I returned the salute, seeing the way that Viconia's eyes rolled in her head as she turned to the opened sally point. With lantern in hand I saw them watching us as we entered the tunnel, but they both turned away when Viconia triggered the enchanted mechanism of the door.

  In the semidarkness of the tunnel we found ourselves standing on a stone floor so heavily covered with dust that it almost reached our ankles. There were no tracks other than the tiny shuffles of rodents in the powder, and as the door ground closed I could feel Viconia's eyes on me.

  "You're not just coming in here to 'look around' are you?" She whispered.

  "Not as my first option." The dust clung to the base of our cloaks and I could feel my boots sink until they touched solid stone.

  Her eyes began glowing a steady red in the darkness as they drank in the heat from the lantern. "So that's why you didn't want anyone else coming with us then."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Oh come on mrannd'ssinss; I know you better than that. You wouldn't be coming in here alone, with or without me unless you fully intended on using your 'other' abilities."

  I grinned slightly, seeing her look of satisfaction at being proven right. "I took on a werewolf last night on my own and only managed to kill it with my vampiric side. I want to keep my options open if this proves to be more than what we can handle. Having others around means I can't fight to the full of my abilities without giving away my secret."

  There was a sigh in the darkness. "Yet again you have to go out of your way to be all heroic..." Her eyes narrowed, gesturing to the rectangular contraption dangling near my waist. "But in that case, what's with the lantern?"

  "For the sake of appearances." My grin was somewhat terrifying in the half light as I raised it to my face, showing her the way that my skin was pulling taut and my fangs had begun lengthening. "I didn't think it was a good idea to let them know that we both don't need light to see..."

  With a puff I blew the tiny flame out and wrapped an arm around her waist. With a tiny yelp of surprise, she felt me pull her close, the lantern dropping into the dust even as I kissed her fully on the lips. For several seconds we held each other close and I felt her gloved fingers tracing down the side of my face where the bones pushed against my skin. There was something about the darker side of my nature that seemed intoxicating to her and even in such a place her desire heated her skin.

  "As much as I would enjoy it," she whispered into my ear as she finally detached my lips from hers. "We have a job to do."

  "Unfortunately we do." I replied, the darkness falling away from my vampiric sight and allowing me to gaze upon her despite the complete darkness. "Business before pleasure."

  There was a hint of a laugh in her tone as she grinned in the darkness. "After you, Mrannd'ssinss..."

  Following me with her hand on her hilt in the confined space of the tunnel we both fell into silence. The dust muffling all noise from our feet even if we didn't have our unique skills to call upon, and even before we had made a dozen paces both of us were fully covered as much as we could. Our masks covered our faces, not only to reduce the shine of our skins but also to stop the billowing wisps of the ages from entering our noses and throats and forcing us to cough.

  The tunnel itself was a simplistic affair, hewn from the stone with little care or craftsmanship and just over twenty metres long. From my reckoning it barely even entered the castle's interior before coming to a stop, the sight of a dozen iron rungs hammered into the stone leading upwards to a solid block that capped the top.

  "Well, let's hope they aren't expecting guests." I muttered, gripping the rungs and slowly making my way up. Each one I held firmly, pulling down slightly to determine how securely fastened they were and ensuring that none of them would squeal or otherwise make any other noise. Carefully I climbed up the small iron ladder, feeling the opposite wall press into my back and my shoulders bump into the sides as I climbed. There was barely enough space for someone to climb, and if we had been fully armoured like Hadrgar it would have been impossible to ascend or descend the ancient ladder.

  The rungs stopped barely five metres up by a solid stone of granite that seemed to slot seamlessly into the walls of the tiny tunnel. After hundreds of years of disuse, the tiny gaps had filled with dust and debris that left everything caked in layers of the fine powder. Especially after I drew my dagger and began levering it into the seams I was left with the smell of dried earth in the sinuses.

  Viconia had thankfully remained at the base of the ladder as when I started carefully prodding the gaps, tiny trickles of dust rained down in miniature waterfalls of decay. Had she been below me on the ladder she would have been coated in the stuff and would have most likely had to fight off sneezing as I soon found myself doing so despite the mask.

  Finding the spaces and freeing the stone slab slightly I moved higher up on the ladder until I could push upwards with my shoulders. Taking the weight and gripping the rungs tightly I lifted, groaning under my breath until I felt it suddenly give and lift from the grip of dust and soil.

  Ten centimetres thick and shaped into an octagon a metre in width, I raised the floor tile until I could peer out from a gap. The sally point could be accessed from the depths of the castle, within the foundations where the armouries, treasury and servants living quarters could be found but with quick glances I could see that it was completely deserted.

  In less than a minute Viconia and I were crouched down in the tiny storeroom, carefully lifting and placing the flagstone down and brushing away the traces that it had been disturbed. Despite the obvious gaps around the tile we could see that all of the other stones had also been placed into the floor bereft of mortar to help maintain the illusion that there was no secret exit from the castle.

  "So far so good." I whispered, and Viconia sighed, giving me a light slap over the face that stunned me for a moment.

  "I swear by Shar, if you afflict us with ill-luck I will beat you within an inch of your life."

  "That almost sounds like a fun night." I retorted and I could see the glitter of amusement in her burning eyes.

  She hit me on the shoulder but not hard enough to make a noise. The castle was deathly quiet and there were no lights within the room that we had found ourselves in, not that we were hindered in any form.

  "Looks like some kind of armoury." Like a shadow Viconia slid through the room and quickly looked over the series of weapon racks lining the walls. The room itself was about six metres wide and ten long, a door imbedded into the stone walls in the centre of the shorter one. Three sets of weapon racks ran in parallel rows, two along the walls and another double sided set that ran down the centre with a short space between the end and the door to allow entrance.

  "And it hasn't been used for a while." I added. The weapon racks were mostly empty, lined with dust and the handful of weapons were decayed to uselessness. A pair of halberds had cracked shafts and rusted heads, and I lightly ran a finger down the length of a bastard sword and felt the rust. "But there's no traces of anyone using the sally point though.

  "It's either been forgotten, or those who know about it haven't needed or had the chance to use it."

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  She pressed into the doorframe the same way as she had outside the botany. The door swung open slowly and gently, none of its hinges squealing or making any noise despite their neglected state. Using all the skill at our disposal we flitted through the door, moving along the walls and watching and listening to anything that may await us within the castle.

  We were within the castle barracks, a surprisingly small but cosy section of the castle itself that was built into the southern side of the central keep. The keep itself was a massive edifice, five stories tall and only matched in height by the towers that jutted from the corners of the walls. Built against the northern wall, the keep was large yet comfortable, the halls wide despite the narrow spiralling staircases that were made with defence in mind. The upper levels would be the living quarters, the library and the various studies and bedrooms while the ground floor was the dining and entry hall and a kitchen large enough to supply a feast for dozens. There were more rooms in the keep, than an entire legion fort and even some of the guest rooms had their own dining rooms and personal kitchens available. The County may have been the fraction of the size of some of the others like Skingrad and Bruma but its strategic location had left it and the castle powerful and imposing.

  Under the courtyard and the ground levels of the castle were where the servants, guards and Men-at-Arms lived and served the Counts. Dozens of individual rooms and a handful of barracks dormitories were carved from the hilltop, intermingled with a separate kitchen and dining arrangement for those who served the behest of a member of the Elder Council to live out of sight and out of mind. The larders, storage rooms and wine cellars were built into the foundations and it was from one of the weapons storerooms that Viconia and I had emerged from.

  We moved as quietly as possible, but to my straining ears, even the softest of sounds seemed as loud as clashing steel in the total silence. The only sounds that marked our passage was the soft sighs of our feet sliding across the floor, our soft breathing through our leather masks and the rustling of our cloaks as they swirled around us. The air was close and heavy with age, and surprisingly enough I noted the complete lack of any traces of vermin through in any of the rooms or passages we moved through.

  The Castle had the feel of the ages pressing down on it, and I could almost reach out and touch the history that had been written here. A thousand years of history had pressed itself into the walls and the barracks had been home to countless generations of soldiers. I felt that if I concentrated enough I could almost see their shades patrolling the halls around us just as they had done so in life. Phantom echoes of orders being barked left whispered remnants wafting down the corridors and the muted clashing of shields, swords and spears reverberated from the training yards above our heads. Even as we passed the mess hall I could sense the laughter and song that would have flowed with the ale and beers, almost as though it could seep from the stones themselves.

  It was unease what entered my body with every carefully placed step, moving past and through abandoned rooms that hadn't seen a living presence for several days, if not weeks. Beds were left unmade, plates and dishes left where they had been stacked and in every room the tiny piles of personal effects were scattered about, alone and abandoned by their owners. Like a large portion of the village the barracks was almost abandoned, lacking all trace of those who should have called it their home but what was more concerning was little signs in the way of violence or disorder.

  The vampire was rising to the surface, and my entire body was alive and humming with built up energies as it seemed to react to something my conscious mind was not aware of. It became increasingly difficult to contain the building emotions and the tingles and twisting of muscles and I knew that Viconia was watching with something akin to her own unease as my lips and jaw began tightening my mask to my face. It was only when we walked through into the primary guard post that led into the castle itself that I found myself faced with something that made my conscious mind uneasy. The tiny hall where guards would rest between shifts and stand guard over the tiny prison wing contained a couple of lit lanterns. Most of the collection were long since dead, but there was one next to each door, burning through their tiny amounts of oil, and heavily shuttered to reduce their light. It was enough to leave the room in a faint orange-brown glow that flickered and danced shadows across the walls, but barely enough for normal beings to be able to see.

  "Someone still lives here."

  I nodded, moving to the side of the door and carefully looking around the room. It was mostly undisturbed, but other than the lit lanterns there were signs of individuals travelling through quite regularly. Rectangular, the room separated the main portions of the basement levels and acted as the hub for the militaristic portions of the castle. The southern door where we entered lead to part of the barracks, as I could see through the opened door to the eastern wing that it too contained dormitories and armouries. The western door led to the prison, and a small flight of stairs rose up to the ground level in the northern wall.

  Moving along the eastern wall like a pair of ghosts we both froze at the slight sound that plucked at the edges of our hearing. The sound condensed into footsteps of someone wearing soft soled shoes and as Viconia and I desperately looked about for anything resembling cover a tiny figure appeared from the prison wing. Barely more than a shadow, the figure was carrying a cauldron under one arm and a flickering candle in the other.

  Viconia pressed herself into the corner between the doors leading to the barracks and I slid into the shadows using my vampiric nature. There was a muted gasp of astonishment from Viconia and I realised that while she had seen me appear from the shadows she had never seen me use the ability to fade. Even to her sight I had become undetectable even despite the fact that I was standing almost in the centre of the room.

  Dressed in a flowing dress and appearing no different to the hundreds, if not thousands of servants throughout the empire, the woman was approaching her middling years and looked sturdy enough to wrestle a soldier. Solid and overbearing, even by the way she walked I could tell that she was one of the senior servants; used to ordering the others and ensuring that the demands of her liege were met to the letter. A grubby apron was clasped around her thickening waist, shoulders as wide as a farmhand's and a permanent sneer of displeasure was plastered on her features.

  Moving undetected through the shadows I moved over to her, materialising over her shoulder and pulling her close. Hardened from years of serving the nobility, she was strong but her strength was nothing to the vampire. I was able to hold her firm and have a hand clasped over her mouth before she knew she was no longer alone.

  Despite the way I had ambushed her, there was very little surprise from the woman. She tensed from the intrusion of my hands, the way I wrapped my arms around her to pin hers by her sides and stop her from shouting out.

  So close, and with the vampire rising to the surface I could feel her humanity and I knew that she was no vampire at least. She was mortal, of flesh and blood and uncorrupted and presented the perfect opportunity to learn more about what was happening.

  "I'm going to let go now." I whispered into her ear. There was no tension or terror in her like there normally was when I revealed myself to others and despite the vampire's instinctual urgings I didn't consume her will with my own. "Don't shout out or make a noise."

  Releasing my grip over her mouth I could hear her licking her lips and trying to get rid of the sensation of the minotaur leather of my gloves on my skin. I didn't release the rest of my hold though, instead shifting my grasp to ensure that she wasn't able to drop the cauldron or move her arms.

  There was a sigh of what could only be described as annoyance. "I'm getting really sick of your games Rolartolas. Just because you have some new tricks to play doesn't mean that you can keep playing them on me."

  She sensed the pause and the way I stiffened as I tried to come up with an answer, turning her head slightly in the vain attempt to catch a glimpse of me from the corner of her eye. "Well, don't just stand there boy... Either do what you have to or let me go."

  Feeling confused I slowly released my grip on the woman's shoulders and arms, taking a step away as she shook herself and turned. The expression on her face was long suffering annoyance of someone used to being the attention of numerous practical jokes.

  "I swear, you and the rest of your useless friends..." Stopping in mid-sentence as she fully turned, I saw the expression of annoyance change into one of confusion as she looked at my darkened form. "You're not Rolartolas..."

  Dressed in my daedroth scale, ebony-alloy armour and almost fully concealed by the deep grey-black minotaur leather cloak and hood I would have cut an imposing sight. It was though, a very unique one. Both Viconia and I cut very specific appearances and even if someone didn't know our identities they would immediately know that we were not regular people.

  "No, I'm not..." I said simply, raising my hands and seeing the look of confusion growing ever more pronounced on her rotund face. "We're here to help."

  "We?" The confusion lasted for a fraction of a second longer as she caught the shadowed glimpse of Viconia sliding out of hiding with a grace and ability that only her kind could match. "Here to help..."

  Darting between the two of us, her eyes wandered over our strange clothing and armours and I found myself staring at the heraldry that had been stencilled into her clothing. A cloth patch had been sewn over a portion of her right breast and I could see the faintest hints of the Glenvar shield iconography under the thin woven strands. What had replaced it was a much simpler design; a simple blue circle with a ruby-red droplet placed in the centre. Almost at the same time both the servant and I realised the situation, and she stepped back in horror and alarm.