Blood and Tears - Grumbo Vampire AU

Chapter 20: Battlegrounds

Mumbo sat beside the sapphire river, his hand dipped in the running water. He stared at the rushing river, his reflection absent from the water. Already, the vampire missed Grian. He had barely been gone for a few hours, and yet Mumbo couldn't help but keep thinking of him.

The sun was up, meaning it was a rather dangerous time to be out, though Mumbo kept himself confined to the shadows of the overhanging trees. Most of the village was shrouded in darkness, so there wasn't much risk in walking around during daylight hours. Still, Mumbo had gotten used to his nocturnal schedule.

He glanced up from the river, noticing an odd commotion in the center of the village. The vampire perked up a bit, a bit of hope inside him that it was Grian coming back. Mumbo got to his feet, stepping away from the riverbank as he began to curiously approach the growing crowd of monsters.

"Gather everyone! We need to evacuate!" A voice called from the center of the crowd, "Techno, prepare the escape hatch and get everyone to meet on the west outskirts of the village."

A man dressed in dark armor pushed through the crowd, pulling along with him a familiar brunette girl with pink flowers in her hair. "Stress?" Mumbo raised his eyebrows, catching up with the two. "What on earth is going on? I thought you and Grian went back to the kingdom!"

"We did, but I was dragged back here!" She said, equally as confused as she was pulled by the wrist.

Hels practically broke down the door to TFC's cabin with a kick, startling the elder vampire. "What the—, Hels? I thought you were at the castle for intel?"

"I was," The shapeshifter nodded, a bit out of breath from the long journey back to the sanctuary. "But I needed to get back here as quickly as possible. The king is planning an all-out attack on our village. He plans to capture every monster he possibly can. On the way here there were dozens of guards swarming the forest, they're already prepping for the battle."

TFC rose from his chair, grabbing his cane and heading with a quick pace upstairs. "Come with me." He said to the three, wasting no time as he hurried up the steps. Mumbo and Hels started to follow, pulling Stress along, though she freed herself from the shapeshifter's grip and pulled away.

"Wait, why did you bring me here?"

"A hunter saw you and Grian leave the village, they were planning on capturing you. I volunteered to get you, but it won't be long before they realize we're already gone." Hels explained, the vampire's eyes going wide in shock and horror.

"What happened to Grian? Is he okay?" Mumbo asked in a panic, as the shapeshifter slowly shook his head.

"Grian was trying to talk to the king when I ran off. It would have been suspicious for me to take him along, I couldn't do anything."

Mumbo's heart sank. "I need to go find him!" The vampire said as he rushed towards the door, Hels grabbing his wrist before he could leave the cottage.

"No, it's too dangerous! They won't hurt Grian, they just think he's under some kind of mind control. What we need to do now is prepare for the battle, we can't have you running off and getting caught."

"But—"

"He's right, Mumbo." Stress put a hand on his shoulder, trying to help calm the vampire. "Scar and Grian are friends. He won't be hurt. But you might get killed, so for now, we need to come up with a plan."

"Come on, let's talk to TFC and see what he has in mind." Hels said, gesturing for Mumbo and Stress to follow him upstairs. The three headed to the second level, entering Ex's room, as the other monsters were already meeting there.

"We need to stand and fight!" Doc stopped his hoof against the ground, smoke puffing out of his mouth. "They will never stop hunting us! Let's stand our ground and fight back!"