The Fallen Vampire

Leaves rustled in midday as dozens of cloaked figures leaped silently from tree branch to tree branch.

They moved in a diamond-shaped formation, with a single figure at the point and the rear.

At a glance, one could already tell that they were quite organized. They all moved at the same pace without allowing one another to fall behind.

They dropped out of the trees and landed in front of a run-down castle wrapped in ivory.

The man in front threw off his hood and revealed himself to be Sect Leader Joshua of the Roaring Sound Sect.

Before he could rush into the ruined castle, the doors on the ancient structure blew open and a trio of individuals rushed out, crying.

"""SECT LEADERRR!!!"""

Brody, Antonio, and Buford rushed to wrap their arms around their sect leader, completely ignoring any and all sense of decorum.

He was too stunned to reprimand them, and instead held them as they wept.

"Woah... What's gotten into you three? Is it that fox guy?"

Buford looked up with a tearful expression. He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his robe. "N-No... w-we're just... really happy to see you all."

"D-Did you bring any rations by chance...?" Antonio asked hopefully. "We're tired of eating grain balls and Bacon-fat ate all our jerky..."

"By the way, did you know his name was Buford Francis?" Brody snickered.

Sect Leader Joshua felt his brow twitch as he tried to wrap his mind around this unexpected situation.

He held up a small piece of parchment. "...I'm sorry... did you not send us this letter saying that the Black Myth grandmaster was holding you hostage?"

"Oh, he told us to write that." Buford answered quickly. "Wanted to get you here to talk about something."

"....So you dudes could have left at any time?"

"""Yes.""" The trio nodded.

"..."

-

Joshua dusted off his knuckles as he ignored the sound of groaning coming from the ground behind him.

His second in command, a disciple named Gordon, removed his own hood as he stared down at his juniors.

"...I'll be sure to set these three straight later, Master."

Joshua sighed dismissevly. "Don't worry about it.... Now we just gotta find... Hm?"

Slowly, the sect master's gaze turned towards the ground underneath his feet.

He tapped his sandal against the ground twice to make sure that he wasn't going insane.

"Son of a bitch..." He whistled.

-

Taira and Aveena were in meditation, side by side.

They had been like this for who knows how long, but judging by the layer of frost covering Taira and the heat radiating off Aveena, it had been quite a long time.

Suddenly, they opened their eyes as the ceiling on top of them was punched in and light came streaming into the cavern for the first time.

Aveena stopped the rubble without so much as raising her hand or batting an eye.

Finally, a figure fell through a hole in the ceiling.

Joshua landed just shy of Aveena and Taira's faces.

He was surprised at first to find the familiar oni sitting next to a very large and mystical fox.

"Woah... freaky." He muttered.

One by one, the rest of his sect members dropped down into the cavern after their grandmaster.

They were surprised at the expansive cavern underneath where they were just standing. And even more surprised at just how deep it was.

"Sorry to intrude... I heard you were trying to get my attention." Joshua said with his chin and chest out.

He thought that as a sect leader, it was imperative that he at least showed some semblance of backbone here. Or risk this meeting effectively being over before it even started.

"S-So...*Ahem* What's all this about?"

Aveena tilted her head as the heat around her slowly dissipated. "Why are you talking like that?"

"This is just my voice, lady..."

"It is not. I have heard your voice before."

"It totally is!" Joshua affirmed. "And I'm your senior, you know? Shouldn't you be talking to me with more respect?"

"Shouldn't you be talking to me with your actual voice?"

Joshua finally dropped the act. Though he didn't seem happy about it for some reason.

"Fine... What's this about?" He pulled out the piece of paper from his pocket.

Taira rested his head on his paws and said nothing. Aveena already knew that he wasn't planning to talk unless things got out of hand.

"My husband tells me that you're planning something in the human kingdom soon. An attack."

Joshua's eyes widened.

He glanced over his shoulder at the three who were stationed here, and they shrank back underneath his gaze.

He let out an exhausted breath as he tousled his own hair.

"Well... Yea. Not sure if you've heard, but we've been getting reports that the four kings are visiting Creedos soon.

We're planning to hit the escorts while they're en route to the castle, and kill them all before they even reach the main road.

We've been sitting in the shadows too long, and the world has only gotten worse because of it. It's time to do something."

Generally, the Roaring Sound Sect struck one as an unserious bunch lacking in discipline and overall heart.

And while they were certainly a more laid-back bunch, to say that they were lacking in heart would have been a gross mischaracterization.

In terms of loyalty to one another, they were among the strongest of all of Tayar's hidden sects.

It was not an overexaggeration to say that the members of Roaring Sound would follow Joshua into a burning building.

Which was why none of them looked like they had the slightest issue around killing the rulers of the Races of Light.

But Aveena and Taira did.

"Call it off." Aveena yawned as she leaned back into her husband's fur.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said call it off. Your plan is stupid and dangerous."

Joshua's expression hardened.

"That's not cool, lady. Looking down on my Sect is unfor-"

"I'm not looking down on your strength. I'm looking down on your ability for forethought, or lack thereof."

Taira opened one eye, and Joshua felt his entire body shiver. Flashbacks to the day of his rampage came flooding back to Josh's memory.

Could his current techniques beat something like that…? He wasn't sure of the answer.

He would've preferred not to find out the hard way either.

"Have you thought about how the rest of the light populace would react if their leaders suddenly had their heads blown off?" Taira finally asked.

"Of course I have." Joshua almost seemed offended.

Taira stared at him for a while before snorting. "No, you haven't..."

His body exuded a bitter cold that bothered everyone but Aveena.

The entire ceiling became covered with a layer of thick black ice and the hole the rival sect had entered from was instantly blocked off.

With darkness returning to the place once more, Joshua could now see the numerous pairs of red eyes staring at him from beyond the shadows.

"…But don't worry. We can help you see our point of view."