Chereads / Van Luther Chronicles: Journey to the Otherworld / Chapter 5 - Chapter 5 - The Camp

Chapter 5 - Chapter 5 - The Camp

After a long journey to the camp, Craig and Dumbo finally reached their destination. They found the camp of vampires, located beside a river near the valley of skulls. The two of them walked closer to it when one vampire stopped them. "Halt, who are you? What are you doing here? "asked by the vampire. "I'm Dumbo, and this is Craig; we are looking for Aurdim Vorkhel; the orc shaman of Zilk Bar referred us." Dumbo answered, then Craig showed him the necklace given to him. "Ok, but you have to surrender your weapon first." the vampire said. "Weapons? I don't have weapons." Dumbo replied then he glanced at Craig. "Oh, I'm sorry. My companion will surrender his weapon with no complain at all." he added as he tried to grab Craig's blade. "What are you doing?" Craig complained, while the vampire just watched them. "We need to surrender your blade first, or else we won't have a chance to talk to Aurdim." Dumbo whispered to Craig who held his blade and refused to give it to Dumbo. They both looked at the vampire who is waiting for them to hand over the weapon, Dumbo once again grabbed the blade and this time he succeed. "Please take care of it." Craig told the vampire. "Follow me, I will take you to Aurdim." the vampire said. They followed the vampire into Aurdim's tent, "You have guests Aurdim." the vampire shouted. "Let them in." Aurdim answered. Dumbo and Craig entered the tent, they saw Aurdim sitting on a chest while drinking a glass of blood. Dumbo was frightened on what he saw, he stood behind Craig's back. "What do you need from me?" Aurdim asked the guests. "I'm here to kill the witch queen, can you help me?" Craig bravely answered. "Hey, I've told you don't call her name out loud." Dumbo said. "Hahaha, you're a funny guy, you know that?" Aurdim laughed at Craig. "I'm serious." Craig boldly responded. Aurdim felt his intense desire on killing the witch queen, he smiled and stood up, and said "Then tell me young one, how will you do it?" Craig came too close to Aurdim, and said, "Watch me." Aurdim can't helped it but smile, while Craig is looking at him dauntlessly. "Will you stop this please, we badly needed a plan against her or else she'll learn to use that grimoire." Dumbo shouted. "What grimoire?" Aurdim asked. "The creator's book." Dumbo answered. "That's bad news, we gotta make a move. But first, I need to take care of something on this camp." Aurdim said. "Can't that wait? The fate of Igdris is at risk here." Dumbo asked. "No, the reason why we set up a camp here is to investigate the frequent attacks on our farms." Aurdim answered.  "Who in their right mind would attack your farm?" asked by Dumbo. "That's what we want to know, if we won't do anything, sooner or later we will run out of food." Aurdim replied. "Unless you let me take a sip of your precious blood." he added as he came too close to Dumbo while exposing his fangs. Dumbo got scared so he stood behind Craig's back again. "We'll help you investigate, then you'll help me with my mission." Craig told Aurdim. "You got yourself a deal, young one." Aurdim said as he walked outside his tent, Dumbo and Craig followed him. "Where are we going?" asked by Craig. "To investigate, of course." answered by Aurdim. "I can't leave without my blade." Craig replied. Aurdim whistled softly, then the vampire who took Craig's blade appeared, he handed over the blade to Craig, then they leave the camp.

The three of them walked closely to the vampire's farm; everything was fine, and it was a quiet night. They hid behind trees, waiting for something. "What are we waiting for here? "asked by Dumbo. "This is one of the remaining farms that haven't attacked yet; I believe this will be their next target," answered Aurdim. "I got a bad feeling about this," terrified Dumbo said. After a while, they heard a noise, as if something was running towards the farm; it was a cyclops. "It can't be; why is that thing wandering around here? "Aurdim said. "What's wrong? "asked by Craig. "Cyclops are supposed to be seen in the northern area, not here. They're not aggressive, and usually they don't want anyone to see them," answered Dumbo. "Unless they've told us to destroy our camp," Aurdim said. "The witch queen," Craig said. Aurdim and Dumbo just looked at him like they wanted to tell him that they had already told him not to say that name. "We gotta move, or else we'll lose a lot of food," Aurdim said, then prepared himself to attack. He twirled his arm as he walked closer to the cyclops; it noticed him and tried to smash his head, but Aurdim grabbed both of its hands and broke them, like a twig. The Cylcops cried out loudly in pain; their fellow Cylcops heard it, and they responded immediately. About four cyclopes suddenly appeared out of nowhere and charged towards Aurdim, but the man stood still and was ready to take the four of them. The brute vampire flawlessly dodged all of their attacks while unleashing powerful blows. When the cyclopes got tired of their one-sided battle, all of them blared like they were calling for something. The ground suddenly shook, and they heard a loud growl that seemed to be made by a wild beast. Everyone was startled when a massive cyclops appeared. It has horns and sharp fangs out of its mouth. Aurdim backed off a bit; he didn't know how to beat a guy like this. He pulled some punches, but they didn't even flinch. The giant cyclops knocked him down with their feet, and Aurdim was pushed back so hard that he flew near Dumbo and Craig. "Need a hand? "asked by Craig. "Yeah, I could use one," Aurdim answered. Craig walked towards the enemy while pulling his blade from his back. "That blade brings death," Aurdim softly uttered. The cyclops rushed to attack Craig while he's still walking slowly. When they're both closed to each other, Craig jumps up and cuts his body like a fruit sliced in half. The other cyclopes got scared of what they saw, making them run away as fast as they could. Blood splattered through the ground, and Craig's blade had some of it too. To get rid of it, Craig swung down very hard on the blade. Aurdim and Dumbo came closer to him. "That's brutal," Aurdim shockily said. "And I like it! ," he added while smiling like a maniac. "Are we done here? "asked by Dumbo. "Not yet; we have to inspect the actual farm," answered Aurdim. 

The three of them walked over a fence and went inside a barn, where there were farm animals. "They've told me that this farm has great numbers of animals, but it seems that it lost half of them," Aurdim said. "Are they eaten by cyclopes? Here? "asked by Dumbo. "I don't think so; this place is too clean for a feast. Maybe they've taken them away from here, but how? "The confused Aurdim answered. Later on, they'd heard a noise coming from the barn's gate, so they decided to hide to find out who it was. Someone entered the bar, another cyclops; it was as big as the one they'd fought a while ago. He was holding a big sack as he took the animals and put them in it. "That's a magic item, owned by Celesta the Wicked, a subordinate of the nameless," astounded Aurdim. "Then it's confirmed; nameless is on the move," Dumbo said. Craig was about to rush in and attack the cyclops, but Aurdim stopped him and said, "Hold up, let's wait a little longer." Craig backed off and waited. While minding his own business, the cyclops' attention was caught by something; it went outside. The three of them followed the cyclops, and it couldn't get more surprising; they saw Celesta herself. Aurdim was frightened; the wicked's presence was overwhelming; he wanted to flee immediately. Dumbo felt the same; even a human like him was affected by such wickedness. On the other hand, Craig was still calm, observing the enemy. "We gotta move; if she sees us, we won't get out of here alive," was softly uttered by Aurdim. When Dumbo and Aurdim were about to walk out of the scene, an energy ball blasted their position; they barely dodged it. "We have company—a vampire and two mortals," Celesta said while flying towards the destroyed barn. "Oh, no, we're going to die," a terrified Dumbo said. "Damn, we're doomed," Aurdim responded. Craig just stood up and looked up at the wicked. He pulled out his blade like he was ready to fight. "What a brave soul! You want a piece of me? "Celesta teased Craig, but in a blink of an eye, Craig jumped over and cut her; it hit her face, and the wicked screamed out of pain. Dumbo and Aurdim can't believe what happened; they were stunned by what they saw. "Arghh, you insolent fool, you ruined my face," Celests exclaimed. "It's already ruined," Craig answered. Infuriated, the wicked cast a spell that formed a giant ball of black energy above her. "It's certain; we're doomed," Dumbo uttered in despair. When Celesta was about to release her attack, she heard someone trying to converse with her through her mind. "That's enough; you should go back," said the voice. Celesta cancelled her spell and flew down to the ground. "You're in luck, but next time, I'll give you hell, argh! " shouted by the enraged wicked, then she and the cyclops went inside the magical sack and vanished. Dumbo and Aurdim breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great, young one; you faced the wicked without fear; I can't wait to tell this to my captain," Aurdim said. "You're just scared like me a while ago; now you're playing it cool, huh? ", Dumbo responded. "Hahaha, I knew Craig could do it; I believe in him," Aurdim replied while laughing out loud. "Are we done here? "Craig asked Aurdim. "Yeah, but we should head back to the camp first," Aurdim answered. They went back to the camp as fast as they could.

Even from far away, Aurdim smelled blood, possibly in their camp, so they ran their way back. "I hope my suspicions are wrong," Aurdim said while running so fast that he left Dumbo and Craig behind. When Aurdim arrived at the camp, everything was on fire. His whole crew was slaughtered mercilessly. He could do nothing but kneel in repentance and say, "What have I done? "Aurdim asked himself. Dumbo and Craig finally reached the camp. They felt terribly sorry for what happened to Aurdim's group, and they both tapped his shoulder, implying that they're here for him. Aurdim stood up and said, "We better move; a war was destined to fall." Aurdim boldly said, "Where do we go? "Dumbo asked. "To the colony, I must report to my captain and the elder what I've seen," Aurdim answered. "E-e-elder?! "Dumbo shockily responded. "What's wrong? "asked by Craig. "The Vampire Elder is the highest position in their colony; never in my life have I imagined meeting him in person," Dumbo answered. "I'm sorry, Dumbo, but I'm thinking of introducing Craig to the elder, not you; it's too dangerous for a human to be involved in this," Aurdim said to Dumbo. "You're going to leave me here?! "Disappointed,Dumbo replied. "Maybe not. What if Celesta appears again, or a cyclops? What will you do? "Craig asked Dumbo. "I mean, you can come with us, but I can't let you meet the elder," Aurdim said. "Whatever, let's go," Dumbo said while pouting his lips. They walked their way to the colony, a couple of miles away.

Meanwhile, in the northern part of Igdris, an assembly was being held by the witch queen's subordinates. They were sitting on a throne-like chair made out of stone. There are four of them: Celesta the wicked, Ambersoul of death, Serefina the calamity, and Heimdilfir of hell. "Any update about your supply gathering, Celesta? "asked by Heimdilfir. "I've already collected enough food, destroyed seven of their farms, and," answered Celesta, who just stopped when the wound on her face hurt. "Hahaha, your face got so much uglier," teased Serefina. "Shut up, that bastard; he'll pay for this," Celesta annoyingly replied. "No ordinary weapon can hurt you, right? So what happened? "asked by Ambersoul. "I don't know; it happened so fast that I can't see his attack," Celesta answered. "That's what happens when you're not focused on your objective," Heimdilfir said. "If you hadn't called me, I could kill them all," Celesta responded. "Why don't you be like me? I've destroyed almost all their camp, and I can destroy them all if we aren't called," bragged Ambersoul. "Why did you call us Heimdilfir? "asked by Serefina. "As you know, the queen was weakening; that's why she sent her favorite pet to the human world to get what she needed; fortunately, the mission was a success, and with a bonus. She got herself a new vessel," explained Heimdilfir. Everyone cheered on what they'd heard; they danced and laughed. "There's just one problem," Heimdilfir added. "What's that? "asked by Celesta. "The grimoire that the queen stole was stolen," answered Heimdilfir. Their cheerful laugh changed to a wrathful scream. "Who would steal that book from the witch queen? "asked by Ambersoul. "I have one suspect, but you wouldn't believe it," answered Heimdilfir. The witch queen's subordinates made a plan to find the book and perform the soul transfer to her new vessel.