I led Timothy, the ex-apprentice mage to the main stairway that ascended out of the catacombs. He argued the merits of letting him keep the Dark Lord’s treasures and artifacts of power. At some point, I started to dismiss his constant pleading and ignored him completely.
At the foot of the stairs, I turned to him.
“I don’t enjoy the idea of escorting you clear the way out of the castle,” I told him, “next time you trespass here I may not be so merciful.”
In all honesty, the lives of trespassers were more dependant on my thirst. The thought that people were still taking to explore the castle had put me ill at ease. Not to mention the idea that those who wanted to kill me merely had to enter through the front door of the castle, proceed straight down the main hall to the castle’s chapel, and down the stairs into the catacombs. Either I needed to fortify the castle to withstand intruders, using little to no resources, or secure an alternative place to retreat to.
Hesitantly Timothy glanced up the stairs then back at me. For a moment it looked like he was going to open his mouth to say something before he changed his mind and started climbing the stairs. Just as I was about to turn back towards the darkness of the catacombs, his voice echoed down the halls.
“Just what makes you think you can hold onto this castle?”
When I didn’t reply, Timothy turned back and continued up the stairs. Once the light of his torch was out of sight I turned back for my tomb.
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The following nights were spent alternating between exploring the castle and scouting the surrounding land. Within the castle, I began to have a clearer understanding of its layout. The main keep was predominantly tall and narrow with the chapel facing the east. I could imagine before it fell into disrepair that the large stained glass window would catch the morning light of the sun as it rose on the far side of the valley. The second floor was dominated by what I assumed was once the castle’s throne room. The raised marble dais at the far end was left empty and bare, presumably, the actual throne had been vandalized or stolen.
The rest of the floors above seemed devoted to the living area, with most of the third floor given over to the master suite. Of all the room I had visited, the master study seemed the most untouched by neglect. The walls were lined with books except for the large fireplace, and I was intrigued to discover the portrait above the fireplace was not of the Dark Lord but rather of a strikingly beautiful young woman. Was she an ancestor or a lover?
During one night another group of explorers ventured into the castle. The three of them appeared confident in their abilities. For the most part, I kept out of sight, watching from within the shadows. The leader of the group was loud and boastful but seemed somewhat experienced. The other members of the party included a larger heavyset man and a more mysterious hooded figure. I was further intrigued when they mentioned Timothy by name, though it didn’t sound like they were on the best of terms. What concerned me was how frequent people were daring to venture into the castle. I found it more than a little surprising considering the Dark Lord’s reputation, it should have deterred the more casual and curious of adventures.
As for my focus on exploring the land around the castle, I was in hope of finding someplace as an alternative to the darkened catacombs I was currently calling home. Thus far I have discovered a few possible candidates, including a couple of caves and an abandoned water mill. The caves were more of a consideration as places to fall back to should the castle become compromised. The watermill, however, would be a better alternative once I had the chance to make it habitable again. That would, however, require means and resources I didn’t have. Still, it was something I planned to keep in mind for down the road.
My thirst was an ever-present problem that needed to be addressed. In the past, I generally pride myself on self-control but the ever-present desire for blood was like the constant beating of my once living heart. If the first couple of nights since I had risen were any indication it took only the merest hint of someone bleeding for me to lose myself in blood lust.
That increasing lack of self-control was the main reason I hadn’t returned to the village. Instead, I was tracking a group of highwaymen that had taken to preying upon would be travelers up and down the valley road. Since I needed blood, I might as well glut myself on the life of society’s vermin. I had taken a brief risk in returning to the gypsie camp to seek more information about these robbers and murders. Kashmir was more than happy to supply what he had heard from other gypsies that had passed through.
Which lead to me riding quietly in the dark down a lonely road. This was the second night in a row I had come down this particular route with the hopes of luring out the highwaymen. In general, it would have been a foolish idea to use myself as bait, but my undead body had proven to be more than resilient in my previous conflicts. If anything I wanted to understand a bit more of my limits, and I had hopes of possibly furthering that understanding by challenging myself.
Lady snorted in the quiet moonlit night and I patted her flank.
“It looks like another unsuccessful night,” I told her with a glance skyward, “time to head home.”
I pulled the reins around and was surprised to see a wolf standing in the middle of the road. Lady pawed at the earth nervously at the sight and tried backing away. I reached for my crossbow as I scanned the roadside for any possible pack members. Wolf attacks used to be very common under the Dark Lord’s reign, with many claiming that he had an innate affinity with them. They also said the same of other vermin, such as bats and rats.
During our travels across the land in seeking to destroy the Dark Lord, my former companions and I developed a healthy caution when encountering wild creatures. Particularly when traveling at night.
We eyed each other for the breath of several moments before the wolf turned and left the road. I egged Lady forward and she trouted nervously onward.
Being spooked by the wolf gave me the encouragement I needed to be a little more vigilant. Several paces down the road I noticed a lone traveler sitting along the edge of the road. He stood at my approach and I pulled to a stop. He had a rugged look about him while appearing to be unarmed. In spite of his rough and travel-worn appearance, he held himself like a well-dressed gentleman. As I drew near I could see his shirt was torn open to reveal a distinct burn, almost like he had been branded
“Even m’ lady,” he greeted, “might I offer a fine woman such as yourself an escort home tonight, perhaps?”
“Hardly,” I replied.
He glanced up and down the road in an exaggerated manner, “I should warn you, these roads are known to be dangerous. Some might even be suspicious if they saw a woman traveling alone late at night.”
With a warm smile he offered, “I can take you round to my abode. It's a bit of a cold tonight, but I'm sure we can keep warm if we figured something out.”
“I can take care of myself.”
The man shrugged, “I offered politely and the worst I could get was no.”
I eyed him cautiously and wondered aloud, “What brings you out this far from the village?”
“This and that. I enjoy traveling and strolling through these parts.”
“I see.”
He continued to smile politely and I urged Lady to continue. As the road rounded the bend, I glanced back at the man to see that the man was still standing by the roadside with a simple smile about his face as he watched me disappear from view. There was something off about the whole encounter that didn’t sit well with me that I couldn’t place my finger on.
The thought of the brief encounter bugged me for the next little while as I rode down the road in the quiet of the night. The only sound was the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind or the nightlife animals going about their business.
It was when I was approaching an old stone bridge that I caught wind of the ambush that was staged for the next unwary traveler. I might have wandered into it if it wasn’t for my aching hunger. The wind had changed briefly as I drew near and with it came the scent of human mortals. My mouth salivated at the thought of the blood pumping through their veins and my fangs drew long.
Eagerly I dismounted and hoped that these were the highwaymen I had been hunting for. After I tied Lady off to the side of the road, I retrieved my sword and crept forward. There were two groups on this side of the river, one on either side of the road. I moved quietly till I judged I was close enough to hear them talk.
Then I waited in the stillness of the shadows.
“Damn, how long are we going to have to sit here.”
“As long as it takes.”
“For what? It's the middle of the night, no one is coming. We should have done this earlier.”
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“Just shut it.”
The muttered conversation quieted for a moment before one of the men stood.
“Damn it I got to piss!”
“Well, go take your piss somewhere else ‘cause I don’t want to see it.”
I stalked after the guy as he stomped his way through the brush moving up behind him. As he started undoing the buckle to his pants, I kicked the back of his knee and push him down. He gave a yelp of surprise that was silenced as drove my sword down through his neck. Once I was able to pull my sword free I knelt to take a drink of his blood.
The taste was euphoric. Like water after a swelteringly hot day, or the embrace of a lover. My body felt rejuvenated as I took in more of his blood. Once I was satisfied I stood. The body at my feet smelled of blood, death, and urine. Disgusted I wiped my sword clean of his fluids and turned to where he had left his companion.
“Took you long enough, I told you not to drink so much ale.”
The man stopped speaking from where he sat watching the road when he felt the kiss of my blade against his neck. I motioned him back against the rock he had been sitting beside.
“I have questions,” I said, “If you try to alert your other friends you die. If you think about lying to me you die.”
“Bitch!” he spat and I pushed the edge of my blade across his neck enough to draw a little dribble of blood. He hissed in pain and I bit my lip to hold myself back from cutting a little further. Even after drinking from his companion I wanted more.
“Insult me again you die.”
His face was screwed up in heated anger, but otherwise, he remained silent.
“Glad we can come to an understanding. Now my first question, why are you here?”
“None of your business.”
“It's your life on the line and the longer you hold out on me,” I pushed the blade deeper and he flinched. It was curious for me to realize that there was a little bit of me that was enjoying watching him squirm under the pain. However, the innocent part of me, and the person who I was before I had been cursed like this, wanted to argue that this was wrong. I choose to weakly justify to myself that chances were he would have done the same to the next helpless victim to wander across this ambush site, just like what he and his friends had done to Claudia and her family.
With a little more anger in my voice, I asked, “Now what were you planning to do here?”
“Boss told us to snatch the next passerby.”
“Your boss?”
“Yeah, and I am sure he would like to meet you bitch. Just so he can fuck your little cu-.”
The man choked on his blood as I slit his throat. His eyes widened in surprise and he tried rasping for breath.
“I warned you not to insult me,” I muttered. Not sure if I stated it as a fact, an apology or a veiled excuse. Whatever the reason I had in mind was lost when I gave way to the blood lust.
I spent the next hour or so killing the rest of the highwaymen slowly one by one. The last few fled in terror and I let them run. Perhaps they would warn others not prey upon this road. All the same, I had what I needed. Casually I turned back to retrieve my horse.
As I drew near I was surprised by the heavy smell of blood. I glanced back in the direction towards the men I killed, each of whom layout of sight from the main road. When I turned back I noticed someone standing casually next to my horse. He was stroking her neck and gave me an unsettling smile. At his feet, I noticed the barely struggling form of a man bleeding profusely.
“I trust you enjoyed the meal I sent you,” the man said turning to me. His shirt was still torn open to reveal the odd branded like a scar over his chest. When our eyes made contact he smiled pleasantly and I could see the elongated fangs in his mouth.
“You set the ambush for me,” I said accusatorily.
“Naturally, I couldn’t stand by and let a woman such as yourself suffer from thirst and need. Not to mention I was growing bored of playing with these mortals.”
“Bored?”
I drew my sword, “You talk as if their lives mean nothing.”
His bark of cruel laughter set me on edge, “So says the woman who slew them like livestock to glut herself. You have no moral high ground here from which to judge me.”
Anger coursed through me as I tighten my grip on my sword and he continued.
“Besides, I consider you almost like a sister. A little sister left behind by the late Lord of this Valley,” the smile disappeared as he considered me thoughtfully, “You honestly didn’t think you were the only one embraced by the true Lord of Night, did you? Your not the only one who can lay claim his dark heritage.”
“He cursed and corrupted you too?”
His face fell with disgust, “Curse? Corrupted? No, I was embraced and gifted by the Lord of Night, to have his strength, powers, and immortality. Just like you. Yet it sounds as if you prefer to squander his kindness.”
He kicked the man in front of him, “Now you have gone and ruined my mood for dinner.”
With a sigh, he retreated a few steps, and when I gave chase he dissolved into a dark mist.
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I returned to the castle in a fury and stormed my way towards the master study. I should have expected there would be others like the Dark Lord, others that shared in his abilities and powers. Others that, unlike me, revealed and took pleasure in their curse, seeing it as an excuse to hurt and kill wantonly.
Scanning the bookshelves I tried to find something that would enlighten me. Something that perhaps the Dark Lord had left behind as a hint towards his weaknesses that he might have passed on to his spawn. I knew about the sunlight, and I was starting to suspect that faith in the Goddess could turn someone like me away, but it seemed to require a lot of true faith for it to be effective.
Finding nothing I grabbed one of the chairs and threw it against the far wall. The wood shattered and fell to the floor. I proceeded to grab the next chair and was about to throw it as well when instead I found myself collapsing to the floor in front of it. With a deep breath that shook with emotion, I considered my predicament.
I was not alone. Others like me have survived the Dark Lord’s defeat and carried on his disdain for the lives of others. I had no friends, not even my former companions to potentially aid me in combating this threat upon the valley. How many others like me that where out there was hard to guess. If at least one of one them had the ambition they could try and claim themselves as the successors to the Dark Lord’s domain and seek to continue his reign of terror. It would make the sacrifices that my companions and I had undertook become vain.
I didn’t want this to happen, I couldn’t let this happen. I needed to stop or prevent this somehow. Picking myself up I glanced over the bookshelves once more before turning to leave. If I needed allies then perhaps I should try reaching out.
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It was late in the evening the next night when I rode into town. I felt I had more control of myself and my thirst after last night’s hunt. Due to the lateness of the hour, I was not surprised to see most of the streets empty. I tied Lady up outside the tavern and made my way inside.
There were a few familiar faces inside the tavern. Sylvia the barmaid was someone I expected but seeing her talking with Timothy the ex-mage apprentice was something else. Cautiously I drew up my hood and scolded myself. Since this was the only tavern for miles and the closest place to the Dark Lord’s castle that resembled an inn, I should have expected to see the handful of adventurers that have been a slight nuisance to me.
Sylvia broke away from her conversation with Timothy to swing by my table once I had sat down. I purposely choose a seat at a table away from Timothy and turned my back to him. I glanced over at Sylvia as she approached, she looked tired and ragged but tried to smile pleasantly as she greeted me.
“Hi what can I get ya?”
“I’ll take whatever you recommend.”
She nodded and ask, “Will mead be okay?”
“Sure.”
“Let me go around back and grab some,” she paused as she considered me, “It’s Gwenyth, correct?”
“Yeah,” I said avoiding the urge to glance towards Timothy and hoped he wasn’t paying attention. I honestly really didn’t want to deal with any awkward entanglements. Slyvia gave a small smile and turned back toward the kitchen area. I glanced over toward the stairs in time to see a small party. The leader of the group scanned the room and spotted Timothy sitting alone. Timothy for his part stood upon seeing the group.
“Darren,” he said to the room at large. I could hear the disdain and anger in his voice towards the group and particular towards the man named Darren.
“Creep,” replied Darren with a smile, “Last I saw you, I had left you all tied up. Trust me when I say that I am honestly surprised to see you here.”
“Yes. I remember you left me to die! To be killed by the ghouls and what not! I’ll have you know I have been telling the whole village about you!”
“Have you now?” Darren said in a smug tone of voice that showed he little concern over Timothy’s accusation, “Shall I also share your secrets?”
I glanced over to see Timothy balk at Darren’s counter-argument.
“What secrets?”
Darren only continued to smile, “Everyone knows you tried to learn magic, and your master kicked you out. But have you told them why?”
Timothy visibly paled. By now most of the tavern was listening in, and Darren seemed to reveal at being the center of attention.
“I thought as much. They don’t know you tried to study necromancy.”
The tension in the room seemed to have suddenly gone up. Most eyes now turned from casually watching Darren to glowering at Timothy. I turned my attention from the confrontation as Sylvia returned with my drink.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
“Hey, when you got a moment I have a favor to ask of you.”
Slyvia gave me a quizzical look, “Depends on what you're asking for?”
I pulled out a few letters I had written in preparation, “You remember how I had asked you about my companions? The ones who defeated the Dark Lord?”
Slyvia nodded as she accepted the small stack of letters, “I remember. You said you were looking for them.”
“I need to make contact with them. If you could forward these to them, or even request copies to be made and distributed, I would be grateful,” I placed a coin purse on the table, “this should help cover any cost and I can return with more.”
Wearily Slyvia took the coin purse and her eyes widened in surprise, “I think this should be more than enough.”
With a smile, she took the bag and the stack of letters before returning to the kitchen. I glanced over the room to see that things had calmed down slightly. It looked like Timothy had been ran-out by the other patrons, I wasn’t surprised considering how the locals may have felt about the undead. Meanwhile, the man Darren had taken a table near the bar with his friends and companions. He was flirting with another barmaid, who in turn seemed to enjoy the attention.
With a sigh I stood up, trusting that Slyvia would deduct the coin for the drink I didn’t touch, I left the tavern. With the noise of patrons behind me, I glanced upwards towards the clear night sky. The moon hung low, illuminating the mountains and the dark castle that sat high above the village.