Chapter 8
2656words
They talked as they walked, sharing their own unique adventures.
“So you had to fight a wyvern?” Alice asked with an astounded expression.
“A vampire wyvern!” Jathom interjected before Trinady could respond. “Bloody thing bit me leg!”
“It was odd.” Trinady said softly. “Instead of breathing fire, it seemed more like it was spitting lave. Never seen anything like it.”
“Wow!” Alice exclaimed. “All I had to deal with was a few nasty bandits and a trio of vampires. And Karma here saved me from the bandits.”
“Thank you for that, Karma, and it's nice to meet you.” Trinady said with a smile.
Karma's face lit up gleefully. “No problem, mister!”
“By the way,” Trinady said, still smiling. “This is Kuma.”
Kuma nodded. “Sorry about the whole... naked thing. My clothes don't tend to survive the transformation.”
Alice giggled and smiled reassuringly. “Nothing I haven't seen before.” She looked to Trinady. “By the way, I can make that cure along the way if you like.”
“Good idea.” Trinady replied, and carefully handed the vial of vampire blood to her.
“I need a few herbs. Karma, will you join me?”
Karma saluted playfully and emphatically said “Yes ma'am!”
The two women disappeared into the woods, while the men stopped to take a break.
Alice and karma returned after some time with the necessary herbs, and the sextet set off once again toward Nabelanon Forest, and as they walked, Alice practically juggled the various ingredients as she prepared the cure, occasionally handing something to Karma and Trinady to hold as she ground and mixed herbs together. Soon, she was adding the herbal mixture to the vampire blood, and the concoction suddenly changed color from deep red to a vibrant shade of purple.
“All done!” Alice exclaimed with a smile.
“And just in time.” Trinady said softly, raising both hands above his head.
Sure enough, the group found themselves surrounded by the neko tribe, a plethora of feline ears and tails twitching nervously was nearly all that could be seen.
“Shah dezhumo.” Trinady said calmly.
“We have the cure for your companion.” Kuma stated bluntly. “And... I learned of her innocence.” Kuma spoke reluctantly this time. “I no longer desire to kill her. I only – like the rest of my compatriots here – want to help her.”
Choko, chief of the present neko tribe, approached slowly and huffed haughtily. “What took you people so long? Come along, come along!”
He led the group of weary travelers deeper into the forest, the surrounding warriors with weapons and blowpipes at the ready at all times.
“Beleaguered, we are, in this, the present.” Choko said slowly. “Absolutely, we are befuddled, I tell you!”
“You didn't by chance capture her while we were hunting down the vampire, did you?” Trinady asked, trying not to make any sudden movements to startle the neko warriors surrounding him and his group.
“Do you take me for an indolent?” Choko shrieked. “Simple as we are, layabouts we are not! We laid a spectacular trap for the girl.”
“Did you use a virgin as bait?” Jathom asked shamelessly.
“Of course not!” Choko, chief of the feline tribe, cried out in disgust. “What kind of balderdash do they teach you in the city?” He whacked Jathom on the head with his staff. “Everyone knows a vampire is most strongly drawn to kin! Her brother was sent out to find her and lured her back home. She's been in a cage since this morning.”
“We only left yesterday morning, chief.” Trinady explained calmly.. “Honestly, we are all quite lucky to be alive.”
“It is fortunate,” Alice began sincerely. “That we arrived when we did. Those vampires certainly had foul plans in mind for you boys. I'm sorry I could not save the third man in the cage. He was long dead by the time I arrived. Who was he?”
“I've no idea.” Trinady replied. “He was like that when we arrived. He was wearing a pin with the Brhams royal seal on it, though.”
“Sounds like quite the mystery.” Alice said with a dire expression. “Quite the mystery, indeed.”
“We have arrived.” Choko said forebodingly.
Sure enough, the young neko girl sat quietly in the middle of a small wooden cage, her large eyes closed and her enormous ears lying flat against the top of her head.
“Awww...” Karma said softly. “She's so adorable.”
The neko girl opened her eyes and her narrow pupils became even more narrow, making her eyes appear almost entirely crimson.
“So...” she hissed. “So... thirsty... ssssooooo...”
Alice slowly approached the cage and, holding up the vial, smiled reassuringly. “This is for you, my dear. It will help you feel better.”
“I won't!” the neko girl cried out defiantly. “I won't touch it, you can't make me! It's bad! You're bad! I won't take it! I won't, I won't, I won't!”
“It's blood.”
“Give it to me!”
The neko girl quickly snatched the vial from Alice's hand and quickly pulled the cork out and drank the entire concoction in one gulp.
Everyone stood in silence for what felt like an eternity.
Suddenly, the girl went cross-eyed, belched loudly, and fell over, flat on her back.
“What happens now?” Trinady asked with genuine concern.
“Now...” Alice replied. “Now we wait, and hope she has the fortitude necessary to survive the transformation. She survived turning into a vampire, so as long as she didn't feed on a humanoid, she should be fine.”
“She has always been an obstinate girl.” Choko said gravely. “Let us pray to out deities that she indeed does have the fortitude necessary to survive.”
And so they waited, and in the meantime, laid the girl on a more comfortable bed made of large leaves. Minutes turned into hours, and before anyone realized, it was starting to get dark once again. Choko placed a hand on Alice's shoulder.
“You are all welcome in our village for the night, young lady.” Even though Alice was sitting and Choko was standing, they were the same height. “We haven't any shelter to offer you, but I am sure your magicks can remedy this.”
“Of course.” Alice replied calmly. “All I need is a few bushes.”
Alice found some dense foliage near the edge of the neko's encampment and was able to transmute four fully formed tents from the dense flora. “Sorry I couldn't make more. Some of us will need to share.”
“Jathom and I can share one. We've been in worse back home.” Bertrum said, tilting his head and cracking his neck.
Karma, blushing brightly, opened her mouth to speak, but Alice interrupted her.
“Trin and I will share one as well.” she said confidently. “So Karma and Kuma, you each get a tent to yourselves.”
Karma pouted blatantly, but nodded in agreement before everyone went to their respective tents for the night.
The following morning, everyone awoke to the sounds of laughter. The sounds of joy.
The cure had worked.
The sextet said their goodbyes and were sent on their way with a sack full of food and a water pouch made of leaves. As they made their way east, Jathom and Bertrum struggled, but were able to walk on their own. Jathom continued to express his disbelief about the vampire wyvern they had to fight, and further expressed his frustrations at his uselessness during the fight, to which Bertrum countered with his own complaints about his own uselessness. They both arrived at the conclusion that they both need to dramatically improve their swordsmanship.
Trinady and Alice walked side by side, talking quietly among themselves as Karma blushed jealously, but kept up.
Kuma walked quietly, keeping a close eye, and ear, on their surroundings.
“Hold up.” he said just loud enough for everyone to hear. “There's something up ahead.”
The incredibly dense foliage made it impossible to see more than twenty feet ahead, but a loud crack echoed in the forest ahead.
“How long until we reach the road?” Trinady asked.
“About another ten minutes of walking in that direction.” Kuma replied. “Tread carefully. There's definitely something up ahead.”
As if it heard and understood, a massive lumbering beast strode out from a large cluster of bushes and trees.
“What the hell is that?” Jathom whispered, trying not to startle it.
“Ursiuris.” Trinady replied quietly. “A bear wyvern.”
“I've had just about enough of wyverns.” Bertrum hissed.
The animal in question was massive – at least twice the size of Kuma's polar bear form – and was essentially shaped like a bear, with the exception of the long, thick tail and the enormous folded wings protruding from its long, muscular front legs. It walked slowly, lumbering as it crushed downed branches beneath its feet.
“Do we stand a chance?” Kuma asked quietly.
“It can incapacitate us with its roar, so... probably not.” Trinady replied, equally as quiet.
Suddenly, a bright light emanated from the other side of the hulking beast, followed by a loud shrieking sound. The sight and sound clearly frightened the ursiuris, and it fled into the forest loudly, grunting and groaning – as bears do – along the way. The light and sound quickly faded away and all that remained was a young woman with feline features.
“Satura!” Kuma shouted with excitement. “Damn good timing! I was just on my way to -”
Nobody heard what Kuma was on his way to do, because Satura tackled him to the forest floor.
“What the hell is she?” Jathom and Bertrum asked, almost simultaneously.
Kuma sat on the ground as he explained the previous events to Satura calmly, and she listened as she fidgeted with a small trinket in her hands. He explained the encounter with the wyvern, the vampires and the neko tribe. She scolded him for not telling her about their merchant friends sooner, but thanked him for avenging them, then went on to describe the thawing ice box at The Rabbit's Horn and mentioned something about a succubus and an incubus making a scene in front of guests.
Alice held Trinady's arm firmly as they watched the scene unfold between Kuma and Satura.
“They look good together, don't you think?” Alice asked with a smile.
Trinady remained silent for a long time, contemplating the events that unfolded in the village longhouse.
“You should know...” he finally interrupted the long silence. “I... I have done some terrible things in my life. Hurt people. I don't know if –“
“Are you still doing terrible things?” she interrupted him. “Are you still hurting people?”
“Well...” he stuttered, taken aback by her response. “No. Of course not. I just –”
“Did you make amends?” she interrupted him again.
“I tried to.” he replied as he looked away from her piercing blue eyes. “I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself, let alone expect forgiveness from the people I wronged.”
“I'm not going anywhere, mister.” she stated defiantly. “You're not going to get rid of me that easily, sir.” Alice wrapped her arms around him warmly. “We all have history we're not proud of. But we understand where we went wrong, and we make up for it. Even if it only lightens the burden on the people we hurt. Even if the load never gets any lighter. We start doing right, and we keep at it. No, you won't get rid of me that easily, sir. Not unless you revert to your old ways. I will stand beside you as long as it takes.” She kissed his cheek and held him more tightly.
“Thank you.” Trinady said softly, and he tilted his head, resting it atop hers.
“All of you are welcome to stay the night at the Horn tonight!” Satura announced loudly. “Food and drinks on Kuma!”
“Wait a second!” Kuma shouted. “I own the place, how am I supposed to pay myself?”
“We own the place!” she corrected him.
“Free mead?” Bertrum asked.
“Free food?” Jathom asked.
“A real bed?” Karma asked
“It'll take us all day to get home tomorrow.” Trinady said confidently. “We would be honored to take you up on your offer.”
“Follow me, peoples!” Satura shouted, and led the entire group out of the forest toward the main road and The Rabbit's Horn inn.
The first few hours at the inn were spent dining on a feast – prepared by Kuma – and drinking from the extensive collection of mead, wine and liquor kept behind an elaborate bar. During the festivities, the group was introduced to a succubus, Kal'desh Na'als – who was especially interested in both Bertrum and Jathom – and an incubus – nicknamed Del, as his full name was ridiculously long and almost impossible for humans to pronounce – who initially showed interest in both Alice and Karma, but was eventually left to his own devices after learning that neither were interested in him. Jathom was the first to get drunk and pass out. Del, unable to get intoxicated, escorted people to their rooms as the merriment faded. Trinady and Alice got a room together and had their own festivities. Kal, as the succubus was affectionately named, found a room with Bertrum. Karma, after drinking the most expensive wine she could find, fell asleep on a sofa in the lounge and had to be carried to a real bed.
By dawn, the group had already broken their fast and prepared to set off.
As Trinady had predicted, it took them all day to get back to Brhams.
Upon returning to Brhams, Karma excused herself and went to the castle on her own. Trinady, Alice, Bertrum and Jathom made their way to the castle here they waited for their audience with the queen. They waited for nearly an hour, and once they were in the court, they told their tales and gave detailed explanations of the events, leaving out the details about the body in the cage, and of course, The Rabbit's Horn.
“I find this all quite fascinating.” Her Majesty, Queen Valyria, said calmly. “An entire village, filled to the brim with vampires, and your little troupe was able to dispatch all of them? Well, all but one, which was apparently too powerful, but nonetheless, apparently is not a threat? To us, at least? The four of you have accomplished something that should not be possible.”
She stood from her throne and gestured to Jathom and Bertrum.
“The two of you shall be promoted to higher stations, Ser Jathom, Ser Bertrum, for your services in this matter, and your braver during the invasion of our home.”
She gestured to Trinady. “And you, sir.” She paused and squinted her yes thoughtfully. “I would very much like for you to be my champion. You will have to earn it, of course, but the position comes with many benefits. Namely, you will live within the castle walls, and will be paid a salary worthy of your title. And of course, your lass will be allowed to stay with you. One must never be lonely.” Her eyes brushed over Jathom momentarily before she sat down once again. “There will be a tournament to decide who my champion will be, but your services have guaranteed your participation, should you accept.” She paused as she waited for his response. “Well?” she asked, feigning impatience.
Trinady looked to Alice, whose cornflower blue eyes pierced into his soul.
“I would be honored.” Trinady finally interrupted the silence, then added “Your Majesty.”
The quartet left the castle and planned to celebrate their respective promotions. As they went their separate ways, they passed by a bulletin board with several wanted posters on it. Mostly ne'er-do-wells and petty thieves.
Near the bottom of the board was a poster claiming elves from the west carry incurable diseases.
None of them noticed the propaganda.
