Fangs and Tusks [1/?]
I was only told to lure the vampire out of hiding.
This vampire, Shurod, used to be a normal orc, but then he got in a fight with a vampire lord. He managed to win, but at the cost of being bitten. As a consequence, he was infected with vampirism. That was around two decades ago, and the only man he loved had been dead for a year before.
My team and I were hired to put him out of his misery. This was my first mission with the vampire slayers of this town. Since I was a drifter, and thus, was not attached to anyone, they thought they could use me to lure the Shurod outside where they could overpower him and cut his head off. The worst case scenario in this case was that they would lose a fir bolg that they couldn't care less about.
At least, that's what they thought.
I walked through the back doors as my so-called friends waited patiently outside near the fountain in the garden. We might have misjudged what time it was, since the sun had just set. I could have sworn I was searching for the orc vampire for hours, but so far, I was unsuccessful. It was not until I was on my way back outside that I heard some commotion.
It turns out, Shurod found the other slayers first. I listened as I heard their battle shouts and their screams of pain. I quietly peeked outside the window to witness the fight. Unfortunately, my allies could not grab a hold of him easily, as he quickly dispatched them in a gruesome fashion. One by one, their throats were torn. The masonry and the stone paths were stained with red until one slayer remained: the leader, Bron.
Bron quickly grabbed his sword and made an attempt to slash the vampire. He dodged in time, only for the blade to graze his abdomen. As soon as the head slayer swung his sword again, Shurod grabbed his arm and sunk his fangs and his tusks into Bron's wrist. I watched as my leader slowly turned into a husk of skin and bone as his blood was drained from him. As quickly as the entire fight began, he had died.
And that's when Shurod and I made eye contact. I knew right then and there that I had to hide and leave when the coast was clear. Before I could see him toss Bron's corpse aside, I bolted down the stairs, only to lose my footing and fall down the steps. As I landed on my ass, I could see smoke rushing through a vent. Just before I could enter the drawing room, the smoke re-materialized into the orc vampire I was hired to kill.
I gulped out of fear as I backed away from him slowly. I could see his eyes glancing up and down on me, with one of his hairless eyebrows raising. What was scary was that I had no idea what he was going to do as he approached me. Out of impulse, I took a stake from my belt and held it up, pointing it at him. My hands trembled as he let out a soft chuckle.
He was now within my personal space. As soon as he placed his right hand behind my head, on where the back meets the neck, my spine shivered. I stuttered, "S-stop! I don't want to die!" He smiled at me, with a drip of blood leaving one of his fangs. He placed his other hand on my left cheek, lightly stroking it downward as if he were caressing me. His eyes were fixed on mine as I dropped my stake.
I soon realized that Shurod was somehow intrigued by me. A fir bolg among those human slayers? That's a new sight to him. An idea floated in my head: if I entertained Shurod, it might just save my life. I doubted it would work, but it was worth a shot.