The Dark Magical World of Alamptria (15 page)

“Leave him alone. He is happy with what he is doing, and just leave it at that,” said Caprius. “My name is Caprius, and this is my brother Dragus, my brother Andromin, and this is Persius.”

“Please to meet you, Caprius! Hello guys!” Gofer greeted them warmly. “So, where are you guys from? Haven’t seen you around here before.”

“We are from Elysium,” said Caprius.

“Elysium! What are you doing all the way out here?” asked Gofer.

“We are, ah, taking a long journey,” Caprius said in a mild-mannered way.

“Journey? I love a good adventure,” said Gofer.

“Yup, that’s what we are doing,” said Dragus.

Gofer got excited and began talking of his adventures. “I’ve been everywhere in Alamptria. I’ve been to Koriston. Seen the rocky ridge of Talfus. Elysium, Bramonia, seen the ongoing development in Almanite; I’ve even been in the western region. Been to the mines of Gizmald, to Morisant, and I know the roads to Hanondria. Even as far as the island of Aldrinon! I know this western part as far as the eye can see!”

The Seatons were stunned at the little trot’s expeditions. “You know the way to Aldrinon?” Caprius asked, astonished.

“I know every rock and every stream!” Gofer said excitedly.

“Aldrinon is where we are going,” said Dragus.

“Say, I’m looking for another adventure. How’s about I tag along with you?” asked Gofer. “I won’t be any trouble to you. And I won’t try to complicate things. I won’t try and manage, and I’m too small to get in your way. I can lead you to the best fishing spots and wild game. I can lead you through the shortest routes to Aldrinon.”

Caprius was almost tempted to ask Gofer to come along. But he thought about the little guy’s safety. He was concerned for him and didn’t want to put his life in danger. “I’m sorry, Gofer, but we are on a most dangerous mission. I cannot have you as a burden.”

“But I can be your guide!” remarked Gofer.

“No, Gofer, and that’s the end of that,” said Dragus.

Gofer just pouted in disappointment. He thought of himself as a misfit. But then a thought came to mind. He tried another approach. “Say, fellas, does anyone care for another smoke?”

“I’ll have another!” Andromin jumped in, delighted.

“I’ll have one too,” said Persius. They tossed him a shilling.

“What about you, Caprius?” asked Gofer.

“I have had enough,” said Caprius.

“What about you, Dragus? Oh, I forgot, you don’t smoke,” said Gofer.

Gofer watched as the three of them puffed their cigars. “So, I guess you and your knights, Caprius, are boarding a ship to take you to Gapa?”

“Yes, that is where we are going,” said Caprius.

“If you want, I could take you all to the dock. It won’t be easy getting a ship, you know. Most of them are in use. I don’t know what’s available. But I know a guy who can get you one for a cheap price. He has a ship called the Nausington! It’s a much older ship, but it’s in good condition. It can accommodate a crew of twenty-four. I can introduce you to the owner of the Nausington. It’s shipping some crates filled with goods tonight. The ship will probably sail tonight at dusk. Seeing you and your knights over there, I think it’s just right for you.”

“We have horses and weaponry. Can it accommodate them?” asked Caprius.

“There’s a stall on the ship. There’s food and water for the horses,” said Gofer. “And if you want, I can look after the horses for you.”

“All I need you to do is get us that ship, and that will be all, Gofer.

“All right, all right,” said Gofer, grinning.

“All right, I will take you up on that offer,” said Caprius. “But that’s as far as you go. You get us that ship, and that will be it for you, my little friend.”

“It’s a deal!” said Goffer as he high-fived Caprius.

The sky above began to be cast in darkness by clouds. It became heavy with the musky smell of something approaching. Indeed, it did become quite dark even in these daylight hours. The civilians looked into the gloomy sky. And what to their wonder did they see? The approach of some flying creatures, dozens of them. The merrymaking had come to a sudden halt. Silence filled the outdoors as they all looked to the sky. Gofer gazed at the creatures and pointed to them. “Caprius!” he said with concern. “Something wicked comes this way.” And as Caprius turned to see, his eyes widened. A dog, a German shepherd, peered into the sky, gazing at the oncoming creatures. Its stare was long, and as it glared it became frightened and squealed in terror.

“We’re under attack!” yelled a civilian. The knights quickly drew their swords. The creatures swooped down upon the people, hissing and growling at them. The knights struck the demons. Tables were turned over. Leftover food and drink toppled to the ground. The civilians ran about, and the Seatons quickly struck the vampires. Dragus swung his sword swiftly, missing his target as the vampire creature backed away. Dragus came at him, swinging his sword side to side. With a quick thrust he threw his sword six feet across, in front of him, and watched his claymore pierce through the creature’s stomach. The vampire was in agonizing pain and roared. It held both hands on the blade, which was piercing its stomach. Dragus walked over to the creature and put his hand on the sword handle. As Dragus used his powers, his eyes became a glowing white. At that instant the creature’s face began to shrivel and burn. The creature caught fire. The fire spread throughout the creature’s entire body. Dragus pulled out his claymore from within the creature’s belly. The vampire fell, a burning corpse. Caprius jumped over a table to run head on into a vampire. He drove his claymore into the creature’s chest and then quickly dislodged it, decapitating the vampire. He turned to strike another vampire by lodging his sword into the vampire’s mouth. Dragus sliced a vampire through its scalp, and when it stuck, he yanked it out to strike down another oncoming demon.

Calista threw a karate kick into the vampire’s groin. As the creature knelt in agonizing pain, Calista did some fancy swordplay with her right hand, then came down with her sword, slicing off its head. The creature tumbled to the ground neck first. Andromin sliced a vampire in half through the waist, and when its upper body hit the ground, Andromin sliced its head off on the turf. Persius swung his sword, cutting off the vampire’s arm as it came at the knight. Then he swiftly made a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn to strike the creature in its heart. The battle continued.

“Rimtrus, will you get that contraption set up already!” Dragus shouted. Rimtrus mounted a mechanized weapon on the ground with its three legs standing up. He was holding up what looked like a device thrusting twelve-inch spears into the air, which shot out like whistling arrows. He dropped into the deep slot a rectangular, metal box that held well over a thousand thin arrows. After he dropped it into the slot he pulled down the lever. It was a weapon that worked on a spring that shot up and thrust six arrows at once. As it dislodged the arrows, the metal cap dropped back down and quickly reloaded and shot again. It was able to blast ninety arrows in thirty seconds flat. The Elysians called it an aro-gunner. Rimtrus was all set up, and he began firing shots as he swung the gunner from side to side and up and down. As it dislodged, the barrel drew back with a clang. As the vampires flew in groups, Rimtrus fired the gunner, thrusting a shower of arrows into the air. It was like a storm of metal spears that flew and struck the vampires in their bodies, hearts, and heads. Vampires shrieked in horror as they were struck by the slicing arrows. The vampires dropped dead, landing on the ground, on the tables and chairs, and on top of the wooden booths and the wooden canopy that sheltered the merchants. A vampire landed dead on the wooden canopy and smashed through its roof, landing dead on the ground. Andromin quickly rushed over to the vampire and set it ablaze, as it was still alive and moving. The vampire was engulfed.

The German shepherd knelt down, licking the face of his dead master. And while the dog squealed it saw a vampire approach a young boy. The boy was horrified and shook. And as the vampire came closer, the dog found courage to run to the boy’s aid. The German shepherd leaped into the air over a low-blazing fire, then ran, opening its jaws wide and grabbing hold of the vampire’s neck. The dog and vampire fell to the ground and shook vigorously. The dog growled and tore into the flesh of the vampire’s neck, shaking it, becoming immensely bloodstained. The Elysian knight Quintrm came to the dog’s rescue as the vampire grabbed the dog. Quintrm stood on his feet, holding his sword up high, then thrust his sword into the vampire’s mouth. The vampire lay dead, and the dog stood with its legs spread wide apart, shaking in fear. Quintrm took the boy in his arms and rushed him to safety.

Rimtrus continued to fire his gunner, spraying the sky with dozens and dozens of arrows. Vampires continued to topple dead on the ground. Caprius yelled out to Gofer. But as he began to run toward him, Gofer skittered underneath piles of boxes and blankets. And as the creature pursued him, the creature overturned everything in its path, rummaging through wasted food and broken wine bottles. It tossed things into the air. Gofer was quick and went under another table. As the vampire approached, he kicked the creature in the face, and the creature felt dazed. Gofer scooted underneath a table, and as the creature tried to grab him, Caprius drove his claymore into the creature’s back. Caprius ignited the vampire with the powers of his claymore.

“Stay underneath that table, Gofer!” Caprius demanded. “And cover yourself with that blanket.” Gofer did as Caprius asked. The battle raged on. And when some civilians were bitten by the vampires, to prevent transformation the knights killed them as well. Caprius turned to his archers. “Archers, ready your bows! Ignite!” yelled Caprius. Six archers who stood side by side ignited their arrows with the flames on the ground. As they let the bows go, the arrows sliced through the air with flames. A bow struck a vampire through its mouth, piercing its head, which quickly caught fire. The vampire plummeted to the ground.

“Stay under here. And don’t come out until I tell you to. You understand?” Quintrm said to the boy. The boy moved his head, nodding yes. Quintrm looked to his side and saw Andromin was in trouble. Andromin was fighting off three vampires. And though Andromin was quick and skillful, Quintrm ran to his aid. As Quintrm ran, he jumped over dead bodies. Then he ran on top of a tabletop, leaping high into the air, and drove his sword into the vampire’s skull. Quintrm then landed on his feet, with one arm bracing himself on the ground, holding himself up, and with his other hand holding out his sword. Andromin slashed the face of a vampire, cutting him across the mouth. Then, using the power of the claymore, he sent a strong blast of cold frost that froze the vampire into solid ice. Andromin swung his sword next, decapitating the vampire. The icy, stone-cold head fell to the ground.

Andromin drew a hard breath. “Thanks!” he said to Quintrm.

Calista jumped high in the air, doing splits as she kicked two vampires and in midair sliced the head off one. Then she landed with her legs spread apart and thrust her sword into the other creature’s face.

A boy who was in hiding was being watched by the German shepherd. As the boy tried to stand and walk away, the dog grabbed the boy’s shirt, pulling him down, trying to keep him safe from harm. A civilian ran across the field, a vampire in pursuit of him. The man fell to the ground and quickly turned onto his back to see the large creature high above him, flapping its wings and gazing down at him. They held each other’s gaze in a stalemate. The man’s eyes grew wide in fright. His heart beat faster and faster. And as he watched the vampire flap its wings, hovering above him, he continued to lie down on the ground. The man was paralyzed with fear. And as he lay not knowing what to do, the creature gazed above him, hovering, flapping its wings. The large, menacing vampire opened its jaws wide with hunger. The man lay helpless. And it was at that moment that Rimtrus fired a swarm of blazing arrows from his gunner to strike several shots into the vampire. The vampire fell dead.

Gofer peeped from underneath the blanket to see Caprius destroy another vampire. As Gofer looked to the side, he saw an overturned table and many swords piled up. These were swords that a merchant had for sale. Gofer was struck with an idea and ran from underneath the blankets. He trotted quickly. As he skedaddled, a vampire took notice of him. The vampire chased Gofer.

“Gofer!” yelled Caprius. Gofer tripped and fell. He had his eye on a sword that was just the right size, which lay not too far away from him. When the vampire was just meters away from him, Gofer crawled quickly to the sword, grabbed the sword in hand, and then rolled over on his back and thrust the sword into the creature’s mouth. The vampire fell dead. Gofer rose to his feet with the sword in hand. “God be praised!” said Caprius as he saw the little trot stand victorious.

Once again Rimtrus swung the aro-gunner around, spraying the sky with a rain of arrows. Rimtrus’s face was tense and shook as he fired the gunner all over the sky. Vampires were struck in their chests. They were struck in their hearts, heads, and other body parts. They fell dead on top of other bodies. And as another vampire attacked Gofer, Caprius saw Gofer drive the sword into the vampire. The vampire lay dead. And another vampire attacked Gofer. Caprius watched Gofer jump up and with a swing of his sword decapitate the vampire. Caprius smiled at the little trot. Then he quickly turned to fight again. But there was no vampire in sight. The Elysian knights stood victorious.

“Victory!” yelled Caprius as he held his sword up high. In the aftermath of the slaughter, the Elysian knights went about checking on the dead. The knights set the bodies on fire. The bodies were quickly engulfed in flames. While the knights walked about observing the slaughter, fire spread out everywhere across the grounds. Flaming bodies were scattered about in piles. Gofer slowly walked over to the Seatons. The Seatons and the knights were astounded by the little trot’s fighting skills. And when Caprius watched the little guy drive his sword into his sheath, Caprius knew that Gofer had the makings of a great warrior. He realized that Gofer really did go on all those journeys and that he knew the way to Aldrinon. But he was still not convinced. He didn’t want Gofer going on the journey with them. He didn’t know how long the little guy would last. “Well done, Gofer!” Caprius said, smiling.