Onward!

Original concept post: (x)

Key characters: (x)

A vampire lord and her brood has taken refuge in an old castle on the edge of the kingdom. While most dragons would eradicate such an invasive force, Acitrox is more diplomatic; the prospect of entertainment, allyship, and perhaps watching the kingdom scramble to clear out the nest of bloodsuckers too good of an opputunity to let pass.

He is invited over for dinner which he attends in his favored human form. Its a little affair by the vampire lord to win him over into her good graces with fine wine, gifts, and supplication, complete with entertainment by her spawn. While it is a boring time, there is fun to be had in the vampire's groveling for allowance to stay and promises of riches and unwavering loyalty in the future. And the wine is at least decent.

A crash, the sounds of war horns and prayer has the lord and her spawn excusing themselves while Acitrox continues to enjoy his drink and dessert. The raucous clanging of battle fill the halls and after a few minutes, Acitrox refills his cup and wanders out to see what it happening, though he can fairly well guess. Given the bodies of mortals hanging about, the vampires have already given away their position and it seems their tenure may be short-lived.

As expected when Acitrox makes it to the balcony overlooking the great hall, there are the king's men; a mix of knights and clerics and paladins under the banner of their monarch going toe to toe with the vampires. It's an exceptionally even match; the lord had more spawn and undead hiding in around the place than Acitrox realized and the humans are only just barely winning. And who would be engaged with the vampire lord but the white knight himself, helm knocked off to reveal his blonde hair and chiseled jaw as Gilead the Dragonsbane swings a holy shining sword at the undead abomination.

Acitrox continues to sip his drink as he watches the rest of the vampires and holy men fall, the smell of blood and charred flesh filling the room until it is just the lord and Gilead left. And the paladin is waning, his endurance giving as out as the vampire bares down on him, ready to make the final blow. Which won't do at all, of course, so, still up on the landing after draining his wine and with a spell of his own, Acitrox knocks the vampire from Gilead, allowing the paladin the opportunity to finally drive his blade into the vampire's heart.

As he is left panting and worn down, fallen to his knees, Gilead's head picks up at the sound of clapping, blanching as he see's the dragon who's haunted him since his childhood, walking down the stairs in his human guise. Too weak to get back to his feet, Gilead can only limply hold his sword as he watches the dragon's approach, a snide mocking voice congratulating him on his most hard earned victory. Then, when the dragon stops in front of him and Gilead tightens his grip on his blade, he is grabbed by the jaw, lifted with ease off the ground as Acitrox adds that of course, this will be another tall tale to tell of his unimpeded heroism, won't it? Unfortunate he never truly seems strong enough to live up to his name without something better than him showing him mercy.