by Kindred Ult
"Please Nasoren, call me Mark."
"Sure thing Mark, are you here for business or just stopping by?" This was just a rote question she always asked him. She knew he was just there to talk to her, because he was always there to just talk to her. He came into the shop about two or three times a week, and many people in the town had already accepted them as engaged, although Nasoren had no idea where they got them from. She usually liked talking to Mark, but she really liked someone else.
She still liked the idea of flirting while she still could, however, and so she indulged in it whenever possible with any boy or man she thought would be fun. Her mother scolded her for it but she saw no harm in it. It was not like she was cruel; she just liked to get reactions out of men. Mark was being rather ardent though, and she made a mental note to put him down a bit more so that he would let up on all of the attention he was giving her.
He grinned a bit too widely and answered. "Well, I was just returning home from my job at the inn and I saw that you were in, so I decided to come by and see if you were able to come with me to see something really interesting. But… Who was that man just now?"
"Hmm? Oh, that was just some traveler who came to sell the weapons of Jaxon's gang."
Mark gaped. "Jaxon's gang? So you're saying that that guy killed all of Jaxon's gang?"
"Yep, I guess it's a good thing you didn't join them last week isn't it?" Nasoren smiled smugly.
"Yea, I suppose so. Well, anyway, are you free?"
"Well, that depends, what are we doing?"
"Okay, that's the best part. Some of the guys and me have found the best place to hang out at night and we were wondering whether you would like to come with us tonight. It won't just be you either; we're getting almost all of the regular people to come tonight. It should be pretty dang fun. So, you comin'?"
For a moment, Nasoren wondered whether she really should or not. She was supposed to watch the store, but she wouldn't be blamed if she shut up the store early. She could just tell her mother that she had been at the store late and since Jacob was not going to wake up until tomorrow he would not be able to call out her lie. She was worried about whether it was proper for a bit, but decided that she did not care.
"Sure, I'll come, when do we meet?"
He grinned triumphantly. "Well, We should probably leave right now. It might take us awhile to get there."
"Okay." He stepped outside of the shop for a bit while she fixed everything up and cleaned the last of the weapons. By the time she stepped out of the store, locking the door, it was almost dark.
"So, are we heading out the normal way?" she asked Mark.
"Yea, so let's split up and meet right outside the wall," he replied.
They went separate ways and Nasoren was careful to make sure that no one really noticed her as she walked through alleyways and in the shadows until she got to the greatest secret the teenagers in Valestren had: the stairway. Over the years, several large vines had grown over the impermeable wall, and a while ago someone had carved small hand and foot holds into the wood behind a few of the large vines. The holds continued all the way over the wall and back around the other side and were very hard to spot if you did not know where to look. Nasoren and her friends had been using it to get out of the town, when they did not want anyone to know that they were getting, out for a very long time. Her friends and her had always been very discreet about using the stairway and also about whom they told about it. They never let anyone who had ever ratted anyone else out know about it and they never used it on a whim. So far, no one had discovered it so they seemed to be doing well.
Mark got there only a few minutes after she did and she watched out while he climbed. Once he got to the top he looked around while she climbed. She was halfway up when Mark shook the vine, a sign that someone was coming. She started climbing faster and had just vaulted herself over the top of the wall when a man walked by. For one tense moment he studied the wall, but then he shrugged and walked past it. Nasoren sighed and both Mark and her took turns climbing down the wall on the other side before walking into the woods.
Once they had made it past the tree line, Mark brought a lantern out from under his cloak and let its light shine along the dark forest. Nasoren noticed two sheaths on his belt and figured that they must be his short sword and knife. She decided that was good, it was better for him to be armed like she was. She also had a short sword, but she did not have time to carry a knife and so she was glad he had brought one. It was not a good idea to walk about in Darkoven, and that went double if you were without weapons.
She was confident that she could hold her own against another person with a sword, and she had at least practiced with every other kind of weapon she could think of with Jacob, but it was good to have another person around with a weapon. Mark might also be better than her with a short sword anyway. They walked for about ten more minutes before Nasoren began to get worried.
"Why is this so far away from the city? If something happens, we won't be able to get back in time."
Mark was walking a little ahead of her. "Don't worry, it's not far from here, and besides, there's a lot of us there."
"Okay, if you say so."
They walked for a bit more before he stopped next to a tree and was about to turn to the right when he looked at her.
"Now, before I let you in, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about what we have here okay?"
She rolled her eyes. "C'mon, you know me."
He just stared at her.
"Okay whatever, I promise."
Mark smiled and looked back at the tree for a moment before swiftly turning around and lunging at her. For a moment she saw his knife in his hand but then he hit her with all of the force he could muster. The wind was knocked out of her as she hit the ground with him on top of her. She was about to struggle when she felt his knife at her throat. She looked into Mark's eyes and he smiled at the horror she must have been exuding.
"Don't struggle Sera, I'm just going to kill you here, that's all. I've wanted to for so long, but I had to make you think we were friends and make you think I was infatuated with you."
While he was talking she was desperately trying to think of what to. She had to keep him talking. She tried to say something through his hand.
"What's that? You don't want to die? Well I don't care if that's what you said or not, you're definitely going to die tonight my swee-"
She rammed her right knee into his groin and his words cut off as he yelped in pain. She then brought her other knee up and lodged it under his stomach just like Jacob had taught her. With that as leverage, she pushed off with all of her strength and twisted her entire body to the right, throwing him off of her. He hit the ground and she started running towards the town screaming at the top of her lungs. Mark cursed and was up in an instance. He saw her hair flash behind on of the trees as she ran away with the lantern in her hand, so he leapt to his feet and charged after her.
Nasoren did not like having to take the lantern with her, since it gave away where she was to Mark, but she had no other choice, she could not find her way back in the night. She had quit screaming since she needed to conserve her breath for running, but she hoped that the people on watch at Valestren had heard her and might be able to come in time. She had to push those thoughts out of her mind and think solely about how to escape what was happening to her. She thought back to all of the races they had done as children and wondered whether Mark was a fast runner, but that was no good because Mark had been fat when they were young. She was the most athletic girl out of her circle of friends but there were a few boys who could outrun her. She just had to hope that Mark was not one of them.
She had been running for about four minutes when she saw the edge of the forest and her heart leapt with joy. She would be able to make it. She would get back to town and tell everyone what happened. She felt a burst of happiness, which made her run all the faster, but this only lasted until Mark crashed into her from the side, sending the lant
ern flying and her sprawling to the ground. She started struggling and was about to cry out when he quickly hopped over her knees and landed on her chest. He shoved his hand over her mouth and once again placed his knife at her throat. She tried to struggle a bit more, until he cut a small line across her neck. The pain stilled her. Mark smiled and bent his head next to her ear.
"You know what's the best part?" He whispered, "I can just leave you here and they'll think that a vampire killed you. I'll get off free. But there's no need for you to worry about that, my sweet, you'll be dead soon enough."
She tried to buck her hips and throw him off, but he was prepared and just adjusted his feet to take it in stride before slamming back down on her stomach.
"That wasn't very nice, what you did back there, I suppose I'll just have to pay you back somehow." He lifted his knife from her neck and sliced it across her cheek. Her scream was muffled but her tears ran as freely as the blood that flowed over her skin and filled her mouth. With the edge of his knife, Mark lifted the edge of the cut and whistled softly.
"Wow, it goes all the way to the other side of your mouth, let's see you be pretty now whore," he replaced the knife at her neck, "oh well, it was fun slut, but now you'll have to…"
His words trailed off, and his eyes became vacant. He looked down at his chest and noticed two points of metal protruding from right where his heart was. He looked back at Nasoren.
"I'm, I'm sorry Sera," he gasped out before slumping to the right.
She kicked him away and looked at the man who still held the spear that had pierced Mark's heart. With a shock she noticed that he was the customer from earlier. He had taken off his cloak and hat and now wore some kind of a black, leather costume. He looked at her and his eyes glowed red.
"Vampire." The word escaped her mouth before she could keep it in.
"Yes," he put his foot on Mark's back and pulled out his spear. "One less scum on this earth. Still, no point in wasting the blood." He lifted Mark up, pushed his head to the side, and dug his teeth into the veins inside his neck. Nasoren watched, fascinated, as all of Mark's veins bulged before slowly deflating again as the vampire dropped him to the ground with every drop of his life sucked out of him.
"Hmm, virgin blood, I did not expect that." As the vampire turned to walk away Nasoren finally found her voice.
"Wait, you did this for me?"
"You could say that, if you wanted to, or you could just say I was hungry and that I killed him and, once I was satisfied, I left."
"But, why did you stay so near our town? I thought you had urgent business."
"I do, but I can tell evil intentions when I see them, and when we passed as I headed out of your store, I knew he would try something like this."
"But, why didn't you help me earlier?"
"Because no one should be coddled and protected to the point where they cannot protect themselves. I waited until it was obvious you were not going to protect yourself."
"I tried to." She had no idea why she was arguing with someone who could decide at any point that he was still hungry and finish her off, but she was not going to leave the conversation at that.
"Maybe to a certain degree, but you were not fighting for your life, as you should have been. Your short sword is still in your sheath, is it not?"
She glanced down at her sword with astonishment, with all of the excitement, she had forgotten about it. Then she looked down in shame, before looking back up at the vampire. He was staring back down at her while cleaning his blade.
"Um, thank you for saving me."
"It was not a problem, you can tell them that he was killed by a vampire if you do not want to sully his name, or you could just tell them everything." His voice was formal.
She had not anticipated this kind of a feeling from a vampire; it was almost like compassion. She stood up and moved closer to him.
"What's it like being a vampire?"
"Cold." He finished cleaning his spear and placed it behind his back, where it seemed to disappear.
"Is it really that bad?"
He stopped all movement and stared at her. "Yes."
"Then why did you become a vampire?"
"I had no choice, the vampire who bit me decided that I should be one."
She was still walking towards him and was very close to him now. "And how did that feel?" She moved right up to him and tilted her head to the side.
He leaned closer to her, whispering. "Do you really want to know?"
"Yes." She gasped out, almost unable to breathe.
"It feels like having your life, innocence, purity, and soul ripped out of you." He pushed her away from him and in a moment he was gone. Nasoren looked after him for a moment before she felt the blood from her cheek flowing down onto her shoulder. She composed herself, and then ran screaming towards the town. When the watch finally found her she told them that a vampire had attacked Mark and her and that Mark had told her to run while he battled the vampire.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
The next day, Nasoren was packing her belongings into a bag when her mother entered her room. She stood in the doorway for a moment, staring at the newly-sewed gash on Nasoren's cheek."
"Sera?"
Nasoren did not stop packing. "Yes mother?"
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes mother."
"But, going off to join the paladins…Why would you do something like that? Don't you like your life here." Nasoren could tell that her mother was starting to cry again by the way her voice was faltering.
"Yes mother, you and Dad have made my life here as good as I ever could have hoped, but this is something I must do. I cannot allow myself to be a victim for my entire life."
"But, that's why we have the village guards."
Now Nasoren stopped packing and turned around to look her mother in her eyes. "Mother, that isn't the point. The point is that there are too many people in this world who let themselves be victims for their entire lives. They live each day in fear of what might happen to them, while at the same time they do nothing except place the responsibility of protecting them on someone else's shoulders. They resist what happens to them up to a certain degree, but once their subconscious limit is passed, they simply crumple to the ground and resign themselves to whatever fate will be bestowed upon them. Sometimes the guards are there to save them, but sometimes they aren't. I cannot accept life as a victim anymore."
Her mother was crying openly now. Her tears stained her cheeks and her entire body moved every time she stifled her urge to sob. With a visible effort, she wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened to her full height. Her voice cracked a bit as she spoke, but she used her authoritative voice. The voice Nasoren knew no way to disobey.
"Fine, I can see why you would choose this. I give you my permission and blessing on your journey, and I hope that you become a great paladin, but you must promise me that you will come back to visit us in two months. Okay?"
Nasoren smiled and hugged her mother one final time. "Okay mom, I promise. I'll come back after I've been there for two months."
Her mother smiled and cried for a few more minutes, until Nasoren gently unattached herself from her and finished packing her belongings. She went outside after saying goodbye to her father, who had already said that he was in favor of her getting out of this forest. Outside was a group of merchants who had been scheduled to leave the town in a week, but had decided to leave today because of the attack. They had come from the other towns on their annual trek through Darkoven, and now that they had come to the last town, they were heading back. Nasoren had used some of the money she had saved up by working at The Emporium to pay for passage with them and food. They would take her all the way to the city that was the home of the paladins. She threw her pack onto one of the wagons and walked out of the village with it.
"Never again will I need someone to save me. I will never
be the victim a second time," she swore silently to herself as she said goodbye to the town that had been her home all of her life.
Branching Roads
3
Branching RoadsVincent knew that he must be in a dream. The whole landscape in front of him was swaying and shifting as if it were made of wax and the sun was its candle. The colors in front of him constantly changed from brightly vivid to morosely vague in moments, and he struggled to even walk amidst the madness. Strangely enough, even though the ground around him looked like it was a river, wherever he stepped it felt solid. When he placed his foot down, the ground behind him flowed around it as if it were a rock on the beach. He saw trees slowly drifting along a road even as their leafs melted and joined together with their branches. He saw clouds falling from the sky like water running down a wall. A fox ran by him and jumped high into the air before landing as a sheep and getting devoured by a rabbit, which was devoured by a fish, which was devoured by a fly. Everywhere he turned he only saw insanity.