“We know why he’s here,” said James. “To keep us busy and away from the Point.”
“So his master can raise the ship,” added Kendaric.
“How do we use this knowledge to get inside the temple?” James probed.
“Find the monster who has killed so many. Kill him and remove his hand at his wrist. Bind the talisman to the hand. Then the door should open.”
“Where do we find this monster?” asked James.
The old woman said, “There is an ancient crypt in the graveyard. The oldest family in this area, the Haldons, built it. None live today, but it is kept up out of respect for the town’s founder. Inside is where I think you’ll find the monster. And if you find him, you’ll find the cause of this darkness. And when you do, please return, so that I may know that I have not sent you to your death.”
James said, “We must be going. For by the time we reach the graveyard, those things will be wakening, and I would rather put paid to this before they’re upon us.”
They hurried from the hut and the old woman crossed to the door and stood there, watching them flee down the path toward the town. Softly she said, “May the gods watch over you, children.” Then she slowly hobbled back to her stool, to wait.
FOURTEEN - Vampire
The sky darkened.
As James and the others approached the south edge of town, where Hilda had indicated they’d find the burial crypt, the light faded.
“It’s getting darker,” said Kendaric, his voice almost quavering with fear.
“Expect the worst,” said Solon. “Assume the bleeders know we’re coming for them.”
Kendaric asked, “Doesn’t your order have some sort of magic prayer-thing that makes these types of creatures just. . . vanish?”
“Ha!” replied the monk. “Wish it were so, laddie. The only order with the power to do so are those who worship Lims-Kragma.”
Kendaric glanced around. “I thought they’d be in league with these creatures.”
“Nay, boy,” said Solon, the tension of the moment thickening his accent again. “They’re servants of the right order of things, and despise any creature that thwarts their mistress’s will. The creatures we’re facing are more of an abomination to her servants than they are to us. That’s why our mission is to send them along to her so she can sort the buggers out.”
“Well, here comes your chance,” said James as a half-dozen creatures appeared to rise up out of the gloom, from among a field of headstones. He drew his sword and dagger, but kept moving. “Don’t let them delay you too long. If Hilda is correct, once we locate their master and deal with him, these will fall.”
Kendaric said, “So, you’re telling us to fight through these creatures, but be efficient about it?”
“That’s wha’ the man said, laddie,” replied Solon, pulling out his warhammer, and swinging it before him in a lazy circle. “Just crack a head or cut off a leg or some such, and keep goin’.”
Kendaric’s face was pale, but he attempted to look resolute. “Sure. No problem.”
Jazhara said, “I’ll deal with this first batch.” She lowered her staff and the air crackled with energy. A brilliant flash of actinic light shot out, as if lightning had been released from a bottle. It bounced across the ground like a ball. As it landed before the first of the undead creatures, it split into smaller balls, each lashing out in electric fury to encapsulate the vampires. They stiffened and howled in agony as the crackling energy seared their flesh and rendered them motionless.
James started to run. “We need to move fast!” he shouted. “There’s the crypt!”
In the center of the small graveyard, a stone building rose, a small mausoleum with a peaked roof, its doors open. Within, they could see at least a half-dozen marble catafalques, upon which stone coffins rested. “Why couldn’t they burn their dead properly,” Kendaric muttered, “like the rest of the Kingdom?”
“We’re close to Yabon,” said Solon. “Burial is still popular up here.”
“For once,” said Jazhara, lowering her staff and pointing it toward the door, “I agree with Kendaric.”
Inside the crypt, an eerie red glow illuminated figures moving behind the stone coffins. “We’ve got to fight our way in,” said James.
Jazhara unleashed another bolt of energy and several of the creatures in the first row stiffened. James raced past them, only to be confronted by a burly-looking man, his skin pale and his eyes seeming to glow with a reddish light. Behind him, James spied another figure, not as bulky, but radiating immense power, and he knew he was looking at the master vampire.
“Kill that one!” James shouted.