"Back to the arena again? Are we sure this is the best place to spring the trap?" I queried the others.

  "Yeah, it's not ideal; the place has so many entrances." Xyn interjected.

  We were ready to turn a corner and run into the arena, guns blazing, as a group. Glancing around the corner, I noticed the gate was open. I recalled the moment that giant gate was wretched away by a pack of angry dog people. Calling for our blood, if not for Rak, we would have been puppy chow. Not a cool way to die.

  "This is the plan, doctore has the lord's personal guard in on it. We just need to wait." Rak hissed back at us.

  I was sceptical, but low and behold, the man himself strode out onto the arena, flanked by a Garathi entourage, a Volkaran that looks like this doctore Rak described and two others. A human woman and a Volkaran trailing behind her. The Volkaran looked like any other of the dog people. That sounded racist. But she easily took centre stage. Why did she outshine everyone? Probably because she looked just like Morticia from the Addams Family. It was so uncanny.

  Long flowing black dress that was clearly magical, since it seemed to hover just above the sands. Pale as ice, with eyeliner and flowing hair as black as night. Her eyes were the only thing that differed from the beloved television character. They were bright crimson, signifying she was definitely not human. She was a vampire. Was she his wife or something?

  "Who is that most fetching creature?" Marius asked my silent question.

  "Griselda, dammit, she is here!" Rak scowled, trying to keep his voice down.

  "Is this a bad thing? Who is she?" Xyn questioned. I could hear the growing concern in her voice.

  "She is a Strigoi the master found and has been trying to court for weeks."

  "Trying?" I wondered aloud.

  "Yes, he is failing miserably. Even I know when a woman isn't interested, but he has yet to take the hint."

  "Foolish man, truly unworthy of such a queen." Marius muttered to himself, I heard it and wondered how this fight was going to go down.

  "Quiet, they are almost in position." Rak commanded, and we were as silent as the grave.

  Eyeing the group flooding the arena, I utilised every advanced sense I had at my disposal. Trying to locate anything that resembled a trap. Nothing but the group was in plain view, but my senses had a limited range. Then I recalled my ping ability and quickly I shot off a basic check, expanding the range to as far as possible. It would take time for it to come back, and so I waited, tense as a soldier ready for war.

  "That's the signal; we are ready to move." Rak announced, already moving.

  Dammit, I hadn't finished my skill. I knew I should have done it earlier. Now the hustle practically drew me out of our hiding spot and into the light. We traversed the sands in mere moments, reaching the standoff. And it was a standoff. The vampire lord was standing calmly before his own entourage, now brandishing weapons against their former master. Doctore, the Volkaran turncoat had his sword against his master's throat.

  "You're outnumbered, my lord. Give us the key to leave this place, and we may spare your life." The leader of the Garathi guards, held his crimson blade threateningly.

  Only the vampire seemed incredibly calm, like this was all just theatre, a sideshow for him to take in and dismiss. I didn't like that look in his eye; it gleamed with the light of a man who knows things. My ping hadn't returned yet, which was odd and didn't bode well; a premonition was coming on.

  "I was hoping you would have changed your mind, Doctore. I am very disappointed." He spoke as if resigned.

  "What?" That was all Doctore could say as he fell silent.

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  Eyes of such crimson brilliance radiated from the vampire like high beams. He locked them to the Volkaran as the dogman went slack, and his weapon dropped to his side. Like a statue, his body went rigid, eyes glazed over. If I didn't know better, I would think he had just got compelled. Did these vampires have compulsion, hypnotism or mesmerism? It was a scary thought, which triggered a sudden urge to develop a mental defence attribute, but not now. As another, more important piece of information came to light. My little ping returned with a lot of responses.

  "It's a trap!" I quoted Admiral Ackbar.

  "What?!" everybody said in unison.

  "He is quite right, you know; it seems there is someone with half a brain among you." Vampire lord wannabe stated the obvious.

  As smug as any vampire that assumed he was lording over the peasants, he cast a glance at those that opposed him, finding us wanting and feeble. At least I assumed that's what he was doing. I mean, that smug, satisfied face told an obvious tale, and my powers of deduction are formidable. But all that was nothing compared to what my system vision saw. Yeah, I should trademark that. SyVision? Ill workshop it. That vampire was glowing with power; his level must be super high.

  "Unas! What's wrong?"

  "Doctore!"

  The Garathi, including my fellow companion Rakshur, all called out to the messed-up Volkaran. It was no use; he was long gone to vampire mind control. This was not looking good as I sensed the approach of many figures. Were we surrounded? Probably, but there were not backing down now.

  "Give me your weapon." The vampire ordered, and like clockwork, the Volkaran obliged.

  Now, sword in hand, it quickly flashed to the Volkarans neck, faster than anything I could perceive. Was that vamp speed? Oh, come on, gaming gods, not a super-fast vampire. But then I just recalled my flask of supercharged coffee. If need be, I will match coffee speed against vampire speed. Who shall win!

  "I will make this clear: put down your weapons and surrender. Or face my wrath." He declared, his voice carrying across the arena.

  "You are outnumbered. Put down your weapon and release him!" The Garathi leader commanded, his tone brooking no argument.

  The vampire lord just laughed, so full of mirth and joy it kind of made this whole situation way more tense. He was insane or very confident. Which made sense since he had his crew coming in. It was probably best to inform everyone so we could reassess the plan.

  "He has soldiers coming; I can sense them approaching!" I announced, and every eye locked on me. "What?" I shrugged. "I can sense them with my cool powers."

  "He is right, you know; my soldiers will be here shortly to butcher you all. I would consider surrendering."

  "Never!" the Garathi leader declared, sending chills down my spine.

  That dude was intense and probably best to stick with him. Stone cold he was, almost regal as he stood before an immortal being. If I heard correctly, his kind were spellspawn, a derogatory term for those who magic created. Which technically means I am Divinespawn, since gods made me. And that just feels like a compliment.

  "What have you done to Unas?!"

  "Just an experiment that worked out well." The vampire explained before pausing, waiting for something.

  Was he waiting for us to speak, or just wasting time for his forces to get in position? Either way, it was best to make this little monologue quick so we could get to the killing. Damn, was I getting bloodthirsty?

  "Who cares? Should we let this dude monologue? Enemies are coming! We should attack, right?" I blurted out, immediately regretting my words as a level forty vampire locked eyes with me.

  I itched to blind him with a middle finger prompt, but that would start the hostilities. And to be honest, that seems like a poor plan in hindsight. But waiting for him to bring in his crew was way worse.

  "You will die human, but first I will answer your question, Calraz, before I kill you all."

  "What have you done to him?" Calraz demanded.

  "I slipped him a few drops of my blood. It now flows in his veins, binding him to my will. He is merely an extension of me; his senses, his eyes are my own." He glanced at Rak with a knowing smile.

  "So you knew from the beginning!" Rak bellowed.

  The vampire chuckled, getting that smooth villain laugh straight out of a B-list movie. I was a tad impressed and waited for him to start manically laughing and calling everyone fools! Sadly, I didn't get that scene, since this was real life and not a movie.

  "I did, you traitor! You sealed his fate, just as you sealed theirs." He gestured to the surrounding Garathi.

  "Enough!" Calraz roared, fueled by fire and rage, his weapon raised.

  "No Calraz..." He flicked his wrist, and crimson spikes emerged from the ground, skewering every Garathi in reach. "Now, it is enough."

  The speed was unlike anything I had seen. Blood spikes — because that's what they were — ascended and skewered all the surrounding Garathi warriors. The vampire probably spared only Calraz and Rak because Rak was too far away and wanted Calraz to witness his men's deaths. Every single one of them hung in the air, held aloft by bloody spikes. Their insides poured out like soup, staining the sand with red.

  The vampire lord made no reaction as if this Dracula wannabe was taking out the garbage. Or more likely ordering a servant to do it for him. Was this the power of a level forty? If so? We were completely doomed. This was bad, very bad. If he could do more of that bloodborne shit, we needed to bail real quick. I was not keen on dying by blood spike; that looked like a horrible way to die.

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