Chapter 17 Chapter Sixteen Pikel's Bag

They had heard all kinds of sounds so far—the howling of wild animals at night in the mountains, the screams of the dying in the fields of Simista, the angry roar of a deceived dragon—but Cadderly , even Ivan and Pikel, have never been so terrified by a scream at this moment, it is from the vampire Zirkan Rufo who lost the most precious treasure, a scream that seems to come from another world. As Cadderly recovered from his shock, he instinctively believed that they should follow the voice, that it would lead them to Rufo, and to find Rufo would lead them to Danica.However, it took a lot of effort for the young priest to convince his two fellow dwarves of this, and he had to convince himself as well before he could make the decision to approach the man who uttered such a shriek!He looked out into the empty night beyond the doorway behind him.He knew that with just one step back, the song of his god would echo more clearly in his thoughts.Just one step back...but Danica is ahead.

"The god Denir is not with me," Cadderly whispered, speaking to himself instead of his companions, "not close." "Where are we going?" Ivan urged impatiently, sweat dripping from his tangled and hairy eyebrows, more out of nervousness than fatigue. "Up," Cadderly replied. "The screams are coming from the second floor, private living quarters." They passed through the foyer and several smaller rooms, past the kitchen where Ivan and Pikel had worked as cooks for several years.They haven't encountered any enemies, but the surrounding libraries are waking up.They knew this, could feel it, a sudden chill in the stagnant air.

"Cadderly." This voice, this lascivious, feminine voice, made the three of them freeze halfway, and they took a dozen or so steps up the winding stairs leading to the second floor.Cadder stood at the front of the queue, holding a light tube in his hand, turning slowly, so that the light beam passed over the short heads of Ivan and Pikel, and directly shone on Histra's unrecognizable face. The female vampire bared her fangs, curled up and hissed under the glare of the light. With a shriek, Pikel flung himself with the club, bumping into it so hard that they both stumbled and tumbled down the stairs.

Instinctively, Cadderly spun around to face the stairs again, his arms thrown up defensively, just in time to block a shattered zombie charging towards him.The priest fell backwards, but Ivan bowed his head against it before he could fully turn around to understand what happened. Cadderly and the zombie writhed at each other, rolling past the very low, immobile dwarf, joining Pikel and Histra in the corridor below. Pikel jumped up and down, trying to flank the crouching female vampire.He shook the stick menacingly, then advanced quickly, the stick angled outward, and made a full circle of the body, and another circle.He stumbled out of the useless movement, stumbled a step forward, dizzy and unsteady.

"Huh?" asked the confused dwarf, since Histra was not in front of him, and the place where the female vampire had been was empty. Its fist hit his shoulder, and Pikel spun around again.Fortunately for the dwarf, this time he spun the other way, and the counter-rotation somehow eliminated his dizziness, so when he stopped (luck favored him again), he found himself Just in time to meet the female vampire who rushed forward. "Hee hee hee." Pikel snickered, and charged forward with a thunderous momentum, stepping close to the flank of the enemy.Histra swerved quickly to keep her face on him, but Pikel planted his two big dwarf feet firmly, moved one foot in front of the other, and flew at it with a perfectly straight blow.The hard muscles twitched and jerked quickly, and the dwarf's tree-trunk-like wooden club flashed past Histra's raised arm, hitting it hard in the face.It flew back as if ejected from a crossbow, slamming into the wall, but before Pikel could say another "hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh hee again" he didn't hurt Pikel at all.

Pikel looked down at his club, then at the confident female vampire, then back at the club, as if his weapon had betrayed him. "Ooh," the green-bearded dwarf muttered, and the next moment, Histra's hard slap sent him spinning.He did a perfect two-and-a-half somersault before finishing with a headstand on the wall. Cayde is slightly better off against zombies.He got up faster than the lumbering monster, and his fingers were already hooked to the noose of the frisbee, two small discs connected by a short metal rod.He spun the diamond disc to the end of the rope where it was sitting and turned it back into his hands, again and again, making the rope taut.When the zombie finally dragged itself to its feet, Cadderly slammed the Frisbee fiercely at the monster's face.

The sound of bones crunching and breaking made the young priest wince.The zombie staggered back a few steps, but, compelled by a command it had no wit to contradict, it immediately came back again, arms stupidly wide open. The Frisbee hit the target again, hitting the bottom of the jaw just right, and as the monster began to approach again, its head hung weirdly, the bones supporting its neck all shattered. After the third blow, it no longer stood up, but when it fell to the ground, a somersaulting dwarf missile, Pikel Stoneshoulders, pressed directly on it, sending Cadderly and Histra All the way between the unimpeded.

Cadderly heard Ivan still on the stairs above, wrestling with some enemy.He glanced that way briefly, then turned to see Histra had crossed the clearing between them, standing just a few feet in front of him, a horrified, fanged smile on her face. As she brazenly approached, Cadderly hit it firmly in the chest with a Frisbee, but the weapon only made Histra take a step back, and she laughed again, even wider, to show that it couldn't hurt her at all. . "Dear Cadderly," she said contentedly. "You can't resist me." Like Pikel before, Cadderly looked down at the Frisbee, as if betrayed.

"You don't like what I'm doing for you?" Histra said teasingly.To Cadderly, it was a chilling caricature, a mocking insult to the alluring, sexy woman it had been.Histra is the priestess of Suni, God of Love. She always dresses up meticulously, sprays perfume, and keeps her graceful body in the best condition. There is always a kind of light in her eyes, which guarantees that she can bring the best to any man she likes. happy. But now, the skin on its face hung sagging, as did the cleavage exposed between the scraps of what had been a beautiful crimson robe.Besides, no perfume could mask the stench of burnt flesh surrounding the wounded vampire.Worse, it seemed to Cadderly, was the look in its eyes, which once promised pleasure, was now profane, like the malevolent flame of evil incarnate.

"I give you life," said the ugly vampire. "That's a better deal, because Rufo's only going to give you death." Cadderly braced himself against the horrific sight, and the mention of Zirkan Rufo's name, using them to strengthen his faith as a symbol, a clear reminder to those who had fallen into temptation. as a result of.He held the holy symbol aloft, the light tube behind it, and the young priest had never held up the light of Denir so wholeheartedly. Rufo had earlier rejected Cadderly's holy symbol, but Histra was not the master of the place, and the vampire's abilities were still far from full.Immediately she stopped moving and began to tremble.

"By the power of Denir!" Cadderly cried, stepping forward, the holy symbol held aloft and looking down, causing its light to crush Histra and bring her to her knees. "Okay, we're not going up there!" Ivan yelled, bruised and covered in blood, stumbling out of the stairs. Cadderly snarled and pushed the light lower, and Histra crouched and whimpered.Then the young priest looked towards the stairs and saw a group of zombies descending chaotically behind Ivan.He looked across the corridor, and thankfully Pikel was up again, running in circles—no, Cadderly saw he was dancing.For some reason Cadderly could not understand, Pikel was dancing around his stick, gesticulating with his stubby hands, and Cadderly had never seen him move his mouth so much. Yiwen fought again at the entrance of the stairs, and every time the huge and extremely sharp battle ax swiped, it chopped off the stubborn limbs of the zombies. "There are a hundred of these ghouls!" roared the dwarf. Something faster and more insidious than the zombies stepped out of the line and stood in front of the dwarves.Yiwen confronted him head-on with the battle-axe and slashed directly at his chest, but when the blade of the battle-axe came into contact, the vampire didn't retreat half a step. He grabbed the handle of the battle-axe and turned it to the side to cut nothing. "One hundred and one!" the dwarf corrected angrily. With a roar, Cadderly pressed the symbol of his god directly on Histra's forehead, and acrid smoke spewed out from the wound.The female vampire tried to raise her hands to fend off the attack, but there was no strength in her trembling arms. "I deny you, and I will destroy you!" Cadderly roared, pressing down with all his strength.Once again, Histra was in trouble because she hadn't yet mastered her newfound undeath to transform quickly and easily into a bat, or other creature of the night, or even melt into a puff of vapor and float away. "Block him!" Cadderly called to Ivan, knowing that Histra was no longer able to resist him.He was about to call Pikel, but he only grunted in annoyance, for he noticed that the dwarf was still dancing strangely, and he feared that the dwarf's sanity had been knocked out of his green-bearded head. Ivan roared and unleashed a series of onslaughts at the vampire, scoring several hits.But the monster and the group of zombies behind him are still advancing step by step.If the vampire had been a loyal creature, a true companion, he would have bypassed the dwarves to save Histra, but one of Rufo's remaining two vampires, Bazio Wang from Karaton, Looking at the mighty young priest, with his blazing holy symbol, felt fear clearly.In addition, Baguio also understood that Histra's death would only strengthen its status second only to Rufo. So the vampire let the flustered and ineffective dwarf block it. After a while, Cadderly was surrounded by thick black smoke.He continued to summon the god Denir, continued to press the sigil with the eyes above the candles to Histra's forehead, though he could no longer even see her in the acrid smoke.Finally, the vampire collapsed, and Cadderly heard Histra thump as she fell hard to the ground.The smoke drifted away, and Cadderly saw that the battle was over.He could only imagine - and he shuddered as he did so! ——waiting for Histra's retribution.He thought of dark, huddled shadows swooping down on her fallen soul, dragging her down into hellish eternity.However, after the female vampire actually died, she seemed much calmer than before.Her eyes had returned to their natural color, and she looked almost asleep.Perhaps even greater sins can be forgiven. Cadderly had no time to think about Histra.A glance over his shoulder told him that he and his friends were losing ground again, that even though they were desperate for Danica and determined to rescue the monk, there was no way they could take the library in the dark of night. , the Rufo library. Baguio has seen enough.With one swing of its hand, it sent Ivan flying and slid across the floor to Pikel.Pikel picked up the club with one hand and his beaten brother with the other. With a cry, Cadderly faced the vampire head-on, holding up the holy symbol as he had done with Histra.Baguio, an older, wiser man and more willing to serve Rufo, flinched but didn't back away. Cadderly flung his arms forward, and Bagio flinched again.Calling out to the god Denir, Cadderly took a step forward, and Bagiou found himself forced to back away.They were deadlocked for only a second before Cadderly knew he had the upper hand, knew that if he pushed in with all his faith, he could destroy the monster as he had destroyed Histra. Baguio knew this too, but unexpectedly, the vampire smiled evilly, and then issued a spiritual command, asking his zombie army to swarm around him to protect himself from the light of Cadderly's faith. . The monster at the head of the mindless horde, depicted by the light, ended up just like the zombies Cadderly and the dwarves had encountered and defeated when they first returned to the library.Both the zombie and the one behind him turned to dust, but there were too many monsters. Another shriek, a most terrifying howl, echoed off the walls and down the stairs. "Master is coming," Bagio said thoughtfully from behind the crowd of zombies. "Go to the door!" Ivan yelled, and Cadderly, though his heart ached at the thought of Danica in such a fallen place, knew that the dwarf was right. They strode down the corridor, easily leading the slow-moving zombies by a wide margin.Pikel spun around the first door, slammed it shut behind them, and swung the latch to lock it. "Let's go the other way," Cadderly said, and he began to scour his memory for the shortest path to the back stairs. Bagio's hand cracked the door panel with a clatter, and the vampire began to search for the latch with his fingers. The three friends ran again, through small rooms, past the kitchen, closing every door they passed.They entered the foyer, the dwarves turning toward the open door, and Cadderly trying to force them straight ahead, toward the south wing and the main chapel, where a balcony led to the second floor. "Don't go out!" insisted the young priest. "Don't stay in there!" Ivan snapped back. Zirkan Rufo appeared suddenly in front of them, halfway between the door to the empty night outside and the door to the corridor that would take them to the main chapel. "Don't go anywhere," Ivan commented, skidding to a halt. Cadderly's holy symbol was raised, and a halo beamed from behind it, casting its image on Rufo's face. The vampire was trembling with fury over Danica's death, and he didn't even retreat. Instead, he began to approach the young priest steadily, assuring that he would make an ugly death for him. Cadderly called out to the god Denir several times, but to no avail.He learned that they had to get to the door, out of the place Rufo had claimed for himself. "Go to the door," he whispered to his companions, and stepped boldly in front of them.He reminded himself that he was Cadderly, Denir's chosen priest, who had faced a dragon alone, who had sent his mind to the realm of Chaos and returned safely, who had destroyed the instruments of evil, who had also Overcome his terrible life experience.Somehow, none of that mattered now, against the depravity that Rufo and the vampire represented, against the ultimate distortion of life itself. Somehow, from somewhere, Cadderly found the strength to move away from the dwarf and face Rufo head-on, protecting his friend. So is Ivan.The brave dwarf knew that only Cadderly could fight Rufo and win.But according to Wen know, not here.Rufo could only be defeated if Cadderly could escape from this desecrated land. With a roar, the yellow-bearded dwarf sprinted past Cadderly, stopping shortly before the vampire (whose flaming eyes never left the young priest, his sworn enemy).Without fear or hesitation, Yiwen yelled again, slashed fiercely on Rufo's head. Rufo pushed the ax away with a flick, as if noticing Ivan's presence for the first time. "Enough is enough," Ivan bellowed angrily at his useless axe. The only luck for the unlucky Ivan was that Rufo's powerful punch made him fly in the general direction of the open door. Cadderly stepped forward sharply and quickly. "You can't hurt me!" Rufo growled, but the young priest had figured out a way.He held up the holy symbol as best he could, holding it and the light barrel in one hand, but the real weapon was in his other.His fingers were still on the frisbee coils, but they flicked low along the side floor, for Cadderly knew now that they had no real effect on vampires.As he charged forward, he had removed from his belt the ram's-headed staff that served as his second weapon, on which a magician friend from Calladon had cast an enchantment. Rufo took the blow recklessly, and the enchanted weapon ripped half the skin off the vampire's face. Cadderly swung his arm again quickly for a second blow, but Rufo caught his wrist and bent it back, forcing the young priest to his knees.Cadderly extended the arm holding the holy symbol, using it to block Rufo's malevolent approaching face. They were locked in this position for what seemed an eternity, and Cadderly knew he could not win, knew that not even his highest faith could defeat Rufo here. Cadderly felt something splash against his cheek.At first I thought it was blood, but then I realized it was clean, cold water.Rufo backed away unexpectedly, and Cadderly looked up to see a line of charred skin denting the vampire's other cheek. The second stream of water pushed the vampire back, forcing him to loosen his grip on Cadderly's arm.The astonished young priest became even more confused as Pikel strode past, the water bag tucked tightly under one arm, spraying a jet of water at the vampire with each pressure. Rufo slapped the water with smoking fingers and backed away until his shoulders were against the hall wall. Pikel advanced steadily, with the most resolute expression on his face Cadderly had ever seen, but Rufo also stood up, hardened, and the moment for the surprise attack was over. Pikel hit it again with a splash, but the vampire took it with a roar. "I'm going to tear your heart out!" threatened loudly, taking a step away from the wall. Pikel sprung into action, spun in a full circle, dropped to one knee, and hit Rufo with a low, horizontal chop on the side of Rufo's leg.Surprisingly, there was a crisp bone breaking sound, and the vampire's leg snapped.Rufo fell heavily, and Pikel came screaming over it, the club raised for a second blow. "We've knocked it down!" shouted Ivan, unsteady on his feet, from the doorway.As his brother yelled in triumph, Pikel's club thumped off the flagstones, straight through the cloud of smoke Rufo had become. "Hey!" Evan roared. "Whoa!" agreed Pikel, angry and feeling cheated. "Cheat!" Ivan said angrily, and the yelling just now seemed to use up the last of his strength.He took a step towards his brother, stopped, looked at Pikel and Cadderly in wonder for a moment, and then fell flat on his face. Cadderly glanced around, trying to figure out how they should go next—into the library or out into the night? — Pikel ran to his brother.The young priest knew that Rufo was not defeated, that another vampire and a horde of zombies were not far away.Cadderly narrowed his eyes and scanned the hall carefully, remembering that the evil and dangerous Druzil might be watching them right now.Cadderly hadn't forgotten the pain the imp had caused him with its magic, and even more the imp's venomous spikes.That venom had brought Pikel down once long ago, and though Cadderly had healing magic against the venom, he figured he wouldn't be able to use them here. Night had fallen, and they were struggling. But Danica is here!Cadderly could not forget this, not for a moment.He wanted to go to her--now!Searched every room in the huge building until he could find her and take her in his arms again.What the hell had Rufo done to her?His fear screamed at him.Driven by this inner alarm, the young priest almost ran back to the kitchen, to the crowd of zombies and low-level vampires. Cadderly heard a soothing voice, Pertelope's voice, come to his mind, reminding him of who he was and what responsibility his position held him. Remind him to trust the god Denir, as well as Danica. It was even more difficult for the young priest than entering the unholy place, but Cadderly walked towards Pikel to help prop up the unconscious Ivan, and the three companions trudged outside In the open space, back to the night.