14 Cratertop

"Vampires?" Rothox knew they existed but figured they were rare creatures, living outside of civilization.

"Yes," Erigos knelt down next to the intact body. "See these teeth." He used his gloved hand to peel the lips back revealing the two top-down fangs. "Trademark vampire."

"Wonder if these two killed The Sultan's men?" Garrok reached over his back and felt the spot where the vampire had scratched him. His hand felt something sticky, his blood. Alissa noticed him, she came over and placed a hand on his back. The slashes slowly began to stitch themselves back together, after a couple seconds they were sealed up.

"Thanks," He said.

She smiled, "No problem. Eri?"

"I'm good," Erigos placed his hand on his own injury and the divine magic began it's healing process.

Molta knelt down next to the burnt body, it was hard to make out who this may have been.

"Do you recongnize him, er...it?" Rothox asked. Molta shook his head, he still hadn't said anything to them. Rothox was beginning to think he was mute.

"We should search the area, there may be more clues to what happened." Erigos had finished healing himself and was rolling his arm in its socket to test if any pain lingered. He seemed satisfied.

For the next ten minutes, the group searched the area. They did find a piece of torn cloth with half a symbol etched into it that appeared to have come from what the exploded vampire had been wearing. Hopefully, it would be enough for the Sultan. Whatever these two had been running in the tunnels was gone.

"How do you know so much about vampires?" Rothox asked Erigos on the walk back to the underground tavern.

"When you choose to follow a holy path you learn about unholy creatures, such as vampires."

"Have you encountered any in your past?"

"Once, years ago." Erigos thought back to that day. It was the day he had turned his life around before he devoted himself to his holy path.

"Did you defeat it?"

Erigos shook his head, "No, it got away."

"One more question for you, if that's alright?" Rothox asked again.

Erigos stopped walking, "Rothox, we are a team now. Ask away."

"What did you say to the guard at the gate?"

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd ask me." Erigos started to walk again.

"So?"

"He asked me if you were my slave. I told him you were free and had saved my life to earn it."

"Why would he ask that? I thought demonbloods were all free now."

"Not all of them. Just because they can be free doesn't mean they have been granted their freedom from whatever master they serve. I figured you would know all this by now." Erigos looked at him curiously.

"I tend to stay out of the larger cities, this is all new to me," Rothox said.

Erigos could tell he was holding something back. but he ignored it."You don't say, haha." Erigos gave him a slap on the back. "As I said, we are a team, we stick together." They walked in silence for the remainder. Rounding the last tunnel they saw the large half-orc guarding the secret entrance. He stepped out defensively at first until he noticed Molta. He banged on the stone door and a second later it slid away revealing the warm interior of the Sylky Way.

They had only been gone an hour but the room had nearly emptied. Being underground in more ways than one the Sylky Way had interesting busy hours. The Sultan was surprised to see the group return so quickly.

"Back so soon?"

Molta went to stand back at his original spot behind him. Erigos handed the little piece of cloth to him before he did. The Sultan took the cloth. He inspected it closely.

"This is all you could find?"

"Well, we did kill two vampires. We figure this came off whatever they were wearing. Unfortunately in the fight, it exploded and that's all we could manage to recover."

"Did you say vampires?" He seemed to be lost in thought, digesting the information. "Hmm...well this appears to have belonged to one of my men. Did you happen to find anything else?"

"Just blood and the two vampires."

He sat there fiddling with the piece of cloth for a moment, contemplating the next course of action. The Sect waited patiently.

"My men had been picking up certain shipments from a man named Vester Dunlan. He owns a mine in Culku. We have a mutual business agreement. He is currently out of town, maybe we should pay his place a visit. See if our shipment is there."

"Where would we find his home?"

"It's the third home to the left of the district gate in the Cratertop." The Sultan answered.

"Will Molta be joining us again?" asked Erigos.

"I think you will be fine without him. You've proven yourselves."

"Mr. Sultan Sir," Alissa spoke up.

"Yes, little one?"

"What do you know about Ottothal?" She asked.

The other three had to hide their shocked expressions.

"What do you mean? He is a powerful political figure." The Sultan tilted his head slightly. He wanted her to ask the right questions, see if she knew what he already did.

She looked at Erigos, asking permission with her eyes to continue. The look he gave back said, 'you've come this far.' "We were told he is an evil vampire." There it was, the big reveal.

"That is quite something to know. Tell you what. You find out what happened to my shipment and I will answer any questions you have about him. Deal?"

"Ok!" she was so excited, turned around, and left the room. A second later after no one had followed her she peeked her head back through the curtain. "Are you guys coming?"

"Alissa, I can't believe you just asked him. What if they are working together?" Erigos scolded her as they walked along the street.

"They aren't working together." She was confident.

"What do you mean?" How do you know that?"

"The vampires we killed. If they were working together, why would a vampire have other vampires attack the Sultan's men?"

She had a point. The odds that two powerful vampires were in the city, let alone not working together would be astronomical.

"That makes sense," Rothox said.

The Brand stopped them from passing into the Holy Ring. Erigos almost forgot that Trixia had given them a diplomatic rite that allowed them to travel freely throughout the city. He produced it for the guards and again for the final gate.

Vester Dunlan's mansion was quite a bit larger than Trixia's but of similar design. The whole building was dark, giving off an eerie feel. There were, however, two guards standing outside the main gate into the grounds. A large well-kept hedge walled off the rest of the complex. It would not be easy to break into this place. Garrok refused to enter, he felt it crossed the line, but was willing to stand guard outside. Rothox was eager to break out his thieves' tools and get to work. They decided to wait for nightfall, hoping the cover of darkness would allow a stealthier entrance.

Returning to Trixia's for the remainder of the day, they found she was not home. The Sect spent that time going over their plan to break into the estate. When Trixia returned they told her about the new vampires they fought under the city. She had uncovered that Ottothal indeed had the support of the Council in the event of the Emperor's passing. A worrying discovery. She informed them that the Champions Gala would be held at Lord Krinasa Talood's home and had secured an additional two spots for a personal guest and a bodyguard. There was no new information on the wellbeing of the Emperor, at this point, it was a waiting game.

That evening the Sect made their way along the main road of the Cratertop District. Each estate they passed had personal guards surrounding the large grounds of their owners. The vast wealth of the exclusive few that could afford to live in this part of the city was on full display. Eventually they came to the gates of Dunlan's estate.

A new set of guards now stood watch, the night shift. The hedge shared a border with the two homes on either side and sneaking around the back was not an option as the volcano at that point was too sheer to scale. Instead, they went with option one, distracting the guards. Since Garrok was not going inside, he became a distraction. He walked right up to the guards.

"Hey!"

They looked at each other then back to him.

"Ya you two idiots." he egged them on.

They began to leave their post, hands on their weapons.

"Get lost." One barked.

"No, I'm fixing for a fight, who wants some?" Garrok raised his fists and put on a drunken sway.

They looked at each other again, "It's just a drunk asshole." The one who had spoken first addressed the apparently drunk half-orc. "Hey buddy, beat it, we are trying to work here."

"Ah fuck you!" Garrok spat in their direction. That was enough to get them moving toward him so his friends could duck by undetected. Once they were out of view and the guards a few feet away he fell forward, faking passing out. He positioned himself in a way to brace his fall but the cobblestone still hurt.

"Drunk loser." They turned back to their post. Garrok waited a few minutes before slowly getting to his feet and stumbled into the shadows. Once he noticed the guards couldn't see him anymore he pulled himself together and found a place to sit and wait.

Garrok fell forward, that was their cue to go. The guards took the bait and the three snuck behind them into the lush grounds. The large home of Dunlan loomed over them as they snuck through the shadows of the hedges.