Fates of Grenora: Return of the Night

Aldrin watched his Orcs dismantle the Iron Reavers and Ash Vultures piece by piece. His Dreadmaw riders chased down any that tried to escape. In the distance, he kept a careful eye on Skarra and Thassor's duel. They hadn't noticed a third party had entered the fray, and he hoped they wouldn't until both gangs were on their knees.

The Minotaurs didn't bother to leave their tight circle they had formed in a corner, nor did any of Aldrin's people go near them. He had explicitly told them that the Minotaurs were off limits. His Ghoul Baron, on the other hand, was wantonly biting anyone it got its claws in, quickly transforming them into more Ghouls under its command. Bohr was among them and harassing the ones he could before the Ghoul Baron trounced over, converting another to its ranks.

It was going steadily even without Aldrin fully joining the battle. He was only here as a deterrent in case Skarra or Thassor decided to come back. This was practice for the large-scale battle he knew he would have to take part in once the other Progenitors started openly acting. A part of him hoped they would in order to break the morale of whichever gang, thus forcing them to submit. He also fought the urge to enter the duel between the two and show them how outclassed they were. That thought alone made Aldrin pause as he knew his overconfidence was becoming a problem and eventually someone would come along and remind him just how powerless he was in the face of higher Tiered individuals. That's not to say he wasn't powerful in his own right, but he could only punch above his weight class so much before he was swatted down like a fly.

Nonetheless, he noticed some pockets of the gangs huddled together, forgoing any animosity they once had with each other to face against the new threat that was cutting through them like wheat. The once-chained beasts were unsure, giving Aldrin another perfect opportunity to practice something else.

"Beasts of the night," Aldrin whispered along the wind. "Fight for me, and you shall feast upon all that you desire."

Some beasts perked their heads and ears up, which told Aldrin they were creatures of the night, but most of them didn't and attacked any they could. "Pounce on those who have not heeded my words. They will be your first reward for your service," he said, and the beasts, mostly the pony-sized rats and dog-like creatures, immediately turned to attack the other beasts.

Aldrin was also surprised to see one of the Chimera, made up of a body of a lion, head of a hooded snake, with the tail of a wolf, heed his words and venom sprayed the nearest clustered group of gang members that dissolved them into nothing but polished pristine bones. Then it weaved through the rest of the gang members with perfect feline grace.

"Evie, get Moira to safety. Jared and Pierre are nearby, bringing up the rear with the rest of the Orcs," Aldrin telepathically said.

BOOM

Aldrin's head whipped to the far duel of Skarra and Thassor that clashed again. His eyes narrowed at the clash of power. Sin-Screamer vibrated in his hand, eager to join the revelry of battle. He wondered how close it was to level again, let alone his armor, which mewled and purred, anxiously awaiting to be used. He patted his armor first, then shook Sin-Screamer. His cloak, Delena's Veil, still mercilessly attacked those below, continuously feeding Aldrin the blood it consumed from its victims. He checked his Stats with the buff from Daywalker boosting them by 50% during the night. He never had the chance as he always threw himself into battle without a care in the world.

"Holy shit," Aldrin whispered to himself. "No wonder I feel so much better at night. My Strength is near a high-end Tier 4, low-end Tier 5 along with my Willpower. Everything else is Tier 4."

His attention was drawn back to the slaughter below when Buramog-Kurdan called up to him. "My Chief!" He came close to the building where Aldrin was still on the roof. "Most have surrendered. What shall we do with them?"

Aldrin peered down at the now kneeling remnants of the gangs that made up the Iron Reavers and Ash Vultures. They were bloodied yet not broken as they still had the fire of the will to fight blazing in their eyes. "We will wait for their leaders," Aldrin replied, turning his gaze towards Skarra and Thassor, who were still unaware of what happened. "Better yet, I will make myself known. You have done well, Buramog-Kurdan, and you shall be rewarded when this is over."

Buramog-Kurdan dipped his head and thumped his fist to his chest. "Thank you, Chief."

Aldrin nodded and shifted to his bat swarm, flying to the duel that was soon going to be interrupted by something sinister, him.

Meanwhile, the duel between Skarra and Thassor was escalating. Skarra would punch once, sending a fireball that would dissipate if it missed, and Thassor would swing his hammer, sending lightning bolts to hopefully wound Skarra. Her gauntlets, enchanted as they were, would take in the bolts of lightning, feeding them into her next fireball. That was their battle, trading magical attack for magical attack from their weapons of choice. No Skills had been openly used yet. It was then that Skarra's System Alerts flooded with notifications again, as did Thassor.

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An icy chill of dread washed over them both, their warrior instincts honed from many battles screaming at them to be on guard. Thassor frowned. "Trying teh trick me again, eh, lass?"

"It's not me, you idiot. I have been trying to tell-" Skarra didn't finish as she crashed forward from a force.

Thassor watched it happen in slow motion. Skarra fell face first into a building from the surprise attack. He saw a swarm of bats, moving swifter than normal, dart out of the way to circle around. He watched them with wide eyes turn abruptly and rush towards him. Then he swung his hammer, sending a lightning bolt at the creatures, but the swarm opened in the middle, letting the bolt fly straight through before reforming into its swarm. It crashed into Thassor, encircling him as he threw lightning bolts and swung wildly, yet he found no purchase.

His stomach dropped when a face of shadows appeared within the swarm. Blazing green slitted eyes like a reptile cooly gazed at him before disappearing and the swarm leaving him. Thassor looked left and right but failed to look up in time before the same swarm came crashing down on him, pushing him to the ground. He impacted the cobbled street with a dull thud, laying there looking up at the sky as the swarm circled once then dove back down towards him.

He turned into a lightning streak, dodging out of the way before the bats thunderously crashed into the crater he had made from his impact. Thassor watched with bated breath. Skarra picked herself up, her face marred with rage as she looked around in a frenzy."Who the fuck?!" she started before seeing shadows and bats gathering together forming into a humanoid shape.

Both Thassor and her System Alerts blinked again, and this time they took a quick peek and Aldrin allowed them to as he dramatically reformed himself. He wanted to sow fear between them as that was the only way to garner a win. The Orcs always taught him growing up that if you can get into the head of your enemy mentally, then they have already lost the physical battle.

When he was close to reforming, he took a deep breath, getting ready to play the role of the Vampire Progenitor. He cleared his mind, pushed down his humanity, which he found surprisingly easier now, and fully reformed, revealing himself to Skarra and Thassor. Taking it one step further, he removed his Necklace of Obscurity, allowing his Race to show. He felt the intrusive gaze of Inspect wash over him as both Skarra and Thassor looked to see.

Skarra blanched, realizing that Zivri was right all along. The only thing was, he only thought it to be a regular Vampire but here before her stood the Vampire Progenitor. She unwittingly took a step back, the same niggling feeling she had before, exploding into the primal fear to run as fast and far as she could.

Thassor, on the other hand, was a mix between fear and pride as he looked at Aldrin. Pale copper-colored skin, shoulder-length loose curly brown hair, light stubble along his sculpted jaw, and green eyes whose pupils were slitted like a reptile's. Yet, coldness wafted off the being in front him; the coldness of death he had once felt as a boy back when his father had taken him on his first raid. He was too proud to admit that he was scared, but the trembling of his knees betrayed him.

The last of the shadows coalesced into Aldrin's cloak, which had turned into strips of cloth that swayed on their own accord like writhing snakes ready to strike. His crimson-black armor softly purred and tightened around him, readying itself for the oncoming melee. He called forth Sin-Screamer from his Inventory, its purple runes glimmering in the moonlit darkness. He didn't speak, nor did he growl, only launched himself forward.

Skarra took a breath, quickly bringing her arms up to block as he moved faster than she could track. He was there one second and the next he was in front of Thassor, surprising them both. The purple runed greatsword came down like a guillotine towards Thassor, who quickly raised his shield, bracing it with a Skill. The man — no, the Vampire, roared, and she noticed her runed gauntlets dimming and Thassor's Skill around his shield dissipated. Her instinct once again screamed at her to run as the two collided, and the Strength behind the blow nearly split Thassor's shield down the middle.

Thassor reacted on instinct, swinging his hammer around after planting his shield. His swing only met air until he felt something kick him in his side, sending him rocketing into Skarra as they both tumbled and crashed through a building.

Aldrin wasn't done. He activated Bloodletter Slam, sinking Sin-Screamer in the ground. Underneath, the ground rippled in a fissure, racing towards Skarra and Thassor's crumpled forms.

Skarra was the first to react, throwing Thassor off of her as she jumped out of the way just before the ground where they once were, erupted in a small field of jagged crimson-colored blades. She was so focused on the blades that she didn't see Aldrin appear next to her, swinging his blade, attempting to bisect her. Barely managing to block the strike before gripping it with her gauntleted hands. She pulled towards herself, but there was no give, so she released a bit of her Giant Strength and still there was no give.

Aldrin cackled, showing his fangs before exerting more force, throwing Skarra off his blade and back to the ground. He shifted into bats, chasing after her as she hopped away, trying to put distance between them. Aldrin stopped suddenly, narrowly missing the lightning bolt that streaked in between them. He turned his attention to Thassor, who threw his hammer next, which was coated in lightning.

Confidence surged within Aldrin as he reformed, planting Sin-Screamer into the ground as he braced himself to catch the hurling, lightning-clad hammer. The force of the hammer pushed him back, forcing him to dig his heels in, creating deep furrows in the road and crashing through one building. The hammer was quickly recalled as Aldrin lay there in the dilapidated building, covered in broken furniture that was old and rotted. His vampiric nature threatened to take over to show the mortals who was in charge, but he tapered it down, keeping control. It wasn't time yet.

Skarra, who landed atop a roof, watched as her gauntlets relit with the runes and she punched forth, sending a fireball at the building where the Vampire crashed into. The building exploded into flames when the fireball reached, and she saw Thassor whirling around his hammer as above them clouds gathered as he called down lightning and guided it towards the building in a blaze of white light that crackled and boomed. Both of them watched as the building collapsed in on itself in a heap of flames. Just for good measure, Skarra sent another fireball, adding more to the flames. If the tales and myths were right, then the Vampire was weak to fire like all Undead.

However, she heard Thassor scream in pain and when she looked over, fear seized her heart, the vampire was unscathed and unblemished from their attacks as he had skewered Thassor from behind, his blade sticking out from the front as he raised Thassor off the ground. He gripped and clawed at the blade as blood squirted from his mouth as he choked on it. The Vampire growled and slung him off the sword when he swung it, then it turned to her. He smiled as she watched his eyes turn from green to red along with a vaporous red mist wafting off him.

Her world slowed as he launched himself at her, crossing the distance before she had any time to defend herself. She knew it was time to fight or flee.

She roared her own battle cry, choosing to fight.