A Dwarf's Tale: Will of a Silver Coin
Chapter 6

I drew my coat and cloak about me. The air was really getting colder, and the snow fall was getting heavier. We left Stalvinport and was making good time getting back to the farm. Our wagon was clanking with some of the goods onboard. We secured items the best we could, but it was inevitable that some items would still clank no matter what we did. By our pace, I could guess we would arrive back at the farm in a couple of hours.

Mixed with good food and drink, my wounds from the battle with Pox-I really should start calling him Torid, were dulling in pain. I guessed the cold had much to do with it too. “I was right Tor. You couldn’t bring yourself to kill him. That Kafil was a sniveling evil sort too. He made my necklace buzz.”

“In a way, I did kill Pox Calvin. I killed the disease that was there. Torid wasn’t evil. It was only the life he has ever known. Not surprising since half ogres are taught from birth to be strong and never be weak. Kafil was taking advantage of that. I killed that disease. What was left behind, I hop heals and becomes a positive outcome.”

“Half ogre? Are you sure? I’ve meet some half ogres. He wasn’t as ugly or as big as the ones I’ve met.”

“Well, he isn’t going to win any beauty contests if that’s what you mean. Half ogres come in all shapes and sizes too. Look at me. I’m just as equal of an aberration am I not?”

“I suppose you are. Ok, half ogre Torid then. Do you think he’ll make good?”

“He will. The meanness of his ogre heritage is no longer in him. Now, his humanity will be given a chance. And with the people of Stalvinport, I suspect they will show him the mercies that he was never shown growing up.”

Calvin nodded. “As I said Tor, you are a good dwarf. Your heart and your bones are your guide.”

Our lanterns gave good light, but as we were riding the wagon, the falling snow made it seemed like we were sailing the stars. A form of calmness and melancholy washed over me. I think the ale had a lot to do with these feelings. Getting lost in my thoughts, I have been worried about Griff. I knew we had business to do in Stalvinport, and got more than I thought. And, I must admit, there was a certain sense of satisfaction that I had. But now, heading back to the farm and in this snow, my thoughts turned to my feathered friend. The fact that Talma and the kids were there, gave me a lot of comfort. But still, one never knows what happens in child birth. Things happen. I just hope things happen for the good.

We arrived at the farm. Calvin parking the wagon near the house. I noticed that the nest for Griff was empty. Alarming a bit, I looked to the barn. I jogged to the barn and opened the door. In a corner, stood Talma and the kids. Another figure was there: Kosser. This surprised and concerned me a bit. “Tor, you’re ba..what the hell happened to you? Are you ok? IS CALVIN OK?” Talma was a bit hysterical all of a sudden.

I held up my hand. “I’m fine. We’re both fine. Nothing really happened. Truly, we’re ok. How is Griff?”

Talma relaxed a bit, and shown with her arm. “See for yourself. I’m going to go check on Calvin.” She left the barn. I walked over to where she stood at. Griff was there, lying comfortably. At her abdomen, there were three eggs. Griff had her eggs covered and softly cooing. I relaxed a bit seeing her calm and non painful expression.

“I assume this is normal?”

“Perfectly normal my boy perfectly normal. This fine hippogriff is doing well with her kids.”

“Kids? Well, at the moment, they are just eggs.”

“Of course they are just eggs. And they will remain eggs for another three or four months. It’s rare though. Hippogriffs normally have one or on chance two eggs. For there to be three, I never heard of such a thing. My gosh, you are a mess Tor. Looks like you called a giant a name and got beat up.”

“Heh, you are not too far from the truth Kosser. Hey, where is this heat coming from?”

“I made it Tor! I made a forever fire in the center of the barn!” Steve exclaimed, proud of himself. In the center, there was a large metal tub with some wood in it. The top was partially covered, allowing the heat to warm the metal and radiate outward. “Great job Steve.” I clasped my hand on his shoulder. “Is this fire controllable? Meaning, can the temperature be adjusted?”

“Of course. All one has to do is concentrate a bit and decrease the flames. Likewise, you can increase the flames too.”

“Well, this is good to hear.” I reached over to Griff and stroked her head. She lightly grabbed my hand with her massive beak, and lolled her head from side to side. I guess I was the surrogate mate for Griff. I chuckled and withdrew my hand from her beak. “Well, we need to unload the wagon. Come along, let’s give Griff some privacy.”

We all withdrew, going back outside to the gentle falling snow. Several inches had fallen already. For the next thirty minutes, we worked on unloading the wagon. When finished, we all went back inside. I could smell the brew of a woodsy tea brewing. I suspect Kosser’s hand on it. I was kinda hoping for one of his goblets. I could do with some more ale.

Getting our drinks, we sat in the common room. “All right, which one of you will tell the rest of us what happened? Tor looks like he got beat up pretty good. I swear, men, you can dress them up, but you can’t take them anywhere.”

Calvin and I laughed. “Calm down my wife, calm down. Everything went well, but we got into a small adventure in town.” Calvin took an hour and recanted what happened today. Talma noticed I wasn’t feeling too well. His darling wife got me a small glass of spirits. That went over well with me. I could feel the pain less and less with each passing minute.

In the middle of Calvin’s tale, Kosser interrupted. “You didn’t tell me about these coins. I would’ve loved to have examined them.”

“I figured you might Kosser. I kept a few for you for just that.”

“Ah, excellent my dear boy, excellent. Pardon for the interruption. Please continue.”

He nodded and Calvin went about to finishing the day’s events. “And what if Tor would of lost Calvin? More importantly, what if he would of lost his life?”

“He wasn’t going to dear. But even if I wasn’t sure, it was Tor’s choice.”

“Why Tor, why did you do it?”

I thought about it for awhile while heading back to the farm.”At first, it was because I didn’t like bullies. And he was a bully. But, I got to thinking about Torid. He never had a chance. I don’t mean about the fight. I mean with life. He never had a chance to become anything else than he was. He needed a chance to prove himself, to live for himself. If nothing else, staying with all of you proved it to me. Everyone always deserves a second chance. Also, all of the fighters he hurt and maimed. Yeah, their reasons for entering fighting Torid was stupid. But that doesn’t mean they do not deserve a second chance at life. True, we all have to live with consequence. But that doesn’t mean we have to be forever imprisoned by consequence. By whatever means the opportunity presents itself, everyone should be given a second chance.”

The silence that hung in the room was deafening. “Well said my boy, well said. Everyone does deserve a chance of accounting and redemption. Most wait their whole lives, and never get a second chance.” Kosser gave his seal of approval, and went back to drinking his tea and smoking his pipe.

“I’m sorry Tor. I should of known you had your reasons. I’ve just become fond of you, like a brother I never had.” Talma had spoke softly. Again, she had that forlorn look in her eye. One of these days, I’m going to have to replace out what happened in her life for that look.

I smiled at Talma. “It’s ok Talma. It is who you are. You have to look over the kids, especially us big kids. Big kids, sometimes get into big trouble.”

We all laughed. “All right, time for gifts! It is still the winter solstice you know!” Calvin got excited, as did everyone else. Calvin started with David, pulling out a very large sack. He brought out a fine suit of leather armor, a well polished short sword too. He presented it to David. “David, this is yours. I also talked to my good friend Tomas. He said when you are ready come springtime, you have a place to stay already there. Bram will gladly welcome you with open arms.”

David reverently took the armor and the sword from Calvin. “Do you think I’m ready dad?”

“Do you feel like you are ready son?”

“Yes I do feel like I’m ready.”

“Then you are ready. Just, try not to give us too many gray hairs will you?”

David hugged his father, and then his mother. He took the armor and placed it before him.

Calvin pulled out another sack. “Stella, I talked to Woodard. He said you are also welcomed in his church. In fact, he told me he wouldn’t have it any other way. He said he has the same gear ready for you that your mother had when she was training with him. So, in preparation for that,” he pulled out an intricate box. Stella opened the box. It was full of different herbs, incense, and a small canon lain inside. “Dad, it is beautiful. Thank you!” She got up and squealed, hugging her parents and acted like a kid for the first time getting a gift.

Calvin grinned. He pulled out a cloth wrapped package. “Next, Steve, this is for you.” He presented this to Steve. Steve carefully unwrapped it. Inside, there was a beautiful bound book. Steve opened it, and noticed various runes and glyphs, with blank pages in the latter portion. “Dad, it..is beautiful. Thank you!” An apprentice spell book, with some spells inside, and blank pages for putting down spells of his own. “I dunno much about magic son, but I do know this is what you want. That is, if Kosser wouldn’t mind being your teacher as a mage.”

Steve looked to Kosser. Kosser had a lopsided grin. “To tell you the truth Calvin, I was meaning to be talking to you about that. But it seems like I don’t need to be talking to you at all. Of course I accept the lad. I’ve already accepted him. It is now good that we have your blessing as well.”

“I promise, I will make you all proud of me.”

“You already have been making all of us proud son.”

Talma had tears in her eyes, but she braved a smile. Steve hugged his mother, and she hugged him fiercely. She didn’t want to let go, but, not wanting to cause a scene, she did let go. Steve also hugged his father. He’s had a lot of growing up in these past months. I guess the parents had to accept it too.

“Kosser, I have something for you too.” He brought out a small box and handed it to Kosser. Kosser accepted it, and opened it. “Ah, my boy, this is a fine quill and ink set. Thank you.”

“It is more than that Kosser. The ink, I am told, the bottle can never break, and the ink never runs out. The quills also never need sharpening, so I am told.”

“Really? That is a thoughtful give my boy. You have my thanks.”

At this point, Talma got up, and left the room. I thought she needed to compose herself. That wasn’t the case, as she prompted returned. She brought out this item. It was not wrapped, but it didn’t need to be. I was stunned. She was holding in her arms, a fine suit of armor. The armor, was made from the worg pelt I had cured months ago. The head of the worg, was fashioned into a helmet. The armor hide also had studs of metal and light metal bands wrapped around. The chest area, had a print of a dwarven clan. It was the same symbol that was on my bastard sword. “Tor, months ago, this animal nearly took what was precious to me. You saved what was so very precious to me. And in turn, I hope this armor lets you know that you are our protector, our defender. I humbly ask that you accept this from all of us.”

I was still stunned. The armor was exquisite. I was still at a loss for words. All I could do, was to stand up, and take what was being offered to me. “All I can say, is thank you. All of you have given me more kindness than what I deserve.”

“What was that about second chances? We all feel you have given us a second chance. For each of us, and as a family, we all have been enriched. And we want to share with you our appreciation.”

Again, my own words comes back to me. I actually felt a tinge of warmth on my cheeks, and I do not think it was the alcohol. “Thank you. All of you. But it is missing one thing.”

“Oh, what’s that Tor?”

I pointed to the crest on the wall. “Your mark. I would be honored to carry it”

“Consider it done my boy.” Kosser had said a few in descript words and with a gesture of his hands, the crest was placed on the shoulders of the armor.

I smiled. “Now, it is complete. Again, I thank you all.”

We all hugged and shared a toast. “Wait a minute. What about for you two?”

Calvin laughed. “Oh that’s private Kosser.” We laughed harder. It was getting very late. “Mom, do you think we could have Kosser spend the night with us? It is cold and snowy.”

“Of course Steve.”

“Many thanks Lady Talma. These old bones are not what they used to be.”

“Nonsense. You helped with a birthing tonight too. It is the least I can do.”

Just as that, it was all settled. We bade each other a good night. I offered the old man my room and bed. He fussed at me, saying that the chairs here were just fine. I didn’t have any of it. He looked at me, smiled, and relented. “Fine then. I won’t argue with a dwarf that tosses giants around. But perhaps you wouldn’t mind sitting with me a spell.” As he said this, he produced two goblets. I smiled back at Kosser. I knew those goblets well. “How can I refuse the offer?”

Nodding, we sat remaining in the common room. He pulled out another pipe, and offered it to me. I accepted. Smoking hemp isn’t something I am in practice of. But with still feeling the soreness and stiffness of the fight earlier, plus, not wanting to insult this old man, I decided to partake. Somehow, I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to be getting much sleep tonight as it is.

“Steve talks about you a lot you know.”

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing that he talks about you a lot.”

“Seems like we both have a youth that is excited about both of us.”

“I agree. But I get the feeling, you have something else you want to chat about.”

“Very keen of you Tor. Yes, there is a lot I wish to talk with you. I have been meaning to have this chat, but I fear that we’ve both been busy.”

“Indeed. And isn’t that what winter nights are for: to catch up and gab with good drink and good company?”

“Quite right my boy, quite right. My first question, has any of your memory returned? Understand that Steve informed me a lot about you.”

“I’m not bothered by it. I have nothing to hide. No, none of my memories have come back to me. Not even when I am sleeping, do I get any glimpses of who I am or what I was. For now, I have just given up on it. If my memories ever come back, I will deal with them.”

“Quite right too. But just wanted to know. Perhaps you would want me to try a spell on you when you are ready. I may be able to help you.”

“I am not against help Kosser. I just want to see if life prompts my memories back to me.”

“Fair enough. Oh, next question. Do you know where Calvin kept those coins.

I nodded and went to a cupboard. Finding a small jar of the old coins, I gathered these and brought them to Kosser. He took a minute to examine them. Nodding that he was done, I scooped the coins up and put them back in the jar. As I was walking back to the cupboard, one of the coins, a silver one with the print of a dwarf, caught my eye. I took this coin and put it in my pocket. “Thank you. When you brought me the scrolls, and those chest of coins, was there anything else in that hole?”

I nodded. I went back to my room and fetched the silver knife. I also gave this to Kosser. He examined the knife as well. “Very interesting.”

“What is?”

“Well, I managed to unlock some of the text with those scrolls. Part of the reason for the existence of those scrolls, was that it was a set of rituals. Dark rituals.”

“What kind of dark rituals?”

“I am not sure yet. Most of the symbols are evil divinity in nature, not arcane. At first, I thought it was some necromancer cache all of you had uncovered. But, I recognize those symbols. That wasn’t the case at all. I’m still trying to puzzle it out.”

I nodded. I had a gut feeling that the cache was something of an evil bent. The knife is what cinched it for me. The full mystery was still in place. I’m glad we got rid of the coins when we did. Kosser continue to examine the knife. He brightened with a thought. The very tip of the knife, he pressed it against one of his gnarled fingers. A small drop of blood appeared on his finger. Suddenly, the dagger glowed a bit, and absorbed his blood. Not a trace was left on the knife. The small wound on his finger closed as well.

“That’s not something you see every day. Tor, put this knife away. Hide it.”

I got up and took the knife, placing it back into the sheath. I went back to my room, and placed it behind the large standing cabinet. Satisfied, I went back to the common room and sat down.

“That blade has dark magic. Very dark magic. Suspected as much.”

“What kind of dark magic?”

“Again, hard to tell Tor. But anything that absorbs blood, is no good to anyone who doesn’t do evil deeds.”

This made sense to me. I willed dwarf spirits in my goblet, and was rewarded. I sipped the fiery liquid. “You think those scrolls and the rest of the cache is related to the ruins you are studying?”

“You have a keen eye and mind Tor. Yes I do think there is a connection.”

“But you are not part of that connection. You are trying to uncover it. Question that I have, is why?”

“It is a long story Tor.”

“It is a winter’s night, and we are alone here.”

“The walls still have prying ears and possible eyes Tor.”

“I’m sure as a mage of your renown, you could fix that.”

Kosser thought for a moment and nodded. He placed a small gem in the middle of the table. “This will make it appear that we are not here and we cannot be heard. Please remain seated where you are. If any of the family members come out for whatever reason, we won’t appear to them.”

I nodded, giving my consent and understanding. An old man, usually has a bag of tricks. Old men, usually have a long tale to tell too. I propped my feet up on a low cushioned stool. I had a feeling this was going to be a long telling of a tale.

“Fifty years ago, I was the lead mage in Stalvinport. I had a small but good shop, and I had several good apprentices with me. It was a lot of hard work, and long nights, but I was happy. One day, a woman came into my shop. She was barely twenty, a lovely woman that came from a well to do family from an adjoining town. She and her family were visiting. Her name was Kristine She was looking over my wares in my shop, fascinated by many of my hand crafted objects. Seeing me, she took to asking a lot of questions. I gave her all of my answers, which lead to more questions. Hours went by, it was long after sunset that the door to my shop opened. It was her father. He had a look of worry that dissipated when he found his daughter. Anger disappeared, but questions came forth. Kristine answered her father and introduced me. We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. Kristine suddenly said to her father ‘I want to be trained as a mage. I want Kosser to teach me.’ More questions came now to me. I answered them, gave my credentials, my name, the history and purpose of this shop. Well into the night it was. Her father finally relented and accepted his daughter’s request. They turned to leave, announcing that they would return in five days with her belongings. Fees were discussed, and an agreement was made.”

“In five days time, they came back, along with several porters with her belongings. I had prepared her room upstairs and led them to it. They were satisfied with the accommodations and the care I put into the room. The porters finished, and she bade her father goodbye with a kiss on the cheek. He said he would come in from time to time to check up on her and her progression. I told him he was welcomed at any time.”

“So, it was a typical start, getting a new apprentice. She was already schooled, with strengths in herbs and chemistry. This advanced her quite nicely. I taught her how to gem craft, how to carve various pieces of wood to prepare as spell components, and other aspects of magecraft that was necessary. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. With her feminine touches, she was able to do cute magical works of art: wooden flowers that produced multiple scents, wooden birds that would chirp different local songs as examples. The renown of my shop grew not only in Stalvinport, but also, several of the other local towns. My other apprentices loved it. We all shared each other skills and knowledge. Soon, my other apprentices were able to craft such objects too. Not as nice as to what she could, being a woman. But they were quite acceptable to her eye as well. We also got the idea to have music boxes crafted. Tavern keeps and bards especially enjoyed these items. My other apprentices, bade us goodbye and went to the neighboring towns, setting up their shops. They always send me a portion of their earnings. I’ve never asked of this from them; they just did it out of appreciation.”

“When they had departed, Kristine and I had grown closer. Our relationship was not just teacher and student. We became friends. And from friendship, we developed feelings for each other. Before long, we were engaged to each other. We decided to get married in nine months, on the spring solstice. That would give us enough time to replace an apprentice or two, teach them, and so they could look after our shop-my shop turned into ours, so we could go on our honeymoon and travel. While we were not rich beyond the dreams of avarice, we were quite comfortable with our lifestyle. We found two apprentices, twins, a young woman and man. We liked them, and took about training our craft to them. They took to this quite easily. Soon, they could do the rudimentary tasks needed for being a mage. They were also very trustworthy, as that was important since we wanted to have an extended holiday.”

“A week before our wedding, I had a knock at the door. This old man appeared, saying he was having problems with his wife’s health. The healers were off to a neighboring town, and begged me to see if I could help. I couldn’t refuse of course. I took a small bag of items and followed the old man to the west. We walked a couple of miles. His wife, was indeed in poor health. But it was not disease or illness. Rather it was something else. Her pallor was very bleak, as she had lost a lot of blood. She had several bites on her body, one set on each of her arms, and one set on her left leg. I have never seen anything like this before. My magic was able to save her life. She was recovering. The old man thanked me profusely. He said he had very little money, but I was welcomed to it. I held up my hand, saying that his thanks was enough. I left their home and went back to mine.”

“Three days had past, when the old man came into my shop again very late in the evening. He was very agitated. He said his wife was still recovering in bed when he left to go to a local farmer. When he returned, she was nowhere to be found. He reported this to the law officials, but until someone doesn’t appear for a full day, there wasn’t much they could do other than take a report. He came to me, begging me to help him replace his wife. I turned to Kristine. She nodded saying I needed to help him replace her. I nodded back, took my things, and went off back to his house. When I got there, the inside of the small house was in shambles. Something extremely strong had ripped apart furniture. I performed a couple of spells, and noticed that no one else had entered the house. A small pit of fear had entered my being. We started to look at the countryside, my spells scanning for any sign of his wife. There were no signs. With my spell being active, we managed to head back towards the city. Crossing the gates, my spell went off. There were signs of her. We rushed to that direction, and noticed it was coming from my shop. I opened the door, and what scene greeted me horrified me.”

“The shop was in shambles. Nearly every object was broken or shattered. But what horrified me were the twin apprentices. Their bodies, what was left of their bodies, were in mangled bloody shambles. Their bodies have been ripped apart by some craven beast. Blood and parts of their bodies were everywhere. I heard a voice coming from upstairs. I raced upstairs, replaceing no one. What I did replace, was a recording box in Kristine’s voice. ‘Help me my love..stay away, whatever you are! Kosser, help me!’, and that was it. The room where the recording box was located, there were no signs of my beloved Kristine. She had been abducted by this, whatever it was.”

“By the tomes I read, the only thing that made sense to me was a vampire. A vampire coven had entered the area several days ago, and took the old woman. I thought my magic saved her, but that wasn’t the case. She was in the process of transforming. And this vampire just took away my beloved Kristine! I explained to the old man quickly of what had happened. He cried out. I told him there was still a chance to save his wife and my soon to be wife, but we had to act quickly. He, of course, did anything I wanted him to. First, I went to the town officials, and brought them to my shop. I showed them the bodies. I had the old man recount to them what happened as well. The officials were on full alert now, gathering the clergy as well, to aid in the search. We scoured the city for any sign of either of them. Finally, by the docs, we found a sign. It was an ashen corpse. My spell revealed that it was the old man’s wife. She was burned alive on this pier. We saw nothing else. The old man lamented about his wife. I was determined to get my beloved back.”

“In the morning, I took what had survived, and hired a small ship and crew. I needed to search the neighboring towns. It was obvious to me, that my beloved was taken by ship. We went from town to town, asking if there was a ship that appeared within a day or two that my beloved was abducted. Finally, at a far away town, they did say a ship arrived and several got off. It came in the middle of the night. Finally, a clue as to where they went. I also recognized that this is one of the towns one of my apprentices set up shop. Perhaps I could get help. I found his shop, but what I found, was more horror. His body was there, like my previous apprentices, torn apart by some beast. I despaired. Quickly, I notified the authorities of what happened. Then, I gathered what was nearby. They said an old castle was some distance away. I checked for tracks. There were fresh tracks there. I told the crew that I released them, paid them, bought a horse, and galloped away towards this castle.”

“I travelled for hours. Lack of sleep was catching up to me, but I didn’t care. I needed to save my beloved Kristine from these monsters that abducted her. I pressed forward. Hours later, I saw this castle. A darker and gloomier setting you have never seen. The castle, laid inside of large trees, blotting out the sun, making a perpetual night. The castle walls were old, mold and rot upon them. This looked like the place where these demons have taken my beloved. I took the horse off to the side, and rested for a bit. I needed to gather my strength. After a bit of time passed, I was ready. I tethered the horse, and approached the castle.”

“There were no guards at the gate. Why should there be? Who would be foolish enough to come to a vampire’s domain. Well, I was that foolish one that dared. And inside I went. The halls were lit with an eerie green light. I explored this castle, searching for the beasts that took my beloved. Finally, I found that there were crypts in a section of the castle. These led into a vast underground cellar. I went into this area. I could hear chanting of a sort. I continued down this crypt, and saw six figures there. These figures, were adorned in clothing I had never seen. They worn robes of red and black, blood staining their clothing. Fresh blood. I was ashen. I charged forward, demanding where was my Kristine. Each one of them turned and hissed at me, their fangs showing with bloody remains. They charged at me, wisped around me. I fired off spell after spell against them. Finally, all but one remained alive, if you can call it alive. This one, I imprisoned. I yelled at this one, demanding what did they do with my Kristine. He pointed to a coffin. My heart went into my throat. I opened the coffin, expecting to replace Kristine. Instead, there was another maiden there, her corpse bloodless and lifeless. I screamed in rage. I followed the wrong fiends. With a spell, I shattered the surviving vampire. With the maiden, I produced an intense flame, burning the body to ash.”

“I sat down. I was so drained with the travels, and with expelling so much magic, that I just laid there. I passed out. I didn’t care if I didn’t awaken ever again. I lost everything I had to live for. By now, Kristine was dead or worse. I lost their trail. I didn’t care about my own life anymore. I allowed the cold ground to take me to nothingness.”

“I awoke some time later, surprised I was still alive. I was cold and numb. The scholar in me took over. I started examining the surroundings. I made drawings of all of the items I examined. I went and scoured the castle. After some time, I did replace some bedrooms. I went and examined them. Upon one bedroom, I found clothing and some items. I recognized some of these items. They were items that Kristine had described to me. So, I was in her castle!”

“But, that made no sense. If this was her castle, or rather, her father’s castle, where were they? Logic came to me, and told me that they were overrun by vampires. That is why her father had never returned like he said he was going to. He was taken over by a vampire coven. These vampires, also tracked down his daughter, and took her. All of the people that she had known, had been taken or slaughtered. They knew I would be too strong for them, so, that’s why the old woman was set as a trap and a lure.”

“I had a renewed sense of purpose and drive. I was going to figure out where they went and to save them. I scoured the castle, taking notes of everything I have found. I examined what was left of the vampires, their clothing, gathered some of their remains putting them safely in different secured containers. I found maps of the area. These I took too. Finding nothing else of value, I left this cold rotting castle. I went back to my horse and rode back to town.”

“When I arrived, a change came over the town. I was just here this morning. What has happened? The demeanor of the people, where before they were lively and active, were walking around in dazes and stares. The people were enthralled. That’s what happened! I set a spell in the middle of the town. I looked at the people. There was no effect. I tried again, this time with more zeal and put every focus of energy I had in my body into it. One person snapped out. It was a young lad of seventeen. He had a look of pure horror. I told him to calm down, and asked him what happened. He said a siege of ghosts descended upon them, with each touch, it had taken the will of the people away from them. I asked him what else he could remember. He said that a ship was taken off of the moors and sailed down the river east. I looked around. There was another ship there yes, but the crew was as enthralled as the rest of the people. I didn’t know what to do. I had to catch up to that ship.”

“I sat down on some barrels to think about my next course of action, what would be the most feasible. I could wait for another ship to arrive, negotiate with the ship and take off after them. But who knows when the next ship would arrive? I could try to break the enthrallment of the people. I was spent however, I didn’t have enough energy and drive for any more magic on this day. I needed rest. I couldn’t leave them in this condition. Sitting thinking about spiritual enthrallment, I took a guess as to how to snap someone out of it. Pointing my wand at another towns person, I had the end of the wand heat to a near white hot point. I touched the skin of the towns person. An inhuman yell of pain came from him. I could of sworn I also saw a wisp leave the person’s body too. The towns person collapsed. For a moment, I thought I killed him. A couple of seconds later, the towns person got up. The same look of pure horror and bewilderment was on his face. Now I had a plan. Taking the next hour, I would ‘burn’ each person. In every case, the people regained themselves. By this time, I was really spent. I needed answers, and the people were glad to give them to me. On board the small round ship, the captain was grateful. He agreed to take me wherever I needed to go. I nodded, gathered my things, sold my horse, and boarded his ship.”

“We travelled east. The captain asked me how I would know where they would end up. I really had no clue on what their destination could be. With a crew of enthralled people, they would not be limited to travelling just in darkness. Some hours later, a deck hand had called an alarm. He pointed to something in the water. It was a body of a sailor. We fished the body aboard and I examined it. Again, as before, drained of blood. The vampires still needed to feed. And they simply dumped the body overboard. The crew was angry. This is not how you handle one of their own. I explained to the crew that we need to make sure the sailor did not come back as a vampire. I asked if there was a proper burial at sea involving fire. The captain said that cremations were common, and there was ceremony for scattering the ashes on the water. I nodded, pointed my wand at the body, and burned it. The crew gathered the ashes, and performed a small ritual. I know it seemed a petty thing to those not of the sea, but these men, and some women, live the life. They would want a fitting end on the life they had known. I consulted the captain on charts and maps that he had. I wanted to replace a clue of where they were going. I also informed the captain, that I wish to be notified when spotting another body. He saw my reasoning and conveyed my wishes as orders. The chase was on.”

“On the next day, another sailor found another corpse. A repeat from yesterday was performed. We had already passed by two port villages. We sailed fairly close and the captain inspected the villages. The people were going about their business as normal. No deaths, no enthrallments, nothing out of the ordinary. It was plain to me, that my quarry was looking to move far away. The question was, where? While on ship, I reviewed all of my notes and consulted the maps that I found in the castle. I needed to try to spot a clue as to what our destination may be. They would be looking for someplace small. I am thinking their numbers are few. Hells, one vampire is enough to enthrall a crew. The village where I was at, was too shallow to have large ships. Only small round boats could dock at the village. A compliment of a round ship is normally a crew of fifteen to twenty. But, if the sea hands were hardy and worth their salts, a crew of six could navigate the round ship. Also, round ships rarely went out on open waters. They were not sea worthy for long open ocean voyages. So, a port town would be the answer. There were nine more port towns before the open waters. Of course, the ship could take a northern or southern course along the coast line. I looked at the ports of the coastline to the north. Ports were few and far between. Plus, if the crew was also the vampire’s meals, and it was a crew of fifteen, that means they were down two. So, not many more days could that other ship sail without being in jeopardy. I gave it a week at most. I looked at the southern coast line. Something caught my attention. It was a port with an X through it. What did the X mean?”

“I sought the captain out, and pointed to the X on the map. He said that village was abandoned many years ago. The land was cursed. Realization hit me like a bolt of lightning. That is where they were going. How far was this port. It was four days journey. I told the captain, that is where they were going. The captain was hesitant. I told him just get me within a mile of that port, and give me one of the row boats. I would row my way to the port. He nodded but still was not looking forward to it. He said that they would wait for two days, but if I didn’t return, he would have to sail away and get supplies. I nodded my agreement to him, and tossed him a small bag of gold for his supplies. He pocketed the pouch.”

“We travelled for the next four days, replaceing each day a blood drained corpse. I was fighting not to be desperate. Kristine’s time was running out. If she wasn’t a vampire already, the crew was being whittled down. It would break my heart to see her lovely body drained of blood and dumped into the water. If she was in the turning process, she would already be a vampire. But a person can be freed if the vampire who turns her is killed. That, is according to the books I have read. We should of already have been married. We should have been travelling by boat to our honeymoon, going from city to city as we had planned. None of this should be happening. But alas, it was happening. And I would see it through to its conclusion-one way or another.”

“The boat stopped on the fourth day. We had arrived at the cursed port of Cardibax. I went on board deck. As promised, a rowboat was lowered into the water. The captain said I had two days noon to get back. If I did not return, he will assume the worst has happened and will anchor off. I nodded again my agreement, climbed down the rope into the rowboat, and headed for the port of Cardibax. I was not accustomed to rowing, my drive and purpose was really fueling me more than skill. I learned how to pace my rowing, going with the water rather than against it. I made better time and saw Cardibax.”

“When I drew near, I could tell why it was a cursed port. Everything lain in ruin. But there was recent activity. The bodies of sailors were present, I could count twelve. There was the wreckage of a long boat in the water too. Blood had coated parts of the ship too. I touched a blood stain. It had not yet dried. I caught up to them! With renewed fury, I rowed to shore, pulled the rowboat onto land, spoke a spell to hide the rowboat, and then looked for clues. There were footsteps, fresh ones, leaving this village. Getting my bearings with the sun, the tracks headed to the southwest. I could count five different sets of tracks. One of them was of my beloved Kristine. This gave me new hope and renewed purpose. I set off after them. I tried my best to make speed while not making much noise. I took only the items I needed: my wand, my staff, spell book, some food for a couple of days. I wanted to travel as light as possible. The rest of my items were hidden with the rowboat.”

“I travelled for hours. I knew it would be dark before another hour. This is probably where they would have their advantage. That also puzzled me. How was it that vampires were able to travel by day? They cannot stand the sun. Their bodies would burn within a matter of a minute, perhaps two, and they would exist no more. Plus, I kept looking at the tracks. The tracks were even. I would think that Kristine would be dragged or there would be some break to their movements. But they were steady. And the tracks looked like they were doing a slow run. That means, Kristine was either enthralled or she has been turned into a vampire. This realization kept me going. I needed to save her. I would save her, one way, or another.”

“The tracks lead to a mountain, going into the mouth of a cave. Here, I slowed down and exercised caution. There could be traps lain in wait. I had to make sure that I wasn’t beset by any traps. Also, sound echoes in caves. I did not want to make any. So, casting a spell, I made my footsteps silent. I also said a command, and the top of my staff shown with sunlight. I proceeded into the cave, looking warily for signs and traps.”

“I walked for several hours. There was not one trap. Also, the ground quickly went from grass and dirt to pure stone. There were no other openings. There was just the one I was following. So, confident that my quarry was ahead of me, I proceeded onward. An hour or so later, my first dilemma came before me. The tunnel opened up into a passage of four other tunnels. At this point, I only had a chance to go down the correct path. I sat a moment, thinking of what to do, how to figure out to move onward. I brought out my spell book, and chanted a spell, hoping it would work. The tunnel to the far right, glowed ever so slightly. Trusting in my magic, I headed down this tunnel. It was more narrow than the tunnel I was travelling down. Soon, it was only wide enough for two people walking side by side. This either meant I was closing in my quarry’s destination, or, it would open up into another underground intersection.”

“It was the latter that appeared before me. There was a fork in the tunnel. Left or right? I took out my spell book again, and tried the same spell. There was no effect. It looks like I would have to choose. I took a bit of chalk, and guessed. I marked the right tunnel and started going into it. I took additional care, as the top of the tunnel had stalactites dotting the top. I had to weave in and out to avoid some of them. While it did slow my progress, I would imagine it would slow the progress of my quarry too-I hoped.”

“I finally made it to someplace other than tunnels. A huge underground cavern opened up in front of me. I expanded the light from my staff to its maximum range. The light was over two hundred feet out, and I still could not see the other side. I explored it. I circled the cavern. I guessed it be nearly a half mile long and wide. I couldn’t see the top either. I also noticed black sand on the ground. This was some ancient cavern that had lava in it at one time. Long now expelled and dormant, this cavern and the sand on the ground were the only indications that lava was once here. That means, there is an opening or multiple openings residing. Sure enough, there were a dozen openings on the far side. My quarry could of went down any of them, or, I wound up taking the wrong route. Checking the ground, I could not see any prints. I was resigned to return back to where I marked it with chalk, when an idea hit me. Whispering a few words, I flew inside of the cavern. I flew slowly, because I didn’t want to hit the top at any point. I examined the walls and sure enough, I found one tunnel. I looked at the black sands on the ground. There, were multiple prints. I still had their trail! Going into the tunnel mouth, I disengaged the spell and continued on foot. The ground was slowly sloping upwards. I did hope that the tunnel would end. I am not accustomed to being underground for so long. I tried to keep track of time. But that is difficult when so much of your recent past has been underground.”

“ A breeze blew against my robes. It was faint yes, but it was a breeze. I dimmed the light at the end of my staff, and approached the breeze. It opened from a tunnel, to a rocky ledge. I extinguished the light. Being back outside, night had fallen. I did not want to give away my presence. The moon was high in the night sky, and its light was strongly illuminating the scene before me. It was a valley, a large valley. I could see mountains lining the valley, extremely faint outlines on the far side. Another odd aspect, was there was some sort of light, multiple lights, coming from the center of the valley. As best as I could make out in the moonlight, there was another structure there. Looking around me and guided by moonlight, my silent steps slowly descended into the valley. A path had been hewn from solid stone. At the bottom of the path, my foot kicked into something. Peering downwards, I saw a pelvic bone of a humanoid. Along with it, were multiple bones. Hundreds, no thousands of bones were strewn about. A valley of the dead laid before me. I crept closer to the center. The structure was a castle..a castle as large as a village. The walls were fully fifty feet high. A large draw bridge, with it being drawn up, looked oddly shaped. It looked like a huge misshapen mouth. There were three large windows, all light with a greenish light. The front of the castle, looked like some sort of skull. Many multiple towers jutted from inside of the walls, like some spiked helmet. This scene, was a grizzly scene. The valley of the dead with the castle of the dead. This was truly macabre magnificence. That is, if I had any inkling back then about it. I was intent on finishing this hunt.”

“I circled this castle, no, this fortress. There were no other gates, no other ingress points. Only the large drawbridge in the front. Well, this would not do at all for my plans. I came up to the edge. I stopped, for before me, was a moat of water rimming this fortress. Peering into the water, I could see movement inside of the water. Animated dead fish of various types were swimming in this water. The sight sickened me to the core. I quietly engaged the spell of flight again. Slowly, so slowly, I went to the top of the walls. When I was eye level, I went inch by inch. I did not want anyone or anything to spot me.”

“When I could see into the courtyard, another scene of pure horror was before my eyes. In the courtyard, were thousands of skeletal warriors. These skeletons were animated. They performed various actions and tasks. I heard of necromancers controlling the dead. But from what I read, necromancers could only control a small amount of the dead. These animated skeletons, nearly each were performing specific tasks. The amount of control and the intricate details of these tasks, paled beyond understanding. How can so many be controlled with all of these things occurring. Either there were multiple beings controlling all of these skeletons, or, there is one powerful beyond the pale central being in control.”

“I continued my rise above the walls. I quickly flew to one of the towers, wishing to minimize the risk of detection. The tower I was next to seemed like one of the central columns to this fortress. I rose up this tower. Soon, an open window was before me. I just made it inside when the spell of flight wore off. I was in a room, some sort of living quarters here. The inside of the room, smelled more of death than from the courtyard. I ignored it. I needed to replace Kristine!”

“I quietly opened the door. There were stairs leading up and down from my position. I opted for going down. Those rooms that were lit, I needed to get to them. Something told me that there is the source of what was happening in this foul place. I came to the end of the stairs. Instilling the spell of silence, I opened the door. I did not want any noise of my approach. From here, this was a huge crosswalk. The end of it, shown with that eerie green light. I peered down into the courtyard. The skeletons were milling about, still performing tasks. They were arming themselves. I was still undetected, as far as I could tell. That means only one thing: these plague of skeletons were about to be unleashed into the world!”

I disengaged the silence spell. I was hoping to heard some sort of voices, or growls, howls, screams, something. The only sounds were the clanking of metal on metal, and the movement of animated bones. Again, it shook me to the core. There was nothing here but a plague of death. And a plague that was readying to be unleashed into the world. Of course! The first castle! The vampires were going to use as a garrison. They would stockpile these forces there, and unleash them when they were ready. But how were all of these skeletons going to arrive. I remember the wreckage of the boat on the pier. How were they going to transport these skeletons there?”

“I neared the opening where the green light was coming from. I quietly peered from the corner of the opening. The sight that was in front of me, was even more breathtaking! It was a room, a huge room, hundreds of feet long and wide. In the center of the room, was a gigantic skeleton of a dragon, a red dragon by the bone structure. It was standing, pointing a skeleton claw forward. Inside the chest cavity of this skeleton, thousands of small wisps of light flurried inside. Of course! The souls of the dead in the courtyard! It was inside of this large skeleton. Control this one large skeleton, and you control all of the undead. Those skeletons were not just animated. They were bound, bound by their souls inside of this huge chest of a dragon skeleton. These poor souls never made it to the afterlife. Who knows how long they have been here. Who knows how long these souls have been here. Vampires are virtually immortal. They could have been here for a few weeks, or for thousands of years. There is really no telling. Also, at the base of the dragon skeleton, was an altar. I recognized the symbol. It was the same crest as in Kristine’s father’s castle. What was that symbol doing here?”

“I paused, stunned by all of this. It just hit me out of the blue. Her father, appearing at my shop when the sun had fallen. He said they would return in five days time. That is exactly the amount of time it would take to leave, go back to the castle, and come back. They arrived after sunset too. The porters, followed every order that Kristine’s father had given. They worked perfectly, never saying a word. Kristine’s father, was the vampire!”

“But something didn’t make sense. Kristine was no vampire. I should know, I was intimate with her many times. She was as alive as I am. And, I hope she is still alive. There was still a chance she was enthralled, and not converted. With her father as a vampire, her will would be next to nothing to her father’s will. Enthralled, she could make the trip for hours. But how did they make the trip? That still puzzled me.”

“The puzzle was over for me in the next instant. Black shadows entered that large room. The blackness disappeared, and there they were. Kristine, her father, and four others were around the altar. I looked at Kristine. She was breathing. She was still alive! I could of wept right there if it wasn’t the fact that grim determination fell upon me. I was going to rescue my beloved from this extreme place of evil and death!”

“She was lain on the altar. The four other figures, started to chant and move slowly around the altar. Her father’s head was also bowed. It looks like they were doing some sort of ritual. Another bolt of truth just hit me. Today, was Kristine’s twenty first birthday! That had to have something to do with this. She became of age, but for what? It didn’t matter to me. I would stop this before it went on any further. Taking out my wand, I aimed it at the dragon skeleton. A huge fireball leapt from the wand, hitting the skeleton square in the chest. Parts of the exploded fireball fell to the ground below. Her father and the chanters stopped, looking up at my direction. They all hissed loudly. I interrupted their ritual, whatever it was. Her father pointed in my direction and said words in a language I didn’t understand. The four chanters flew to my direction. I allowed them to get within a few feet, shifting my grip from the wand to my staff. When they got close, I willed the magical sunlight to come into being. They screamed and fell away from me. They were not destroyed, but that hurt them. Magical sunlight isn’t as potent as the real thing, but it can give you breathing room. I whispered the spell of flight again, and flown down to the altar. ‘How could you! This is your own daughter!’”

“’You ! Your tenacity is admirable Kosser. But it will be all for nothing. Minions to me!’ I could take on four vampires. I may have been able to take on her father too. But how in the name of the hells were I going to take on thousands of skeletons? Suddenly an idea came to me. Turning the magical sunlight on the most powerful aspect, I hurled the staff into the cavity of the skeleton dragon. The staff pierced the magical energies. Thousands of shrieks filled the cavernous room. Suddenly, one of the wisps of energy left the chest of the dragon skeleton. It quickly disappeared when leaving it’s confines. Another left the dragon, and then another. Suddenly all of the wisps of energy shot forward. And like the first ones, when the wisps got a certain distance away, they disappeared as well. The souls of thousands were suddenly free.”

“’You fool! What have you done?’ Stupid question to ask. I didn’t want an army in here. Five of you are going to be bad enough to deal with. The four vampires, seeing I didn’t have the staff in hand anymore, descended upon me. I waves my hand, and a gust of wind erupted from my hand. It blew back the vampires against the wall. I saw then, the walls were lined with spikes. With my gust of wind, I impaled all four vampires against the walls. They twitched for a few moments, and then an unholy fire burned from within their bodies, consuming them. Their hearts had been pierced. I turned back to Kristine’s father.”

“To say he was livid was a pure understatement. He opened a portal and tried to summon. I am assuming the other vampires at the other castle. He didn’t know they were destroyed too. After a moment, he realized what had to have happened. He closed the portal and looked at me. His face was the look of the purely demonic. He was barely human. His eyes glowed a fierce red. His mouth opened and unlike the other vampires, every tooth was a fang. This was an old vampire, powerful, enraged, and in a blood lust. A wicked two handed sword appeared before him. He grasped it. The sword became an extension of him, fiery blackness leaping from the blade. ‘You will pay with your mind, body and soul. I will enjoy enslaving you for the rest of time mage!’ My wand was the only weapon I had left to me. Had I still had my staff, I might have been able to meet his attacks. But my wand is no match for a wicked blade like that. I dodge every attack that he had made. I was searching for an opening. I had only one chance, and I had to make it count.”

“Her father fought like a demon too. That blade came across one of the stout metal candle holders at the altar. It was cleaved in two. I leapt from place to place, barely dodging the attacks of that sword. He took to flight. I had no more flight to enspell. I rolled out of the way of his flight attacks. Many times, his blade cut into the stone ground. Large ruts were formed, sparks of unholy light flying. Finally, he had me pinned against a corner. I could neither dodge or roll here. ‘Time to end this mage. Welcome to your new found slavery!’ At the last second, I charged him and crashed my body into him. He wasn’t expecting it. In my hand, formed a dagger out of magic. I plunged this blade of magic into his heart. He shrieked, a most awful shriek, half human, half demonic. We crashed against a wall. He gripped his chest, roaring in awful pain. Picking myself up, I ran to the altar. However, her father beat me to it, and gathered up Kristine. He spoke, another portal appearing, and he thrust himself and my Kristine through the portal. I ran for all that I was worth. The portal disappeared a second before I could touch it.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I screamed. I sobbed, I fell to the ground. My beloved was taken away from me.”

Kosser’s crying broke my concentration. To see an old man like this, still crying, still lamenting over his beloved taken away from him, just about broke me. I patiently waited. Kosser finished after a minute, sniffling and blowing into a handkerchief. I couldn’t blame him. Nor could I blame him for wanting to keep this secret. I knew I would have been hearing a tale. But nothing like this ever crossed my mind.

“And that was the last you have seen or heard from either of them?”

“Yes Tor. That was the last. I laid there in that altar room, time escaping me. After I don’t know how long, I gathered myself together. I left that place. Even though I still lived, a part of me died that fateful night. The skeletons, were all piles of bones with the metal of weapons. I didn’t care. I really didn’t care if I ever made it out back to the beach. Eventually I did. I was there on the morning of the second day. I took the rowboat out from its seclusion, and rowed to the position of where the ship was. The ship wasn’t there. I rowed around the area, thinking maybe the currents took the ship off of its position. But nothing was there. After several hours, I found something. Some of the planking of the ship was there, along with the guiding wheel. I also found some body parts of a crew member being food for fish in the river. Something destroyed that ship. I laid in the rowboat. Too much death and destruction. I didn’t care anymore. The sun beat down on me. My throat was parched like the sands of a desert. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to live anymore. The next thing I knew, I was laying in a bed and the bed had a gentle sway. A merchant ship had found me and rescued me. When I tried to stand up, I found I was too spent. A young boy, barely sixteen, was there seated beside me. He brought a bottle of cool water to my lips. I didn’t care to drink, but my body betrayed me. The cool water filled my belly. I laid back on the bed. The cabin boy went to get the captain. He was an elderly elf. He told me I was unconscious for over a day. I was in fever, in delirium. I rambled. The elf captain had taken notes of what I was rambling and was able to piece my story together. He asked me where I wanted to go. I told him I was a resident of Stalvinport. He nodded and told me that is where he was heading too. He also sat down next to me, and told me the following. About twenty miles southeast of Stalvinport, was a great magical library. It resided in the town of Cloverdale. He remembered going there in his youth and the magic contained there was nothing short of stupendous. I nodded and thanked him for the information.”

“I went back to Stalvinport. I gave up my shop and my school. The town had various problems now. Marauders were coming, replaceing out our politicians were crooked, a neighboring thieves’ guild moved in and causing havoc. I resigned my days to the defense of Stalvinport. That is, until twelve years ago. Something happened that caused me to leave all of this, and move out here. I have been here ever since.”

“What happened twelve years ago?”

Kosser coughed a bit. “That story Tor, isn’t mine to tell. You will have to replace out. And I am not at liberty to say because I gave a promise.”

“I understand. A promise made, is a promise kept.”

Kosser nodded. “Well, my young friend, it is way late into the night. I thank you for staying up with me and listening to an old man’s tale.”

I got up and shook his hand. “I wouldn’t of missed it for all of the gold in the world.”