Fortunes in Italy

Lock had been lining the sights of his rifle on the things head when he was hit from behind by something with claws, it dug them into his back, missing anything too vital but digging in several centimetres.
lock spun his body sideways, dragging his attacker with him. The sudden momentum knocking it off balance and it tumbled along the ground. Lock took this opportunity and fired upon it. It did not move again.
Duke saw the muzzle flash and with it the situation Lock was in, there was another of the creatures coming straight for him as the first fell, but she had problems of her own, there was more than one of them after her flesh too.
Lock didnt have time to check up on Duke, he was in the middle of a pitched battle, he was facing at least two more opponents with a possible third or fourth. And he was quickly running out of bullets and had no chance to load more. He drew his pistol when his rifle ammo was depleted, they could take a hit he'd give them that, but they were far from immortal. He aimed for their torsos, not daring to aim for their heads and miss, he would be grateful to slow them down. His bullets flew hitting pale bodies and ricocheting off walls, this was not when he had expected.
When the air cleared both Locks rifle and pistol were completely empty and two more of his enemies lay by the first when he drew his knife and yelled a charge, slicing a deadly arc towards his final opponent, it dislocated its back and bent double to avoid the attack. It flicked its legs out towards Lock who simply jumped over them and buried his knife in its chest where it muttered its final words “The master wants the flesh, the master will have your flesh”
Lock stood upright and attached the knife to his rifle which he picked up off the ground where it had been discarded once the ammunition ran out, he sprinted across the roofs towards the sounds of Dukes battle.
"Its always worse than i first thought isnt it? ahng in there Duke, im coming"

Duke had caught one in her chain whip. Its arms were pinned to its sides and the chain was around its neck. It struggled to get free. Duke held the chain whip in one hand and was throwing knives with her second. The other monster was being pinned to the wall with knives in its arms and legs. It was howling and screaming, but it couldn't move at all.
Then a third one leapt at her from the roof top. Big mistake. She stepped forward and it hit the ground, face first. It got to its feet and wildly lashed at her. She was already holding a knife and deflected most of the attacks, though she was still getting deep cuts in her arms and torso.
She dropped the knife and pulled out her sword. But not in time. The monster scratched her right across the stomach. She coughed and felt blood dripping out of her mouth. She raised the sword and cut the beast in two, straight down the middle. She dealt with the others as well, then collapsed in the alley, blood quickly surrounding her.

Lock reloaded his gun as he ran, jumping down from the last building in time to skewer one of the monsters as it crept up on Dukes prone form. It struggled and hissed, trying to dislodge itself from the bayonet. Lock finished it by firing the rifle, at that range the bullet punched a sizeable hole in the creature. It slumped to the ground, gurgling.
Lock took out the various cloths he kept in his jacket for moments like these and wrapped both her wounds and his, they had both lost too much blood as it was. The sun was beginning to rise so they should get some relief from the fighting. As the light fell he glanced at one of the corpses. It proved his hypothosis, there was more than one pseudo vampire in this town, his target had gained followers.
"Come on Duke, stay with me. Im going to get you out of here"
He carried her across his back and ran to the closest safe haven he could find, the cemetery, he had made contact with a priest who lived in a shack there when he had first arrived in Naples. It was through him that he got the information on his old friends killer. The priest remembered the stories of everyone who was buried in the graveyard, it was something his family had done for many generations.
Lock arrived and was ushered in by a frantic middle aged man in a white cloth robe, who quickly left for the local apothecary store for some medicine to help treat them both.
Duke was placed on the chair and she looked at Lock with semi concious eyes, there was no regret to be found in them. She knew these monsters needed to die, they shared an understanding without having to mutter a word. An understanding of two fellow warriors.

Everything was black. There was no sound and no light. Then in a flash of bright piercing light. Mumbles from a distance.
"Stay with me." It was Lock. Then darkness again.
Duke woke up on a bed. She looked around and tried to sit up. She was gently pushed back. She tried again and coughed, blood again dripping from her mouth. Sounds returned to her world in a blast.
"What do you think you're doing." said a middle aged man. "Your wounds are very server and have not even begun to heal. I'm surprised to see you're even awake."
She remembered.
"Oh that’s right." She said, but the words were hoarse and the taste of blood was strong. Lock walked into the room. Duke’s stomach growled. A smile tugged at Lock's mouth. She attempted to giggle. Lock face fell as she coughed again.
He turned to the middle aged man and said, "Put her under."
Her world turned black and she slept.

When she awoke fully, Lock was sitting by the bed side.
"Dont try to get up just yet, let your body adjust, youve been out three weeks" He had several bandages around his wounds, there were many more on Duke. He looked at her with a hint of guilt but said nothing about it, instead he responded to her puzzled expression on why she wasnt in monumental agony at the moment
"The Priest knows a good doctor" he explained
She looked at her arms, there were no cuts on them
"A very good doctor"


(Your posts are burying mine with their awesomeness Duke! )

(omg since your in italy when you guys are done here... you should bring duke back to graham and melanie ;p)

(Dont read the spoiler duke!)

Spoiler:

(you know cuz she's your sister she gonna read it hahaahahhaha) omg we think alike thts frightening ahahha

"What? There are no scratches at all. How 'good' is this doctor?" She said. She was really confused.
Duke's tummy growled again. She rolled her eyes.
"Oh shut up." she sighed.
Lock walked out of the room and came back with a plate full of food. It smelled delicious. Duke ate; she fully enjoyed each large mouthful.
"So this doctor, how did he fix my cuts?" She said re-opening the question. Lock turned his head away.
"I think it's best if you meet him."

The Doctor walked in, he was very tall and had a stern face. He lent forwards and moved Dukes head from side to side, examining his work.
"it'll do" he said in a haunty tone, he brushed his hair aside and she caught a glimpse of elfish ears "This means we're even now Lock"
"Indeed, and thank you Wind-through-the-spring-time-trees, I hope we meet again soon" Lock said very respectfully, the elf mearly hmphed and left the room
"Dont mind him, his bark is worse than his bite. You will feel a bit odd for a couple of days but your wounds have been mostly fixed up"

"As long as I'm not just dead weight I'll be fine." And with that she attempted to jump out of bed. She stumbled a bit, but managed to get up. She was still sore all over, but not in severe pain. She started to strap her weapons back on.
"Let’s go" she said. "I know that we're not done with those monsters yet, so you better tell me all you know about them. Their strengths, their weaknesses, what their capable of. I need to be prepared."

"From what ive seen they move faster than humanly possible and it takes a lot to kill them, try aiming for the head or heart. We will also need to pick up some Vitamin D supliments to mix with water, we'll poison our blades with it. It probably wont kill them at such a low concentrait but itll give us an edge"
He walked out of the room and said farewell to the priest with Duke on his heels
"we need to find where they are hiding so that we can ambush them during the day, there are too many to fight at night when they can move freely around the city"

"Good plan, but how do we get the information?" Lock just smiled.
"You'll see."
Duke hated to be kept in the dark, but she didn't press him for the information. They took to the roofs again. She had a bit of trouble keeping up, though she pushed herself anyway. It was tough and she was still sore, but she would hate to be dead weight. She kept pushing herself to keep up.
Then she realised, Lock was running slower then usual.
"Don't slow down just for me." But he ignored her. He didn't want her to strain herself.

they spent the rest of the moring talking to citizens and jotting down attack sightings, Lock used these to make a rough map of the attcks over the last few years. Then they simply went to where the highest concetration of sightings were and low and behold, there was a long dark tunnel for water drainage right in the middle.
"And thats how we'll find them" Lock said cheekily to Duke, she was not impressed

The tunnel was dark and damp. Lock hadn't lit a torch, this required stealth.The darkness here bothered Duke. It wasn't normal.
The walls were slimy to touch, so she kept her hands by her sides. There was water on the floor, ankle deep, and it smelled. She was not enjoying herself. Once she got out of here she was taking a long bath and washing her clothes thoroughly
The tunnel was getting smaller and she was forced to touch the walls, as well as crouch down. If it got any smaller they might have to crawl. That did not please her in the slightest.
She was so glad when the tunnel got bigger again, until she saw a light at the end. That meant they were nearing a room, probably filled with horrible monsters.

Turns out the room was filled with horrible monsters, and they all turned around just as the two of them entered the chamber
"Hiya fellas" said lock before lunging forward to meet their onslaught
Lock and Duke were two miniature whirlwinds of steel and fury, none of the monsters could even get close. The battle didnt last long and in five minutes flat the remainding three enimies fled deeper into the tunnel, most likely to gather more fighters and eger to get away from the two avenging wariors.

"Well, easier then I expected." She said, resting both her katanas on her back. "Though we did have surprise on our side. Plus I really wanted to get out of here quickly. This place is disgusting." She made a sour face and Lock smiled.
"Oh well, I guess we have to stay down here a bit longer. And now that they know we're here, we no longer have surprise on our side. This next battle might be trickier." She sighed.

"They were defiantly much weaker than I anticipated"
He looked down at her and saw that she was pouting
"Dont be like that, I know you love stealth but now we have them in disarray, they dont know our numbers, our strengths or weaknesses or even how we found them. Now while they are confused we can utilise your training at the guild and start moving with stealth"
He gave her a reassuring smile, and he had a point. The enemy woundnt be expecting it right after such a blatant attack. Lock could still see she was upset, so he let her take out her frustration when they next encountered the monsters. And she didnt disappoint, completely forgetting her injuries she preformed some spectacular aerobatics by hiding in a hollow in the ceiling until one walked directly beneath her. It didnt even have time to scream.

They continued up the tunnel. This time with more stealth. They reached the next room and, instead of barging in, they wait just outside, listening to every word.
"They've come, just as you planned." Said one of the survivors from the other room. "Using those weak foot soldiers as bait in the first room seemed to boost their confidence in beating us." Duke looked over at Lock. He looked back with the same expression. An expression that seemed to say 'we're screwed'.
"Well I guess we can always turn back, can't we?" Said Duke, hopefully.
The look of determination on Lock's face said it all. They weren’t turning back until they had accomplished what they came there to do. Duke sighed.
They made their move. She ran in, swords at the ready, and leapt at the first beast she saw. To her surprise it jumped aside at great speed. This would be harder than she thought. The monsters in this room were properly trained.

Lock was standing in the doorway behind where Duke had rushed in, making it harder for the enemy to see him. When the monster dodged Dukes attack he fired his rifle and landed a hit on its side, it wouldnt have even slowed it down had Lock not been using incendiary rounds. The creature's entire left side burst into flame when the bullet hit causing it to scream out in pain and startling the others for a few precious moments, allowing Duke to regain her footing and prepare for their counter attack.
Lock fired on the other five, but due to their speed he only managed to hit one with anything more than a graze, they were attacking Duke relentlessly while he failed to kill them.
One of the monsters had managed to get beyond his peripheral vision and sneak up on him while he had been focused on the others, it made a screeching yell and jumped at him, claw like finger nails ready to slice a deadly arc. He just managed to raise his rifle as a staff to block the attack. It was obvious to him that bullets were not effective against these things, they simply werent creating wounds big enough to stop them even with incendiary rounds, these were a different level of opponent. He fended off the one attacking him enough to attach his bayonet. Close quarters would be fine by him. He fought his way to Duke to prevent her from being surrounded on all sides, when he reached her they stood back to back, they were both surrounded, but at least they could defend more easily this way. "Well, is this enough of a challenge to keep you occupied young Duke?"
"It'll do I suppose" she replied with an air of nonchalance.
The monsters moved in for the kill.

These creatures were fast, but so was Duke. As they attempted to claw at her and Lock she blocked with amazing skill. They couldn’t touch her, as long as she stayed focused. The down side was while she was busy blocking she couldn’t attack them. They were so fast that she could only either block, or fight.
“Lock, do you know how to wield a sword?” He looked at her, almost insulted by the question.
“I’ll take that as yes.” She said “Here catch.” She threw him one of her swords.
“Cover me.” She yelled as she untangled her chain whip from her waist with her free hand. This room was large enough to swing her whip without being blocked. Perfect.
She swung the chain whip in a large arch, building up the power before letting it fly.
The chain flew across the room hitting monsters left and right, while Duke swung with her sword. She was cutting down the creatures in her path, but not without a price. She was a furious force, though putting all her power into attack she was failing in defence. She was getting attacked from behind and she had no way to defend her back.
That’s when Lock stepped in, staying out of her path while protecting her from behind. The two of them fought bravely, but the battle was long. They managed to over power the monsters and defeat them. Though it was far from over. There were undoubtedly more rooms ahead. More creatures to fight. Duke bound her wounds and walked into the tunnel behind Lock.

"That was rather impressive" said Lock as he passed her sword back "I doubt they expected us to get past that little speed bump so, if we are lucky, they wont be completely prepared for us. At any rate they will be much more careful once they find out we are alive. Careful and scared" The water around their feet was shallowing out, which they were both greatful for, and the tunnel was widening dramatically. It was more like a cave than anything else now.
There was a sickly sweet smell coming from up ahead, both Duke and Lock had smelled that before, it was the smell of death.

They carefully approached the room, the smell got stronger. They turned the corner to find no one in the room.
What they found, however, was far worse than if the room had been filled with horrible monsters. It was a sacrificial room.
There was a table in the centre of the room that had been stained with blood. The remanets o the previous sacrifice had been left there.
These creatures were savage. Duke went pale and ran out of the room. When she came back she had her eyes to the floor.
"Lets kept moving." She said. They walked out the room and into the tunnel again.

Lock lead her by her arm so that she would not have to raise her eyes, the tunnel ended abruptly as it opened up into a massive hollowed out space easily the hieght of three houses. "Well this is cetainly surprising" said Lock gazing upwards.
There was a sudden noise of movement coming from over a mound in the very uneven floor space, both Lock and Duke dropped to the ground and crept forward, there were six ofthe enemy on the otherside of the mound.
"So how do you wan to approach this? I dont think they are going to be easy to kill in a front on assult, but stealth is nearly impossible when they have a clear line of sight with each other. Its your call Duke"

"Well we can't leave these monsters alive. They will continue to destroy, even if we kill the leader. You saw that chamber, their evil and we can't let them live." she said, tears welling in her eyes. What she had witnessed would haunt her dreams. She was terrified that they might kill others in that room. She sniffled and wiped her eyes.
"Let’s go" said Lock
They ran towards the mob and attacked. Duke swung with her chain whip and sword and Lock cut down the other monsters in his path. They had surprised the creatures, and by the time they knew what hit them two were already dead.
They started to collect themself and attack Duke and Lock in groups, but Lock was filled with vengeance. Duke was still feeling sick after seeing the room before, but she found her strength. She would avenge the deaths of the innocent that had fallen victim to these pseudo-vampires.