Janet stopped and ran her fingers through her hair, which was disheveled and stringy from days of relentless travel. “Brock, I thought you said a temple was gonna be here.” She said with a frown and looked out at the endless green of the vast jungle. Above them the thick canopy let hardly a glimmer of light through, although it did aid in sheltering them from the overcast weather, that didn’t bring much more then rain every now and then to interrupt their venture.
“You’re standing in it.” Brock said tiredly.
Janet turned around in her saddle and frowned. “Well, check the map!”
Everyone had a horse; D was the only one with a cyborg. Brock pushed Slade, who was sitting in front of him in the saddle, forward and laid the map out on his brothers back and pondered.
“Please, please, PLEASE don’t tell me we’re lost!” Erin said.
“We’re lost.” Nakoia smirked.
“Shut up!”
D scratched his arm. The cloth there was ripped and stiff with dry blood. Though the wound had healed, the claws of a vampire always left a red, itching scar. The vampire that had attacked him the night before had surprised him, slashing his arm. After that it didn’t have much of a chance before the hunter exterminated the offender. The irritation wasn’t what bothered him though. It was the fact that only one vampire had attacked them since they got there.
D quietly and calmly walked past Janet and looked around. Just in front of them was a wall of thriving plants, apparently growing on the edge of a cliff. The hunter took a deep breath, drew his sword and slashed at the mass of green life. As the curtain fell, the true identity of the cloaked surface was revealed. Etched in the bluish-grey stone were pictures, symbols, and hieroglyphs, created by the ancient vampires that once inhabited these lands.
Janet’s jaw dropped. She jumped off her horse and ran up to the wall. Placing her hand upon the stone, she grinned up at D. “Great instincts!” She looked around. The barricade of plant life and stone went on for about another mile. “The temple must be inside this wall...”
D walked his horse along the curtained barrier. “This is the temple.” He said stopping. “The ivy caves in here. This is the entrance.”
“Excellent.” Tabitha said, trotting her horse up to the hunter. “We should get started as soon as possible.”
“Right!” Their leader yelped, quickly walking up to them. “You two! Check out the area. We’ll begin when the coast it clear.”
The hunters both dismounted and, after D cut away the plants blocking their path, entered the structure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Oww...” Aiokan said exhaustedly as he climbed up the damp rocky edge mound, too tired to float. The small figure sat on top of the highest rock and looked around. He was in a cave somewhere. He wasn’t sure how he got there. The last thing he remembered was watching D fight a vampire.
The stones were dark in the cave. Small streaks of light peeked out from cracks in the surface above, piercing the darkness and shining upon the shallow streams that flowed in between the boulders and glimmered with its reflection.
The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the elaborate cave tunnels. Startled, the symbiote vanished and silently watched.
“Ueme emau luen ele?” It was the deep voice of a male vampire. He was tall and muscular and had long black hair that was tied in a loose pony tail with a thin braid on either side of his head in front of his ears.
“Uler soue mualem kuela.” A shorter, more unsure vampire said. He had dark, greenish hair which partially fell over his eyes. “Eam... mel ule ulah lemu isa enu neor oma keu kue uanelah.”
“Huam enu sau?” They were getting closer.
“Seanru Kou, luen leoma soue kume calivory... une elue elam soue uele kukamash elam Velours canu suma.” Then the two suddenly stopped. The taller one turned to his comrade, suddenly interested in what he had to say.
“Ues?”
“Soue anakaezt elau. Meu enu lemeh ele.” The green haired vampire seemed intimidated by him.
He made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl, a hint of recognition on his pale face. “Victor...” He turned and the two continued their trek down the dark tunnels.
Aiokan blinked and decided to follow them.