[Lord Stanley]

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“I don’t like the looks of this,” Crak growled.

Abe didn’t say anything that would reveal his shock and horror at what lay before him. For miles across the empty grasslands – grasslands he had never seen before – stretched hundreds of thousands of buildings. None of them had architecture like any Abe had seen before; not Glukkon, Slig, Vykker, Mudokon, Gabbit, Clakker, Outlaw, Wolvark, or Grubb.

I suppose this is a Vamp town, he thought in shock. They’ve been down here this whole time, and no one knew…?

Not only were all the buildings curved and rounded in appearance, they were all built out of some soft gray metal Abe didn’t recognize, and they glowed with soft blue energy, as if the buildings themselves were alive. Vamp guards stood around the perimeter of the town, each of them holding the funny organic-like rifles that Abe’s guards held, hundreds of guards total.

Abe wondered which he should take care of first: the Keuja, or this?

“This,” one of the guards to Abe’s left said, “is Fyharna, one of the northernmost cities of the Vamp Empire.”

“So in relation to Glukksonia,” Crak asked, “where are we?”

A Vamp slapped him across the face with the back of a hand, and Crak went flying. Abe’s eyes widened, as the Slig hit the ground and skidded a fair distance across the grass, ending up in a moaning splayed position. Vamp arms were so skinny! How could they be so strong?

“No stupid questions,” the guard hissed. “You are prisoners; your place is not to learn.”

Abe looked back out at the town, not bothering to help Crak up, since Cloud was already dealing with that. How come no one had ever known about this huge Vamp civilization down here? How had the Vamps kept this a secret for so many years? Why had Abe never seen a Vamp before yesterday? And, most importantly, what were the Vamps going to do to the rest of the world?

One of the other guards moved up to them, speaking in his soft, accented voice. “Captain? We should move them down into the city now.”

The Vamp who had struck Crak, apparently the guard captain, nodded his head. “Indeed. Load the prisoners back into the crate.”

Abe turned and headed back for their transportation container without a word of protest, without having to be pushed around. He had never been the kind to put up a defense if he didn’t have to, and with their pain-inducing rifles, he was not interested.

Plus, it would be good to get into this Vamp city. It would give them some intel on the Vamps, and let them see what their newest foes were up to.

In his heart, he already knew what they were up to: Something nasty.

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