Quest

Chapter 5 - The Crypts

Llmalda tried to ignore the feeling she was being watched as they made their way through the huge, ornate rooms. She knew they were being watched, frankly she�d be worried if they weren�t. Her family wouldn�t be able to watch them once they were in the crypts. Not that they�d need to, there was a large chance that they wouldn�t be coming out. She glanced at Aven and bit her lip. It was more than a little risky taking him down, but it would probably be worse to leave him in the main part of the house. At least if he was with her she could help keep him in one piece.
The sound of footsteps caused Llmalda to spin round, but she soon recognised the shuffling gait and relaxed as Igor hurried round the corner. The small Norn bowed to her.
�Crypts now open Mistress.�
�Thank you. Close it up behind us.�
Igor gasped.
�You alone in there?�
Llmalda nodded, ignoring her own apprehension at the idea.
�Yes. I don�t want any of them coming down.�
�Him?� Igor gestured towards Aven, who was staring around at the room. Llmalda watched him for a second, then nodded.
�Him too.�
�Wishing you luck,� Igor muttered and started off in the direction of the crypts. Llmalda beckoned to Aven and hurried after Igor, hoping they weren�t going to need that luck.

Aven followed Llmalda, trying not to stare at his surroundings. It was difficult not to, this place was the most... Ornate he�d ever been in. It was a far cry from the inns that had so far been his whole idea of expensive living. He now realised they barely scraped the surface. The Manor was massive; the walls lined with paintings that probably cost more than the total of anything Aven had ever owned. The fact that the eyes on the pictures seemed to follow him was more than a little unnerving. Then again, there wasn�t much in here that didn�t make the fur on his neck stand on end. There were too many dark corners, too many hidden alcoves, too many places that could be concealing something. Creepy wasn�t even the word anymore.
They rounded a corner in the current huge corridor and Aven had to physically stop his jaw dropping. So far, they�d been through richly furnished rooms, floored with either carpet that nearly came up to their ankles or perfectly polished dark wood. The walls had been thick wooden panelling, complete with tapestries, paintings and trophies. Now... The corridor suddenly widened out into a room that might have been cut straight from solid rock. Huge grey pillars speared up towards a ceiling that was so high it practically had clouds. Massive statues loomed over the room, although Aven wasn�t entirely sure what they were. Frankly, he didn�t want to know. Large stone blocks that looked suspiciously like gravestones bordered a gloomy pathway leading into the centre of the room where an immense slab of dark rock occupied the space. As they got closer, Aven could see a spider�s web of thick iron chains flung across the slab, huge, slightly rusty hooks holding the links in place. Aven shivered as they reached it. The temperature had dropped in the last few feet, and there was clammy feeling to the air.
Llmalda nodded to Igor.
�Okay, bring her up.�
The masked Norn nodded and scurried over to what Aven had assumed to be another sculpture. He now realised that it was a very large lever. Igor pressed his shoulder to it and pushed hard. There was a series of ear-wrenching creaks and the chains suddenly became taut. With a screech that was altogether too ominous, the slab slowly raised, exposing a very dark, very foreboding stairway. Aven gulped.
�Let me guess, we go down there?�
�Correct.�
�I was afraid you were going to say that.�
There was a cough from behind them. Aven turned, and Igor thrust a torch into his hand and lit it.
�Light. Mistress?�
Llmalda took another torch, and turned back to the stairs.
�Shut it up behind us Igor, and I�d be obliged if you didn�t let anyone else down there.�
Aven wasn�t certain, but he thought he caught a whispered �We�ll have enough trouble anyway�. He decided to ignore it, the last thing he needed was anything to make him more nervous. With a final glance at Igor, Llmalda lead the way down the stairs.
As they reached the bottom of the steps, the slab thumped shut behind them. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the torchlight and when they did he stared round, feeling his eyes widen. They were standing in a massive stone room, filled with dark archways and with about a hundred passages leading off it. Llmalda sniffed the air, which simply smelt dank to Aven, nodded and beckoned to him.
�Come on, stay close.�
�You bet,� he muttered as they headed off down one of the passages. They walked for about five minutes in silence, and Aven had to force himself not to jump at every tiny sound. There were plenty of them; light scratching sounds that he first put down to rats. It was after a few minutes that he began to suspect that it wasn�t rats.
�Llmalda?� He whispered, �Er� Is there something else down here?�
Llmalda nodded slowly.
�They�ve been following us for two minutes. Get ready, we won�t get much further before... Down!�
Aven threw himself to the floor; Llmalda dodging sideways as something leapt over them. Sharp-sounding things sliced through the air above Aven�s head, so close he could feel the draft, and a high-pitched shrieking filled the air. He scrambled back onto his feet, ducking just in time to avoid another swipe at his head. He glanced up, to see a set of gleaming fangs baring down at him out of the darkness. Slits of red blazed out from under a heavy black hood as claw-like hands reached out toward him in a demonic embrace. He cried out and brought his torch up in a sweeping motion that caught the thing full in the face. It screeched deafeningly and ripped the flame out of his grasp, hurling it away. It lunged at him again, small flames licking at the corners of its hood. He tried to dodge again, but something tossed him backwards before he could move. Llmalda hit the thing full on, baring it to the ground. It screeched again, the sound sending small blasts of pain through Aven�s ears as Llmalda batted away at the gripping claws. He scrambled upright again, snatching his torch up as he did so. He brought it round, the light illuminating the pair on the floor. He had to stifle a gasp. Llmalda had the thing pinned the ground, one hand forcing it�s head back so that the mouth gaped it�s rows of fangs to the air. Llmalda�s own face was twisted in a snarl, her teeth bared, hissing loudly.
�The fire!�
�What?�
�The torch! Give it here!�
Nervously, Aven handed her the torch. Llmalda took it, lifted the burning wood above her head, then brought it down into the thing�s hood. Aven caught a glimpse of sickly green skin, spotted with black boils before the flame obscured everything. It screamed and writhed, claws flailing as it tried to fight off Llmalda�s iron grip. A foul stench filled the air, and Aven forced himself not to gag. Slowly, the screech died away, leaving the thing jerking spasmodically on the floor. Llmalda pulled the torch back and stood up, shuddering.
�I hate those things.�
Aven decided that his voice would probably work now.
�What... What is it?�
�A wraith. I�ve no idea what they really are, but they�ve lived down here as long as I can remember. They might even be a type of vampire, no one�s sure.�
Aven glanced at the still-jerking body. �Is it dead?�
�Not likely, worse luck. They�re damn hard to kill, but fire should work. They�re incredibly sensitive to light, any sort of light, so fire works well against them.�
�Right,� Aven said slowly, then decided to voice the question that had been bothering him, �Er, what do they� Eat down here?�
�Anything. Rats, mice, eachother. What the family leaves behind I guess.�
�Pardon?�
Llmalda sighed.
�Alright, I should probably explain, but can we walk as I do? We�ve got a lot of ground to cover; these crypts go under the whole Manor, and I don�t really feel like coming across any more wraiths. We�ll be out of their territory in a bit.�
�And into what exactly?� Aven asked sharply. He knew he shouldn�t be like this, but he was still shaken. Elves generally didn�t like being cooped up, and unorthodox as Aven may consider himself, the constant fear and darkness of this place was grating along his nerves. Llmalda glared at him.
�Get moving, and I�ll tell you.�
Aven gritted his teeth, pressing down his annoyance. Llmalda smiled slightly.
�Look, I know it isn�t pleasant down here, but put up with me for a while. The faster we move, the faster we get out of here.�
Aven nodded, and managed to grin back.
�Sure.� As they started walking again, he turned back to her, �Well? What else is down here?�
�Several generations of my family, and this is plus initiates.�
Aven stopped dead for a second.
�What?�
�Remember I said most of my family had unwound? Well, this is where they�re put. That�s why I wasn�t overly keen on bringing you down here.�

�You� You just leave them here?�
Even if they were vampires, Aven found it difficult to get his head around the idea of abandoning a family member in such a dank hole. Llmalda smiled slightly again, shaking her head.
�You�re an elf, you wouldn�t understand.�
�Try me.�
�Put it this way, would you prefer we let hordes of completely insane, psychopathic vampires lose? They stay down here; the family sends� Food down every month or so.�
�Food?�
�It�s better if you just say food. �Peasants� doesn�t have the same ring to it.�
Aven stared at her in shock. It wasn�t so much the words, but the offhand way they�d been said�
�You� They bring people down here? What, tied up?�
�No, live bait is more of a sport.�
�A sport?� Aven was appalled, �You agree with this?�
Llmalda suddenly whirled round to face him. The torchlight burned in her eyes, casting strange shadows around her face.
�Do I agree? With keeping these vicious monsters out of the world? Let me tell you a story elf, then you�ll see how much I agree. Two, three years ago a small group of unwound vampires were free in this region. They decimated twelve villages, slaughtered every living thing. Not one of the bodies had a single drop of blood left in them. I�m talking hundreds of Norns, livestock, Pitzens, everything with a pulse, eradicated. We had to stop them, mother, father, me and my brothers. It took three weeks to find them, and nearly as long to kill the bastards.�
�Vampire community service. How nice,� Aven sneered before he could stop himself.
�How long do you think we�d last if we didn�t help? The people here are used to vampires, used to the occasional draining. But nothing on that scale, nothing that destructive. We had to do something, before someone else did. Any attack against one vampire is an attack on us all and if someone had gotten to them first, it�s damn sure they�d have come after us. Vampires keep power through fear, but there�s a limit fear can reach before it turns to anger. Enough anger gets you killed. Vampires we may be. Stupid we aren�t.�
With that, Llmalda shot him one last cold glare, spun on her heel and strode off. Aven felt almost frozen to the spot with shock, but he had just enough nerves left to hurry after her. He�d never thought�
�I� I�m sorry.�
�Forget it.�
�No, I shouldn�t have��
�I said forget it!� Llmalda snapped. Aven decided to shut up for a while, but eventually had to ask.
�I thought� Well, you didn�t get on with your family. Why�d you work with them?�
Llmalda sighed.
�I had no choice. The others� It wouldn�t have been so bad if it had been a family member, that would have been more of a territorial thing, but these vampires weren�t even our clan. I hate my family, true enough, but they�re the only ones of my people I�ve ever got on with, even slightly. The new group were causing trouble, and we were getting blamed. I�m a DeFang, and that does count, if only because if anyone is going to besmirch my name it will be me.�
�What happened?�
�We caught up with them eventually. I take it you�ve never seen a vampire battle?�
�No.�
�Lucky you. It�s far from pretty. We were outnumbered, but we had all our senses intact, which was a useful advantage.�
�You won?�
�Yes.�
�You killed them?�
�Not personally. Father drove the stakes in, left our crest on the ground in blood. He wasn�t having any dispute over who�d been there.�
Aven felt slightly sick. Llmalda must have seen the expression on his face, because she shook her head.
�I know it�s horrific, and I�m not proud of what we did. It� It was that day I began to wonder. That could have been us, so very easily. I started to question what we did more, wanting to know why. It was eventually why I left. It isn�t easy being different, and everyone knew I was different�� She trailed off, and Aven was sure he could hear regret under her usual tones. He laid a hand on her shoulder.
�I do understand you know. I�m a lone elf, that�s pretty different for us.�
Llmalda smiled slightly.
�Thanks.�
Aven grinned.
�Is that a crack I see in the steel exterior?�
�Not likely,� she grinned back. Suddenly the expression dropped from her face, and she flung out an arm, stopping for a second. Aven glanced round quickly, then back at Llmalda. Her nostrils flared, then she nodded.
�We�re here,� she took a few steps forwards, her torchlight illuminating a wall infront of them. Aven realised he hadn�t actually seen the wall. It was dark in here. Llmalda moved along the wall until she came to a tunnel opening. She beckoned to him.
�Come on, and watch your neck.�
She ducked down slightly and started down the passage. Aven followed. If possible, it was darker in here, the torchlight seeming to be sucked into the blackness. After about a minute, the tunnel forked off. Llmalda lead the way again, and soon Aven could see a slightly brighter opening at the end. They ducked out of it, and he looked up. His torch suddenly seemed to work again, lighting up a huge room. It looked almost like a chapel, with rows of stone like pews along the walls. The rock was covered with strange carvings, and aisle down the centre of the room was lined with pillars. He could see several huge, ornate archways sunken into the rock, each one holding a heavy black door. However, it wasn�t the furnishings that were attracting Aven�s gaze.
�Meet the family,� Llmalda said quietly.
Aven gulped as he stared at the figures watching them. Several were hunched on the stone benches, almost perching, each set of sunken blood red eyes staring out from a deathly pale face. Fangs curled down almost to their chins, their faces stained with dried blood. These were the vampires he�d always imagined, and had occasionally met.
Llmalda strode towards an archway at the far end of the room. Aven hurried after her, dodging as the occasional nearly skeletal hand grabbed at him. Llmalda glared at the last one to try that.
�Leave.�
�Mine!� Hissed the old vampire, glittering eyes filled with hate. Llmalda half-turned, then darted forwards, gripping the creature round it�s thin neck. It squawked and started to scrabble at her, then stopped and snarled in defeat. Llmalda released it, and beckoned to Aven to move through the arch. He did so; eyes still fixed on the now sullen vampire.

�Sorry,� Llmalda whispered, �But violence is the only thing they understand now.�
Aven nodded, trying to get the image of those red eyes out of his mind. �Who was that?�
�Some distant aunt or something. Ah, here we are.� She tapped on a large black door at the back of the arch. She produced a small key out of her cloak, and opened the door. It opened to reveal a smaller room, but a furnished one. The floor was wooden, and some drapes hung on the smooth walls. There was some old, carved wooden furniture scattered around, including a bookshelf filled with thick, leather-bound volumes and for some reason what looked like a workbench. It wasn�t up to the luxury of the Manor, but it was certainly comfortable, and a definite contrast to the crypt outside, although there were some odd markings on the walls. Before Aven could look more closely, Llmalda elbowed him in the ribs, gesturing to the far end of the room.
�There he is,� she muttered. Whatever Aven was expecting to see, what he�d thought Gratchis Verleon would be like, it wasn�t what he found. Sitting in a large black chair, clad in some sort of long, purple robe, was� A Grendel?
Aven nudged Llmalda.
�That�s him?�
�Yup.�
The Grendel looked up and smiled at them. He had very pale green scales, oddly black hair and a huge pair of faintly yellowish fangs curling over his lips.
�Llmalda!� He boomed, �So good to see you again!�
�Whatever happens, just don�t be too surprised,� Llmalda spoke quietly to Aven, then grinned at Gratchis.
�Mutual. How are you?�
�Oh, can�t complain, can�t complain. You�re looking well my dear,� his red gaze switched to Aven and the grin increased, �And who is this?�
�Aven Marus, although while we�re here he�s called Calec Nemte.�
�Ah, now what reason could you have for lying to your dear father?� Gratchis laughed, �Your secret is safe with me.�
He looked at Aven again.
�An elf eh? I guess you�re not really an initiate. Pity, there are very few elves in our family. Less Grendels though. Oh, do get it off your chest dear boy, ask away.�
Aven hesitated, glanced at Llmalda who nodded, then decided to ask what had been bothering him.
�I� I didn�t know you could get vampire Grendels.�
�Oh you can, as you can see. Anything can be a vampire, even werewolves. Although that always did set a precedent for old Rufus.� Gratchis sighed, his eyes taking on a faraway look.
�We need to ask you something,� Llmalda said quickly, clapping her hands. Gratchis blinked, and focused on her.
�Oh, yes. Sorry, nearly drifted off there. That�s the problem with this unwinding business. A hint for you, Aven lad, if you are thinking about joining us, get enough blood, eh?�
�Aven is not getting initiated. Now, will you help us?�
Gratchis waved a clawed hand.
�Of course, of course. Now, what did you want to know about?�
�Chaos.�

Chapter 4

Chapter 6