Chapter 14

An hour or two we were encroaching upon the location, yet no other attacks were launched at us. The entire ride was tense but peaceful, due to constantly being on edge from the previous attempt on our lives.

So as we approached we were more tense than ever, thinking that this would be when he would send his beasts again.

But, nothing.

We arrived with no trouble whatsoever, stopping a little ways away from the entrance of the mine.

Around the entrance were a few buildings, probably for the mining tools and storage, as well as some living residences for miners.

Weeks ago, everyone lost all communication with the people that lived here. All the shipments also stopped at the same time, and when the noble's personal forces were sent to investigate, only one survived.

Which was the only reason we even knew of the existence of such a powerful vampire.

Several of them were lost to the world, and if we included everyone that lived in this place the body probably amounted to a few hundred.

We all stepped off the carriage one by one, all being on high alert. Ready for any eventuality.

We put ourselves into a formation that our glorious leader had constructed, with me and him out front, Bastien behind guarding our rear.

At the center of it all stood Verica and our patron.

Just like how we did it on the carriage. 

Even though our resident would be best suited to leading, due to the ranger class's inherent ability to discover traps and tracking enemies, due to needing to protect the noble, Dalawraith decided to use this lineup instead.

We proceeded to search and investigate every corner of the small mining settlement, from the lodgings to the storage units, there was no one there.

It was strange, it was as if they were all whisked away in a dream. There was no sign of struggle, no disturbance to the surroundings, everyone just disappeared.

We did all of this in complete silence, everyone being on guard for any surprises.

After it all, there was only a single place left, one we left for last, the -

"The cave. Either he set up his headquarters here, or he is situated elsewhere, which will most likely prolong our mission for several days." Blue eyes explained concisely, his brows furrowed in concentration. He then looked at Faeduire, evidently pondering over what to do with him.

But in the end he just shook his head, coming to the same conclusion I had, that we didn't really have a choice, we had to take him.

This was a lose lose situation, if he refused to take him with us, it would be viewed as a sign of disrespect, and if we took him with us and something befell him, all the blame would be put on us.

Death is the least cruel of the options that could happen to him, eternal servitude being one of the brutal ones.

"We'll head into the mines immediately, there isn't much point in waiting." Dalawraith decided.

He determined that taking him is the path least likely to go wrong, he seemed to be putting his trust in the team, to not let any harm come upon our client.

So we moved forth, into the depths of the underground, the walls of the tunnel were smoothed out, a testament of the work and effort put into its construction.

Several tracks marked the floor, clearly meant to haul the materials mined from the deep through mine carts.

I could see unlit torches strung about across the walls, flames having been completely snuffed out.

Verica then created dozens of spheres of lights, making this dark dreary tunnel look as if we were in broad open daylight.

As we slowly made our way down the underpass, I started thinking that he wasn't here at all, then as if to answer my doubts, mist started rolling in.

I could instantly tell that this isn't natural, not that it was a hard conclusion to draw, since this kind of fog isn't exactly common in the underground.

"Comrades, prepare yourselves, our confrontation draws near. And sir Faeduire, stay close to Verica." Words of confirmation greeted our leader following his order, as we continued to move forward.

The mist just continued to get heavier, it was as if a physical weight had settled upon me, dragging out my every action.

It hit me, this wasn't just a haze to impede our vision, it was debilitating us through magical means.

I could see through the stonelike visages of Silver Sky, that they too had realized the same.

Our sight couldn't carry us through more than a few measly meters in front of us.

The cloud also carried with it a supernatural coldness, I could see frost building up on the ground, and along our weapons.

I could practically feel the noble shaking, whether due to fear, the cold or a combination of the two, that I do not know.

Then I heard our caster whispers under her breath:

"Mass Resist Energy: Cold." She casted quite a high level spell, to enhance our ability to resist the embodiment of winter, protecting us from further damage via such a conduit.

Glancing at her I could see that she wanted to cast additional buffs upon us, but I saw our leader move his head back and forth, indicating that she shouldn't use any quite yet.

Most likely to conserve her mana, due to the unpredictability of the opponent we were facing.

Step by step we move deeper and deeper, into the jaws of our nemesis.

When a scratchy voice, one almost seeming unused it's rough raspy nature, vibrated through the fog:

"Prey. More prey. To devour. To be played. Oh, the joy, I could almost cry. Walking to their imminent demise. To be puppets of flesh. 

Oh, maybe that is what you wish for? To entertain me. To show me your worth? You just want to be my friends, don't you? Don't you?

TO DANCE ALONG MY STRINGS."

Well, insanity.

Isn't that a familiar sight?