Alcingeria Volume Two Chapter Eleven: The Fight For Stavon

This is it. The battle for Stavon is now. The odds of victory for our heroes? Slim. Very slim. However, will the golden ray of victory shine through the ever darkening clouds of doom?

Chapter Eleven The Fight For Stavon:

Monday July 19^th 1690

A few hours passed since we got to Stavon. Twilight was fast approaching. The people bringing wood in from the forest finished some time ago and helped reinforce the rest of the fence. After that, they fastened silver into the fence posts. People then came into the mayor’s house with all the stakes that were made. Everyone, including myself, grabbed as many as they could carry. There were plenty to go around. Firearms were given to people who knew how to use them. I didn’t take one, but Robert and Don did. I also grabbed extra gunpowder and bullets for my flintlock. One of the larger houses in the village was converted into a hospital. Cots were set up on the floor and sheets were hung from the ceiling between them for privacy. Tabatha told us that she was going to be there with some of the other women during the battle, caring for the wounded.

Everyone had gathered inside the mayor’s house, they brought food and we all ate together. Our supper consisted of bread, fruits and vegetables. There was some meat, but I didn’t get any. After we all had eaten our fill, Mayor Alfred and Robert got up in front of us.

            “I know how terrified you all must be.” The mayor began.

There was an intent silence. We were all frightened, fear and anticipation had mixed and formed a hard pit in my stomach.

            “I’ll keep this brief. The vampires are almost upon us. Darkness is fast approaching. I just want you all to know how privileged I’ve been to lead you all for as long as I have. It’s been a pleasure knowing each and every one of you.  In a moment I’ll hand this over to Robert.” He said, stepping aside.

The people of Stavon applauded. Robert stepped up, clearing his throat and standing up straight. He held a musket, pointing it at the ground.

            “Okay everyone, here’s the plan. It’s quite simple. People with muskets and flintlocks like myself will fire at the vampires as they come. If they get to the fence, forget it. Bullets won’t kill them. The whole point of us marksmen is to hit as many of them as they can before they get to the fence.” Robert explained.

There was a murmur of understanding in the crowd.

            “The silver should keep them at bay, but it won’t hold them forever. When they do get to the fence, anyone with a stake will need to pierce the vampires through the heart. Be warned, the stakes are a onetime use. After you stake a vampire, the stake is destroyed along with it, so make sure you carry a few.” Robert ordered.

Everyone had already taken stakes like I did. They all looked to each other with fierce determination and courage.

            “Now, we’re going to need one or two people with stakes separating the marksmen. If a vampire reaches the fence when a marksman is reloading… Well, their job is to prevent it from ripping their throat out.” Robert explained.

There was silence.

            “Any questions?” Robert asked.

Everyone was still and quiet. You could almost hear every heartbeat in the room. I liked around. There were only about sixty villagers, not counting my friends and I. I was having doubts, but I had to stay courageous and hopeful. Tonight we had to ward off a vampire attack that was enough to take over a town exponentially bigger than Stavon.

            “Right then. Marksmen on me.” Robert asked with his trademark grin.

We all marched out of the tent in two lines. One for marksmen and one for close quarters fighters. Robert led the marksmen line and Charles led the other. As instructed, we separated at the fence. Two close up fighters with stakes separated each person with a musket or flintlock. Charles was next to me and a woman with a musket was next to him. Charles regarded her strangely.

            “Shouldn’t you be in the hospital with the other women?” He asked.

            “I’m one of the best shots in the village, no way I’m missing this.” She said intently.

Charles just shrugged and nodded. Beyond the fence ahead of us was the rocky forest terrain that we had ridden through earlier that day. I then caught something odd in the distance. It was in the rocky forest. There was movement. Whatever it was, it was broad. Like a black line. It appeared to be getting bigger. My stomach dropped as I realized what it was.

            “Here they come!” I shouted.

What I saw were the silhouetted figures of the advancing vampires. I didn’t ready my flintlock, I was going to save my bullets for when I needed them.

            “Marksmen, at the ready!” Robert shouted.

The sound of weapons being moved and aimed was heard. The oncoming vampires were getting closer.

            “They’re so fast!” Someone shouted.

            “There’re so many of them!” Shouted someone else.

            “Focus! They’re almost here!” Robert ordered.

As soon as they were within a hundred feet, gunfire filled the air. Numerous vampires dropped to the ground. The horde pressed onwards.

            “Get ready!” I heard Don yell.

In seconds the horde advanced, I could see their gleaming red eyes from here. They stopped short, held back by the silver. More of them were shot. Their pained cries filled the air, their red blood spilled on the grass. The twilight bathed the world in an orange glow. More gunfire erupted around me, the vampires screamed and fell to the ground. Although this gave me hope, little by little I saw that they were overcoming the silver. I palmed my stake.

            “Ready Charles?” I asked.

He nodded, taking his own stake into his hand.

            “I never got your name.” He said.

            “Redmond.” I answered.

He nodded, looking out at the vampires.

            “This is either the end, or a whole new beginning.” He murmered.

With that, several vampires broke free of the silver’s hold and pushed forward. I heard vampires hitting the fence on this side of the village. A vampire jumped onto the fence in front of me, but I staked him before he could climb over. He cried out and burnt to ash, along with the stake. I grabbed another one out of my pocket, I had plenty more. I looked over to Charles and saw a pile of ash at his feet. I turned my attention back to the oncoming vampires. Two more jumped up on the fence. I staked the first one, but before I could reach for a new one, the second vampire pushed on the fence and it fell back a little. It swiped at me with its hand with astonishing speed, trying to grab me. I managed to get the stake out of my pocket and drive it through its heart just as three more of them came to take its place!

            “Woa!” I cried out, reaching into my pocket for another stake.

I killed the first one, but the other two worked together and started to push the fence over! It creaked and strained bit by bit. I killed the second one, but the first one didn’t stop! It was going to push the fence over…

And that’s when Charles came to the rescue. He staked the creature and helped me lift the fence back into an upright position.

            “Thanks!” I cried over the noise of battle.

            “Don’t mention it!” Came his reply.

We went back to killing the vampires. Two more rushed the fence where Charles and I were, but we staked them before they could try pushing the fence over. I looked at the horde. There were still a lot of them left. Gunfire still filled the air, vampires were getting past the silver a few at a time. The riflemen picked off the vampires at distance and the people with stakes killed them when they reached the fence. It was working perfectly, however the vampires who were shot at a distance just got back up, but it helped decrease the amount of vampires who were coming to the fence. Charles was right up against the fence, staking vampire after vampire.

            “This is too easy.” Charles said, another one of the creatures.

Not two seconds later, six vampires rushed the fence! Three in front of me and three in front of Charles! They pushed his section of the fence over and he was pinned underneath it. He fell with his injured arm between his back and the ground. He screamed in terror and pain. I staked one of them and pulled out my flintlock, shooting the other in the head.

I pulled out another stake and raised it above my head, but one of the vampires from my section of the fence grabbed my arm and held it back, pulling it to his lips! I screamed out in terror. The vampire jerked my arm, I could feel it bending at an angle it was never meant to bend. Pain flooded into my shoulder. I screamed and dropped the stake. I then heard a dull thud! And then a gunshot. The vampire fell backwards with a scream of its own.

I then saw that the woman with the musket had bashed one the last of Charles’s vampires on the back of the head with the butt of her musket. She then shot the vampire that was grabbing me.

I grabbed my stake off the ground and killed one of the vampires on my section of the fence. I staked the other two. The woman helped Charles kill his vampires right after she shot the one off of me. We both lifted the fence off of Charles. Thankfully the other riflemen saw what was happening and gave us cover fire. Charles and the woman got my side of the fence upright again just in time for the next vampires.

            “Your arm!” The woman shouted as a vampire slammed into the fence.

Charles staked it with ease. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, it was really starting to hurt.

            “I’ll get myself to the hospital, I’ll be fine! Can you hold off without me?” I asked.

The woman and Charles looked to each other and nodded.

            “Be careful.” I warned them.

I started to walk towards the hospital building.

            “We’ve got a wounded!” Charles yelled.

I made it to the hospital building. My arm was really, really hurting. It felt like it was torn from the socket. It was so painful, it may have hurt less if it was ripped clean off. I clenched my teeth as I pushed the door open with my good shoulder, clutching my injured one.

            “Redmond!” Tabatha cried when she saw me.

            “My arm…” I stopped short, gritting my teeth.

A woman stepped forward, taking it gingerly into her hands, feeling it. I winced under her touch.

            “It’s dislocated. We need to pop it back into place.” She explained.

“Do whatever you need to do. I need to get back out there.” I said with determination.

Tabatha looked to the other women.

“Stand back.” She said.

They all looked confused, but they didn’t argue. She grabbed her staff from a nearby table and pointed it at me.

            “Healing current!” She exclaimed.

The emerald came to life, bathing me in its warm glow. I felt a jolt as my shoulder forcefully snapped back into its socket. I grimaced at the sensation. The women behind Tabatha gasped.

            “Y-you’re a witch!” One exclaimed in fear.

            “What do we do?” Asked another.

Tabatha took on an expression of annoyance and anger. She snapped around to face the women, they flinched.

            “Listen! I’m not evil, I’m a good witch! I can only use manipulation magic and healing magic.” She told them firmly.

            “A good witch?” A woman asked.

            “Yes. I volunteered to be in here so I could heal people.” She explained.

The women looked to each other. Most of them either nodded or shrugged.

            “Okay, we understand.” A woman told her.

            “We shouldn’t have judged so quickly.” Another apologized.

Just then, four men burst through the door. The four of them carried two injured men.

            “Do what you can ladies.” One of the men ordered.

            “Of course.” Tabatha said with a nod.

            “You’d better get back out there!” One of the women advised.

I nodded, turning and running for the door. I mad it outside and found my way back to the fence. On the way there I reloaded my flintlock. It was empty from when I had shot the vampire. If I forgot to reload, that could’ve been bad. I ran back to Charles and the woman.

            “About time you got back!” He shouted over the gunfire.

            “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” I called back.

He laughed as he staked a vampire that ran at the fence. Just then, we heard a scream down the fence.

            “The fence has been breached! Lay down cover fire!” Robert shouted.

The woman next to Charles turned and fired at a vampire who was running at the new hole in the fence. It dropped, but it’s momentum carried it to the foot of the fence, where someone staked it.

            “Nice shot!” Charles called.

The woman responded with a wink as she blew the smoke from the muzzle of her gun. The other villagers kept the vampires off long enough to get the fence up. A vampire ran up to the fence near me, I staked it firmly, thrusting it into its heart. I grabbed another stake and killed another, and another. I noticed that there weren’t very many vampires left coming at me. Was this it? Were we beating them back? Just then, someone down the fence screamed.

            “The fence!” He cried.

I then heard the sound of wood snapping. I heard it again and again.

            “They’re through! Fall back! Fall back!” Robert screamed at the top of his lungs.

I looked off to my right. What I saw horrified me. The majority of the remaining vampire force was all gathered in one place down the fence. They were losing the battle, so they focused attack on one point of the fence, leaving just enough vampires on the other parts to keep the people behind the fence occupied. I watched the vampire horde pour through the breach in the fence, they knocked down section after section, destroying this side of the fence.

            “Now what?” Charles asked.

            “Simple, we kill them in the village!” The woman exclaimed.

I grabbed another stake. The woman readied her rifle and Charles grabbed a nearby broken fencepost.

            “I’m all out of stakes.” He explained.

            “Here, take some of mine.” I said, giving him a few stakes.

He took them with a thankful nod.

            “Look out!” The woman yelled.

She then took aim with her musket and shot a vampire over my shoulder! My ears rang from the gunshot, the muzzle was no more than a few centimeters from my ear. I heard the vampire drop behind me. I spun around and staked it.

            “Thanks.” I said with a nod.

            “No problem. By the way, I’m Anna.” She introduced herself.

            “Redmond.” I said quickly.

She reloaded her musket, scanning the chaos in front of her. People were running away from the fence, screaming as the vampires flooded into the village. People dropped to the ground, bleeding. I watched in horror as the vampires converged on the injured people on the ground, biting them. Their piercing screams ripped through the air.

            “The vampires are bolstering their numbers by biting the villagers!” I exclaimed in horror.

            “If we don’t do something soon, the vampires will take the village!” Charles cried.

            “Then let’s go do something about it!” Anna said with courage, running towards the vampires flooding into the village.

Charles and I were right behind her.  Anna stopped short, taking aim with me musket and picking off one target at a time.

            “Go! Take the fight to them!” Anna ordered.

Charles and I nodded, going for the closest targets. We joined up with several other men and women who were working to kill the vampires in the village. I heard screams coming from farther inside Stavon. A few vampires must have gotten through. I staked a vampire, then another. Charles and I fought alongside the other villagers. We tried our best, but vampires still slipped by us. I then realized with horror what they were doing. Their plan wasn’t to kill us immediately, they used their numbers to their advantage. They got by us while we slayed their comrades. They wanted to surround us and make a clean sweep of the village. I looked to a few vampires who got past us, they then burst into flames!

            “Take that! Ya blood suckin’ demons!” A familiar voice taunted.

I then saw a little green fairy floating about ten feet away.

            “Walden!” I exclaimed while staking a vampire.

            “Sorry I’m late, a few vampires flanked ya and came around back! Had to take care of ‘em!” Walden called over the sound of combat.

I staked another vampire. One of his friends came running at me, but Charles killed it.

            “Fireball!” Walden called out.

He then shot a fireball into the mass of vampires. Several of them burst into flames and burned to ash. Thankfully us villagers got a safe distance from the flames.

            “I-is that a fairy!?” Charles exclaimed.

            “You betcha it is!” Walden said with a cocky grin.

            “Now I’ve seen everything.” Charles said distantly, killing yet another vampire.

Walden sent another fireball into the crowd of vampires, burning several of them to ash. Before long, the horde at the fence was thinning.

            “Redmond! Take some people and clear the village!” I heard Robert order.

            “Okay!” I shouted back.

I looked to Charles and Anna. They both nodded. We took off in the direction of the village. Walden flew after us. We started in the nearby houses, checking them all for vampires. After we finished with them, we checked the hospital building. We saw several piles of ash on the floor. Tabatha and the other women were huddled in a corner in the back of the room. They all jumped when we opened the door. Tabatha laughed and sighed in relief.

            “It’s okay, they’re friends.” She said calmingly.

            “What’s happening out there?” Stella asked.

            “The horde at the fence is getting smaller. Charles, Anna, Walden and I just came back to clear the village of any remaining vampires.” I explained.

            “A few vampires came in here, they must have smelled all of the blood.” Erin said, pointing to one of the bloodied cots nearby.

            “Okay then, we should be moving on.” I said with a nod.

My companions and I cleared the rest of the village, finding and killing a few more vampires that were hiding in the houses to the rear of the village. We confirmed that there were no vampires left in the village behind us, so we made our way back to the fence. As soon as we made it back, we had the chance to take in the scenery; the fence on this side of the village was totally destroyed, only battered, splintered pieces remained littered across the ground. Ash was scattered in the breeze. Bodies lay strewn about, bloody fang marks on their necks, their unseeing eyes looking up at the night sky.

            “We did it!” Robert yelled.

Everyone erupted into cheers and whoops, throwing their weapons in the air, they grabbed each other and hugged, kissed and even danced. Charles grabbed Anna and I and pulled us into a hug.

            “We drove those vampires out of Stavon!” He exclaimed triumphantly.

Tabatha, Stella, Erin and all the other women came running from the hospital. People were reunited with their loved ones. Tabatha found Don and they embraced, their lips meeting in a long, passionate kiss.

            “I love you.” Tabatha said, not pulling away.

Don kissed her, stroking her burgundy hair.

            “I love you too.” He said, pulling away and smiling.

            “You too are so cute together!” Stella squealed.

            “I have to agree, you too make a good couple.” Erin said with a grin.

It was a moment of total victory. Against impossible odds, we fended off the vampire assault on Stavon. We all stood together, basking in the mood. Some people started to walk off. Robert walked towards the destroyed fence. Don, Macalister, Walden, Erin Stella and I joined him.

            “You guys fought great!” Stella exclaimed with joy.

            “Thanks, you did your part in the hospital exceptionally well.” I said with a smile.

            “We didn’t really do much, Tabatha did all of the healing.” Stella admitted.

            “I feel drained. I used a lot of my magic.” Tabatha sighed.

While we all spoke, Robert remained silent. His eyes fixed on the horizon. The fight lasted quite a while. Dusk had almost passed. There was still a thin strip of dim light on the horizon. Just then, I heard the bodies of the ‘dead’ villagers behind us move.

            “Oh yeah, I should go take care ‘a that.” Walden said.

I looked back to see that the fallen villagers’ loved ones were crowded around them, crying. I heard Walden talking to them, but he was too far away to hear clearly. They looked at their loved ones’ corpses. They looked pleadingly at Walden. He visibly deflated and shook his head. The villagers nodded, planting a kiss on the lips of their fallen friends. They backed away and Walden torched the bodies, reducing them to ash. He flew back to us with tears in his eyes.

            “I… I don’t want to do that again. It’s different when they’re tryin’ to attack us, but lyin’ there, all defenseless with their loved ones by their sides…” Walden trailed off.

We all nodded in understanding.

            “Thanks for doing that, Walden.” Don told him sincerely.

Walden nodded sadly and shrugged. I heard Robert gasp. We all looked to him.

            “No.” He said quietly but sharply.

            “What?” Stella asked.

Robert gazed off grimly to the horizon. He slowly raised his finger, pointing something out. I looked off in the direction of the rocky forest. What I saw made my head spin. I saw figures marching towards us.

            “What the…” Walden muttered, puzzled.

We were all stunned senseless, it was Robert’s brain that clicked into gear first.

            “It’s not over.” I told us.

He ran back into the village.

            “It’s not over! It’s not over!” He screamed.

People came out of their houses, confused.

            “There’s another wave coming! Everyone needs to leave the village, now!” He screamed desperately.

The rest of us followed him. I couldn’t believe it. The vampire attack wasn’t over. Instead of going all in, Ignacio kept some chips on the side. The vampires we just faced weren’t trying to kill us, they were trying to take the fence down. Ignacio must have sent human scouts out during the day to see what sort of defenses we had built! My mind flashed back to the man across the plain I had seen earlier that day. He must have been one of the scouts!

My mind jumped back to the present. This was bad. We were in no shape to fight off another attack. Robert was right. We had to leave the village. Stavon was lost.

Author's Note

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