After the cave's entrance was sealed by the massive boulder, a surge of raw terror and panic overwhelmed John. He grabbed the back of his head with both hands, frantically pacing back and forth in the gloom.
"Shit! What the hell just happened? Why does this always seem to happen to me?" he muttered to himself, his voice high with despair. "What are we gonna do? Oh, man, this is completely messed up. How are we going to escape this cave? I can't move that huge boulder!"
Suddenly, the image of his defeated grandfather—the Clan Lord—snapped him out of his frantic state.
John crouched down next to the powerful figure. "Grandpa, what are we gonna do? You have to stand up and get us out of here."
Leonidas groaned—a ragged, guttural sound of intense pain. "I… I can't move my legs," he rasped, his voice barely a whisper. "Decker injected me with more venom when we were on the flying ship. Damn, if you weren't here, I would have eviscerated him. However, I made a promise to your mother that I'd protect you." He finished with a strained, agonizing cough.
John put his head down, the despair deepening into self-pity and misery. "You're right, Grandpa. I was useless, and I shouldn't have come with you." He sniffled, the gravity of the situation crushing him. "I'm sorry."
John then forced himself to examine their prison. The cave was pitch black; a normal human would not be able to see their own hand. However, John was a vampire, and his eyes quickly adjusted, allowing him to see everything as clearly as if it were daylight.
He looked up and saw that the ceiling of the vast chamber was full of large and small rock-type icicles—the cave formations called stalactites—hanging overhead. The cave itself was massive and very spacious, and John saw that there were multiple dark passages leading off into different directions.
"See if you can move the boulder, boy. The sooner we can escape this place, the better," Leonidas instructed, his voice thick with pain and urgency.
"Yes, Grandpa," John replied, his voice determined.
John pressed both of his hands against the huge boulder. He pushed with everything he had, straining every muscle in his arms and back, but the rock did not budge for an instant. It was an immovable, final seal on their prison.
Leonidas watched his effort. He had not expected much from the boy and had already surrendered to despair the moment the entrance was sealed. He had almost no energy left, his regenerative powers crippled by the venom, and he knew his remaining strength was insufficient to destroy the massive obstacle.
John kept pushing with everything he had, but he, too, realized it was utterly pointless. He fell to his knees, tears of fear and helplessness beginning to stream down his face. He turned his head toward the Clan Lord. "I am sorry, Grandpa," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I am totally useless."
Leonidas lay motionless on the ground. He said nothing, simply closing his eyes to focus his dwindling energy, attempting to slow the spread of the poison in his legendary body.
John quickly wiped the tears from his eyes, preparing to try again, but then both he and Leonidas simultaneously heard a sound that chilled their blood: loud, heavy footsteps echoing from one of the dark passages.
A huge, hunched figure emerged from the gloom, easily taller than seven feet, swinging a massive, primitive club. Its skin was a mottled, rough gray color, its face dominated by razor-sharp teeth and a long, monstrous nose. John's eyes stretched wide in sheer terror as this towering creature shambled into their chamber.
The troll stopped when he saw the two figures. Its body was sickeningly festooned with the dried skins and trophies of previous human and animal victims. It looked down at Leonidas, still motionless on the ground, then fixed its gaze on John, who stood near the boulder, paralyzed by complete, visceral fear. This was the stuff of nightmares, a creature John had only ever seen in movies.
The huge troll looked at Leonidas and pointed a thick finger at him, its voice a gravelly rumble. "Red hair... Leonidas must die. Greyskin hungry."
It then focused on John. "Boy, yummy snack."
The monstrous Greyskin walked to Leonidas, the air growing thick with the creature's foul stench. The troll raised its massive club high overhead, ready to smash the incapacitated vampire lord to a pulp.
Leonidas had already accepted his fate, closing his eyes to embrace oblivion. But John saw the imminent, brutal attack. Without thought, without time for fear, he rushed forward by pure, protective instinct.
Boom!
The force of the blow shook the cavern, but the club did not pierce Leonidas's skin. After the dust and rock fragments cleared, the troll looked down at the ground, its small eyes widening in surprised confusion. There was no one there.
Greyskin scratched its hideous face with a razor-sharp finger, then looked to its right.
John was standing there, bent double, holding the weight of his grandfather. "Huff, Huff," the boy gasped, breathing heavily, barely having managed to pull Leonidas out of the fatal path in time.
"Leonidas looked at John and said, "Why did you save me? Just leave me to die. I am useless in this state."
After the cave's entrance was sealed by the unyielding boulder, a surge of raw terror overwhelmed John. He immediately threw both hands to the back of his head and began pacing frantically in the suffocating gloom.
"Shit! What the fuck just happened? Why does this sh*t always seem to happen to me?" he hissed, his voice trembling. "What are we gonna do? Oh, man, this is messed up. How are we going to escape this cave? I can't move that huge boulder!"
The sight of his grandfather, the Clan Lord, motionless on the floor, finally pierced his panic. John crouched down quickly. "Grandpa, what are we gonna do? You have to stand up and get us outta here."
Leonidas groaned—a sound of supreme agony and defeat. "I... can't move my legs," he rasped, the words barely audible. "Decker injected me with more venom when we were on the flying ship. The chemical is targeting my locomotion. Damn, if you weren't here, I would have eviscerated him." Leonidas struggled to control a cough. "However, I made a promise to your mother that I'd protect you." Cough, cough.
John put his head down, misery and self-pity overwhelming him. "You're right, Grandpa. I was useless, and I shouldn't have come with you." He sniffled, the despair sharp in his throat. "I am sorry."
John forced himself to look up. The chamber was pitch-black, but his vampire vision immediately adjusted, allowing him to see everything with the clarity of daylight. He observed the vast, silent prison: the ceiling was covered in shimmering, massive rock formations known as stalactites. The cave was enormous and labyrinthine, with multiple dark passages branching off into the unknown.
"See if you can move the boulder, boy; the sooner we can escape this place, the better," Leonidas ordered, his voice thick with pain but demanding action.
"Yes, Grandpa," John replied, the need to obey sharpening his focus.
John pressed his hands against the enormous rock and pushed with every ounce of strength he possessed. The boulder remained utterly unyielding. He fell back to his knees, defeated, and tears began to stream down his face. "I am sorry, Grandpa, I am totally useless."
Leonidas lay motionless, conserving his energy to battle the poison. John wiped his eyes and prepared to try again, but then both he and Leonidas simultaneously heard loud, deliberate footsteps echoing through the passage walls.
A huge figure suddenly emerged from one of the passages. It was the troll, Greyskin, easily towering over seven feet, dragging a massive club. Its rough, gray skin was covered with the unsettling texture of dried human and animal trophies. John froze, a chill running through his soul—this was the stuff of absolute nightmares.
The troll stopped and pointed its gnarled finger at the fallen Clan Lord. "Red hair... Leonidas must die. Greyskin hungry." He then looked at John, who wanted to pee his pants from visceral fear. "Boy, yummy snack."
Greyskin approached Leonidas, the air fouling with the creature's repulsive, metallic stench. He raised his enormous club high, ready to smash the incapacitated vampire. Leonidas, accepting the end, closed his eyes.
But John acted on pure instinct. Without hesitation, he rushed forward, wrapping his arms around his grandfather.
Boom!
The club smashed the stone floor, narrowly missing the Clan Lord. As the smoke and dust cleared, the troll looked down, utterly confused. Greyskin scratched its hideous face, then looked to its right and saw John, bent double from the effort, holding his grandfather. "Huff, Huff," John gasped, fighting to maintain his position.
Leonidas, stunned but instantly alert, looked up at his grandson. "Father always said that when a friend or family member's shoulder hangs, the other has to hook it for the time being so that both can walk." John offered Leonidas a quick, determined smile. "I know you are one of the strongest vampires, but now you are weak, and it is now up to me to step up, and if we both die, then so be it; then we die together."
John quickly took out a fire and water elemental stone from his pouch and slammed them together. The sudden, violent reaction created a huge cloud of scalding, blinding steam that instantly filled the cave. The troll was caught completely off guard, screaming as the steam hit its sensitive eyes and nose, flailing its club mindlessly.
John used the momentary chaos. He hoisted his grandfather over his shoulder—the unexpected weight nearly crushing him—and began to run through a random, dark passage. He felt the weight of Leonidas acutely, but a new surge of strength coursed through him. I have been training for this, he thought, pushing his exhausted body forward.
Eek!
When John arrived in the next section of the cave, he stopped dead in his tracks. The entire area was a horrific graveyard, covered completely with human and animal bones and skeletons.
"What are you screaming for? You are going to give our position away!" Leonidas coughed painfully from John's shoulder.
"Sorry, Grandpa, but we gotta escape this hellish place," John whispered, forcing himself to run further into the cave, aimlessly choosing one dark path after another. "Damn, this place stinks; I can't die in a place like this," he thought, the overwhelming smell of death and decay assaulting his senses. He ran until he felt reasonably sure they had gained distance from the raging troll and used the opportunity to catch his breath.
But the reprieve was fleeting. After only a few minutes, John heard the unmistakable sound of large, dragging footsteps rapidly approaching. "Where are the ants hiding? Greyskin likes to play hide and seek," the troll's guttural voice boomed.
John carefully lowered his grandfather off his back, and they both took cover behind a massive pile of bones and skulls.
The troll soon came into the same bone-covered area, carrying his huge club on his shoulder. He looked around for his prey. Greyskin searched the bone piles for a few minutes, then roared in frustration and began thrashing everywhere with his club, smashing the fragile skeletons. "Come out… Greyskin bored and hungry!"
John watched the horrifying spectacle of the troll, Greyskin, thrashing wildly in the bone-filled cavern. He stepped back in pure terror, and his foot landed with a sharp crunch.
Snap!
The sound of the bone breaking was instantly audible in the gloom, tearing through the troll's confused roars and capturing its full, murderous attention. Greyskin spun its massive head, its small, ugly eyes locking onto John. The troll's face stretched into a hideous, predatory grin. "Found you," it rumbled. The troll rushed their position, and a wave of paralyzing panic washed over the boy. "What are we going to do, Grandpa? We're gonna die…"
Tears of helpless fear began to run down his cheeks. "I don't wanna die, Grandpa," he pleaded.
Cough, cough. Leonidas's pain was evident, but his voice cut through John's panic. "Silence, boy, and help me sit up."
John instantly obeyed, supporting the Clan Lord into an upright posture against the rock. Leonidas then slowly raised his right arm, his index finger shaking violently from the circulating poison. He focused his remaining will and energy. A brilliant torch flame emerged, rapidly rotating into a focused, high-speed jet of fire—his signature attack, the Scorched Beam.
The fire beam shot straight through Greyskin's right shoulder. The troll roared in unimaginable agony, having never experienced such concentrated, pure heat. It collapsed hard to the ground, momentarily stunned.
Leonidas looked at John, his face slick with sweat and black blood. "I spent the last of my available energy. You must use this opportunity to escape."
John furiously wiped the tears from his face. He hoisted the heavy, poisoned Leonidas onto his back and ran directionlessly into the closest available passage.
As he ran, he spotted their salvation: a small, jagged hole in the cave wall. He immediately saw that the opening was far too small for the massive, hunched troll to enter. John had to crouch low, almost dragging his grandfather, to squeeze into the tight, defensive tunnel.
After at least twenty minutes of agonizing travel, they emerged into a small, secret chamber. This area was spacious enough for John to finally stand up, stretch his aching body, and place Leonidas upright against a supportive rock face. John walked around the small refuge, his eyes scanning. "I wonder who dug this place," he murmured, then stopped when he saw a grim sight: a skeleton sitting quietly in the corner. "Oh, it was probably you. Thank you, kind sir."
John returned to Leonidas and, speaking quickly, relayed every terrifying detail Decker had revealed: the four-day deadline, the castle attack, and the threat to every family member.
Leonidas coughed a mouthful of thick, black blood. He stared at John for a moment, the immense weight of the loss crushing him. "I think this is the end for us; my whole family is probably going to die if everything is going as Decker planned."
Leonidas stared at John, the Clan Lord's eyes—though clouded by venom—still holding a look of total defeat. He heard the despair in his own voice: "I think this is the end for us; my whole family is probably going to die if everything is going as Decker planned."
John snapped. He could not accept this complete surrender from the strongest man he knew. He walked quickly to where Leonidas was sitting. He placed his right hand firmly on his grandfather's shoulder, ignoring the lingering black veins and the clammy cold of the vampire's skin. John looked the Clan Lord directly in the eyes.
"Don't worry, Grandfather," John declared, his voice shaking slightly, but steeling itself with every word. "We're gonna bust out of this hell hole, save our family, and kick Decker's ass, facts."