Gareth looked from Arlette to the slumped and unconscious Alexia. He bit his lip hard and looked like he was itching to order the battle to continue regardless. But then, he wondered if he even had the authority to order such a thing.
The commander of their little army was Alexia and while she was incapacitated, Gareth didn't think he had the right to make a decision that could end up killing her.
"Stand down!" Gareth ordered the Hellsingers in a tone of surrender. He dropped his sword and after a second of contemplation, the other Hellsingers followed suit.
"Smart choice," Caius said with a secret breath of relief.
'That could have been ugly.'
While Arlette and Alexia were still in captivity, the Leopold Vampires began to slink away one after the other. They had used various modes of transportation to get here and they returned to them while never fully taking their eyes off the Hellsingers in case they pounced. They never did.
Soon, only Caius and the mbers of the Leopold Coven Council that had been with him when he went underground were left. Hugo laid Alexia on the ground and line withdrew her dagger from Arlette's neck so she could go down and feign concern for Alexia's well-being.
The Council mbers took to the air. Kerwin used his magic to lift Caius, and together they left the scene, the Hellsingers looking up at them with a look of distaste.
"My Lady," Gareth said as he approached Arlette and Alexia. He didn't get close enough to reach out and touch either of them and just went on his knees with his head bowed.
"You made the right decision," Arlette reassured him.
The truth was Arlette had been thinking of the clash between the two sides since Alexia selected the Hellsingers to co with her to hunt Brogan down. It was why she had been so quick with the plan.
Arlette fussed over Alexia for a while. It seed like exactly the thing to do at the mont and, with the Hellsingers all so keen about Alexia's wellbeing, giving her a checkup kept them all here and gave Caius and the Leopolds more ti to get as far away as possible.
"She'll be alright," Arlette assured them minutes later.
The Hellsingers sighed in relief.
"We should get her back to the Von Helsing Estate," Gareth said, "As soon as possible."
A few Hellsingers were assigned the task of quickly transporting Alexia back to the Estate and Arlette went with them. The others stayed behind at the battlefield for a bit of cleanup. The rising dawn would turn the vampire corpses to ashes but there were items to be salvaged.
Brogan's vampires had been ard with weapons, Arcane Tools, and more. There was a protocol to these things and Gareth took charge by recording every item that was acquired and trying his hardest to ensure no one absconded with anything.
Gareth was intent on giving a detailed report to Alexia once she was awake or maybe, report directly to Count Lucian Von Helsing, and maybe gain back so of the favor he had lost in that incident involving Caius months ago.
•••
The Leopolds' return to the Capital was a delicate affair.
It turned out the Vampiric attack Brogan had let loose on the Capital was focused mostly on Capital City but there was still an alertness that made entering the Capital as a horde of masked vampires a cautious matter.
Fortunately, the Leopolds had their own territory and had enough influence to clear various paths. The darkness of night was also advantageous and with their carriages moving as quietly as possible in less densely populated regions, they managed. Or at least that's what Caius hoped.
Caius wasn't actually privy to the return path of the entire Leopold Vampire force. He returned to the Leopold Estate in a single carriage, he rode in with the Council mbers he had attacked the underground hideout with. It seed more prudent not to all move in a massive group that would make them more prone to discovery.
Only when the carriage he was in pulled into the Leopold Estate did Caius truly believe they had escaped exposure for the mont. And he very much welcod the cozy welco of the massive underground Coven soon after.
He and the Leopold Council mbers moved silently to the Council Hall. They were all still wearing their Gold-black cloaks but had taken off their masks as they awaited the return of the others.
mbers of the council who hadn't gone along on the expedition were waiting at the Council Hall partly out of a sense of duty and also due to believing it would be shaful to retire to their chambers while their Family, Leader, and Lord were doing battle.
"We take it the operation was a success, then?" Lorton said with a little smile but there was an uncertainty in his eyes and his tone as he spoke.
"We'll know after a headcount," Caius said. His tone wasn't at all at leisure. He was sure they hadn't lost anyone in the battle against Brogan's vampires. After all, along with the Hellsingers, they had outnumbered and overpowered Brogan's minions.
Hell, to be realistic, there was a higher chance that Hellsingers had fallen in that fight than Leopold Vampires. Still, Caius couldn't be at ease while they were all still out there making their dangerous ways back to the Coven or whatever hideout they preferred.
It wasn't all the vampires in that fight who were mbers of the Leopold Extended Family. As once stated, the Leopold Family mbers had been allowed by Kerwin to turn people outside the family that they found trustworthy. It was those non-Leopolds who were entrusted with running 'Ophiuchus' bases or keeping guard of various sections of this very underground Coven.
In other words, while every pure Leopold Vampire was sure to return to the underground Coven which was their ho, there were those non-Leopolds who had other hideouts to lay low.
A headcount happened hours later and only after every vampire who had been part of the battle was accounted for did Caius truly consider the entire experience a success.
"What news from the Capital?" He asked then, moving on to the next issue.
There was a knit in Roxanne's brow as she answered.
"By the ti the 'Ophiuchus' rcenaries joined the battle, the casualties were already nearing hundreds. The City Guards had also killed a quarter of the newborn Vampires by the ti…"
"Newborns?" Lorton asked as if this was the first he was hearing of the matter. And to be fair, it truly was.
"Hundreds of them," Caius answered, "Created by Brogan's minions and released in Capital City."
"Gods…" Lorton said with wide eyes.
Many others in the Coven shared his sentint. They had all been newborns once and knew how strong the urge to hunt and kill indiscriminately had been in them. Only by Kerwin's control had they been reined in and forced to be satisfied with the blood and prey that had been acquired for them.
"Roxanne, continue," Caius said.
"Our rcenaries posed as well-aning citizens helping to solve a crisis. They blended in quite well as there were many others doing the sa thing. Together with those others, as well as the City Guards, the newborns were all killed. Their bodies were left to burn in the sun.
The City then experienced a purge of sorts as the higher-ups in the City Guards believed there were more vampires besides the newborns.
The City Guards and the rcenaries found more vampires, a small group who fought with more mastery of their urges…"
"Those weren't newborns," Caius noted.
"No," Roxanne answered, "I believe they were the rest of Brogan's minions in charge of the newborns and responsible for releasing them."
"And you'd be right," Caius said with a nod, "What's the mood of Capital City now?"
"Extrely High alert," Roxanne said in a heavy tone,
"There are early murmurs of an Anti-vampire Taskforce."
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