Chapter II: Settling Smoke
Elrohinile stirred next to me, her breathing quickened as she realized that she was alive, her eyes slowly opened fluttering from the bright light of day. She lay motionless in silence; her blue eyes began to drown in tears, a hushed whimper came from her closed mouth. Jay noticed her awaken; he motioned for me to come over to speak with him.
"Listen Zamieon," he whispered, his voice was sick with sympathy and pity; "the elf will take some time to deal with the situation, more than you will, and I wish I could give her that time, but we will need to leave soon." His hands moved to the right side of his waist, he pulled a large empty sack from his side; it was about ten inches in width and four deep, it seemed like a simple burlap pouch. "Take this, it's a void sack, you can carry approximately twenty squared feet of gear in here, but it's a little difficult to pull it out, go back to your village and stock up on weapons, armor, food, clothing and anything else that may be useful to the two of you. You have until two hours before the sun sets, I will meet you on the eastern shore by the large rocks; do you know the ones I mean?"
I nodded, "the ones were the boats are tied up near."
"That's them, listen I realize that you owe me nothing, but I would like to offer my apologies, there was nothing more I could have done. Please understand that I wanted your village to escape together when I warned you of the attack and-" his voice trailed off and his eyes faced the ground I could see tears falling on the dry ground leaving their wet marks upon it.
"Jay, know that though I am thankful for what you did for me and Elrohinile but," sigh, "I cannot offer you forgiveness, it is our way that you must first forgive yourself, and then take actions to prove your sincerity." I do not know why I was so calm, I guess that it had to do with the fact that it was always there, the fact that vampires hated and killed hunters just as we did to them. It was foolish to blame this on Jay. "Jay, may I ask you something?"
Jay's head jerked up and met my eyes, his blink eye was a smoky grey colour, and in fact, it appeared as a hazy smoke almost moving, like smoke blowing in a light breeze. His good eye was a deep emerald green colour; tears still filling it. "You may if you like, but I may not answer."
"Fare enough, did you choose to be changed?"
Jay smiled grimly, "do you think they would have placed that mind controlling spell on me if I had?" His voice shook and I decided not to continue asking him about it for now, and I had the feeling that I would be seeing a lot of him. Jay cleared his throat and stood up, "I have to go now, there are a few things that I must attend to, there is another loaf of bread in the bag; you should give it to her." Jay turned away, cast a flying spell upon himself, and flew off into the distance.
I watched him fly off into the distance for a short while; he had flown almost completely out of vision as I turned to face Elrohinile who still lay motionless on the ground crying in silence. I slowly walked back towards her and tried to talk to her but I did not think she heard me. I met her eyes with my own but there was no sign of recognition, her mind seemed to be in complete shock, there was no way to tell how long she would be gone and there was no time to wait. I picked her up in my arms and carried her over to the village, it was about a one-hour walk, and thankfully, she was light.
I walked through the charred skeletal frame of the gates, embers still glowed a bright red, smoke still rose from the ashes of the buildings, the smell of burning flesh was overwhelming, and it quickly began to make me nauseous. I lay Elrohinile down on a semi-clean potion of the ground; tears rolled down her elegant face clearing a path through the layer of dust that covered it. I leaned over her and whispered to her letting her know that I would not be gone for long and for her to remain there.
I stood up and began to make my way through the blood soaked cobble stone streets of the village. The bottom of my boots were sticking to the streets, the squishing sound beneath me was nearly too much. Bodies lay scorched; some still burning in piles that littered the streets at every side, disgusted I began to rummage through them. It seemed that the bodies were from both sides, all stripped of weapon, armor and even clothes. I gave up trying to find anything useful in the heaps of bodies. I turned my attention to what remained of the buildings, I found no more than rubble within the first few homes, which is when I remembered the weaponry. I walked over to the training barracks on the western most edge of the village, I walked past the stone and wood beams that were scattered upon the ground, and I came to what used to be the courtyard of the complex. All that remained of the garden was black soot covered and utterly dead earth, I got down on my hands and knees and began to feel for the entrance to the armory.
I took me nearly half an hour to find the heavy chain that attached to the large metal cover that hid the armory; I grabbed hold and pulled. I strained and heaved with all my might but the door moved little moor than half and inch. I stopped my effort and focused my energy and cast a spell of godly strength, I began to feel the strength course through me almost immediately. I grabbed hold of the chain once more and pulled the door away from the passage to the armory; it was still incredibly difficult and took me just inside of ten minutes. As I walked around to the stairs that led downward, I realized for the first time the magnitude of the door. It had been nearly seven feet in width, nearly ten in length, and about two inches in thickness; I nearly put my back out just looking at it. It was no wonder I could not move it before I cast the spell.
I walked around the metal door, there were large stone steps that led down into the bowls of the armories, it had a musky stench to it, and yet it seemed amazingly dry. Darkness stretched out all around me, it seemed like the outside light did not enter the inside of the crypt like area that was the armory. I cast a lighting spell to see what was going on, a bright ball of light began to emanate from my outstretched hand, the light rose higher until it was almost a foot over my head, then the light exploded, and stretched thought the room. I examined the room trying to find things of use; in the far right corner there was a large weapons rack, I grabbed form it a pair of falchions, five daggers, two weapons belts, and an axe. Two feet to the right side of the rack was a weapon chest, it was a nearly two feet in height and nearly six feet long, I opened it and began to rummage through it, I found about six belts of throwing knives which I decided to take, as well as five silver daggers.
I looked around the room some more, and it was little more than just a single, room, but I was sure there was more to the armory than this. I had only been here once before, back when I was training in the barracks. I knew that the next spell that I cast was nearly going to deplete my energy, but I needed to find the rest of the gear. I closed my, took a deep breath and concentrated all the magic power that my body could muster, the words spilled slowly through my mouth; "magics of the forgotten plain, cast off you bindings, free thy-self from that which keeps you, Dispel!" It worked as I opened my eyes, the spell that had been cast to conceal the door on the east wall began to fade, the wall appeared to sway the way the ground does on hot summer days, they red oaken door phased into sight. Sadly, I was right of being completely depleted, my body became heavy, as I fell to knees, my arms were to heavy to lift, as a result I let the side of my face take the blunt of the remainder of my fall. My head throbbed with pain as it nearly bounced off the heard stone floor; "oof!" The air escaped my lungs, it became hard to breath, my vision began to blacken, and I struggled to keep consciousness, dots danced throughout my line of sight.
That is when I heard it, footsteps, soft upon the ground moving very slowly. I heard the gentle footsteps coming down the stairs, I tried to pick myself up and look at who was coming, though I already knew who it was going to be. The feet stopped as they reached my body, my face still lying on the floor, a soft hand placed itself on my back; I half smiled. "I thought... I ... tol-"
"Shhh, now is not the time to talk of such things," Elrohinile's voice trembled lightly, she was still crying, I was shocked by how well she was recovering. "Relax now," she said; her voice that of compassion, like a mother to her child after they hurt themselves, "I'm going to cast a rejuvenate spell, you should be alright." From the corners of my eyes, I could see a greenish hue in the lighting, it seemed to gather above and slowly fall on me, like a gentle rainfall, as the droplets began to touch me I could feel my energy slowly return. The rain stopped and the gentle hand lifted from my back, I slowly moved my arms to a push-up position and lifted myself back onto my knees, before I could turn to her Elrohinile thrust her arms around me and began to weep, I pivoted my torso and wrapped my arms around her.
"Elrohinile, I'm sorry that-"
"Don't be sorry, this is not you fault this is something that was inevitable, no one not you nor the other hunters could have changed it," her voice shook and trembled, her face buried in my left shoulder. "This isn't the first time this has happened you know, my father and I came here thirty years ago from the golden-chimera village in the far west. It was the first village destroyed by these raids, but because of the guild set up we were not able to ally all the hunter guilds." Her voice trailed, I knew what she wanted to say.
"They're all dead aren't they, all the hunters we were the last, and now we've failed." My voice echoed with anger, I tried to cover it with sadness but failed miserably.
"No, there may still be others further east, the attacks have been progressing east, but no matter where we go the same thing will happen, and once all the hunters are gone the vampires will have run of the world."
"How do you know all this, how do you know that they are systematically destroying villages, and how do you know that, that is their ultimate goal? What did you and your father know that the rest of us didn't?" I was frustrated it seems like she was hinting at something more than what was there.
She sighed and pushed away from me softly; she stood up and looked down upon me, which was the first time I think she saw the scratch on my face. She gave me a half smile, her sad eyes looking deeply into my own which were undoubtedly filled with confusion and anger. "You have it wrong Zamieon," she started her tone changed she became serious, "what we knew every hunter chieftain or councilor knew, it was a prophecy, one that has been handed down since the Larodain campaign, one that foretells the coming of the 'chosen one.' However, I am not the one who will tell you of the prophecy, the man that Jay wants you to meet is the one who will tell you. I did not realize it then but I feel that the man who freed Jay is the one that will guide you."
"What is with this cryptic bullshit? My father and my mother are dead, as is your father and all you are going to tell me is there is some prophecy that somebody I have never met is going to tell me?" Elrohinile's body tensed, her eyes winced as though I had plunged one of the daggers into her, those deep blue filled with water. My hands fell uselessly to my side, I took a deep breath and began to swallow pride, "I- I am sorry I did not mean to become so angry. It is not your fault that this happened, I have no right to be angry with you; but I do have a right to know the truth."
Her eyes softened, and she nodded in agreement with me, "you do deserve to the truth, and you will learn it but as I said I am not the one who should tell you. Believe me, trust me the one who you will speak to will tell you more than I can."
"Who is he? I mean how does he know so much?"
"All will be revealed in time." She turned gracefully as she walked to the door, she grabbed the handle and the hinges creaked as it she opened it. The door opened to a large room that was light by torches that never died out, never actually burned, just fancy lighting enchanted torches. I followed closely behind her, it appeared as though Elrohinile knew her way around the armory as she quickly moved to a large dresser like cabinet that stood against the northern wall, and she opened the oaken doors silently. She rummaged around the cloaks and other garments within the cabinet until she found what she was looking for, it was a long leather coat, or at least that was what I thought before she pulled it all the way out.
Her hands slipped and the coat fell with a thud to the ground near her feat, I reached it before she did, my hand grabbed at the fabric, which I realized was not leather, its color began to change to blend in with the floor, I smiled. "A chameleon spell, on a coat? What kind of fabric is this?" I asked completely amazed by this coat, I had briefly forgotten about the prophecy. I realize that most people think me insensitive, but hunters learn to control their emotions at a very young age, death is always around it, you learn to move on or face death yourself.
"Its made from Berowel hide, nearly as hard as adamantine but much lighter." Elrohinile seemed amused by my child like behavior, "children" she said jokingly.
"You are not older than me," I replied in an equally jokingly tone.
"I happen to be eighty years your senior, or did you forget that I was ninety-six years old?"
"Yeah in Elven years, that's the equivalent to what a fifteen, sixteen year old human?"
"Sixteen, but we follow the same calendar as you; it's not our fault you humans age so quickly." She smiled that little smile she had, always a sucker for a beautiful smile. She helped me put it on; I could feel the coat shrink slightly as it went on, as it did this it went from being a size to big to a perfect fit. It was weighed about twenty pounds, mainly due to the fact that it had to scimitars in it; their sheaths seemed to disappear into two of the pockets, I assumed the pockets worked similar to the sack Jay had given me except these did not have the same weight reduction. Elrohinile pulled a second one out of the cabinet, this time I was able to see it do the form fitting it had done to me, the entire coat shrinks so that it is the perfect length on anybody.
A shimmering group of chests lined the eastern wall; they were metal and polished to near perfection, the light they reflected back was nearly blinding. I moved silently towards them, Elrohinile's eyes followed me, I could feel them watching my every move. I opened the first chest, it seemed to contain ancient manuscripts, nothing of great importance, as I flipped through them it seemed the mostly told of the great war between the gods and demons, or the history and evolution of hunters. The second chest contained a large number of spell books, there were about five in total, all bound in leather cases, each with its own symbol to represent which types of spell were contained within each.
There was Destruction spells; which is the class that contains the manipulation of the elements to cause physical harm, as well as hexes, curses and poisonous spells. These spells were mainly for combat, it was pocketed. The next book was for illusions, manipulating time and space, as well as the creation of pocket dimensions. The highlight was the final section that discussed the art of plains walking; another book was added to the bag. Holy magic filled the third book, everything from healing and divination spells, to spirit banishing and spells that affect the undead, yoink. The final book contained demonic spells, like necromancy and spirit summoning, though I disliked the idea of such spells, it to was added to the collection.
While I busied myself with the books Elrohinile had found a void bag, but this one had been previously used as a traveling sack so it had shoulder straps and hung loosely on he back, she gathered a smith's anvil, hammer, prongs, scrap metal, and a large amount of tinderboxes. I opened the third box, It contained rations, dried meats, elven breads as well as a few empty water skins, I took a little of each, which is when I remembered the loaf of bread Jay told me about. I stuck my hand into the bag and began to rummage through it, I could feel all sorts of things; metal, something sharp, leather, got it.
I walked over to Elrohinile and held the loaf out to her, she looked at the bread, then back at me, took it from my hands and said thank you in the elven tongue. She went back to looking so did I. The final chest that lay near the corner of eastern corner of the room, I opened it, it contained clothes, shirt, pants, shoes, boots, a few winter hooded clothes and even some jewelry, this chest was the only on that struck me as being odd, there was little use for most of this stuff in combat. I stopped looking so deep into it and decided to take some extra clothes as well as two of the winter garments, never know when that may come in handy.
I turned to where the door was and noticed about twelve armor racks, and three shelves, all packed with armor from simple breastplates to full plate- mail suits. I removed the coat that I had been wearing and draped it over one of the racks; I began to look for a decent breastplate to replace the cheaper one that I was wearing. I found one, made from mythril silver, light, thin, and incredibly durable. I removed the one that I had been wearing; it made a loud clanking noise as it hit the floor. I pulled the mythril armor from off its stand, and put it on, it was half the weight of the old one, and fit much more comfortably. The chain shirt that I had was still in perfect condition so I decided not to exchange it, I picked the coat off the rack and dawned it once more, it made the necessary compensations to my dimensions and it fit perfectly again.
Elrohinile came and stood next to me, her hand gently touched my shoulder, and I turned my head as far around as it would go. "Are you about done?" she asked quietly.
"As done as I need to be, I guess we should get back the surface, maybe go and wait by the rocks."
She pulled the pack that she had been filling tight to her back; I tied the sack to my belt and made my way to the door. On my way out I noticed a small trap door at my feet, it was a little wider than I was, I bend down and grasped the large metal handle and pulled hard, it creaked as it was opened. The wooden door echoed through the room as it connected with the floor, my ears rang for a few seconds. I peered through the hole and saw blackness; I had Elrohinile pass me a torch and I tossed it into the hole. The torch hit another stone floor no more than three feet down, it seemed to be a crawlspace. I jumped down into the cramped space, I looked to both sides and found that the room was not a crawlspace at all but a vault filled with gold, platinum and even taritium pieces. I could feel my eyes widen, I had never known the wealth of our clan before. I untied the sack from my belt and began to fill it with coins.
Elrohinile's voice made me stop hoarding the coins, "I think that you may have more than enough there Zamieon." I looked up to see her giving me an impatient look, "now come on, we have till nightfall and the rocks are a three hour trek, we don't want to be late." She reached her hand down into the hole; I clasped it firmly and used it to help me pull myself out. Surprisingly she did not budge; she was amazingly strong for an elf. She helped dust me off laughing at my apparent greed, then she laid me flat (figure of speech although I almost did fall over) her lips pressed against mine, briefly but let it be known that even a short kiss from an elf is enough to literally take you breath away.
"Wha-what was that for?" I said as I could feel the blood rush to my face and ears.
"Taking care of me twice in such a short time, you are incredibly considerate for a human, even more so than your father. I should know he took care of me when I first came here." She turned form me and began to lead the way out, I followed closely. We reached the surface, the sun had already passed it midday position, I estimated that we had between four to five hours of sun light left; Elrohinile corrected me before I had a chance to say anything. "We'd better hurry, we only have three hours of light left, and we might just have to run part of the way if we want to make it before the sun sets." She led the way at a quick pace that was like jogging to me.
"So you knew my father well?" I asked Elrohinile, the bag on her back bobbed with every graceful elven step she took.
"Yes, very well in fact, he was like an older brother to me, I was only sixty-six when we came here, and your father was closer to your age, maybe a little older. I'd guess he was seventeen or eighteen, and luckily you inherited his good looks." She turned to me and realized just how much faster she was moving compared to me and stopped, she was almost laughing at the fact that she was so mush faster. "Sorry I keep forgetting that we elves move faster."
"Don't worry about it, sometimes I forget how slow we are compared to you, it's a good lesson in humility." I cast a smile in her direction and it was returned ten fold, she was laughing, it was a beautiful sound, an elven laugh is the second most beautiful laugh around, second only to a dragons.
When I caught up Elrohinile began to move but much slower this time, we continued to jog, and run towards the rocks that Jay was to meet us. The journey was nearly silent except for Elrohinile pointing to the local flora and telling me about each, I do not really recall much of what she had said, I was listening more to her voice than to the words that she spoke.
We arrived by the rocks about a half hour before the sun was to set, Elrohinile had me help her up onto one of the rocks, the sea air blew through her hair. The crimson sky seemed to turn her long golden hair a strawberry red colour. "You know Zamieon, it's been almost fifteen years since I was last here," she breathed deeply; "I had forgotten how wonderful the air here smelt."
She was right, there was something about how the air smelt here that could not be reproduced or even described. The water broke upon the rocks, creating a mist that dampened the sand and left the rocks glistening. Elrohinile glistened from the mist as well, despite my training I am still only male. "You look amazing." I completely meant to think and not say that. Elrohinile broke out laughing, but made no comment.
Fog began to roll in off the water as the sun continued to set, the fog quickly settled over the rocks, as the fog thickened I began to feel a cold shiver move through my body. I felt two immense powers coming towards us, Jay silently materialized before us. The second power came closer, I could feel it coming from the water, I quickly climbed the rock that Elrohinile was sitting on, and she had apparently not felt the power; her eyes were fixated on Jay. I looked out trying to see through the fog, then it came into view, a large fishing boat came into view, a single occupant was standing at the rear of the wooden boat. The boat came to a halt along the rocks, as it did the figure waved out its arm and the rocks formed stairs leading up to where we were standing.
As the figure did his amazing entrance Jay crossed his arms and spoke in an insulted tone; "what no hey Jay, how are you? Just focus on the new guy." I turned my head and he was looking directly at me, smiling. "Sorry to keep you waiting hunter, but the man is hard to find."
The figure came closer; he was hooded, in a black robe using a walking stick. He spoke in a booming voice; but it was not as though he was trying to speak like that it seemed as though it was his normal voice. "Zamieon Malanchite, I have been waiting a long time to meet you." He pulled the hood off his head as he did his long brown hair fell in front of his face and then he pulled it back. He looked about thirty, very handsome or at least I think he was, but what do I know; he had a half-beard growing. "I guess that this would be as good a time as any to tell just what this prophecy your young elven friend was telling you about."
I will admit he caught me off guard, I spoke before I took everything in; "how did you know about that? Who are you?"
He smiled almost as though he knew I was going to ask it, he did. "Knew you'd ask that. I can answer those questions quite easily, one; I know everything, well more or less, I know everything that was, and what must happen for things to go as they are supposed to go. As for the second question I have many names, but I believe here they call me Orlaendric, but you may call me Odin."
I felt my jaw gape opened unsure if I should believe him, I mean some person claming to be the king of the gods, come here to speak to me. "What proof do you have that you are who you say you are?"
"I believe that I will leave that up to Jay to explain at a later time for now just listen, I will explain the prophecy as best I can. It is said that one would come, barring the scar of vengeance, and he alone will gain the power to part the seas of darkness. One person who will exist outside of time, forever in the hunt, until only he is left victorious over the evil, and able to take his place in the forever. Zamieon, you are the one the prophecy speaks of, you bare the mark and you are the only one left with your people's gifts." He left it at that and gave me a chance to let it all sink in, it was hard to understand what he meant by all of it. Then he continued, "I realize that I have no right to tell you what to do, there is still a choice you can make. You must choose whether or not to become one who exists outside of time."
I felt all eyes on me, Elrohinile slid slowly from her rock and walk towards me her hand squeezed mine. I was unsure of what to answer however; I did not really understand the question. "What do you mean, 'exist outside of time?' I do not think that I quite understand what you mean by that." I felt a little embarrassed asking any question to the king of the gods. I stared at Orlaendric, looking over his face, and made the realization that he was missing his right eye, though it may not be to surprising to find someone with an eye missing, but it is said the Orlaendric trade his eye for knowledge.
Odin stared at me, looking me over as though he were making calculations in his head, "I apologize, I thought you older. I may have access to all the knowledge of the universe but I am a tad on the absent-minded side. I will allow you to ponder the prophecy and the meaning of my words for a few years, I will return on your twenty-first birthday to see what you have chosen." Then he raised his right hand, from the distance, I could hear the whaling of a crow, I could hear it getting close very quickly, but because of the dark, I could not see it. Then it appeared on the top of Odin's staff, "This is Munin, one of my scouts, he always knows where to find me, I give him to you, should you need me send Munin to me." The raven flew towards me and landed upon my shoulder, as it did this Odin turned his back to me and began to walk away.
"Where do I go from here?" I called out to Odin my voice echoed through the rocks.
Odin continued to walk away as he spoke, "Jay will take care of that, now I must be off. I will see you in less than five years." He floated over the rocks and landed back in his boat, then he turned to us and wave to Elrohinile to join him. Her hand released mine as she turned to face me; her arms embraced me tightly and kissed my cheek. A tear rolled down her face, she was oddly emotional for an elf. She released me she removed the sack she had been carrying and let it softly fall at my feet. She then moved quickly to the boat, she gracefully climbed over the rocks and joined Odin in the boat. Odin snapped his fingers and the boat was gone, this was happening to fast.
"He's taking her somewhere safe," Jay's voice was soft, he walked over and stood next to me, the night air was turning cold, I was beginning to see my breath hanging in the air. "As for you my little hunter friend, the great Odin has left you in my care. I am to train you as best I can, I will teach you everything I know, everything that we vampires know." I looked at Jay he was staring at me, a devilish smile swept across his face, I could tell that this was going to be a long four and a half years.
"I thought you said that she and I would be staying together, not me and you." My voice laced with sarcasm nearly as much as my face.
"Sorry lad change of plans, besides, you really don't want to be stuck for the better part of four years with a stuck up elven girl do you?" Jay laughed and slapped my back hard; I guess I was wrong this might be an enjoyable change for me.
Elrohinile stirred next to me, her breathing quickened as she realized that she was alive, her eyes slowly opened fluttering from the bright light of day. She lay motionless in silence; her blue eyes began to drown in tears, a hushed whimper came from her closed mouth. Jay noticed her awaken; he motioned for me to come over to speak with him.
"Listen Zamieon," he whispered, his voice was sick with sympathy and pity; "the elf will take some time to deal with the situation, more than you will, and I wish I could give her that time, but we will need to leave soon." His hands moved to the right side of his waist, he pulled a large empty sack from his side; it was about ten inches in width and four deep, it seemed like a simple burlap pouch. "Take this, it's a void sack, you can carry approximately twenty squared feet of gear in here, but it's a little difficult to pull it out, go back to your village and stock up on weapons, armor, food, clothing and anything else that may be useful to the two of you. You have until two hours before the sun sets, I will meet you on the eastern shore by the large rocks; do you know the ones I mean?"
I nodded, "the ones were the boats are tied up near."
"That's them, listen I realize that you owe me nothing, but I would like to offer my apologies, there was nothing more I could have done. Please understand that I wanted your village to escape together when I warned you of the attack and-" his voice trailed off and his eyes faced the ground I could see tears falling on the dry ground leaving their wet marks upon it.
"Jay, know that though I am thankful for what you did for me and Elrohinile but," sigh, "I cannot offer you forgiveness, it is our way that you must first forgive yourself, and then take actions to prove your sincerity." I do not know why I was so calm, I guess that it had to do with the fact that it was always there, the fact that vampires hated and killed hunters just as we did to them. It was foolish to blame this on Jay. "Jay, may I ask you something?"
Jay's head jerked up and met my eyes, his blink eye was a smoky grey colour, and in fact, it appeared as a hazy smoke almost moving, like smoke blowing in a light breeze. His good eye was a deep emerald green colour; tears still filling it. "You may if you like, but I may not answer."
"Fare enough, did you choose to be changed?"
Jay smiled grimly, "do you think they would have placed that mind controlling spell on me if I had?" His voice shook and I decided not to continue asking him about it for now, and I had the feeling that I would be seeing a lot of him. Jay cleared his throat and stood up, "I have to go now, there are a few things that I must attend to, there is another loaf of bread in the bag; you should give it to her." Jay turned away, cast a flying spell upon himself, and flew off into the distance.
I watched him fly off into the distance for a short while; he had flown almost completely out of vision as I turned to face Elrohinile who still lay motionless on the ground crying in silence. I slowly walked back towards her and tried to talk to her but I did not think she heard me. I met her eyes with my own but there was no sign of recognition, her mind seemed to be in complete shock, there was no way to tell how long she would be gone and there was no time to wait. I picked her up in my arms and carried her over to the village, it was about a one-hour walk, and thankfully, she was light.
I walked through the charred skeletal frame of the gates, embers still glowed a bright red, smoke still rose from the ashes of the buildings, the smell of burning flesh was overwhelming, and it quickly began to make me nauseous. I lay Elrohinile down on a semi-clean potion of the ground; tears rolled down her elegant face clearing a path through the layer of dust that covered it. I leaned over her and whispered to her letting her know that I would not be gone for long and for her to remain there.
I stood up and began to make my way through the blood soaked cobble stone streets of the village. The bottom of my boots were sticking to the streets, the squishing sound beneath me was nearly too much. Bodies lay scorched; some still burning in piles that littered the streets at every side, disgusted I began to rummage through them. It seemed that the bodies were from both sides, all stripped of weapon, armor and even clothes. I gave up trying to find anything useful in the heaps of bodies. I turned my attention to what remained of the buildings, I found no more than rubble within the first few homes, which is when I remembered the weaponry. I walked over to the training barracks on the western most edge of the village, I walked past the stone and wood beams that were scattered upon the ground, and I came to what used to be the courtyard of the complex. All that remained of the garden was black soot covered and utterly dead earth, I got down on my hands and knees and began to feel for the entrance to the armory.
I took me nearly half an hour to find the heavy chain that attached to the large metal cover that hid the armory; I grabbed hold and pulled. I strained and heaved with all my might but the door moved little moor than half and inch. I stopped my effort and focused my energy and cast a spell of godly strength, I began to feel the strength course through me almost immediately. I grabbed hold of the chain once more and pulled the door away from the passage to the armory; it was still incredibly difficult and took me just inside of ten minutes. As I walked around to the stairs that led downward, I realized for the first time the magnitude of the door. It had been nearly seven feet in width, nearly ten in length, and about two inches in thickness; I nearly put my back out just looking at it. It was no wonder I could not move it before I cast the spell.
I walked around the metal door, there were large stone steps that led down into the bowls of the armories, it had a musky stench to it, and yet it seemed amazingly dry. Darkness stretched out all around me, it seemed like the outside light did not enter the inside of the crypt like area that was the armory. I cast a lighting spell to see what was going on, a bright ball of light began to emanate from my outstretched hand, the light rose higher until it was almost a foot over my head, then the light exploded, and stretched thought the room. I examined the room trying to find things of use; in the far right corner there was a large weapons rack, I grabbed form it a pair of falchions, five daggers, two weapons belts, and an axe. Two feet to the right side of the rack was a weapon chest, it was a nearly two feet in height and nearly six feet long, I opened it and began to rummage through it, I found about six belts of throwing knives which I decided to take, as well as five silver daggers.
I looked around the room some more, and it was little more than just a single, room, but I was sure there was more to the armory than this. I had only been here once before, back when I was training in the barracks. I knew that the next spell that I cast was nearly going to deplete my energy, but I needed to find the rest of the gear. I closed my, took a deep breath and concentrated all the magic power that my body could muster, the words spilled slowly through my mouth; "magics of the forgotten plain, cast off you bindings, free thy-self from that which keeps you, Dispel!" It worked as I opened my eyes, the spell that had been cast to conceal the door on the east wall began to fade, the wall appeared to sway the way the ground does on hot summer days, they red oaken door phased into sight. Sadly, I was right of being completely depleted, my body became heavy, as I fell to knees, my arms were to heavy to lift, as a result I let the side of my face take the blunt of the remainder of my fall. My head throbbed with pain as it nearly bounced off the heard stone floor; "oof!" The air escaped my lungs, it became hard to breath, my vision began to blacken, and I struggled to keep consciousness, dots danced throughout my line of sight.
That is when I heard it, footsteps, soft upon the ground moving very slowly. I heard the gentle footsteps coming down the stairs, I tried to pick myself up and look at who was coming, though I already knew who it was going to be. The feet stopped as they reached my body, my face still lying on the floor, a soft hand placed itself on my back; I half smiled. "I thought... I ... tol-"
"Shhh, now is not the time to talk of such things," Elrohinile's voice trembled lightly, she was still crying, I was shocked by how well she was recovering. "Relax now," she said; her voice that of compassion, like a mother to her child after they hurt themselves, "I'm going to cast a rejuvenate spell, you should be alright." From the corners of my eyes, I could see a greenish hue in the lighting, it seemed to gather above and slowly fall on me, like a gentle rainfall, as the droplets began to touch me I could feel my energy slowly return. The rain stopped and the gentle hand lifted from my back, I slowly moved my arms to a push-up position and lifted myself back onto my knees, before I could turn to her Elrohinile thrust her arms around me and began to weep, I pivoted my torso and wrapped my arms around her.
"Elrohinile, I'm sorry that-"
"Don't be sorry, this is not you fault this is something that was inevitable, no one not you nor the other hunters could have changed it," her voice shook and trembled, her face buried in my left shoulder. "This isn't the first time this has happened you know, my father and I came here thirty years ago from the golden-chimera village in the far west. It was the first village destroyed by these raids, but because of the guild set up we were not able to ally all the hunter guilds." Her voice trailed, I knew what she wanted to say.
"They're all dead aren't they, all the hunters we were the last, and now we've failed." My voice echoed with anger, I tried to cover it with sadness but failed miserably.
"No, there may still be others further east, the attacks have been progressing east, but no matter where we go the same thing will happen, and once all the hunters are gone the vampires will have run of the world."
"How do you know all this, how do you know that they are systematically destroying villages, and how do you know that, that is their ultimate goal? What did you and your father know that the rest of us didn't?" I was frustrated it seems like she was hinting at something more than what was there.
She sighed and pushed away from me softly; she stood up and looked down upon me, which was the first time I think she saw the scratch on my face. She gave me a half smile, her sad eyes looking deeply into my own which were undoubtedly filled with confusion and anger. "You have it wrong Zamieon," she started her tone changed she became serious, "what we knew every hunter chieftain or councilor knew, it was a prophecy, one that has been handed down since the Larodain campaign, one that foretells the coming of the 'chosen one.' However, I am not the one who will tell you of the prophecy, the man that Jay wants you to meet is the one who will tell you. I did not realize it then but I feel that the man who freed Jay is the one that will guide you."
"What is with this cryptic bullshit? My father and my mother are dead, as is your father and all you are going to tell me is there is some prophecy that somebody I have never met is going to tell me?" Elrohinile's body tensed, her eyes winced as though I had plunged one of the daggers into her, those deep blue filled with water. My hands fell uselessly to my side, I took a deep breath and began to swallow pride, "I- I am sorry I did not mean to become so angry. It is not your fault that this happened, I have no right to be angry with you; but I do have a right to know the truth."
Her eyes softened, and she nodded in agreement with me, "you do deserve to the truth, and you will learn it but as I said I am not the one who should tell you. Believe me, trust me the one who you will speak to will tell you more than I can."
"Who is he? I mean how does he know so much?"
"All will be revealed in time." She turned gracefully as she walked to the door, she grabbed the handle and the hinges creaked as it she opened it. The door opened to a large room that was light by torches that never died out, never actually burned, just fancy lighting enchanted torches. I followed closely behind her, it appeared as though Elrohinile knew her way around the armory as she quickly moved to a large dresser like cabinet that stood against the northern wall, and she opened the oaken doors silently. She rummaged around the cloaks and other garments within the cabinet until she found what she was looking for, it was a long leather coat, or at least that was what I thought before she pulled it all the way out.
Her hands slipped and the coat fell with a thud to the ground near her feat, I reached it before she did, my hand grabbed at the fabric, which I realized was not leather, its color began to change to blend in with the floor, I smiled. "A chameleon spell, on a coat? What kind of fabric is this?" I asked completely amazed by this coat, I had briefly forgotten about the prophecy. I realize that most people think me insensitive, but hunters learn to control their emotions at a very young age, death is always around it, you learn to move on or face death yourself.
"Its made from Berowel hide, nearly as hard as adamantine but much lighter." Elrohinile seemed amused by my child like behavior, "children" she said jokingly.
"You are not older than me," I replied in an equally jokingly tone.
"I happen to be eighty years your senior, or did you forget that I was ninety-six years old?"
"Yeah in Elven years, that's the equivalent to what a fifteen, sixteen year old human?"
"Sixteen, but we follow the same calendar as you; it's not our fault you humans age so quickly." She smiled that little smile she had, always a sucker for a beautiful smile. She helped me put it on; I could feel the coat shrink slightly as it went on, as it did this it went from being a size to big to a perfect fit. It was weighed about twenty pounds, mainly due to the fact that it had to scimitars in it; their sheaths seemed to disappear into two of the pockets, I assumed the pockets worked similar to the sack Jay had given me except these did not have the same weight reduction. Elrohinile pulled a second one out of the cabinet, this time I was able to see it do the form fitting it had done to me, the entire coat shrinks so that it is the perfect length on anybody.
A shimmering group of chests lined the eastern wall; they were metal and polished to near perfection, the light they reflected back was nearly blinding. I moved silently towards them, Elrohinile's eyes followed me, I could feel them watching my every move. I opened the first chest, it seemed to contain ancient manuscripts, nothing of great importance, as I flipped through them it seemed the mostly told of the great war between the gods and demons, or the history and evolution of hunters. The second chest contained a large number of spell books, there were about five in total, all bound in leather cases, each with its own symbol to represent which types of spell were contained within each.
There was Destruction spells; which is the class that contains the manipulation of the elements to cause physical harm, as well as hexes, curses and poisonous spells. These spells were mainly for combat, it was pocketed. The next book was for illusions, manipulating time and space, as well as the creation of pocket dimensions. The highlight was the final section that discussed the art of plains walking; another book was added to the bag. Holy magic filled the third book, everything from healing and divination spells, to spirit banishing and spells that affect the undead, yoink. The final book contained demonic spells, like necromancy and spirit summoning, though I disliked the idea of such spells, it to was added to the collection.
While I busied myself with the books Elrohinile had found a void bag, but this one had been previously used as a traveling sack so it had shoulder straps and hung loosely on he back, she gathered a smith's anvil, hammer, prongs, scrap metal, and a large amount of tinderboxes. I opened the third box, It contained rations, dried meats, elven breads as well as a few empty water skins, I took a little of each, which is when I remembered the loaf of bread Jay told me about. I stuck my hand into the bag and began to rummage through it, I could feel all sorts of things; metal, something sharp, leather, got it.
I walked over to Elrohinile and held the loaf out to her, she looked at the bread, then back at me, took it from my hands and said thank you in the elven tongue. She went back to looking so did I. The final chest that lay near the corner of eastern corner of the room, I opened it, it contained clothes, shirt, pants, shoes, boots, a few winter hooded clothes and even some jewelry, this chest was the only on that struck me as being odd, there was little use for most of this stuff in combat. I stopped looking so deep into it and decided to take some extra clothes as well as two of the winter garments, never know when that may come in handy.
I turned to where the door was and noticed about twelve armor racks, and three shelves, all packed with armor from simple breastplates to full plate- mail suits. I removed the coat that I had been wearing and draped it over one of the racks; I began to look for a decent breastplate to replace the cheaper one that I was wearing. I found one, made from mythril silver, light, thin, and incredibly durable. I removed the one that I had been wearing; it made a loud clanking noise as it hit the floor. I pulled the mythril armor from off its stand, and put it on, it was half the weight of the old one, and fit much more comfortably. The chain shirt that I had was still in perfect condition so I decided not to exchange it, I picked the coat off the rack and dawned it once more, it made the necessary compensations to my dimensions and it fit perfectly again.
Elrohinile came and stood next to me, her hand gently touched my shoulder, and I turned my head as far around as it would go. "Are you about done?" she asked quietly.
"As done as I need to be, I guess we should get back the surface, maybe go and wait by the rocks."
She pulled the pack that she had been filling tight to her back; I tied the sack to my belt and made my way to the door. On my way out I noticed a small trap door at my feet, it was a little wider than I was, I bend down and grasped the large metal handle and pulled hard, it creaked as it was opened. The wooden door echoed through the room as it connected with the floor, my ears rang for a few seconds. I peered through the hole and saw blackness; I had Elrohinile pass me a torch and I tossed it into the hole. The torch hit another stone floor no more than three feet down, it seemed to be a crawlspace. I jumped down into the cramped space, I looked to both sides and found that the room was not a crawlspace at all but a vault filled with gold, platinum and even taritium pieces. I could feel my eyes widen, I had never known the wealth of our clan before. I untied the sack from my belt and began to fill it with coins.
Elrohinile's voice made me stop hoarding the coins, "I think that you may have more than enough there Zamieon." I looked up to see her giving me an impatient look, "now come on, we have till nightfall and the rocks are a three hour trek, we don't want to be late." She reached her hand down into the hole; I clasped it firmly and used it to help me pull myself out. Surprisingly she did not budge; she was amazingly strong for an elf. She helped dust me off laughing at my apparent greed, then she laid me flat (figure of speech although I almost did fall over) her lips pressed against mine, briefly but let it be known that even a short kiss from an elf is enough to literally take you breath away.
"Wha-what was that for?" I said as I could feel the blood rush to my face and ears.
"Taking care of me twice in such a short time, you are incredibly considerate for a human, even more so than your father. I should know he took care of me when I first came here." She turned form me and began to lead the way out, I followed closely. We reached the surface, the sun had already passed it midday position, I estimated that we had between four to five hours of sun light left; Elrohinile corrected me before I had a chance to say anything. "We'd better hurry, we only have three hours of light left, and we might just have to run part of the way if we want to make it before the sun sets." She led the way at a quick pace that was like jogging to me.
"So you knew my father well?" I asked Elrohinile, the bag on her back bobbed with every graceful elven step she took.
"Yes, very well in fact, he was like an older brother to me, I was only sixty-six when we came here, and your father was closer to your age, maybe a little older. I'd guess he was seventeen or eighteen, and luckily you inherited his good looks." She turned to me and realized just how much faster she was moving compared to me and stopped, she was almost laughing at the fact that she was so mush faster. "Sorry I keep forgetting that we elves move faster."
"Don't worry about it, sometimes I forget how slow we are compared to you, it's a good lesson in humility." I cast a smile in her direction and it was returned ten fold, she was laughing, it was a beautiful sound, an elven laugh is the second most beautiful laugh around, second only to a dragons.
When I caught up Elrohinile began to move but much slower this time, we continued to jog, and run towards the rocks that Jay was to meet us. The journey was nearly silent except for Elrohinile pointing to the local flora and telling me about each, I do not really recall much of what she had said, I was listening more to her voice than to the words that she spoke.
We arrived by the rocks about a half hour before the sun was to set, Elrohinile had me help her up onto one of the rocks, the sea air blew through her hair. The crimson sky seemed to turn her long golden hair a strawberry red colour. "You know Zamieon, it's been almost fifteen years since I was last here," she breathed deeply; "I had forgotten how wonderful the air here smelt."
She was right, there was something about how the air smelt here that could not be reproduced or even described. The water broke upon the rocks, creating a mist that dampened the sand and left the rocks glistening. Elrohinile glistened from the mist as well, despite my training I am still only male. "You look amazing." I completely meant to think and not say that. Elrohinile broke out laughing, but made no comment.
Fog began to roll in off the water as the sun continued to set, the fog quickly settled over the rocks, as the fog thickened I began to feel a cold shiver move through my body. I felt two immense powers coming towards us, Jay silently materialized before us. The second power came closer, I could feel it coming from the water, I quickly climbed the rock that Elrohinile was sitting on, and she had apparently not felt the power; her eyes were fixated on Jay. I looked out trying to see through the fog, then it came into view, a large fishing boat came into view, a single occupant was standing at the rear of the wooden boat. The boat came to a halt along the rocks, as it did the figure waved out its arm and the rocks formed stairs leading up to where we were standing.
As the figure did his amazing entrance Jay crossed his arms and spoke in an insulted tone; "what no hey Jay, how are you? Just focus on the new guy." I turned my head and he was looking directly at me, smiling. "Sorry to keep you waiting hunter, but the man is hard to find."
The figure came closer; he was hooded, in a black robe using a walking stick. He spoke in a booming voice; but it was not as though he was trying to speak like that it seemed as though it was his normal voice. "Zamieon Malanchite, I have been waiting a long time to meet you." He pulled the hood off his head as he did his long brown hair fell in front of his face and then he pulled it back. He looked about thirty, very handsome or at least I think he was, but what do I know; he had a half-beard growing. "I guess that this would be as good a time as any to tell just what this prophecy your young elven friend was telling you about."
I will admit he caught me off guard, I spoke before I took everything in; "how did you know about that? Who are you?"
He smiled almost as though he knew I was going to ask it, he did. "Knew you'd ask that. I can answer those questions quite easily, one; I know everything, well more or less, I know everything that was, and what must happen for things to go as they are supposed to go. As for the second question I have many names, but I believe here they call me Orlaendric, but you may call me Odin."
I felt my jaw gape opened unsure if I should believe him, I mean some person claming to be the king of the gods, come here to speak to me. "What proof do you have that you are who you say you are?"
"I believe that I will leave that up to Jay to explain at a later time for now just listen, I will explain the prophecy as best I can. It is said that one would come, barring the scar of vengeance, and he alone will gain the power to part the seas of darkness. One person who will exist outside of time, forever in the hunt, until only he is left victorious over the evil, and able to take his place in the forever. Zamieon, you are the one the prophecy speaks of, you bare the mark and you are the only one left with your people's gifts." He left it at that and gave me a chance to let it all sink in, it was hard to understand what he meant by all of it. Then he continued, "I realize that I have no right to tell you what to do, there is still a choice you can make. You must choose whether or not to become one who exists outside of time."
I felt all eyes on me, Elrohinile slid slowly from her rock and walk towards me her hand squeezed mine. I was unsure of what to answer however; I did not really understand the question. "What do you mean, 'exist outside of time?' I do not think that I quite understand what you mean by that." I felt a little embarrassed asking any question to the king of the gods. I stared at Orlaendric, looking over his face, and made the realization that he was missing his right eye, though it may not be to surprising to find someone with an eye missing, but it is said the Orlaendric trade his eye for knowledge.
Odin stared at me, looking me over as though he were making calculations in his head, "I apologize, I thought you older. I may have access to all the knowledge of the universe but I am a tad on the absent-minded side. I will allow you to ponder the prophecy and the meaning of my words for a few years, I will return on your twenty-first birthday to see what you have chosen." Then he raised his right hand, from the distance, I could hear the whaling of a crow, I could hear it getting close very quickly, but because of the dark, I could not see it. Then it appeared on the top of Odin's staff, "This is Munin, one of my scouts, he always knows where to find me, I give him to you, should you need me send Munin to me." The raven flew towards me and landed upon my shoulder, as it did this Odin turned his back to me and began to walk away.
"Where do I go from here?" I called out to Odin my voice echoed through the rocks.
Odin continued to walk away as he spoke, "Jay will take care of that, now I must be off. I will see you in less than five years." He floated over the rocks and landed back in his boat, then he turned to us and wave to Elrohinile to join him. Her hand released mine as she turned to face me; her arms embraced me tightly and kissed my cheek. A tear rolled down her face, she was oddly emotional for an elf. She released me she removed the sack she had been carrying and let it softly fall at my feet. She then moved quickly to the boat, she gracefully climbed over the rocks and joined Odin in the boat. Odin snapped his fingers and the boat was gone, this was happening to fast.
"He's taking her somewhere safe," Jay's voice was soft, he walked over and stood next to me, the night air was turning cold, I was beginning to see my breath hanging in the air. "As for you my little hunter friend, the great Odin has left you in my care. I am to train you as best I can, I will teach you everything I know, everything that we vampires know." I looked at Jay he was staring at me, a devilish smile swept across his face, I could tell that this was going to be a long four and a half years.
"I thought you said that she and I would be staying together, not me and you." My voice laced with sarcasm nearly as much as my face.
"Sorry lad change of plans, besides, you really don't want to be stuck for the better part of four years with a stuck up elven girl do you?" Jay laughed and slapped my back hard; I guess I was wrong this might be an enjoyable change for me.