Laire passed through the heavy-looking stone doors, which she heard slowly thump shut behind her, blocking out a good deal of light. Laire waited while her eyes adjusted, and finally looked around the chamber. Whereas her last major fight had begun in what seemed like a ballroom of light, this hall could be adequately described as a palace of night. Eerie-looking sconces here and there on stone pillars gave off a greenish glow, which did little to alleviate the gloom.
Once she could make out the floor, Laire began walking forward, even though her vision was still largely obscured. Finally, her vision focused to the point where she could make out before her a throne on a high dais. And seated upon that throne, a figure dressed in black, the dark clothes making its chalk-white skin stand out even further. What was it? A corpse? A ghoul? Or--
At that moment, Laire sensed movement above her. Tearing her eyes away from the figure atop the throne, she looked upward. Only to see the ceiling ripple like the underside of the ocean. Before she could react, the figure raised its hand, and the ripple became a collapsing deluge. Only then, with the high-pitched squeaks, did Laire realize what she was witnessing. Hundreds and hundreds of enormous bats, all headed for her.
Although Laire did her best to protect herself and slash at the oncoming horde, she could feel little claws and fangs tearing apart her skin, apart from the places slightly protected by the wyvern scales. She debated using the lightning ability she looted from the wyvern, but she was well aware that the minute she dropped her guard to fire it off, she would be swarmed from her blind spot. No matter how many corpses she dropped at her feet, it was only natural she would eventually be overcome. Laire felt a sharp pain in her left eye as her vision dimmed. There was no way she could win this fight without using a trump card.
Laire pulled an inscribed gem out of a pouch and held it tightly in her scaly left hand, while she tried to keep the bats at bay with her sword as much as possible. Willing herself to recite the incantation through the pain, she finally reached the invocation.
"INFERNUS!" Laire cried out, closing her one eye and lifting the gem high above her head. An enormous flame burst forth from her open palm in all directions except the one blocked by her palm: below. When the light faded, all that was left of the bats were ashes and the rancid smell of burnt flesh. Laire cautiously opened her unhurt right eye and looked at the figure still on the throne. As if the bats weren't enough of a clue, the figure was now smiling, its fangs a dead giveaway.
It was a vampire.
Slowly yet smoothly, the vampire got to its feet and approached, one step at a time. Although Laire tried to prepare herself, she was already weakened by the bats, and something about the vampire's glowing red eyes befuddled her. What was she fighting for anyway? Wouldn't it be better to just give in? No one cared for her life anyway. Maybe she should just stay here and serve the wonderful being before her instead.
Laire shook her head to try to clear it, and the blood dripping down her cheek from her damaged left eye brought her to her senses. Although she still could not tear her focus away from the vampire's eyes, she managed to use her body to hide its view of her left hand, which surreptitiously reached for a small sheath hidden on her back. The vampire came within an arm's length and reached out to pull Laire forward towards its gaping maw.
At that very instant, Laire lunged with all her might, the silver dagger in her clawed hand. Swinging with all her strength, she managed to decapitate the vampire in one fell swoop. As she stood there panting, she noticed the disconnected neck of the vampire slowly turning to ash where it had come into contact with the silver. Before it could consume the head, Laire made a decision. Thrusting her sharp claws around the vampire's eye socket, she carefully removed its left eye. Then, after cleaning out her own left eye socket a bit, she grimaced and inserted it into her own skull.
Laire blinked a bit, and found that her vision in her red left eye was much more sensitive than her right, especially in the dark. Wondering if the vampire's confusion ability had also been passed to her, Laire walked up to the throne to examine it. Sure enough, when she stood before it, the throne slid back, revealing a staircase leading downward. Taking a deep breath, Laire stepped forward to continue her journey into the dungeon's depths.
Reaching the bottom of the stairway, Laire blinked again. Stunned, she saw stretching out before her...