The burning sensation in his chest continued, that was one of the drawbacks about being an immortal being of the night. Of course their was the fact that he would never age to. He had been arrogant in his belief that they would not last long against the others and had said so.

He had been chastised by the red head though did nothing in the way of apology. What would it matter anyway?

He fell silent with the last question, his eyes folding closed and it had seemed that he was not going to answer until his eyes reopened at last. "Decapitation works ... along with wooden stakes pressed through the heart. I suppose if you had enough of it you could slay one of use with bless water ... holy water ... which burns with the intensity of potent acid.

"There are plenty of vulnerabilities too ... we cannot enter residence without an invite, they are barred from crossing running water unless entombed in coffins containing earth that they had been buried with, garlic and religious symbols in the hands of those of great faith repels us, we need to feed off of blood or become weakened over time and must sleep usually doing so from dawn to dusk ruling the night."

They listened carefully to his words though the holy water part seemed most inviting. There must be a church around the village, at least they guessed it since there were these creatures around and the people might need divine assistance every now and then. Possibly they could get some though it would be hard to defeat a whole bunch of his sort with nothing else but blessed water.

The ways they could try to finish his whole clan off appeared endless, but compared to their possibilities it would be nearly impossible. But since it was a dream they would have nothing to worry about, even if they would be defeated they'd wake up and be fine, or at least they guessed it. All the things they would need were accessable and since they intended to start their work right after they would let the vampire go everything would be arranged in time, likely dawn where they would have to sleep.

"I see. Thank you very much. Let's get to the last question then. How many of your kind live in the 'abandoned mines'?" After they would have their answer, Ryu would carefully pull the dagger out and retract from his body, at the same time Cora would check the outside and open the window. Ryu would always be in the distance to strike while Cora kept distance between them, just in case he tried to trick them.

Thinking for a moment he performed an eternal head count before answering. Thirty-three," he answered, "yes, thirty-three." He expected to be killed then but there was a strange thing that happened. The dagger had been pulled from his chest, the pain abating at once.

The wound closed rapidly as if it had not been inflicted at all, vitality and vigor sprang back into him as he kipped up to his feet dexterously. He looked at Ryu then Cora and back as if he had been confused. He had thought that the pair would kill him off hand, information had been given to the pair and he could have been lying so it had only meant that they needed someone to try all this out on and who better than the one they had at hand?

But whatever their reasons he had not been about to complain about it. He ran towards the opened window, leap up onto the window sill then to the nearby tree with the grace of a cat. No sense in sticking around. He knew when he was licked too given that he was out numbered and lost the element of surprise so he had no reason to stay when freedom had been offered to him.

The window would be closed quickly after he had left their residence, though he was a threat he didn't make any further attempt to assault them. Fortunately they had gathered some informations, they couldn't test the truth of these facts anymore, but it wasn't an issue for their dream state. Since the vampires would likely sleep during the day and they would walk to the mines after dawn they could try these thing without any problem though they might wake up. They would give it a shot nevertheless.

"So, what now?" Ryu asked, after all she was the squire. "First we are going to get dressed. Let's get these stakes over there, then we are going to search the supply room for garlic." Cora pointed at the ones they had seen earlier, though they appeared a bit improvised they would work if his earlier words were true. They had slept for some time at least, so they regained some energy and began to get dressed again. It took the duo about five minutes to adjust everything correctly, then grabbed about three to four stakes each, they were a bit short but light in weight so likely something they could use and carry fast.

The owner of their household might already be asleep again, so they didn't worry about breaking into the storage as they sneaked down the stairs. Luckily it didn't take them long to find the storage after they found the kitchen close to the main hall. The lock wasn't a problem either since it was completely unlocked, possibly he didn't expect anyone to be there so he left it open. After a brief moment of silence they peeked inside and began to search for the desired goods.

Sleep had been tough to come by seeing how they just didn't seem tired given their new found stamina. But they eventually did sleep though. When they had woke they had been armed with stakes of course and snuck down stairs where the storage room had been locked.

In truth the storage room lock had been broken for a great many years now and the owner never bothered to have it fixed saving on a little money there especially with business slowing down a great bit with the vampires arriving in town.

Now he had only received potential vampire slayers as clients.

The store room had springs of garlic for meals and the like, nearly a dozen cloves in all.

Without hesitation the pair began to gather all the garlics they could find, they didn't mind the place at all anymore since they gave the owner the fake gold and didn't intend to be there if he noticed they had tricked him. After a minute or so they left the storage already before they closed the door again and made their way towards the door.

They were afraid it could be too early, so they remained silent and waited at the stairs next to the door for dawn to light up the village in the mountains. It would give them a chance to see if the vampires had really disappeared due to the daylight, they began to unlock the three locks and opened the door afterwards to peek outside. At the first sign that nothing was going on they hurried outside and returned to their horses. The pair dropped their supplies next to the ones they had brought with them, at least their mounts hadn't been harmed during the night which was quite good.

However they couldn't stay there and left the horses behind at first as they continued on foot, to the other side of the village to check if there was something like a church around. The morning had been a bit foggy but sunny, though it was still a bit dark they doubted there would be more of these creatures around.

There had been no church given the small size of the town. Yet they did have a chapel. It served the same purpose anyway and had been opened but not attended. It appeared that the place was always "open" giving sanctuary to those that had been caught outdoors as the sun set.

Granted they had to be stupid if they did not take rudimentary precautions but their had been a haven for them nevertheless. Vampires would not enter here.

There was a house nearby, probably the ministers home. It appeared to be lit indicating that there was someone awake inside so they had to hurry about there business unless they wanted to have company.

Regardless of the lit house and the possible presence of another human next to them, they went inside the chapel though Ryu had stayed behind at the entrance to make sure she could warn Cora if someone else would approach the building, after all they may not be allowed to gather things they needed in there, especially the blessed water.

At the other end of the chapel she finally found the stoup, it appeared to be a female angel who glanced slightly sideways while she carried something that appeared to be an oyster shell and the water slowly dripped out of an opening in the middle of the shell though close to the angel's body. They could easily fill three to four small bottles with it, but then Cora finally realized they had forgotten to bring suitable containers.

As resourceful as she was she began to look all around the area, trying to find something to carry the water with until they found something else. Meanwhile Ryu kept her position and glanced outside, the sun slowly rose and the possibility they would get caught as well. If they managed to get something quick they could search for something like a small and portable cross, everything to fight these vampires with.

It was easy enough to get their hands on a crucifix taking one off the wall where it had been hanging. How to transport the water was a little tricker though a dedicated search of the chapel uncovered a store room that contained a bottle of cheap red wine that had been half full, obviously used in sacriment given that it had been with a great deal of metallic cups that had been on a self with other holy apparel, candles and prayer beads making up the bulk of these.

While the cups could be used to gather up the water the wine bottle had been best. Pouring it out in the store room since their were no sinks or basins it could be used. It at least had a stopper to prevent the escape of any liquids and made it easier to store as well.

The crucifix had been reached quickly, therefore she carried it with her as she made her way towards the hidden areas such as the storage room which inhabited the wine bottle they could use it to their advantage. Yet she poured the content in the cups so it wouldn't be wasted, after all they simply needed the bottle and didn't intend to waste these goods even though it didn't appear to be an expensive type. At the very end of her search she grabbed two prayer beads and began to head off, to the entrance once again.

As Cora had signalised that she was ready to go and had filled the bottle with holy water, next to the stopper to prevent it from pouring out, the two girls made their way back to their earlier residence. While it seemed it was quite early, the sun already rose above the horizon which wasn't the best time for them. They quickly headed back to their property and prepared the horses, fortunately nobody had noticed them.

At least it appeared this way as nobody walked out onto the streets at first, but they wouldn't like to find out anyway. Someone could still catch them, if not then they would have an easy way out of the town.

It had not been as if the horses had not been noticed. Oh, they were. The scent of them enough to cause the vampires to stir into a frenzy but the barn in which they were kept were private property and they had not been invited in.

Had they been they would be out two horses though fortune had been on their side in this one.

But the town did not stir immediately at sun up save for the farmers on the outskirts of town that had a list of chores to tackle before they had lost the light of day.

So as they left it had been a deserted town that they had been leaving. The ride out to the mines had been a quick one for it did not seem far as they rode towards it. Though as they neared they noticed the absence of birds typically morning birds seeing that their songs had ceased altogether.

No doubt there had been something nearby ...

But the reason the horses had not been tampered with had been the very fact that the barn that they had been kept in had been private rather than public. There had been no one to invite them in though they could smell the scent of the horses and here them.

So they had been saddled up, despite the sun creasting the horizon the town appeared deserted. No one had stirred out into the streets though the only ones outdoors had been farmers that had a long list of chores to attend to before the next sunset.

They had dwelled on the outskirts of town and had not been seen as the horses had been geared up and lead towards the mines.

Riding, the mines did not seem far at all. Though the girls would notice that there had been no birds chirping in the early morning hours as they neared the caves. In fact there had not been any wildlife around here as if they had learned to avoid this area. Something had been around ...

As they made their way towards the mines, it seemed that sunlight really did work. At least there were no vampires around as they moved, not the slightest sign of wildlife either as they closed in to the location they meant to investigate. However this seemed to prove that the creatures either fed on the animals, or the animals simply knew something evil posessed that place and avoided it.

The two girls however didn't come there to avoid it, they dropped off their horses before the checked their surroundings thoroughly. Their mounts appeared slightly nervous, but that didn't matter as the two armed themselves with everything they had gathered. They kept a moderate distance between their mounts and the entrance to the mines, yet to make sure they could move freely.

It appeared a bit awkward to wear garlic in some places, especially around their necks, but it seemed better than nothing as they slowly stepped inside the first thin tunnel that led to a sizeable hall. Of course they didn't move in at the first place, but to make sure they could defend themselves they drew their swords and glanced around while waiting for something to happen.

The girls glanced at each other before a nod would seal their concern. Cora held the crucifix in her free hand while Ryu carried the holy water, they weren't sure whether or not the vampires would sleep or simply live in these caverns. However they would have to move on, so they stepped forward in a slow pace.

Searching around the ground would reveal foot prints, mostly human bus some canine. They came to and fro the cave itself. Odd that there would be animal tracks here. But bracing themselves and preparing for the worst allowed them to move forward into the cave mouth.

Near the entrance of the cave there had been a thin trip wire that was barely noticeable, a trap! Checking it out the trip wire seemed to be rigged up to trigger the collapse of a section of the ceiling. It, the trip wire, had been easy enough to step over and avoid.

Further along the corridor opened up, the cave dropping down a good 6' or so, a little wooden later attached against the side of this drop allowing one to climb down easily enough though dropping down was just as efficient.

Down below the cave branched off to the south and dimmed drastically though their had been torches set into scones on the wall, lit and shedding light. Up ahead their came a growl as something charged them.

A rather large canine a little greater than half their height came running forth, two, three no four of them. The wolf hounds eyes gleamed red in the dim light. Guardians of the vampires! Of course their vampire captive said nothing about them, of course he had not been asked about them.

Shadows flickered on the wall, something further had been moving down the hall behind the hounds though it had been slow moving ...

They were a little surprised as the canine unit that charged towards, slightly annoyed by the fact they didn't expect these to be down there anyway. But as bad as the situation was, they couldn't go back since it would have made no sense to go there at all. Unfortunately this meant they would have to fight them off if they weren't able to kill them.

This was the main problem anyways, they knew, or pretended to know, how to kill vampires, but knew almost nothing about the hounds. Surprisingly, instead of running away, the knight and her squire welcomed the encounter and in return charged towards the scary looking creatures, no matter how fast they were.

Yet they had no time to focus on the unknown something which was moving behind them, the main threat would be removed first, then they could move on and take out the remaining one. He could flee and warn others which would simply disturb the girl's purpose.

Ryu prepared her shield arm for an impact as it seemed logical the hounds would try to pounce her rather than attack her from their lower position. The negative part was however that she carried the holy water with the same arm, yet an impact wouldn't destroy the bottle. If one of the hounds would try to attack her and the shield would keep them off, a quick strike of her sword arm at the same time would accompany her defense.

Cora on the other hand prepared herself to strike when one of them came within range since she posessed nothing but her body armor to defend herself.