What lay in front of them was something that defied their sensibilities. Lit by torches at every wall, an amateurish caricature that seemed undefined, the senses nearly rejected the perception of it, no, he.

He was male, humanoid, 15 feet in height. He was sitting down on the ground, legs both splayed forwards. His arms were relaxed at his side, though the sheer size intimidated without need.

His face was regal with golden eyes, but it looked deformed in a way, parts of its head larger than others, his chin had multiple different points. Gray fur covers his face. It hardly covers the pain permanently etched on it. From his back wings jut out, though they seem vestigial and droop down onto the ground like a cape. They are a consistent gray. He has the ears of a bat on the top of his head. His arms are muscular and come to claws like dragons, though the scales are twisted as they approach his hands. His legs are stout, the feet of them being like goats hooves, but the legs themselves being insect-like. His torso is almost exactly like a humans, though a secondary mouth is stitched shut on its stomach. On his arms preceding the claws is white fur, on his legs is golden fur. The bottom of his hooves are black, but they do not seem fully developed, cracks on the hoofs reveal flesh underneath. From his back, a long tail swishes back and forth, the thing looked like the body of a centipede, with its many long sharp feet.

Their moment of perception seemed long, but it was only an instant. For as its eyes matched Epim’s, its tail crawled against the ground, lifting off for a moment and shooting forwards. The end of it pierced through the air and aimed for Epim, the size of it nearly the same as his entire body.

The Shade intercepted it, for a moment. Its hands gripped on it, challenging him to a contest of strength. The Shade lost that contest, even with its immense strength. The force of the strike diverted entirely to it, it felt its feet leave the air and it shot back into the dark behind them.

Prose prepared to strike forward with his weapons, until a distorted voice rang out. “Oh… I’m sorry.” The voice matched the source of the scream earlier, to the group's surprise. His tail crawled back on the ground, slithering back to its position behind the colossus in front of them.

He leaned forwards, his eyes examining the group. “I thought you were something different.” He pronounced each word slowly, his voice deep and somber. “I hope I didn’t hurt your friend!” He seemed to speak with sincerity.

The Shade was shocked by its loss, though it was relatively unharmed. It ran back into the room quickly, prepared to make a second bout before it was stopped by Epim and Prose. It looked at them confusedly, and then looked back at the towering man. It stopped, its eyes going narrow and examining it intently. Something had caught its eye.

“I don’t get visitors who don’t bite. Though I don’t hurt them normally. You seemed an ugly thing, in the dark, I was afraid.” These words were pointed towards Epim, who was still in a degree of shock at the sight in front of him. Prose thought the idea of the amalgamation in front of him thinking anything was ugly seemed odd, but chose not to voice that thought in the spirit of maintaining a civil dialogue. His eyes flickered to the Shade, and felt quite puzzled as he saw its fists balled. It was looking at something he could not see, and it drove it to the point of intense anger. He could not understand why, nor could he ask it to explain.

The giant looked down to Bart, a smile coming to his monstrous face. “Hello! You’re the ones my little friends saw! I told them to help you if they could, and it seems they did!”

The group all came to the conclusion at the same instant, the eyes of their lord, the creatures of the day, it was the monstrosity in front of them who had arranged their meeting.

Bart spoke in exclamation. “My lord!?” To which the colossus laughed.

“No! No! You mean my papa. I’m Dunire.”

This was a shock, for a great variety of reasons. They had heard nothing of the lord and his wife having a child, not even from the Bloodsuckers ancestors. And from what Bart had told then, their lord and his wife were both human like Epim. Dunire was anything but, and their confusion clouded them.

Prose spoke through it, introducing the group before jumping onto a question that had nearly leaped off his tongue. “Dunire, do you know how old you are?”

Dunire’s head bounced up and down. “A little over five-hundred, it's hard to keep track! My little friends try to let me know every day!

The Bloodsuckers attribution had been wrong. Their lord hadn’t returned to them and assisted them with the small creatures of the day. Deep down in the dungeon, Dunire spoke with the small creatures that made their way into the cracks. He whispered to them secrets, and they listened to him in earnest. They did his deeds, as friends. Gradually, as the forest died, so did the creatures. His influence on the world grew dimmer, and although he still had some to speak to, they could no longer work in conjunction to assist the Bloodsuckers of Bewit.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Bart nearly collapsed, from this realization. The lord he had unparalleled faith in may still exist, but he was not his savior. His savior was in front of him, and while he wished to express gratitude the myriad of emotions that ran through him stopped him from doing so.

Epim needed an answer. “Dunire, feel free to ask us as much as you wish, but I have one more question for you before you do, if that’s alright.” Dunire nodded in assent, his pleasure in being able to have a conversation clear. “Haven’t you thought of leaving the castle? No one outside knows you exist!”

Turning his head down, Dunire’s face turns to a frown. “I can’t. I’ve been sick since I was born. Moving too much hurts, I need my medicine.” His face quickly contorts, and his large arms wave in front of him frantically. “But I’m not sad! Papa might not come down often anymore, but Mama does and teaches me tricks, even the bats that suck my blood all keep me company!”

Upon hearing the last sentence, Prose’s eyes focused on Dunire’s body. Needle-like holes existed all over it. Dunire was larger, stronger and could surely deny the feral Bloodsuckers their meal. And yet he didn’t.

Epim quickly turns his head at this realization, a pain creeping up on him. Prose again takes the lead, explaining to Dunire their journey to this point. He explained the ragged state of the Bewitching woods, the feral nature of the Bloodsuckers, and the general ignorance of the people down in the village below. He speaks briefly of the mercenaries, and instead focuses on the death they nearly faced at the hands of the feral.

Dunire sags his head and for a moment tears seem to fill his eyes. He speaks, a bit of a stagger in his voice. “I don’t blame you… they were awfully mean, but Papa never wanted to hurt them. He blamed himself for them. Mama never had any trouble, but she can speak with them like I can with the mice.”

Silence fills the room. And Epim notices the Shade’s anger. Bart does too, and so does Dunire though he says nothing of it. A smile creeps up on his face. “You lot seem awfully nice. Can you tell me, what are the people like in the village? I’ve only heard from the mice, but you’ve talked to them!”

“The children are kind. They look to the future brightly, and they are open to everyone. I’m sure, they’d treat you kindly as well.” Prose recalled his encounter with the children in the garden.

“They honor the past. They speak kindly of your father, they still have plenty of love to give. I’m sure if they knew he had a son, they’d throw a feast in your honor. They’d speak all day, of how great and strong you must be. I’m sure…” Epim paused for a moment. How could they not even know? How could the lord and his wife leave the village in the dark on their son? He fought back against his disgust. “I’m sure they’d speak of your name with tenderness.”

Bart spoke now, his voice beaming with pride. “Although things are hard, we do take care of each other. There are many like you, who stay away from the outside. We watch over them, protect them, even though they may be too fearful to act, we love them.” He turns his head to the Shade, recalling the experience in the hospital. “And if we knew you were sick, we have many doctors who’d work tirelessly to help you find a cure. They wouldn’t stop until… until you didn’t hurt anymore.” Bart could barely finish, the pride in his voice almost turning to a great pain, though he intentionally hid that away.

Dunire smiles, his jagged teeth showing. “I see, so nice! It sounds like a wonderful place. Mama, and Papa always spoke so kindly of the Bloodsuckers. I’d always wished to meet one, like you! Thank you!”

It was obvious that Dunire had a great appreciation for his life. And while there were many burning questions within each of them, wanting to understand the situation to the fullest, the one in front of them was not the one to give them those answers. To peel away the dark secret of the castle and its shut doors, they wanted it so bad. But they couldn’t bring themselves to speak so callously to the gentle giant.

Although Dunire had been alive for five hundred years, his innocence was staggering. Not like their group who had slaughtered their way forward and took life ceaselessly to continue. Even if it was necessary to help the village, it still weighed heavily on their heart, moreso now than ever. Even Prose, who gave off an air of detachment, had begun to feel the weight, and it showed on his face.

“Are you aware of where in the castle your parents live? We need to talk to them. We need to understand. Right now the situation to us doesn’t make any sense! Why allow the Bloodsuckers to degrade themselves? Why wouldn’t they say a word to the village! They’re waiting, they’ve been waiting, because they believe in the kindness in your fathers heart, through five hundred years of silence!” Epim shouted out, no longer able to hold himself back.

Dunire sagged, his tail rising and slamming against the ground. “I’m sorry, you seem awfully upset. Papa and Mama, they live in the northmost tower of the castle.” The grief Epim felt was palpable to him, and now looking at Bart he saw him shaking, out of a deep pain. His body was much more fragile than he had originally thought. Prose had turned himself away, staring at the darkness behind them. Only the Shade still stared at him directly, the anger still obvious on its face. Dunire thought poorly of himself, for attacking at the beginning. He wished no ill will to the thing.

Of course, Dunire had no idea that what truly angered the Shade was something only it could see. A black energy clung itself to Dunire, one of the very same nature that had inflicted Baat in the village below. It writhed on him, eating at whatever it could mockingly so. The nature of it was still unclear, the exact origin of it unknown, but the Shade knew that it had no natural origin. It was something placed with intent, something meant to cause harm more so than anything else. It degraded whatever it could, it mocked whatever it could. It was entitled, arrogant. The thought that the Shade wouldn’t be able to deal with it, that it had to leave it to its own devices, enraged it to the point where it was cracking its own exoskeleton in its clenched fist.

It was broken out of its stupor only as Epim tugged on its hand, signaling that they were leaving. “We’ll come back, after we’ve spoken with them. I’m sorry to leave you so soon.”

Dunire nodded his head, still smiling. “It’s ok! I’m very excited to talk with you all again!” The joy in his words was evident, and it only made the group feel a greater degree of pain. They left back the way they came, prepared to answer the questions that had been long in their minds, and to meet the lord who ruled over the castle.

Before they left his sight completely, Bart turned back and looked at him. “Thank you!” He yelled, his voice high and filled with emotion. “Thank you for sending out your friends, I was so scared. You saved me, I’ll never forget it! Dunire, you are a friend!”

Dunire’s face flushed of all pain, and smiled as wide as he could. His tail swished through the air, and as the group left they could hear a joyous laugh echo through the castle, much louder than the scream from before.