Infernal Wanderings (Solo)

[The Thirtenth Sons.]

The sun began to set in the peaceful town of Underwood, and about two months earlier, would have been some cliche used by writers. Of course now people had boarded up their homes, reinforced doors with furniture, and prayed to their various gods to survive. This was due to the strange events that began to unfold after dark. First of all the dead would rise from their graves and begin to drag any poor soul they found off into the darkness. No one knew how or why this was happening. Except for two newcomers entering town on this particular day. Few had chanced to look and see them, and those who did were branded crazy.

Two tall men strode into town. One was tall, the other was a whole new level of Tall. This man stood close to nine feet tall, his bulk was massive compared to the pale skeletal silver haired man next to him. The giant walked with a monkey like gait, while the skeleton took smooth strides. The slender man was named Vladimir, or Vlad for short. the taller man would have been named Gigantor or mega crusher, had he not been raised by a noble woman. Instead he had the civilized name of Stefan. The giant was armed with a rather large and menacing steel war hammer. The skeleton had two strange silver apparatuses melted to his wrists.

Both of these men had strange outfits for the area. Stefan went bare-chested, showcasing his gigantic muscles and tan skin, and tattered shorts. Vlad wore a sleeveless shirt, showing off his slender pale arms, and tight black jeans. The two were polar opposites in every aspect. Stefan's hair was shaggy and brown, while Vlad kept his hair at eye level, and it was silver. Stefan had sapphire eyes, while Vlad had crimson eyes. What would be the greatest shock was the fact that they were half-brothers.

Vlad raised a hand to stop his brother and frowned. "Brother what do you see?" he asked curiously. Stefan scratched his head and looked around. "It's awfully quiet for this time of day." the large man noted. "Exactly." Vlad replied glancing around. "Perhaps the rumors were true." he muttered to himself. Suddenly a large group of "people" shambled into the road they were on, a cacophony of moaning burst into the air. Both men quickly drew their weapons. Stefan had his warhamer at the ready, wielding it with one hand, as if it weighed nothing. Vladimir grabbed the apparatuses on his wrists and turned them to the left. Blood began to seep out of his wrists, and gather in a strange swirling mass around his arms. He quickly closed the valves, his pale face growing paler. This would be an interesting fight.

[The Thirtenth Sons.]

The moans grew louder as another mob approached from behind the two. Soon both half brothers stood back to back, each facing a mob. The shambling animated corpses were gruesome to look at. skin peeling away, decaying flesh, gray hair falling out in clumps, the works. Suddenly a few lunged at Vlad, who quickly whipped out his right hand. A stream of blood sliced through the two zombies as if it were a steel blade.

Stefan was busy as well. He swung his hammer at several advancing corpses, sending them flying several feet. Those who had caught the direct blow of the strike were down for the count. Some of the luckier ones that were hit on the end of the swing got back up and limped back to join the mob.

Soon the two mobs had joined in a large circle around the two, then they charged. Stefan quickly dropped to the floor as Vlad spun in several circles. Two blood whips from both of his hands shot out and sliced several zombies to bits, effectively halving the mob. Vlad stopped and whipped his arms out in front of him, his whips swiftly dispatching more corpses. Stefan had risen to his feet and began to swing at the other side of the mob, crushing even more zombies. this continued for ten minutes, then Vlad finally dispatched the last of he horde.

"Well looks like Underwood does have a necromancer problem." Vlad said as his blood whips returned to his veins. He noticed that some of the corpses had bled out, signifying that they were fresh. He turned the nobs on his arms to the right. The blood on the ground rose and swiftly flowed into the pumps, augmenting his own blood supply. Some color returned to his cheeks as he did so.

"Where do we start?" Stefan asked curiously. "We start at the source brother, we start at the graveyard." Vlad replied.

[The Thirtenth Sons.]

As the two slowly made their way to the Graveyard on the outskirts of Underwood Vlad took the time to recall exactly what they were doing. Several years ago Stefan and Vlad had left their adopted mother, a noble woman by he name of Irene. She had raised both boys to the best of her ability, and so the two were quite civil. She had been the first to realize exactly what the two were. She discovered the Stefan was half giant, and Vlad was half vampire.

She had kept this a secret of course, and had begun to teach them what she knew of their races. She also asked that when they grew up they would not become monsters. So instead both men had decided to become wandering spiritual detectives. They put down out of control vampires and necromancers, and many other things that go bump in the night. Which is what pulled them to Underwood.

When Vlad snapped out of his thoughts, they had arrived at the graveyard. It was a spooky sight really. Rusty iron fences, elaborate tombstones, and creepy old men. Wait, creepy old men? Vlad turned, and saw a strange man clothed in dark black. A gruesome smile was plastered onto his skin as he stared at the two newcomers. Vlad had a bad feeling about this.

[The Thirtenth Sons.]

"You!" the old man said pointing a long skeletal finger at them. "you destroyed half of my army! Once I had destroyed the town I would have expanded and crushed the traitorous Ixian knights!" Vlad cast a confused glance at Stefan. "He's mono-logging, quick lets milk this for as much info as we can!" Vlad whispered. "What are the Ixian knights?" Stefan asked winking to his brother. Vlad sighed and turned to see the old man. "A mighty rebellion organized by Sei Orlouge in Radasanth."

Vlad seemed interested in that. "what do they stand for?" he asked. The necromancer smiled. "Good and justice, keeping the peace in all of Althanas." Stefan picked up at where Vlad was going. "Where are they located?" the giant asked smiling. "In Radasanth..park...." The old man said frowning.

"Wait a minute you two tricked me!" he said roaring in anger. He snapped his fingers and all of the dead in Underwood began to rise from their graves. "Oh boy." Stefan said pulling out his war hammer. tonight would be a long night.