A bat in the Underdark
Nathan Calresh
The vampire hung in his bat form from the top of the tunnel that had taken him deep into the Underdark. Nathan's senses were overwhelmed by alien sights and smells: fungi with deep red tops and turquoise undersides, glowing, pulsating, and shifting. Seemingly at random, the fungi were releasing microspores that were falling like ashes, smothering the rock around them. It was from this treacherous, alien landscape that the Balor had found its way to the surface. What mind would ever coax such an evil out of its forbidden realm? Only dark elves would pursue such forsaken scheming, the vampire concluded. The vampire's task was clear: find a fragment of the chain that had, many years ago, bound him in place, and bring it to Aenur Dent. And, in the back of his mind, was Yllaria the wood elf, now the youngest of the vampires. Eventually, Nathan decided to follow the heat, noticing some paths seemed hotter than others. His bat wings were sensitive networks of nerves, and soon, they started throbbing leathery from the moist heat. It was at this time that he saw a herd of fire basilisks. An alpha of turquoise color with an ebony, pearl-white pattern had a piece of a chain wrapped around its serpentine body. It was the fragment of the Balor's chain, reflecting the little light that was found. Within seconds, the vampire bat screeched and lunged onto the basilisk, clawing out its eyes. In the blink of an eye, a legion of basilisks sank their teeth into the bat, hot volcanic venom spilling into Nathan's undead body. This blistering torrent of volcanic blood forced Nathan to instantly shed his bat form, his true vampiric flesh healing the searing burns as fast as the creature's blood could inflict them. This healing came at a great cost, and consumed all strength and blood the vampire had prepared to sacrifice in the Underdark. Before the vampire, pale in flesh, almost translucent, with weakened skin, lay the dead alpha basilisk, and in his hand the vampire now carried the onyx fragment of the Balor's chain. No longer able to see, Nathan stumbled and crawled as fast as his feet took him, until no sounds were heard, neither the hissing of basilisks nor the quiet fungi's release of spores. The vampire found a pile of volcanic rock and buried himself, not knowing who or what would find his undead body. Before his consciousness slipped, he shared a thought with Yllaria, the young vampire. He did not know if her ear would receive his word. Nathan touched his arm, where she had drunk his blood, and the invisible bond had manifested. Then, he thought of her. Yllaria, while I have the fragment of the Balor's chain, I fear the Underdark has claimed victory over me.
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