It took a few days for me to regain my full strength, and in that period Astor had extended the time he was able to transform into mist, improved control of his flying ability, increased the distance he was able to cover while using his speed burst, and also learned to control his shadow capabilities better; I saw him crush boulders with it, and envelope himself in darkness by hiding in shaded areas. The skills he was showing me were magnificent. The Rathegalia blood power is one of the greatest gifts any being could be blessed with in my opinion, and a part of me still wishes I could do some of the things he was able to do. When I told him so, he said the feeling of becoming mist was not all one would think it was cracked up to be. Nevertheless, I think it would still be a great power to have in the arsenal.

After my healing ability made me 100% healthy, we set out again for Castle Rathegalia. The woods were the same as we experienced since beginning our journey: a mix of carnivorous beasts and peaceful creatures. We were attacked a few times, but with myself being healthy, and Astor being renewed and having the Rathegalia blood power, we made quick and easy work of monsters. Also, we were able to use our weapons again. His sword and shield, along with my bone staff and monster hide cloak allowed us to remain fresh and avoid any unnecessary damage. Everything had been smooth sailing since we left the second cave. That was, until we almost cleared the woods and came upon a massive graveyard.

As we approached the outer treeline, dawn was upon us. The sun was setting over the horizon, painting the sky lavender, red, orange, and all the other gorgeous colors a sunset provides. Yet, there was nothing beautiful about the graveyard. It was ancient, dating back thousands of years according to Astor. It was first made to be the burial site for vampire warriors whose bodies could not be identified after battles. Then, it grew to become a general grave site once multiple kingdoms were established on Friki, and space inside their communities grew less, despite the population continuing to increase. Over the years, both fallen vampire warriors and vampire civilians were buried there. Eventually, it gained the name “Vampire Hollow”, in reference to the hollowed-out ground beneath the surface.

I did not feel comfortable as I looked at the path leading into Vampire Hollow. I sensed unnatural things lurked beyond the gates. Astor said we needed to wait until nightfall to continue, as it was too risky being in the open, when sunlight still was in the sky. Anyone could be in Vampire Hollow, and it would be best for us to move under the shroud of dark skies. This, of course, did not sit well with me, as I was already apprehensive about venturing through the graveyard. His words did not lack logic, though, so, we waited hidden in the trees until it was night, and then we pressed on.

Astor and I slowly made our way through the gates, and looked around in all directions. There was no one around that either of us could see. Thus, we continued making our way to the first large mausoleum structure. From there we moved between mausoleums for most of the way through the graveyard, except for when there were none to hide behind. And while this was the best way to stay hidden from anyone who may have been out there, it was also the most dangerous, for if anyone was suspected to be grave robbing, they were to be killed on sight. It was a grave offense to rob the dead in vampire culture. No pun intended.

The greatest of offenses, though, was to dig up fresh vampire corpses and drink their blood. It is not something one would think would be a preferred source of sustenance, but to vampires, vampire blood is like a narcotic. It is highly addicting, and causes them to experience a euphoric high. However, it is also highly toxic. Ingesting vampire blood rapidly erodes their bodies, causing them to rot. It also kills the brain, leaving a vampire in a vegetative state, only driven by the need to consume more blood. Once in this stage, Astor said the vampire becomes what is called “a lazaruss”. And as he told me all of this, it was only natural fate would have it we run into one.

As I came around the corner of a mausoleum, I saw a male and a female vampire walking from the graveyard ahead of us. They were exiting, and heading back to the path which led to the nearest town. I stopped Astor and told him to back up, so we would not be seen. However, as our backs were pressed against the mausoleum door, two hands crashed through the stone and grabbed me. It was a lazaruss, and it had been trapped inside the mausoleum after entering to feed on vampire corpses. The grip it had was incredibly strong, and it would not let go, no matter how hard I tried to shake it. The vampire couple up ahead looked back and saw me struggling, but instead of coming to help, they ran. I guess in the end that was a good thing, for if they had comeover, they would’ve seen Astor. Nevertheless, it was hard not to judge them for running as my life was on the line.

I decided to pull the lazaruss out of the mausoleum in order to better work at getting it off me. I yanked him through the holes in the stone, and the rotten body of the creature came flopping out. It smelled putrid, and it looked even worse. The skin was peeling and rotten, slimy and green. The face was sunken in, and the eyes were polluted. It still had its decent teeth, as any predatory animal normally does, and it tried to use them to bite me. I was able to kick it in its abdomen, and when it fell back, I smashed it with my bone staff. It was slowly wiggling on the ground, and it did not stop moving until I completely crushed its brain. Astor scanned the neighboring mausoleums to see if anymore were near, and did not see any. However, what we did see were vampires running towards Vampire Hollow with lanterns and swords. It appears the couple who fled told more brave souls to come and help. Thus, we had to retreat back into the graveyard.

As we moved around gravestones and mausoleums, we thought we were safe, until more lazaruss creatures began emerging. I guess the raucous attracted them, and before we knew it, they were upon us. Astor sliced and chopped heads in half with his sword, while I bashed heads in with my staff. We took out a dozen lazaruss creatures pretty quickly, but waves of more were coming. It looked like a scene from an old tv show called “The Walking Dead”. An entire herd of lazaruss creatures were approaching, and though I loved watching the original recordings, I did not love feeling like I had been injected into it. Furthermore, we were trapped as people were running towards us. If they saw the vampire prince, there was no way of knowing if they would flee to tell the evil warlord or not. Things did not look good.

Some luck came our way, though, as Astor spotted a doorway inside a mausoleum, leading to an underground cavern. He pointed it out, and told me to make a break for it. I immediately moved, swinging my bone staff and clearing a path, while Astor transformed into mist and floated over the crowd at high speeds into the mausoleum. Once inside, he rematerialized, and smashed the gate off the doorway at the top of the stairs. Then, he waved for me to hurry. I rushed through the last of the lazaruss creatures as they tried to hold on to my monster hide cloak, and after entering the mausoleum, I ran past Astor. Finally, he punched the roof of the structure and collapsed a ton of stone on top of the passage we had just entered, preventing anyone from following us. We had escaped Vampire Hollow in one piece.

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