Immortal Chronicals

by Zamieon-Malanchite

The time is now nearly at hand, soon the first will come down to his world, will the army that Zamieon managed to gather be enough to destroy the vampiric hoard that threatens all life on his world?

8. Waking The Dead

Chapter VI: Waking The Dead

I walked through forests, through storms and sunlight for nearly two years. I traveled in search of Hirogroul. All that I knew of it was that it lay in a mountainous area past the Sea of Tears, on the continent of Kralarsiou. Along the way, I ran into a few small parties of vampires, not to mention a small assortment of various other creatures. I left a trail of blood and death in my wake; I became the angel of death dealing to all those that stood in my path. The nightmare that I had been having began getting worse, the stress of living was becoming nearly intolerable. My mind began to wander as the journey continued, I began to loath all existence, the lives of others became meaningless to me, I no longer knew who the real "bad guys" were any more, perhaps it was I. I avoided civilization as much as possible; I found that isolation was the best way of ensuring that I did not go over the proverbial deep end.
It was mid way through my third year of searching that I found the first traces of the Hirogroul monks. Dusk had past and now the moon shone brightly in the clear night sky, no clouds blocked its view of our world. It was a large grouping of homes built within the mountains, amazing carvings marked the exteriors of the buildings. They ranged from ancient runes of protection to fantastic murals of battles; ancient wars that most would have forgotten were here on the walls to this building. I stood in awe and silence surrounded on all sides by hills, the valley that I stood in was a natural marvel the likes of which I had never before seen. The ground was soft, green with lush vegetation and flowers of all colours. The windows and doors of the community homes had ivies entangling them, amazingly up-kept and trimmed to perfection. Small trees surrounded the fronds of most homes usually two, one on each side of a door, the trees though small seemed ancient and loved.
I could hear the rustling of grass and leaves around me, I was being surrounded, shadows moved in the night, quickly, unseen and nearly silent. I left my guard down; I had heard of theses monks, peaceful and benevolent, though very untrusting of the motives of outsiders. They were also strong and dangerous, their speed and strength made them formidable opponents, and they could land blows that would kill any normal man. There were at least twelve of them around me; they crept slowly towards me, still silent and somehow remaining completely out of my line of site.
I raised my arms into the air and straitened my hands to show that they were empty, "I have weapons on me, though I have no intention of using them on you. I ask only for aid; for my spirit, my mind and my body." I spoke hoping that I had chosen the right words; the ones that would have them accept me.
A voice answered me; it came from one of the buildings, "what is it that would trouble a man enough to seek us out?" I looked towards the direction that the voice came from; I saw a short thickset Dwarven male, an elderly dwarf of about seven hundred. He wore a dark brown robe and though he was bald, he had a long flowing white beard.
"I find that death is haunting me in my sleep as well as when I walk, I have those that would make me their pray, and I must find solace for my soul, for long I have gone with no soul within me. I gave up death, cheated it indefinitely the gods have thus given me immortality."
"Such strong things you say of yourself young human, would you mind if we tested your immortality?"
"If you like you may, when you kill me though, give me time to come back, it may take a little while."
"We'll give you a decent room to wake up in I assure you, this won't hurt a bit." He nodded and a group of ten men surrounded me, most held me tight so that I could not move much, the last thrust two fingers into my throat, I felt the wind leave my body and found myself unable to get any of it back. Blood began to flow from my mouth and soon my body became too heavy for my legs, the men let go of me and my legs crumpled beneath me, the world went black around me.
I awoke in a small dimly lit room, the smell of burning wax filled the room, and silence was all around me. I could still taste blood in my mouth, it was amazing but even now, I felt no pain from what killed me, I was impressed with how easily one man could kill me. I tried to sit up but found myself strapped down to the bed, my jacket hung on a wall to my left, I struggled a little and then I heard footsteps approaching me. "Well at least the room is decent," I said jokingly.
I heard the voice of the dwarf coming from just behind me, "just precautions you see," he paused for a few brief moments. "There are many who come here for many reasons and most are here for reasons that are far from respectable. I need to make sure you are not one of them."
"How do you propose that we do that?"
"You are doing very well so far, you came back to life as you said you would and beyond that," he said with a smirk, "you haven't really tried to escape. You seem to be more honorable than most that come here, I will let you up, if you choose to attack me that is your decision, but then it will prove your true motives."
As he reached down to loosen the straps that bound me I asked quietly, "why would I attack you?" He finished uniting me without responding, he tossed the straps neatly into a corner. "Thank you for releasing me without hesitation, though I must ask again what purpose would my killing you serve?"
"Well because many others have come here for that reason, I am after all the one they call Origmi Bloodfist; I am the head master here. Most come to kill me in hopes of disbanding the monks, none have succeeded though." He smiled as he spoke, he seemed a generally happy sort, "it is late though stranger and you should rest, and I will send one of my men to fetch you in the morning. Feel free though, if you be not tired that is, to look around out facilities, all know that you are here, no one will trouble you."
He walked to the door to my small room and opened the door, "my name is Zamieon, and I must thank you for this tremendous opportunity." I bowed out of courtesy and Origmi bowed out of obligation in return, and then left the room, closing the door gently behind him. Silence was louder than I could have ever imagined, I lied sleepless in the small yet comfortable bed that the monks had given to me. I tossed and turned until near daybreak when finally my heavy eyelids closed.
The nightmares returned, horribly vivid as ever, there I stood surrounded by bodies of slain friends and family, their heads displayed on pikes before me, haunting laughter filled the dark spaces in my mind where even the screams feared to go. Shadows moved quietly around, something darker, something far more evil than the vampires was coming for me, something that death itself would cringe in fear at. From the sides of my minds eye I could see just behind the creature's movement, it wailed with a cry that in the least could be described as inhuman. Then it struck out at me from the shadows, its eyes pierced through me, I was completely terrified of it, then I saw its face. It was my own, the sandy brownish hair, the piercing blue eyes, the scar everything was me.
I awoke in a cold sweat; the sheets were already on the floor, and the sun halfway up the sky, birds sang off in the distance, the sounds of waking life echoed in the halls just beyond the door. I stumbled out of bed and gathered my pants and shirts, I put them on slowly leaving my jacket hanging on the hook on the wall while my breastplate lie on the floor next to the bed. I opened the door to the hall, the sun shone brightly in the main hall, my eyes squinted to adjust to the light; once in the main hall I made a disturbing discovery; the silence from last night had spread and infected the day. Not a single sound could be heard in the main hall, I could not seem to find anyone around the immediate area, and the hall was completely empty. I began to walk, away from the sun; its harsh light beat down on my back, the hall was long and winding, carving were etched into every inch of the hall. The cavern was an oval shape, the entire area was, and although it was cave, it was incredibly dry. I continued down the hall in silence, it stretched deeper and further down into the mountain, it slowly grew darker as I walked deeper.
Torches lit the halls in the deeper areas so that it was nearly as bright as the upper levels; I found a group of spiraling stairs leading to an even lower section of the temple. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I found myself on a balcony of sorts staring down into a larger room filled with monks, most entranced in meditation the rest were training physically against one another.
"So what do you think about our little home?" The voice of Origmi came calling from behind me, "it's not much but we call it home, now what is it that I can do for you?"
"Help me, it is these nightmares I've been having, they are starting to make me loose grasp on myself."
He smirked, "you are a hunter after all, you live a violent life style nightmare are bound to be a part of that." He replied in a mundane tone, as if he were not worried about it. "I can teach you meditation; it would aid you in managing, our more correctly controlling them."
"I already know how to meditate it hasn't been helping, the nightmares have been breaking through my concentration, they are seeping into my meditation, poisoning it and my mind. I am beginning to see the images in my sleep, there is no line between reality or dreams; I need help or I fear I will plunge into darkness."
"There is no help that can be offered that can help you, the only thing that will work for you is to face you demons within, confront your fears and make sure that they listen to you and not the other way around."
"I was once able to enter a place, in which I could do such a thing, but it was intense, the complete lack of human interaction within my mind drove me more insane. I had been trapped there for a long enough period to grow to hate it. I was freed only by divine intervention; I can't take another risk like that."
Origmi stared at me for a long moment taking in what I had just told him, "then all you can do is pray that the dreams stop, other wise you'll wind up being like those we keep in the ward for the insane." "Ward of the insane, what is that?" In my mind, I already knew that the name was more or less self-descriptive.
"It's where we keep all those whose minds have fallen too far beneath the realm of reality too recover and return to us." His face grimaced as he spoke with some distaste towards the place; he seemed the type of person who has a particular disliking to loosing things. He lowered his head and stared towards the floor as though to signify that he had finished speaking.
I looked around the area again, something was beginning to bother me about this place, it was something that although was not terrible was anything but normal. I shook the thought for a moment and turned my attention back to Origmi, "so how will this training practice work?"
His head raised and his eyes locked with mine for a few moments, a huge grin was forming under that thick Dwarven beard of his. "It's like a form of meditation, though it only occurs while you are traveling the dream realm, it is completely controlled by your subconscious." He turned away form me and began to move towards the stares, he abruptly turned to me and waved his arm to motion to follow him.
I did so, following down the stairs and past the meditating monks, one or two came briefly out to see who was walking past them then re- entered meditation. He led the way beyond those who were training in combat; beyond them, there was large doorway that led to a corridor that was actually dark. The corridor was not very long though all that I could see was something somewhat brighter. The room we entered from the corridor was large and dome-like in shape, with large pillars stone pillars encompassing the room, torches hung from metal holders imbedded into each pillar. In the center of the room, there was a great deal of pillows facing each other.
Origmi gestured to one of the pillows, "take one; before we begin I need to teach you the art of mind-walking."
"Like this?" I asked his mind, as I did his eyes grew wide in disbelief.
His voice echoed inside my head, "well I guess there will be no need for this," then I actually heard a mental sigh come from him, I raised an eyebrow. "Then I do not know exactly were to begin, by now you should be able to control your dreams."
My answer came still through mind-walking, "well there might be a problem in the fact that I do not do much dreaming to practice with."
He burst out verbally, "what do you mean by that?"
I smiled and continued talking in his mind, "I don't sleep often, I use magic to replace the need for sleep."
He smiled nodding his head in understanding, "that makes a lot of sense; you actually need to sleep to get used to the dreams, how long have the dreams been happening."
"About two years give or take, though it is a little more than I wanted to have, maybe I should just avoid sleep all together."
"You my good hunter are the reason that the nightmares are so horrible and near unbearable. You are allowing the horrors your subconscious sees to pile up, it is like bucket, it can only become so full, anymore than that filled amount and you wind up with overflow. You have been nearing the overflow point, if you had not started sleeping recently, you probably would already be insane."
"How do you know I'm a hunter?" I asked, he said it the night before but I did not realize that I had not told him then.
He smiled, "word travels faster than you do I'm afraid."
I chuckled, "of course, of course," I should have known that the word that a sole hunter was moving through the land.
He smiled goofily beneath his flowing beard, "You are still welcome to stay with us hunter, at least until such a time that you can control your dreams at will."
I nodded in agreement and sat upon one of the cushions, Origmi sat on one opposite of mine. "So you'll be guiding me through this I take it, I mean that is how this sort of thing works right? You enter my mind once the subconscious takes over, then you basically hand walk me through the mental process." I heard a snort like sound in my mind, "what?"
"I will only be making sure that you stay grounded, don't want you falling out of our world, so I'll be watching but not helping."
I closed my eyes and began to meditate in silence, I synchronized my heartbeat with my breathing, and I could feel the world fade away slowly like the sun setting behind a hill it faded out of existence. For a few brief moments the silence seemed to ripple with hints of sound, drops of noise fell around me like rain, noises blended and bled into one another before long no single sound was definable. Soon the darkness also faded, the ground I found myself standing upon was soaked with blood, the heads of my friends surrounded me, it was my dream from the previous night, the one that less than an hour ago I had awaken from; only this time I could move around in it, and I found it far less disturbing.
I saw the shadows moving the same way as before, I knew what was coming this time, and I drew my sword, from where I do not know it just seemed to appear in my hands. When my shadow double attacked I managed to defend the attack and now found myself staring me down, the feeling was disheartening too say the least. I (not me but the other me) brought my face closer to me, and then wile our faces were less than three centimeters apart the face changed. It turned into my fathers; I am not sure how I know that it was my fathers face because the features had almost all changed. His hair was silver, his skin pale and thin, his eyes were sunk deep into his head, then I realized that he was a vampire now, I breathed deeply and closed my eyes. When I opened them again he was gone, a dark laugh echoed throughout the darkness, it was female in origin, I tried to shake it at first, then I listened hoping to recognize the laugh but I had not even the smallest idea to whom it belonged to.
"Show yourself!" the scream seemed nearly meaningless to who ever was doing the laughing, it merely got louder, I tightened my fists, the sword I was holding had disappeared back into the air from whence it came. "Fine, stay hidden, this dream world is just that, a dream whatever you are you will be gone when I awaken." The laughing doubled as I finished speaking; I was beginning to become angrier as time slowly passed by. "It's not a very good idea to get me angry you know the fact that whatever you are may not be vampiric I can still kill you with ease.
Heavy breathing took the place of the laughing, "You think you are so powerful hunter, arrogance always leads to death, even for those immune to death." The voice was obviously female but it was much darker, like that of a demon. "I will destroy your mind, like all the others that have met me and decided to piss me off, vampires fear me more than you child! My wrath shall be incurred upon you, your mind will decay before me, and I shall feast upon your soul!" The yelling was echoing loudly brining me to my knees in pain.
I awoke at that moment when the pain reached near intolerable, jutting forward falling off the pillow. The palms of my hands came slamming down upon the floor of the room keeping my head from bouncing off the hard stone; my heart raced, sweat ran slowly down my forehead. I glanced up at Origmi who was staring at me, worry etched on his face deeper than any of the carvings on the walls, his eyes were changing colours rapidly, his forehead appeared to be "bumpy." I was trying to remember from earlier training what form of creature has such features, but to no avail, the answer lay buried beneath problems and difficulties that are more pressing.
"You have a serious problem my friend, there is a creature living within your mind a-"
I cut his sentence short; with the way, he started talking I knew what was living in my mind, "A succubi." Soul eaters, they affect you by entering your mind by planes-walking from one of the astral planes, then they jump from host too host, the method by which they do this is a mystery. Without a host a succubus would simply just dry out and die, unless they can manage enough power to open a portal for their currently dead hosts mind.
"Well at least you know what you suffer with, however there is little that I can do, we here have no methods of defeating a succubus that is in another's mind, the only way do defeat it is-"
"I must defeat it in my own mind, if I can kill said creature my mind is cleared and freed form all damages that may have been inflicted upon it, though the healing of the mind is slow. Whatever parts of my soul that had been devoured by said creature also return to me as the creatures power decay and disperse. That about cover that?" I had long ago heard stories of only a few that had survived a battle with a Succubus however, even in those rare situations that the host was victorious the succubi was rather weak from either plane-walking or host jumping. Mine seemed strong, however I have one advantage over the others I can control my own mind at any time.
"I would tell you to go rest yourself; however that would not seem to be the best idea at the moment." He took a deep breath and glanced at my eyes, his bumps were gone, and his eyes returned to one color but I could not remember if it was the same as before, they were hazel now. "Let me take you to our great hall, they have a superb roasted boar with potatoes today, and I know that you have not eaten yet."
Smiling I grabbed at my stomach as it growled with anticipation of food on its way, "come to think of it, it has been a time since last I had a decent meal."
"This way then," he stood up and began to lead the way out of the dome room, and all the way back to where my room had been. He continued past it to a small opening that led to the outside, the sunlight was nearly blinding in the valley. "The great hall lays across the field, do you see that ladder that leads to the highest door," his index finger pointed the way to a very high ladder that lad to a door that I would estimate to be about thirty feet in the air.
"Yeah I see it."
"Well that's not it," he turned and smiled at me, "it's the one to the lower left of it."
This one was more reasonable, level with the ground, and large enough that a full-grown platinum dragon could fit through with ease. "That's a big door."
"We have some very large guests at times, you should be fine to make it there yourself, I must now go tend to the less fortunate of us."
"You meant those that are residing in the ward of-"
"Yes, those that have not had the strength to fight off their own personal demons and now have not the strength to even try." His face seemed to fill with anger and disappointment.
"Is there anyway that I can help?" this is one of the stupidest things that I could have asked, but it is like an instinct that most people have, when you feel sorry for someone what do you ask, even if you know that there is nothing that you could possibly do.
"Not wind up there yourself," he said with no joke being made, no smile only sincerity. "I have seen to many fall to madness and for one like you, one of the last of your kind to come here would be a atrocious waste to this world."
"I will defeat my demons, if not for myself than at the least for you; thank you again, for everything."
"No need for thanks, all those who are worthy to be here are accepted and treated equally, I will find you later Zamieon." He leaned forward to bow in honor of me I returned the bow. "Till I see you next I suggest that you not sleep, I want to be with you to ensure that you wake up." With that, he left to give aid to those whose minds were lost.
I walked slowly across the grassy field that lay between the two buildings of stone; the breeze in the valley was light and cool I stretched my arms out at my side to welcome the breeze to me. It blew through my long hair, it felt gentle against my face, I breathed deep of its mixture of scents. It carried with it the scent of grass, lilacs, roses, many other flowers to which I had no name, the smell of freshly melted snow, as well as the smell of fresh rain. I soon arrived at the great hall; the inside like the other mountain home was carved with great care and detail, the smell of fresh food made me forget of the wonderful smells outside. The roof in the hall was incredibly high, between the shear height and size I would estimate that five full grown, hell over-grown platinum dragons would fit.
I soon found were to acquire the food that I had so recently realized that both my mouth and stomach had been missing for some time; I had been living on trail like rations for more than 2 years now. I cleared three plates before I felt as thought I should stop, the chefs were more than happy to serve more and seemed to get rather upset when I said no. I relaxed in my chair and took in the whole hall, patrons and all. It was surprisingly quiet thou to be fair there was only me and four other people in the hall at the time, this place reminded me of home, because everyone there was of a different race yet they sat together drinking and laughing. Even with the contemptuous succubi feeding off me I felt in absolutely no danger, I figured that I would be able to defeat the creature by nightfall.

I stayed in the hall for about three hours, by that time it had nearly every monk that lived there dining on food, they spoke loudly now, laughing, drinking, some discussing, one or two stopped to speak with me but most seemed either nervous or completely scared of me. I chose this time to leave and go back to my own room, as I crossed the field I ran into Origmi who decided to join me in my room.
When we arrived at my room, the sun was beginning to set, reds and pinks danced across the previously blue sky. "So you ready Zamieon?" Origmi was noticeably nervous about the task at hand, but then again I was as well.
"Ready as I need to be, you think that you'll be able to rip me out if I get in too deep?" He just nodded his answer; I took three deep breaths, "than I got nothing to worry about right?" I smiled to let him no that I was only joking to light my mood. I closed my eyes and began to meditate, Origmi was now in my mind as well, he did not say anything, however I could just feel him there. The darkness slowly became more than unnatural a pulsing of light could be seen coming from what by my estimation would be the approximate center of mind. It sent waves of light in non-chronological sequences through the dark, after what seemed like hours of silence the pulsing stopped and the light faded into darkness.
The laughing of the creature started once more, echoing loudly, pounding against the walls of my mind. "So you've returned to die have you? Didn't give me much time to find out just what a hunter can do, no mater death to you hear will destroy your mind, leave you for all intensive purposes dead."
"You forget succubus," I began, focusing to find from where the voice was coming from; "that this is my mind, I am the one who controls all that exists here."
There was a loud thud in the distance to my left, the succubus' voice echoed with contempt towards me, "you think that I cannot defeat you simply because this is your mind? Have you any idea how many creatures I have defeated in their own minds?"
"I assure you that I will not be added to that list." I spread my arms wide, focusing my energy to shape my mind into a large square shaped room, then with in my loudest possible yell I released a single word; "LIGHT!" The pulsing light reappeared in the center only this time instead of pulsing it exploded igniting the world I had created in a brilliant white; the succubus screamed covering its eyes with one of its grey bat like wings. "Thought I'd even the odds, after all unlike you I cannot see in the dark."
I saw my first succubi cowering from the light to my left; its body was a smoky grey, the ridges of its spine seemed to protrude out of its skin they were more noticeable due to the purple colour that they had. Its arms were slim with razors sharp nails for fingers, its long tail supported most of her weight, and her hind legs were only lightly touching the ground. She pulled the wing away from her face and hissed loudly at me, her long red hair fell back off her face, exposing her pure black eyes and razor teeth. She leapt high into the air fluttering her wings to keep her air born for the time. She smiled evilly and pulled her body into a ball, she fell a small way towards the ground, and then without warning she stretched her whole body to its limit. As she did so long pointed spear like spikes shot from the points of her wings, I had little time to maneuver out of the way of several of them as the hit the ground beside me sticking deeply into the ground.
"A little more dangerous than you thought?"
"Hardly," I focused my mind and created a heavy metal box around the succubus whose face was showing signs of shock as it happened; as the box closed quickly, I could her banging against the sides of the box. I began to lower it towards the floor as she continued to struggle inside, then the banning stopped.
"Do you really think that this is enough to hold me in place," with a loud screaming she came erupting out of the roof of the box, flying strait up with great speed. Fortunately, for me she had not noticed the heavy metal shackle attached to her right leg, it quickly snapped her back down to the ground, the sound of bones snapping echoed through my mind. I snapped my fingers; more shackles grabbed her remaining extremities pulling them all to the ground, she struggled screaming things in languages I never knew even existed. "Did you underestimate your enemy?" I spoke mockingly to her for she was now completely helpless.
"Fine, you have won, now let me up and I will be on my way," her voice allowed the traces of fear to ring out clearer than any bell.
"Oh, I think not, I don't know how things work were you come from but here," I gestured with my hands to show my mind; "when you threaten to kill someone that person is very likely to kill you instead." I smiled waving good-bye to the helpless monster, as I began to walk away; she screamed for mercy, I snapped my fingers again. "Fine I shall set you free," THUNK! The heavy blade of a guillotine fell and she stopped screaming, her soul was now free to go wherever it so wanted. I did not turn around I merely took three long deep breaths, then I closed my eyes once more.
When my eyes opened again it was late at night, just one or two hours before dawn. I was awakened by screaming down the hall form me, blood- curtailing screams, male in origin. I rose out of bed; patting out the wrinkles in my pants as I made my way to my door and opening it in order to try and locate the from whence the screaming originated from. I heard them start again only loader followed by incoherent sentences, something about death and evil surrounding him. I slowly managed to drag myself sluggishly down the hall towards the ramblings, my head still groggy from too little sleep. I came to a large set of metal doors, behind them the mumbling words of mad men and women came pouring out, I had figured out why the screams were coming from there but I had become far too curious to leave well enough alone, I needed to see inside for myself.
I pushed the door open and walked into the ward of the insane, it was a dimly lit room filled with all forms of creature, all of them completely lost to our world. Most were chained or tied down to their beds so that they didn't pose a threat to others, there were some, less dangerous ones wandering about, speaking to inanimate objects or people that were not there, some talked to themselves and answered. Than I heard the screaming again, the same thing a flurry of words mixing together, to hard to understand, I followed the voice and what I found attached to it made my heart sink, nearly brining me to my knees in sorrow, tears began forming in my eyes.
A young Half-Drow male lay strapped to a bed, his eyes squeezed tight shut, I knew the voice now, and the face both belonged to Golfallow Harslem, my old friend, my clansman. He shook his head violently a long trail of drool and blood ran down the side of his face, deem marks from the straps used to hold him down ran across his body like scars. I did not have any way of knowing how long he had been here, but it seemed that his stay was far less enjoyable than my own.

"Theycametheykeepcomingtheyneverstopalwaysalonealwayshuntedtheyneverwillstop deaddeadthatiswhattheywantmetobebutIamstrongIwillnotdie ..." His words grouped together with no break between them, from my best guesses he ran for a long time with vampires constantly hunting him down. He opened his terrified eyes, began to stare at me, still staring, recognition, he sees me remembers me maybe, then he closes his eyes and no longer screams. Now he wails, tears running down his face, "nowtheysendthedeadfriendstogetmedeadalldeadallfriendsgone. Familygonealldeadvampirestookaway. Zamieonwhydoyoucomeformewewerebestfriends..."
"I am sorry," came a soft voice from behind me, I turned to see a young female monk looking gently at me. "He has been here the last three years; he has no signs of progress, keeps going on about death and pain." She walked over towards Golfallow Harslem and placing a cold damp cloth on his forehead attempts to calm him down. "We found him wandering in the woods, in this state; even so it was not easy to bring him in." His wailing lowered to a sniffling, his tightened eyes eased though remaining closed.
"I wouldn't imagine that he would, hunters are not easily taken," I calmly told her as I wiped a tear from my eye. "He and I were like brothers when we lived in the colony together, but that was before the vampires attacked wiping out my people. I thought them all dead though, sadly I wish that they had." Seeing my friend like this was painful for me on a level that I was becoming accustomed to, though I wish that I was not.
Golfallow Harslem opened his eyes slowly, glaring at me, turned to the nurse, and pointed towards me as best he could with his arms strapped down, "can you see him?" His voice was slow, apparently he may not have been in as bad of shape as I had thought that he was, the nurse nodded her answer. "Zamieon?" he asked worriedly, as though it were a question that his life may depend on, I nodded my answer reluctantly. "It really is you, but how all the hunters died? I was there I ran like a coward but when I came back everyone was dead."
"I survived; there is no more that needs to be said of that old friend." I reached my hand out and touched his; he grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard. Tears started to roll down his face but this time he was smiling as he did so.
He turned to the nurse his expressions went serious, "the dreams are getting worse, go tell the others that they are coming."
"But what about you I can't just leave you here, what if you fall back asleep, they could take you in your sleep."
"Won't happen, they have done all the damage that their magics can possibly allow them to do, insanity is after all something that I am learning to cope with."
"I refuse to leave you, what happens if they are closer than you think, they could enter this room killing everyone in it."
"Your being here won't make a difference! Besides" he said taking a deep breath, "Zamieon is here, and if I know him well enough he could take care of more dead than you could." He allowed a smile to creep slowly back over his face, "just let me up, I want a fighting chance."
She did so, removing the restraints from him, "don't worry Zamieon I do this every night, I can control the madness during the time that I am awake but when I sleep, well you saw." He stood up stretching, and then pointed the nurse out the door; she ran quickly out of the room and continued out of sight.
"So what is it that is coming exactly?" I asked with only the knowledge that it was something dead.
"A necromancer and his army have begun to move against all the powers of this world, it's no surprise but the necromancer is powerful to say the least. They have taken control of most of the continent, though I do not think that he has the power to take on all the kingdoms of the east." He began to dress himself in armor that was lying underneath his bed. "I would like it if you stayed at least until after the fight, so that we may take some time to..." he paused searching for a better wording than catch up, "to catch up."
"Don't worry old friend, I had planned on staying here more than a couple of years, but now I may make it a few decades."
"Good company huh? At least that's the reason I stay, well that and the food." He finished tightening the straps of his armor, "if you'll excuse me I really must go and help prepare the troops."
"I'll go with you."
"No, this is our-"
"I'll go with you, I was taken in here, cured of the succubi living off my soul; I owe at least two people here a great deal." I placed one of my hands on Golfallow's left shoulder, he in turn did the same, nodding he led the way out of the ward.
We left the cave that we had been in and walked into the large field, a horn blowing loudly on the peak of one of the mountains, all the people that were in the caves poured out into the field hundreds gathered in even rows awaiting someone to speak. "Wait right here Zamieon, just keep listening to what is being said, and then be prepared for one of the most spectacular sights you will ever see." Golfallow went to join a small group that stood before the congregated groups; I assumed that the head group was composed of the leaders of the Hirogroul nation.
"My brothers," a commanding voice called for the attention of all, his arm raised high into the air. He lowered his arm as he began to speak, "What we have all dreaded has come, the necromancer Ahquawfe is coming, he and his army of the dead will be on our doorstep within a few days." The rooba, rooba of many voices talking at once rose from the crowd, his arm went back up, silence. "Scouts, I will need you to post yourselves more frequently throughout the hills, guards keep whatever you need close by your sides at all times. I will turn your attention to Golfallow, our seer and tactical adviser; he shall give you the battle plans," his hand gestured towards Golfallow.
"Thank you Duannan, I want half of you to guard the only entrance into Hirogroul, the rest I want you to guard the path that leads down from the hill, wait until those here engage the enemy to attack, you are to catch them from their blind sides. Those that can fly, you will act as scouts, since you can warn others faster, I need a magical barrier placed around all known cemeteries and burial grounds, make sure he can't raise reinforcements. You have all been training for just such a situation, lets make sure we do it right." Consensus echoed throughout the group.
I was not let down, over half the congregation began to shimmer in some unseen light from some unseen source, then it happened; those that were glowing rose into the air, massive wings in all different colors flapping, the ensuing wind gusts nearly knocked the rest of us over. Dragons, those of the congregation that were not dragons were either outsiders like my self or merely draconic beings, (those that are of dragons blood but not full dragons) they all however immediately set off to take care of the needed tasks.
My mouth was gaped open, or at least I assumed it was when Golfallow ran up to me saying in his surprisingly chipper voice; "told ya!"
"Your as strange as ever," I muttered happily back, my eyes fixed on the dragons.
"How's that?" he answered his eye brows raised in innocent disbelief in what I was saying.
I turned my gaze back to him, I was still smiling like an idiot, "you always were a wee bit happy for a Drow."
"Half-Drow."
"Well it's definitely not the Drow mentality that you inherited."
"Luckily."
"Here, here."
We laughed hard with another; Golfallow was leading me back to his room. When we arrived my mouth actually did gape open this time, his room was immense, lit with all sorts of differently scented candles. There were two beds with soft satin sheets, and down blankets, thick feather pillows, and a variety of animal hides for flooring. "Have a rest, I promise you you'll have one of the best rests in either bed."
"How many?"
"Beg your pardon?"
"Undead, how many are we talking, thousands?"
"More like hundreds of thousands, I'm worried, though." He took a long deep breath before he continued, "we may have dragons, more than a hundred and fifty, however this necromancer raises dragons, harpies; you name it." His face sank, "I need to get out of here, I need to run, I can't stand to see any more death."
"Then run."
"Come with me."
"No, I haven't run before, and death is something that I am more likely to deal than to ever fear."
"You've changed; you have lost your humanity."
"Immortality will do that, I have grown colder, less caring of those around me."
"I'm sorry."
"As am I," I stood up and walked towards Golfallow, "listen, these people have faith in you, the kind that I always have, you cannot continue to turn your back on other, otherwise you risk loosing the past."
"I have always looked at it as being worse to loose ones future."
"Guess you've inherited some of the Drow nature after all," he smiled, laughing hard; put his hands on my shoulders, stood up and walked over to one of the beds, cast a sleeping spell on himself. He was asleep long before he hit the pillow, I followed suite and decided to go to bed as well.
A horn blew off in the distance of my mind waking me, bringing me back from the serene darkness of rest. My head rose slowly off the pillow a long line of drool had attached itself to the corner of my mouth and the pillow, I sluggishly wiped it away. Golfallow was sitting upright in his bed his face pale, sweat was running down in surprising amounts, his eyes were a blur as the rapidly moved back and forth and his body shook with fear. I stood up, stretching my body out, every crack; every kink that popped out made me feel just a touch more awake.
I slid beside Golfallow, my mighty hand grasped his tense shoulder, and his eyes locked on me, horrified, "it is time old friend, one more bloodletting for me, and perhaps the last for you."
"I can only hope that this is the last for me, I don't handle war too well, I am an assassin not a warrior." He let a nervous smile creep over his face, tears of fear ran down his face.
"You said this necromancer was powerful, but I am curious, what race is he?"
"Elf or Drow, no one has really seen more of him than pointy ears and shimmering hair, why?"
"Is he very old?"
"Young as far as any accounts go, why are you asking any of this?" His face bore deep curiosity.
"I could use someone of his talent in the future, I can finish this battle quickly enough, just get me information as to were in the fray he is." I figured a man that can raise armies of the undead to fight his battles would be a welcome ally when the master of the vampiric race came down to play the final chorus.
"I can probably set a telepathic link between the scouts and myself, but there might not be time, we are already late," he stood up quickly and bolted through the door not waiting for me to keep up. As we reached the outside field, the troops had all gathered and were preparing for battle. The dragons filled the sky casting protective barriers around the homes, glimmering lights of magic danced in the night air, breeze blew gently bending the limbs of the trees, no longer carrying the scents of nature or life, but that of death and decay. The ground troops gathered their weapons, flails, war hammers, mauls and other blunt, bone crushing styled weapons lay spread out on the ground, Golfallow walked over and took up a morning-star.
"Here," he said holding out a spiked mace, "these are probably the best weapons for speed."
I smiled as I cast two spells of godly strength, "no thanks I prefer these." Bending down I picked up two mauls, their combined weight was about eighty pounds, but to me they felt less than five pounds apiece.
The slow pounding of the earth began to vibrate through my legs, panic-stricken faces surrounded me, and I began to push my way to the front brushing of Golfallow's hands as they grabbed at the fabric of my coat. "Zamieon wait, the dragons said that he is at the very back of the army, standing alone at the entrance between the two jagged rocks." I turned to look at Golfallow and nod out of appreciation.
I now moved quickly moving around the bodies of the battle ready warriors, the leaders of each battalion attempted to stop me, I brushed past them with ease, their hands never able to hold me back. Shouts to hold the soldiers back echoed behind me as I passed through the protective barriers, they barriers had been created to hold out the dead not the living so I passed through with ease. I broke my run, stood motionless waiting for the moment in which that I could see my enemy.
The loud shriek of the dragons signaled the undead armies approach over the hill, I could make out the tops of their skulls, some bore helms, others had bits of scalp remaining. I poised myself for attack, waiting about ten kilometers from the rest of the group. I began to run towards the advancing troops, zombies, and skeletons all with weapons in hand; admittedly, some weapons were meager, sort of in the way of shovels and picks. They moved slowly, their bodies bobbing with every step, flesh hanging and sagging off the bones they used to be attached to, internal organs dragged on the ground behind the ones fresh enough to have them. I was closing, the army of monks stood silent behind me, the only sound other than my battle cry was those of the dragons above me as they flew into action, then my mauls struck the first of the dead down, shattering its white skull.
I continued to strike as the army began to surround me; their swords and axes moving slowly through the air. I was able to doge each swing, ignoring those to my sides, I was focused on my progression forward, I was not going to allow these pathetic creatures to slow me. As I pushed forward turning bone to dust before me, it began to rain a sticky and thick fluid from the sky. The sky itself was clear; the moon hung heavily in the crisp night sky illuminating the world around me, the rain was turning everything red, the skeletons included. I began to hear the injured cries of dragons as the boney remains of their fallen kin and of the harpies pierced their flesh.
The sky light up as though lighting were piercing the sky in a terrible storm, dragons were firing their magics and unleashing the power of their different elemental breath attacks, bones joined the blood in its decent to earth, every bone that collided with me hit with nearly enough force no knock me unconscious. Avoiding the wild swings of my enemy was becoming increasingly difficult so I decided to cast several burst speeds on my self to pull myself into that same pocket dimension I had several years before; it worked. The bones fell too slowly now to cause any real harm to me; my enemies as well no longer seemed to pose any real threat. The most interesting part of this was watching my enemies bones turn to dust as I struck them and then watching the dust blow into the night in slow-motion. The area that I was striking would be pulled into the pocket dimension as myself, then as the maul ripped past the shattering parts it pulled small amounts of dust behind it leaving a slow falling trail of bone dust behind it.
I continued to strike down uncounted enemies before me, the trail behind me would leave a huge gap in the army's ranks, the drops of blood- rain continued to trickle from the heavens, and each droplet was easy for me to see as it broke upon the bodies of the dead, dying their bleached bodes a deep red. My hair dripped with the thick red solution, washing over my face, every time I opened my mouth the metallic taste of iron-rich blood flowed into it. It left a thick feeling in the back of my throat, made it difficult to breathe or swallow; it was leaving a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I did not slow my pace though, I continued determined to find the necromancer and make him an ally of mine, I had already decided the best way to convince him, it would not be hard. The sky above me was now completely on fire, the breath of the red dragons lit the sky, in my current state the blaze would seem to last for at least an hour. I finally reached the top of the hill that the army had risen over, and now I could faintly make out the large rocks that marked the entrance to the monk's home.
Only about thirteen more kilometers, I thought to myself; I decided to make a very impressive entrance for the necromancer. I pulled my right arm back and then with all my strength I threw one of my mauls forward. As it left my hand it also left the pocket dimension, it would spin and shatter at least ten skeletons before it started to loose its speed and relatively straight trajectory. Gripping the other maul tightly in my hand I began to clear a path through the skeletons and zombies that stood in my way, skeletons break nicely, leaving only bone and dust as remains. Zombies on the other hand are messy when killed, as the maul collides with their heads it not only shatters the skull but it also releases the smell of rotting flesh, splatters whatever skin, blood and organs remained within it.
I quickly covered over ten kilometers before I looked over at the maul I had released earlier, it was nearly halfway between were I released it and the first skeleton in its path. I allowed my self to take a short breather before I carried on; turning my attention to the large natural stone entrance, way I could now make out the necromancer. His blond hair flowed elegantly in the night air, sure enough, he had the pointy ears of the elven races, though I could not tell if he was Drow or not. A fabric mask covered the lower half of his face (from the nose down), his long robe dragged on the ground, and he held a staff with an orb of dominance that allowed him to control weaker minded creatures with ease. I decided to make this fast, I cast a shock wave spell, the force from it would be enough to cause any skeleton within a five Kilometer radius of me to crumble, the spell is more of a passive spell against enemies, though it can injure or even kill foes that are in close range of the caster. Interestingly enough, the spell itself adhered to the same physics as the maul I had thrown; essentially as soon as I cast it I expected results, however the spell was not working at the same pace of myself, instead it existed outside of the pocket that I was in.
I dropped my second maul and made a fast dash towards the necromancer, unfortunately for me the spell I had just cast was starting to injure me. As I past through the wave of shock its speed and force entered my pocket, nearly breaking my legs, I stumbled as I tried to keep my balance and finish my run towards the Necromancer. Luckily, the spell was only able to affect me for a few yards before it exited my pocket. I reached the necromancer and allowed myself to catch my breath; his gaze was fixed on the maul that appeared to come out of nowhere, his pale grey eyes filled with disbelief. It was clear that he still did not see me, and that he was elven in heritage. I examined him for a few seconds, my heart rate gradually slowed, I glanced over towards the maul, 'nearly there' I thought to myself. I stood at my full height and cast dispel on myself so that I would be released from my pocket-dimension, I appeared before the necromancer.
"The fuck!?" He stumbled a few steps back, his eyes wide in surprise as he lost his grip on his staff.
The echoing of my maul shattering bone came as I charged at him, grasping at the shoulders of his robe I picked him up slightly and with all my force, I pushed him back against one of the large stones. He hit hard, the air escaping his lungs; my face was mere inches from his, "we need to talk." His eyes were fixed on mine, I could feel the shock wave hit us, it pushed me into the necromancer, in turn it tried to push him through the stone. I was smiling darkly now, "listen necromancer, what is it that you want."
He snapped out of his surprise, "to have the world, to cleanse it of all life."
"Why?" So that question was not one I had intended to ask but lets be fair, I was not expecting that answer.
"Life has gone on to long, it must be cleansed, only the dead should remain here, it is not fair to them to be shoved out of sight, buried or burned. They were the ones who founded this planet it is theirs; I am going to give it back."
What a mental case, he was completely out of his mind, "well let me make you an offer, as it stands now I am the only thing that would be able to stop you, correct?"
"Seems that way," his voice was emotionless, cold like death itself.
"Well, how about this, you leave here, retreat, go into hiding for lets say about a thousand years, then I will summon you and your army of the dead to aid me. After we finish the business that is at hand there I will not stop you, you may do as you please." He was thinking, trying to decide weather to trust me or not. "Look, its not like I couldn't kill you and the rest of your minions in a heart beat, the only reason I haven't done so is that I want your aid."
"After we finish what ever business it is that you have, you leave, you're out of my way forever? No tricks, no extra deals, I can do what I want even if it involves destroying this world?"
"As long as it happens on this world, I will not hinder you."
"Agreed." That was a hell of a lot quicker than I had expected. "Who are you any way, there are few that could strike fear into my heart, I'd like to no just who it was that was able to defeat me."
"Zamieon, and who may I ask is the one who has just agreed to become my servant in battle?"
"The call me Neronacon, but my true name is Elafatry." He bowed his head as best he could, I released my grasp on him, and his feet hit the ground with a light thud. "Well then Zamieon, I shall disappear for a while then, but how will you find me?"
Smile, laugh, breath, mind-walk; "I'll let you know."
He returned the smile, and spoke while nodding, "Mind walking, no problem then you can get me any where at any time." With that, he turned his back to me, picked up his staff, raised it high into the air, said something in ancient elven then struck the ground. He pulled his staff from the ground; at that moment a cheer went up in the distance, he then turned back to me, bowed, then transformed into a dire owl and flew into the night sky.
When I returned to the monks Golfallow was already celebrating with the other monks, my name was being cheered at top volume, when they saw me I was given a hero's welcome. I joined the party, as the night progressed many different types of alcohols were being consumed, pipes were lit, and slowly I began to find words difficult to say. My speech was slurred, I was being introduced to many people, though I doubt I would remember them the next day, the world was spinning around me, music echoing off in the distance. Eventually darkness took me away from my body, I know it continued to move it had to, there was no way it was stopping at the rate it had been moving, too mush adrenaline was keeping it awake, my mind on the other hand shut down.
When I awoke sometime after noon the next day my head was throbbing, I was lying next to an elven woman I had never seen before, blanks covered both our bodies, thankfully because nowhere in the room could I find my clothes. I stopped looking for long enough to sort out my thoughts and realize just what had happened, and then my gaze fell upon her. Her skin gleamed in the sunlight that was pouring into the room; I was assuming that it was her room. Her long hair golden hair lay underneath her youthful face, her full red lips bore the second most breathtaking smile that my eyes had ever laid eyes on. As I continued to enjoy the beauty that lay beside me, she began to stir, her eyes fluttered slowly open, and then squinting from the bright light of day, then she had the sudden realization that she was not alone in her room. Her bright green eyes got lost in my own, she half smiled as she stared.
"You must be Zamieon," she said lightly, her voice was more beautiful than any painting of any sunrise, or ocean, or woman, hell you could combine all three and never be able to even touch upon the kind of beauty that she spoke with.
"If I must be," I replied dumbly, I guess that word about the only new person here would travel faster than that of impending danger. "I apologize for having to ask this but," I began to hesitate hoping the right words would come to me; they didn't, "uhm , who would you name belong to?" The idiot alarm in my brain sounded, I was becoming tongue tied, pinch once on your right thigh hard enough and you can recover I told my self; ouch, "sorry, too much ale last night still affecting my speech. What was your name, fair lady?"
She giggled, her whole body seemed to shake as she did so, I made a mental note to watch more women when they laughed to see if they all have the same bodily reaction when laughing. "My name is Feligale Fernberry, I must apologize for my behavior, normally," she blushed a deep red, "well never until now have I ever acted so."
"Acted how?" Now I was playing cute and dumb, put the bait out, would she go for it?
"They way I did last night, have you forgotten?" She did.
"I have, you should show me again."
She began to smile; I pushed my body so I was nearly over top of her, our gaze met once again, I slowly lowered my body towards hers, our lips met, tongues dancing in each other's mouths. Her hands gripped tightly onto my back pulling me closer, (sorry to disappoint you reader but this is the closest that I will come do describing myself having sex) from there we began to make love the right way. Passion came over us, both our bodies glistened in the light of day; her embrace was nearly as magnificent as she was. It only lasted half an hour but it felt like far more to me, she held me close afterward, her fingers gently pulling themselves through my hair.
We lay together until nearly three in the afternoon, I slowly and albeit regrettably out of the bed. "Beg your pardon Miss Fernberry but, where are my clothes?"
"Somewhere in the hallway with my own, we started last night before we arrived here." My mouth fell to the floor, well nearly any way, what the hell was I going to do, I had the sneaking suspicion that Feligale was not going to have anything that suited me. "Relax," she said as she followed my lead out of bed, though I think that she did a much more magnificent job of it then I had. She placed a hand on my shoulder, "return" with that my clothes appeared on the floor directly in front of me.
"Thank you."
"You are welcome, when you finish Golfallow and the high councilors wanted to meet with you, just go to the training hall, you'll find them all there," she leaned down and kissed me, "now if you'll excuse me I must get ready to train myself." She turned and walked through a door that led to an extension of the room, I quickly dressed myself.
I left the room and with great difficulty, I made my way to the training hall. As slinked down the spiral staircase I came across Golfallow, he was dressed in a ceremonial kimono style robe, emerald in color with golden trim. I nodded to acknowledge him; he had the hung-over look almost as bad as I did, though I doubt his morning had been as enjoyable as mine had. He gestured for me to follow him, I did so; he led me to the giant circular room, this time we stayed along the wall, then without warning Golfallow stopped to touch the rocky wall. His hand past through, then he continued through it, I followed him through, on the other side was a smaller and much more dimly lit room. In the center of the room stood a long table, on the other side of that table sat the councilors; six in total.
"Zamieon Malanchite, former member of our group has come to us recently and told us of your plight." I was assuming that the dracon that was sitting at the center of the table was the head; since he was the only one speaking, I was guessing that I was right. "It is because of your willingness to aid us and others that it is the decision of this council to aid you against the vampiric hoard when it comes. Also it occurs to us that you must have a special weapon to aid you in your coming battles, it is for that reason that we would like to present you with this;" he extended his hands and a large double edged broad sword appeared floating in the air before him. "This sword has served many in the past, it is forged with the powers of all the dragon clans of this and several other worlds, and it will absorb the elements in it. Due to its method of forging, it contains blessing of the red, blue, black, silver, gold, ancient, platinum, emerald and the great omega dragon clan. We bestow it onto you who will save the world from the vampiric hoards."
I extended my arm grasping the amazingly soft leather wrapped hilt in my right hand, I examined the blade, jewels of different types and sizes were scattered in different places along the blade. It was lighter than even my scimitars, "thank you, your service and this weapon are both greatly appreciated." I bowed with respect to the great draconic council.
"Your friend Golfallow has sent word to the hirdoric assassin guild, we are awaiting reply but believe that they will also bend their will towards yours when the time comes." I bowed to Golfallow who merely held out a hand as if to say forget about it. "Well I only have one question to ask of you."
"That would be?" I raised an eyebrow; instincts told me that it was an important question.
"How long will you be staying with us?" To hell with instinct, this was not even hard for me to answer.
"How does four hundred and ninety-eight years sound?"
"Like an offer we would gladly accommodate, I even think that I know of someone who would gladly share a room with you." He was smiling, I knew he meant Feligale, you could see it in his eyes. "We hope you enjoy your stay here," he offered me his open hand; I took it in my own shaking it in as friendly a manner as I knew.
Needless to say the next nearly five hundred years past by with quiet pleasure, I studied all the books in the great library within the halls of Hirogroul, a spell I learnt along the way made the reading easy, it allowed my to simply absorb all the information within the tomes. I studied the fighting ways that the monks used, my mind and my body became harmonious with each other. Most of my free time though was taken up by Feligale, it was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had; (and educational, if you think a human woman is moody during 'that time of the month' try an elf they are that way for months at a time, that's right not days not weeks, months, usually no more than two; USUALLY!) I am still not sure if it was love or lust that I allowed the things that happened between us to happen, but I will admit every minute was worth it. Sadly like all things it must come to an end, and after four hundred and fifty years the ringing in my head of another presence came, Jay was now calling me to him. The time to train was now at hand and I had to leave my quiet part of heaven.