Alcingeria Volume Two chapter Eight: Fortune Favors The Bold

Waking up to the sound of screams, our heroes discover that Dunford has been overrun by the vampire mafia. Will they be able to escape and warn the nearby villages of the attack?

Chapter Eight Fortune Favors The Bold:

Monday July 19^th 1690

The vampires looked genuinely surprised that I came down. I knew I couldn’t afford to wait and take them on one by one. They would swarm me. I used surprise to my advantage and rushed forward, letting out a thundering war cry.

I slashed at any vampire in front of me with the knife. It didn’t kill them, not even close, but it did cut through their flesh. In seconds they were healed and ready to go. I kept expecting to be bitten from behind or from the side. I couldn’t risk looking. All I could do was get to that cart… Or die trying.

The only thing that prevented the vampires from ripping me apart then and there was the silver, it weakened them since they were near it. I kept feeling them grabbing at me from all sides. Their grips were not strong enough to pull me very far, but every time I felt one grab me, I swung the crucifix at it, severely burning it.

I swung the crucifix forwards, swiping three vampires across the chest. They all screamed and either fell to the ground or jumped back. They realized that I wasn’t trying to fight them, they realized that I was trying to get past them. They got smart after about two minutes. Even though the corridor was narrow, a few of them slipped behind me, I was now surrounded.

            “Fireball!” Walden cried from behind me.

A fireball soared next to my head and nailed a vampire, ignited several others that were near it. The vampires behind them jumped back in surprise. I saw an opening and dashed for it. I could hear my friends yelling in triumph.

            “Go! Go!” Walden cheered.

The opening was gradually closing as the vampires realized I was trying to get outside. They blocked the door. I saw one last way out: The window. There were vampires closing in on either side of it. I cried out in determination and doubled my speed, swinging the crucifix forward wildly. I caught a nearby vampire on the jaw and he fell backwards, screaming. I heard the hiss! As his flesh burned. I kept going. I saw that the vampires were almost to the window, they were going to block me! I charged forward, swinging the crucifix at the nearest vampires. I burned three more. I saw that the first few vampires had reached the window, blocking it. I pressed onwards, refusing to give up.

I swung the crucifix again. The vampires jumped to the side, dodging it… And moving out from in front of the window! I jumped forward, breaking the glass with a powerful thrust of my knife. The glass shattered and fell to the ground. My momentum carried me forward. I landed on my arm. Burning pain became present in my arm. I looked and saw that I had a piece of glass in my arm! I stood up, dripping blood onto the road. I reached across my body and pulled the glass out. The bloodied shard clattered to the ground.

I quickly got my bearings. I saw that the horses we had all come here on were dead, still tied up near the inn. A second later, the vampires began crawling out the broken window. I ran to the side of the inn where I saw the cart the night before. I rounded the corner to find… It was still there! I yelled in triumph and jumped onto the chair behind the two horses, cutting the rope that bound it and the other horse to a nearby fencepost as I landed. I grabbed the reins.

            “Yah!” I yelled as I kicked the horse in the ribs.

The horses reared up, but I managed to stay on the saddle. Good thing too. If I fell off and the horse bolted… We’d be in trouble.

I lead the horses in the direction of the window. Just as I reached the corner, the horses collided with a vampire! they reared up again. I jerked the reins to the left. The horses turned and bolted down the road. I had a new plan. I would lead the vampires away from the inn and then circle back before they caught up. I snapped the reins and the horse went a little faster. Because of the cart full of hay, we weren’t going incredibly fast, but still fast enough to outrun a group of vampires. As the horses galloped down the street, I saw that I wasn’t only leading away the vampires from the inn, vampires all around the area started following me too! I screamed in fear.

I saw Yutsa law enforcement officers fighting some vampires ahead. When their foes ran away to chase after me, they grinned and whooped to cheer me on.

            “Good on you!” One of them yelled.

I saw similar situations up ahead. I looked back to see a huge heard of vampires following me. I must have been being followed by a third of the vampires in Dunford! I saw that I was coming to the town’s wall ahead. I turned right as I was about to hit it. I heard a few vampires slam into it behind me. As I turned, the cart skidded across the street, but it stayed hitched. I let out a fear and adrenaline fueled whoop!

I coaxed the horses up the road more. I took another right turn, then another. I found that I was on the road that I rode down only minutes ago. I saw the inn to my left. I turned towards it. I pulled up beneath the window above, aligning the cart so that it was directly beneath it.

            “Jump! Now!” I yelled up.

Stella was the first to jump, then Erin, then Tabatha. Walden flew down. I looked back to see that the vampires from before were quickly closing the distance between us and them. Don jumped down, followed by Robert. The innkeeper jumped down next. Macalister jumped last. The cart shook beneath his weight as it landed and I feared that it would break, but it didn’t.

I did a quick count and saw that we had everyone.

            “Yah!” I shouted.

The horses began to run, but they were very slow. Oh no. I hadn’t accounted for our collective weight!

            “We’re not going faster. Redmond, tell me why we’re not going faster!” Stella panicked.

            “There’s too much weight!” I shouted back.

            “Oh no!” Erin fretted.

            “Is there anything back there? If so, toss it!” I ordered.

Everyone began rummaging around, tossing hay out of the cart. I looked back to see that the vampires were almost on us!

            “Hey, look at this!” Erin shouted.

I looked back to see that there were farming tools beneath the hay, a lot of them!

            “Get rid of them! Quickly!” I shouted.

Everyone grabbed a tool and threw them backwards, one by one. There were shovels, pickaxes, hoes and pitchforks. After all of the hay and tools were gone, I faced forward.

            “Yah!” I yelled, coaxing the horses forward.

The horses began to gallop. At least now we were going at an acceptable speed. They horses got up to speed and the others in the cart behind me hung on. The vampires eventually stopped chasing us, realizing that it was futile.

            “Whoo hoo!” Don shouted.

            “Ya saved our skins man!” Walden yelled in triumph.

Robert laughed in relief.

            “I’m proud of you, Redmond. You took charge and got us out of there alive. Well done.” He praised.

            “Redmond, that was amazing!” Stella cried.

            “I’m just glad we all made it out alive.” I told them.

            “You did well boy, I’m impressed.” The innkeeper told me.

I had forgotten about him. What were we going to do with him? Drop him off at the next town, I guess. Speaking of which, where were we headed? It wouldn’t really make sense to change course now. I knew we weren’t headed for the border, we didn’t ride out that way.

            “Here, Stella. Take this back.” I said, handing back her crucifix.

She took it with a tired smile.

            “You should all get some sleep.” I advised.

No one objected to that plan. Everyone was tired. Now that the adrenaline rush had worn off, I started to feel fatigue creep back into my mind. Little by little, my eyelids drooped.

 

***

 

I was awoken by the wagon behind me hitting a bump. I heard everyone else wake up with a start. I looked to see that the sun was starting to peek over the horizon. How long had we slept? An hour? It wasn’t long.

            “Any idea where we are?” I asked the others.

            “Not a clue.” Erin replied hopelessly.

There was a moment of silence, nothing but the horse’s footfalls and the sound of the wagon rolling across the ground could be heard.

            “Do you think it was Ignacio who turned all those people into vampires?” Macalister asked.

            “Who else could it have been?” Robert asked.

Macalister thought about a response to that question.

            “Don’t answer that.” Robert sighed.

            “What do you guys think about what Ignacio said before he left?” Erin asked.

            “You mean how he kept flirting with Stella?” Walden teased.

Walden cleared his throat and looked at Stella.

            “Take care, my sweet.” He imitated Ignacio.

It actually wasn’t a bad impression.

            “Shut up!” Stella yelled as she hit Walden with her hand, knocking him to the floor of the wagon.

            “Ow!” Walden protested.

            “You are a very… Interesting group…” The innkeeper trailed off.

Erin looked to him.

            “So, what’s your plan now?” She asked.

            “Well I have a brother in Galvard. I suppose I could stay with him.” He said thoughtfully.

            “It’d be great if we knew where we are.” Stella cut in.

            “If it isn’t too much trouble, could you drop me off at the next town we come across?” The innkeeper asked.

            “Of course, once we find a town we were going to stop and get our bearings anyhow.” I replied kindly.

            “Thank you very much You all must be very tired. When we get to an inn, I’d like to pay for your rooms.” The innkeeper said.

            “That’d be nice, thank you.” I said with a smile.

We rode along in silence for a while. The terrain was rocky, but there were still some trees around us. The sun was rising in the distance, bathing the world in early morning light.

Author's Note

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