"The Captives" - Chapter 8

The Captives of the Lost City of Alhassar

Chapter 8

By Dwayne MacInnes

I moved the staff down toward one of the charred vampire's wrists. As the remnants of a robe sleeve crumbled, I noticed a metal band. There were a series of numbers establishing the current time. I knelt down covering my nose and mouth with one gloved hand and reaching out toward the metal object with the other.

"What did you find?" Mogutz asked.

"A Manacle of Time," I said. "These guys have to know exactly when sunrise is or they are utterly powerless."

By now, the rest of the party had joined us around the smoking remains of the vampire. I watched as Quint knelt down and started to shift around in the vampire's waist. I pulled out a dagger and lifted it in the air.

Everyone pulled back with a gasp.

"Whoa, I get it. Your kill!" Quint said as he held up his hands palm out.

However, I was not concerned with Quint's rummaging. I sunk the blade into the vampire's chest and opened a large incision.

"What the..." Gandelf began.

"Eek!" squeaked Treena.

"Hmmm," Nanoc merely grunted.

I pulled out the vampire's shriveled heart. Now as I have recorded in previous publications, part of my being able to reestablish myself with the Mages Guild was that I had to collect ten vampire hearts. Vampire hearts are the key ingredient in many magical potions and powerful components of many strong spells. However, vampire hearts belong to vampires and getting one to give up its heart is dangerous in the extreme to say the least.

I put the dried and shriveled object about the size of an apple in my haversack.

"Aha!" exclaimed Mogutz. "By the blood of Uranus, that may be the most valuable prize here."

I also clasped the thin metal band of the Manacle of Time on my wrist and I stood up. "You can have whatever else there is on the body," I offered Quint.

I turned towards Mobius, "I believe it may be time for us to resume our disguise."

We tidied up the corridor as best we could. There was no way to dispel the sickly sweet smell of incinerated flesh, however most of the blood we mopped up with the servants' robes. We hid the bodies down an unused side tunnel. The party voted that since it was my kill I had to dispose of the cooked vampire. I managed to do it without gagging too much.

Afterwards I recovered my robe. It was big enough to cover my bow, quiver, and shield that were on my back. If anything, my weapons and shield helped make me look more intimidating.

Before we began to travel down the corridor again, I made sure everyone was aware how impressed I was with the party. They worked well as a team and they were able to defeat their enemies with little interference from me. That eased my mind a bit for the mission that we still had to accomplish.

"Mogutz, I am curious about your sword," I said to the orc.

"Yes, this is Tetanus. It looks like worthless trash however one hit will give most opponents lock-jaw instantly."

I made a mental note not to scratch myself on the blade. A thief that is in the throws of tetanus is not much good to anyone.

"That is certainly a valuable weapon you have there," I added.

I then noticed that Nanoc was frowning and whispering something to himself.

"Ah, you may want to say something about Biter," Mobius whispered in my ear.

"Huh?" I said for I did not quite comprehend about what the skull was speaking.

"Biter, Nanoc's sword. It is sentient and can communicate to the barbarian. I just also happen to be able to hear it. It says that it refuses to help out in the future if all the praise goes to a rusty piece of sh..."

"Right. I get it," I interrupted. "Uh, Biter is one of the best..."

"The best," Mobius hissed in my ear.

"Yeah, I mean the best blade I've ever encountered."

Nanoc smiled and nodded his head in my direction.

"That seems to have done the trick," Mobius said.

* * * * *

It was not long before we were again heading down the corridor. Again, I was far enough in the vanguard to move stealthily without the constant clanking and bungling of my companions to give me away. Mobius was my only company and this time I made sure that he was always in sight.

As we approached the entrance to the great cavern that housed the excavated city of Alhassar, I stopped long enough to complete my disguise. I pulled the cloak out of my haversack and tied it snuggly around Mobius. I then ducked my head down as far into the robes as possible after darkening my face with charcoal. Then Mobius took his place above my head. I positioned the cloak's clasp just above my eyes and the cloak itself draped over my shoulders and down my back. I held the staff now blackened by being in the presence of a burning vampire in my right hand.

I took a few breaths to steady my nerves. Being a thief, I am more used to not being notice. For my plan to work we had to be noticed and still be accepted into this evil cabal.

Mobius and I now moved as one down the sloping path into the city. We did not have far to go before a sentry stopped us.

"Halt! Who goes there?" he challenged.

I unconsciously held my breath. We would now see how good an actor Mobius really was.