Adventures of the Cohort Ch. 01

Mikael's blades were out, humming with magical energy as the vampires' malice shimmered around them. In a blur the two creatures attacked, simultaneously striking at him from both sides. Were he not endowed with the gifts of the Gods themselves he would surely have been killed; as it was he was just about able to avoid the twin strikes. The swords crashed into each other over his head, the vampires seemingly shocked by their failure to kill him. They still feel surprise, then, Mikael grimaced as he struck outwards with one blade.

It caught one of the off-balance vampires in the chest, piercing her heart. With a strangled cry she turned to dust, collapsing to the floor in front of Mikael. Her companion jumped backwards, taking her bearings. Mikael suspected that she had not envisaged fighting this battle alone.

She edged warily towards him, opening her mouth wide to reveal long, razor-sharp fangs. Her grip was tight on the daggers that she clutched, and Mikael could see her waging a mental battle whether to fight or run. Eventually, she decided to strike, lunging forwards with inhuman speed, aiming for Mikael's throat.

He was ready for her, having sized her up as she battled with herself. One of his swords flicked upwards, knocking both daggers high into the air, and the other swept in a graceful arc towards her head. It parted neatly, a look of surprise on her vampiric features as she crumbled to dust. Her skull had disappeared completely before it even hit the floor.

Mikael took a moment to compose himself after the fight, allowing his heart to slow and his breathing to shallow. After a short while he crouched again, and -- after a brief look along the walls and ceiling -- set off down the corridor once more.

He encountered no more resistance for a long while, the dank stone filling his nostrils with its abhorrent stench, but no enemies opposed him. He crawled further and further into the depths of the vast crypt, his muffled breathing the only sound. Occasional corridors jutted off at right-angles to his descent, leading down into more darkness, nothing but stale air giving Mikael clues as to which path to take.

At length he rounded a corner, and ahead stood another vampire, her eyes scanning the pathway that stretched before her. She had not seen Mikael, however, and he unhooked his throwing knife, the blade singing towards her before she knew what was happening. The vampire exploded in a cloud of dust, the energy of her death vaporising his knife, and as Mikael approached the spot he noticed a faint glow.

Edging further along the passage he realised it turned sharply, flickering light cast from whatever lay around the bend. He crept closer, and had to blink back tears of pain as lamplight seared into his enhanced vision. Clearing his night sight spell under his breath -- with the addition of a few choice words -- he spotted movement at the end of the corridor.

It opened out into a vast space, the walls still made of stone but cathedral-like in its opulence. Gold furnished every fitting, and a great oak altar barbed with blades rested at the far end. There upon it stood Hammond, his eyes flashing red and two great fangs protruding from his lips. Mikael could sense him now, a pulsating body of absolute evil, buffeting his senses even as he studied the cursed ritual before him.

He watched a moment, gauging his surroundings, identifying his foes. Hammond stood before three or four other vampires shrouded in large cloaks. Mikael assumed that they were his foremost lieutenants, and they knelt in front of him, heads bowed. Others knelt further away, their number nine or ten at the very least. Hammond himself stood with his arms apart, black words screaming forth from between his twisted lips, a black miasma of pure malice congealing in front of him.

Mikael watched in horror as the black mist took shape, a figure forming from its shifting mass. A low cackle filled the room, and at last a voice spoke.

"You dare to summon me, Hammond? I can only assume you have food for me, lest I sacrifice you to my hunger." The black cloud shivered as the words spewed forth, and Mikael realised with a cold rush that the voice spoke directly from its core.

"Indeed, my Lord," Hammond bowed. "I have maidens aplenty for you, if you wish to continue our deal."

"I do," the miasma replied.

"Then let us start."

Hammond grinned as he raised his arms once more, and a low chanting filled the room. Mikael turned his head quickly to identify the source, and gasped as hooded figures slowly entered through an ornate side-door, candles grasped in their gloved hands. Alongside each covered form stood a human girl, her eyes transfixed and her movement slow and deliberate.

The girls! Mikael's head screamed, and horror swept over him. They're being converted! No one had ever lived to tell of the vampiric rituals of conversion. Most who had seen such a thing were either killed or turned into vampires; even those few who escaped were unable to recall the events, likely because of the hypnotising effect that a vampire lord had on their thralls.

Mikael's mind raced as the girls moved laboriously to three stone slabs in front of the altar. They climbed on top of them, lying flat, and the hooded figures took up a position behind. They still chanted, their faces covered by the hoods.

Silver flashed beneath their cloaks as Hammond grinned, and the black cloud -- which had now assumed a much more solid form -- quivered eagerly as it watched. These girls were about to have their souls ripped from their bodies and fed to the dark entity, and in return Hammond would receive willing vampiric slaves from their bodies. The cloaked figures slowly raised their weapons, and the girls lay motionless beneath them.

Mikael could watch no more. He was horribly outnumbered, the room full of vampires, and yet he could not merely sit by as these women were converted. He was a warrior of the Gods, and he would die defending them.

He unsheathed his swords with a bellowing cry before charging forwards, his twin blades slicing the heads from two of the closest vampires as they stood to challenge him. His weapons glowed as the vampires fell, the powerful magic they were imbued with protecting them from the vampires' death-energy. The three figures with knives stopped chanting abruptly, their daggers suspended above their heads as they waited for the commotion to end.

Hammond snarled as Mikael charged forwards, and the black form let out an unearthly scream.

"You!" screeched Hammond, his face twisted with rage. "You would dare interrupt my ritual? You are nothing but a lowly adventurer, a pathetic do-gooder I kept alive merely to amuse me. Kill him!"

"Allow me," the dark being intoned, swooping down towards Mikael. He was lifted from the floor, his arms frozen by his sides; he couldn't move, and the vibrating mass halted in front of him. He could feel the malice it radiated, and struggled to resist the unnatural urge to capitulate to the twisted monstrosity. Evil images penetrated his mind, and he cried out as the black miasma reached a tendril towards his face...

"For the Gods!" cried a familiar voice, and a beam of holy energy scythed through the being's core. It screeched ethereally, shaking violently, before exploding with an ear-splitting scream. Mikael was dropped roughly to the floor, regaining control of his actions at once, and watched agape as two hooded figures at the rear of the room shrugged off their cloaks.

Melissa and Lucinda stood there, Melissa's hand still outstretched from the burst of holy power. Lucinda withdrew her two swords, immediately planting one in the chest of the closest vampire and looking around the room with a snarl.

The vampires burst into action, flashing forwards as one, Hammond bellowing with rage on the altar. Mikael stood, jumping towards the stone slabs as his companions also ran for them. Two more vampires were cut down by his magical blades, and he landed deftly next his Sisters as more of the creatures reached them.

He raised his swords once more, parrying his enemies' blows, thrusting again and again, each strike landing true. These vampires were not fighting with their usual grace, the disturbed ritual leaving them furious. They attacked without composure, their once-calm movements replaced by the clumsy swipes of men-at-arms. Wave after wave was dispatched, and soon Mikael and his Sisters stood alone with Hammond.

It was clear now why the vampires had been so weakened. Mikael knew that each thrall was linked to its master, and Hammond was beyond fury. He was doubled up, his pale, cracked hands grasping hold of the side of the altar, his red eyes fixed upon the Cohort. He shook with pure hatred, and he hunched forwards, his face twisted in rage.

"You dare to enter my crypt..." he growled. "To interrupt my ritual..."

He raised one hand, and Mikael and his Sisters were disarmed at once, their weapons flung from their hands to the corners of the dark room.

"To disturb the creation of more of my children..."

Mikael was flung backwards and pinned awkwardly against the stone slab. His face landed near that of the girl who already rested on it. She looked so peaceful, as if she were merely sleeping.

"To kill my children..."

Mikael felt a sudden chill in his heart, and Hammond leapt in one movement to stand before them. Mikael could not turn his head, and yet he knew his Sisters were in a similar position.

"All from pathetic little adventurers. I tolerated your blundering attempts to discover my coven. I accepted your 'revelation' that my charms did not work. I took great pleasure selling useless wares to the population of this disgusting town, building up their hopes only to dash them to the ground. I humoured myself with your misfortune, burning your tavern, ostracising you. How I enjoyed it when the townspeople turned against you, attacking those who sought merely to help them.

"Help! Oh, the sweet bitterness in that. As if you could ever pose a threat to me. You have killed my children, and I am impressed. But you will not kill me. Your skills, your nobility, will not help you now."

He raised his hands, a dark shadow enshrouding them. An icy chill flowed outwards from him, and his eyes fixed upon the Cohort. The vampire lord threw his arms forward, three black beams bursting forth and smashing into Mikael and his Sisters.

A great explosion tore the air, and Mikael's head cracked back onto the solid stone. Pain seared into his skull, and he lay there a moment, unsure of whether he was dead. Groggily he raised his head, and his eyes opened wide.

Hammond lay pinned against the altar, one of its ornate black daggers protruding from his chest. His lips twisted into a snarl as he reached up, his fingers running across the pointed tip of the blade. With a cry he threw himself forwards, his body a blur as he charged towards the Cohort.

He was dust before he reached them, his cry fading as he crumbled into nothingness. Mikael lay there awkwardly a moment, his eyes wide as sheer relief flooded his brain. All at once he became aware of his surroundings again, and whirled to his Sisters.

"What the fuck!" he shouted, not angry but rather beyond grateful. "Where did you come from? What just happened?"

"He underestimated us," Melissa said, her composure already returned. If she ever lost it, Mikael laughed to himself. "He thought of us exactly as he said -- as pathetic adventurers. He tried to steal our souls."

"Our souls?" Mikael gasped.

"Yes, and that was his downfall," the beautiful medic replied. "Our souls are already bound to a higher power: the Gods. When he attempted to steal them, he opened a font of energy he was unprepared for. The very essence of the Gods assaulted him."

"We were saved by those we serve. There's something poetic in that. But how did you get here?"

"We found our way down," Lucinda smiled. "Hammond's maid -- Jenna -- led us straight into an ambush. We were set upon by vampires in hoods, and it was clear that we had been marked as his next victims. It was then we realised what had happened."

"Did you kill Jenna?" Mikael snarled, anger flaring inside him.

"Oh, no," Melissa said. "She did not know what she was doing. She had been under his thrall for too long -- it took all my skills to break the spell upon her. No one has been able to break the curse of thraldom before."

Lucinda grinned. "Luckily, we have the best healer who has ever lived. Once Jenna was freed, she told us everything. We took the hoods from the dead vampires, which had somehow escaped destruction with the rest of their bodies. It was then that we realised these were ritual hoods, worn by a coven when it converts new members. They do not vanish with their wearers, as they are used over the centuries.

"Jenna showed us how to enter here from the graveyard, and we descended. We came upon the ritual then to see the girls being led in."

"And I must check them," Melissa said hurriedly, climbing from her slab and moving to its side. Her hands passed over the girl who lay upon it.

"That is how we got here, Mikael, but what about you? We thought you asleep -- we could not wake you lest we miss the chance to enter the crypt, but we did not think you would be in danger. Hammond would surely not have made it so obvious as to kill someone in his own house."

Mikael smiled, recounting how he had arrived in the crypt to his Sisters as Melissa checked over the three young women on the slabs. They groaned as they came around, and Mikael watched as their eyes opened in fear.

"It's alright," Melissa soothed, her hand stroking the forehead of the closest girl, who had risen into a sitting position, utterly terrified. "You're safe now."

Mikael and his Sisters helped the young women to their feet, and they looked gratefully upon the Cohort. Mikael dashed to the corner of the room, retrieving their weapons, before they led the girls from the crypt. It was time to get them home.

*****************************

They emerged from Hammond's house into the cold night, the girls walking unsteadily beside them. Melissa had cured their minor wounds, but she could not cure their tiredness. They needed a long rest, and that was something they could now enjoy. Mikael strode forwards and breathed in deeply, allowing the cool, fresh air to fill his lungs and replace the smell of death and grave soil.

Shouting out their victory loudly into the night, Mikael motioned the girls forwards, and they began to walk towards the main square. Whilst Hammond's house was safe now, he had no desire to stay in it any longer than necessary, and he suspected that his Sisters felt exactly the same way.

By the time they had reached the town hall its bell was already ringing. It boomed out over the night, and Mikael watched as lamplight flickered on inside the houses. Soon enough, people appeared in the doorways; scared to emerge but curious as to what was going on. Then the cry went up that the vampires were dead, and the townspeople started to flood towards the main square. The Cohort and the rescued girls waited.

They were noticed very shortly afterwards, the townspeople parting and clapping, their eyes filled with happiness and cheer. It did not take long for them to reach the centre of the square, where the families of the three missing girls waited. With a shriek, they rushed towards their daughters, and the Mayor strode purposefully towards his niece, attempting to keep an air of dignity. It did not last, though, and soon he was tearfully holding her close, weeping with delight at her safe return.

The three members of the Cohort stood watching, smiling at the scene before them. At length, the Mayor broke his hug and walked over to them, a huge grin adorning his face.

"Thank you," he said, shaking their hands. "You don't understand how much this means to me. If there's anything that I can do, that we can do, we will do it." He motioned to the amassed townspeople.

Lucinda smiled. "We require no compensation. It is not our intention to collect a reward. But there is something you can do - the old man Hammond was your enemy, raising his coven behind a mask of civic duty. Burn his house and block up the crypt beneath it. No trace can remain."

"I will. Rest assured of that," the Mayor bowed.

"And one more thing," Melissa added, stepping forwards. "Hammond's maid, Jenna, was under his power. She was not in control of her actions. We have freed her, and told her to wait at the edges of the graveyard. If you could see to it she is looked after, I would be grateful."

"Of course. I will personally make sure she receives the care and affection of these townspeople."

"Now go," Mikael said, waving him away with a smile. "Your niece is safe, and I'm sure there is much to say."

The Mayor bowed once more, before hurrying back to his niece. He hugged her again.

"I am sorry for my gruffness earlier in the day," said a voice close by. Mikael turned, his eyes falling upon the apologetic form of the tavern owner. "It was not deserved. My inn was not destroyed by the fire; jus' scarred at the front. But I see now you truly are 'eroes, and if you require my rooms again, you are welcome to 'em."

Before Mikael or his Sisters could respond, the tavern owner had left, returning to his inn to prepare a room. Mikael smiled at his companions, and they grinned in return.

"You did a very brave thing, Mikael," Melissa said. "Very brave indeed."

"You did not know we were in that crypt, too," Lucinda added. "You were willing to die to protect those women; willing to fight a horde of vampires on your own to defend the innocent and uphold the Gods' will."

"It was very impressive," Melissa said, her brown eyes staring into him. She stepped closer, pressing her body against his. Lucinda looked up to the heavens with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"I don't think we should leave tonight, it's too dark. Don't you agree, Melissa?" She turned to face Mikael with a wicked smile.

The medic placed a hand on Mikael's chest. "Oh, completely. I suppose we'll have to take up the owner's offer and stay another night in the tavern. Alone."

"And uninterrupted," Lucinda added.

Mikael sighed with happiness.

*****************************

The festival had been a wonderful spectacle; the streets were heaving, the people of Habbrant aflame with the love of life. Mikael and his Sisters had decided to stay and indulge in it -- it would, after all, have been rude to leave when the festival had been thrown partly in their honour. Besides, Mikael thought, we've earned this. I doubt the Gods mind us enjoying ourselves. Indeed, the Gods seemed to have bestowed their blessing upon the celebration, the night warm and dry, the stars and moon casting a healthy glow upon proceedings that rivalled the bright flicker of the street lamps.

The Cohort had returned to their tavern only very briefly, although they stopped past Hammond's house first. The night watch had already set about dousing the building in oil, and Mikael and his Sisters had arrived only just in time before the house was set aflame. Rescuing their packs, they had moved to their new room and changed, although Melissa and Lucinda had been very careful not to allow Mikael to see them naked.

"You know what will happen if you catch sight of us," Melissa had teased. "And we need to be seen out there in the town, not cooped up in our room, no matter how good the reason."

The wonderful images that this conjured in his mind, coupled with Lucinda's earlier carnal promise, had kept Mikael's imagination occupied, even as he enjoyed himself amongst the townspeople.

Impromptu stalls had been set up, sleep abandoned in celebration of the vampires' eradication. Alcohol had flowed freely, and whilst Mikael and his Sisters had been careful not to indulge in too much -- it dulled the senses and muddled the mind -- they had nonetheless enjoyed a cup of very enjoyable wine each. Such restraint was not shown by the other revellers, however, and Melissa had laughed at the happy drunkenness that abounded. The spontaneous party would leave more than a few citizens of the town nursing headaches in the morning.