11.1 : Hide and seek

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“Izek! They’ve taken Ireena!” A blood-soaked Serenity runs towards the Captain of the Guard crying out for assistance.

Confusion and mistrust give way to action as the vampire spawn that had been stalking Serenity now strolls boldly into the square as if he were the Burgomaster. Izek shouts a command and the guards rush to attack. But the creature tears them apart like paper, it grabs a nearby guard and begins scaling the side of a building. The creature holds the guard aloft and seems to be laughing, then it ceremoniously rips out the guard’s throat. The few citizens who had stayed to watch now flee from the square in terror.

A firebolt shoots across the square and slams into the vampire. Izek strides forward and rallies the remaining guards to his side, commanding them to surround the building.

“There’s nothing I can do here, I need to find help” Serenity runs North to the Inn. A startled Danika rushes Serenity to the kitchen where Danika’s husband Unwin listens to her nightmare. Unwin looks to have a plan, but Serenity is not part of this plan, she is too weakened. Unwin leads her to the stables at the rear of the Inn and Serenity lays down in the hay loft to rest, screams echoing around the streets all around.

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“What was that?” Serenity dare not move. “How long have I rested?” She lay silently. There was movement in the stables below. “Serenity?” A voice called out.

“How did you all survive? What about Ireena?” Serenity sighs with relief to see Hoskgak, Destiny and Watch, tears welling in her eyes. But no one could tell her what had become of Ireena.

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The screams were quieter and less often now. “We can’t just sit here, we have to help if we can”, Serenity was determined. “Maybe, we can find one alone…”

The party agrees and they venture out of the loft. Watch flies ahead, scanning the streets for signs of the vampire spawn. “Izek went to the North, we have been ordered to hold the square”, the guards refuse to leave their post, so the party heads North to find Izek.

They do not get far. “Look out!”, “Why didn’t Watch see it?”, “A Rogue!” The fight is intense, the vampire toys with them, with absolute confidence in its victory. Maybe that will be its downfall!

“Hoskgak!” Serenity scrambles up the building to where the spawn holds Hoskgak in the air, thoughts of the scene from the town square flashing through her mind. Once again, a firebolt blazes through the air. The Rogue is hit, but shrugs it off. “Surround the building!”, commands the Captain of the Guard and his soldiers follow their orders.

“Bored now”, the Rogue tosses Hoskgak from the building and disappears on to the rooftops.

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The party returns, deflated and demoralised, back to the hidden safety of the hayloft at the back of the Bluewater Inn.

“Even with everything we have, Izek and the guards… we could not even stop one of them. That Rogue was playing with us…” Serenity slumps into the hay defeated. “This accursed town was better off before we arrived…”

-

Once again, movement in the stables below. The party lay silently above, readying to fight for their lives…

“…Ireena?”

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