened, as cordiality coalesced with indignation.
To Be Continued….