Chapter 23
Coffins Are for the Dead
Dyson, Erros, Eliza, Pieron, and Athrin knew exactly what they were dealing with, and knew they didn't have the time to fetch the town guard or even their companion Fabian. Were they to leave now the vampires could awaken, or Henrik could escape or wake them himself. The vampires needed to be destroyed while they were still unaware, and in whispered tones they plotted how best to accomplish such an insurmountable feat. Unsure that they would be able to dispatch even one of the spawn with their silvered blades before it could react, they recalled the effectiveness of fire in their previous engagements and settled on the three heaviest adventurers sitting on top of the stack to hopefully contain the creatures, as Dyson used his arcane turret to ignite the boxes below. With everyone in position the party sprung their trap and the stack of coffins went up in flames. The top most shook violently but the weight of Athrin, Dyson, and Erros, kept the beast trapped, the contents of each coffin now belting out inhuman shrieks as the fire climbed higher and burned hotter. With a crash of splittered wood a gray claw wreathed in flame burst from one of the lower coffins as a vampire pulled itself free, into the waiting sights of Eliza. She fired, and Pieron hurled an evocation. Atop the stack the now sweaty trio readied their blades as Athrin pryed the side panel off with a single rip and pull. The vampire within snarled and scuttled out, head first into the downswing of Dyson's enormous maul. Like a miner hefting a pick between his legs Dyson swung once more, shattering the ribs of the spawn as it finally escaping the flaming box. The two engaged each other atop the piles of wood as Athrin and Erros slid down to aid Eliza. She fired once more at the approaching spawn but it closed the distance. Sharp teeth and claw glinted in the firelight as it reared up for an attack just as Athrin managed to get it's attention with an attack of his own. A third emerged from the flames and lunged for the turret in a flurry of blows, it's razer sharp talons able to leave ought but scratches across the turret's thick metal plating. Dyson was proud, but turned his attention back to the vampire snarling in his face through a broken jaw and caved-in skull, which were even now mending themselves despite the burns.
Soon additional piles of wood caught flame and the fire started to spread. Thick smoke collected in the rafters and stung Dyson's eyes. Together though, the adventurers combined their fire power, remaining calm and focused on one at a time and applying what they'd learned from their past encounters with the fiends. They were also surprised to see their impromptu ambush going so smoothly. Two more massive hits from Dyson's maul and the vampire weakened, Erros speaking arcane words of psychic pain to bypass the creature's natural resiliencies. From her vantage point in the back of the room, Pieron surveyed the fray and launched five well placed darts of blue energy, each whizzing through the smoke and flames to perfectly hit their marks and two of the wounded hell-spawn crumbled into dust. But any celebration was cut short by a fourth and fifth vampire breaking free from their fiery prison to replace their fallen allies. Suddenly Athrin was surrounded, and a spawn pressured Erros into the corner of the room, as he narrowly dipped behind a crate to dodge a wild swipe. Dyson found his foe defeated but painted into the corner by the growing heat of their fire, which had now spread to cover nearly half the room, and he was forced to clamber to Athrin's side as the sixth spawn chased him down. For as effectively as the group had managed to contain their enemies thus far, the relentless tide of evil was beginning to turn. Silver blades slashed, claws and teeth bit down, gunshots echoed about the burning room, and all manor of arcane incantations were flung, felt, and incanted, but spread as thin as they now were, each wound they scored was answered with the mending of another. The vampire's fearsome healing abilities and the party's inability to halt them proved too great, and defeat suddenly seemed a possibility.
Meanwhile, Fabian began to worry. Her group had not been gone for long, but she recounted the incident just the day before when Erros had led them into Lady Wachter's house without her. She recalled how that plan to merely speak with Fiona over tea had ended in bloodshed, her friends nearly dying alone without her in the Wachter's basement. Without wasting anymore time she left Milvoj in the care of Father Petrovich and ran as fast as she could to the stockyard on the other side of town.
Another bullet found it's mark in the gut of a vampire that forced Eliza to duck low and reload her gun, leaving Athrin open to attack. The creature leapt onto the panther's back and fought his arms away for a chance at Athrin's exposed neck. Another attempted the same on Erros and pierced its mark, its hallow fangs sinking deep into the bard's shoulder and drawing blood supernaturally fast. Erros struggled but could do nothing as he watched in horror as the vampire's face healed itself with a speed he could only attribute to a loss of his lifeforce. Athrin intervened and the creature fell back, but Erros staggered to his feet and swayed weakly from the bite. The spawn took a swipe and Erros parried, another and he tried desperately to lift his sword in time. It was tossed aside and the claws raked across his chest, dropping Erros to his stomach. As Dyson saw his friend go down, he shoved through his foe to offer aid, but the vampire snarled, spun on his heel and planted his back foot. It launched a strike out on the retreating dwarf like a coiled snake and grabbed tight around his neck before ripping away in a spray of blood. In a clatter of tools and bits of scrap Dyson fell face first into the flames, singing his hair and flesh but not moving to protect himself. The newest spawn managed to get beneath the turrets thick armor and tore the poor construct apart before tossing the remains into the flames.
Despite Pieron's next orb of acidic goo felling another vampire, those who still held to consciousness knew the battle had ended. Athrin acted first by shaking off his grappling adversary and next by scooping Erros up and vaulting for the window. He crashed through and fell to the group below before running clear of the house, it's burning roof sending up a column of smoke a quarter mile high. Eliza was next, and narrowly ducked beneath an attack as she slid into the flames to retrieve Dyson before charging after the two out the window and into the yard. Pieron stared down the remaining three spawn and kept them at bay with her missiles as she too made for the exit, leaping out in one piece as the flames engulfed the entire room. Together they regrouped a few hundred feet from the coffin maker's shop and cradled their fallen friends with little healing abilities of their own. Athrin, with the best of intentions began to urinate on Erros's bleeding torso, hoping it would help even a little bit.
Fabian had now seen the fire and picked up her pace, rounding the corner just as the last of her friends leaped to safety from the burning building. She ran as fast as she could and arrived just as Erros began sputtering and coughing awake, wiping the piss from his eyes. She knelt beside Dyson and grabbed hold of his bleeding neck, about to lend her healing magics to stabilize and save him, when she felt what she dreaded the most. No pulse. Dyson lie still, white, his blood seeping from the wound without a heart beat to pump it. He was dead, and she'd been a moment too late.
Dyson awoke in darkness, a cold and empty void of space with only a faint whistling sound in the distance. He stood and pondered where he could be, knowing it matched little descriptions of the afterlife from those ressurected souls, when the sound grew louder. He ran but it still grew into a howling storm all about him. Wind and rain and thunder without light, the sound pierced his being and shook his entire form as if it would never go away. And in the eye of that cacophony he heard the impossible sound of a whisper, so close behind him it was like to be inside his head. The whisper spoke soft and gently "I am Zrin-Hala the Howling Storm. You have such great potential, so many great gifts left to create. I can give you another chance, more time to finish what you started. If you seek me in the howling mountain peaks I can grant you even greater gifts, the ability to imbue true life in your creatures. Seek me to the south, Zrin-Hala, Zrin-Hala." Dyson felt that the power to choose his fate was in his control and instead of walking into the darkness, he stood there in the storm. He remembered the great moments of his life, the regrets and the triumphs, then one by one they seemed to fade away, and all he could remember was Lovegrove. Lovegrove still roamed free, and until he got his justice the afterlife would have to wait. "Zrin-Hala. Zrin-Hala." Dyson woke up.
