Chapter I: Ashes of The Past
I was sixteen when this whole thing began, when the world that I knew was taken and destroyed by the shadow of darkness. I was born and raised in the Stone-Hammer colony; my father was our leader, and one of the greatest hunters alive. Our village lay on the western most coast of the Dark-Crest island inlets. About 80 kilometers from our village was a small mountain range called the Bloodfists, they were said to have been created from the remnants of Yarzolv Bloodfist, the leader of demon races. We were approximately 60 Kilometers from the main land and an additional 90 Kilometers from the nearest village.
The sun rose that morning like it always had, the sea air filled my lungs as I began to awaken. My mother would already have been up preparing the meal, she was a wonderful woman my mother, full of life and energy. The meal was standard egg, ham and fresh bread, milk from the goat, the smell could always over-power the salty air, and it was as welcome that day as it always had been. I pulled the hide sheet away from my bed section of the hut, and walked towards the fire where the food sat in desperate anticipation of my arrival. I ate quickly, I was nearly finished when my mother walked through the door of the hut she smiled quietly and nodded her head in my direction to acknowledge me. I bid her good morning she smiled and nodded once more, she pointed out the door to let me know that father already left and was undoubtedly preparing for the rights of passage ceremony that was to occur in about a week. The right of passage is a ceremony held when a young hunter takes a challenge to prove their worth as a warrior; they are taken on a hunt for the dark ones. I had completed my rights of passage the previous fall and would no doubt be asked to act as a guide to one of the newer hunters.
I waved farewell to my mother as I left the hut she nodded as left and smiled gently. I would soon come to miss that simple smile; my mother was a gentle woman whom had an unfortunate encounter with a group of the hoard. My father had saved her but not before the bastards had cut the tong out. I left the hut and hurried to the center of our village, my father was there with the elders of the village, he caught sight of me as I approached; he motioned for me to come and speak with him. I brushed past a few of the prospect hunters I quickly noticed a young female elf, her golden hair shone brightly in the sun, had I not heard my fathers voice call for me I could have lost myself in her beauty, god I envy elves. The elders greeted me warmly praising my skills and recent victories over vampires, my father smiled and spoke only a few words to me, just enough to tell me that I would be watching the elven girl I had passed.
Her name was Elrohinile, she had been preparing for the right of passage for nearly twenty years, I had trained with her the previous year it was odd that I did not recognize her on the basis that there were very few female hunters. That and her beauty was so intoxicating that I felt dizzier the closer that I came to her. She smiled and pulled her fingers through her flowing hair, this time I noticed her eyes; bluer than any body of water that I have ever seen and probably deeper. Then I realized that they were glowing, the enchantment broke immediately, and unfortunately, it did not make her any less attractive. I attempted to appear angry however, she merely laughed at the fact that I had a stupid grin on my face, it never fails the first time you become the teacher the student upstages you.
We left the others that had gathered in the square to gather the supplies for the weeklong journey. We first went to the blacksmith to gather armor and weapons for the trek. She picked out a belt of silver lined throwing knives; she immediately placed the belt across her shoulder and let it fall over her opposite hip. She chose not to take armor that meant she knew protection spells, well at least I would not have to worry about her too much. Myself, I picked, chain shirt to wear underneath a light silver breastplate as well as a full helm. I grabbed a leather belt and silver falchion, which weighed heavily at my side; it had a long leather bound handle for added grip. I weighed nearly an extra sixty pounds with all the gear on, luckily, I wear more than that to train in.
She smiled at me and said that she was as ready to go as she needed to be and so was I, we went back to the village elder and told him that we would be heading out soon. His old eyes shone as a smile came across his lips, it was difficult to see him smile under his long graying beard, and he leaned on his oaken staff and whispered the instructions into my ear. His voice was soft but firm, "let nothing happen to her, you will take her to the Grieving hills that outline the Bloodfist range. We suspect a small encampment of vampires to be stationed in that area, you along with three other parties are to wipe them out." He immediately walked away and gave what I assumed to be the same instructions to another "look out" hunter.
Elrohinile and I left the east side of the village and began to walk, the sun reach its midday place in the sky, the temperature slowly began to rise and I began to wish I did not have all this armor weighing down on me. We walked almost two hours before Elrohinile broke the silence, her voice was flawless, every letter of every word came out smoother than ice; "so its been a year since last we met, and I've heard much about you and your fathers great deeds. Please tell me Zamieon, what is it like being in the heat of battle, outnumbered by a hoard of vampires?"
I chuckled lightly, "I do not know what exactly you were told Elrohinile but I have only faced a vampiric hoard during the day. Nevertheless, the adrenaline rush is something that you will have to get used to and fast, it distorts your concentration and judgment, if your not careful that minor amount of misjudgment created by it can easily get you killed." I smiled, "not that you'll need to worry, they have me watching your back."
"My back hardly needs watching," she smiled and turned her back to me and picked up her pace. I had to pick up to a near jog to keep up to her, I kept forgetting that elves are incredibly agile and fast on any type of terrene. This had quickly become a hell of a lot more difficult than I had thought. After two hours she slowed back down to allow me to catch back up, once I had caught up I decided we were going to make camp. I cast a spell to create water for the two of us.
"It'll be easier to hunt them if we sleep now and hunt during the night," the words past my lips before I had a chance to think, she'd already know that, but instead of getting indignant Elrohinile just giggled, she had a wonderful smile. My word, I could not believe the feelings that I was feeling for her, I quickly looked at her eyes to see if she was casting another enchantment spell, no they were just their normal deep blue. "So when you said that your back didn't need watching, just what did you mean? You and I both know that vampires are at least fast if not faster than elves are, just what are you hiding?"
"You'll have to wait till night to find," she said a playful tone overtook her voice as she lay down on the soft grass underneath us. She quickly sprang back into a sitting position with an "oh my god I forgot something minor" look on her face, she turned to me and said; "96" and lie back down.
Huh? "Huh? '96,' what does that mean exactly?"
I knew she was smiling even though I could not see her face, "you were eventually going to ask my age, I thought I would save us the trouble." She turned over to lie on her side; she placed her left arm under her head for support and her right over her eyes to block out the sun. True to her elven heritage, she fell asleep immediately however it was a light sleep, elves can hear a pin drop ten feet away even in the deepest sleep, and I decided it might be best if I just sleep as well.
I awoke after about six hours of rest to the sound of grass moving about 100 feet away, immediately I cast a spell of night seeing and looked in the direction of the noise, (for future reference, night seeing is a spell that allows me to see as well in complete darkness as I would during the day. The main difference is that colours appear distorted slightly.) Elrohinile whispered to me, "It's a vampire."
She was right, I could make it out as well, probably not as well as her, elves after all have a much greater distance to their sigh. The vampire was male, the pale skin is one of the defining attributes of the creatures, as well as the silver hair and elven features, often these creatures can pass for Drow at night, or in poorly light rooms. It appeared as though he saw us; I could see his eyes gazing deep inside mine, which is when I realized just which vampire was looking at us. The breath left my lungs, my hands began to shake slowly, for the first time in three years I was actually afraid of a vampire. His name was not known to any hunter, we simply called him and his twin the 'scared ones,' they bore nearly identical scars, this one had the scars over his left eye. They were four scars that looked as though some miserable little creature made them, whatever had done it did it well it had wrecked that eye, left it grey and undoubtedly sightless; he also had several small scars on both sides of his jaw.
I took a deep breath and surveyed the rest of the land I knew that Elrohinile was not about to let the scared one out of her sight, she to knew the legend of the most deadly vampires to walk this plane. I saw no other moment, no creature stir here, the village was to far back to call for help or even escape to, a vampire like this would bear down on us in a heartbeat, which is when I realized something far worse than the prospect of fighting this vampire. Shit; "Shit," my voice quivered as I began to whisper to Elrohinile, "the others that left after us, I don't see them anywhere, no tents, no bodies, got not even any sign of struggle." The colour ran out of Elrohinile face, her eyes still fixated on the scared one; her lips trembled as she tried to speak. Ease... humming...near? No, He is coming here. The unspoken words rang louder in my head than any bell, I quickly turned my head and he was approaching us at an alarming rate, in a matter of seconds, I saw him close the gap to about twenty feet, even if she wanted to Elrohinile could not have run away. I immediately stood up and drew my falchion, but before I could move to strike I felt my body freeze in place, I couldn't move, the Scared one had placed a paralysis spell on me and I assumed that he had done the same to Elrohinile.
"Relax," he said as he stopped his run almost dead and just inches from my face. "I'm not here to kill you; I am merely here to warn you." Something about his voice made me want to trust him, however I was brought up to hate these creatures, I knew than that I would not trust a word he said, unfortunately I should have. "My name is Jay, now what I am going to tell you just what is about to happen to your village within the next few days, what you choose to do with that information is up to you." His face had been near expressionless, his tone was serious, and his neck so close to me that it was infuriating not being able to attack. "My brother's and my own troops will be raiding your village two nights from tonight, my advise to you, return to the village now, warn the people within, and leave as a group. Or," I always hated that word, "or" as foreboding as it was inviting, a choice given where one should not be offered, I already knew then which choice would be the right one. "Or, you can do as the others and try to run away, I can almost guarantee that you would share their fate."
I found myself able to speak as I asked a question to which I already had the answer to, "and what fate would that be." I found my voice to ring of arrogance, much more than I had intended it to, though I was proud I did not want to Provoke Jay lest he harm Elrohinile.
"They are all dead, at the hands of my troops no less, a few hunters running in fear, at night, they would not stand a chance against them." He was right, even a powerful hunter would fall to a small company of vampires during the night hours; you see a vampire is farley weak during the daylight hours, however at night that is a completely different story.
"W...Why..." Elrohinile's voice trailed off, she was scared, and her mind could not bring itself to ask the question that she so desperately wanted to ask. Her mouth continued to try to say the words but she seemed unable to step past the "why" of the question.
"Why are you helping us?" I asked, my voice sounded as defeated as I had begun to feel. Frustration was setting in; he could be just toying with us, breaking our minds so we would make less effort when he started to steal our energy.
He smiled for the first time that night; it was not a joyful smile though. It was a mournful one, like when you go to a funeral and are trying not act overly solemn. "Let me ask you something Hunter, have you ever had a dream or nightmare that when you awaken, it makes you want to change something that you have done or perhaps makes you realize something that otherwise you might not have?"
Of course I had; "Of course I had, but what does that have to do with you helping us?"
"Well, you see when a victim is too strong to turn, or completely unwilling to be turned, turning them becomes increasingly more difficult and dangerous. As you no doubt know, we vampires share knowledge and power at the time of turning, ones abilities become the wholes ability. Granted it takes years to hone and perfect the skills gained through it, but the knowledge becomes immediately available to the whole of the brood. Well suppose we take an unwilling person and turn them, after they are turned, they have our knowledge and more over they gain vampiric strength, they could turn on us and start killing us from the inside of a colony. To prevent this we use a type of mind control spell, very powerful, nearly impossible for any normal person or vampire to break."
"So you were under that mind control?" I half asked, half announced.
Jay smiled and pointed to his nose, "You see I came across someone the other week and despite my powers was unable to defeat him, me a vampire, at night, completely unable to take a single man. Instead of killing me this man walks up to my badly beaten body places his hands on my head and 'boom!' I wake up, its morning, and I have all these memories of the evil that I have committed flowing through my head like water breaking down a dam."
"So now what, are you trying to win our sympathy by doing this one thing to make up for all the atrocities that you committed, I hardly see this a penance, especially if YOU, are still going to allow the attack."
Jay sighed, his shacking in near disbelief, it meant that I was missing the 'big picture,' I of course had. "You see, hunter..."
"My name is Zamieon Malanchite, stop calling me hunter Jay!"
He raised an eyebrow in amusement at my frustration, "alright, Zamieon," his voice mocked me; it stung. "You see, I can't let the master know that I have complete control over my faculties, if they find out they will simply repeat the spell and I once again become his loyal lap dog." He walked over to where Elrohinile had been laying in silence, he helped her up, apparently, I was the only one affected by the spell, and Elrohinile was just paralyzed by fear. She shook with fear and panic but made no sound or no motion to run. Jay walked back over to where I had been frozen, "you see Zamieon, I no longer want to be part of the hoard, but at the same time I do not wish death. For what I have planned I will need allies, powerful ones, and the hunters are the only ones that even come close to the kind of fire-power I need."
"W-what is it that you are planning," Elrohinile's, voice shook, and was barley audible. "Why do you want us to warn our people, how to you plan to 'use' us," she placed heavy emphasis on 'use.'
Jay smiled, this time it was a true smile, "well young elf," he began, his right eye shone palely from the light of the moon, I tried a mind read spell; nothing. "I plan on using the hunters in such a way that they would enjoy. I want them to help me take down the unholy legion that the master has spawned." He actually wanted to kill the leader of the vampires, something that no hunter could do. Our battle you see was never meant to be won, we were merely meant to keep their numbers as small as low as possible so that they would not control our world. Jay quickly looked around and leaned over to my left ear, "choose what you do carefully, I hope to see you once again Malanchite, fare thee well." With that, Jay turned his back to me, then as he was walking away he transmutated into fog and completely disappeared into the night, suddenly I could move again.
I turned to Elrohinile; still frozen with fear I tried to lighten the mood, "makes a hell of an exit huh?" She made no movement or noise, her face remain frozen she was in shock. I took her in my arms and doubled back to the village, I was grateful that she had not been wearing armor, I tried a few psychic spells but I could not break into her mind, there was another spell blocking it off. I was moving faster than I had ever moved in my life; we were back at the village in under an hour. The village was empty when we arrived, even the guards that normally watch the city boarders had left their posts unmanned, I called out loudly, I received no answer.
I walked into my home and found my father sharpening his blade; he looked up at me with a face of dismay. "Son, put her on the bed it'll be a while before she regains consciousness, she sent word to her father and the elders, her and her father have been connected for the better part of an hour. You'd better prepare, and got some sleep as you know the hoard will be here in two days."
"We should run father they are to powerful, we should fall back to either the Blood-Moon, or Griffon-Talon villages we could-"
"They're dead Zamieon, almost all the hunter villages have been wiped out, the nearest is the Moon-Striker clan but we're not even sure if they are still around." My fathers was raspy, he had been giving orders to the other villagers no doubt, it was odd to see my father as he was, it was the first time I had ever seen him scared, but it was not the last.
The next day past by silently, sometime during the night Elrohinile had come around, she stayed in our home till I awoke, she promised that no matter what, she and I would see it through, she was to proven right. My father took me into the town square at about midday there he and the elders discussed battle tactics. Defensive mages placed magical barriers around the entire village; Archers were station in the turrets that surrounded the inner most part of the barrier, (a draw back to the barrier is that magic can neither enter nor leave.) battle mages were sent to take cover in the fields outside of the village, to slow the invading hordes. Assassins had been spread thought the village, hiding in shadows or invisible, swordsman were waiting in full force nearer to the center of town, arms bared. After the plans were lain down, there was a feast that the workers of the village had prepared, a final feast some said others that this was merely a taste of things to come.
I managed to catch a glimpse of Elrohinile standing by one of the huts, she seemed nervous, not more than most though, she talked with one of the elders, I guessed that it was her father, I was right. I walked towards her casually speaking along the way with other hunters that I knew. There were many hunters that I knew because of how close a community we were. As I got within five feet of her, a gentle hand grabbed my right shoulder, I looked at the hand lying on my shoulder, it was as black as charred wood, with slim long fingers. I smiled and did a one-eighty on my right heel to find the smiling face of Golfallow Harslem, a Half-Drow Half-Draconic assassin, and one of my best friends.
"Zamieon, my old friend, how does the day find you," his voice was light and joyous, which was odd because he was a Drow; Drows you see a have an inherent cynicism within them. "I know that it finds me deeply inebriated on this fine Dwarven ale, and wonderful choke-sting weed," he burst out laughing, now his attitude made sense.
"The day finds me at a very somber occasion speaking with a Drow whom is anything but somber;" once more he burst out laughing, and slapped me on the back as he walked away. I smiled and shook my head, what else could do; he was the only Drow that I had ever known to be good for a few laughs.
I quickly remembered my goal and cleared my head and looked for Elrohinile, she had not moved, but was now alone, sipping from her glass, and watching a few of the hunters dance together. The mood was getting increasingly lighter as time progressed, I realized that it was a spell used to boost moral but I did not care because it gave me a feeling that I didn't even realize that I was missing; it gave me a feeling of hope. I had made my way the last few feet and was standing next to Elrohinile but she had yet to notice me. "May the night find you as healthy as the day Elrohinile."
She smiled and without turning to face said; "oh it shall and so shall it find you my dear knight, for together with our brethren we shall face every hoard with honor and courage."
"Not scared?"
"Are you?"
"Why should I? A beautiful young elf told me that I would be alright." She smiled and turned to me, she looked up into my eyes, they were full of hope and joy, and apparently I had said the right thing. "And I know that my elf will be safe for she shall have a brave knight to see her through the umm... night," dam, I really played that one wrong. She laughed at my fumble and mussed my hair a bit.
She leaned towards me and placed a light kiss on my cheek. "Fare thee well my knight, I must go and make some last minuet preparations for tonight, but I swear that I will see you again." She turned and walked away from me, the best thing about elves is that they look as beautiful walking away from you as they do coming towards you.
Before she had gone little more than then feet I felt a large hand slap me on the back with enough force to drop me to my knees, I heard deep laughing and immediately knew who was behind me. "Golbrac-gar-Moth, you never did know how to let me enjoy things did you?" I stood up and turned around, sure enough it was Golbrac, a massive seven-foot half-orc, his green furry face bore the most ridiculous smile imaginable, two large tusk-like teeth protruded from the sides.
A deeper gruff voice came from just outside of my line of vision, "aye, look at 'im, seems our frien' Malanchite goes after even elves, 'tis a sad state of affairs when ye think ye' ken a man then he turns on ye and falls fer an elf." I turned to see a red bearded dwarf sitting atop a tree stump, he to bore a grin of jest; these two always did enjoy poking fun at me.
"Well look at this its not often I get to see a stump sitting on a stump." (For those not already aware a stump is a derogatory name for a dwarf) I smiled and extended my had which was readily accepted by both in turn, "So Gorvin Dewhammer, just what do you have against elven women?"
"Same one I 'ave with their men they're a bunch o' fairy-dust-fartin' tree 'uggers," his reply came out jokingly.
"But they smell Pretty," piped in Golbrac, he was a nice person just not to bright.
"Better than Dwarven women," I retorted.
"Aye? What problem 'ave ya with my women?"
"I need not a woman who has more hair than me."
"They smell like goblin and orc woman."
"Aye, but 'ow 'bout those drow women?"
"All women are putty before a Malanchite," there was a long pause after I said this, followed immediately by long, deep and all around healthy laughter. We continued to talk about women and life until the time came.
We heard the sound of a great horn being blown, a horn that had never had need to be blown before, night was only an hour away, the party broke immediately, men and women scattered to their positions, and we were battle ready in less than twenty minutes. A gentle hand touched my shoulder with grace, I was getting tired of everyone sneaking up on me, I had my guard down all day, and now I needed to be alert of everything around me. I turned to see Elrohinile standing behind me, I saw what she had been hiding the day before. Her skin was completely metal, and it shone and glistened underneath the light green tunic and pants that she was wearing. An incredibly difficult spell to use, it made the caster nearly impervious to physical attack, interestingly enough the metal skin did not weigh down a caster.
She smiled and leaned in towards me, she whispered in my ear, "See you need not worry, and now neither do I." I felt her arms rise above my head and slowly lower something around my neck. She stepped back as I looked down at the necklace that she placed around my neck, it was a simple silver linked band with a rune unfamiliar to me dangling at its end. "It protects the wearer form the elements, now no element shall cause you pain or harm," she came back towards me and put her arms around me, "see you make it through this battle." I would see to it.
Before I could speak, I heard it, the battle cry of the hoard, an unearthly high-pitched whale broke through the fading light, and night was now upon us. The earth shook with furry, as dust rose high into the sky, suddenly they came into view, a few hundred vampires in lycan form (picture a man with arms that reach near his knees, and a long wolf like face with razor sharp teeth and claws as weapons). This was the fastest form that all vampires can use, also incredibly strong, the bore-down on the village drawing dangerously close. Our battlemages attacked first, large explosions of fire, ice, wind, and lightning ignited the fields, screams of pain and anguish came out of the fray, the smell of burning fur and flesh was blown towards the village. Suddenly the sky glowed red as large pillars of flame came down, crashing on the magic barrier shaking the very ground that I stood on, my adrenalin started to pump and I became aware of everything around me. Outside the barrier the mist and fog rolled towards our battle mages, it was too late for them, the fog and mist transformed into vampires more than three hundred strong materialized from the fog and effortlessly slaughter the mages, their blood soaked the ground their screams came and went within seconds. The smoke settled from where the mages laid waste to the earth and vampires, bodies twitched, and sickly groans of pain could be heard. Slowly about sixty percent of the lycans stood up, their wounds healing so quickly that it could make a troll jealous.
Now they walked confidently towards our village, gracefully, in silence, they began to draw weapons and shields, I followed suite. I unsheathed my falchion and gripped my round shield tightly, my heart began to increase its beats, my awareness grew, I became aware of the presence of Jay and his brother within the vast vampiric army, I could not locate them but I could feel them. I became aware of the descending hoard, the flame pillars stopped but were immediately followed by swarms of bats, they flew throughout our village and began to take their true form, vampires began to attack us from the center of town first. Assassins phased in and of visibility, slicing and hacking at the vampires, cries of pain erupted as blood began to spray, limbs begat to fall, as well as bodies, blood pored over the cobble stone streets. Vampires began to swing wildly cutting down our assassins, more screams and more death sounded, the vampires began to cast spells of magical displacement to stop the assassins fro phasing.
The First front began its attack on the village crossing over the magic barrier, immediately flame and lightning ripped through the village, bodies ignited; horrified screams of pain and anger filled the air. Vampires surrounded us we were being attacked form all sides, fires lit the huts ablaze, shinning crimson light over the battlefield, I was aware that Elrohinile was behind, she had her back to mine, nothing was going to happen to her I would see to that. Then they were in front of me and beside me, attacking my friends and family. I sliced at a nearby vampire, my sword cleave through his arm, bone and all, the limb fell uselessly to the ground, I took a second swing and his screaming head and it joined the arm. A lycanthropic arm grazed my face from the side, cutting me along my right cheek, I knew it was there but did not have the time to move. My skin split open blood ran slowly down my face, that cut would leave a scar, a constant reminder of this day. I cleaved at the vampire in wolves clothes, striking clean through its abdominal area, starting at its left should and ending with its right rib area, it howled in pain and disgust its organs spilled to the ground, blood splattered over me, my sword dripped heavily with its blood. The body twitched on the ground for a few moments then it was dead, the battle was intense, fur and flesh were cleaved from all around, and the ground became sticky with blood and the air thick with the stench of death.
We were fight a losing battle, for every one that we struck down five of our warriors fell, that's when I became aware of Jay, he approached Elrohinile and myself, I paid no heed, I knew that I would not be able to defeat him should he attack. I became aware that he placed his hands on both of us, I became aware of a vampire preparing to strike at me, I was aware of my sword adding a an air vent to his brain, I was aware that he fell with a lifeless thud, then I stopped being aware. When I awoke it was morning and I was alive, I sat up quickly, well I tried to my head had still been spinning, I got halfway and then my head hit the ground hard, with a thud. I sighed and breathed deeply, I could smell smoke in the air, thick heavy smoke lined with death. I focused all the energy that my body could muster and forced myself into a sitting position, I surveyed the area, Elrohinile was unconscious next to me, I watched her chest slowly rise and fall a few times to reassure myself that she was alive. To the west I could see the remnants of my village, charred homes and piles of burning bodies were all that remained of my home, of our home, tears of sorrow and anger filled my eyes I tried to fight them back but was once again fighting a losing battle. My family, my friends all dead, why was I saved, a voice answered my question.
"Because your father asked me to spare you and the elf; as well as the one who freed me." Jay stood up from his hiding place in the tall grass; his clothes were elegant, made of fine silks, a clothing design seen mostly in the far west. He walked towards me while digging in a cloth sack, he sat next to me and pulled out a loaf of bread and offered it to me, ate took it and tried to be as grateful as I could.
"You, know" I began between chews, "I could easily kill you right now, and I have every right to do so."
"The thought had crossed my mind."
"So why did you stay here knowing that, I mean you aren't very strong right now I could kill you with almost no effort."
"True but the one who turned me said that you would not kill me, I trust his decisions, and take his advise and orders very seriously. He wants me to take you to him once your ready."
"Who is he?"
"Someone very wise and strong, now eat we will start walking as soon as the elf wakes up."
"What happened?"
"Back there?" Jay motioned towards the village, "well the children of that sick bastard attacked and slaughtered your people, I tried to convince your father to get as many people out as possible but he refused and told me to get you and the girl out of there. You see you have always been the primary objective of my mission. So I found you and the girl, and used both of your energy to transport us out of there."
"That's why I feel so weak?"
"Correct, sorry but I haven't quite learned how to do it right so I need help with the energy needed in the spell."
"So where is he?" I know I should have been angry, but I had been taught never to hold anger for one who does not deserve it, I would save it for the man who sent Jay.
I was sixteen when this whole thing began, when the world that I knew was taken and destroyed by the shadow of darkness. I was born and raised in the Stone-Hammer colony; my father was our leader, and one of the greatest hunters alive. Our village lay on the western most coast of the Dark-Crest island inlets. About 80 kilometers from our village was a small mountain range called the Bloodfists, they were said to have been created from the remnants of Yarzolv Bloodfist, the leader of demon races. We were approximately 60 Kilometers from the main land and an additional 90 Kilometers from the nearest village.
The sun rose that morning like it always had, the sea air filled my lungs as I began to awaken. My mother would already have been up preparing the meal, she was a wonderful woman my mother, full of life and energy. The meal was standard egg, ham and fresh bread, milk from the goat, the smell could always over-power the salty air, and it was as welcome that day as it always had been. I pulled the hide sheet away from my bed section of the hut, and walked towards the fire where the food sat in desperate anticipation of my arrival. I ate quickly, I was nearly finished when my mother walked through the door of the hut she smiled quietly and nodded her head in my direction to acknowledge me. I bid her good morning she smiled and nodded once more, she pointed out the door to let me know that father already left and was undoubtedly preparing for the rights of passage ceremony that was to occur in about a week. The right of passage is a ceremony held when a young hunter takes a challenge to prove their worth as a warrior; they are taken on a hunt for the dark ones. I had completed my rights of passage the previous fall and would no doubt be asked to act as a guide to one of the newer hunters.
I waved farewell to my mother as I left the hut she nodded as left and smiled gently. I would soon come to miss that simple smile; my mother was a gentle woman whom had an unfortunate encounter with a group of the hoard. My father had saved her but not before the bastards had cut the tong out. I left the hut and hurried to the center of our village, my father was there with the elders of the village, he caught sight of me as I approached; he motioned for me to come and speak with him. I brushed past a few of the prospect hunters I quickly noticed a young female elf, her golden hair shone brightly in the sun, had I not heard my fathers voice call for me I could have lost myself in her beauty, god I envy elves. The elders greeted me warmly praising my skills and recent victories over vampires, my father smiled and spoke only a few words to me, just enough to tell me that I would be watching the elven girl I had passed.
Her name was Elrohinile, she had been preparing for the right of passage for nearly twenty years, I had trained with her the previous year it was odd that I did not recognize her on the basis that there were very few female hunters. That and her beauty was so intoxicating that I felt dizzier the closer that I came to her. She smiled and pulled her fingers through her flowing hair, this time I noticed her eyes; bluer than any body of water that I have ever seen and probably deeper. Then I realized that they were glowing, the enchantment broke immediately, and unfortunately, it did not make her any less attractive. I attempted to appear angry however, she merely laughed at the fact that I had a stupid grin on my face, it never fails the first time you become the teacher the student upstages you.
We left the others that had gathered in the square to gather the supplies for the weeklong journey. We first went to the blacksmith to gather armor and weapons for the trek. She picked out a belt of silver lined throwing knives; she immediately placed the belt across her shoulder and let it fall over her opposite hip. She chose not to take armor that meant she knew protection spells, well at least I would not have to worry about her too much. Myself, I picked, chain shirt to wear underneath a light silver breastplate as well as a full helm. I grabbed a leather belt and silver falchion, which weighed heavily at my side; it had a long leather bound handle for added grip. I weighed nearly an extra sixty pounds with all the gear on, luckily, I wear more than that to train in.
She smiled at me and said that she was as ready to go as she needed to be and so was I, we went back to the village elder and told him that we would be heading out soon. His old eyes shone as a smile came across his lips, it was difficult to see him smile under his long graying beard, and he leaned on his oaken staff and whispered the instructions into my ear. His voice was soft but firm, "let nothing happen to her, you will take her to the Grieving hills that outline the Bloodfist range. We suspect a small encampment of vampires to be stationed in that area, you along with three other parties are to wipe them out." He immediately walked away and gave what I assumed to be the same instructions to another "look out" hunter.
Elrohinile and I left the east side of the village and began to walk, the sun reach its midday place in the sky, the temperature slowly began to rise and I began to wish I did not have all this armor weighing down on me. We walked almost two hours before Elrohinile broke the silence, her voice was flawless, every letter of every word came out smoother than ice; "so its been a year since last we met, and I've heard much about you and your fathers great deeds. Please tell me Zamieon, what is it like being in the heat of battle, outnumbered by a hoard of vampires?"
I chuckled lightly, "I do not know what exactly you were told Elrohinile but I have only faced a vampiric hoard during the day. Nevertheless, the adrenaline rush is something that you will have to get used to and fast, it distorts your concentration and judgment, if your not careful that minor amount of misjudgment created by it can easily get you killed." I smiled, "not that you'll need to worry, they have me watching your back."
"My back hardly needs watching," she smiled and turned her back to me and picked up her pace. I had to pick up to a near jog to keep up to her, I kept forgetting that elves are incredibly agile and fast on any type of terrene. This had quickly become a hell of a lot more difficult than I had thought. After two hours she slowed back down to allow me to catch back up, once I had caught up I decided we were going to make camp. I cast a spell to create water for the two of us.
"It'll be easier to hunt them if we sleep now and hunt during the night," the words past my lips before I had a chance to think, she'd already know that, but instead of getting indignant Elrohinile just giggled, she had a wonderful smile. My word, I could not believe the feelings that I was feeling for her, I quickly looked at her eyes to see if she was casting another enchantment spell, no they were just their normal deep blue. "So when you said that your back didn't need watching, just what did you mean? You and I both know that vampires are at least fast if not faster than elves are, just what are you hiding?"
"You'll have to wait till night to find," she said a playful tone overtook her voice as she lay down on the soft grass underneath us. She quickly sprang back into a sitting position with an "oh my god I forgot something minor" look on her face, she turned to me and said; "96" and lie back down.
Huh? "Huh? '96,' what does that mean exactly?"
I knew she was smiling even though I could not see her face, "you were eventually going to ask my age, I thought I would save us the trouble." She turned over to lie on her side; she placed her left arm under her head for support and her right over her eyes to block out the sun. True to her elven heritage, she fell asleep immediately however it was a light sleep, elves can hear a pin drop ten feet away even in the deepest sleep, and I decided it might be best if I just sleep as well.
I awoke after about six hours of rest to the sound of grass moving about 100 feet away, immediately I cast a spell of night seeing and looked in the direction of the noise, (for future reference, night seeing is a spell that allows me to see as well in complete darkness as I would during the day. The main difference is that colours appear distorted slightly.) Elrohinile whispered to me, "It's a vampire."
She was right, I could make it out as well, probably not as well as her, elves after all have a much greater distance to their sigh. The vampire was male, the pale skin is one of the defining attributes of the creatures, as well as the silver hair and elven features, often these creatures can pass for Drow at night, or in poorly light rooms. It appeared as though he saw us; I could see his eyes gazing deep inside mine, which is when I realized just which vampire was looking at us. The breath left my lungs, my hands began to shake slowly, for the first time in three years I was actually afraid of a vampire. His name was not known to any hunter, we simply called him and his twin the 'scared ones,' they bore nearly identical scars, this one had the scars over his left eye. They were four scars that looked as though some miserable little creature made them, whatever had done it did it well it had wrecked that eye, left it grey and undoubtedly sightless; he also had several small scars on both sides of his jaw.
I took a deep breath and surveyed the rest of the land I knew that Elrohinile was not about to let the scared one out of her sight, she to knew the legend of the most deadly vampires to walk this plane. I saw no other moment, no creature stir here, the village was to far back to call for help or even escape to, a vampire like this would bear down on us in a heartbeat, which is when I realized something far worse than the prospect of fighting this vampire. Shit; "Shit," my voice quivered as I began to whisper to Elrohinile, "the others that left after us, I don't see them anywhere, no tents, no bodies, got not even any sign of struggle." The colour ran out of Elrohinile face, her eyes still fixated on the scared one; her lips trembled as she tried to speak. Ease... humming...near? No, He is coming here. The unspoken words rang louder in my head than any bell, I quickly turned my head and he was approaching us at an alarming rate, in a matter of seconds, I saw him close the gap to about twenty feet, even if she wanted to Elrohinile could not have run away. I immediately stood up and drew my falchion, but before I could move to strike I felt my body freeze in place, I couldn't move, the Scared one had placed a paralysis spell on me and I assumed that he had done the same to Elrohinile.
"Relax," he said as he stopped his run almost dead and just inches from my face. "I'm not here to kill you; I am merely here to warn you." Something about his voice made me want to trust him, however I was brought up to hate these creatures, I knew than that I would not trust a word he said, unfortunately I should have. "My name is Jay, now what I am going to tell you just what is about to happen to your village within the next few days, what you choose to do with that information is up to you." His face had been near expressionless, his tone was serious, and his neck so close to me that it was infuriating not being able to attack. "My brother's and my own troops will be raiding your village two nights from tonight, my advise to you, return to the village now, warn the people within, and leave as a group. Or," I always hated that word, "or" as foreboding as it was inviting, a choice given where one should not be offered, I already knew then which choice would be the right one. "Or, you can do as the others and try to run away, I can almost guarantee that you would share their fate."
I found myself able to speak as I asked a question to which I already had the answer to, "and what fate would that be." I found my voice to ring of arrogance, much more than I had intended it to, though I was proud I did not want to Provoke Jay lest he harm Elrohinile.
"They are all dead, at the hands of my troops no less, a few hunters running in fear, at night, they would not stand a chance against them." He was right, even a powerful hunter would fall to a small company of vampires during the night hours; you see a vampire is farley weak during the daylight hours, however at night that is a completely different story.
"W...Why..." Elrohinile's voice trailed off, she was scared, and her mind could not bring itself to ask the question that she so desperately wanted to ask. Her mouth continued to try to say the words but she seemed unable to step past the "why" of the question.
"Why are you helping us?" I asked, my voice sounded as defeated as I had begun to feel. Frustration was setting in; he could be just toying with us, breaking our minds so we would make less effort when he started to steal our energy.
He smiled for the first time that night; it was not a joyful smile though. It was a mournful one, like when you go to a funeral and are trying not act overly solemn. "Let me ask you something Hunter, have you ever had a dream or nightmare that when you awaken, it makes you want to change something that you have done or perhaps makes you realize something that otherwise you might not have?"
Of course I had; "Of course I had, but what does that have to do with you helping us?"
"Well, you see when a victim is too strong to turn, or completely unwilling to be turned, turning them becomes increasingly more difficult and dangerous. As you no doubt know, we vampires share knowledge and power at the time of turning, ones abilities become the wholes ability. Granted it takes years to hone and perfect the skills gained through it, but the knowledge becomes immediately available to the whole of the brood. Well suppose we take an unwilling person and turn them, after they are turned, they have our knowledge and more over they gain vampiric strength, they could turn on us and start killing us from the inside of a colony. To prevent this we use a type of mind control spell, very powerful, nearly impossible for any normal person or vampire to break."
"So you were under that mind control?" I half asked, half announced.
Jay smiled and pointed to his nose, "You see I came across someone the other week and despite my powers was unable to defeat him, me a vampire, at night, completely unable to take a single man. Instead of killing me this man walks up to my badly beaten body places his hands on my head and 'boom!' I wake up, its morning, and I have all these memories of the evil that I have committed flowing through my head like water breaking down a dam."
"So now what, are you trying to win our sympathy by doing this one thing to make up for all the atrocities that you committed, I hardly see this a penance, especially if YOU, are still going to allow the attack."
Jay sighed, his shacking in near disbelief, it meant that I was missing the 'big picture,' I of course had. "You see, hunter..."
"My name is Zamieon Malanchite, stop calling me hunter Jay!"
He raised an eyebrow in amusement at my frustration, "alright, Zamieon," his voice mocked me; it stung. "You see, I can't let the master know that I have complete control over my faculties, if they find out they will simply repeat the spell and I once again become his loyal lap dog." He walked over to where Elrohinile had been laying in silence, he helped her up, apparently, I was the only one affected by the spell, and Elrohinile was just paralyzed by fear. She shook with fear and panic but made no sound or no motion to run. Jay walked back over to where I had been frozen, "you see Zamieon, I no longer want to be part of the hoard, but at the same time I do not wish death. For what I have planned I will need allies, powerful ones, and the hunters are the only ones that even come close to the kind of fire-power I need."
"W-what is it that you are planning," Elrohinile's, voice shook, and was barley audible. "Why do you want us to warn our people, how to you plan to 'use' us," she placed heavy emphasis on 'use.'
Jay smiled, this time it was a true smile, "well young elf," he began, his right eye shone palely from the light of the moon, I tried a mind read spell; nothing. "I plan on using the hunters in such a way that they would enjoy. I want them to help me take down the unholy legion that the master has spawned." He actually wanted to kill the leader of the vampires, something that no hunter could do. Our battle you see was never meant to be won, we were merely meant to keep their numbers as small as low as possible so that they would not control our world. Jay quickly looked around and leaned over to my left ear, "choose what you do carefully, I hope to see you once again Malanchite, fare thee well." With that, Jay turned his back to me, then as he was walking away he transmutated into fog and completely disappeared into the night, suddenly I could move again.
I turned to Elrohinile; still frozen with fear I tried to lighten the mood, "makes a hell of an exit huh?" She made no movement or noise, her face remain frozen she was in shock. I took her in my arms and doubled back to the village, I was grateful that she had not been wearing armor, I tried a few psychic spells but I could not break into her mind, there was another spell blocking it off. I was moving faster than I had ever moved in my life; we were back at the village in under an hour. The village was empty when we arrived, even the guards that normally watch the city boarders had left their posts unmanned, I called out loudly, I received no answer.
I walked into my home and found my father sharpening his blade; he looked up at me with a face of dismay. "Son, put her on the bed it'll be a while before she regains consciousness, she sent word to her father and the elders, her and her father have been connected for the better part of an hour. You'd better prepare, and got some sleep as you know the hoard will be here in two days."
"We should run father they are to powerful, we should fall back to either the Blood-Moon, or Griffon-Talon villages we could-"
"They're dead Zamieon, almost all the hunter villages have been wiped out, the nearest is the Moon-Striker clan but we're not even sure if they are still around." My fathers was raspy, he had been giving orders to the other villagers no doubt, it was odd to see my father as he was, it was the first time I had ever seen him scared, but it was not the last.
The next day past by silently, sometime during the night Elrohinile had come around, she stayed in our home till I awoke, she promised that no matter what, she and I would see it through, she was to proven right. My father took me into the town square at about midday there he and the elders discussed battle tactics. Defensive mages placed magical barriers around the entire village; Archers were station in the turrets that surrounded the inner most part of the barrier, (a draw back to the barrier is that magic can neither enter nor leave.) battle mages were sent to take cover in the fields outside of the village, to slow the invading hordes. Assassins had been spread thought the village, hiding in shadows or invisible, swordsman were waiting in full force nearer to the center of town, arms bared. After the plans were lain down, there was a feast that the workers of the village had prepared, a final feast some said others that this was merely a taste of things to come.
I managed to catch a glimpse of Elrohinile standing by one of the huts, she seemed nervous, not more than most though, she talked with one of the elders, I guessed that it was her father, I was right. I walked towards her casually speaking along the way with other hunters that I knew. There were many hunters that I knew because of how close a community we were. As I got within five feet of her, a gentle hand grabbed my right shoulder, I looked at the hand lying on my shoulder, it was as black as charred wood, with slim long fingers. I smiled and did a one-eighty on my right heel to find the smiling face of Golfallow Harslem, a Half-Drow Half-Draconic assassin, and one of my best friends.
"Zamieon, my old friend, how does the day find you," his voice was light and joyous, which was odd because he was a Drow; Drows you see a have an inherent cynicism within them. "I know that it finds me deeply inebriated on this fine Dwarven ale, and wonderful choke-sting weed," he burst out laughing, now his attitude made sense.
"The day finds me at a very somber occasion speaking with a Drow whom is anything but somber;" once more he burst out laughing, and slapped me on the back as he walked away. I smiled and shook my head, what else could do; he was the only Drow that I had ever known to be good for a few laughs.
I quickly remembered my goal and cleared my head and looked for Elrohinile, she had not moved, but was now alone, sipping from her glass, and watching a few of the hunters dance together. The mood was getting increasingly lighter as time progressed, I realized that it was a spell used to boost moral but I did not care because it gave me a feeling that I didn't even realize that I was missing; it gave me a feeling of hope. I had made my way the last few feet and was standing next to Elrohinile but she had yet to notice me. "May the night find you as healthy as the day Elrohinile."
She smiled and without turning to face said; "oh it shall and so shall it find you my dear knight, for together with our brethren we shall face every hoard with honor and courage."
"Not scared?"
"Are you?"
"Why should I? A beautiful young elf told me that I would be alright." She smiled and turned to me, she looked up into my eyes, they were full of hope and joy, and apparently I had said the right thing. "And I know that my elf will be safe for she shall have a brave knight to see her through the umm... night," dam, I really played that one wrong. She laughed at my fumble and mussed my hair a bit.
She leaned towards me and placed a light kiss on my cheek. "Fare thee well my knight, I must go and make some last minuet preparations for tonight, but I swear that I will see you again." She turned and walked away from me, the best thing about elves is that they look as beautiful walking away from you as they do coming towards you.
Before she had gone little more than then feet I felt a large hand slap me on the back with enough force to drop me to my knees, I heard deep laughing and immediately knew who was behind me. "Golbrac-gar-Moth, you never did know how to let me enjoy things did you?" I stood up and turned around, sure enough it was Golbrac, a massive seven-foot half-orc, his green furry face bore the most ridiculous smile imaginable, two large tusk-like teeth protruded from the sides.
A deeper gruff voice came from just outside of my line of vision, "aye, look at 'im, seems our frien' Malanchite goes after even elves, 'tis a sad state of affairs when ye think ye' ken a man then he turns on ye and falls fer an elf." I turned to see a red bearded dwarf sitting atop a tree stump, he to bore a grin of jest; these two always did enjoy poking fun at me.
"Well look at this its not often I get to see a stump sitting on a stump." (For those not already aware a stump is a derogatory name for a dwarf) I smiled and extended my had which was readily accepted by both in turn, "So Gorvin Dewhammer, just what do you have against elven women?"
"Same one I 'ave with their men they're a bunch o' fairy-dust-fartin' tree 'uggers," his reply came out jokingly.
"But they smell Pretty," piped in Golbrac, he was a nice person just not to bright.
"Better than Dwarven women," I retorted.
"Aye? What problem 'ave ya with my women?"
"I need not a woman who has more hair than me."
"They smell like goblin and orc woman."
"Aye, but 'ow 'bout those drow women?"
"All women are putty before a Malanchite," there was a long pause after I said this, followed immediately by long, deep and all around healthy laughter. We continued to talk about women and life until the time came.
We heard the sound of a great horn being blown, a horn that had never had need to be blown before, night was only an hour away, the party broke immediately, men and women scattered to their positions, and we were battle ready in less than twenty minutes. A gentle hand touched my shoulder with grace, I was getting tired of everyone sneaking up on me, I had my guard down all day, and now I needed to be alert of everything around me. I turned to see Elrohinile standing behind me, I saw what she had been hiding the day before. Her skin was completely metal, and it shone and glistened underneath the light green tunic and pants that she was wearing. An incredibly difficult spell to use, it made the caster nearly impervious to physical attack, interestingly enough the metal skin did not weigh down a caster.
She smiled and leaned in towards me, she whispered in my ear, "See you need not worry, and now neither do I." I felt her arms rise above my head and slowly lower something around my neck. She stepped back as I looked down at the necklace that she placed around my neck, it was a simple silver linked band with a rune unfamiliar to me dangling at its end. "It protects the wearer form the elements, now no element shall cause you pain or harm," she came back towards me and put her arms around me, "see you make it through this battle." I would see to it.
Before I could speak, I heard it, the battle cry of the hoard, an unearthly high-pitched whale broke through the fading light, and night was now upon us. The earth shook with furry, as dust rose high into the sky, suddenly they came into view, a few hundred vampires in lycan form (picture a man with arms that reach near his knees, and a long wolf like face with razor sharp teeth and claws as weapons). This was the fastest form that all vampires can use, also incredibly strong, the bore-down on the village drawing dangerously close. Our battlemages attacked first, large explosions of fire, ice, wind, and lightning ignited the fields, screams of pain and anguish came out of the fray, the smell of burning fur and flesh was blown towards the village. Suddenly the sky glowed red as large pillars of flame came down, crashing on the magic barrier shaking the very ground that I stood on, my adrenalin started to pump and I became aware of everything around me. Outside the barrier the mist and fog rolled towards our battle mages, it was too late for them, the fog and mist transformed into vampires more than three hundred strong materialized from the fog and effortlessly slaughter the mages, their blood soaked the ground their screams came and went within seconds. The smoke settled from where the mages laid waste to the earth and vampires, bodies twitched, and sickly groans of pain could be heard. Slowly about sixty percent of the lycans stood up, their wounds healing so quickly that it could make a troll jealous.
Now they walked confidently towards our village, gracefully, in silence, they began to draw weapons and shields, I followed suite. I unsheathed my falchion and gripped my round shield tightly, my heart began to increase its beats, my awareness grew, I became aware of the presence of Jay and his brother within the vast vampiric army, I could not locate them but I could feel them. I became aware of the descending hoard, the flame pillars stopped but were immediately followed by swarms of bats, they flew throughout our village and began to take their true form, vampires began to attack us from the center of town first. Assassins phased in and of visibility, slicing and hacking at the vampires, cries of pain erupted as blood began to spray, limbs begat to fall, as well as bodies, blood pored over the cobble stone streets. Vampires began to swing wildly cutting down our assassins, more screams and more death sounded, the vampires began to cast spells of magical displacement to stop the assassins fro phasing.
The First front began its attack on the village crossing over the magic barrier, immediately flame and lightning ripped through the village, bodies ignited; horrified screams of pain and anger filled the air. Vampires surrounded us we were being attacked form all sides, fires lit the huts ablaze, shinning crimson light over the battlefield, I was aware that Elrohinile was behind, she had her back to mine, nothing was going to happen to her I would see to that. Then they were in front of me and beside me, attacking my friends and family. I sliced at a nearby vampire, my sword cleave through his arm, bone and all, the limb fell uselessly to the ground, I took a second swing and his screaming head and it joined the arm. A lycanthropic arm grazed my face from the side, cutting me along my right cheek, I knew it was there but did not have the time to move. My skin split open blood ran slowly down my face, that cut would leave a scar, a constant reminder of this day. I cleaved at the vampire in wolves clothes, striking clean through its abdominal area, starting at its left should and ending with its right rib area, it howled in pain and disgust its organs spilled to the ground, blood splattered over me, my sword dripped heavily with its blood. The body twitched on the ground for a few moments then it was dead, the battle was intense, fur and flesh were cleaved from all around, and the ground became sticky with blood and the air thick with the stench of death.
We were fight a losing battle, for every one that we struck down five of our warriors fell, that's when I became aware of Jay, he approached Elrohinile and myself, I paid no heed, I knew that I would not be able to defeat him should he attack. I became aware that he placed his hands on both of us, I became aware of a vampire preparing to strike at me, I was aware of my sword adding a an air vent to his brain, I was aware that he fell with a lifeless thud, then I stopped being aware. When I awoke it was morning and I was alive, I sat up quickly, well I tried to my head had still been spinning, I got halfway and then my head hit the ground hard, with a thud. I sighed and breathed deeply, I could smell smoke in the air, thick heavy smoke lined with death. I focused all the energy that my body could muster and forced myself into a sitting position, I surveyed the area, Elrohinile was unconscious next to me, I watched her chest slowly rise and fall a few times to reassure myself that she was alive. To the west I could see the remnants of my village, charred homes and piles of burning bodies were all that remained of my home, of our home, tears of sorrow and anger filled my eyes I tried to fight them back but was once again fighting a losing battle. My family, my friends all dead, why was I saved, a voice answered my question.
"Because your father asked me to spare you and the elf; as well as the one who freed me." Jay stood up from his hiding place in the tall grass; his clothes were elegant, made of fine silks, a clothing design seen mostly in the far west. He walked towards me while digging in a cloth sack, he sat next to me and pulled out a loaf of bread and offered it to me, ate took it and tried to be as grateful as I could.
"You, know" I began between chews, "I could easily kill you right now, and I have every right to do so."
"The thought had crossed my mind."
"So why did you stay here knowing that, I mean you aren't very strong right now I could kill you with almost no effort."
"True but the one who turned me said that you would not kill me, I trust his decisions, and take his advise and orders very seriously. He wants me to take you to him once your ready."
"Who is he?"
"Someone very wise and strong, now eat we will start walking as soon as the elf wakes up."
"What happened?"
"Back there?" Jay motioned towards the village, "well the children of that sick bastard attacked and slaughtered your people, I tried to convince your father to get as many people out as possible but he refused and told me to get you and the girl out of there. You see you have always been the primary objective of my mission. So I found you and the girl, and used both of your energy to transport us out of there."
"That's why I feel so weak?"
"Correct, sorry but I haven't quite learned how to do it right so I need help with the energy needed in the spell."
"So where is he?" I know I should have been angry, but I had been taught never to hold anger for one who does not deserve it, I would save it for the man who sent Jay.