[i]The wine leaked down the Archbishop’s chin like blood, coincidentally very symbolic. 

“I’m sending you and your student through the portal first, you will be joined by others later, do your duty.”

“Yes, Father.” [/i]

Jack Alder, or Father Alder as he was referred to by most of the clergy of Denius, stalked the wasteland of Necropoli lost in thought. He and his student, Mercedes Kane, had been the first of the Order to enter the strange portal that had materialised in the middle of a village thought to be a coven for all manner of monstrous creatures. They were sent to identify any threat it posed, and eliminate it, as well as to hunt down and destroy the three vampires which had escaped into the world beyond. Jack was finding it troublesome, as he surveyed the dark lands around him which seemed untouched by sun, that nothing living as of yet had passed him. He was also certain more than a day had gone by, and still the sky spoke of night. He was far out of his comfort zone, and his lungs tingled uncomfortably, like he was having trouble breathing. Fortunately, he had a blessing for just such an inconvenience. He had bestowed it upon himself and Mercedes a short while after entering the dark world; hopefully it would protect them from whatever evil lurked here.

He bent and surveyed another set of tracks, his black cloak rustling around him as his wooden staff pierced into the ground and stood upright. After a brief glance he looked over at his apprentice, a lithe woman armed formidably with crossbow and cutlass, another warrior of the Order.

“The Vampires have passed here, Mercedes.” He warned her, standing quickly and surveying the dark horizon. He paid special attention to a small hill to which the tracks seemed to lead; he was able to be certain they were the Vampires because they were the only human-esque markings he had seen since he had arrived. Another brief interlude of hiking set him atop the hill, and looking down on a decrepit American-west-style town (though he did not know it), highlighted in the strange dim light of Necropoli. He looked down on it with caution.

“That would be where they have hidden from our Lord’s justice.” Jack intoned quietly, almost as if in a prayer. “Mercedes, you know what to do.” He knew she would be stealthier alone, surveying the town for their prey; he would wait on the hill for a signal or come down after ten minutes of silence.