Crown of Daelin

Chapter 9: The Vampire Breakfast Buffet

We soon found that we were closer to the city of Chevrolata than we had thought. By the first light of day, I could see the silhouettes of towers as they rose over the treetops, dark spears peaking up in front of the red-orange sky. The nearer we got to the city, the more magnificent it became. It was somewhat creepy in its fashion, but it was still magnificent just the same. It reminded me a bit of the pictures of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, except for instead of being a place of peace and praise, this was a fortress, designed to keep unwelcome visitors out, and its residents in. Stained-glass windows were gracefully placed in the high stone towers, although I was not sure what good they did, because dark heavy drapes were drawn from the inside of each window, preventing any sunlight from entering. From every corner frightening gargoyles baring their teeth stared out and watched us as we approached the silent stone buildings. Enclosing the entire city was a dark granite wall that rose around 25 feet high. I wondered why the vampires had built their city so securely when–if what the legends told was true–they were such strong and fierce creatures.

We stopped our horses near the edge of the forest, where we were still under the protection of the trees and out of the sight of the wall, if there was a creature to look out over it at all. Hubbub, who was perched on Zoe's shoulder, took one look at the looming walls ahead and retreated into one of Zoe's saddle bags, and would not come out. Zoe knew there was no use in trying to coax him out, so she just let him stay. We tied our horses to some branches and turned to Leofrick for our game plan.

"What do we do now?", asked Rose. He regarded her as if she was a child who'd just asked a silly question that had an obvious answer.

"Naturally, we knock on the door." He started walking out of the cover of the trees and onto the dirt path that lead into the closed-in city.

"Are you crazy?", I asked him. Was he seriously going to just walk into an enclosed fortress that harbored God only knows how many bloodthirsty vampires? He grinned.

"Of course I am. But I do not see how that fact will help us gain entrance into the place. What would you have me do? There is no way you could possibly try to sneak your way in— you would surely be spotted, if they have not seen you already. There is but one way into Chevrolata. Although a word of caution is in order for those who wish to enter. Vampires are known for their raging tempers, and they are easily angered and quick to hold a grudge. So be on your best behaviors, and perhaps you will make it out alive." He continued to make his way to the gate, and the rest of us had no choice but to follow him. There was no sign of movement around the city, and if I didn't know any better I might have guessed that it was abandoned. But there was a feeling about this place, and I knew we were being watched as we made our way to the front gate. Before us stood a giant wooden door, and I cautiously fingered the handle of Meuyola as Adam stepped forward. We all held our breaths as he reached up and banged the silver knocker three times. Each bang seemed to send my nerves leaping inside of me. Who knew what would happen when that door opened?

But at first it did not open. A few impatient seconds passed before a slit in the door opened. I squinted my eyes to get a view through the slit, but all that could be seen was a pair of dark sunglasses.

"Who are you, what do you want, and go away.",said a bored female voice. The voice sounded quite human, with not a Kaerosan accent but instead a British one. Although I knew better than to be hopeful. Leofrick spoke up.

"We are peaceful travelers from the land of Kaerosa. We wish to speak to your king."

"Name those in your company, so that you may be properly announced when the time comes." Leofrick motioned for Adam to do so. He doesn't want to admit that he took the time to learn our names, I thought to myself.