Each parchment, Pania carefully placed in her inside pocket of her duster. She would save them and piece them together later. If there was a later, that is.
Shani carefully opened a large oak door with the toe of her boot, surprised that it hung slightly ajar. The door mildly protested, but swung out slowly to reveal a large library. Row upon row of shelves revealed books. Some collected from the vampire’s days before she found Earth, others since she arrived on Earth. Pania marveled at the titles and authors. Some of the books were written over six hundred years ago. The shelves seemed rather odd, built in this rather circular room. The outer shelves hugged the walls, but the next row seemed to begin to spiral inward, with a small break here and there to move easily through the stacks. The pair of gunslingers soon discovered why.
In the center of the spiral was a large circular map. Half of it was recognizable as Earth, the other half, their home world. Elven script provided a circular border around the map itself. And laying on the map seemed to be markings reminiscent of a summoning circle. Pania began to work right away as she carefully read the inscriptions as Shani watched the room for any movement.
“Whatcha got?” Shani finally spoke after Pania read half of the inscription. She had been writing it down as she was doing so, keeping a record of the find.
“Seem ta be the final stage o’ a bindin’ spell,” she said in a whisper as she completed writing the text down. “Need ta find the b’ginnin’ o’ it.”
“Great,” Shani remarked with a huff as she looked back to the books. “Let’s jist hope thet vampire’s got a catalog somewheres. Maybe she’s all nice an’ organized.” The lithe elf began looking over the books neatly piled on the closest shelves, smiling as she did so. “Seem she’s got all the elven texts sittin’ right here, nearest the circle.”
“’Ow convenient,” Pania smirked as she joined Shani and inspected the books. “There’s a lo’ ‘ere tha’ seem were stolen from ol’ Magic Schools long since gone.” Her fingers ran quickly over the books, almost seeming to speed read the titles and catching an understanding of their content. “Good thin’ the authors o’ said books kept it simple when titlin’ their work.” Shani smirked slightly and turned to look at the summoning circle.
That’s when her keen elven senses picked something up. She turned quickly, and felt a force hitting her in the chest that sent her flying back against a stack of books. Like a domino effect, the stack toppled and crashed into the next stack, continuing the chain until the last stack slammed against the wall. Shani had a death grip on her Colts and raised them as she sneered toward the Vampire as she made her appearance.
“Figger y’all must be Ya’Row,” Shani said with a growl. The name they had also gleaned from the discarded parchments. “Bit messy leavin’ yer diary all thrown ’bout like thet. Anyone could jist pick it up an’ read it.”
“Perhaps something I will have to consider in the future,” the vampire replied as she made herself known to them. Her clothing suited the style of dress of Europeans, with a low cut top, knee high boots, tight leather slacks, all in black, naturally. Her eyes seemed to glow with a bright red tint, her lips seemed painted in a blood red, and her fangs were visible. Hungry, is what she seemed. Hungry, and angry. “A pair of trespassers. How unfortunate for you.” She looked to Pania, the elven bard had a pistol trained on the vampire, only causing Ya’Row to laugh in an eerie tone that would send chills down anyone’s spine. “Put away that pop gun, love. You know that won’t have any effect on me.” Ya’Row smiled seductively, causing Pania to shake just slightly as the vampire’s hypnotic effect began to take hold.
Always make certain that both angles are covered.
Shani began firing right away, bullets hitting their mark easily. Ya’Row sneered and screamed as the silver bullets did their work. But she was still strong, and while the silver did work its magic, it was a great deal slower than it was with the brood. “Start the ritual!” Shani shouted out to Pania who seemed to snap awake and began pulling books off the shelves and flipping them open quickly. Shani fired one pistol as she reloaded the other, a difficult move but one she’d mastered over the years. Ya’Row on the other hand merely walked as though shrugging off each bullet. She grabbed Shani by the collar and slammed her up against a book shelf.
Shani’s hat fell to the floor, her hair tussled and tossed, hung over her ears. And this made Ya’Row stop for a brief moment. Shani snickered as it allowed her some time. “Hi! Bet ya never thought ta see more elves. We was in the neighbourhood an’ d’cided ta stop in, catch up.” Her quip gave her enough time to finish loading the Colt, and the chamber reloading sounded out clearly. Point blank, Shani lifted the pistol and pressed it to the vampire’s forehead, firing without hesitation. Ya’Row tumbled back and screamed a hideous scream of pain.
What was more important, she had tumbled back into the summoning circle.
“I GO’ IT!” Pania shouted and began to read the elven text aloud. The room began to shake as the text surrounding the summoning circle began to glow. This naturally only enraged Ya’Row. She seemed to growl and lunge for Pania, but the elven bard was ready as she fired her Smith and Wesson directly at the vampire, the bullet slamming into her chest and sending her stumbling back.
The realization that these were elves, adept with magic and able to read the elven language, had taken Ya’Row aback. She hadn’t planned for this contingency on Earth. It was never even thought of. In her own smug way, she had never realized that if she could find the portal to Earth, then other elves probably could as well.
A bright shaft of magical light flowed from the circle, trapping Ya’Row inside. Pania had finished the inscription from the book and took out the paper she had written the text upon. Shani loaded her Colts again and drew Ya’Row’s attention to her, firing upon the vampire. Each bullet became more and more painful than the last. And Pania read the inscription in a bold and loud voice.
The summoning circle began to change, the center of the circle seemed to open up, and a obelisk began to rise. Shackles hung lifelessly from the obelisk, an indication that this object had a special meaning in some twisted way to the elven vampire. Ya’Row tried to reach for Pania, grabbing in vain as Pania read the text. Black tendrils lifted themselves up from the circle, ensnaring Ya’Row. And then the chains came to life.
Like metal snakes they reached out for Ya’Row. Pania’s voice grew louder as she began the last part of the ritual. This would be it, the end. At least for now. The chains violently grabbed Ya’Row and hauled her back to the obelisk, snaking around her body and holding her firm. Once in place, four large stones rose up from the floor, encasing the obelisk and the vampire inside. Pania’s last words were nearly choked out by the screams from Ya’Row and the din created by the magic that rushed through the room. Both elves watched as a portal began to open underneath the stone crate, slowly, it lowered itself inside the portal. Where it’s destination was, neither Pania nor Shani dared venture a guess.
Pania rushed to Shani’s side, grabbing her arm and pulling her to cover as books began rattling off the shelves and flying toward the portal. It was as if a vortex had opened and was sucking everything into it. The air began to howl as the obelisk sunk deeper and deeper inside, books and papers following along with it. Pania clutched herself close to Shani as the two elves huddled together, waiting out the storm. As the obelisk disappeared inside the vortex, the air seemed to scream. Just when it was becoming the most unbearable, it simply stopped altogether.
Both elves stayed close to the floor, slowly looking up to ensure the coast was clear. Shani looked over to Pania with a somewhat annoyed look on her face. She leaned in close and whispered. “Why I git the feelin’ y’all pulled me down jist ta cop a feel?”
Pania grinned jist slightly and shrugged. “Better tha’ ‘en getting’ sucked up with the wave ta come.” She sighed and rose to her feet, holding out her hand as she offered Shani some help up. Shani looked around the room and took a deep breath, as though she’d put a lot of work in. The lithe gunslinger pressed a hand against her chest where Ya’Row had struck her, and winced just a bit.
“Thet’s gonna hurt in the mornin’,” Shani seemed to hiss out as she fought back the pain. She stood tall, stretching a bit to work out the kinks, but catching sight of the look Pania had. She studied the elven bard a moment, then realized that something was most definitely wrong. Pania seemed to be watching the room carefully, and listening. “What is it?”
“We’re no’ done yet,” Pania said quietly as she seemed to be listening. That was when the first tremor took place. The castle seemed to rock violently back and forth. Both elves looked around excitedly, trying to find a place to escape. “This way!” Pania directed as she pulled Shani toward a doorway. Shani followed without question, her feet moving quickly as she kept pace with the elven bard.
They didn’t watch the walls or the fixtures as they raced through the building, they only searched for the doors out. Pillars shook and tumbled to the floor, weakening the ceiling above them. Large cracks formed in the floor, and still, the elves raced on. Pania almost dragged Shani along behind her at times as they drew closer and closer to the entrance they had come through. She prayed that it would still be open.
Light began to shine in through the windows. The sun was rising, and this only made the building shake that much more. “There! This way!” Pania shouted as she saw the caved in wall. Both had to dodge falling debris as they made their way to it. First Pania, and then Shani. They raced as fast as they could away from the building, feeling somewhat better as the first rays of dawn began to greet them.
“Git ta the horses,” Shani called out, still in a full run. “This buildin’s gonna blow, an’ ain’t no way I’m stickin’ ‘roun’ ta watch the fireworks. Pania only followed, panting heavily as she willed her legs to keep pumping faster. They raced into the small clearing they had made earlier, both horses were still there, but they were getting jittery and skittish. Shani grabbed the reins of her horse and mounted it quickly as Pania climbed into the saddle of her own. They didn’t pause to watch the castle, they just high tailed it, racing the horses as fast as they could. Behind them, the building was already crumbling violently, fiery explosions causing even more damage.
They had to ride hard and fast.
Frederick Van Bueren stood beside his son as they watched the road. The entire village was brought suddenly out of their beds by the distant explosions, followed by the tremors in the earth. Each person knew that the castle was destroyed, now they just had to hold out hope for the two that had gone to destroy the vampires.
They waited and waited. Not budging until someone might catch site of them.
“I fear they may have been killed,” suggested the vicar, a hint of sadness in his voice. “They sacrificed themselves, to save this village.” Some of the villagers bent their heads in solemn prayer, but Frederick kept watching the road. His eyes never left, even as some of the villagers began to return quietly to their homes.
Along the road, he saw movement. A pair of tiny dots seemed to travel slowly, but he smiled as they drew closer. His smile turned into a triumphant laugh as he recognized the two riders. They were not only successful, but they were also alive. The entire village heard his triumphant shout, and they turned to look. Many saw what he saw, and the smiles quickly spread on their faces.
Pania Alow and Shani Wennemein rode slowly into the village. They were tired, bruised, and beaten. But they were also victorious. Shani looked up and smiled as she saw the villagers. “Howdy y’all,” she said, a tired smile on her face. “Ain’t it a nice day fer an early mornin’ picnic. Y’all kin watch the sun rise.”
Both elves brought their mounts to a halt as Frederick and his son approached. “We had feared the worst,” he simply said. “But there is always hope.”
Shani grinned and shook her head as she took her first look back down the road. “Take a lot more ‘n some castle blowin’ itself sky high ta take out the likes o’ us,” she said as she turned to smile down at Frederick and Dieter. “Ain’t no worries ’bout thet.”
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