CHASE

Chapter 9

     Orsmund did not express himself as he skirted Tahísa's position. She was watching him askance. The hostage threat shattered the silence. The vampire scanned the floor looking for the groove Rugui pointed out to him. Was brief in locating it. He rested both knees on the floor and with both thumbs pressed into the narrow gap. A rectangular structure more than 6 feet tall vibrated to the call releasing a cloud of dust. In a mechanical process the door slid to the right exposing the access opening. It was an exquisite little vestibule and oddly secluded. An ornate tapestry covered the floor. Its function served to stifle the steps committed. Orsmund felt as if he were trapped in a cone. He determined that such an antechamber had been devoted to it or even wasted too much work. As he analyzed the carved figures on the wall, a golden goblet adorned with rubies that held the fall of a scarlet liquid substance, it enticed him. Influenced by curiosity he followed its traces and detected an anomaly at the top. A deformity. Aroused by interest, he made a glamorous leap as instructed by Rugui. In the distorted zone a block fell. Given the opportunity, the invader moved to the opening. Soon, he was allowed access to a huge, camouflaged goblet like the one illustrated. The blood that he carried, embedded in his skin, contributed to blocking his sense of smell, making it difficult for him to identify what was in the vase. He held the contents tightly and walked back to Tahísa with the passages closing behind him.

     "Calm!"  Orsmund communicated to her savage snarl and the force she exerted on the padlocks with a shrill sound.

     He looked around for an attack. However, the only warning was Tahísa. And he came forward with caution and poured the blood into her mouth, severely, breathless. She didn't bother to taste and let the stream pass directly down her throat. She claimed her lost strength.

     Once fed, Orsmund gave her a moment to recover. He was far from imagining the impact she had just suffered. When, to his senses, she felt stable, he knelt to release her.

     "Predictable!"  Tahísa growled. She broke the shackles and lashed out wildly at Orsmund. The Viking thought this way and when he was getting ready to counterattack, Tahísa interrupted him.  "Estrige!"

     The monster that had been chained to the throne now gained feminine formalities. A beautiful female examined Orsmund before focusing on the new danger. He had heard legends about strigas before. However, the animal that was there was far from the descriptions he had received. Crawled like a primate. The spine suffered from a deformity. In the nasal region there were two slits. The eyeballs were completely opaque. It was difficult to distinguish the iris from the pupil. As if they had been infected by an intense fog. It had no lips. In place of the mouth was an agonizing gash that showed a bunch of misaligned teeth like a damaged saw. Between them moved a tongue exacerbated by a bifurcation. The rosy, gray skin had a frizzy, disgusting look. It got worse in the flaws in the scalp where red and disgusting hairs grew. The pores began to release an oily viscosity, exposing various scales throughout the body. The ribs established the production of crackling sounds. At the same time, it gave off a nauseating smell. The arms expanded and opened into gaps. It tossed out chunks of rotten meat to make room for a pair of tentacles. Tahísa reacted in despair to this demonstration.

     "Don't let her get to you!"  She warned.

     The Estrige opened the mouth much more than anyone could have imagined and made a noise so shrill that it disturbed the vampires' senses.

     "We've just been discovered!"  Tahísa gasped.  "We must move before the troops. Estrige is arresting us!"  Explained.

     All limbs held, Orsmund frowned and struggled hard to move. He felt outraged by Rugui's lack of information. The slimy tentacles crawled through the air. Orsmund rolled his eyes in frustration. Out of nowhere he sensed a hollow jolt. Tahísa's body had collided with the ground. Relax, was the word the Viking watched on her lips as she muttered. When he obeyed the hint that had been proposed to him, the pressure wave that had been pressing on him abruptly left him. Provoking the same impact as Tahísa. The Estrige growled in fury.

     "You will sacrifice yourself for me!"  Tahísa said in a giddy tone.

     Deep down, the vampire recognized that it was a hidden message from Rugui. So, he waved her back. In a hardened shake, he provoked Estrige and fought with all the accumulated energy against the cloud that repressed him. Finally, Tahísa reached the only available exit. And on this opportunity, which Orsmund had to slip away, a sticky appendage wrapped itself around his waist and dragged him wildly. The grip was as strong as the strangulation of a thousand snakes. The Viking concentrated all his vampire rigidity in both hands and cracked the rocky ground with his claws, using them as anchors. Unbidden, his canines elongated, and he hissed in intimidation. The other tentacle enlarged and transfigured into a double mouth accompanied by sharp teeth. This horrendous extremity hit his left shoulder. He snorted and growled as he was tormented by the act of sucking. The entire left lateral zone was paralyzed. With his good hand he tried to land some blows on it. However, the surface of the epidermis remained intact. No cuts or scratches.

     "It's not effective, but it helps!"

     Tahísa threw a burning block of wood at Estrige, who in defense immediately picked up the tentacles.

     "Let's go! We don't have time to play."  She towed Orsmund with her.

     They fired to the outside. They staggered from Orsmund's current wounded state and were on the lookout for any foreseeable attack. In the end, welcomed by the night breeze about to advance the wall and leave the property, they were hurled by a group of five vampires.