CHPT 563: Howl from Below

The Vengenace Order and its Vampiric Allies of The Sunlands got to work the moment the sun rose beyond the desert hills and low flying Sky Ships of their home. The timer had begun. Their weakening beacon of solar devastation. They had the day to make the best of their chances to topple an empire.

A day to tear down centuries upon centuries of growth and development.

Maybe Claude was biting off more than he could chew.

That could've also been said when he decided to fight Dolion at Level three inside a Tangent full of dead bodies.

One of which being his father.

An astute reminder that this wasn't that. This wasn't the end of his story. This was a job. And he was…. Hired, at a good position.

But Claude and his packs employer wasn't Rupont. The mysterious Elder Vampire that walked beside him was also working under the same means of employment.

Not a person or a business, but a concept.

Balance. Something they had to restore. And that started in the Republic of Cairo.

Last time he was present in the massive city beyond Ra Stadium's walls, he was attending a scheduled Vampiric Ball. The Summit of the Blooded. Where Rupont reintroduced the Lupines of Romulus and The Red Queen at the same time.

A war broke out and introduced their enemies as clear as the sun hanging overhead. Its brightness only split by the snaking mental Rail lines allowing for Rail Riders to carry people in the dozens across miles upon miles of city build up.

They passed sky scrapers of runic glass and pyramids of black stone that vibrated with machinery and magics he couldn't comprehend or currently care for until finally, they made it.

The Sunlandian Vampire Coven stronghold. Right in the center of one of the largest human cities he'd ever seen.

It wasn't overtly on the nose like the small shack growing off of Ra Stadium's outer encampments. It was human. Attractive with its clean stairway and smooth red carpet made of Fire Troll Fur. The glass walls were clean, shinning like they were studded with reflective jewels running hundreds of feet Into the air. The outer framing of black metal went well with the cities efficient and modern aesthetic… if only with a little outward personality.

They headed inside in silence and marched past the guards who were no longer compelled but so numb to irregularity that the many Shifters passing by in battle armor triggered nothing more than lowered eyes. The hind brain would always find them.

The elevator awaited them as the indoor Electrists called it up to their floor.

They all hopped into the wide metal box with little to no room shoulder to shoulder. Claude found himself amongst the Lions. Marcel to be particular. He felt like he needed to say more. But now wasn't the time.

"Bloody hell…. Packed up like sardines in here." Rupont joked as Adjua and Abina squeezed up against him.

"Who farted?" Don snarled, "I'm short! So it's right in my face, puto!"

"Lo siento…. The Alpha's recent dinner choices haven't been sitting right with me." One of the crocodiles replied in their usual bass heavy accented voices.

"Fire Troll and Zebra is…. Quite the combo meal." Tom interjected.

"I found it delicious." Tara replied positively for seemingly the first time in history as the scarce amounts of light reflected off the dark skin of her bald head.

Once the doors closed, Rupont snapped and the dozen or more Vampires amongst them burst into their avian forms, suddenly going from thin and creepy men and women to much smaller and much deadlier flying bats.

They hung from the gated ceiling patiently, causing Claude to realize something new.

"We're going down…"

"Down deep. Far from the sun. A pit stop in hell, if you will." Rupont replied, "Stay close. There's things down here that are a bit more handsy than I'd like to admit."

"I wish something would try to grab me." Tara was back to her usual self.

To say Claude didn't feel that energy currently would be a lie. They did share thoughts afterall.

The elevator came to a buzzing halt. The doors slid apart as gears shifted all around them.

A dark hallway was laid out before them built from stone and old metal. Cold air slithered through the crooks and openings in their armor and bit deep like fanged snakes. It smelled of mildew and decay so strongly it was blinding.

The Vampires flew out and reassumed their human forms, walking the halls with an air of familiarity.

Claude realized the others were waiting on him and decided to get moving.

The hall ran for minutes, slowly giving them bits and pieces of what lurked from the distant echoes of cries and chimes.

The cold earth felt fake on his bare feet. Completely devoid of earthly connection. Just like the things that he assumed would soon eye him as the halls opened like jaws, giving way to a dungeon of sorts.

A dark chandelier hung from incredibly high up, fitted with blood candles that spewed the decayed metallic aroma. The lights couldnt hit the deep corners and curves that led to different rooms and corridors. Not with everything in the way.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the enslaved bodies of rare beings and monsters he assumed would await him.

It was objects.

Scrolls in glass cases under magical lights. Ornate and impossibly old armors. One of which having a dragon-headed helm that struck a deeply tribal and responsive terror somewhere deep inside him. There was no magic to it. No runes. Nothing but leather, metal….. and history. He cringed. The fear was almost like an afterthought. It hit the others similarly. He could feel it.

Elsewhere, blades and monstrous appendages were stood up on hooks and string. He recognized some. Couldn't believe others….

The collections were meager in all honesty. But every one felt important. Like the final object in some adventure quest.

He stood facing a glass tube. The air inside perfect enough to stop the decay of the dead. It sat on a plate. So small and cracked it almost looked like meaningless debris. Like the remains of something that used to be inside.

No. That was the object. A seed. He recognized the writing on it. He recognized it because he used that same writing to trigger an explosion against a Horde of Demons. He learned it from a Druid. And that's where the cracked seed in the case came from.

A Druid.

"Chop chop everyone, we're burning daylight. Literally."

Claude could feel Rupont's eyes on him.

"What are you doing? You could've made this stop alone. I would've never been the wiser. The fuck is the goal here?"

It could've been the very seed that wiped out Rollan's grove. And Rupont just….

Reluctantly he left the seed.

"[Perhaps he wishes to show you…. Maybe to explain something more. Hell, maybe something even he doesn't know. This is all very peculiar. It doesn't add up.]"

"I know. If he wanted to kill me…. He could've collaborated with Ronin— a friend. He could've conspired with Sgt Bertrand. He could've birthed the Red Queen earlier and attempted to turn Maris against me. He could've done a lot of things. But he isn't... I don't get it."

They headed past the main hall of treasures and down through another set of smaller crossways and rooms. Whispers from the shifters and Vampires bounced off the walls as Undead Guards roamed during their eternal shifts.

Zombies in assassins gear waded through built in deep streams running between the stone flooring.

Skeleton Soldiers in black executioners armor awaited doorways.

Undead Dogs lay around freely.

An entire brigade of undeath sat beneath the Sunlands calmly.

But still, an undeniable discomfort lingered.

He could feel it in the air like static. It raised the hair on his arms and neck. Made him double take the guards and darker empty hallways in intrigue.

"Here we are." Rupont faced doors over forty feet tall of thick polished wood. He pushed it open and led everyone inside without looking back. He was on a mission for something.

So was Claude as the impossibly distant echoes of a howl drew his attention.

Only him. Only the Beast Tamer, because he knew the difference between a living and a dead wolf.

There was a living Wolf. Somewhere….

He wandered, split from his group, telling them to stay— to shut the doors.

Darkness felt a little less at bay once the deed was done. The halls felt longer. His heart beat louder as the Skeleton Soldiers eyed him from empty sockets. And the Zombies croaked from rotted mouths.

Sweat dripped down the back of his neck, getting caught in his tied down hair. He flinched when the howl came again, this time louder as he hit a corner and made a straight shot down a ten stair. Then another. And another.

It was colder. So cold he could see the fog of his labored breathing. See the frost forming on the metal cells. They ran for miles in all directions.

"What the fuck….."

The Howl was never very far. Just weak. Damaged.

Claude ran down the halls, passing desolate abandoned cells full of skeletons and old food. Until finally.

He hit the end of the leftmost path. A torch lamp lit with a Lunar Artifact hung over a Wolf as it howled to the psuedo moon. As if the captor was attempting to make its living hell a home.

The Wolf looked at him and yelped in shock, stumbling back to the far wall on weak long legs.

Its red fur was long— shaggy and in tufts from the unbrushed overgrowth. Its claws clicked against the floor. Dull and uncut.

A barely large enough carcass lay against the other wall.

Claude held his hands up, "Relax….. "

He put his hand to the cell for the wolf to sce—

WOOSH!

In a blur the Wolf lunged at him, seamlessly transforming mid dash into a red headed woman in old cloaks and rags. She crashed into the cell hard.

Claude dodged her reaching arms, leaving only her mad eyes to hold him. They were practically vibrating with how fast they moved.

She head butted the cell and her hair moved like limbs, forming into a hand that reached beyond the cell and grabbed his arm.

"Woah!—"

"HAAA!…..w-whomever you are….he….y-you don't know him…. WATCH FOR HIM…. Rupont Fiara won't even be able to help you….HE DOESNT KNOW HIMSELF! H-HIS NAME! T-HIS NAME!"

"R-Rupont Fiara… what about him?"

She went into a frenzy shaking the gates and howling. "AHHHH!!!! Hi-his name is his character!…. Rupont Fiara…. It means the beast is split in languages across this ocean!…. HE IS OF MANY MINDS…. RUN! WHEN YOU FACE THE IMP….."

She silenced as footsteps echoed in the distance.

Immediately she let Claude go and shifted back into a Wolf.

Claude stood frozen. Processing. Putting pieces together retroactively.

The current piece came in the form of a name.

"Lilith….?"

The Wolf's ears perked up and she whined.

"Claude…. Have you found what you're looking for?" Adjua and Abina stood right next to him at his left and right.

He didn't reply.

"You have to understand. A lot of work has been done for Rupont to appear as he is today. To be as he is today. We wouldn't want him to recess back into old habits. So some aspects of the past must be held in time. To waste. Silently. We hope you can understand."

"Let's go people! I've got what I need and we've got a war to fight!"

Adjua and Abina walked back the way they…. Teleported?

Claude followed, leaving the Wolf with a message.

"I'm coming back for you."

And now he was left to fight alongside the Elder Vampire just labeled as a Split Beast.

One of which, was the true enemy. The one that took Lilith and bombed a Grove of Druids for sport. The one they called….. well, hopefully he never heard.