Chapter Twenty-Four

Bread Crumbs

Mika walked briskly through the lower halls, heading for the entrance to the underground caverns and the Hall of Final Voyage. He had informed his fellow Princes of their excursion into the mountain, and Arrow had laughed "If you manage to find some stragglers, they'll be dry as bones, I bet!" Paris had warned him to be careful, but had agreed to the small party's trip. "I've been feeling that something is off lately, as well…" he agreed with Seba that it would be best to investigate as soon as possible, even just to ease their minds. As Mika approached he saw the two he would be accompanying already waiting for him. Larten nodded in greeting, and Darren fidgeted with his clothing.

"The three of us will be enough, right?" Darren asked uncertainly as he adjusted the strap on the much-too-large leather belt that held his daggers. The young Prince was still far too small for the normal clothes available in the mountain, and Seba had taken to altering a few things for him in his spare time. His current project was to make a copy of Darren's old 'Pirate' outfit from the Cirque. When Darren had told him about it the old Vampire had laughed outright and said "Let me see what I can do!" patiently the half-vampire waited for fitting clothes.

Larten silently chastised him for his fidgeting.

"This was your idea, Darren," Mika smirked. "Having second thoughts? Should I call the trackers?"

Darren frowned and stopped tugging at his shirt. "No, no. You're right. Let's get in there. We probably won't find anything anyhow." He turned and began down the hall to the sounds of rushing water. Mika and Larten exchanged a smirk at Darren's' youthful uncertainty before following.

Within the Hall of Final Voyage, the icy cold waters seemed to be running even faster than usual, splashing upon the sides of their housing. The trio took a moment to inspect the domed room, looking for disturbances to the natural growing (and glowing) moss upon the walls and floor. There were no tracks that look terribly recent, or covered up, so Larten gestured for them to continue on. Darren ducked down beneath the river's bed and entered the small tunnel that led even deeper into the mountain. Larten followed behind him, but Mika stopped. He didn't remember the tunnel being so small since they're last journey inward to battle the Vampaneze. Tight spaces were never easy for him, even when he was younger and slimmer. Sighing he began to follow slowly, keeping one hand against the smooth stone wall in front of him to alert him of sudden shrinkage. They had brought a single torch, to be lit once they reached the room where the Vampaneze had been overwhelmed by their forces. With their keen night vision, it wasn't hard to see the walls and corners of the tunnel. But to look for minute traces of inhabitance they would need light, considering none of them were expert trackers.

Upon reaching the battle's cavern, Darren struck the flint to light the torch. The bright flame illuminated the walls and floors, some of which still had a faint staining of spilled blood. Mika looked to Darren and Larten, and it was obvious how painful it was for them both to be in the room.

"Darren, you cover the outside entrance, Larten and I shall scour the interior." Mika pointed his black-clad hand towards the other side of the cave which led to an exterior side of the mountain. "Report back immediately if you find anything."

Darren nodded, handed the torch over to Mr. Crepsley, and disappeared behind the rocks that led out.

As the two elder Vampires slowly examined the cavern, Mika noticed Larten lingering around a single spot. He would examine a section and wander back to the same stain on the hard floor. As he continued his investigation, Mika watched him. It happened two, three times before the Prince finally spoke up.

"Is that where it happened?" He whispered, sure that the older Vampire had heard him.

Larten stopped his pointless pacing and stood on the faded stain. "Yes." He crouched and touched the scarred stone, a sad sigh escaped him.

Mika cursed under his breath. "I am sorry this brings you so much pain, my friend." He walked over to Larten and put a hand on the older Vampire's shoulder. "I know what it is like to…" He looked downward, unable to finish his sentence. "We can always go back and send in someone else. This search is proving pointless." He turned and waved his hand at the room.

Larten nodded and moved to speak when Darren ran back in.

"You won't believe what I've found!" he said excitedly. His elders followed him out the opening; thankful that it was still night, though dawn would approach in a few short hours. The path led around a sharp corner of the mountain, to a completely different entrance. Another cavern in the mountain was nothing to be amazed with, but there was one startling feature that set this tunnel a part from the rest.

There were stairs carved into the stone.

And they led straight down.

"This is crazy, right?" Darren said, pointing at the hole.

Larten moved closer to investigate the steps. They were crudely made, only partially carved out, but the sheer angle of the tunnel made the stairs functionally sound. "Someone has been using these to get in and out of this area with ease." His eyes caught Mikas', and they suddenly remembered why they had been down there.

"If a group needed to get in and out of these tunnels with ease-"Mika began.

"They'd need to make some stairs! And look how wide it is? Three people could walk side-by-side in there!" Darren cut in. "There could be an army of Vampaneze down there, and we'd never know because nobody ever comes this far in…"

There was silence between the three of them. Larten continued to inspect the steps, and slowly worked his way inside the tunnel. "There are tracks."

"How many?" Mika asked.

"Just one set. Probably a scout, they send him out for supplies, easier than dispatching a chunk of the entire troop." Larten stood. "I will follow them."

"Not alone you won't." Darren countered. "You're not going to be able to handle an entire group of Vampaneze by yourself, Mr. Crepsley, I'm sorry but you're not that good!"

Larten smirked. "Then I suppose you should go back for reinforcements, but I will still follow the tracks. I will not engage any Vampaneze, should I find them. I do not want us to miss the opportunity to end this threat for good. Is that alright, sire?"

Darren shook his head.

"We will all go, Larten. It would be safer that way." Mika sighed. "I can only pray that we find a small group of them…" he gestured for them to continue into the hole.

Larten slowly descended into the pitch black tunnel, the torch in his right hand, his left on the rocky walls. Darren followed slowly after him, and then Mika, with one last look at the night sky, entered the darkness.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

As they travelled the unmapped tunnels beneath their halls, the scenery grew darker and darker. It had been hours since they'd last stopped to rest. But Larten continued to lead them forward, following the strange tracks.

There was a strange scent that wafted through the tunnels, and it seemed Mika was the only one who could smell it. It made his head fuzzy, like some sort of drug, and the Prince couldn't help but wonder if it was there purposefully to throw them off, even if Larten, the main tracker, seemed unfazed by it.

"These footprints seem nearly new." He said quietly. "Small, but Seba had said he was missing all sizes, from his smallest to his largest."

"Who's ever heard of a petite Vampaneze?" Darren cringed.

"It is true, our cousins tend to be bigger and more ferocious than us," Larten stated matter-of-factly, "but if the majority of these Vampaneze are young, like the ones originally encountered during Kurda's betrayal it is possible they will be closer in size to when they were human."

They came across a fork in the path and Larten led them down the leftmost path, continuing to follow the tracks. He stopped.

Darren nearly ran him over. "What's wrong, do the tracks stop?"

"No, they continue on." The orange-haired vampire said. "That is what perplexes me the most."

"Yes," Mika agreed. "These tracks are leading us straight, they never go back. It's as if they've been lain for us to follow."

There was a heavy silence between the three, and then Larten put out the torch.

"You think it's a trap?" Darren asked, his fingers twitching next to his daggers.

"I think there's only one way to find out. If it is a trap, better we go in just the three of us, than bring an entire squad. These caverns are unexplored, and we'd be poorly equipped to travel down here."

Larten laughed bitterly. "So better the three of us die and they send an army, than ten of our men die while we sit back and watch."

Mika nodded solemnly. "There are other options, but they'd be hard fought against a room of unruly Generals… and Arrow."

Darren sighed, and followed the strange tracks a further down the tunnel.

"Two Princes cannot be lost, remember we are at war, sire." Larten chastised.

"Yes, war with the Vampaneze, who may prowl the halls of our home. This shall not be tolerated! If I have to die to secure the safety of my people I shall!"

Their eyes met in the darkness, and though Larten could see Mika's rage, he could also sense his sincerity.

"Psst! Hey!" a hushed whisper. The two Vampires looked in the direction the sound came from. "Over here!" Darren mouthed to his companions. There was a sharp left turn coming up in the tunnel, and he could swear he saw the faintest hint of light.

"A campfire?" Larten whispered, looking to Mika uncertainly. It was a strange thought; previously the Vampaneze had known that the presence of a fire would be a dead giveaway to their location, so what would make them light one now, other than a trap...

"We are extremely deep underground…" Darren replied quietly. "If we hadn't spotted this trail, I would have never thought to come all the way in here. It's almost too cold to move!"

It was true, somehow the deeper they travelled the tunnels, the lower the temperature became. Though they were headed towards the bowels of the mountain, it was possible there were pockets of frigid air that had crept in during the winter storms.

"It smells of death." Larten finished, eyeing the faint light in the distance. He looked from Darren to Mika, both nodded their need to investigate further.

They continued forward, towards the flickering light. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, and nobody knew how long it was they had been walking. They had yet to trip a single trap, but were nonetheless wary of what may be waiting for them where the light flickered. The ground grew softer beneath their feet, though the walls remained solid stone. Darren wondered if perhaps they had made it to the bottom of the mountain, but knew that notion was ludicrous. Vampire Mountain was huge, and though they had been searching for hours (and it was very likely mid-day by now), it was unlikely that they were even halfway into its bowels.

As they veered the corner, they looked at each other for approval before walking straight into the eerie light. There was movement not ten feet before them. It was a sudden change, from hours of darkness to torchlight, and the group of Vampires could not clearly see in front of them for a few seconds. The young Prince was the first to regain his senses.

"W-who are you?" Darren asked, aghast.

The elder two squinted against the light; slowly a figure came into focus. The cavern was enormous, with four tall torches set up in the far corners. The walls and ceiling were rounded and smooth, not unlike the Hall of Final Voyage, and Mika couldn't help but wonder if this hall was once used by the Vampires of the mountain.

There was movement again in front of them, almost like a skittering of small feet. In the middle of the large cave was a strange figure, and as the trio stood and straightened themselves out, they realized that the movement they had seen was the movement of hair; jet black but for streaks of pale blue down the right and left sides; and obscenely long, straight to the floor. It was so much hair, in fact, that the person was completely masked by the cascading tresses, which continued to sway unevenly upon the floor, softly pushing gravel and dirt which made the skittering noise. The figure was short, too. No more than three feet tall, but for all that hair something did not seem right. Strangely, the wall of hair began shaking, up and down. It took them all a moment to realize that the figure beneath was laughing. Suddenly they began shaking, and Darren caught a glimpse of their eyes before it abruptly stopped. It froze him to the bone.

He'd only seen eyes like that once before: on Murlough, the crazed Vampaneze he, Evra the Snake-boy and Mr. Crepsley had fought years ago. Those eyes were trained right on Mika!

Another shaking fit, a flash of metal. Darren jumped; pushing Mika out of the way an instant before a long dagger (or very short sword) lodged itself to the hilt in the soft ground.

Mika cursed as Darren pushed himself up and reached for his own daggers. Larten was already standing at the ready, his throwing knives positioned between his fingers. Mika slowly rose off the ground to his full, towering height, reaching for his sword and eyeing the weapon in the ground with malice. Then-

He froze.

An onyx handle with a large ruby button towards the base.

'Impossible,' he thought, frowning. 'It must be a trick.' He blinked exaggeratedly and looked again. The dagger was unchanged. His head snapped to look at his attacker.

It was clear now that the reason they could not see the figure through the hair was because they were crouched down, head forward, allowing their long hair to hide their body from view. They were all looking at it now, at the hand that jutted out from under the hair, as if in mid throw, though the dagger lay buried in the ground. Black painted, jagged and sharp fingernails stretched long off of each digit; and slowly the hand withdrew behind the curtain of hair, but not before Mika noticed one extremely disturbing feature.

It was tan.

'Black hair… tan skin… the daggers, or at least one of them…' Mika shuddered staring at his gloved hands which were unable to grasp his sword; Darren and Larten stared at him wide eyed.

"Mika, should we attack it?" Darren asked uncertainly.

"It seems to have no trouble attacking us!" Larten snapped, hands fidgeting with their weapons.

"Mika, oh my poor boy. What should you do?"

The voice made them all jump, echoing off of the walls, and they focused their attention back upon the figure.

"I think you should fucking roll over and DIE."

It stood straight now, long hair slowly swaying against the floor, and now they could see their foe.

She was barely five feet and seven inches, with tan skin and generous curves, though she looked severely malnourished and unnaturally pale, possibly from living in the caves. She wore a black tube top and black leather pants, with combat boots that came to her knees. She had numerous tactical belts on, each stocked with weaponry ranging from throwing knives, not unlike those that Larten was holding, and two magnums. Hanging from her right side was a dagger that matched the one in the ground, and her hands twitched, as if barely containing the need to reach for it and slice something to pieces. She was ready for a fight to the death, that fact alone disturbed the three Vampires, but the most terrifying thing about her was her face.

She was smiling, wickedly, her teeth bared in twisted glee… And her eyes, as she glowered at them.

Her pale, ethereal blue eyes.

"Juliet…" Mika whispered, falling to his knees.

Against all possibilities, her smile grew even wider.