The day Dante Demaskis came to the small fourth kingdom town of Enchantment Haven he brought with him a black raven on his shoulder and an unseasonable chill to the air. He arrived shortly before the sun rose, slipping in through a back entrance to the town he made his way to a pub nearby. Most of the town's residents hadn't yet woken to start the day, and for a while Dante went unnoticed. In a town like Enchantment Haven, where nothing out of the ordinary ever happened, and all of it's residents had settled into a normal routine of undisturbed, small town life it was easy for evil to slip in through the back door. This was the case of Dante's arrival. He knew that nobody in the unsuspecting town was likely bother him and he could do as he wished.
Dante did nothing at first, besides observe that the town hadn't changed a bit since last he'd seen it five years before. Leaning against the side of the pub, he waited for the sun to rise and the day to begin. He was not bored or impatient as he watched the colors of the dawn light up the horizon, he felt exhilarated by the promise of the day ahead and the potential it held. After years of waiting for this day to come it had finally arrived. Dante smiled a smile made nearly invisible by the hood that covered most of his head. It wouldn't be long now until things would be set in motion, great and powerful things that would change all touched by them forever. Dante didn't know the whole extent as to which these events he anticipated would actually reach, but he knew beyond a doubt that to fulfill his destiny it was up to him make these things happen.
Perched on Dante's right shoulder a large black raven sat, shifting from side to side and bristling it's feathers tensely as it's tiny cold eyes darted this way and that. The bird did not share Dante's current spirit of happy anticipation. Dante became aware of the bird's nervous behavior, and quietly, almost whispering he said. "Soon."
"Not soon enough." The bird replied sharply.
"Calm yourself Sevra." Dante said, his voice quiet and cold. "It's almost time."
Reluctantly the raven did what she was told and settled down, although she continued to glance around suspiciously. Dante looked up toward the horizon, within an hour it would be completely light outside and the streets would be filled with people beginning another day of their lives. It wouldn't matter to Dante if anyone saw him or spoke to him, but it would matter to the man that he was in town to meet. His contact took residence there, and due to the secretive nature of the man, and his certain magical ability that some of the local homely townsfolk could easily find disturbing he kept a low profile. If anyone saw him speaking to a stranger that nobody in town recognized people might get curios and begin asking questions.
Because of this, Dante waited before setting out down the main street that ran through the town. It would arouse suspicion if someone were to glimpse him sneaking around before dawn, just as much as it would incur curiosity if they saw him speaking with his contact. Timing wasn't a big concern for Dante so much as possessing what he had come there to get was. The more he thought about the reward that waited for him, the more his spirits lifted. Endless possibilities flowed in and out of his thoughts. He would have unimaginable power; he could strike fear without even trying into anyone he wished, he would command great respect out of all that knew of his abilities. Dante's thin smile widened as he thought about what might be. As long as he received what he'd traveled there to get all of this was within his malevolent grasp.
After Dante reached an intersection in the road which he walked he turned left and started down a small dirt street, half the size of the one he'd just stepped off of. The raven on his shoulder bristled her feathers and took flight, soaring along in front of him then landing on a fence post a couple of yards away. She looked back at her master and waited for him to catch up. Dante stared ahead of him, looking forward at the forest that bordered that edge of town sticking up behind the houses furthest down the street. He could see the building he was headed toward, it was the one that sat closest to the woods. Its roof was one story higher than the house neighboring it and Dante could see from where he was that's its patched roof had suffered significant water damage and most of its shingles were gone. When he reached the building it was confirmed that time hadn't been kind to it.
The last time Dante had seen the building it had been a fully operational store that specialized in selling rare and magical antiquities. The store had once been complete with a sign that had proudly bore its name above the front door, "Five Points of the Silver Moon" That sign had once read, not anymore though. Now that same sign had been flipped backwards, and nailed across one of the second floor windows. All of the windows had boards nailed across them in the same manner.
The reasons for the stores disrepair puzzled Dante, the owner, as far as he knew had been doing well with his business. It was the only store of its kind with fifty miles and it was hard to imagine why it had been, by the looks of things, closed indefinitely. Stranger things had happened though, so he didn't give it much thought.
The smile that he'd worn while brainstorming the many benefits that possessing what he'd come there for faded from his face slowly until his features were blank, and his black eyes were as cold as stone. Ahead of him, not far past the fence post that Sevra the raven had perched atop, sitting silently by a row of unkempt hedges, watching Dante intently was a small silver fox. Emerald green eyes narrowed inquisitively, ears forward; the fox swished its tail back and forth impatiently.
When Dante reached the fence post he stopped, and the raven flew back to her perch on his shoulder. For a few fleeting seconds Dante and the fox regarded one another. The fox took no pleasure in seeing Dante again, the man looked exactly as he had five years ago and the sight of him still made the fox's hair stand on end. Demaskis wore a long, black traveling cloak with leather straps that cris-crossed his chest, and wrapped around his waist, holding the cloak shut. The cloak covered his entire body down to his boots, making it impossible to tell if Demaskis concealed any weapons. From under the hood he wore Dante's shoulder length, black hair fell down on either side of his face. His face was thin and his skin was pale, but his deep-set black eyes made him look menacing. A small beard had begun growing on his chin, extenuating his features. Dante appeared to be in his early thirties and he was handsome in a way, but any good looks he had were down played by the tattoo on his forehead. Above his eyebrows, inked square in the middle of his forehead was an inverted pentacle star. The star had an open eye needled into its middle, and a circle was drawn around the star, all of the stars five points touched the circle.
A smile returned to Dante's face. "Hello Seth, I hope your doing well."
The fox rose from sitting to standing in one brief movement, and making eye contact with Dante drew back its lip's in a grin that would have looked to most like a ferocious snarl. "Don't play games with me Demaskis, you're late."
"That's no way to greet a friend." Dante replied with an amused edge to his voice. "I'm precisely on time. Like I told you, five years, three hours, twenty minutes. I've come to visit."
"Spare me. I expected you to be here before daybreak." The fox said tersely, slipping by Dante to the decrepit store nearby. "I've been waiting."
"So have I." Dante said quietly. "I've been waiting for the past seventeen years."
Pausing by the side of the building, the fox looked down at a small hole dug where the brick met the ground. "Than I suppose it wouldn't kill you to wait another ten minutes."
In the blink of an eye the fox despaired down the hole, leaving Dante and Sevra to themselves. As soon as the fox was out of sight Dante turned to Sevra. "Stay here and keep watch." He told her.
"No." She replied stubbornly. "I want to see what it is he has for you."
"Listen," Dante said, feeling his patience begin slipping. "Your reward will come when this is all over. Now just do as I tell you."
Begrudgingly the raven stayed, saying nothing more. No sooner had Dante finished his sentence then he was off, walking over to the front door of the building. He waited by the door, curiously admiring the old bronze doorknocker in the shape of a lion head nailed to it. A moment later he heard the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door and the distinctive sound of a lock being fiddled with. The door swung slowly inward, and standing there regarding Dante unenthusiastically was Seth, no longer in the body of a fox, but in his original form, human. His human form bore some similarities to the fox Dante had spoken with outside. Green eyes, silver-gray short, bushy hair, and a matching beard. Seth wore a black vest with a green shirt, and faded black pants, suggesting that his change from human to animal was purely magical and didn't affect his wardrobe.
Seth stepped to the side and let Dante pass. Without a word Dante crossed the store's threshold and stepped into the room beyond. No sooner had he taken two steps into the store then he heard the door shut behind him, and a deadbolt slip into place. Seth didn't bother making small talk with Dante; he headed over to a counter on the northern most side of the room and slipped behind it, reaching under the counter to retrieve something. Dante on the other hand, stayed where he was looking about the room, taking his own sweet time. He didn't want to betray to Seth how desperate he was to get his hands on the thing it was that was waiting for him here. The inside of the shop was considerably better cared for than the outside. There were four display cases setup around the room all of them containing antique trinkets of all kinds, and even though the store hadn't had a costomer for three years all of the cases were spotless. Nowhere in the room could Dante see a single speck of dust. The walls and the floor were wood the color of dark mahogany, and they made the entire interior's atmosphere dark and gloomy. Dark as it was, the store still held an undeniably appealing air of mystery. The general lack of light in the room fit perfectly with its decorations. The walls were covered with strange pieces of art and tapestries, all with a subject matter based firmly in the occult. Indeed on one wall a giant rug was hanging baring the same pentacle symbol that Dante had tattooed on his forehead. The store and its merchandise were defiantly fascinating to behold.
Of all the curios things surrounding Dante however, one thing stood out above all others, it was the thing that had immediately drawn his attention upon entering that store five years ago when he had come there as a customer. The room had a high ceiling that peaked in the middle and hanging there, suspended by wires, huge and malevolent was a bleached white dragon skull. Dante stood gazing up at it, wondering how Seth had managed to keep it cobweb free. He wasn't curios enough to ask. Turning away from the decorative dragon skull, he strolled over to the counter where Seth stood. Seth was eyeing Dante impatiently, on the counter he had placed a small decorative chest. When Dante saw it, his eyes lit up, and he grinned. "Good work Seth!" He murmured excitedly. "I knew I could count on you."
Dante reached out quickly to take the box from Seth, but to Dante's great displeasure Seth lifted the box out of his reach before Dante could lay a finger on it. Dante looked questioningly at Seth and began to speak out in protest. He was quickly cut off.
"Hold on Demaskis. I have some news to fill you in on first."
"Did everything go well?" Dante asked, suddenly concerned.
"Mostly, yes. This damn thing was nearly impossible to get to, let alone steal. I had a hell of a time sneaking into that building."
"But you do have it?" Dante asked.
"Yes. I managed to get it. The catch wasn't stealing it, the catch was dealing with your associate."
"Brent?"
"Yeah, Brent. That's what he called himself anyway, Jeremy Brent. Well the problem is that Mr. Brent died when he was retrieving this."
Seth reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, glass cylinder of red liquid.
"Exactly eight ounces of dragons blood." He informed Dante, holding up the cylinder. "Just enough to make this thing work." Seth patted the small chest, then set it back on the counter. "Pity about the dragon. You know there are only about five of those animals left in the Kingdoms? I can't say I've lost any sleep over the demise of Jeremy Brent though."
"He killed the dragon and this is all the blood you managed to get?" Dante looked alarmed.
"Sorry to disappoint, but killing dragons' wasn't my job. Brent tracked the dragon for two weeks before he cornered it. Worst place in the world to force a dragon into a showdown I tried to tell him, a cliff over the sea. I guess the dragon wanted to hide in the caves along the cliffs, but it got its head chopped off instead. I saw it all." Seth continued. "Brent wounded the dragon, and then the dragon panicked and grabbed Brent, nearly ripped him in half. Brent took his axe, sliced the dragon's head off and they both fell backward over the cliff into the sea. Their bodies washed away, and I had to scrape this blood off of a rock. Take it or leave it, you still owe me what we agreed upon."
Dante looked displeased, but at least Seth had done what he'd needed him to do. Seth held out the small vile of dragons' blood toward Dante. Dante took it and slipped it into his robe. He was angry with Seth and the other man he had hired, Jeremy Brent. Brent had seemed to know what he was doing when Dante had enlisted his service, and the last thing he expected was that Brent would be stupid enough to allow a dragon to push him over a cliff. People could be so inept.
"Now . . . " Seth said, reaching down and turning the clasp on the engraved chest sitting on the counter. "Here is your precious artifact."
Seth opened the lid on the box revealing a gold object in the shape of a looped Egyptian cross. Even in the room's darkness the gold on the object shone brilliantly. Dante held his breath and slowly reached down to lift it out of the box. Holding it up he studied every inch of it. It was solid gold except for the engraved figures of two intertwining white snake's wound around the base. Above the snakes, set into the gold and covered with a transparent metal, were three small leaf fragments. The leaves were incomplete and decayed, they looked out of place in such an ornate object but they pleased Dante more than anything else in the world could have.
"Perfect." He said quietly, in awe of the object he held. "Perfect. Thank you Seth."
Seth leaned forward across the counter and looked Dante square in the eyes. "I know what that thing you've talked me into stealing for you does Demaskis. And I truly hope that something kills you before you have the chance to use it."
Dante did not reply, but his eyes narrowed dangerously.
Turning away from Dante to put something in order on the wall behind him Seth said.
"Now its time for our part of the deal Demaskis. You owe me one anti-transformation potion, and the promise that you will leave today and never return as long as I live. I don't want to ever see you again."
While Seth had his back turned Dante had carefully placed golden object, with the, images of snakes and embedded leaves into an inside pocket in his robe.
"Don't worry Seth." Dante said quietly. "You won't ever see me again." He paused. "I promise."
Seth thought he heard something strange in Dante's voice and he began turning around to see what Dante was up to. He turned just in time to see the silver gleam of a blade coming down on him. Like a flash Seth jumped to the left as a human and hit the ground a fox. The transformation took place in less than a second and the dagger Dante had pulled on Seth slammed down into the counter, smashing the glass that covered a good portion of it. Dante wasted no time and jumped over the counter to destroy Seth, but Seth wasn't there. Dante was just in time to see a white and silver tail disappear into a small hole next to the wall. Cursing, Dante cleared the counter once again and ran to the door, fumbling with the dead bolt than throwing the door open. He rushed out onto the porch and looked around. The fox was fleeing toward the woods near the store, and by the time Dante got off of the porch the fox had completely disappeared into the forest.
Sevra cawed, and stretched out her wings, alarmed. "What was that?" She exclaimed, seeing Dante holding his dagger, gazing furiously into the woods where the fox had disappeared, his eyes blazing angrily. "Want me to go after him?" Sevra asked, getting ready to take flight.
"No." He replied abruptly, continuing to stare into the forest. "We should leave town now."
The raven nodded and flew over to Dante's shoulder. He put the dagger away, and looked into the street on his right, than the forest to his left. "I have everything I need."
Exasperation and adrenaline surged through Dante for a few moments, and at first he was unable to shake his anger. He had failed to kill Seth. Seth knew too much. Seth needed to die.
Dante started back along the street he had followed to get to Seth's. Up ahead of him he saw some towns people crossing the street. The sun had completely risen now and the town was nearly in full swing. As he walked, he thought about what had just happened, and gradually his anger began to wear off. After all, he had everything he needed now, the dragons blood, the sacred object . . . all in all everything had gone well. Seth was a minor setback. He would come back another day to finish off Seth, but now there was no time to waste. He had to prepare for the ritual he would perform tomorrow.
By the time Dante reached the intersection in the middle of town his bad mood had totally lifted. Thoughts of what he could now make possible returned to his mind. Anything he desired he could obtain, he could have absolute control over his fate and the fate of others. Soon Dante thought, soon he would be stronger than death.