Author's Note: Apologies for taking so long with this one. I actually had to rewrite this chapter entirely at least four times because I didn't like how it was turning out.
Valkyrie Profile:
Lenneth Novelization AU:
Disclaimer: I do not own Valkyrie Profile or any other tri-Ace properties. Please support the official release.
Chapter Seventeen:
Justice and Power II
"Drink your fill. Become one of us while I make underlings for you of these other wretches!"
Roland could only cower in one of the back corners of his cell, watching in horrified sorrow as the fiend dripped blood from a slit on his wrist into Lawfer's mouth. Tears formed in Roland's eyes. Orlok wore a victorious, vulturine smile that was too wide to be natural as the change began. He chuckled as Lawfer unwillingly swallowed his blood, gagging while he did. The young knight tried to spit it up, but Orlok reached up and held his mouth shut. Lawfer lacked the strength fight him. He could only nauseously shudder in his arms.
Around them, the inmates were still screaming for help, and some which were restrained even in their cells took to banging their manacles against the bars to make more noise. Orlok still paid them no mind. As soon as Lawfer had swallowed his blood, the vampire set him down flat on his back. He smiled almost tenderly at him, running his fingers through the young man's hair and down the side of his face.
"Welcome, brother," Orlok whispered as though saying sweet nothings to his victim.
Then he turned those blazing crimson eyes on Roland. The younger Gusson trembled in his cell and hoped his last-ditch plot to save himself worked. He ran his fingers over the fresh bandage wrapped around his index finger he'd made from his own sleeve to remind himself he had taken action to defend himself.
As Orlok rose to his feet, Roland let out several small whimpers between shuddering breaths. The Vampire Lord respectfully stepped around the prone Lawfer to approach Roland's cell, brandishing the keys.
Feeling disgust for this creature coming up his throat like bile, Roland raised his voice, "Come no nearer, you devil! In the name of all the gods, I rebuke thee!"
This seemed to merely amuse Orlok, as he gave Roland a crooked a smirk.
The Vampire turned to the still form on Lawfer on the floor. "Your friend's quite rude."
Roland instinctively looked towards Lawfer, who stared back with glazed over eyes which were already in the middle of turning from icy blue to crimson. Despite his own predicament, Roland looked at him with genuine worry.
"Well, no matter," Orlok dismissively waved a hand. "In a moment, Roland will be much more polite."
"Please, cease," Lawfer begged.
He was still weak in the midst of turning, and could do nothing to halt his new master. A shaking hand, barely able to move under the weight of his own heavy plated armor, reached for Orlok's leg, but fell back to the floor.
This got another amused grin from Orlok. It lasted but a fleeting moment before the Greater Undead's expression became a grim visage of predatory hunger as he turned to Roland. He unlocked the cell. Now was the moment of truth, and yet Roland did not feel at all prepared as Orlok stepped inside. The frail young man squeezed his eyes shut, praying for the miracle necessary for this to work. Orlok remained in the small cell's door, entertained by his prey's fear. As the vampire took his next step, it felt like something punched him in the gut and shoved him out of the cell altogether.
Roland heard the commotion and opened his opened eyes, beholding Orlok outside his cell leaned against the bars of the iron pen across from his, staring back in confusion. The younger Gusson laughed in relief, receiving a scowl from the Vampire Lord in return.
"Just what is so amusing? What did you do?" Orlok demanded.
Roland pointed at the floor at the front of his cell. Orlok followed where he directed and spotted eight intersecting spears of the Helm of Awe scribed in Roland's own blood onto the floor.
"You'll not have me tonight, demon!" Roland declared.
Orlok gave him a cold, calm stare.
"Devious," he found himself begrudgingly admitting.
"Not a word I want to hear from you," Roland retorted.
Orlok controlled his anger, deciding to switch gears.
"Why do you resist?" Orlok asked seriously. "You would rather remain here, awaiting your execution for a crime you had no part in?"
In response, Roland let out a single, almost scoffing laugh without a trace of humor in his tone.
"I'd rather take my chances with the noose than with you. At least my conscience will be clear as they lead me to the gallows."
"Why? You know what awaits the frail, the elderly, and the meek on the other side?" Orlok coaxed. "An eternity in the frozen wastes of Niflheim with the Her Majesty, Hel."
"Or something worse by the judgment of the gods if I follow you?" Roland countered.
Orlok stepped forward again, coming to the edge of Roland's holy barrier. "Those gods do not care about you, so why hide behind them?"
"What do you mean?" Roland asked.
Orlok snorted. "Well, look at you."
He gestured at Roland's crutch. "You are weak and fragile, a burden to all who've ever known you. No loving gods would have ever cast you into this world in such enfeebled condition."
Roland's eyes narrowed. "That's where you're wrong. I wasn't born this way. I was once healthy and able to play with Arngrim."
"Oh, and what misfortune took that from you?" Orlok asked.
"Not that it is any of your business, but 'Twas the folly of men, not the gods," Roland answered. "Brigands who entered our home and murdered our parents did this to my leg. But the gods still blessed Arngrim and myself, giving us each other to lean on in the days after. Someone like you would never understand. So, return to whatever vile pit from whence you came."
Orlok remained silent, looming in as closely as he dared. "You would walk once more if you joined me. You'd never feel weak again, never a bug under the feet of other people. The world could be yours'. Any woman, yours'."
As Roland's expression turned angrier, The Vampire Lord smiled.
"Bet you prayed for release from the shackles of your lame leg," Orlok said. "I'd bet you prayed for countless hours and received nothing for it. Come with me, and I can give you what the gods will not. You'd be eternally young and strong. You needn't wait for fate to decide anything for you. You'd be seizing control of your destiny."
Roland sighed. "The answer is still no. Be of with you."
Orlok's features twisted in fury. "Be off with me? Off with ME?"
He fumed until he could not contain it anymore. "WHY?!"
Roland looked up at him coolly.
"You think our suffering pointless, but the gods did not burden us Gussons with any weight we could not bear. Arngrim and I found strength in our plight. Though I would give anything to wash away the shadow these memories cast, I would not trade the time I had with my brother for anything. I'll never join you or your kind. My brother risked his life fighting the things of the night more times than I can count. I won't be a part of your scheme. And you took advantage of Lawfer's good heart. To the deeps with you, demon."
Orlok stared him down, unmoving. "So be it, puppet of the gods."
At his feet, Lawfer began to stir. This got the Vampire Lord's attention. He turned from Roland as his new hive chief got up on his knees. Lawfer raised one knee, putting a foot flat on the ground and then pushed himself up.
"Welcome to the world of the unliving, brother," Orlok greeted him.
Orlok chuckled and closed the cell door again. "Well, I wonder how long you'll hold out when the King Joshua calls off the execution by my order tomorrow and his guards come down to collect you."
At first, Roland was confused, but then his eyes slowly widened with fear as he began to understand the full scope of Orlok's intentions for not just the dungeon, but all of Artolia. Orlok mouthed an "Oh, yes," to him before backing away. He left the younger Gusson to shrink into himself and begin quietly weeping in despair.
Outside Roland's cell, Orlok worked quickly. Already, Roland heard iron-barred doors moaning open, one after the other. Each time it was followed by the sounds of their occupants shrieking in terror before they turned to sick choking sounds, signifying the beast had begun feasting.
"Finally. There's the cellar door. We can get out of this stench!"
The instant the west cellar access came into view, Celia rushed past Kashell in the dark. Kashell picked up the pace and held the oil lamp over the door for his partner as she fiddled with the keys.
"You'd think royal shit wouldn't stink so bad," Kashell cracked.
"Ugh. Kashell!" Celia scolded him with the briefest of glances behind her. "So crass!"
Celia found the right one after a few tries. There a was "click", and then she cautiously pushed the door open a crack. Celia leaned forward, putting an eye to the space between the wall and door, looking around. On the other side was a dark room lit only by torchlight faintly filtering in from the hallway outside of the room.
No one seemed to be about, so Celia risked pushing the door open wider and stuck her head through. No one.
She turned to Kashell, nodding towards the room. "All clear, partner."
Celia stepped through with Kashell right behind her. While she shut the door behind them, Kashell took a look around for himself, holding up the lantern to make the bubble of light reach out as far as he could. They were in a workshop of some sort. Tools hung from the walls and equipment for repairs were either neatly lined up on the floor or atop large, stone tables.
There were a pair of large boxes set side-by-side near the sewer entrance.
"Hey," Kashell pointed towards them.
Celia nodded and treaded lightly over, trying not to make noise in her plate-mail. Kashell opened the lantern and blew out the flame. They wouldn't be needing it again for awhile, anyway.
"Ugh, I am so glad to be out of that horrible tunnel," Celia griped.
Kashell just smiled back as he sat down next to her, behind the other box. Celia smelled herself.
"Think we'll ever get all the stench out?" she asked.
Kashell sighed, wearily. "Not a chance."
Celia moaned unhappily next to him before peeking around the corner of their hiding spot.
"Please hurry, Lawfer, and be careful," she prayed aloud.
This was a sentiment Kashell shared very much.
"I just hope we did the right thing," he thought.
"Do you think he'll be alright with just Orlok?" Celia asked him.
Kashell gave her an uncertain look. "I really hope so, partner."
"Up ahead, my einherjar. The resonance of human thought I am sensing comes from within the castle."
"Wait, as in Castle Artolia. We're returning to my home?" Jelanda looked on in surprise. "Lady Valkyrie, what's going on?"
Arngrim inhaled rigidly, now on edge. He supposed this new recruit could be one of the other knights, but the way Lenneth had described the man's mannerisms, it sounded so much like Lawfer. Now the fact they were approaching the castle made it even more likely.
"Damn it," Arngrim somberly thought.
Belenus took notice of his tenseness.
"Something bothers you?" he asked with concern.
Arngrim didn't answer. His half-lidded gaze was that of a man deep in serious thought. By now, Llewelyn had noticed, too. Jelanda only failed to see Arngrim's change in mood because she pondered the implications of someone dying heroically within the castle walls again so soon. Her worried thoughts turned to her father.
However, all four einherjar had their ponderings interrupted when Lenneth suddenly stopped when she felt a surge of darkness within the castle. She began scanning the area below with her second sight.
"Lady Valkyrie?" Belenus asked.
"I sense… evil within," The battle-maiden said.
"Evil?" Jelanda cried. "W-what kind?"
Lenneth began circling the castle, reaching out with her senses. Her already serious expression turned grim when she realized what this presence was.
'Tis the Undead," she finally answered.
Jelanda gasped and looked towards the window of her father's quarters. "Oh, no, father might be in danger."
"Everyone inside is in danger," Arngrim sternly told her. Then he turned to Lenneth. "Where are they?"
"'Tis coming from…" The Valkyrie muttered.
Her eyes lowered to the ground and she saw auras of both living and undead on the basement levels through the earth. "The cellar, or the dungeon."
Both Arngrim and Jelanda's brows wrinkled as they tried to think of how the Undead could enter either one as Lenneth turned to address her team. She noted Jelanda holding her hands clasped together as though in prayer to complement her worried look. Arngrim looked as grim as before, but it was also now lined with worry.
"Make no mistake, my einherjar," Lenneth told them. "Another battle awaits us. The evil is still contained to the lower levels. If we hurry, we can stop it from spilling out. Come."
Belenus and Llewelyn both observed how alarmed their Artolian comrades had become. The nobleman in particular sympathized after his own experience with the Undead invading his home.
"Of course!" Belenus drew his sword. "I am ready, Lady Valkyrie."
Llewelyn regarded Jelanda, who fidgeted and wrung her hands anxiously.
"But how did the castle become involved in this?" she asked.
"We will find out shortly," Lenneth answered.
Llewelyn drew out his bow, holding it ready.
"Hey," he said reassuringly to Jelanda.
When she turned toward him, he'd already conjured an energy arrow.
"Let's kick these jerks out and show them who they're dealing with when they try to invade your home," he said confidently.
Jelanda gave a little smile and nodded.
Llewelyn faced the front, "Ready."
"Battle awaits, my einherjar," Lenneth said.
With that, they dropped from the sky, falling towards the castle. The einherjar involuntarily braced for impact, forgetting to some degree they were phantasmal in this form. They passed through wall and floor, unseen by every individual they saw still roaming the halls. A maid dusting a tabletop there, a servant wiping off the frame of a painting here, but none saw them pass. As they were pulled along behind Lenneth, it became clear to Jelanda they were heading towards the west side of the castle.
When Lenneth and her einherjar passed through the ceiling of the castle's first floor, she materialized them all into solid matter just as they reached the flagstones in front of the dungeon entrance. The Valkyrie stood perfectly still before the barred door with her eyes locked on the stairwell leading down. Jelanda and Arngrim recognized where they were right away.
"The far end of the west wing, eh?" Arngrim asked.
Belenus pointed out the iron bars on the door ahead of them, and asked Jelanda, "The dungeon entrance, I presume?"
"Uh-huh," the princess nodded.
"Our quarry lies through there," Lenneth pointed at the door.
"How would the Undead have gotten in?" Jelanda wondered aloud.
"Someone must have let it in," Lenneth began approaching the dungeon access.
The einherjar followed her keeping their heads on a swivel. Llewelyn fanned out to the side, and aimed a shot towards the dark dungeon entrance. No enemy could be seen or heard yet, but the young archer was taking no chances. He came up beside Lenneth as she stopped in front of it. They could both see down to the bottom of the steps, but the darkness beyond was almost too thick, like an entity in and of itself, seeking who it may snare.
"What of the heroic spirit calling to me, though?" Lenneth thought. "How does he fit into this?"
There wasn't much to see for the einherjar as they gathered around the dungeon entry. Lenneth's second sight, though, she could see the growing dark aura beyond.
"The fiend feeds on those who have been imprisoned below," Lenneth reported. "There will be many waiting for us down there by now."
Jelanda went pale at those words. "Th-the vampire's building a hive? In Castle Artolia?"
Arngrim could already think of several knights by name who frequently got dungeon duty, and they were all in danger. He grabbed one of the bars of the dungeon door and pulled on it. It was still locked. His face fell into an even grimmer expression. Beside him, Jelanda sighed in relief, putting her hands to her heart as if to still it.
"Oh, thank goodness. That means they're trapped down there."
Lenneth just looked at the girl with a raised brow, finding the girl's elation odd.
"How so?" Lenneth asked. "Simple iron bars will not stop a Great Vampire. The blessing I sense upon these grounds will not be enough to contain the culprit, either."
"The blessing? Oh, yes, the local Gothi come and bless the entrance of the dungeon once a week," Jelanda perked up as she recalled. "It keeps the Undead and Necromancers from being able to curse someone who might testify against them. Why would the blessing not stop the Greater Vampire, though?"
"'Cause the vampire has the keys," Arngrim stated.
Jelanda's cheeriness slowly drained from her demeanor as the implications set in. A muffled, batlike shriek from within the depths of the dungeon seemed to punctuate the point. It started as one, and then slowly became many, but it did not yet seem to be coming towards the steps. The sheer inhumanity of the cacophony of voices sent chills down the spines of Jelanda, Llewelyn, and Belenus.
"The fiend has already completed much of their work," Lenneth reported.
Belenus tore his gaze away from the gaping maw of darkness below them, and instead glanced between the two Artolians.
"Someone is perhaps in cahoots with the beast? A traitor to the throne?" the Lassen man asked.
Jelanda's worried eyes met Arngrim's grim stare, as both experienced an unwanted sense of déjà vu.
"It wouldn't be the first time," Arngrim unwillingly answered.
Belenus noted how uncomfortable the two Artolians were. Jelanda looked down at the floor like a crestfallen child while Arngrim stared like a man at the gallows.
"It has something to do with how you died, I am guessing?" Belenus asked.
Both Artolians grimaced. Jelanda averted her eyes even more.
"You needn't say anything more," Belenus told them.
"Villnore put a rat in the king's council," Arngrim admitted. "Jelanda and I got swept up in his coup, causing both our deaths."
Arngrim glared down the steps. "But that bastard Lombart was just a part of a larger scheme against Artolia. This could be another Villnore plot. Lombart was a Necromancer and they ain't shy about using dark magic and curses. Lombart also wasn't the only one Villnore's got workin' for 'em. There was this other fella with him that night, and he summoned a Hel Servant we ended up havin' to fight."
Arngrim looked at Lenneth and Jelanda. "Either of you remember that other guy's name?"
"Lezard Valeth," Lenneth responded immediately.
"That's the one," Arngrim pointed at her.
"Hmm…" Belenus considered. "So, we find ourselves within a tangled web this night."
"Indeed," Lenneth commented. "Now then…"
As she stood in the hall, only Lenneth's head moved around as she took in their surroundings. She looked down both passages leading to the sides and hallway behind them, where the path again split off in opposite directions.
"Jelanda, where do each of these doors lead?" The Valkyrie asked.
"Well…" Jelanda first pointed left from the dungeon door. The hall ended after another ten feet at a door. "That's an armory for the castle guards."
Then she pointed them right, where the hallway stretched out quite a bit further with two more doors along the western wall, neighboring the dungeon entrance. The hall then ended at a double door.
"The next door down is case files," the ex-princess explained. "Then the one after that leads down into the cellar. The door on the end heads out to the rear castle yard. The gallows and the guards' barracks are a straight shot from here."
Jelanda turned around, gesturing to the corridor behind them. "If you go left at the end, you'd be taken in the servant's quarters. Going right leads out into the main areas of the castle."
Lenneth cursed mentally. Of course access to so many other areas of the castle would be available from this back hallway. That meant…
She turned to the dungeon access again, deciding upon a plan.
"Jelanda," Lenneth again called.
"Yes, Lady Valkyrie," Jelanda turned to her.
"Did you load the pouches of your new belt with two of every Spell Crystal like you were supposed to?" the Valkyrie asked.
"Yes, Lady Valkyrie," Jelanda tapped one of the large pouches. "I made sure to stop by the einherjar armory to pick them up on my out this morning."
"Good," Lenneth answered. She stepped in closer to the barred door, gripping one of its staves. "We enter the hive now, my einherjar. Be vigilante, for I can feel them drawing nearer. They intend to complete their dark designs for the castle."
"Oh, Lady Valkyrie," Llewelyn spoke up. "Do not forget, I also brought a Thunder Crystal, a Flare Gem, and a Holy Gem as well."
"I as well," Belenus added. "I've shown you the veil of Holy Water I have been bringing with me."
Lenneth nodded in acknowledgement of the two men.
"Thank you, I had forgotten," she told them. "Jelanda, give Arngrim one of your Holy Crystals. Save the other for last. Llewelyn, give Belenus your Flare Gem. We will begin our assault with those items."
After Jelanda and Llewelyn had given the swordfighters their respective assigned item, Lenneth turned to Belenus again.
"Belenus, bring up the rear and sprinkle the holy water on the walls and steps as we go down. If any Undead get past us, it will slow them," she commanded.
"Yes, of course, Lady Valkyrie," Belenus was already drawing it from his jacket pocket.
Then, Lenneth phased them all through the bars. When they became corporeal again, Jelanda and Llewelyn almost tripped on the stairs when they suddenly set down on them. Then they descended the steps in single file, Lenneth in the lead, Arngrim behind her, then Jelanda and Llewelyn, and finally Belenus. The nobleman dipped his fingers in the sanctified waters inside the small glass container and obediently flicked it all around while uttering a quiet prayer, making an obstacle of the stairwell.
Orlok's head jerked back, leaving his fangs and lips dripping with crimson beads, and his latest victim quivering in pain and fear, pinned under him. He looked back towards the dungeon entrance with eyes able to see beyond the stone walls. He had detected the arrival of the Valkyrie and her einherjar the instant they crossed into the castle walls. Lawfer looked on him with perplexion. He tried to follow his new master's gaze, but lacked the experience with his new senses to do so.
Orlok, meanwhile, still sat on the half-drained inmate in the middle of the cell block, his demeanor and stance on all fours almost like that of an irate cat. His lips and one of his eyes twitched with rage as he felt the Valkyrie and her entourage coming straight for him.
"No!" he rasped aloud. "Not yet! Why now? How did she find me so quickly?"
Lawfer's confusion only deepened. "She?"
Orlok's head snapped towards him. His snarling face reminded Lawfer of a rabid wolf he had once encountered.
"The Valkyrie!" Orlok snapped.
"…V… Valkyrie?" Lawfer's astonishment was plain in his crimson eyes.
"Yes, what else could trouble me so?" Orlok's tone dripped with angry condescension.
The Vampire Lord looked toward them again, and saw five forms standing at what had to be the dungeon entrance. He knew he had but a moment to strategize.
"Blast it all, I've only half-finished with death row!" was Orlok's half-panicked thought.
Then, from the depths of his memory, he recalled Lady Beliza's words to him in the abandoned root cellar earlier that very day: "Well, when your plan fails, come and see me at the uninhabited Wakoku island south of Yamato."
Orlok bristled with anger even more at that.
"Never," he vowed aloud. "Not in my moment of glory! I'll show you yet!"
Orlok looked around at the two dozen freshly converted Lesser Vampires which made up their forces currently. They either stood, hunched over starring off into space or had taken to shambling about almost mindlessly or crawling on the walls and ceiling. In all cases, their humanity was utterly gone.
Roland remained seated in the back of his cell, watching as things that were once men now waddled or crawled around with formerly sapient minds rendered animalistic. He tried not to weep in despair as he clasped his hands in prayer, begging for deliverance for these poor souls, regardless of what their crimes had been.
Orlok pointed to Lawfer.
"You!" he demanded. "'Tis time for you to step up as the new hive chief! Command your troops! Defend me, your master orders it."
Lawfer's lip pulled up in a sneer, displaying his new fangs. "What does 'Master' wish of me?"
Orlok then jabbed his finger towards the exit madly. "Stall them while I finish up here and find us another way out of this loathsome confinement!"
"And if I refuse?" Lawfer asked.
Orlok responded by cutting loose with a wave of psychic energy which drilled its way directly into Lawfer's mind. The young knight groaned in pain, holding his head.
"I am the master!" Orlok shouted. "You will obey! Command your troops and defend me!"
Lawfer's hand fell back to his side as some of the comprehension left his eyes. He raised his halberd up, and slammed the butt of the body against the floor.
"Fall in!" Lawfer ordered.
The Lesser Vampire all turned to him in tandem and actually stood at attention, at least as much as a horde of shambling undead could. Lawfer raised his weapon, pointing the ax-head in the direction of the dungeon entrance.
"An enemy stands at the door," Lawfer shouted. "Come, we shall defend this keep for as long as our lord needs us! Now, follow me."
Then Lawfer stood at attention himself, banging his halberd against the floor a second time, before shouldering it and marching at the front of a loose formation of Lesser Vampires. The beasts fell in behind him, whether on foot on the ground or all fours on the walls and ceiling. Orlok watched Lawfer depart with his small forces in tow. However, it pleased him not.
"Lawfer is not ready, but I've no choice. I'll have to manage this hive, myself, if he dies."
As soon as they stepped into the dungeon entry hallway, Lenneth took center position within the formation while Arngrim and Belenus fanned out far to the sides to give Jelanda and Llewelyn plenty to room to shoot between the spaces in the front row. The mage and archer hung back, as always.
They had taken no more than two steps when the horde ahead all sounded off their battle cries at once, filling the air with batlike screeches. Their shrieks resounded from the prison area, through the reception room, and up the front hall to the party. Lenneth could see clearly through the darkness. She saw the door leading to the cell blocks ahead of them and felt the negative energies emanating from behind it.
"They are coming," Lenneth declared.
Jelanda again looked petrified, murmuring "Father."
"Stay focused," Arngrim told her firmly.
"Maintain positions," Lenneth ordered. She turned to Jelanda behind her on the right. "Jelanda, cast Earth Grave, but not as an attack. Form the spikes in a row, wall-to-wall. It will create a barricade. A makeshift one, but still an obstacle. Cast it as far ahead as you can."
"Yes, Lady Valkyrie," Jelanda bowed in compliance.
The ex-princess raised the Elemental staff she began building up the necessary magical energies. The vampires seemed to sense the power Jelanda was welling up, letting out another chorus of cries the instant her casting began. Lenneth glanced back and forth to Arngrim and Belenus.
"Arngrim, ready the Holy Crystal. Belenus, get out the Flare Gem. Pitch them towards the enemy on my word," she ordered.
Then she gave Llewelyn a sideways glance. "Llewelyn, bring down any who get through before Earth Grave has been cast."
Llewelyn had already drawn his bow taut again and had it aimed straight ahead.
"Yes, Milady!" was his enthusiastic reply.
With her commands issued, Lenneth unsheathed her sword, and held it straight up and front of her in salute to the coming battle before taking a fighting stance, holding her sword low with the blade pointed forward. Slowly, her team drew nearer to the dungeon reception room. They could see the desk and chair just off to the side and the three doors.
A great many hands began to pound the middle door in the reception area. Then the clattering became so intense, the wood began to shake under the many the palms and fists set against it until it violently swung open, slamming against the wall it hung from. Lenneth and her einherjar could see a great many pairs of red gleaming eyes glaring out at them from the other side. They seemed to peer out from behind each corner of the doorframe and filled the center.
Another shrill chorus of inhuman voices rang out the instant the Lesser Vampires caught sight of their enemy and they began to filter out. Some scurried through the door on the ground while others climbed around the doorframe onto the walls. Soon, a good fifteen of them were spread out from floor to ceiling heading towards the party.
"Call it, Valkyrie," Arngrim said.
"Hold," Lenneth raised her arm.
The entire party stood at the ready as the mob of Undead scurried into the hall. Llewelyn kept a steady hold of his bowstring, but was becoming increasingly uneasy as their enemy was quickly closing in at about twenty feet. Lenneth could sense behind her that Jelanda's spell was ready.
"Arngrim!" The Valkyrie shouted.
Arngrim wound up for the pitch and threw the Holy Crystal in a curved arc towards the vampires. Lenneth was ready to order her next move as soon as the Undead were stalled under the crystal's wrath. Then one prospective vampire ran ahead of the pack and leapt into the air right at the crystal, reaching out with one claw-like hand. It grabbed the object and cackled triumphantly as it landed. The entire party either gasped or cursed.
"Shit!" Arngrim quickly drew out Dáinsleif, expecting the worst.
The vampire catcher then turned its back on Lenneth's team, waving the crystal over its head as its hive kin began to run past. Llewelyn saw his chance and took it. Without waiting for Lenneth's order, he loosed his shot. Llewelyn just hoped he'd predicted the motions of the vampire's waving hand correctly. His gamble bore fruit when his arrow skewered the Holy Crystal, shattering it and unleashing the cleansing spell within. At all once, several bolts of purifying energy shot out in all directions, killing the Undead that'd caught the crystal and severely wounding four more. The other ten stopped dead in their cracks at the burning, holy power, and leapt back in retreat, hissing, and wailing gloweringly.
"Jelanda!" Lenneth barked.
The former princess lowered her scepter and pointed its gem-studded head forward. "Earth Grave!"
There was a loud rumbling from under their feet, and then ten spikes burst up through the flagstones, sending debris flying all over as they drilled upwards shaking the entire chamber until their pointed tops punctured the ceiling. The Lesser Vampires on the other side roared viciously at the sight of this new obstacle. The ten uninjured Undead raced forward and rammed the spikes, trying to break through. Jelanda, Llewelyn, and Belenus all breathed easier seeing it withstand the assault.
"Nicely done, Jelanda," Belenus congratulated her with a friendly laugh. "We can strike from a place of advantage for once."
Jelanda smiled.
The vampires screamed at them and tried squeezing through or reached through slashing the air with their fingertips. Lenneth regarded the upper part of the blockade, noting how much thinner the stalagmites were the top. The gaps were just wide enough for one of the Undead to squeeze through if given the chance. The Valkyrie pointed her sword straight.
"Charge!" she commanded. "Kill as many of them from this side as you can!"
Then she, Arngrim, and Belenus all dashed forward. The instant The Valkyrie neared the spikes, one of the vampires tried to force its way through to get at her, clawing at her like a feral cat. Lenneth crouched slightly, sliding on her feet under one of its swipes. She threw all her weight behind a upward arcing slash which cut off the Undead's arm below the shoulder. It cried in pain and fell back from the spikes.
Arngrim led with his sword and skewered another through the gap in the spikes. One of the others grabbed at his sword, and the large warrior responded by bracing his feet against one of the stone spikes and pushing back. It slashed the vampire's hands horribly, leaving it without many fingers and a ton of pain. Then he thrust his blade through again, but the vampires on the other side jumped back this time. Arngrim's eyes narrowed as he regarded the beasts climbing around the other side of the spikes like grasshoppers.
Thinking fast, Arngrim got an idea. He grinned knowing it was reckless and even stupid, but he did it anyway. He stuck his own hand through.
"What are…?" Belenus cried in shock.
Without hesitation, the beasts jumped in to grab it. Arngrim waited until one actually grasped his arm. The Heavy Warrior pressed a foot to one of the spikes, pushing himself back with all his might. The vampire fought him, pulling to keep the warrior's arm on their side, and one of its kin grabbed it around the waist to add their own strength to yanking Arngrim through. Belenus jumped forward, pushing his sword through the vampire holding Arngrim, piercing it up to the hilt, also skewering the one behind it. They both crumbled and Arngrim pulled free.
"Whoa," Arngrim nearly tripped from his own backwards momentum, but caught himself. He turned to Belenus with a wide grin, pumping his fist in the air. "Got 'em!"
"Are you insane?" Belenus shouted back in disbelieving anger.
Arngrim just smirked one more time and turned back to the spikes.
When Belenus looked to their enemy again, one of other Lesser Vampires poked its head through the gap to hiss at him for killing two of its brethren. The Lassen man plunged his blade into the gap, but the vampire hopped over to the next two spikes. It then reached through, grabbing Belenus by the shoulder to pull him close. The nobleman acted quickly, taking out the veil of holy water and dipping his fingers in it again. He then grabbed the creature's exposed forearm with his wetted fingers. As the beast's skin burned and bubbled as if boiling, it shrieked and let go, retreating further up the spikes.
Llewelyn had just shot one through the heart, turning it to dust, when he noticed the one retreating to the top. Lenneth also saw it and glanced back to the archer. Seeing him already following the Undead with his bow, she returned her attention to the ones crowding about the base. At the top, the creature was about to turn itself sideways to fit through, but it saw Llewelyn. The boy released the arrow, and the Lesser Vampire hid behind the spike. The archer cursed.
"MYSTIC CROSS!" Jelanda cast.
As the bolts of light shot at the vampires through the spaces between the spikes. After two of the beasts got blasted and were instantaneously dusted, the rest either jumped down or took cover behind the stone makeshift bars, taking only minor burns from the purifying effects. Jelanda let out a petulant whine in response, and then started shaking her staff at their enemy angrily.
"Hey, you, you're not supposed to do that!" she pouted.
"Valkyrie…" Arngrim started.
"I know," Lenneth also noted how quickly the lesser undead had adjusted despite their lack of intelligence.
They'd slain six of the fifteen, but she knew a new strategy was needed. She turned to Llewelyn, holding out her hand.
"Llewelyn, bow!" she called.
The archer tossed it to her. She then turned to Belenus, "The Flare Gem! Throw it center!"
The Lassen man took it out and prepared his throw.
"I am taking us through the immediately after it goes off," Lenneth announced.
Belenus let the gem fly, and Lenneth followed it with the bow and let her shot loose just as it was passing by the Lesser Vampires crawling on the spikes. Fire burst out in all directions, and even lashed at the team from between the stalagmites, who all covered their faces and stepped back. Then it dissipated as quickly as it appeared.
Lenneth tossed the bow back to Llewelyn and took off from the ground.
"Jelanda," The Valkyrie said. "I will leave you on this side for a moment. Cast from here, but be sure of your aim."
"Yes, Lady Valkyrie," the ex-princess bowed.
Lenneth then phased herself and the fighters all through the spikes. On the other side, the vampires were all either writhing in pain on the ground or rolling around screaming in attempt to put out the flames. Some noticed their enemy pass into their midst and righted themselves, hissing and snarling at them.
Two of them circled around Lenneth from different angles. She watched them and allowed a quick glance behind over her shoulder. Arngrim had her back, swinging swiftly in wide arcs to keep three at bay at once while a fourth was pinned under his boot, and was clawing futilely at his greaves and thick pants. An arrow from Llewelyn put it down. Lenneth turned her attention back to the vampire duo facing off against her, blocking out Arngrim shouting at Llewelyn about how close that shot came to his foot.
The Valkyrie studied the vampire duo's every movement. When the two had spread out further, they rushed her. The Valkyrie held up her sword for just a second, and then instead of striking at them, she dove headfirst into a roll between them, narrowly avoiding their teeth and clawlike fingernails. Both she and the vampire duo skidded to a halt while turning themselves around, mid-slide. Lenneth crouched, standing on bent legs and her left arm, while her right arm was outstretched to the side, clutching her sword.
She and the vampire duo charged each other again at the same time. Lenneth leaned into her run, now gripping her sword in both hands while still having it drawn to the side. As they were about to reach each other, the Valkyrie freed one hand, cutting loose with a freezing blast, incasing one of them. The sudden formation of crystal knocked the other one away, and sent it crashing to the ground. Before the prone vampire could recover, Lenneth jumped in and thrust her sword straight down through its back, dusting it instantly.
Arms suddenly wrapped themselves around Lenneth's middle section, pinning her hands to her sides. She let out a short cry as the Lesser Vampire hoisted her into the air. It twirled her around towards a nearby wall. The Valkyrie saw it intended to bash her face-first against the bricks and kicked straight out with both legs just in time for her booted feet to take the brunt. The vampire's own momentum pressed her into a squatting-like position.
Lenneth grunted almost painfully as she shoved off with everything she had, pushing the vampire holding her far back enough, it went off-balance. She could have simply allowed the vampire to fall backwards and let herself fall on it. Taking the full brunt of a person in heavy plate-armor would wind the beast, but Lenneth was feeling vindictive now. This brute had thrown her around like a sack of potatoes, and to a goddess of Asgard, that was a punishable offense.
So, she focused on flying straight backwards. The vampire protested through several short screeches as it felt itself suddenly in the air, being launched backwards. Lenneth braced herself for impact and then slammed the Undead into the other wall with enough force to crush its ribs between the brickwork and her back-plate. Although the Lesser Vampire took the brunt of the damage, the battle-goddess did not get off entirely unharmed, suffering whiplash when her head snapped back against the vampire's face, breaking its nose on her skull. Wheezing, it let go of her and fell to the ground, unable to move or breathe with the chunks of almost powderized ribs puncturing several soft things inside. Lenneth flipped her sword over, pointing the blade downwards and then drove the blade through the creature's body.
A short distance away, the incased Lesser Vampire fought against its crystalline imprisonment, causing cracks to form in the crystal. It eventually broke itself out, making chunks scatter everywhere. It looked around, snarling and wanting to put the hurt on something in retribution. It turned and saw the other remaining vampires facing off against the Valkyrie's warriors.
"SACRED JAVELIN!"
The vampires barely saw the phantasmal spears form over them which shot down, impaling and killing them all immediately. Seeing the last of this wave crumble, Lenneth allowed her sword arm to lower. She rubbed her aching neck as she approached the spikes, which Jelanda was still standing on the other side of. Arngrim and Belenus took up positions behind her facing the reception area since the prison area door still hung open like a portal to darkness. Llewelyn was backed up almost up against the blockade, but his bow was lowered.
"Well done, all of you," Lenneth looked from Jelanda to the other three as she spoke. "Now, then…"
Lenneth held up her hand and phased Jelanda forward through the makeshift bars. Then she turned to face the open door of the reception area as well.
"There are more to come for certain. Let us make haste," the Valkyrie said.
She took the lead, walking briskly into the small room at the end of the hall, followed closely by her team. Lenneth could swear she was hearing muffled groaning coming from the door on the right.
"Interrogation," she silently read the plaque above the door. "I hope they didn't leave some poor soul in there overnight."
She looked through the center door and saw a figure surrounded by the Undead beyond.
"What it is, Lady Valkyrie?" Llewelyn asked from the back. He stepped to the side, aiming into the unnatural darkness through the door.
"Someone approaches. More Lesser Vampires, but led by an Undead cut from a finer cloth than they," Lenneth answered.
Clanking footsteps echoed into the reception area accompanied by more hissing and screams, and the party took up defensive positions, ready for a fight. They assumed the same formation as before.
"What does it look like, Lady Valkyrie?" Jelanda asked.
"A man in knight's armor," Lenneth answered.
The words had just left Lenneth's mouth when the hive chief stepped out into the torchlit room, and the Lesser Vampires crawled out along the sides and top of the doorframe behind him. The instant the man's face left the shadows, Arngrim's face fell from a determined scowl to a shocked and pained stare. He knew this man on sight from his unmistakable wavy blonde hair, boyish looks, and eyes which had once been icy blue. Arngrim let out a prolonged, throaty gasp. Shock also registered on Jelanda's face behind him. The others glanced at the Artolians.
"Sir Lawfer?" Jelanda blurted out.
"Buddy…?" a single, sorrowful word emanated from Arngrim.
"Princess," Lawfer replied with a light bow. Then he regarded Arngrim with nothing but shame and remorse in his eyes. "Arngrim…"
The Lesser Vampires surrounding the undead knight nearly lunged for the group right away, but Lawfer held up his hand, silently ordering them to maintain position for the moment. As Lenneth looked into his eyes, she saw only humanity despite his vampiric features.
"He is the one I've come for. His soul is not tainted yet," she realized. "I can still save him."
However, the goddess did not move to strike him down and provoke his underlings just yet.
Belenus glanced from warrior and princess over to the undead knight. "You know him?"
"Yes, 'tis Sir Lawfer! One of father's best knights!" Jelanda's voice was shaky as she answered.
"You flatter me too much, Princess. You really do," Lawfer felt like a disgrace. He met none of their eyes as he spoke. "I entered this place of penalty seeking to right a wrong, but instead I let a monster in."
Lawfer then glanced at Arngrim. The scarred warrior could still only stare.
"Arngrim," Lawfer said. "Roland is… Arg!"
A sharp pain in his head signaled Orlok reasserting control over him and he began to shake. Arngrim craned his head back in surprise at the mention of his brother.
"Roland?" Arngrim asked. "Roland's what? What's wrong with my kid brother?"
Lawfer squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to fight Orlok's influence, too focused on that task to even hear Arngrim's question. The undead knight felt himself picking up his halberd and pointing the blades out towards the Valkyrie's party in challenge. Everyone except Lenneth tensed, anticipating the attack.
"No! Not yet, not yet!" Lawfer rasped.
He clutched his head as his entire body jerked about while he fought Orlok's influence. As soon as he had some measure wrestled back to himself, he opened his eyes and turned a pain-contorted face towards Arngrim.
"Arngrim, Roland is here!" he shouted. "The king blamed you for what happened to the princess. He sentenced Roland to death because he can't punish you! He's on death row! With the beast! He drew a ward in his own blood, but I don't know if it'll hold! You'll have to do what I am no longer able to!"
Arngrim and Jelanda both were both beyond mortified by what they were hearing.
"My father… what?" Jelanda trembled meekly.
Lawfer than let out a primal roar, raising his weapon like an ax over his head. With the last of his will to resist, he shouted: "Save him! Save him!"
Lenneth pointed her sword at Lawfer's heart, but before she could charge him, Arngrim blew past, stepping between her and Lawfer.
"Let me handle this, Valkyrie!" Arngrim shouted. "I will fight him by myself!"
Jelanda stepped forward with a sad protest on the edge of her lips, but Arngrim held up his hand to stop her.
"No, little one," Arngrim said firmly.
Lenneth nodded in respect to his request and backed up a step, holding an arm up, signaling to the others she was allowing the Heavy Warrior his duel. Belenus, Llewelyn, and a very reluctant Jelanda also took a step back.
The instant Arngrim and Lawfer began circling each other, the Lesser Vampires stirred, spreading out further across the walls and ceiling. They began pivoting back and forth on their haunches like cats about to spring on a mouse while they bellowed challengingly at Lenneth and the other einherjar. Although only ten there were now, the party could already hear more coming from beyond the door behind Lawfer. Jelanda looked around, for even she knew this was not an optimal place to fight.
Even as Lawfer was about to clash with Arngrim, he could feel the intent in his underlings. He held up his hand to halt them again. The vampires bristled in response, crying out in protest, but Lawfer gave them another halting hand signal, and then pointed through the door. Some of the vampires whimpered while others became quiet and sullen, but they obeyed. They began to back off and slowly retreated back into the hallway. Their hive chief had ordered them to give him space, and so they did. The last one through the door even shut it behind them.
While this had happened, Arngrim saw a perfect opportunity to strike Lawfer down while he had one hand off his halberd, but he held back, recognizing that Lawfer had just given them some additional slack.
"Good ol' Lawfer," he thought melancholically. "You're still in there. Don't worry, I'll make this quick and you'll be free."
His expression turned stern and angry as another thought came to him. "And Valkyrie better take us from here as soon as I got Roland out, because if she doesn't, I might just wring that weak king's neck."
With that, the duel commenced. Lawfer took the first swing, bringing down a diagonal stroke from above, which Arngrim parried with a sweeping cut across the front. Then the Heavy Warrior adjusted the angle of the blade and sliced right at Lawfer's face. The undead knight ducked with inhuman speed, sliding around to Arngrim's left while the large warrior's sword swung right.
Jelanda gasped and dug into one of her belt pouches in a desperate bid to save Arngrim, but Lawfer's stroke was already falling, bearing straight down on Arngrim from above. Arngrim knew what Lawfer had done, and that he didn't have time to block with his blade. So, he thrust his sword, hilt-first, straight across. His aim was true and the hilt smacked the blade of Lawfer's halberd back, taking the undead knight off-guard.
Arngrim let go of his sword with one hand and quick-stepped forward, punching the undead knight across the face, making Lawfer back off even more. As Lawfer stepped back on somewhat wobbly feet, Jelanda stared in amazement. It'd all happened so quickly, it almost didn't register how Arngrim had managed to save himself. Beside her, Belenus and Llewelyn had similar reactions. Only Lenneth seemed unaffected by Lawfer's near victory.
Lawfer lowered his hand from his bleeding nose and looked at the blood on his palm. He licked his lips, but tore his gaze away, taking his weapon in both hands again as Arngrim went on the offensive. As the two warriors crossed weapons, they pushed against each other, vying for dominance. All the while, Lawfer seemed strangely happy for reasons Arngrim could not pin down.
"I should not have expected less," Lawfer said bittersweetly. "You're were always so strong, Arngrim."
Arngrim lightly scowled. "Don't you dare start with that 'You're special, Arngrim,' crap right now. Not unless you want to wear my puke."
Lawfer laughed in response as they broke off. Arngrim swung in from the right, which the undead knight blocked with a stroke from above. Lawfer tried to parry Arngrim's sword down to the floor, but the ex-mercenary jerked his blade away, looping it to side and back up alongside his shoulder with the blade pointed right at Lawfer. Arngrim thrust straight out, stabbing at Lawfer. The undead knight's upper body jerked back as he threw himself into a backpedaling retreat. The Dáinsleif glanced off Lawfer's armor, leaving a deep mark.
With his enemy retreating, Arngrim pressed the attack, roaring as he charged forward. He'd drawn the hilt back to his shoulder with the blade still pointed forward. He thrusted at Lawfer again, and the undead knight swept his halberd up from below to block. Arngrim broke off the attack at the last second, stopping his forward charge and pulling back his sword before the two weapons crossed again. Lawfer was thrown off-balance by the sheer umph of his own stroke and stumbled. Arngrim then pushed forward with another stab while the undead knight was open.
Lawfer looked down at Arngrim's blade sticking out of his chest. It'd punched through his chest-plate and into his heart before he fully realized it'd happened. The knight froze with his arms raised, but dropped his halberd, which clunked heavily against the floor at his feet. For a long moment, no one moved. Arngrim stood with his sword stabbed into Lawfer. He wanted to look away from the harm he'd inflicted, but could not. His dying friend grimaced in pain, but refused to cry out.
"This pain… is nothing. Not compared to what Roland's endured these last weeks," Lawfer told himself.
As Lenneth looked on from the sideline with the others, her eyes strayed straight to Lawfer's soul, relieved to see it still untainted. Beside her, Jelanda silently wept with her hands buried in her face while Llewelyn and Belenus looked both relieved and somber, piecing together what this young man had meant to the Artolians in their group. A distant cry of fury came from within the bowls of prison area beyond.
"The fiend knows his pawn has fallen," Lenneth thought.
Arngrim was still reeling from the duel, cursing the undead fiend had put them in this position with every fiber of his soul and with every foul word he knew. Yet, most disconcerting was the sad smile Lawfer gave him.
The undead knight reached up and pushed himself free of Arngrim's blade. As he knees grew weak, he fell back against the wall. Lenneth approached him and stood by his side, steadying him while he leaned against the wall. Lawfer's face contorted from the pain again, and yet he laughed, looking on Arngrim fondly even as the first particles of dust began to fall from him. Arngrim nearly looked away, not wanting to watch Lawfer crumble, but he couldn't bring him to break eye contact with him. The ex-mercenary's mouth moved, though he struggled to find words.
"Lawfer, I…" Arngrim managed to utter.
"'Tis alright," a strained wheeze emerged from Lawfer's lips. "I brought this upon myself. I ignored the council of our friends in my haste to save Roland."
Lawfer raised a quivered finger towards the cell blocks. Dust had begun to fall from between armored plates everywhere. Lenneth put one of her hands to his chest in preparation to claim him, but remained silent to allow the two men to say their piece.
"The fiend lies beyond still," Lawfer ignored how his pointing finger dissolved, followed by his forearm.
With the last of his strength, he looked at Arngrim again.
"Even now, you're the strongest there is, old friend," he said. "Still unsurpassable even against this violated, unnatural form that was forced upon me, but I was happy to battle… you… agai…"
His body gave out, falling to dust in a pile beneath where his armor and clothes fell upon the floor. All that was left was the glowing orb of blue light, his soul, clutched in the palms of Lenneth's cupped hands.
"Your mission has not ended yet, Sir Knight," the Valkyrie told him softly.
Then she took the soul into herself. Lenneth's wings translucently shimmered as Lawfer emerged between them, materializing back into physical form. He set foot on the floor, and looked himself over in astonishment. He reached up and felt his teeth, letting out a joyous laugh when he felt only normal canines and molars, but no fangs. Moreover…
"His hold. His voice in my head," Lawfer gripped the sides of his face with a look of immense reprieve. "'Tis gone. His hold over me is gone."
"Heh heh! Welcome back, buddy!" Arngrim walked up and clapped Lawfer hard enough on the back to knock him forward.
Lawfer let out an "Oof!" before turning to Arngrim with a look of bewilderment.
"Good to see you restored to your proper self, Sir Lawfer," Jelanda also approached and curtsied.
Lawfer instinctively bowed to her, still looking unsure. Belenus and Llewelyn hung back, allowing the reunion to play out, undisturbed.
"Something bothin' ya?" Arngrim asked.
"Well, I am restored. But how?" Lawfer asked.
Then he heard metallic footsteps behind him and turned to face Lenneth as she approached him. Lawfer also saw the pile of dust and empty clothes and armor that were his remains, and realized at once what occurred.
"Lady Valkyrie," Lawfer bent the knee before her. "I am honored to be allowed to serve under you, but… why?"
He looked up at her with contrition. "I became a defiled thing. An undead!"
Lenneth regarded him with the same calm sternness she gave to the others. "Not by your own volition. You did not feed on any blood, and so the corruption was slowed. 'Twas still contained to your flesh when you dueled Arngrim."
"So, you'd… have me?" Lawfer asked hesitantly.
"Yes," Lenneth nodded. "Now then, my einherjar, rise and join your comrades."
Lawfer stood back up, looking toward Belenus and Llewelyn for the first time. The archer waved at him, prompting an awkward smile from the knight.
Lenneth, however, turned to the door of the prison area. "No time for pleasantries, the vampire drones now congregate around the reigning vampire who turned you."
Without another word, Lawfer picked up his fallen halberd and joined Arngrim and Belenus in forming a row of three behind Lenneth with Llewelyn and Jelanda behind them in their usual spots.
"Belenus, son of Grannos," the Lassen noble greeted with a quick smile before facing forward. "Pleasure to be working with you."
"Lawfer, son of… Lawson," Lawfer awkwardly responded. "Pleased to meet you."
"Llewelyn, son of Desmond," the archer introduced while drawing the bowstring back. "Welcome aboard."
"Thank you," Lawfer shot him a quick grin.
Lenneth lingered in front of the prison area door. She was hesitant to charge in, since she knew it'd be close quarters with a mob of lesser vampires and a reigning Undead. They could get overwhelmed easily. She looked back at Lawfer.
"Lawfer, was it?" she asked. "Is there a more optimal place down here to make a stand?"
"Yes, Lady Valkyrie," Lawfer pointed towards the storage area to their left. "'Tis a large area. Plenty of room and obstacles to use to our advantage."
Lenneth nodded. "Very well, but first…"
She grabbed the door handle. "To draw the fiend and his thralls out. Perhaps…"
Lenneth paused, and then let go off the door, backing away. She motioned for the others to do the same, and they did, moving backwards with her.
"Valkyrie, what's up?" Arngrim tightened his grip on Dáinsleif.
"He is coming," Lenneth replied.
Orlok had just dropped the last inmate after feasting on him when he felt it. His entire body jerked as he felt the psychic link between himself, and Lawfer severed. He spun around, looking past the mob of newborn undead towards where he knew the fight had happened.
"What? How could this be? I knew he wasn't ready, but to fall so fast?" Orlok said in outraged astonishment.
His features quivered as unholy fury took him and he threw his head back, screaming. After he belted out his spiteful shout, he stood there fuming, giving off an aura that made the Lesser Vampires around him back away and cower. After he collected himself, he looked around at them.
"Fine. I will just take charge of this hive, myself," he vowed.
He held up a beckoning hand to his minions. "To me, my pets. We will make sweet music of their mournful cries before dawn."
Orlok hovered into the air and flew over the heads of his underlings as he passed through the chamber. When he neared the door, he flicked a finger towards it, making it open on its own. As he floated out into the intersecting hallways, the Lesser Vampires followed him, walking in even neater ranks and rows than they did under Lawfer's control. The final door was just enough of them, and on the other side, he could make out the auras of the Valkyrie's band of party crashers.
The door flew open again. Lenneth and the einherjar went very still, going tense in preparation to move quickly. Then from the shadow he came, hovering with a wind that could not be felt making his long black coat flutter. Lawfer's eyes narrowed in rage while surprise registered in the faces of the others for just a second.
"Orlok!" Lawfer had to hold himself back from breaking formation. "You lying bastard! You used me!"
"Oh, if only you had been of use," Orlok dismissively answered.
Arngrim also growled, more ready than ever to punish this enemy on the sharpness of his blade.
"A lowly defiler dares to mock a noble soul destined for Valhalla?" Lenneth demanded. She pointed her sword at Orlok. "That you would dare show your face to me again displays an utter lack of sense on your part."
"If only your blade was quick as your tongue," Orlok shot back.
"You…" Belenus's voice was low but hard as stone. "You're the fiend who attacked Asaka. I've still a score to settle with you, myself."
Orlok chuckled at the Lassen noble. "Oh, yes, the noble fool in love. For all the good it did you in the end."
Now it was Lawfer's turn to be surprised as he looked around, realizing they'd all encountered Orlok before.
"So, you have a name after all, beast?" Belenus asked. "Orlok?"
"Orlok Dracul, he claims," Lawfer conferred.
Belenus looked at the young knight, gaping, before he gave Orlok another murderous glare.
"Dracul?" the nobleman asked. "As in the Draculs who restarted the Gorhla cult? I wish I could say I was surprised by the acts of one from that cursed line."
Orlok sneered back. "As if a slave to fate could ever understand what we hoped to accomplish."
"Accomplish?" Lenneth spoke in a tone that stopped just shy of being mocking. "The Gorhla cult was nothing but a means for a corrupt wizard to gain political and religious power for himself. Now someone attempts to revive that inane false faith?"
A sound almost like the whistle of a teakettle emanated from Orlok as he hovered above in petulant rage.
"You will not speak of our founder Khanan in that manner! He was on the brink of greatness when cut down in his hour of glory!" Orlok bellowed.
"If glory was what he sought, then his intentions were no more noble than yours'," Lenneth countered.
"The unholy beast seeks to build an empire of undead to use against you, Lady Valkyrie," Lawfer spoke loudly. "He even intended to turn the king and make him a puppet, as he did with me."
Jelanda's head snapped towards Lawfer, reacting with a mix of disgust and anger to this news.
"Enough!" Orlok stretched out his hand towards them. "Since you already know my intent, there is no further need for words. Get them, my pets. Break them into stardust!"
With that, the vampires swarmed out. Before they got the chance to fill the room and cut off their escape, Lenneth flew to the side, taking her einherjar back into herself as she phased through the storage area door.
As soon as they were on the other side, the einherjar found themselves rematerialized in a large room full of rows and rows of tall shelves containing everything from small wooden boxes to various miscellaneous items, to books. There was a small open square area by the door, sectioned off by chest-high walls on either side and a desk across from them. Farther back towards the middle of the room, there were long tables set up in open areas like a library, and a square of wooden file cabinets in the right back corner.
The einherjar then heard a crunch sound behind them. They turned and saw Lenneth had barricaded the door with an ice crystal, which formed right against it.
"Wha-wha…?" Lawfer pointed at the sudden presence of a crystal pillar incasing what looked like a doorstop.
Lenneth walked past the sputtering knight and took in the room while she still had a moment to do so. The door was already shaking under the pounding fists of the undead. This was then followed by someone ramming into it with their shoulder.
Lawfer turned to Arngrim, still perplexed by the crystal and gesturing wildly at it.
"She does that," Arngrim shrugged.
Orlok shouted from behind the door. "What is this? Odin's whore runs from me? Fine, then! But this door will not stop me! Nor will you! I'll have you in chains by Sol's rise!"
Then something powerful hit the door with enough force to crack it, sending splinters everywhere.
"Lady Valkyrie?" Belenus urgently asked.
"Calm yourself, oh ye of little faith," Lenneth glanced at him. "I have a plan."
Then the door exploded into thousands of tiny, flaming pieces.
"Huh?" Orlok beheld the crystal obstruction in front of him and nearly laughed.
Narrowing his eyes, he held out his palm, casting, "Engulfing Flame!"
Black flames shot from his fingers, and encircled Lenneth's ice crystal before tightening around it. The pressurized cursed flames at first caused the crystal to crack and eventually broke it into pieces, scattering onto the floor.
"You thought you could keep us out with such a rudimentary trick?" Orlok mocked those within.
With that proclamation, the Lesser Vampires piled through the door. Thirty-five in total there were. Plenty enough for Orlok to be certain they'd overcome the einherjar through sheer numbers while he concerned himself with the Valkyrie.
The Lesser Vampires paused just inside the door, whether standing in the little entry area or having a higher vantage from the walls. Their enemies were nowhere to be seen, but they could feel them within the room. They scanned the area as they began to fan out.
Orlok scowled and stomped angrily into evidence storage. He stood in the doorway, using his enhanced senses, but the Valkyrie had hidden their presence well.
"To think Odin's battle maiden would be such a coward," Orlok's taunt echoed through the room.
Silence answered him, and the vampire lord began to smile. It didn't vanish from his face, not even when a pair of figures appeared atop one of tall shelves in the front row. Orlok recognized one of them as the recently deceased princess. The other was that boy with a bow. Yet instead of having his ranged weapon ready, his arms were folded.
"Such arrogance," Jelanda pointed a chastising finger towards Orlok. "Thinking you can insult Lady Valkyrie like that! A thousand deaths is not enough for you! Punishment of the most severe kind is coming."
She then let out a haughty laugh, holding her palm straightened under her mouth. She'd gotten the attention of the animalistic undead, which proceeded to scream and surge towards her and Llewelyn. Orlok was about to disregard them both to search elsewhere when he saw the boy unfold his arms, and realized the archer was holding something in one of his hands. Beside him, Jelanda raised the Elemental Scepter over her head levelly as a magic circled appeared at her feet.
The ex-princess looked down on all the flammable paper in the room solemnly. "Sorry about the loss of your court records, father, but this is to save Artolia. Do it, Llewelyn."
"Yes, Princess," Llewelyn complied.
He flung the item, a Thunder Crystal, upwards where the cracked against the ceiling. Down below, Orlok's heart would have skipped a beat had it still possessed a pulse when he realized what was happening.
"REFLECT!" Jelanda cast the spell in the same instant the Thunder Crystal shattering.
Llewelyn ducked behind her right before the lightning's branching bolts came down. Several bolts shot at the teen duo, but instead of harming them, they were drawn to Jelanda's scepter and bounced off, redirected at the undead horde below. Several lesser vampires found themselves on the receiving end of Thor-like rage as they were electrocuted.
Orlok retreated out into the reception room, covering his face with his hands. In a second, it was over. The Vampire Lord lowered his arms, looking inside the room while also grabbing for his sword, expecting the Valkyrie to come bursting through the door at him. He was so sure she would, he almost didn't sense her coming up behind him.
Orlok only just felt where she bore down on him from in time and spun around. He managed to parry her attack and avoid being badly hurt. The Valkyrie's blade managed to slash him across the shoulder, making him back off. Lenneth and Orlok circled each other for a quarter-rotation. The vampire lord cursed at her. She'd used the lightning as a distraction to phase through the walls to get behind him.
"I see your tactics are… deceptive," Orlok growled.
Lenneth responded by holding her sword up higher, training the tip on him, and then charging in.
Below Jelanda and Llewelyn was a blackened stone floor, ruined and burning furniture and scrolls, several injured undead, and several more which were now in a frenzy, stampeding all over the room. Many of the feral unliving beasts began clamoring up the massive shelves towards the teenage einherjar. Llewelyn was quick to open fire, aiming more to knock them down than kill them for the moment. Jelanda focused, drawing energy through the scepter again.
"Wanna hurry up with that?" Llewelyn just barely shot a particularly quick vampire through the heart just as it reached the top.
Meanwhile, Arngrim, Belenus, and Lawfer had stood behind one of the other shelves. The instant they'd seen and heard the lightning go off, Arngrim looked to the other warriors.
"That's our cue," he said.
They dashed around the corners of the shelf, screaming battle cries as they entered the fray. Above them, Jelanda cast "Levitation!".
She trained her scepter at the vampires climbing the shelves and flung them all back. They twisted and turned in the air before bouncing off the walls and landing in dazed heaps on the floor.
"Humph!" Jelanda threw back a loose strand of her curly haughtily. "See? You didn't need to rush me, Llewelyn. It was all handled."
Beside her, the archer suppressed a rude comment and fired another shot at the Undead.
When the warriors rushed out Arngrim took the lead with the other two supporting him. A pair of vampires charged Arngrim from both sides on all fours. The scarred warrior raised his sword to swing low towards one on the left. The vampire dodged-rolled out of the way right into Lawfer's path. Instead of pursuing it, Arngrim trusted his friend to deal with it and turned to the other beast, which had already leapt into the air to tackle him. Arngrim thrust his blade straight into its chest, dusting it. In the corner of his eye, Arngrim saw two more coming right up on him. With no time to adjust the angle of his sword, he did as before, and smashed the hilt into the forehead of one, and backhanded the other in the face with his gauntleted fist.
Belenus meanwhile was knocked back against one of the tall bookshelves. His sword clattered to the floor at the feet of his attackers. The lesser vampire before him wielded a broken-off table leg, which it palmed against one of its hand. It'd taken a shot at him while he was busy with one of its hive mates. The force behind the vampire's attack was enough to knock the Lassen man back and break his grip on his sword. It and two of its hive maters closed in, surrounding him. Belenus did the only thing he could think of, and grabbed at the pocket holding the holy water again.
The armed vampire swung its cudgel to stop him, forcing Belenus to drop into a sitting position just for the other two to grab him and haul him back to his feet. The nobleman took out the now almost-empty veil and uncorked it with his thumb, waving it across in a sweeping motion, scattering the last droplets all over his undead attacks. They let go of him and grabbed at their burning faces, lurching around and tripping over themselves in agony with smoke rising into the air between their fingers. Belenus took his chance and dove for his sword. In all the same motion, he grabbed it, jumped to his feet, and killed all three in one blow.
Then a vampire in shabby gray prison attire landed next to him on all fours, and then sprang up with gnashing teeth. The nobleman ducked, throwing his upper body into its legs, tripping it up and causing it to faceplant into the floor.
Above on the bookshelf, Llewelyn altered his aim toward the downed Lesser Vampire, shooting it through the back before it could recover. The next vampire to move in on Belenus jumped down from the wall, slashing at him as it landed right next to him. The ex-noble hopped back, and the vampire pursued. Belenus swung, and steel met the flesh and bone of its forearms. The vampire howled from the pain of the deep gashes cut into its upper limbs, leaving it open. Belenus stayed in pace with it and quickly stabbed it through the chest.
Lawfer did not hesitate the instant a gray-skinned undead rolled within range after it dodged Arngrim's swing. He sprang into the air with ax-head of his halberd raised and cleaved through its back before it even saw him. Three more came in from behind him with one in a leading position. Lawfer pivoted on his feet to turn towards them, swinging the butt of his weapon up, smacking the lead Undead in the face and knocking it flat on its back. The other two spread out and rushed him from the sides, but the young knight already had his counterattack prepped. He swung the halberd straight across in an arc, left-to-right. The vampire on the left backflipped away while the other ducked and slid next to him, putting itself directly under his blade. Lawfer split its skull. Even though that didn't kill the beast, it was momentarily incapacitated when the other made its move. It made a grab for him, but Lawfer was quicker, burying ax-blade in its chest. Then he finished off the one with the split skull.
He hadn't even drawn his weapon back up when he realized a good half-dozen were all eyeing him. They circled around like predators to overwhelm him. Lawfer felt his panic spike and from his perception, the world slowed down as he realized he was about to be pinned down and ripped to shreds. Except not. Something stirred within the core of his being. He hadn't the chance to think about before it blasted to the surface with enough force that wracked his body with power.
The vampires were blown back as the instant greenish aura spilled out of Lawfer, similar to rushing water spewing through cracks as it threatened to burst a ram. The knight was stricken a moment, unable to process what he was experiencing. Arngrim and Belenus also both looked at their newest recruit as his Soul Crush was unleashed. Arngrim smiled and laughed.
"Such power…" Lawfer muttered.
He looked down at his hands holding his halberd, both shimmering with the overwhelming power he now wielded. His features hardened into a look of grim determination as he turned his eyes to the Undead around the room.
"I stake everything on this single blow!" he announced.
Then he shot forward, barely touching the ground as he sped along at unearthly speed, cutting down vampires so fast, it was difficult to keep up with himself. The beasts panicked and tried to evade him, but Lawfer had one last move. He skidded to a stop along the side of the room, drawing his halberd to the side again. A white aura began swirling around it like a funnel cloud.
"JUSTICE STREAM!" Lawfer shouted the unbidden words.
Then his stroke came like he was cutting down an invisible enemy, unleashing a tornado of cloudy, shimmering, purifying energy through the room. It snared many of the remaining Lesser Vampires and threw them around as though they were caught in a windstorm. Deep cuts appeared on their bodies, though no discernible blade carved them up.
Then the power dissolved after reducing many Undead to dust. It buried itself back within the new einherjar. Lawfer found himself unable to move. He didn't know which astonished him more: that this had just occurred, and that he'd acted like it was perfectly natural.
"Well done," Belenus looked around the room.
"Looks like you're in trouble vampires! Oh ho ho ho!" Jelanda cackled from above. "MYSTIC CROSS!"
From her scepter, light bolts rained down from above. Lawfer covered his eyes from their sheer brilliance. He peered up at the princess as he lowered his arm, struck stupid again.
"Wait, she casts now?" Lawfer cried. "When did this happen?"
Arngrim approached more Lesser Vampires, with his Dáinsleif pointed straight up. He chuckled again at Lawfer's surprised inquiry.
"Since we died, of course!" he called over to Lawfer. "The Holy Writs weren't bullshitting us when they said death only makes us stronger."
Then Arngrim broke into a run, charging the vampires with a roar. With a single, wide arcing stroke Arngrim cut up several vampire at once, killing two, and wounding several more, making them back up.
With the enemy's charge stopped however briefly, Llewelyn reached into his own pocket, and brought out a pale blue crystal, which looked like carved ice. He pitched down in the middle of the room where the vampires clustered. It broke against the floor, and then the room's temperature dropped several degrees as freezing wind and icicles burst from the enchanted gemstone's interior. Several vampires were impaled by the ice spikes and stuck there in the middle of the room on what almost looked like an upside-down spiky chandelier. The messy ranks of the Undead were broken up and sent into more chaos.
In the momentary confusion, Arngrim, Lawfer, and Belenus were given a window to act. They jumped in and began to hacking and slashing vampires with great efficiency, littering the room in their leftover dust.
The vampires impaled on the ice were not dead and the structures of solidified water were beginning to crack under their struggle, and were soon breaking. The warriors saw them coming and backed up to give themselves more space. Llewelyn fired more shots, felling as many of their foes as he could before they could fan back out. Three vampires surrounded Lawfer. Llewelyn shot the one on the right. The other two closed in on the young knight, who let loose with a cross cut, making them retreat. The one in the middle then ducked low and tried to bite him, but Lawfer brought his halberd down with lightning speed, carving right through its chest, down into its stomach.
The third vampire sprinted to the side as fourth Undead took the place of their fallen hive mates. Lawfer saw Belenus approaching the fourth vampire and so focused on the third. It ran a quarter-circle around the knight before sliding to a stop behind him. It sprang to at him, but Lawfer spun around with the ax-blade coming up from below, using the beast's own charge to drive it through its chest. Before the fourth vampire could ram Lawfer, Belenus's blade burst from its chest.
Arngrim looked around. There were only a few enemies left, and their Valkyrie was busy facing the ring leader alone.
"Better finish this, quick," he thought.
"I am Count Orlok, Vampire Lord within the court of our Brahms, himself. You fight no mere Undead this night. What say you to that?"
Lenneth was not impressed. "I say your mouth runs too much."
The Vampire Lord growled and swung up in an arc with swiftness not of any mortal.
"Ya!" Lenneth blocked one of Orlok's downward stroke with a sweeping overheard cut which parried his blade off course.
Orlok retaliated by jumping in and elbowing her in the gut. The Valkyrie cried out as she was knocked back. Her ginger opponent stepped in, raising his knee to preparation to loose a frontal snap kick. Lenneth's arm shot up, and her gauntleted forearm took the brunt of the blow. The vampire withdrew the kick and sidestepped, drawing his sword up by his shoulder. He started to another downswing, but then suddenly charged it stroke across the middle, which Lenneth simultaneously ducked and stepped back from. He swung at her again, and she again dodged before charging in with a forward thrust. Orlok hopped back, taking only a shallow stab, but it still left the sting.
Then both opponents narrowed their eyes at each other while circling around the edges of the room again. Then they both stopped. Lenneth tensed, and slid one foot forward in preparation to charge while Orlok lowered his stance, holding his sword in a low guard. Lenneth could sense power building up in his hands, arcing through his body and into his arms. Knowing she had to make him play his hand, she jerked forward as if to run at him.
Orlok's palm shot up, displaying a black tendrils collected in a ball. "Helbinder!"
The black ribbons unfurled and flew at Lenneth to ensnare her. She responded by forming a protective shield around herself. The ropes wrapped themselves around it and began squeezing, warping the shape of her translucent dome of protection. Lenneth was almost surprised by the sheer power of Orlok's coils and took flight, bursting through the top of her own energy field. She retreated into the torture chamber. Orlok smirked as he withdrew the coils from the dissipating energy shield and directed them to pursue the Valkyrie. Inside, Sir Skandar was still helplessly bound to the iron slab and gagged. He watched in total disbelief as the Valkyrie of legend burst into the room. She paused at the sight of him, but when flying black ropes pursued her into the room, she flew low over the table, and the cords followed.
Lenneth sped over to the nearest instrument rack, grabbing it as she flew past, and pulled hard. It spilled the various whips, iron rods, hooks, and things even nastier into the path of the black ribbons. Most of the ribbons wrapped themselves around the various torture devices and recoiled to pull them back towards Orlok. The Vampire Lord cursed and dispelled them. Lenneth let out a relieved sign at the back of the room, flanked by a rack for stretching victims and a well for dunking others.
"Too clever, Valkyrie," Orlok muttered from the doorway.
He dashed through the door, jumping up and landing on the iron slab next to Skandar with a ball of dark energy in his hands. He held out his palm towards Lenneth, unleashing a spell of pure black magic on her. The Valkyrie channeled her energy into her sword and held it defensively, forming an energy shield. Orlok's spell struck her barrier, breaking a crack into it upon collusion. The mist bellowed through at Lenneth like steam escaping a busted pipe. The goddess let out a choaked moan as it burned her. The blast dissipated after it failed to break her shield. Lenneth dispelled it and took a stance, holding her blade at an angle. Orlok was beginning to become frustrated.
"You are a vexing opponent," he confessed.
He gave Skandar a quick look.
"Right… I forgot about you," he deadpanned.
Orlok simply stepped over the bound knight, knowing he had to prioritize the Valkyrie over trying to convert another hive chief at the moment. He jumped down, and approached Lenneth, sword held up level now.
"You are always free to surrender yourself for judgment," Lenneth answered.
Orlok just snorted in amusement before floating into the air over her. As he did, two duplicates of himself appeaed and flanked him.
"But which is the real Orlok?" the three visages of him asked.
"Humph!" Lenneth scoffed, feeling insulted at how he thought he could fool her with such a maneuver.
"My eyes are useless right now, so I shant trust them," she thought.
She closed he eyes and let her other senses sort out Orlok as she strode forward a few steps. She could feel the vampire and his fake duplicates circling around her, floating just a foot off the ground to surround her. She did not attack first, but instead waited for the strike she knew was coming.
There! A slight smile formed as Lenneth swung up, blocking Orlok's downward stroke. She parried it around to the side before reangling her blade and thrusting towards Orlok's upper chest. The vampire swung almost blindly to block her. Their blades crossed and Orlok was just successful enough to avoid a stab straight to the heart. Instead, Lenneth's stab sunk in deep just above his heart. A grumble came from the Valkyrie while Orlok's mouth opened wide in a silent scream. When Lenneth pulled her blade out and stabbed at him again, Orlok's body broke up, scattering into a cauldron of bats. Lenneth scowled as the dozens of flying rodents rose towards the ceiling.
"Ugh! And they're all a piece of him this time, which makes sorting out the one that holds his life force more difficult," she angrily thought.
She didn't get the chance to single the right one out, as the cloud of squeaking winged rats gathered and collectively divebombed at her. Lenneth saw over a hundred little red eyes and fang-filled open mouths amongst the black fluttering forms. The Valkyrie surged power through her arms and into her sword, making it glow with a blue almost flame-like aura. She turned herself so her left side was facing the bats with her sword held low at her right. When the bats dispersed to attack her from all sides, Lenneth swung it in a complete circle, slicing right through at least a dozen and charring several others. Her first swing was followed by several more powerful strokes to keep them at bay. The Divine aura her sword emitted even acted like the hottest flames to the bat manifestations of Orlok, downing many of them and making them retreat in erratic flight patterns. The particles from the felled bats floated away from Lenneth, and were absorbed into the remaining manifestations.
In the ongoing attack, some bats got through her defenses due to their small size. One in particular divebombed towards Lenneth's neck. However, instead of trying attach itself and bite, it simply swooped close, cutting her with its wingspan.
"Ah!" Lenneth gasped as it cut her neck. Then fury took her. "ENOUGH!"
Lenneth formed a protective aura around herself. When the bats tried to touch her again, they were repelled and sent shrieking away with singed wingspans. The Valkyrie raised a hand over her head, gathering a ball of energy in her hand.
"It Shall be engraved upon your soul!" she proclaimed. "Divine Assault!"
The ball of energy became a great spear in her hand. "Nibelung Valesti!"
Lenneth then stabbed the spear into the floor, causing the purifying energies to explode into an expanding ball of blue flame-like power, filling the whole room. All the bats burned into cinder-like particles before gathering and reforming into Orlok. He fell from the air, and landed hard against the stone floor.
Orlok painfully pulled himself to his feet. He heard the clanging of plate-mail and looked to see Lenneth approaching him. She glared at him with such ferocity, he momentarily thought he was beholding the Black Valkyrie. Both opponents regarded each other with renewed killing intent.
"You are beaten, craven. Surrender yourself and I will make this quick," Lenneth commanded.
Orlok just laughed back at her and almost instantaneously healed. "Unfortunately for you, Silvermane, I have fed plenty tonight. My reserves are still quite strong."
Lenneth was not impressed.
"You just wasted much of your reserve power by healing injuries so severe," she pointed out. She shrugged, uncaringly, then. "But very well. If you insist on prolonging this fracas, 'tis no matter to me. It will end all the time, sooner or later."
"And you say I talk too much?" Orlok flatly commented.
Lenneth smiled superiorly. "I am simply buying my einherjar time to finish up in the other room."
It was then Orlok noticed. He glanced in the direction of the evidence room with a gasp. His Lesser Vampire forces were almost down to nothing. He was out of time to waste. Orlok dropped onto all fours like a beast, and let out a growl to put even the most fearsome bear to shame. Lenneth lowered her stance, bending her knees to keep herself ready to move. Then Orlok let out another monstrous roar and transformed into a large bat beast, but with a wolf's head. His teeth in this form were exaggeratedly long and sharp, as Lenneth saw when he barked at her aggressively.
Orlok leapt into the air, crossing the room in a single bound to pin Lenneth down and dismember her. The goddess flew straight up, and her opponent tried to pursue, but he couldn't turn upwards quickly enough. He was forced to fly into the wall, catching himself with his clawed feet. He'd only just caught himself before Lenneth dove in from an angle and dropkicked him from the wall. Orlok was sending tumbling through the air before he caught himself on the adjoining wall near the bottom.
The Vampire Lord heard the Valkyrie closing in again and hopped upwards. He heard the grind of steel against stone below where he'd just been. Orlok first looked down, but didn't see her. Instinctively, he dove to the right. Sure enough, a freezing blast meant to incase him hit the wall, forming a sheet of icy crystal. Orlok looked on it in alarm where he clung just beyond the frozen surface's edge.
He looked around and saw the Valkyrie hovering near the back wall. He roared at her again and sucked in a deep breath.
"Profane Bayonet!" he chanted.
With the spell cast, Orlok expelled the big breath he'd drawn in and spat out a dark energy, which formed a spear. Lenneth flew up to the ceiling and the unholy javelin struck the wall, busting a large hole in it. On the other side was a cellar hallway.
A rumbling growl vibrated in Orlok's throat as he began climbed up until he reached a chandelier a few yards from where Lenneth hovered. Leapt onto it and again they stared each other down.
"'Tis time to finish this!" Lenneth declared.
"Will you two come on! Valkyrie might need us."
Arngrim watched impatiently as Jelanda and Llewelyn used the ladder attached to the bookshelf to descend. The Lesser Vampires were all dust scattered around the ruined evidence storage room.
"If you're in such a hurry," Jelanda shouted back. "Just go on without us. And you, arrow boy…"
Jelanda looked down at Llewelyn below her. "I better not catch you looking up!"
"Don't worry," he wearily answered with his eyes firmly on the rungs in front of him. Then he added under his breath, "Why did she insist I go down first, anyway?"
Meanwhile, Arngrim rushed over to the door with Lawfer close behind him. Belenus lingered, waiting for the two teens.
"Go on, we shall catch up," Belenus called to them.
The two heavy warriors nodded to the nobleman and stepped out into the reception area. Right away, they noticed the torture chamber door across from them open and heard the struggle going on. Lawfer gasped.
"Oh, no, Sir Skandar!" he uttered.
"Eh?" Arngrim grunted.
Lawfer tore across the reception area towards the torture room.
"Oh, please. Oh, please," he silently prayed.
He was within a few paces of the door when Lenneth landed in the open doorway with her back to him. Lawfer dug his heels in and slid to a stop just as something big and dark landed in front of the Valkyrie. It attacked her, and she responded with a slashing attack. It was hard to tell if it connected, but they heard the beast scream. Then whatever it was leapt at the goddess, forcing her to fly backwards through the door and out into the reception room. Lawfer quick-stepped to the side, barely avoiding a collusion with Lenneth. Orlok in his beast form burst from the room coming up on Lawfer with deadly speed.
"Heavens!" Lawfer swung, burying the ax-blade in his furry shoulder.
The vampire let out of a pained primal bat shriek. Orlok was carried forward by pure momentum, which made him barrel over Lawfer before going for a tumble across the floor. Lawfer was flat against the flagstones, blinking dumbly from the shock. He shook it off and rolled over onto his stomach to keep whatever this thing was in his line of sight. The bat beast stood unsteadily on all fours and then began to shrink and change shape.
"Well done," Lenneth said from beside him.
The young knight looked up and saw the Valkyrie offering him a hand. He accepted and she pulled him to his feet. Arngrim side-stepped, giving Orlok a wide birth as he joined them, taking up a spot at Lenneth's right. Then Belenus, Jelanda, and Llewelyn ran out into the reception room just in time to see the bat beast fully revert back into the shape of Orlok. He saw on his knees, grasping the deep gash hewn into his shoulder, glaring at them all with eyes that now fitfully flashed between a brighter and dimmer red.
"Lawfer… you bastard…" Orlok's inhuman croaky growl made the young knight's skin crawl.
"Fell beast. Your treachery ends this night," Lawfer shot back.
Orlok looked around him as he stood up. The Silver Valkyrie had taken up position at the center of the formation, flanked by Arngrim and Lawfer on her left, and Belenus, Jelanda, and Llewelyn on the right. He could sense it. All the newborn vampires were gone. Before him were his collective enemies, closing in to strike him done. His reserves were low. If taking on the Valkyrie had almost exhausted them, trying to take on all her warriors as well would be his end.
In his mind, the mocking tone of Beliza rang in his ears again. "Well, when your plan fails, come and see me at the uninhabited Wakoku island south of Yamato."
His scowl deepened from wounded pride. "Damn it! Damn it all!"
Lawfer's battle cry rang out as he rushed Orlok, halberd coming down to fell the one who deceived him. Lenneth felt a power welling up inside Orlok, and she also dashed forward.
"Wait!" she called after Lawfer.
The knight's weapon passed through Orlok, who turned into mist and floated away as though carried by a strong wind and then dissipating altogether. The Valkyrie cursed as she stopped beside Lawfer.
"Another time, Valkyrie. Another time," Orlok's disembodied voice vowed.
The einherjar all looked around while the goddess stood perfectly still.
"Where did the fiend go, Lady Valkyrie?" Lawfer asked, the concern evidence on his voice.
"He is gone from this place," Lenneth sullenly reported. "The castle is now clean of undead activity."
"Gone? Can we not pursue him?" Belenus inquired.
"Perhaps, but I will need to concentrate," Lenneth closed her eyes.
"Wait, Valkyrie," Arngrim's low voice was surprisingly soft. "What about Roland?"
Lenneth stopped.
"Yes, Roland," Lawfer added. "Lady Valkyrie, please let me finish what I began this night."
When the goddess looked at them, she wore the same unreadable mask she often did.
Belenus regarded the two men, and again recalled his own plea on the night Orlok had given his home an undue visit. A part of him was still furious and wanted to hunt down and gut Orlok right away so, so much. Yet, he also remembered why Lawfer, their newest member, had dared to defy laws of his land. Belenus's heart ached for him, and he quickly quelled any thought of further pursuing Orlok for the moment. Further to the side, Jelanda silently stood glancing between Arngrim and Lawfer before guiltily lowering her eyes to the ground.
"Is Roland really down here? Do I also share blame for this?" she silently wondered.
"Perhaps, we can waylay the search for another day?" Belenus suggested kindly.
Lenneth turned to him, expression still stony.
"You did say there was only a chance of tracking the fiend, yes?" the nobleman expounded.
"Indeed, but the opportunity diminishes with each passing moment," Lenneth replied.
Lawfer stepped in closer to and bent the knee in another bow with his head low. "Please, Lady Valkyrie. Orlok has gone where we know not, but Roland is here, right in front of us. So, please…"
Lenneth looked around, and it seemed to her that the einherjar had all come to a unanimous vote.
"Unfortunately, under most circumstances, I am forbidden from getting involved in human problems," she stated firmly.
Arngrim became angry while Lawfer now looked like a kicked puppy. The other three einherjar just gaped at her.
"Why you…" Arngrim rumbled.
"However," Lenneth held up a hand to stop him. She first looked at Arngrim, and then Lawfer. "I can see that neither of your souls will ever be able to rest peacefully if this matter is not settled. Now then…"
She looked down at a kneeling Lawfer again. "I believe you know where he is being kept?"
Neither Arngrim, Lawfer, nor Jelanda could react at first. As it dawned on them that Lenneth had not refused, smiles of varying kinds crept onto their faces.
"Heh," Arngrim chuckled.
He looked away, trying to appear amused when he really just relieved and grateful.
"Thank you, Milady," Lawfer's profuse gratitude shined through in his tone.
It'd gone quiet in the cell block area, but Roland still hadn't dared leave the protection of the Helm of Awe. Then he heard the door groan on its hinges as it was opened again. Several sets of feet clumped in. What the fiend returned with thralled human guards?
"Roland! Can you hear me?" he heard Lawfer call.
Roland gasped. "Oh, no, he's sent Lawfer? As a final means of mocking me?"
He remained quiet until the approaching persons rounded the corner into view of his cell. Roland reluctantly looked up and was shocked by what we saw. First, the Valkyrie, herself, beautiful and mesmerizing. Beside her was Lawfer, possessing no signs of vampirism.
"Lawfer?" Roland was shocked to see him restored. "Have you been…?"
Then he looked at the Valkyrie again with a look of solemn realization. "Oh."
"Not just me. Someone else has come to see you," Lawfer answered. "Look."
Roland watched Lawfer step aside, allowing someone else to get closer. Roland's eyes widened as they met those of his dearly departed brother and the princess. Two men he did not know stood behind them. As Arngrim opened the cell door and stepped inside, the brothers looked each other over. Outside the cell, Jelanda was heartbroken to see her father had really done it. She felt every ounce of pride and ego she still retained begin to melt away, becoming replaced with shame for many things. For being related to the man who put an innocent man with health issues in an unforgiving dungeon, and shame against herself for having ever plotted to revenge against Arngrim.
"Oh, father, you're a disgrace," Jelanda thought as her quietly began to sob off the side.
She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself quiet.
"Arngrim?" Roland choked tearfully.
His shock gave way to overwhelming joy. Roland sprang up, moving the fastest he had in years, and grabbed his brother in a tight hug. Arngrim stood, frozen, for a moment, before slowly returning the embrace.
"I knew you were innocent of the things they said, and you're here in the company of Odin's Valkyrie!" Roland cried in an overjoyed voice.
The others stood silent, watching the reunion. Lenneth's gaze turned aside when she heard a stifled sob. She looked and saw a miserable and guilt-ridden Jelanda, trying to mourn quietly so as not to interrupt the brothers. The Valkyrie surprised to see the showy and arrogant girl trying not to draw attention for once.
"I must speak to her later," Lenneth decided.
Celia lifted herself up and peaked over the crates, checking again to see if Lawfer and Orlok had arrived with Roland. She clicked her tongue impatiently before sinking back down to the floor. Kashell watched her in the dark as she became more anxious each time she did it.
"You want to go find them," he said.
"Yes," Celia firmly answered in a hushed tone. "It's been too long. Anything could have happened."
Kashell sighed, drawing one of his knees up and resting his arm on it.
"Well," he admitted. "Maybe you're right. This whole thing has stunk since the beginning. Alright, let's go."
Celia smiled in appreciation, and nodded, letting out a small "Mm!"
The two stood, turning towards the open archway at the other end and stopped dead in shock. Standing just inside the room was Roland, alone, and without his crutch.
"Hello? Celia? Kashell? Is that you?" he softly called out.
The mercenary duo stared bug eyed at him. For a moment, they couldn't move. However, when Roland shifted his weight and almost fell, just catching himself on the doorway, that broke the spell. Both moved at the same time, running over and taking up positions supporting him under the arms on both sides.
"Roland? What happened? Where's Lawfer?" Celia asked.
Roland sadly bowed his head and turned away from her.
"Lawfer… he…" Roland stuttered. "He didn't make it. That man who was with him… Orlok… He wasn't what he seemed."
"What? Then how did you get here?" Celia asked.
Kashell bristled, baring clenched teeth. "Damn it! We knew there was something wrong with that guy! What happened?"
"No time," Roland answered. "We must get moving, now. I'll explain everything on the way, though I don't expect you'll believe half of it, but the hour grows late, and the struggle left marks the castle guard will notice."
"Right," Celia dug the sewer canal keys out of her belt again. "Kashell, let's go. We can't let Lawfer's last mission be a failure on our account."
Kashell nodded. "Ay, ay, ma'am."
From the air above Castle Artolia, Lawfer looked down on the place which had basically been a second home for many years now. He stared forlornly in the window of his father's office, remembering his last conversation with Captain Lawson.
"Farewell, father," Lawfer said somberly. "I wish it had ended on better terms, but none of us can escape our convictions. Or our duties. I hope you remember that someday."
Lenneth hovered a short distance behind him, silently waiting for him to make his final peace. Belenus and Llewelyn quietly spoke among themselves about Orlok, both thinking it likely they would be seeing him again. Arngrim and Jelanda were beside them, silently half-listening. Arngrim simmered angrily about what he'd learned and seen that night while Jelanda was still morose about her father's true nature.
The princess regarded the large warrior. After glancing over at the noble and the archer to ensure they weren't listening, she inched closer to Arngrim. He hadn't noticed her yet.
"Arngrim," Jelanda said weakly.
"Hmm?" Arngrim turned towards her.
Jelanda bit her lip in attempt to keep control, but the emotions came flooding out, regardless.
"I'm sorry," she said, more loudly than she'd intended.
Belenus and Llewelyn both glanced at her. The latter quickly read the situation and tapped the archer on the arm. Llewelyn turned towards him and the nobleman gestured for him to come away from the Artolians. They hovered over towards Lenneth to give the princess and the mercenary their privacy. Arngrim stared at Jelanda, looking confused.
"Sorry? For…?" he asked.
Jelanda shrank back. "People saw me when I was with you, pretending to be Angela, didn't they? Someone must have seen me come and go from your house. That made Roland a suspect, right?"
Jelanda began trembling as fresh tears fell.
"I…" she began in a tiny voice, but stopped, as she tried to find the right apology.
"That wasn't your fault, little one," Arngrim said.
"What?" Jelanda couldn't figure how he came to that conclusion. "But I got myself caught returning home from your house. If I hadn't…"
"Lombart had the abduction planned for months. He had a way to get you out of the castle and into that crate," Arngrim stopped her. "Besides, I shoulda escorted you home. A girl young as you should never have been left alone on the streets of Artolia at night, anyways. The way it happened is on me."
The ex-mercenary scratched the back of his head, grumbling. "Lombart, your father, and me all share blame for this mess."
"You? You're one of the victims," Jelanda protested.
"I made myself the bad guy in every way I could, kid," Arngrim said firmly. "I embarrassed the king in front of his men, and then I took a job carting his daughter off to Villnore. I couldn't have giftwrapped myself and Roland into being the perfect scapegoats anymore if I tried."
"But father might not have decided that Roland was guilty if I hadn't gone to your house," Jelanda said.
Arngrim shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."
He looked at Jelanda, noting how little that assuaged her guilt.
"Look, kid, you were a brat that day. Going out alone was reckless, stupid even, but I never blamed you for what happened. I still don't," he assured her. "You were just a kid caught up in one evil bastard's schemes. You didn't deserve any of that, and you didn't cause this."
Jelanda was deeply moved by those words. "…Thank you."
Lenneth turned her head just enough to get a look of the two in the corner of her eye. She was relieved to see them talk it out.
Lawfer turned away from the castle and gave Lenneth and the others a small, lopsided smile before bowing to her again.
"I am ready, Lady Valkyrie," he said.
"Very well," Lenneth replied.
She glanced towards Arngrim and the others behind her. "Come, my einherjar. I think this night has been long enough for all of us."
Then with that, Lenneth rose higher into the sky, taking them along with her. Lawfer, despite his regrets, could not help but look down and stare in wonder at seeing the world from so high up.
"You get to have this view all the time?" he asked.
Arngrim smirked. "Heh. After a couple of weeks, it's practically normal."
It was quiet on the uninhabited island of Wakoku. The skerry itself was devoid of any plant or wild side, possessing only sandy beaches and large rock formations, with a mountain taking up most of the island's center. Many of them were sharp, possessing few summits safe for a person to stand upon. Only the ocean waves slapping the beach and rocks with the occasion seagull kept it from being as silent as the grave. So, when the injured Orlok teleported onto the beach, he introduced his agonized moans to the air.
"Ugh!" He pulled his shirt down to observe the shoulder wound Lawfer had inflicted. "Tch!"
It had barely scabbed over, and the bone was only half-mended. Worse yet, Orlok was out of power.
"I need blood," he smacked his lips hungrily.
He looked north, towards the island of Yamato in the distance, spying many tiny lights in the cities and settlements on the neighboring island.
"I should have stopped off and fed instead of coming straight here," he thought.
Orlok realized he was sitting on his knees and tried to stand. However, escaping the Valkyrie's crew, and then teleporting to Wakoku while healing himself had sapped the last of his energy. So, he fell over on his side, instead. The Vampire Lord shuddered in pain upon landing on his bad, right shoulder. He lied there, sprawled on the beach, getting wet as waves washed past him. He was inland enough he wasn't being drawn towards the ocean waters.
"Damn it all! I can't die here!" he whimpered pitifully.
"Well, at least you're capable of doing as you're told. You came. Your failure must have been absolute given your condition."
Orlok raised his eyes to find Beliza smiling smugly down at him.
"Help…" he wheezed.
She sighed and produced a wineskin from under her cape. "I don't think you really deserve this."
Orlok could smell the blood inside it. With a second wind, he pressed his palms against the sand and forced himself up back onto his knees. He reached for it, pleadingly, like an orphan begging for coins from a passing stranger. Beliza rolled her eyes.
"Oh, stop it. As if I would let you dry out," she handed over the little leather sack.
Orlok grabbed it eagerly, popped the lip off, and threw his head back to drink the whole thing. As soon as he was done, Orlok tossed the skin aside and wiped his lips, sighing in satisfaction with his head still tilted back in bliss. His eyes slowly rolled over to Beliza again.
"So…" he throatily said. "You were right. She is definitely tracking the works of us Undead. I hope what you have in the making is enough, because the Silver Valkyrie is a most formidable opponent."
She just smiled knowingly at him as he stood.
"Oh, you are going to love this. Shall we?"
Orlok looked around, not seeing the entrance to whatever hideout she'd prepared on the island. So, Beliza gave him a beckoning gesture and turned away, walking inland. He followed. The trek wasn't long, but it bypassed all the small rock formations, leading them right to the mountain at the center of the island. They stopped in front of a cracked wall. The fissure was wide, but not big enough to fit a person despite going clear to the top.
"The master calls, so open the way. Show us the glory of the water-maiden's sacred treasure," Beliza called.
To who, Orlok knew not. In answer, the crack opened via the halves of the wall sliding apart from each other. Once the way was fully open, he looked inside and saw an archway leading into a short corridor. It looked like fire raged at the other end. Beliza went first, and he followed suit, passing through the entrance. The earth rumbled again as the crack in the mountain's wall closed itself up.
Inside, Orlok looked around, observing the perfectly hewn little hallway they traversed. The stonework was so smooth, like marble despite being carved out of ordinary rock.
"This must be the work of the dwarves," Orlok observed.
Beliza glanced back at him with another self-satisfied smile. Instead of getting offended, Orlok had to admit he was starting to become impressed.
"You've actually formed a deal with a dwarf?" he asked.
Beliza chuckled. "The only dwarf who'd dare make a deal with the Aesir's enemies."
With that, they stepped out of the tunnel onto an artificial walkway made of metal, riveted into the inside of the mountain. It ran the entire circumference of the chamber, and there were many tiers of walkways both above and below it connected by rusty ladders.
Orlok looked down, beholding a large hollow cavern before them that had been converted into some kind of factory. He looked down at the equipment and machines and immediately recognized more dwarven craftsmanship. There was a conveyer belt stretching across the entire breadth of the chamber, which ran through a large machine, so big, it almost resembled a tower keep. It seemed to largely run on automation, but there were stone and iron golems running various levers and control panels, showing themselves to be highly advanced models for production work instead of menial tasks.
Orlok glanced at the start of the conveyer belt, but there was nothing being assembled outside of the machine at the moment.
"What are they building?" he asked.
To answer his question, the large iron double doors at the exiting end of the machine opened, and the conveyer belt rolled out the fruits of Beliza's efforts.
"Oh!" Orlok's eyes lit up. "I see now. Things just got interesting. Very interesting."
Then he and Beliza shared wicked smiles. In the corner of his eye, Orlok saw a small figure approaching. He turned and immediately recognized the person as a dwarf from his olive-colored skin, large head, and features that seemed exaggeratedly large for even that big head. This dwarf was quite slim for his race, dressed in brown leather clothes. His beard hung to his belly and was cut in a neat line at the bottom, but the feature which made Orlok recognize him was his fake, machine eye, which looked like a jeweler's glass, except the lens glowed like a modern flashlight.
"Albrecht, The Banished One," Orlok greeted him.
"Orlok Dracul, rogue priest of the new Gorhla order," Albrecht said with a chuckle. "Well, good to know company is as unsavory as ever. So… How do you like it?"
He gestured to his masterpiece fresh out of the gigantic oven.
"Like it? I adore it," Orlok purred.
"This way, Captain. 'Tis the only way in until we can have the stonecutters get rid of those… spikes? Yes, those spikes blocking the main entrance."
Lawson stepped up to the hole Orlok had blasted in the cellar's wall and looked through into the torture chamber. It was a mess. Every piece of equipment had somehow been toppled over and/or broken. There were scorch marks everywhere. The only thing left unbothered was an iron slab which he had been informed Sir Skandar spent the night being unwillingly cuffed to. Oh, and the things that man had to report about what he saw. Everything from Lawfer turning traitor, to vampires, to Odin's battle maidens, and even the ghosts of Arngrim and the princess.
Lawson shook his head, bringing himself back to the task. A knight was posted by the torture room door, which the captain was shocked to see intact given the state of the room. Lawson stepped over the stone blocks scattered and broken on the floor as he crossed into the room and made his way through the chamber. As he neared the guard by the door, he noticed the man intentionally avoiding eye contact with him.
"Something that matter, Sir Keldrick?" Lawson stopped next to him.
Keldrick looked him in the eyes briefly before turning away again, gulping and looking pale. He opened his mouth and closed it again, opting to salute before speaking.
"Forgive me, sir. I wasn't supposed to be the one to tell ye, but… but there's something in the reception room on through here…" Keldrick stopped, shaking his head sadly. He finally looked Lawson straight on with a pitying stare. "I'm so sorry, Captain. You should see for yerself."
Lawson stared at him with raised brows, but decided to just let it go and stepped on through. When he did, there were empty prison clothes, more blackened stonework, and dust everywhere, obvious signs of an entanglement with the Undead. He looked into the dungeon entry hallway, getting a look at the stalagmites from the other side.
"Just what occurred down here? How did Undead enter our dungeon, and who fought them on our behalf?" Lawson wondered.
It was then he noticed three knights were gathered around something lying against the wall with their backs turned to him. The two knights on the sides stood while the one in the middle crouched over it. Lawson turned his focus to the item but couldn't really make it out with three bodies obscuring it. Then he overheard the worried and sober words spoken between the three knights.
"No doubt about it, but who is going to tell the Captain?" one of the knights standing asked.
"Tell me what?" Lawson asked as he approached.
The knight trio jumped at hearing him. The one that was crouching shot up to her feet and turned down.
"Oh, Captain," she saluted with a look of dread. "We failed to hear you enter. Apologies, sir."
"Think nothing of it, Dame Horatius," Lawson assured. He tried to look past her and to the item. "What is it that I must see?"
Horatius gave him a pitying look just like the guard of the door. She turned her head to glance down at the object in the corner of her eye before looking at Lawson while biting her lip. Without another word, she stepped aside, letting him get a clear view. As the knights fanned out so Lawson could see under the lamplight, he stepped in close and bent down, resting his hands on his knees to inspect what had been of so much importance.
"An empty suit of armor, and dust?" Lawson pondered. "One of my knights was turned, but who? Wait, this is an officer's armor, but the rank emblems have been removed…"
Lawson then realized who this suit had belonged to. Only one officer presently wore armor that had been altered in this way following a demotion, and the Captain knew exactly who.
"…Lawfer?" Lawson asked in a quiet, horrified voice.
As he realized he beheld the remains of his son, he began to hyperventilate. His hand covered his mouth as it hung open. His wide icy blues eyes trailed down to the pile of dust coating the armor and the floor beneath, the remains of its wearer. The knight captain fell to his knees as he felt warm tears form under his eyes.
The other knights turned and began filing out of the room, giving Lawson a moment alone to mourn in dignity. They awaited no order and said nothing, knowing what their captain needed at the moment.
Lawson fell forward, almost doubling over as his quiet weeping began. "No. No! My boy!"
He grabbed up a handful of the dust and stared at it in the palm of his hand. He rose back up, cupping both hands around it as he stared, tears falling into the little pile.
"How could this have happened?" Lawson asked.
He recalled what Skandar had to report about Lawfer's actions.
"Just walked in with some stranger and knocked me over the head. Left me strapped down in the interrogation room while he and the other fellow went to the cell block. He could have only been lookin' to free Roland Gusson. The other man was an Undead pretendin' to help him. That's all I got, sir."
With that, the memory of his last conversation with Lawfer also came back to him.
"Why, father? Even if the king refuses his appeal, surely you can at least hear him out. Please, father, Orlok was one of the men deployed to the Amenti mountains last year. He's among the men Arngrim saved, and he's come so far to testify for him."
"Lawfer, the king has officially forbidden the presentation of anymore new materials in Roland's case. I loathe this state of affairs as much as you, but there is nothing more anyone can do. Roland will hang on the morrow, and… That is the will of the king."
"This… this is an outrage!"
"Watch yourself. You are addressing your superior officer."
"What about our knightly vows? A knight values justice and honor above the law when administration fails. The knight who fails to correct an evil ruling forgets the face of his brothers.
"Lawfer."
"The knight who acts only in self-interest forgets the face of his father. A knight unleashes his wrath and blade only upon the wicked. The knight who slays the innocent to save the wicked forgets the face of his mother. A Knight of Artolia sees them clearly in his heart. How well do you remember the faces of your brothers, father, and mother, Captain? So, how about it, father? Do the knightly vows which dictated the actions of our order for centuries still mean something, or are they just window dressing now?"
"Freeing Roland would be treason."
"Treason? But we proved he did nothing wrong. King Joshua chose to ignore all our evidence, and…"
"The king has spoken. With Villnore and Crell Monferaigne being ever-growing threats to Artolia's sovereignty, do you truly think now is the time for personal crusades?"
"Wha…? What does this have to do with Villnore and Crell Monferaigne, Captain?"
"Publicly underlying one of the king's edicts could weaken his position, which grows ever more tenuous with his heir dead. As protectors of the realm, we must prioritize the needs of the people above all else, and that means maintaining stability right now."
"Roland's execution is tomorrow. I have patiently tried to every avenue, and you worry about King Joshua's hold on the throne? Captain."
"Of course. Right now, there is simply too much unrest for another upset. The effect even this one action could have may be more far-reaching than you can predict. I am sorry, but those jackals to the North and East will smell blood and circle in if they see Artolia weakened further by division."
"So, that's it, then? Maintaining a corrupt status quo is more important than doing what's right?"
"Keeping what is left of Artolia together is right."
"By your leave, then, Captain."
Lawson eyelids slowly closed as tears streaked down his cheeks. He choked, realizing that was the last conversation he would ever have with Lawfer. His son had come to him, expecting the man who raised him to also pursue justice and righteousness.
"Instead, I was a coward," Lawson confessed to the empty dungeon.
Then another memory was pulled from the depths of his mind.
Old man," Arngrim had said with the knife he stabbed himself with in hand. "Spare Roland an eye every now and again?"
Lawson began to realize he hadn't just betrayed Lawfer. He'd betrayed Arngrim and Roland, too.
"Oh, Arngrim, Roland, I'm sorry," Lawson whispered.
He looked to the ceiling with defeated eyes. "Oh, Heavens above. What have I done? Lawfer, wherever you are, forgive this old fool. I left my boy to fight a grave injustice alone while I lied complacently about."
Spurred on by his broken heart, he got to his feet, and shouted, "Fates, strike me down!"
