Do They Know It's Christmas Time At All? [Part I]

[Koli]

Koli saw Gavner narrow his eyes at the ring on the night stand, and he knew that Gavner knew what he had to do. Taking a deep breath, the vampire began to creep across the wooden floor towards the night stand. As he tiptoed, Koli noticed that the room was in absolute pristine condition. There was absolutely no dust, and all the furniture and aspects of the world were here perfectly upkept. There was no dust at all, the curtains were brilliant and radient, as the colors were not faded, and none of the floor boards squeaked at all. When GAvner reached the night stand, Koli looked at the enormous man of a chancellor in front of him. How could somebody get to this point? He supposed that all aspects of self-value changed once somebody was put into a position of power. The vampire was now upon the night stand, and the ring was perfectly stored in an open ring box. It appeared nearly as a class ring, with a thick golden neck and a large beautiful emerald green gem encrusted deeply in the gold. The inscription read “Chancellor” in bold, robust letters.

Ganver looked from Koli and Mavrik, to the chancellor, and back to the ring. He shook his head and Koli saw him mouth the words “Well, here goes nothing.”

The vampire reached for the ring, but just as he did, the emerald green gem lit up, sending a flash of green light into the room. Suddenly a clear, shield like orb roughly seven feet tall and around appeared, engulfing Gavner, before a large explosion of outward force with a flash of light appeared, and Gavner was thrown through the wall of the mansion, and out of the second story of the building. Without thinking, Koli ran to the night stand, closed the ring box, picked it up and leapt out of the hole in the wall. In one swift motion, Koli stowed the ring in his cloak and leaned forward, breaking the fall, touching the ground with his hands and pushing himself directly into a roll, breaking his fall and landing on his feet. The priest rushed over to his friend who was stirring on the ground, grabbing his left shoulder. Koli heard the soft crunch of rocks next to him and looked over to see that Mavrik had landed in a crouching position.

“Let’s go now!”

[Gavner_Nahs]

Chapter III: The Great Escape
Everything happened so fast. On moment, Gavner was reaching for the ring, and the next he was crashing through the wall and falling a 2 stories to the ground. The vampire desparately gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of his lungs, and he rolled on his side, clutching his left shoulder which was angrily throbbing. Looking up, GAvner noticed that Koli had appeared, and suddenly Mavrik was there.

“Let’s go now!” Gavner heard Mavrik yell in a very muffled voice, as if it was through a glass window.

Gavner looked around with wide eyes, not understanding much. It was as if a haze had descended upon his mind and he was trying to think through it all.

“We don’t have time for this!” Mavrik said. Gavner then watched his friend bend down and pick him up, throwing him across his shoulder as they began to run through the street. Gavner was jostled up and down, as Mavrik was running, the thump thump thumping of his steps was being absorbed by Gavner’s stomach. He felt as if he wanted to throw up. They ran through the street and down an alley, the street lamps faded away and the dark, dank streets became all too familiar at this point.

“Quickly,” Mavrik said, “We must find refuge before-“

Suddenly sirens began to ring out through the town, and the same sinking feeling descended upon all three of the protagonists’ stomachs. Gavner was thrown side to side as Mavrik began to frantically look from side to side, looking for a place of refuge.

“I can’t find any for quite some time, and I forgot the escape route. I have lost my bearings!”

At that point, Gavner assumed that Koli must have lead the way because without a word, Mavrik began to run- except this time it was not as fast, so he must have been matching the pace of somebody who was not as physically superior as he. After some time of running, Gavner felt himself being lowered and set on the ground. He looked around and found that they were in the corner of an alley. Mavrik’s pointed face and his white hair appeared in front of him, and he slowly began to move one finger in front of the disoriented creature’s face from left to right. Gavner followed it with his eyes, and the siren became a bit clearer.

[drake]

Drake listened to the A Capella music, standing there in awe for close to a half of an hour- and then came the siren. He heard the sirens outside in the surrounding city, and without anybody’s missing a beat, the captains started to flood out of the warehouse toward the exits.

[Um, guys?] Drake called out to Gabriel and Seraphina.

[We hear it,] Gabriel’s voice replied in Drake’s head, [We are on our way. Meet us in the nearest tavern to the docks on the south pier, and we will find you.]

“Sure thing,” Drake said out loud to himself, “Let’s do this.”

The angel began to start toward an exit, and surprisingly everybody was polite. Nobody was frantically pushing or shoving, nor were they panicking. All of the men- captains as it were- were very civil and calm with each other.

“Excuse me,” Drake said to a taller, dark haired man with a lot of scruff. “Where is everybody going?”

The man raised an eyebrow at him. “Sneaking in, are we swabby?”

“I, um…” Drake said, his voice failing him.

“That’s okay, it happens every now and again. All the captains are going to their crews’ quarters, or their ships to take roll and make sure that everybody’s been behaving themselves.”

“Oh,” Drake said, “Yeah that might be rather important.”

“Mmhm.”

“What do you think is happening?” Drake asked.

“Well, by the looks of it, either a disaster is going on, or a serious felony has been committed. And we aren’t even talking about a mass murder, or a robbery, the siren is only used in the event of a serious crime against the state- or the city of Radasanth as a whole- after curfew.”

“Oh,” Drake said, his heart beginning to sink. Gavner, he thought.

“Yes indeed,” the captian replied, “Something very serious is going on. I can guarantee that a manhunt is going on right now.”

“Oh dear,” Drake said, “Well then we better hurry back.”

“Indeed swabby, get back to your captain and stay there. You don’t want to be caught dead out in these conditions. Somebody is going to be put to death from this type of crime.”

Once Drake got out onto the streets, he turned and began to run down the street until he saw the wooden sign that read:

“SOUTH PIER”
Drake ran down the path and looked for the nearest tavern around.

[Koli]

Gavner seemed to be in a completely stunned and shell shocked state. Koli looked from his friend, to the massive hole in the side of the building, and back to his friend.

“We don’t have time for this,” Mavrik said, before picking Gavner up and throwing him over his shoulder. He then proceeded to run of the street and into a back alley. Koli followed him through the nice, pristine street and into the dank alley in between two tall stone tenement buildings. As they ran, the alleys became less and less clean, each one more dank and musty than the previous. Mavrik stopped and turned to Koli.

“We need to find a place of refuge before-“

Suddenly, their problems multiplied as an air raid-esque siren rang out throughout the whole city.

“Xzcunge!” Mavrik cursed!

Without thinking, Koli ran ahead of Mavrik and took a left, beginning to follow unorthodox alleyways. Darting left, jumping right, and before long they found themselves in a far-off, old abandoned transit section. When they got there, Koli stopped and motioned to a corner in the shadows where they could hide, undetected for a time. Mavrik went over and set Gavner down. The vampire looked around, extremely confused and still disoriented. Mavrik took a finger and moved it from left to right in front of his face. Gavner’s eyes followed. Koli put his hand on his friend’s shoulder and looked into his eyes. Using his Eyes of a Hero, Koli’s irises turned a shade of green, which was soothing and calming to all. All the tension melted away from Gavner’s body, and his eyes began to focus more. Then he looked around as if finally woken up gently from a deep sleep.

“Woah, what was that?” Gavner asked, looking at his friends. Suddenly he looked panicked. “Oh no,” he said, “Did you get the-“

Koli interrupted his friend by using his eyes again to calm him down, and nodding.

“Oh,” he replied, “Good… Now we must escape.”

“Easier said than done,” Mavrik muttered from his lookout post a few feet away. “We need to think of our best line of attack. I’m going to go scout out a little bit, to see if we can go through buildings so we can travel undetected.”

“Thank you, Koli,” Ganver said, “For helping me out.”

Koli looked at his friend, and the faintest glimpse of a smile appeared.

[Gavner_Nahs]

Koli nodded, and Gavner grinned widely, flashing his sharp, ebony teeth.

“Quickly,” Mavrik said, “The tavern that we just came from is literally right across the street!”

Gavner stood up quickly, but quickly braced himself with the wall to his side, as he felt faint and dizzy, but he did not let this stop him. He ran to the end of the alley and looked out to see Mavrik entering the tavern already. The siren continued to ring out through the city, adding an eerie effect. There were not any guards nearby; however, Gavner knew that they would be here soon.

Gavner and Koli looked at each other, nodded, and both ran across the way at the same time. They ran so fast that any onlookers would have simply seen a dark streak to the tavern. But when they got in, they were greeted by eerie silence, and an empty tavern, save one. It was the captain that they had met on their way in, Ferd, and even he was on his way up to the quarters.

“Ferd,” Gavner said as the captain almost was out of view up the steps, “Wait up!”

The captain stopped and looked back over his shoulder. But suddenly, everything was blocked out as Gavner received a mental transmission from Drake.

[Gavner,] he said, [We have not secured passage to Raiaera, if you can do so I suggest you do it quickly! The angels and I are at the south pier. Godspeed.]

“Xzcunge!” The vampire cursed, “Ferd, can we call in a favor, in the Christmas spirit?”

“Well, what do yeh boys need?” He asked.

“Passage to Raiaera,” he said, bluntly. “That siren is for us.”

“Michael,” Ferd called up the stairs, “Ready the crew, we leave tonight! Send em’ all to my cargo schooner on the south pier.”

“As fer you sonney boys,” he said addressing the three travelers, “Yeh got ter make it to the south pier, but yeh gotta take the main way. The crew needs a distraction ta get to the ship safely.”

“Will do, sir!” Gavner said. Gavner walked over to Mavrik who had already had the crisp, old notary map spread out on a wooden table.

“This is a suicide mission,” Mavrik said, looking at Gavner with a straight face.

“Of course,” Gavner said, looking at his friend, trying to remain the same. Gavner cracked a smile first.

“For humans…”

[drake]

Drake burst into the place of refuge, and looked around, relieved to find that there was nobody inside.

[Gabriel,] Drake broadcasted telepathically to his friend, [I’m here. Come quickly, please.]

[On our way,] Gabriel said back. Drake looked at the wall of the tavern, the siren still clear out in the night. This tavern was nearly dark, save for the light of a few candles. The oil lanterns were not lit; this tavern must have closed for the night when the sirens came on.

Suddenly, the golden silhouettes of Drake’s friends began to form and they teleported in from the astral plane. Gabriel came in with his short hair, and a billowy shirt with a leather courset as armor, and black trousers. At his belt was a tube that carried his golden message scroll. Gabriel was the messenger arcangel of The Boss, and this special scroll was a direct communication link with the cosmos.

Seraphina, the most beautiful feminine form that Drake had ever seen, teleported in wearing a long traveling cloak with her hood down, and the same dark trousers that Gabriel had been wearing. Her long curly blonde hair fell to her shoulders, the headpiece of laurel and flowers still atop her crown. She was incredibly pretty, but Drake always tried to hide his feelings from his friends.

“Did you find passage?” Drake asked.

“Unfortunately we did not,” Seraphina replied, “However, we did find out that there are scores upon scores of men coming to this place to protect it.”

“How does that help us?” Drake asked jokingly.

“There will inevitably be a physical, outward struggle.” Gabriel said.

“You two are just full of a bunch of good news aren’t you?”

“We cannot take lives either. Perhaps your friends, can, but we can only be supporting forces. We are not allowed to take lives unless it is that of a very unrighteous person who was condemned anyway.” Seraphina said.

“Well that shouldn’t be a problem with the Radasanth guards,” Drake said. “So, attack plan?”

“We can create forms of barricades to help your friends, if you would like.” Gabriel said.

“My friends!” Drake said alarmed, remembering that they had not secured passage. Concentrating on sending a message to his friend, Drake closed his eyes and reached out to Gavner telepathically.

[Gavner,] he said, [We have not secured passage to Raiaera, if you can do so I suggest you do it quickly! The angels and I are at the south pier. Godspeed.]

[Koli]

“Okay,” Mavrik said, “If we are going to pull this off, we need to be everywhere.”

“Almost like guerilla warfare!” Gavner said.

“We need to make it seem like there are a million of us.”

“Even though there are only three of us.” Gavner finished. “Okay, so over here and here we can collapse these pillars,” Gavner said pointing to the sides of a street on the map.

“And if we take the panes of glass off of those windows, we can use candles and lanterns to make flashing lights all down these streets that will disorient the soldiers.”

“And if we take some liquor bottles, we can make Molotov’s. One of us can be on top of the buildings sending the pyrotechnics down in the streets-“

“While the others stay down here in the shadows making it seem like there’s an army.” Mavrik finished.

“Let us do this!”

---

Koli looked out over the Radasanth streets from high upon the rooftops. Usually the streets were bustling and full in the daytime, and during the night, a hush overcame the city. But this was different. This was as the calm before the storm, as the silence was eerie and the inevitable was impending. Koli narrowed his eyes as he prepared himself, and his heart for what was to come.

The priest looked across the way and saw Gavner shine the moonlight across the road on the reflection of a small piece of glass, to signal his readiness. Mavrik made a soft bird noise to signal his as well. Koli lit a small flame and held it up over his head before extinguishing it. Then came the waiting. The siren rang out through the air, but with every second passing it sounded like it was growing louder and more raspy. Louder and louder, more and more shrill. Looking out over the rooftops, Koli saw men climb up onto the buildings to first provide rooftop support. The priest drew his hood, and summoned a deadly, plain, and crisp longsword in his right hand. He walked over to the trap door that lead to the roof on which he was standing. As soon as the door opened, Koli kicked it down, knocking the man out cold. From there he turned to the next roof, got a running start, and silently landed on the next one. Sneaking up on the man as a deadly assailant, Koli struck his foe in the leg with his sword, and delivered a powerful blow directly to a knock out pressure point on the back of his skull. Koli chose to spare the lives of those who wished to kill him this night, because it was better to spare them than to end them.

[Gavner_Nahs]

Gavner saw Koli working his way through the tops of the buildings, slowly clearing of all of the rooftops without anybody even noticing. The creature of the night looked across the way at Mavrik as they were preparing themselves for the fight. They looked out in the distance, and noticed the first ranks of guards coming their way. Just as they reached about one hundred yards, Koli had the rooftops cleared, and they were ready for phase two of the plan. All they had to do now was wait.

The guards continued to march on, closer and closer. Out in the streets, they saw- ranks upon ranks of guards coming their way. They must have known that the assault was on the chancellor, because it seemed that the entire Corone army stationed in Radasanth was now prowling the streets. Scores of men were now all in the streets, and they finally overtook their position. Gavner looked at the stone he was next to, the keystone in the bridge over the way that lead to the south pier. He suddenly heard Mavrik’s signal, and without hesitation, he struck with all of his might, sending the massive boulder out into the street.

Just as Mavrik did the same to his side, the bridge no longer had any support, and subsequently came tumbling down on the entire army, showing no mercy. Cries of horror and screams of fright came from the army, and all hell broke loose. Gavner slid into the shadows of the buildings, and began to grab guards one by one in the streets, assassinating each as he went on. Suddenly, phase three of the plan came, and the flashing lanterns were lit. Instantly, the streets were illuminated with blindingly bright, flashing lights. It was as if they had walked into a rave, as it was as if strobe lights were illuminating the entire area. Suddenly, flaming bottles were raining down from the sky, and when they landed they exploded in firey rage, setting entire sections of the streets ablaze. The scene had erupted into complete and utter chaos. The guards now had no order, and no longer were holding rank. Everybody was running around, striking each other in fear that all were the enemy. Friend, foe, it mattered not, for all were targets.

Gavner looked out, satisfied, at the scene. Their work here was done, and this should hold them off for at least a while. He jumped up on top of one of the stones and began to scale the rubble of the bridge. He was over the massive rocks, and on the other side. He rendezvoused with Koli and Mavrik, and once his friends were with him, Gavner started down the road to the road where he saw the figure of a tall boy with blonde hair, and two other people on either side of him- one a woman with blonde curly hair, and the other a man with short dark hair.

“Drake!” Gavner said, “It is great to see you!”

“I could say the same about you!” He replied, “Prepare yourself, we are going to hold them off here, you go and ensure passage to the schooner for the crew!”

[drake]

Drake, Gabriel and Seraphina walked out onto the street, and just as they did they saw a captain walking the street.

“Hey, sonny boy!” He called out to Drake, “Yeh wouldn’t happen to be friends with that odd bunch roaming the streets would yeh?” He asked.

“You mean two tall men with black teeth and a priest in a white cloak?” Drake replied.

“Yes them!”

“I do know them, sir!” Drake replied.

“Well good, cuz yeh got passage on my schooner. But I need a favor from yeh!” He said, “We need the crew to get to the ship safely! So if yeh fellas will, please keep the road clear ‘n protect ‘em all.”

“Yes sir!” Drake said energetically. Instantly, he was extremely happy and relieved. Unfortunately, he was not able to solicit passage, but his friends had been successful! He would eagerly protect these men. Just then, he saw in the distance that chaos was ensuing the streets off in the distance. The bridge that was over the passage to the south pier had collapsed, blinding lights were flashing all throughout the streets, and fire licking the alley. Gavner, Koli, and Mavrik had done their job. This was probably enough to stall them for quite a time, but not enough for the entire crew to ready the ship. There was going to be a struggle. Drake noticed three silhouettes approaching him and his friends.

“Drake!” Gavner called out. “It is great to see you!”

Drake was so relieved to see his friends! It felt like it had been so long since they had actually been together. “I could say the same about you!” He replied, “Prepare yourself, we are going to hold them off here, you go and ensure passage to the schooner for the crew!”

“Very well! Are you ready?” Mavrik replied.

“Absolutely!”

Koli pointed across to the northeast of the dock, on the opposite side of the collapsed bridge.

“You better be boys,” Gavner called, “Because we have got some company!! To the shadows!”

They all fled to the cover of darkness. Drake knew that the crew was secretly traveling through the taverns, but it would have to be all of their jobs to keep the army from reaching the buildings. Instantly, in one large clash, the vampires began attacking. It was as if time itself slowed down for the creatures of the night. Their nature was eerie and interesting, as the world seemed to be at their command. They were nothing but dark streaks, rushing from assailant to assailant, before any could react. They were dead before they even had the chance to look their killers in the eyes.

Drake stood back, ready to heal in case the occasion called for it- he was a healer rather than a fighter. He hadn’t found it in himself yet to take a life, but he had saved many.

[Koli]

The guards stormed the convoy all at once, and Koli proceeded to continue his work, smiting each foe not by the head or the heart, but by the leg. He was a flash of white, showing mercy, but being relentless. While the vampires struck to kill, Koli struck to save, even if he was maiming and injuring. Soon, however, the army came too numerous, and they were forced to retreat a bit. Foe after foe fell, but for every one which was defeated, two stepped up to take his place. They kept being pushed back until they were at a tavern that was on the line of shops. Suddenly, Koli heard Ferd’s old man voice ring out through the night.

“The ship is ready for yeh boys, come on let’s get outta here!”

Upon hearing this, neither Drake, Koli, Gavner, nor Mavrik needed any more word. They all turned and ran down the pier. They were all much more fit, and none of them were wearing armor so they ran much faster than the army; however, it still would not be fast enough to prevent them from boarding. Koli could see, far ahead of them, the ship that had its sails and its flags hoisted high and was ready to leave. The boarding ramp was ready to be drawn, and when it was, the schooner would be off and on its way. They slowly began to close the distance, until finally they reached the ramp. Ferd was at the top, frantically motioning to them to climb aboard. Koli looked over his shoulder as he was boarding and noticed the army closing in very fast, and that was when he heard the artillery fire.

Apparently Ferd had ordered the cannons to be manned, and now the ship was unleashing hell’s fury upon the Radasanth guard. Upon this, the guard began to retreat and search for cover. The archers began to release arrows and storm upon the army, and Ferd laughed triumphantly.

“Ol’ Ferd has some tricks yet left up his sleeve, sonney boys!” Ferd said. “Now draw that board!”

Without thinking, Gavner, Drake, Mavrik and Koli all drew the boarding ramp, and they did it in one swift motion. They all had underestimated their strength, as all together they were the equivalent of an entire crew of sailors. Ferd’s eyes widened, and he looked at them shocked, and noticed that the entire was following suit.

“Well what are yeh waiting for?” He called out, “Send her out boys!!”

---

To be continued in Part II…