Chapter 25

I woke up in the bed I had become used to back in the Inn. Somehow I managed to survive. That was when the memories hit me. Holding out against the pain of the ritual and then catching sight of the other adventurers being led by Veronica. They must have been able to do what we could not. Somehow they had managed to stop the ritual and I hoped they had wiped out the vampires. I still couldn’t move my body. Every time I even tried to move my body was racked by pain. So I decided it was best to just lay here until something happened. The memories of what I had endured kept going through my mind. The pain of the ritual combined with the weeks of captivity had taken more than just a physical toll on me. I felt like this was going to be a turning point for me. I had been completely powerless against the vampires. I lacked both the training and the skill to fight at their level. I needed knowledge and power. Once we got back to the Capital we would need to start training. We couldn’t let ourselves be put in this type of situation again. The feeling of complete powerlessness was something that I never wanted to feel again. The vampire Isabella had been able to do whatever she had wanted to us. If she hadn’t wanted to save us for the ritual she could have killed us at any moment. It was lucky for us that her arrogance had been what saved us. Her wanting to use us adventurers for the final sacrifice had actually saved us. It had bought us the time we had needed for the other adventurers to arrive and save us. I didn’t feel great about having to be rescued but there was always the next contract to complete. We had managed to live to fight another day and that had to matter more than my pride. Without their help we would have died. As well as that vampire lord being summoned. A wave of tiredness washed over me and I drifted back off to sleep once again.

I appeared in the darkness that had been greeting me more and more as of late. Kalastrovax appeared before me. “Well that didn’t go as we planned. Though you managed to survive at the very least. Under the burden of pain that would have killed other men you stood strong and that is very admirable. The reason I brought you here was to tell you not to worry about the blood stone.” When he said that a blood red gem appeared before me. “How did you manage to get it?” A chuckle that sounded like stones grinding together sounded out from the dragon's chest. “I still have a few tricks at my disposal. Though since I know you won’t drop the issue I’ll tell you how I acquired it. It’s simple really. Once that adventurer woman slayed that vampire, I used simple magic to teleport the gem over to you and then inside the necklace. No one even had the chance to know that the stone was there.” His story sounded reasonable enough. Though another question occurred to me. “So does this mean that you managed to get back some of your power? I know you said this was one of the items you needed to help set you free.” There was no chuckle this time when he answered. “Yes, and no. It will take time for me to fully absorb the blood stone but once that happens I should have access to some small part of my true power. Enough to at least help if we find ourselves in a similar situation at some point further down the road. I will also be able to communicate with you more freely in the future. You will no longer have to concentrate on our bond in order to speak with me. I will be but a thought away in the near future and my ability to observe the space outside of the necklace will also increase. For a little while though things will remain the same but in a few days I should have the stone completely absorbed and some of my abilities back.”

I was satisfied with that. I had hoped he could assist me right now but I also understood that things take time. I shouldn’t be in a rush to have his help but we really could have used it back down in the caves. His abilities could have proven very valuable in the fight with the vampires. For now I would need to be happy with what I had. Though it sounded like I wouldn’t have to wait that long to have a little bit more help in the future. With that our conversation for the night was over and he let me slip back off into sleep. I woke up the next morning feeling much better than I had the day before. I could still feel the lingering pain but it was no longer so bad that I could not move. I opened my eyes and saw Sora sleeping in a chair off to the side. The darkness coming through the window told me that it was night. So I chose not to make too much noise. I was surprised to see her there but another part of me was happy that she was staying by my side and at least a little worried about me. I had no idea how long I had been out and I wasn’t going to wake her up to figure it out. I decided that for now I would just lay here and wait. I had nothing of importance to do. I had learned enough from Kalastrovax to know that the vampires had been taken care of. The sight of Sora also made it seem like the other hostages must have also made it out. I didn’t need a run down of every little thing that had happened and could fill myself in with context. There was no reason to just lie awake waiting so I decided to rest for a little longer. Hopefully the next time I woke up it would be morning and I could learn more about what had happened.

Again I woke up. This time was different. I was alone this time. Also the pain had faded even farther into the background. I felt like I had spent enough time in his bed and it was time to get up. I threw the blankets off of me and noticed that I was not in the same clothes I had been in down in the tunnels. I also noticed that I was clean as well. I blushed thinking of what might have happened but quickly shook the thoughts from my mind. I walked over to the door and made my way out into the hallway. I heard noise coming from the dining room and quickly made my way downstairs. I was met with basically the sight that I had seen before I passed out. The group of adventurers that had come to take care of the vampires were eating and drinking merrily. It seems that they were in good spirits. That was a good sign. I made my way into the dining room and the noise and laughter stopped. It went deadly silent at the sight of me. This really surprised me. That was until loud cheers rang out. That was even more shocking to me. They all crowded around me and were cheering my name. I didn’t know what was going on. I hadn’t done anything worth celebrating. I had even needed saving by them to complete my contract. Though they didn’t seem to mind. Veronica made her way through the crowd of people and held up a glass for a toast. “Here’s to Alex. Who held out against unimaginable pain for long enough for help to arrive. There aren’t many who could hold out that long in that kind of ritual. We are proud that you are one of us. Your strength and power of will is what allowed us to free the prisoners and put an end to the vampire scourge in this town.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I didn’t know what to say so I didn’t say anything. She led me out of the crowd and towards a table off to the side where Sora was sitting. She was watching us approach with a slight smile on her face that disappeared when she saw me looking. I guessed she was happy that I made it out alright and just didn’t want me to know. After she led me to the table she walked away I assumed to give us a little privacy. I sat down across from Sora and asked one of the main questions I wanted an answer to. “How long have I been out?” She didn’t hesitate. “Three days. Once the adventurers came in you passed out. The adventurers dealt with the remaining vampires. They seemed impressed with how long you held out under the ritual as well as the number of vampires we had managed to slay in our initial attack. We have just been waiting for you to wake up and be in condition to travel.” That sounded odd to me. Why would they wait for me? So I asked the question. “Why are they waiting for me? There is nothing special about me.” She looked at me for a moment before responding. “It’s not for me to say. Perhaps the deputy guild leader will fill you in. Though I doubt she will tell you more than I have already. All I can say is that you have caught the attention of some very powerful people and they want to be the first to talk to you when we return to the Capital.”

I nodded though I didn’t really understand. What would people like that want with someone like me? I hadn’t even managed to complete the contract. I had even needed to be rescued. Well that was a concern for later on. For right now we needed to figure out what was needed of us. I got up from the table and made my way over to Veronica. She was sitting alone at a small table in the corner of the dining room. She noticed me walking up and waved me over. “Have a seat. We have a lot to talk about. There are some things I’m not at liberty to share with you right now but I can fill you in a little. As I’m sure Sora told you you have aroused the interest of some of the higher ups in the Capital. I know you want to ask how does anyone even know about you. The answer is simple. We have communication devices that can be used to send messages over long distances. I’ll make sure one is assigned to you when we get back to the Capital. You two seem to find yourselves in a lot of trouble for bronze ranked adventurers. I mean how did you find yourself in the midst of a vampire cult trying to summon a vampire lord? That's ridiculous. How did this go unnoticed for so long. I assure you there will be an investigation. You two were never supposed to be in this type of situation. This is the kind of contract that we send the best of the best on not newly minted bronze rankers. That's enough about that. Even though you were not supposed to be sent out on a mission like this you handled it admirably. I myself thank you for your bravery. We will be leaving tomorrow morning for the Capital. I assume you will be ready to go?” “Yes, I am ready to leave at any time.” “Good. Go about your business as usual. We will talk more tomorrow while we are on the road.”

I got up from my seat and made my way back over to where Sora was sitting. I had a few more things that I wanted to figure out before I was ready to leave. “What happened to all of the people that were down in the tunnels? Both the villagers and the people working for the vampires.” She thought about it for a second and responded. “The humans that had betrayed the villagers were all put to death. Not before they gave up the names of the villagers that were also working with the vampires. The same fate met all of those people as well. The villagers were all set free and reunited with their families. Miraculously none of the captives were killed in the battle. That really was a stroke of luck.” I chuckled at that and when she gave me a sideways glance I said “It’s nothing to worry about. Just a stray thought. I was told we would be leaving tomorrow. Is there anything else we need to do before we set out?” She didn’t take any time to reply this time. “No, I’ve already gone around the village to check in on all of the people that were released and they seem to be doing fine. I’ve also gone around and restocked our supplies. So we are ready to leave in the morning with the rest of the adventurers.” I said “Well thanks for taking care of all of that for me. I’m going to take a walk and see how everyone's doing. Want to come along?” She answered. “Sure. Why not.”

We headed into town and our first stop was the mayor's office. It seemed as if everything was business as usual around the office. She was behind her desk working on some paperwork when the receptionist let us in. She looked up from her paperwork and smiled. “I’ve been waiting to see you. I wanted to thank you for going down there and rescuing us. It was more than anyone could have expected of you. Her words made me blush and I was quick to shoot down her assertions. “I didn’t do much and I myself needed saving in the end so don’t thank me. I’m just happy everyone seems to be doing alright.” She nodded as if she had expected me to not accept her praise. “Yes, everyone that was being held down there was set free. Not a single person that had gone missing wasn't down there. Thanks to you two they are now safe at home with their families.” We talked for a while and she mentioned that we should go around and talk to the others we had helped rescue so we left the office and started making our way through the town. We stopped and talked to a few people. Most notably was Frank the guard that had helped us so much throughout this contract. We asked about his sister and he smiled and said she was doing well. She was currently on her way to the Capital with her husband. They seemed to want to put some distance between herself and what had happened. Really who could blame her for that. We spent a little more time chatting with him. After that we just walked through the town just enjoying being free from those cells. Also knowing we had helped take down the vampires also made us feel pretty good. We made our way back to the Inn to have some supper. After supper I took a bath and then made my way to the room. Tomorrow we would start on a journey back towards the Capital but for now it was time to rest.