The Fallen Vampire

Chapter 111: To See My Foe Outstretched

"I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears, Night & morning with my tears: And I stunned it with smiles, and with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine, and he knew that it was mine.

And into my garden stole, When the night had veiled the pole; In the morning glad I see; My foe outstretched beneath the tree.."

"I must have recited that for you like twenty years ago... I'm amazed that you still remember it."

"I must confess that I did not at first, however I find it most fitting given our present circumstances."

"Yes... I suppose that you would. Might you remember exactly what the name of the poet was too?"

"... Kahlil Gibran? "

"William Blake, but you were close, darling."

Vermeil gave Taira a small kiss for second place, and the two of them returned their attention towards the fortress a mile away.

With their enhanced eyesight, they were more than capable of seeing their target as if they were right in front of it.

With it currently being dark at night, Taira could see even better.

There was a small patrol of soldiers at the overlord realm who would pose absolutely no trouble to either of them, but tonight was not the night for showing off just how powerful they had become in fifty years.

This was simply an espionage mission, and nothing further.

Enyo and Lucia were also standing on the tree with them, not bending the branch a single centimeter despite their collective weight- a trick they had picked up from their husband overtime.

Although, Aveena and Keran did not have the aptitude for this particular trick, and they lamented over it quite a bit.

"I'll be heading in now."

"We know there shouldn't be any, but if there are any stragglers who attempt to flee then we will cut them down." Enyo said in a helpful tone.

"This way, you have a bit more room for forgiveness if things should go wrong." Lucia said warmly.

Smiling, Taira grabbed the lamia by her waist and kissed her dangerously underneath the moon's watchful eye.

'Doubting your husband when he has never given you any reason to do so...? I will remind you of a very necessary lesson now and later...'

Taira released the young woman and fell back from the ninety meter tree.

While falling, Taira's body started to shift and change into something unrecognizable.

As soon as he touched the ground, he made a dull whooshing sound as he disappeared into thin air.

A moment later, the girls looked at each other before nodding and taking a moment to get to their respective positions.

Although secretly knowing... they could have left it all to their husband if they really wanted to.

-

Guard 1: "Okay okay, well what about this! How many bodies is too many bodies for a woman?"

*audible groaning ensues*

Guard 2: "Why do you ask this stupid shit every day?"

Guard 3: "You know damn well nobody else who is happy with their lives asks this nonsense, right?"

Guard 4: "I hate going on patrols with this motherfucker..."

Guard 5: "If it works for you, it works for you. If it doesn't, it doesn't. The fuck do you want to argue about this for?"

"Leroy, right? Off duty already?"

"Yes sir, I have just finished!"

"And I see you brought a friend in too." Vance patted the dog on the head gently, while paying close attention to avoid the old wounds caked with dried blood.

"Yes sir, I did! If it is alright with you, I'd like permission to keep him!"

Vance stared at the dog momentarily before letting out a half-hearted sigh.

"Alright then. Just clean up after him, yea? It'll aggravate the others if they step into any of his little presents in the corridor."

"Yes sir, I'll take excellent care of him!"

Vance bid the young soldier farewell, and he turned around before heading back into his own room at the end of the hall.

Afterwards, Leroy stuck to his plan and cleaned up the dog's wounds as best he could.

He then got the dog into a bath, which admittedly caused him a fair bit of pain due to the hot water in his wounds, and then he took him back to his room where he laid out a better feast than what most peasants would have been subjected to.

Various cuts of cooked meat, from the simple roasted bird to the intrinsically marbled steak.

"Alright, Yaju! You eat up and I'll be back in just a moment."

Leroy left the room a moment later, with the dog he had named 'Yaju' sitting on an impromptu doggie bed.

The dog sniffed at the food momentarily before nibbling on a small piece of chicken before inevitably deciding that he didn't have much of an appetite.

A few moments later, the door to Leroy's bedroom was opened once again, and he tossed a lifeless woman into the room.

"Got you a gift, boy! She ain't exactly top of the line, but she's better than another dog... I think... But not by much."

Leroy kicked the woman over towards the dog and ripped off the burlap sack she wore as coverings.

He waited and waited for the dog or the girl to move, but neither did so.

"Were you a girl all this time...? Should I have got you one of the men instead?" he muttered. "There certainly were a lot more of them to choose from..."

Suddenly, the candle illuminating the room was blown out, and Leroy frowned as he held out his hand to produce more flame.

But as he prepared to do so, something suddenly happened.

His neck felt strangely sore, and he was suddenly incapable of drawing breath.

Or standing up for that matter.

'What the..?'

His body fell back onto his mattress a moment later, completely unaware that his neck had been turned around 360 degrees in an instant, by a powerful telekinetic force that he could never have hoped to defend against.

Yaju picked up the woman's torn rags with his mouth, and covered her body as best he could.

Confused but not afraid, the woman's eyes finally regained some degree of life as she believed she may have been seeing things.

A man suddenly appeared next to her, one who once bore the visage of a dog.

He nearly gave her a consolatory pat on the head before he stopped himself, deciding that touching this woman in any capacity may have done her more harm than good.

'Girls...Change of plans.'

Vermeil: 'Has something gone wrong?'

Lucia: 'If you need us, we will rush to your aid right now and-'

'This is no longer a reconnaissance effort, this is an execution. Be ready at a moment's notice.'