Solbearers: Part 9- The Tunnel

Jesse awoke and rolled over to find his bow missing. His gut sank but was relieved as he saw Cassandra enter the cave with his bow over her shoulder. She was carrying a makeshift bag made from a tied up shirt filled with wild berries. Following her was Buibui with a dead deer over his shoulder and firewood in his opposite arm.

"Buibui could have hunted it but the bow seemed more humane. And my bolts are made of silver so I hope I don't mind" Cassandra said.

"Not at all" Jesse replied "especially when it's to feed the group".

"I don't know the land well enough. Could you make sure none of these berries will kill us?" Cassandra asked.

"Of course" Jesse said as he started sifting through which berries were safe and which weren't.

Then Cassandra started a fire while Jesse butchered the deer. Chen and Shinji were pleasantly surprised to wake up to cooked deer and berries. Buibui and Inti were content to eat the scraps knowing their human friends don't get to feed on vampires along the way like they can.

After their hearty meal Cassandra explained her vision and they followed the landmarks of her dream on a surprisingly peaceful leg of their journey.

Arriving at the base of the great tree they entered a tunnel with walls that went from natural to manufactured the deeper the group went. Cassandra led the way with her flashlight illuminating the path forward.

Noticing a heavy metal gate descending from above Cassandra pushed Jesse backwards in time for him to not be crushed but Cassandra was now separated from the group. In the darkness Buibui and Inti pounded on the gate and before long they could hear Cassandra screaming. They broke through the gate and Cassandra's dropped speargun light partially illuminated Cassandra as she lay on the floor. As they neared Cassandra growled and swiped at them. Even in the minimal light they could see something was very wrong. Cassandra was drooling, feral and muscle bound. Her Nails were thick and sharp. Her jaw was elongated forward with jagged teeth. Jesse hesitated and it cost him Cassandra digging her nails into his gut before he could toss her towards her dropped speargun. Closer to the light source they could see the source of Cassandra's madness. A small insect like vampire was feeding on Cassandra's back drinking her blood.

"She's fast it'll be hard to flank her Shinji" shouted.

"Got it!" Chen yelled.

With great precision Chen caught Cassandra's shoulder with the chain of his meteor hammer in such a way that its jade sphere arced and smashed the parasite's skull. Relieved of the creature she dropped to the ground and it took just a few seconds to revert to her usual self.

"Jesse!" She cried out horrified at the wound she inflicted on him.

"It's okay Cass. It wasn't you" Jesse said with a wince "god I'm glad you're you again".

As Chen dressed Cassandra and Jesse's wounds Shinji and Buibui examined the body of the thing that was latched onto Cassandra.

"I think it's a flea" Shinji started "a big 3 foot tall flea that latched onto Cassandra".

Then the group heard Buibui in their heads "This thing is like me, it's something new now but there is mosquito vampire in its lineage. This is what our targets were doing in Africa. Studying vampire sects to make something new".

Then more of the flea vampires leaped into the room with their powerful frog like legs. Without the element of surprise all eight were quickly slain by Inti, Buibui and Shinji as Chen shone the light on them while guarding his injured friends.