Nightclaw: Blood Moon Apex

Chapter 33: Awaiting The Call

It had gotten to be around sunset by then, and Carla's party had already stopped once more to have dinner. Barring the meals—and any emergency bathroom breaks—Valeria insisted on having as few stops as possible, in the hopes of making it to the ruins before General Vultur and the C.L.A.W. Much to everyone's relief, Carla's group had indeed managed to make it to the site first; at the time that the three vehicles pulled up to the dilapidated stone complex that had been greatly overcome by moss growths, none of the four Generals could be seen, and neither could any C.L.A.W shamans.

Decently-large stone walls and tilted pillars laid around the wide clearing's landscape, having been turned into a mixture of earth and nature ever since the greenery had started to reclaim it after years of neglect. Driving around here would prove to be rather cumbersome indeed, as Valeria, Esther, and Brian would need to be careful to not crash into anything.

The overgrown, untamed grass provided a double-edged sword; although it would be more difficult for the Generals and the C.L.A.W shamans to spot Valeria's bear traps in the imminent chaos, the heroes also had to be careful, so as to not fall into them themselves. Big trees and wall segments made of logs—some straight, some L-shaped, and some T-shaped—were also located around the outer edges of the clearing.

But by far the most notable centerpiece was the towering temple in the center. This building, made of intricately-crafted stone, had multiple open entrances on every single side of each of its two floors, as well as a dull-gold circle built into the center of its first floor with a slightly-raised center; no doubt the location of the Generals' ritual. The basement of the temple was also home to a set of winding catacombs with rock walls.....and the occasional ruined coffin with a corpse hanging haphazardly outside of it. Lastly, the entire temple—the basement, the first floor, and the second floor—had numerous warmly-glowing torches and candles inlaid within small alcoves on its walls, to provide its inhabitants with adequate light during any time of day.

"Well, well, well......" Esther remarked with a chuckle over Valeria's walkie-talkie as he scanned the area. "Turns out you do know this country well, Countess. How come I've never heard of this place? I've lived in Romania for just as long as you....."

"I do not spend all of my time holed up in a lab," Valeria replied matter-of-factly, even eliciting some stifled laughs from everyone in the other vehicles. "Now, come on.....let's give the C.L.A.W a surprise of a lifetime, shall we?"

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Everyone disembarked their vehicles and began setting up a perimeter around the area, using the same defense methods they had tried to use during the Attack on Darkveil Manor.....only this time, they had Brian and his ghost catcher for assistance.

Carla assisted Brian in setting up his ghost catcher, placing it in the middle of the outer field. There, it would be able to pull in the summoned Spirit Beasts while still drawing power from its energy source: the battery of Valeria's pickup truck, which was connected to the ghost catcher by two alligator clips on wires. Poor Carla got electrocuted when she tried to attach said clips, but she was no worse for wear thanks to her near-invulnerability.

Brian barely found it within himself to exercise self-control, struggling to burst into laughter.

"Don't. Say. A word......" Carla commented, her whole body smoking.

Valeria, with a weed whacker strapped to her back, laid fifteen bear traps around the central temple: eight that were positioned around the overgrown grass surrounding it, and seven others positioned directly in the middle of every single entryway, testing each and every one of them to verify that they worked.