"I thought we were in a dessert!" Biff said.
Lana chuckled, "even desserts get rain."
Just then she heard a roar behind her. While her back was turned, what they thought was a stone was turning into what looked like a dragon. There had been no time to recover. Shalt and Dobin ran to her side as did Biff, Duff, and Alto. They were tired, she could see it. She was as well but this thing… While she didn't know if it was a dragon or a dragon-type, it was still made of stone. This was going to hurt.
"Fan out, surround it!"
The stone beast stepped toward them and a cone of stones flew from its mouth directly at them. The others had rain in their eyes making it harder to see but Lana did the best she could.
"Vinewall, vinewall, vinewall" as she heard "earthwall, earthwall, earthwall." From the other direction, she saw a funnel of water come out of Alto and a tornado come out of Biff. She knew this was the last thing Biff could do. The rocks coming their way stopped but Biff collapsed to the ground and didn't recall the rest of the fight. Dobin threw the biggest earth pillar she had ever seen and hit the dragon but didn't injure it. He too collapsed but remained conscious. Shalt tried attacking using his bladed forearms and felt a clink as he impacted. He grabbed the tail sword he got from the beast and was knocked back by the huge dragon tail. He went flying back landing hard on the ground. It would have been worse but the ground was not as hard as it was due to the rain.
Max had to come lower to get in an attack because his range wasn't good and ended up getting killed by fast-moving rocks. He was out for a while until he could regain his strength to be used again.
Lana was starting to panic. Her friends couldn't handle this and it was her fault they were there. She tried to think of a strong attack she could use. She thought back and realized something that could work. She braced her feet in the mud. She raised her hand toward the head that was shifting its focus toward Duff. She put all the Qi she could into the attack and a tree came flying out. This time, it was more like a log with a sharpened point as though it had been in a pencil sharpener. The log went right through the dragon's head and it was defeated. In fact, there was no evidence the dragon ever had a head.
Lana could barely turn around and look at her people. Standing took effort. She noticed another problem. Shalt had lifted his head and it wasn't his normal head. It was bald. He had taken too much damage. He was evolving into a blood sucker.
"Bonnie! Quick! His flask on his belt!" as she pointed. Bonnie pointed her hand his direct and got the flask. She manipulated it to Lana who took the lid off. By this time, Shalt was standing. There was no resemblance that he once looked like a human. He was two feet taller, with an elongated snout and clawed hands.
"Send it back, dump it in his mouth, QUICK!"
Bonnie did but Lana had drawn his attention with her shouting. He was running her direction. It didn't take long for him to get to her since the flask was moving slower than he was. The first drops of blood missed his mouth but once he smelled the fresh blood, he drank it and collapsed to the ground once more.
The rain was pouring down still. Her team was wounded and tired. All those who had energy watched as Shalt turned back into his human-like appearance. He stayed on the ground, asleep.
Not wanting to do it, Lana put up the shelter and they hauled everyone inside, out of the weather, praying there would be no more monsters until they could recover.
Everyone lay down. Rene handled healing but even she got spent in the process. Lana had MC still but her Qi was almost gone. The wounded had to come to her. The bags were all brought in, Rene checked on the babies to make sure everything was okay there. An hour later, everyone was ready to go except Shalt who was still sleeping. They watched as Lana sliced her hand and refilled his flask. She then squeezed her fist over his mouth to give him more blood. The cameras were monitored the whole time to make sure they didn't get surprised. Alto went out and got the crystals while Bonnie stood watch.
It was Dobin who addressed the issue. "So, care to explain what happened there?"
Lana sighed. "Most of it I can't."
Dobin's eyes hardened. "More secrets? What can you tell us? Why is everything a secret?"
She replied off hand, "well, because he's a vampire and that would scare most people."
She heard a few gasps but didn't bother to look and see who it was. "I met him over the summer. I had saved his life and he pledged himself to my service. If he has too much blood-loss, this is what can happen. It's why he carries that flask. It keeps blood fresh so he can use it when he needs it. Clearly, he didn't think he was as injured as he was."
Bonnie replied, "weren't you afraid of him?"
Lana shrugged, "Why? He's a nice person. He simply eats a different diet than I do. Frankly, it makes for a cheap food bill." She chuckled.
"Aren't vampires super strong?" Alto asked.
She nodded. "They have a natural super strength but they need to train the same as us to get stronger. He wasn't able to train where he was and here, he has to keep his identity a secret so he can't use his powers. He's got powers he has never even used because it would show him as different. He could have done some real damage out there had he not had to hide."
"But I've seen him eating." Duff stated.
"Yes, he eats barely cooked meat. I'm trying to get him to eat more of it because I'm sure that's part of what he needs to gain strength."
"Are all vampires nice?" Rene asked.
"Are all humans nice?" Lana responded. "I think that should be the end of this conversation. You know his secret which means he can fight at full strength with you. This will be good for him. That day we explored the below area was the first time in ages he had been able to use his vampire powers. It felt good for him to be able to use his full strength. Frankly, we are safer if he can. However, you are now all responsible for keeping the secret."
"Why? Why does it have to be a secret?" Biff asked.
"How many people sucked in their breath when I said what he was?" She responded. "People fear the unknown and while some would be satisfied with the responses I provided you, many would not be. There have been vampires among humans for centuries yet somehow knowing that would make them afraid. We have enough things to fear. We don't need another. The civil war is still ongoing. Our families and friends are out there where they can be attacked. The threat of another dalki war looms on the horizon. Do you think we should add the fear of vampires into the mix?"
"Lana, you look really young. You speak like a woman far older than you look. Thank you." Bonnie gave her a hug.
"We need to get out of here. Shalt will need to be carried until he wakes up. We are heading back to the shelter. We are not coming back out here until after the babies are born. I will authorize clearing the tunnels under the shelter. That will give you more experience and more crystals for better weapons. Armor would be good as well. I can't hire Alex because he's making armor for the Crows to prepare for the Sunshields. I don't know if we should use beast clothing or armor, though. Beast clothing takes less crystals but is not as durable as armor. I'll think on that on the way back home."
Biff responded, "No offense, but I don't think we have a shortage of king-tier. Can I suggest we have both?"
Lana nodded.
Dobin started with Shalt-carrying duty first as they all stepped out into the rain. Lana was loving her hair-piece as she was perfectly dry. She hit the clean and closes button which was tricky because it was raining. She wasn't sure it would work but it did. Apparently the heat from the cleaning operation made the water evaporate as it hit and the intensity of the rain had slacked off quite a bit.
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