Together, the Melchahim and Rahabim vampires glided with silent caution across the planks leading into the first major stone posting in the great false lake. The covered, wooden pier reached a final hold, where stone steps protruded from the post into the covering that surrounded the wooden bridge. Torch light flickered from all around, granting light, minimal though it may be.
Atarah motioned to Zuriel to hold his position upon the bottom steps, while she carefully eased her way up the stairs, maintaining a flat posture, pressing against the wall to minimize her profile. Two Sarafan guards stood, leaning casually against the sides of a stone arch, which served as a gateway to the large, circular stone post's open platform. The two men appeared to be conversing in casual conversation, unaware that there had been any conflict by the shore below.
Atarah nodded downward to Zuriel, inviting the Rahabim with a shockingly wicked smirk. He knew what this meant, and unflinchingly he agreed with her silent request. Zuriel snaked along the righthand wall, quiet as a moth in the night, his claws flexed and longing to strike again. As they reached to highest-most footing on the stairwell, while remaining in the flickering shadows, the vampires observed and analyzed their prey.
Prey. An important decision before entering a well fortified enemy stronghold with the direct intent of launching an all out, if not initially covert, personal war. Battle, is what the Lord Kain would have called it. Only a small conflict in the greater scheme. Such a battle would hardly rate note-worthy when compared to the many conquests and directives that would befall Kain's sons, let alone his own personal achievements.
Atarah plucked a small sliver of loose stone from the steps, and placed it just so between her thumb and first claw. With a sudden snap, she sent the little pebble rocketing down the way, where it popped against a short stone bench which flanked the circular face of the great post. The two Sarafan leaned off of the walls, and stepped away from the arch. They knew it was highly unlikely that a vampire could have gotten past them without them knowing, let alone found a away onto the post that wasn't from the bridge. Regardless, they knew that it warranted investigation, lest the Captains exact a more ruthless punishment for failure to maintain optimal safety and security of the fort.
Unfortunately, such a mindset was well known to the vampires, and the agents of Kain were well versed in this knowledge, from the lowest Melchahim fledglings to the most noble Razielim masters. It was only when the Sarafan guards realized that it was only a chip of rock, that they also felt the puncture of claws upon their necks. The chest plates and leather gorgets worn below, torn asunder and snapped off with supernatural force. Zuriel pulled a leather gorget off of his prey with such speed and strength, that the man's neck almost broke under the sharp action alone.
Both guards were soon dispatched, regardless. Rahabim and Melchahim; Zuriel and Atarah fed in tandem, fanged maws upon Sarafan necks, while the Sarafan on the next post waited, unknowing, just as the two guards who were now to be sustenance were before their demise. Slowly, the bodies became limp, and discarded into the empty waters below, tossed away from the stone post like dolls into a box. Atarah and Zuriel strode to the outcropping where the mechanical bridge would extend to the second post. A set of three levers rested underneath a stone ledge, serving as a sort of protection against the common weathering and elements. Two more posts, and then it would be two tigers, stalking into the lion's den.