Chapter 9 - (Chapter 9: The Mad Doctor’s Fortress)

The journey from Lucidar to the dark valleys beyond Fableville weighed heavily on the team. They had escaped the land of dinosaurs with their lives, but not without scars. Each step brought them closer to their next destination—closer to danger, closer to the Huntsman's grasp. Lev studied the half-map they carried, its edges burned and incomplete. "The other half… it's here," he said, pointing toward a blackened region on the scroll. "The Heart of the Vampire Lair." Everyone went silent. Even Razor and Rowdy, who normally laughed in the face of danger, shifted uneasily. Brasco grunted. "Vampires. Just our luck." "They'll fight like demons," Lance muttered, "but if we don't go, we'll never find the last shard." The Lycan brothers nodded grimly. There was no choice. The team's path wound through mist-drenched forests where the trees grew twisted, their branches forming jagged claws against the moonlit sky. The deeper they went, the colder it became, until every breath escaped their mouths as fog. The entrance to the lair was a cathedral of stone carved into the side of a mountain. Black torches flickered at its gates, illuminating carvings of fanged beasts and blood-drinking kings "Everyone stay sharp," Lev whispered. The moment they stepped inside, shadows stirred. Vampires descended from the high arches, their pale faces and crimson eyes gleaming. A dozen at least. The battle erupted in a storm of claws, fangs, and steel. Razor and Rowdy fought back to back, slicing through the undead with brutal efficiency. Lance spun his daggers with deadly precision, while Hellen unleashed bolts of fire that lit the cavern with blinding brilliance. Lev slashed down two attackers with his sword but was thrown against the wall by another vampire's strength. As the fanged creature lunged for his throat, a commanding voice cut through the chaos. "STOP!" The vampires froze instantly. From the shadows emerged a tall figure in a crimson cloak, his hair as black as obsidian, his fangs glinting like ivory. His presence alone silenced the battle. "Rudy Red," Brasco growled. The vampire lord strode forward, his gaze fixed on Lev. "You seek the map."Lev pushed himself to his feet, blood on his lip but defiance in his eyes. "We do. If we don't get it, the Huntsman will win. He will destroy Fableville—humans and fables alike. Even you." A hush filled the lair. Rudy Red's expression shifted, not with rage, but with curiosity. "The Huntsman… wants dominion over all?""He wants to end us all," Lev said firmly. "Your kind. My kind. Everyone." For a long moment, Rudy Red was silent. Then he raised a hand, and his vampires withdrew into the shadows. He turned, walking toward a stone altar. Resting there was a small chest, bound in silver chains. With a flick of his claw, the chest opened, revealing the missing piece of the map. He lifted it and held it out. "I will give you the map," he said, "but on one condition." Lev narrowed his eyes. "And that is?" "That I come with you," Rudy Red said. "The Huntsman threatens my people too. I will not sit idle while he builds his empire of death. The group shifted uneasily. Razor whispered, "Lev, we can't trust him." But Lev met Rudy's crimson gaze and nodded. "Then you're with us." Rudy Red smiled, his fangs flashing. "Wise choice." The complete map led them across the poisoned marshlands, where the air reeked of sulfur and the ground sank beneath their boots. At the heart of the swamps stood a fortress of iron and stone, its spires jagged like broken teeth. "This is it," Lev whispered. "Doctor Spinoza's lair." The name alone brought unease. Spinoza was known in whispered tales—a fable scientist gone mad, stitching horrors together in his hunger for power. They breached the fortress at night, slipping past rusted gates and into halls lined with iron cages. The air reeked of blood and chemicals. Inside the cages writhed Spinoza's creations—fable hybrids, humans twisted into monstrous shapes, their eyes begging for mercy. "By the gods…" Hellen whispered, her hand trembling. Suddenly, the creatures were released. Hulking beasts of stitched flesh and broken bones surged forward, their screams unnatural. The team fought desperately—Razor's blades slashing through sinew, Brasco's claws rending through abominations, Rudy Red's vampiric strength tearing apart foes with inhuman fury. When the last monster fell, they pressed deeper into the fortress. And that was when they found him. Doctor Spinoza stood in a chamber of steel and fire, his white coat soaked in blood. Behind him, strapped to an operating table, lay the Captain. His chest was cut open, his lifeless eyes staring at nothing. "No…" Brasco's voice cracked. His body trembled, his claws shaking with rage. Spinoza cackled, his eyes wild. "The human made an excellent subject. But alas, not all experiments are meant to live." Brasco roared—a sound of pure anguish—and lunged. Before anyone could stop him, he slammed Spinoza to the ground and tore his throat out in one violent strike. The doctor's laughter died in a gurgle of blood. Silence filled the chamber. The Captain was gone. With heavy hearts, they searched Spinoza's desk. In a black onyx safe, they found it—the third shard of the axe, gleaming with otherworldly power, and a scroll that revealed the path to the final piece. Lev took them both, his hands heavy. "We'll finish this," he swore. "For the Captain." Far away, in the black depths of his lair, the Huntsman's rage shook the stone walls. His monstrous bat familiar knelt before him, quivering "They have it," hissed the creature. The Huntsman slammed his axe into the ground, his roar echoing like thunder. "FOOLS! They will not claim the last shard. Do you hear me?!" His voice shattered torches and shook the cavern. He turned to his gathered henchmen, his eyes burning with fury. "Find it. Find the last shard before they do. Or I will tear the flesh from your bones myself!" The cavern shook with his wrath. And in the shadows, his army of nightmares prepared to march.