She regroups with DuBois

Venus silently looked down at the vampire's body, now cold and oozing blood from his torn neck. As LaSalle's life pooled around the soles of her boots, she combed through his words, trying to find some semblance of meaning. Not finding a satisfactory answer, Venus shrugged her shoulders and drew her dagger, getting to work severing LaSalle's head as proof of the kill.

With that grisly business over with, she tipped his head into a small sack she kept in one of her pouches. Then she remembered about Katherine and set out to look for her. As Venus was leaving the chamber, she took one last glance at LaSalle's decapitated corpse, recalling his predictions, and then filed it away in her head.

After a few minutes of searching, Venus found Katherine alone in an isolated room. Much like the other rooms, it was built with carved stone and had empty shelves and opened sarcophagi where the undead had risen. A small mountain of undead surrounded her, all killed. Again. Katherine was wiping a grey ichor off her blade with a wool handkerchief when she saw Venus at the other end of the room.

"Venus! I'm glad you're alive, and also with the vampire's head, if that bag you're carrying is any indication." She said, pointing to the prize in Venus' hand. Her smile fell a little as she added, "At least one of us reached a satisfactory conclusion to this raid."

Venus nodded her head modestly in recognition and as she approached the beautiful woman, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"It doesn't make any sense." Katherine shook her head uncertainly, causing her wavy, black locks of hair to tumble hypnotically, "There were a significant number of ghouls here, far more than one of this vampire's caliber to command..."

"Don't worry about it, Katherine. The vampire's dead and we're still standing. Let's go claim our reward, shall we?" Venus said cheerfully, holding up the bloody sack with LaSalle's head in it.

"That's not 'im."

Venus blinked. "What?"

"He's not the vampire on the bill." The man behind the counter said. His sagging skin and his dull, I-know-this-is-important-to-you-and-I-don't-care glance projected a scathing yet offhandish behaviour. "No vampire, no reward."

"You can't be serious." She said, glaring at the village elder. "He's obviously a vampire, just look at him! He's even got the fangs, see?!" Venus pried open LaSalle's lips to expose his teeth, displaying a pair of elongated incisors.

The older man glared at her. "I know what a vampire looks like, girl." He pushed the head away and Venus had to fumble with the sack to keep it from rolling off the bar. "This is not the one! This one was probably still sucking his vampire momma's titties when you killed 'im! The vampire who I'm looking for has the name of Valdin!"

Valdin. That was the name that LaSalle had mentioned as he lay dying. Venus turned the thought over in her head, but couldn't find an answer. What was the connection?

"They say Valdin's eyes are like pure silver, and that his hair is like a ray of moonlight. That one's eyes are blue, and God knows what color his hair was, seeing how everything is BLACK AND BURNED! No reward!" He growled, pointing towards the doors. "Now leave, I have business."

The young woman slumped her head dejectedly and walked away from the bar to the entrance, carrying the bloody sack with her. Before exiting though, Venus turned back around and asked, "Well, I killed a vampire, don't you think I should get some sort of consolation?"

"Get out."

[WRITER'S INFORMATION INCLUDED]