After extensive preparation, mainly by Quiasar, the Guardians entered the labyrinth in the morning. Carefully marking their trail, the Guardians continued until they found a large cavern, with an arch at the entrance. There they found a winged man approaching. He did not show on infared or in a mirror. Quiasar started a dialogue with the creature, who called himself Lord Destrada. Despite his silver tongue, Quiasar was unable to find common ground. Destrada admitted to killing the butler and seemed proud of it.
Destrada broke off the discussion, apparently blinking Quiasar out of existence. The enraged Guardians then dropped their guise of 'entertainers' and attacked. The overconfident Destrada was pounded around for ten seconds, then fled in terror. The Guardians were unable to pursue, as footsteps were coming from behind. They formed up ranks, to meet... other Guardians coming in. The groups caucused briefly, while Entropy found Quiasar, hidden from plain view, in a corner apparently in the grips of a delusion and freed him.
Sindar made a mental probe of the surrounding area, finding four creatures before being blocked. Using his darkness, Shadow Knight found a lair with five creatures. The Guardians made a quick plan and attacked. Quiasar cut off the escape routes and everyone else moved in. Unfortunately, Shadow Knight had cloaked the entire area in darkness, and vision was nearly impossible. White Leopard alone joined in the assault with SK, everyone else trying to find a target.
Once the darkness was removed and SK knocked out, the Guardians easily routed the opposition. The vampires generally attempted to flee while the Guardians gunned them down at will. The last two nearly broke out of the cavern but were shot down just in time. Quiasar reshaped his field around the vampires, missing only one. The Guardians, however, refused to stay inside the force field with the vampires. A brief discussion ensued, with Entropy advocating immediate destruction and Sindar insisting they by captured alive and well. A compromise was made, with the vampires being taken to the sunlight for examination.
When the Guardians reached the wine cellar, the vampires began negotiating again. One vampire claimed that the sunlight would destroy them. The Guardians talked, but the vampires insisted on being released first. Putting bravery over common sense, Quiasar decided to run to sunlight. He ran only a couple rooms before the vampires smashed his forcefield. At the same time, Crocodile and Shadow Knight were attacked by the missing vampire.
Again the two groups fought, and again the Guardians were clearly the superior force. However, this time the vampires concentrated on Quiasar, who was exhausted and badly wounded. Lord Destrada led the retreat to the labyrinth. The final tally was two escaping, two captured, and one destroyed.
The two captured vampires were taken to the outer rooms and tests conducted. It was clear that the creatures were not the vampires of myth. A ferocious debate arose over the proper actions to take in regard to these creatures. The arguments broke down as follows: 1. SK-they are on property, and must be destroyed 2. Sindar-they are different, and so must be destroyed. 3. Desist &Crocodile-they are different, and must be studied 4. Entropy-they are different, and should be dealt with peacefully. Interestingly, Quiasar took little part in the debate, and allowed his female captive to leave after a brief dialogue. Entropy, through Crocodile, relayed a simple truce. Finally, the Guardians released the other captive and called CHESS.
Follow-up: CHESS and other government agencies have demonstrated a viciousness and callousness that should help them negotiate a strong relationship with the creatures. Crocodile and Desist should participate in any study into vampiric condition. While several theories have been put forth, a gene altering virus is the most reasonable explanation for the poor creatures. This represents a great chance to solve a problem that may have afflicted humanity for centuries.