A shout of excitement stopped any further conversations.

"Look! Lazarus and Valentine are online!"

All turned to look at the indicated screen. Zen brought it up to the main screen. The gatekeepers had come on at the right time, he thought excitedly. Now he could show the CEO what he was talking about, not just describe or show him previous videos of them. He would be able to see the raw uncut interaction of the gatekeepers. It was so much more fun before editing. Editing did a great job, but their focus was to promote the Game and the Heroes in an exciting dramatic fashion. Sometimes they had to cut out the byplay between the Heroes.

Lazarus, Assassin Level 84.

Valentine, Thief Level 81.

"Lazarus and Valentine are good friends. They often run dungeons together. The other two gatekeepers, Constantine and Kirana are lovers. That leaves Isis, but she prefers to level up by honing her creative Skills at the moment. She plays casually now and usually logs on longer on weekends," Zen explained to his new friend. He smiled at the screen like a proud father.

Jared raised his voice slightly so that it would reach Nadine at the other end of the room, "Lazarus? Is he the one in your report?"

"Yes, Sir. He is the one who completed all the Orb Trials and is now eligible to go through the Portal."

"Ah, excellent. Now we will see how good he actually is." Jared folded his arms and waited. He expected a good show.

The CEO gave a sidelong glance at Aria. His grand daughter was barely holding in her excitement. Her face was flushed and her eyes were shining brightly. Jared turned back to the screen with renewed interest, it was the boy she had told him about, Jace. One of her friends who had welcomed Aria at the new school and helped her overcome her trauma. The one his grand daughter had been going to the hospital to see and spending a lot of time with. The one who made her smile prettily when she talked about him.

The boy had helped his grand daughter and now he was unintentionally helping Simtrixx, via his participation in Orc Wars. The Gaming industry was cut throat competitive. There were new Games being released every other day. 'New' games became 'Old' very fast if there were no updates, improvements or failed in any of the gamer's expectations. Competition was stiff. Nadine had hoped for Season Two to continue Orc War's popularity. Season Two was a few months away. Anything could happen in that time.

However, this Jace/Lazarus's unprecedented actions and charisma had managed to sustain and even increase interest in Orc Wars. At this rate, Orc Wars will soon be level with the industry's other few long term Games. It would be an automatic Game to play for all serious gamers.

Jace Carter.

Jared made a mental note to look up the boy and do a background check on him.

------------

Valentine raised an eyebrow at Lazarus. They were in a bleak setting. The place around them was dark and dank. Withered trees with dry branches reached up to the sky like desperate claws, stretching out for the impossible. The cold dead air did nothing to hide the subtle stench of rotting bodies.

"I don't like this place," Anya stated in their heads.

"Me too," came Tania's reply. She had flattened her ears against her furry head.

The Thief patted her reassuringly. "Dungeon level 80? Are you sure about this?" Valentine asked as he peered through the tall rusted iron gates in front of them.

"I've got to get back into virtual shape before we crossover," Lazarus shrugged. "And we should pick something of a challenge, right? ... or would you prefer one of the lower dungeons."

"One of the lower ones!" the two familiars chorused.

Valentine snorted and Lazarus smiled crookedly at the wolves. "Nah, that would be too boring. We should do something no one else has done before. Has Constantine done this one?"

"No, he has not been running dungeons lately. I don't know what he has been up to."

"Xico said his Chosen has been working on new spells."

"Really?" Lazarus asked interested.

"Wow. Look at that enormous creepy castle. What do you suppose is lurking in there?"

"Only one way to find out, c'mon."

Lazarus searched the iron gates, there didn't seem to be any locks on it. The Assassin tested the gates, shaking it. To his amazement, it grated open emitting a loud creaking sound. Quickly he grabbed it to stop the terrible noise.

The two wolves growled, hackles raised.

"Shhhh!!" Valentine yelped in fright and looked stealthily around. "Oh my God, Laz, I almost died of a heart attack! What a racket! You would make such an awful Thief!"

Lazarus grinned and went in. "That's why I'm not one."

Valentine rolled his eyes as he crept behind Lazarus. "What is this place?"

Lazarus kept silent as they made their way to the front door. It was obviously the entrance to the dungeon.

The gardens were not much better than the outside. The trees here were dead too. The dry bare bark and branches were almost white, deprived from sunlight for so long. Stagnant ponds were covered with dead leaves. There was no evidence of life, not even small bugs.

Anya and Tania growled softly.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"I think I know ..." Lazarus frowned as he surveyed the sad landscape.

"What? What do you know? Have you been here before?" Valentine followed his friend's gaze. "You know, this place is beginning to feel familiar ... it's like we have stepped into one of those bad horror movies."

Suddenly a figure streaked in front of them. The running girl tripped and fell, sprawling at the Heroes feet. The two wolves immediately jumped on her and held her down with their powerful paws. She screamed at their bared fangs.

"No! No! Please don't eat me!" the poor NPC shivered in fright.

Lazarus took one look and gestured at Anya. Valentine did the same. Here it comes. They both knew this was the trigger NPC who would que them about the dungeon's quest. The Assassin stepped forward and held out a hand to help her up. The girl hesitated and stared at his hand fearfully.

Just then the heavy front door creaked eerily open. The girl blanched at the strangely inviting dark opening, shuddering violently.

"Y-y-you are not going to e-eat me, are you my Lord?" she asked Lazarus warily.

"Of course I'm not going to eat you, why should I?"

"P-pardon my saying b-but you look like them." She pointed to the open door of the dark mansion towering behind them.

"Them?"

Lazarus raised an elegant eyebrow and tilted his head.Then he looked down at his elegant gothic expensive black and red outfit which Ash had bought for him. He looked like some rich young lord from medieval times.

"Y-yes my Lord. Pale flawless skin, captivating eyes a-and so beautiful," she sighed dreamily forgetting her fear for a moment. When Valentine stepped forward, she cringed again.

"If you are not going to eat me, please let me go. I barely escaped from there, I can't go back! They bit me and bled me until I was weak but they won't kill me," she cried emotionally. "They are not done toying with me."

Lazarus glanced at Valentine. Only one word came to mind.

Vampires.

"Why won't they kill you?" Valentine asked. As far as he knew, vampires either drained their victims or turned them. No one 'escaped' from a vampire unless they were released intentionally. All those vampire movies he had watched were very educational and coming in handy right now. He gave a quick sidelong glance to Lazarus.

"I don't know. They are all evil! Please, go in and kill them," she batted her wet eyes at Valentine. "KILL THEM ALL!" she cried shrilly. Valentine stepped closer, the girl was seriously upset. Suddenly she lurched and latched onto the Thief. She bit his neck mercilessly, fangs and nails elongating.

"Owww! Arghhhh!! Get off me!!" Valentine yelled in fright.

In one fluid motion, Lazarus had his hunting knife out. The next instant, he was beside them. The Assassin beheaded the creature with a swift decisive stroke as the Thief tried to loosen her strong grip on him. Hot red blood spurted onto the Heroes. Her head tumbled to the ground, her mouth still open, fangs dripping crimson. Tania leapt at the body, clawing it away from her Chosen. The NPC's hands released the shocked Thief and collapsed to the ground.

Valentine clutched at his bleeding neck, a pained expression on his face, "Oh my God, Oh my God! I can't believe she actually bit me!" He was bleeding profusely. Slowly he held out a blood covered hand and stared at it.

"Chosen!!" Tania's worried voice sounded loud in the open link. Anya was growling at the twitching body.

"It's o'kay, I'm o'kay. I'll heal in a minute," he said in a shakey voice. "I didn't expect her to be so fast. Thanks Laz."

Lazarus gave a thumbs-up in response; he was busy inspecting the head. The bleeding had stopped, why didn't the body combust? His silver eyes widened in realisation, it could only mean one thing in this virtual world, it was not dead.

"Stay back!" the dark haired gatekeeper warned as he retrieved something from his Inventory. Vampires were immortal and difficult to kill, unless one knew how. One of the ways to kill a vampire was to behead it and destroy the head, preferably by burning it. Well here goes nothing. He hoped it worked, there was only one way to find out.

Lazarus did not have fire nor could he conjure it. Unfortunately, he was not a Warlock and did not have the necessary Skills to do so, but he did have the second best thing. He threw an acidic globe he had bought from Isis at the head. Upon impact, the eyes squeezed shut as the mouth opened to let out a blood curdling scream. It sent chills up his spine.

He watched in morbid fascination as the acid ate into the skin and bloody flesh. Soon, the ivory bone underneath was exposed.

"Chosen?" Anya called softly, breaking him out of his daze as the skull caved and continued to shrink in a bubbly foam, completely destroying it

He turned away from the grisly scene, satisfied that the head was gone. His guess was confirmed a moment later when the decapitated body exploded.

"Val?"

"I'm o'kay. Just a scratch. No big deal."

Lazarus had a weird expression on his face but before he could open his mouth, Valentine cut in. "Don't look at me like that. I feel fine, really. My wound has already closed, see?" He pulled at his blood-stained collar exposing his neck. His fair skin had indeed healed. All that was left of the attack was two faint marks indicating where the vampire's fangs had punctured his skin.

"She didn't get a chance to drink much ... but if I do change then go ahead and kill me," he said shrugging. Tania whined beside him.

Lazarus nodded curtly.

"Let's go in."

"Hang on for a bit."

Lazarus raised an inquiring eyebrow at the Thief. What now?

Valentine was busy inspecting himself. "I want to see if I sparkle ..."

He couldn't help it, the Assassin threw back his head and laughed startling the two familiars. "Oh Gods, seriously Val, you're killing me."

"What? It's my only chance to see if it's true," the Thief replied grinning.

"Firstly, you just got bitten. I don't think you have turned yet. It's too soon." Lazarus shook his head in amusement at the Nut, "And secondly, if I remember correctly, you need sunlight to see if you sparkle. There's none in this gloomy place."

"Hmm, that's true, I suppose."

"Be careful, you might burn to a crisp instead of sparkle you know."

"I guess so," Valentine shrugged. "Still, it would be worth it to know for sure."

"C'mon, let's go in. Your brethren awaits," the Assassin turned leading the way.

"They are not my bros," the handsome blond gatekeeper said, following Lazarus into the forbidding place, "... you are."

---------

Zen's hands were clasped together in excitement, eyes glued to the main screen. Finally, someone dared to try Dungeon 80. Nadine watched the screen but her attention was on the CEO. Her heart was thumping rapidly, Lazarus and Valentine had logged-on, at the right time. What luck! They would provide a first-hand demonstration of the Games' settings, avatar interactive abilities and beautiful life-like animations. She could not have asked for better examples to show case Orc Wars. The two gatekeepers made an awesome team. They were perfect.

Even if the CEO was not aware of the current storyline of these two Heroes, the promised action will be entertaining enough. Now Jared could see for himself what drove the success of the Game. If all goes well, she might get more funding and recognition. Her smile widened as she watched the CEO point to the Heroes on-screen, bending towards the girl in whispered conversation.

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Author's note - I know there are many die-hard vampire fans and experts out there. Please note that the following chapters are a mix of stuff that the Simtrixx Creative team put together for Orc Wars's Dungeon 80 and may not follow the known conventional vampire legends that we know and love. Don't get upset if it contradicts some beliefs. (Shamelessly putting the blame on the fictitious team here).

So, just relax and enjoy the ride.

However, please feel free to give feedback and ideas to improve the Dungeon if you have any. Thanks.