Humility
Velstein was a small village on the outskirts of the Kingdom. Settled next to a forest and wide river, Velstein was a viable place to make a living with its fishing and logging community. Life in this village was relatively peaceful, but the town kept a small garrison of soldiers whose sole job was to patrol the main road to protect traders from the occasional bandit. Unfortunately, the garrison of Velstein was not prepared for what would happen in the small logging town.
Hans and Sans strolled down the single road leaving their village. The two men had drawn the short straw that night and were forced to patrol the road until morning. There had been talk of the drawings for shifts being rigged, as the same soldiers seemed to draw the overnight watch regularly, but neither of the men could figure out a way to prove this to their superiors. As Hans pondered on how he could prove that the shifts were being unfairly set against him he heard Sans grunt and move toward the tree line. Neither Hans nor Sans talked much during their overnight watches. Both men had grown bored of each other quickly and ran out of things to discuss. The men had lived in the same village all their lives, and had both been guardsmen all their lives, which made for boring conversation. Hans knew the grunt to be Sans signal for needing to relieve himself and stopped his progress down the road.
Hans leaned against his halberd and immediately started to dose off, his head sliding its way down his weapon, when he heard a high-pitched shrieking followed by the screams of a man. Hans readied his halberd and ran toward the tree line where Sans had disappeared. After plowing through the brush, a Hans stopped to look around for signs of Sans. Hans saw no sign of his watch mate and debated on his next course of action. While standing in the dark with his halberd at the ready Hans saw a large shadow detach itself from the darkness and move through the woods toward him. The shadow moved slowly like a wolf stalking its prey, but it bolted into action the moment Hans attempted to turn and run back toward the road. Hans barely made it five paces before the monster overtook him.
The following day the small town was consumed by news of the two missing soldiers. Their absence was quickly noted by their sergeant who immediately reported the missing soldiers to the captain of the guard. The captain immediately labeled the missing soldiers as deserters and sent out men to look for any signs of their desertion. The captain of the guard also knew that protocol demanded he request an official investigation from a representative of the Duke. The last thing the captain wanted was for some privileged court appointed investigator to be poking around the small town, so the captain firmly labeled the soldiers disappearance as desertion. Unfortunately for the captain the townsfolk would not simply forget about the incident as he greatly wished they would. Instead the townsfolk quickly escalated the official reports into wild rumors ranging from stories that the soldiers were part of a local cult to daemon abduction. Once these rumors began it did not take long for them to spread beyond the small town of Veldstein.
Sturm sank low in his saddle bowing his head so the wide brimmed hat he wore would keep the heavy rain off his face. Trusting his horse to keep plodding down the road, Sturm was able to review the events that led to his assignment in a small town like Veldstein. Sturm had never been one to play the political game that other men in his order seemed naturally adept in. As a novice, his mentor would often berate and punish him for speaking his mind to his betters, but Sturm had never learned to keep his mouth shut. Sturm was humble enough to realize that trait was exactly the reason he was soaked to the bone slowly riding toward a small town most people of the Kingdom could not find on a map. His order had heard the rumors coming from the small town about the two missing soldiers, but like the rest of the royal citizens who heard about the soldiers Sturm's order had assumed they were the gossip of the common folk. That is until Sturm got into a shouting match with his new superior officer.
Having been recently awarded the rank of full brother in his order Sturm was assigned to the role of instructor. The elders of the order thought Sturm would best serve as a mentor to the young members of the order. In this capacity Sturm would never venture out of the chapter house and would never be placed on actual assignments like other brothers of his rank. This did not sit well with Sturm, and instead of seeing the instructor position as an honor he viewed it as a slight against him. Angered that he had been put to the task of a glorified wet-nurse Sturm stormed into his superior's chambers one evening and explained, loudly, that he did not deserve reprimand and should be assigned to field work immediately. To Sturm's surprise his superior did not scream back at him and instead he quietly instructed Sturm that he had a field assignment that Sturm would be perfect for.
As Sturm's horse came to a stop he looked up through the heavy rain to see the village he had come to investigate. This small village had no protection from outsiders, and it looked more like a small collection of communal buildings than a proper village. The town was a small collection of simple buildings surrounded by simple farms. While Sturm took in the landscape he found himself hoping his stay would be a quick one.
After pausing to note the layout of the village, Sturm made his way to the center of the town's square. He assumed he would find an inn there and knew that would be a good place to start his investigation. It did not take long for Sturm to find the inn that had a small metal sign hanging out over the street which read "Logging Lodge". After tying his horse up in the front of the inn Sturm made his way up to the door and noticed he could hear the roar of conversation coming from inside. Sturm took his hat off, rang it out of all the rain, and stepped inside the inn. The first thing he noticed after stepping inside was how crowded the establishment was. He looked around and thought that the majority of the townsfolk must be packed into the common room of the small inn. Sturm also noticed as soon as he walked in the conversation that could be heard from outside had died down to a low murmur as the patrons noticed his presence. Taking a look around the common room Sturm made his way up to the barkeep who was behind the long bar at the back of the inn.
It took Sturm a few moments to secure lodging for himself and a stable for his horse. After instructing the stable boy on what to do with his belongings he ordered an ale from the bar and turned around to survey the crowd. Sturm barely had a chance to inspect the patrons of the inn before the barkeep got his attention to ask how long he planned to use a room at the inn. Sturm did not want the townsfolk knowing he was here to investigate the disappearance of the soldiers, but from the whispers and quick glances he was getting from across the common room, it looked like discretion was now impossible. Sturm decided that the direct approach was appropriate at this point and asked the bartender about the missing soldiers. The innkeeper informed Sturm the two soldiers were known to patrol the main road at night. The man continued to inform Sturm that it was also well known both soldiers were very unhappy in their duties. The bartender finished his account by proclaiming that to him it seemed like they had simply had enough and decided to strike out on their own. The innkeeper added it was obviously a poor choice for them since they were soon found dead, most likely from bandits. Sturm asked the innkeeper if anyone had bothered to search for the missing soldiers' killer. The innkeeper just laughed in response. He proclaimed that it would be a waste of time looking for the bandits and quickly added that they must be leagues away from the town by now. The innkeeper then proclaimed that he had other customers to tend to, and if Sturm had any questions that the watch captain would be the man to see. Sturm thanked the man, paid for his ale, and headed toward his room. He could see the captain in the morning when he was b-etter rested.
Sturm was awoken in the middle of the night by the creaking of floorboards outside of his room. The sound of the lock to the door assisted Sturm in waking quickly from his sleep. As the door creaked open Sturm quickly and silently moved to the opposite side of the room behind the doorway. The intruder moved past him toward the bed. Sturm had successfully tucked himself into the shadows of the corner behind the doorway where it was impossible for him to be seen. The intruder swiftly stabbed his arm down toward the bed where he thought Sturm was sleeping. The sword slammed home into the feathers of the bed, and the intruder knew his prey was not asleep. Turning quickly the assassin had just enough time to get his short sword up to block the thrust from Sturm's rapier. Sturm and the intruder both stepped back after their blades engaged to size up their opponent. Neither man was expecting to cross swords tonight. Sturm noticed that this man was dressed in all black with a black cloth covering his mouth. Before he was able to learn more, the intruder's eyes gave away his intention to strike, and Sturm was able to defend his attackers series of thrusts. After the quick exchange of sword work Sturm had the measure of his opponent. This man was a competent swordsman but Sturm knew that he was better with a blade. Trained from an early age in swordsmanship, Sturm had rarely found his equal in duels or in the training ring. Sturm went on the offensive knowing that the assassin would let his guard slip quickly. This intruder was a man trained to strike at helpless prey from the shadows. He was not a man who preferred, or who made his living by, fighting a fair duel. While the two men traded blows, Sturm saw the opening he was waiting for. The assassin attempted a foolish thrust to mortally wound Sturm and left himself open. Sturm stepped inside the assassin's guard and used his sword arm to push his opponents arm wide while quickly drawing his dagger with his off hand. The assassin's eyes went wide as Sturm's dagger found his unprotected side.
After ensuring the assassin was dead Sturm walked over to the door of his room. Someone must have heard all the commotion he had caused. It was strange no one from the inn had come to see what was happening. Moving out of his room and down the stairs toward the inn's common room Sturm discovered why no one came to check what was happening on the second level of the inn. The common room was completely empty of the townsfolk to include the innkeeper himself. This alone would not alarm Sturm, but coupled with the fact that not even the innkeeper came to check on his disturbingly loud patrons, proved to Sturm that something was seriously wrong. Moving back toward his room Sturm gathered his things. After shouldering his pack Sturm moved toward the stair again until he heard the door to the inn slam open. Multiple footsteps could be heard moving around the wooden floorboards down in the inn's common room. Sturm did not believe the people entering the establishment where there for food or ale at this hour.
Knowing he did not have time to hide he moved quickly out of his room and down the hall toward the back of the inn. Odds were that these men, whoever they were, had someone covering the rear of the building. But also, odds were that the rear of the inn would be less well guarded. Unfortunately, Sturm's quick look around the second story discovered that there was no way to get to the first floor of the inn except the main staircase that he had left behind. At the same time Sturm realized he was trapped he heard a man curse loudly. The sound had come from the room Sturm had rented for the night.
Sturm did not know how many men had come looking for him, but he knew that it was more than one, and he had no intention of tempting fate by fighting them all. Moving to another room Sturm kicked in the door and quickly moved to the window by the back of the inn. Knowing that the noise he made entering the room alerted the men inside the inn, Sturm opened the window and jumped out to the ground below. Sturm fell from the second story of the inn and hit the ground rolling. Taking a second to check himself Sturm realized he was not injured and jumped up while moving toward the stables and his horse. He knew he must get his horse and get out of this town as quickly as possible. Any organization that had the confidence to ambush him in this small town's only inn must have considerable sway over the whole town.
Sturm did not make it around the corner of the inn before he ran almost directly into another man. This one was dressed as a twin of the assassin in his room. The second assassin drew a long sword in one hand and long dagger in his other hand. Sturm knew that to even attempt a fight with a sword and dagger took great skill and knew he would have to be wary of this new attacker. Sturm and the second man in black traded a few probing blows exactly as he had with the first man from the inn. To his dismay, Sturm quickly found that this man was a far superior fighter to the man who had broken into his room. This fight would not be over quickly, and Sturm knew from the shouts and footsteps he heard that he did not have the time to trade blows with this man. Sturm moved into a series of blows aimed at putting as much distance as possible between him and the man in black. When his opponent moved a good distance away from him, Sturm turned and sprinted down an alley across the street from the inn. Just as Sturm had hoped his opponent assumed Sturm would continue his flurry of blows and was not prepared for Sturm to disengage.
Sturm made it into an alley and turned to look behind him. The black clad man did not even attempt to chase after Sturm, but four of his companions ran around the corner of the inn. The man in black pointed down the alley Sturm occupied, and the men quickly ran toward him. Counting four attackers running in his direction Sturm turned and moved to the other side of the alley until he hit a dead end where two small buildings met each other. He frantically searched either side of him for a door but found not so much as a window which he could escape through. Turning to face his attackers Sturm saw that the four men were now walking down the alley with the man in black. The calm way the men walked down the alley toward him filled Sturm with rage. The attackers were not even bothering to ready their weapons. Sturm was not foolish enough to think that he could survive a fight with five men and live, but he was determined to kill as many of them as he could before he fell. Sturm readied his rapier and drew his dagger as his attackers finally readied their weapons.
The four men charged in. Sturm quickly flipped his dagger and flung it at the closest charging attacker. This surprised the other three men and seemed to slow their charge. One man's charge was completely stopped as he slowed to deal with the blade that had suddenly sprouted from his shoulder. Seeing his missile hit home, Sturm charged forward to meet the other attackers. He quickly disarmed the closest attacker by cutting a large gash in the man's forearm. Moving past the unarmed man Sturm then squared on the remaining two attackers. Before he could cross swords with the men in front of him he was knocked senseless by an explosion of blunt pain from a strike to the back of his head. The next thing Sturm knew the ground was rushing up to meet him. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.
Sturm awoke with a pounding pain in the back of his head. His head felt like it was being subjected to the same blow that knocked him out over and over again. As the pain subsided Sturm's eyes came into focus, and he discovered that he was in a small cellar. Sturm guessed it was the cellar of the inn. Finally, Sturm noticed the man in black was standing in the cellar staring at him.
Sturm asked the man in black how long he had been unconscious. A few hours was the answer from the man in black, but the words did not sound like any voice Sturm had heard before. His voice was impossibly deep and seemed to echo on its own while creating Sturm a sinking feeling in his gut. Sturm stood slowly and steadied himself against the wall. He asked the thing in black how long it had defiled this part of the Kingdom. The thing did not answer Sturm's second question, and instead pulled down its hood and revealed a pasty white skin tone and a bald head. Sturm gasped as he saw the mask covering the monsters face come off. While men of his order were trained to fight evil beings such as the one in front of him, it was different learning about these beings from books then actually being in the presence of one.
Sturm, now fully recovered from his blow to the head, stood straight and prepared to defend himself against his undead foe. The monster reached behind itself and pulled out Sturm's rapier. A fine silver blade forged for the work his order performed. There were no finer blades in the world. To Sturm's surprise the vampire tossed the blade to him. Sturm caught it and readied his weapon while trying not to think that he had no chance to defeat his opponent. His order, once a powerful force in the world which banished things people no longer believed in, had grown weak after decades of a world with less and less supernatural predators. Sturm vowed to himself to make this beast's overconfidence its down fall. He could be the first of his order to slay a true vampire in decades and return his order to power and usefulness once more. Charging in Sturm parried and thrust his rapier as quickly and strongly as he could. If there had been any other human present in the small cellar they would have been astonished at the skill with which Sturm handled his rapier. Each successful defense of the vampire's attacks made his confidence grow. Eventually Sturm saw an opening in the vampire's defense which would allow him to impale the create on his silver blade. As he plunged his blade forward Sturm cried out in surprise as his blade struck air. Out of the corner of his eye he witnessed the vampire spin on his heel faster than anything Sturm thought possible. The vampire brought his sword around in a high sweeping arc which could cleanly severe Sturm's head from his body.
It was a strange sensation, Sturm thought, to see one's body stand still as he felt a falling sensation. He had just enough time before he died to know that he deserved to become an instructor of his order and that he would never get the chance to prepare the young Hunters for the war to come.