“Aidan, you hear?”

“Huh?”

“Shhh… listen, hear!”

Aidan listened. “Voices. And… fighting! It must be the Clan!”

“Yes, yes, come to save us after all.”

The commotion drew closer and then suddenly stopped. And then a familiar voice shouted, “Anybody in there?” It was Lavasida.

“Yes!” yelled Aidan.

“Hang on, we’re getting the key.”

A moment later the door swing open, but what Aidan saw wasn’t quite what he expected. Instead of the Dark Lord, a paladin was standing there. The mirror Lavasida gestured for them to come out. “Hurry. We’ve gotten everyone out, but we still have to find the shards. And we don’t know where this vampire Drago has gotten to. He could turn up at any moment.”

They hurried down the hall and up the stairs. At the top a landing and a doorway led out into a great hall. There were dismembered zombies strewn across the floor, ample evidence of the battle that had been fought there. A cluster of mostly familiar faces was at one end of the hall. Brianna and Belak were there, and Lon and Lavasida were there in duplicate. There were also four more Clan members, the prisoners that Drago had held. Aidan quickly spotted Flame among the group and ran to meet her. They hugged enthusiastically and Flame said, “I’ve got some good news for you, tell you later.”

Aidan was curious, but there was no time for questions. Brianna, or at least Aidan assumed it was Brianna, with duplicates everywhere there was no way to be sure if it was the woman he knew, was giving orders. “Everyone, follow me. We need to explore the upper levels. The shards have to be here somewhere.”

Aidan followed as Brianna dashed up the wide stairs. Maybe now I can be of some use, he thought. “Hey Flame,” he said as they ran, “What’s going on?”

“We hooked up with this other Clan right after the battle. Our side won, but Drago caught you two. Drago kept attacking us, but a day or two ago he vanished. We decided to mount a rescue, since Drago left the castle sitting there by the king’s tower. We don’t know where he’s gone, but we’re taking advantage of the opportunity while its here.”

At the top of the stairs a long hall led off to the left and right. The group divided into two, half a dozen going on way, and about the same number going the other. Aidan stuck by Flame Song, taking a left. They quickly searched room after room. Most of them were nothing but barren stone, looking like they’d never been occupied. There were no signs of life, and no sign of the shards either. They made their way up through more levels, meeting up with the others at a huge room that sat on top of the largest central tower.

“There!” Flame Song pointed to a pedestal with five crystal shards sitting on it. “The shards!”

“Careful,” cautioned Aidan. “This might be a trap.”

“Bravo,” said a voice from nowhere. “It is indeed a trap. And I’m afraid you’re all already in it.” A patch of shadow in the center of the gloomy room swelled upward and resolved itself into the Vampire Lord Drago. The Clan rushed to attack, swords coming from sheaths, and Flame Song blurring into firecat form for battle, but suddenly they all stopped in their tracks. They were frozen, utterly immobile. Aidan struggled with all the strength he had, but he couldn’t budge an inch. The Vampire Lord gestured and weapons dropped from suddenly limp fingers, clattering to the stone floor.

“You are so predictable. Though this time I suppose you had no choice. After all, here,” he gestured at the shards, “lies the hope for your world. And now you’ll never reclaim these. What’s more, I’ve been using my time profitably. While you were plotting ways to get inside my castle’s defenses, I’ve been out looking for the shard that landed here. And now I have it.” He pulled a foot-long piece of crystal from out of thin air and set it with the others. “And now I shall be made king or your world will die. And here I’ve found somewhere else to go if Mysteria is destroyed. This alternate version suits me nicely.”

While Drago was talking, Aidan noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Flame Song was only a few yards away from him, suspended in mid leap by Drago’s spell. She was off to the side of the Vampire Lord and not in his direct line of sight. And she wasn’t simply hanging there. The faint blur of shapeshifting was moving over her. It grew and faded, grew and faded, and Aidan could sense the effort Flame was making, struggling to shift shape in spite of her enforced immobility. Suddenly the blurring grew stronger and then Flame was human and in motion, diving for a dropped sword and rolling to her feet with the blade in hand. She didn’t pause but continued her momentum, straight at the Vampire Lord.

It almost worked. But Flame Song wasn’t trained with swords, and though her natural dexterity helped guide her hand, her aim wasn’t quite true. The blade drew a gash along Drago’s side, and then dropped from Flame’s fingers as the Vampire Lord spun around and grabbed her by the throat. She choked and struggled, but Drago’s strength was greater than human and she couldn’t break free.

“Clever little cat,” he said with venom dripping from every word, “but not clever enough. You’ve cost me some blood and so you’ll have to repay it.”

Aidan renewed his struggles. He thought he’d strained with all his might before, but now he truly put forth every ounce of strength that was in him. He had to do something! He couldn’t just let Drago drain his wife dry! But it was to no avail. No matter how hard he fought, he remained immobile. He couldn’t even turn his head away as Drago dragged Flame to her feet and put his arms around her, holding her from behind in an unbreakable embrace. The vampire lowered his mouth to her bared neck and drew back his lips to show the sharp fangs. Flame Song shrieked and struggled as Drago’s teeth broke through her skin, and Aidan felt as though the sound of her scream pierced him through. He gave up his futile fight, unable to battle the horror any longer. It was too late.

“Drago!”

A sudden light illuminated the room. It seemed to come from everywhere, shining so brilliantly that Aidan was temporarily blinded. Then the light began to gather around one point and a moment later it had coalesced into a white-robed figure, standing a few yards in front of the Vampire Lord. When the light faded away Aidan blinked in surprise, for it this other figure was also Drago. But no vampire this, the man robed in white was the cleric he’d seen on the battlefield.

“Release her, Drago,” said the cleric. The vampire snarled, but he let Flame go. She collapsed to the floor and Aidan wanted to go to her side, but he was still held immobile.

“What business is it of yours what I do, cleric? Let me deal with my own enemies and return to my own world.”

“Evil is always my business, vampire, and all the more so because of the evils you’ve done in my world and in my name. Now by all the gods of good I banish you. Go back to your shadow realm alone, Drago, and never return here again.”