The Heist of the Centuries

"Stealing? I'm afraid you're mistaken, miss," Grayson professed, spreading his hands in a gesture of innocence.

The woman scoffed, sweeping her staff horizontally. The pearl atop cast a beam of light onto the floor, conjuring a tumultuous expanse of water from which a horde of lesser merfolk warriors emerged, tridents poised as they lunged towards Grayson.

"Looks like it's combat first, diplomacy later, Elyra!"

Exhaling a cloud of cigar smoke, Grayson steeled himself as Elyra took flight, her eyes emitting beams undetectable to the naked eye that petrified the attacking merfolk.

With swift strikes of his sword, Grayson cleaved through the merfolk, advancing with a sweeping kick that sent others tumbling. Those knocked down were swiftly punctured by Grayson's blade before they could rise.

Several merfolk soldiers bypassed Grayson, aiming their lethal tridents at Katheren at the cave's entrance.

"Don't come any closer!" Katheren instinctively retreated, firing her silver pistols wildly. Silver bullets rained down, catching the merfolk by surprise, dropping them to the ground.

Panicked and eyes shut tight, Katheren continued her barrage. Her stray shots shattered the skulls of merfolk engaged with Grayson and nearly hit both Grayson and Elyra midair.

"Enough! Cease fire!" Grayson shouted back at her.

Mid-warning, a stray silver bullet aimed at the staff-wielding woman flew through the dark. Unaware of the imminent danger, she continued summoning more merfolk to battle.

In a split-second decision, Grayson flicked his half-smoked cigar, striking the bullet and sending both tumbling to the ground.

Without hesitation, Grayson leaped over the merfolk, seizing the woman's staff and pinning her against the wall, arm pressed against her throat.

"Listen, dear mermaid miss—if I'm not mistaken about who you are—I'm not your enemy. I am the demon hunter Grayson, here to investigate the supernatural occurrences plaguing the village. If your presence here is merely to retrieve something lost, perhaps I can assist you!"

The pinned woman met Grayson's gaze, her sea-blue eyes locking with his azure irises. After a moment, she spoke. "You're quite astute, but knowing who I am, you should've been more cautious."

Before she finished, something swept at Grayson's feet, throwing him off balance. He caught himself and flipped back to his feet, only to find the woman enveloped in a mist, her lower half now a colossal fishtail adorned with blue scales.

"I am Seraphine, guardian of the merfolk sanctuary. A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Demon Hunter!" While speaking, she waved her staff, dispersing the summoned merfolk soldiers.

"The pleasure is mine. Allow me to introduce my companions, Elyra and Katheren." Grayson gestured to the curious girl at the cave entrance and the owl perched aloft.

"Now that introductions are out of the way, may I inquire as to your purpose here? The merfolk rarely venture to land without cause," Grayson reignited his half-smoked cigar, seeking answers.

"I am here to recover a lost artifact component," Seraphine divulged, widening Grayson's eyes in surprise. "The Archangel statue that seals the vampire king's soul—stolen from our sanctuary three days ago!"

The revelation shocked Grayson, while Katheren and Elyra remained perplexed. Elyra inquired, "What did this fish maiden lose? And what's this Archangel statue? Is it tasty?"

"Refain from nicknames; she's a high priestess of the merfolk!" Grayson chided gently, explaining further. "The Archangel statue's not for eating. It's part of the divine artifact, the Archangel's Staff, comprising three parts: the statue, a white jade shaft, and a golden crystal."

"The artifact belonged to the former Holy Emperor. Over a century ago, the Holy Synod launched a campaign on the Glorious Plains of Oroland against werewolves and vampires. Werewolves retreated into the Daymoon Forest; vampires, led by their king, enraged, assembled dark mages and beastmen from the Cursed Lands to march on the plains."

"Upon hearing this, the old Holy Emperor united elves, dwarves, merfolk, titans, and even dragons to combat the vampire legion in a decade-spanning war that swept across Oroland."

Grayson paused, noticing Seraphine's grave expression that mirrored his own. Elyra, however, pressed impatiently, "And then? Did the annoying humans win?"

"Yes, the war ended in victory for the allied forces, storming the vampire king's bastion in the Cursed Lands. The Holy Emperor defeated the king with divine magic, but lacked the power to kill him—only werewolves could."

"Perhaps if the Holy Synod had heeded the Archmages of Ice Island's advice to enlist werewolves, complete eradication might've been possible," Seraphine lamented with a disappointed shake of her head.

"No, even so, a century is enough for a new vampire king to emerge. The death of one does not mean the extinction of their kind," Grayson countered with conviction, Seraphine nodding in resigned agreement.

"So, what became of the vampire king?" Katheren asked, drawn into the tale and forgetting her awe and unease around Seraphine.

"The Holy Emperor, stubborn to the last, refused the archmages' counsel. To the Synod, werewolves were as devilish as vampires—despite being natural predators of the bloodsuckers, they were also a threat to humanity."

"The Emperor used his divine magic to imprison the vampire king's soul within the Archangel's Staff, dividing it into three. The merfolk were entrusted with the statue, the white jade shaft guarded by dragons in Daymoon Forest, and the golden crystal held in the Synod's palace in Balin, with the Holy Emperor holding the only key."

"So, the vampires who stole the statue from the merfolk are planning to resurrect their king?" Katheren ventured cautiously, wary of Seraphine's reaction.

"Likely, yet possessing only the statue is insufficient. They must unify all three artifacts under the midnight of the vampire king's centennial death anniversary and perform a specific ritual to break the seal. Whoever breaks it will be infused with the king's dark magic, becoming the new vampire sovereign."

"With a grim expression, Grayson continued, "If my memory serves, we have only a few months until that night. The forces of darkness have made their first move. We must act, uncover those who took the artifact!"

Turning to Seraphine, he earnestly implored, "Miss Seraphine, please share any information you have on these thieves. Perhaps there's still time to catch them."