The doors of Avernus Cathedral opened, and two men entered. They were apparently warriors; they carried weapons and wore armor that was adorned with religious symbols. The men were alike only in their dress; one was tall and thin with a full head of black hair, the other was moderately shorter and heavyset, his head clean shaven and white as a hen’s egg.

     Avernus Cathedral had become the meeting place of the Sarafan, and Zephon had made the ruined city of Avernus his base of operations. Melchiah had returned shortly after nightfall from Stahlberg after purging the town of it’s rapidly growing vampire population. 

     “Strange,” Melchiah said. “It wasn’t long ago that we thought the vampires were wiped out. Now they seem to be crawling out of every furrow and crevice.”

     “Indeed,” Zephon replied. “It only takes one. They reproduce quickly, like insects. Has Stahlberg been cleansed?”

     “Yes, I gather it has. We haven’t seen any vampires in days.”

     “Good.” Zephon walked into a nearby corridor, and Melchiah followed. Moments later, they emerged in a massive chamber with a ceiling of stained glass. The glass depicted the legendary battle between Malek of the Sarafan and Vorador the vampire. “I’ve received word from the others.” Zephon began once he was sure the two of them were alone. “Turel has apparently found a great deal of vampiric activity in the vicinity of Ziegstuhl. He says his company of men are ill-equipped to deal with them and that he needs assistance. How many men do you have in your party, Melchiah?”

     “I have two companies altogether, my lord. Half of one company has accompanied me to Avernus. The rest remain in Stahlberg, keeping watch,” Melchiah answered.

     “Good. When this meeting is done, you are to return to Stahlberg and gather your companies. If there is nothing further to be done in Stahlberg, then take your men to Ziegstuhl to assist Turel.” Zephon began to pace across the room, looking about in a suspicious manner.

     ”My lord, that is a very long journey. Is there no one closer?” Melchiah replied.

     ”Raziel is stationed in Nachtholm currently. He has requested my permission to head south to assist Turel repeatedly.”

     ”Then why haven’t you granted it?” Melchiah asked. 

     ”Raziel’s mission is to cleanse Nachtholm and Steinchencrøe of vampires. That mission has not been completed yet.” Zephon scowled. “He is rash and impulsive, that one. He seems to have trouble understanding the chain of command.” Zephon looked at Melchiah. “He has his orders, and you have yours.”

     ”I understand, my lord.” Melchiah raised his right hand to his left shoulder; the traditional salute of a Sarafan.

     ”If you have no questions, then you may leave.” Melchiah shook his head. Zephon turned around suddenly, as if distracted by something behind him. “Melchiah, there is one more thing . . .” Zephon motioned for Melchiah to move closer. Melchiah moved to Zephon’s side, and Zephon leaned over his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Melchiah nodded, then hurried out of the room. Zephon raised his battle axe.

     ”Show yourself, vampire!” Zephon shouted. “There’s no use hiding, I can hear you.” 

     Something stirred high on the chamber wall. A large shape, nearly invisible, began to creep toward the floor. The object itself could not be seen, but it gave the impression of the rippling of whatever surface lay behind it as it moved. Slowly, it began to take shape and color, until a reptilian creature the size of a man had manifested itself.

     Loki continued to descend the wall (wall climbing was one of the benefits of the reptile form that was learned over time) until he reached the floor. He stood upright and the green, scaly covering began to disappear, and armor began to materialize around his body. Loki drew his sword. “You are very perceptive. No wonder the murderers chose you as their leader.” 

     ”Your undead stench would not go unnoticed for long,” Zephon snarled. “Tell me, what manner of creature are you, that can climb walls and change into a filthy reptile?”

     ”I, my dear Zephon, am the last face you will see in your life!”  Loki raised his sword and assumed a defensive stance.

     ”Not likely, creature,” Zephon retorted, also moving into a battle stance. “But it seems I am at a disadvantage. You know who I am, but I don’t know who you are.” The two warriors began to circle each other, waiting to see who would make the first move.

     ”I am Loki, former apprentice to the great Vorador.”

     ”Great? HA!” Zephon lunged at Loki with his axe, but Loki turned to vapor before the blade hit its mark. Loki rematerialized behind Zephon and raised his sword to strike. Zephon was quick to react; he swung around and blocked Loki’s attack. Zephon leapt backward and raised his axe defensively. “That pathetic whelp you call a master sobbed like a child when he faced the guillotine!”

     ”You’ll find that your attempts to perturb me are quite futile,” Loki responded. “Besides, that Œpathetic whelp’ is the one who slaughtered your patriarch, Malek!” Loki lunged forward and thrust his blade at Zephon. Zephon dodged the blow with a somersault to the left.

     ”He beat Malek, yes, I’ll give you that,” Zephon said, “But tell me, what has he to show for it? His head on a stake and a miserable pile of ashes!” They both paused as a sound echoed into the chamber. It sounded like distant thunder, but Loki knew better. It was the sound of armored troops marching into the Cathedral. “Oh yes, I neglected to mention,” Zephon gloated. “Since I knew I was not alone, I instructed Melchiah to summon my entourage when he left. Let us see how you fare against a company of vampire hunters!” 

     Loki looked at the chamber’s exit. In a few seconds, the troops would storm through the door. Zephon began to charge at Loki, but he dodged the attack and threw Zephon into the wall, using the momentum of his own assault against him. At that moment, the Vampire hunters emerged from the door.

     ”There he is!” one of them shouted. “Kill the undead scourge!” Loki cast an Incapacitate spell, sending a sphere of magical energy toward the men. The sphere exploded before them, leaving them stunned. Loki turned and ran through the chamber’s exit, moving deeper into the Cathedral. Zephon quickly ran after him.

     As Zephon entered the next room, which was actually a large corridor filled with evenly spaced pillars, he saw no sign of Loki. Zephon knew that Loki could render himself invisible, and in this room, it was easy to hide. Zephon proceeded with caution. A moment later, the troops came in behind him. Zephon looked at his men. 

     ”Split up and search the room,” he whispered. “He may be invisible, so be careful.” The men did as they were told. Zephon looked out into the corridor and raised his voice. “You may as well show yourself,” he called out. “You can’t hide from us forever!”

     ”I don’t intend to,” Loki responded. Because of the echoes in the corridor, it was impossible to tell where his voice was coming from. “What I will do is butcher every last one of your men, and then I will kill you. Then I will leave this place and slaughter your Coven. Thanks to you, I already know where to find three of them.”

     ”You’ll have to leave here alive first,” Zephon growled. He watched as the men slowly made their way across the room. There were six men, out of the original twenty. The rest must have fled in fear. Zephon was not concerned about this. The cowards would be punished later. Zephon walked slowly, as he stepped between the first two pillars. He looked to either side, but there was nothing there. The silence bothered him. There was no sound except for footsteps and the beating of his heart. He would prefer a proper battle to all of this sneaking around any day.

     Zephon took another step forward, looking around carefully, and listening. He began to sniff the air, since the undead had a distinct smell that the Sarafan were trained to recognize. In this situation, Zephon needed to depend on all of his senses equally, since he could not trust his eyes. 

     Suddenly, Zephon heard a gasp. He looked ahead at one of his soldiers, who had stopped abruptly. “What is it?” Zephon said.

     ”I am not sure, master,” the soldier responded. “I thought I heard somethi- . . .” Before he could finish speaking, a small jet of blood spurted from the side of his neck. The man trembled, and his head rolled backward and fell to the floor. The body then collapsed in a heap.

     ”Over there!” Zephon shouted, and ran toward the body. He stopped next to the dead soldier, and looked around. The other soldiers joined him. Zephon seemed to ignore them, still scanning the corridor with his eyes. “You won’t get away with this, you beast!” Loki’s laughter echoed through the corridor. Zephon turned his attention to the men. “What are you waiting for? Find him!” The soldiers scurried in all directions like frightened rodents. 

     Jude, one of the soldiers, was slowly walking up the right side of the corridor, between the wall and a row of pillars. Another soldier, Gren, was a few steps ahead of him. They were nearing the end of the corridor, when Gren stopped and turned around.  He shook his head.

     ”There is nothing this way,” Gren said. Jude began to look back the way he came when Gren screamed. Jude turned to find Gren rising off the floor, with blood pouring from his back. He was about three feet off the ground when his chest cavity split open. His crossbow fell to the floor, and his torso began to split in two. The two sides of his body were thrown in opposite directions. Jude raised his crossbow, and stepped backward. He was visibly trembling as he aimed his crossbow in a pitiful attempt at intimidation. He saw Gren’s crossbow apparently being crushed into the floor by nothing at all. 

     ”What are you doing? Shoot, you fool!” Zephon shouted from across the room.

     ”But there’s nothing there!” Jude cried. But as he focused his gaze, he saw that there was something there. Directly in front of him, there seemed to be a pocket of air that rippled like water. Jude gasped and unknowingly lowered his crossbow. In the center of this rippling shape a glowing red orb began to materialize. Jude realized the danger and raised his crossbow again, but it was too late. The orb streaked toward him and struck him in the chest. His entire body screamed in agony as blood poured from his mouth and disappeared into the invisible mass. Jude slumped lifelessly to the floor. 

     Zephon and the three remaining vampire hunters rushed over, but it was too late. Jude was dead, and there was no sign of Loki. The men split up again, and Zephon made his way slowly down the center of the passage. Suddenly, he had a feeling that something was wrong. The smell! Loki was close; Zephon could smell him. There was a sound behind him, and Zephon spun around to find a transparent shape rapidly approaching. Zephon readied his axe. 

     From the invisible entity came a flash of blue light, and Zephon was knocked backward several feet. Zephon tried to get up, but pain shot through his ribs. The three soldiers began to run to his aid.

     ”No, you idiots!” Zephon screamed. “The vampire! He’s there! Behind you! Kill him!”

     The men turned quickly and raised their crossbows. The shape was no longer invisible, it had taken on a reddish glow as the reptilian creature began to reappear. The red glow intensified, and the three men simultaneously fell to their knees and started screaming in agony as blood poured from their bodies. The three streams of blood spiraled through the air and into Loki’s mouth. The soldiers fell dead, and Zephon looked on in horror as the reptilian vampire approached. Zephon tried to reach his axe, but it had been thrown from his hand and was too far away. 

     Loki began to shift back to his vampiric form. “Zephon!” Loki said. Zephon tried in vain to reached his axe. He ignored the pain in his ribs and continued to stretch his arm as far as he could. Loki stopped by the two pillars closest to Zephon and placed his hands on them. Zephon frantically grasped in the direction of the axe.

     ”Zephon,” Loki repeated, as he leaned hard against the pillars. “Give my regards to Malek.” As Zephon heard the sound of cracking stone he realized what Loki was doing. He gave up trying to reach the axe and raised his arms to shield his face. The pillars gave way and the ceiling came crashing down. Loki laughed as Zephon was buried in rubble. “A fitting tomb,” Loki said, and he turned around and walked away. As he approached the Cathedral’s exit, he shifted to Mist Form so he could slip out unnoticed.

     Outside the Cathedral, there was commotion. The vampire hunters who had fled the Cathedral after the first encounter with Loki had gone to warn the rest. A large group of vampire hunters had gathered their arms and were now rushing toward the Cathedral to aid their beloved Sarafan leader. Little did they know, they were already too late. And in their haste to battle, they failed to notice the cloud of gray mist flowing from the Cathedral doors into the darkness of the night. 

     If Loki had wished it, he would have stayed in Avernus until he had slaughtered every last vampire hunter with his own hands. Utilizing the same Blood Shower spell he had used on the men inside the Cathedral, he could have vanquished them easily. But there was far more important prey to track. Loki’s prey was headed east, to Stahlberg. 

     Loki hid himself away, behind one of the many heaps of rubble scattered throughout the city of Avernus, and shifted back to his vampiric form. For a few moments longer, he watched in amusement as the vampire hunters hurried about in a panic. When he grew tired of watching them, he took to the sky in Bat Form. He guided himself to the rising moon of the east, toward Stahlberg.

     He knew that before this night was over, he would dine on the blood of Melchiah.