by Mike Ezekiel
Beaming with pride, Baldred quickly pulled out his bow and arrow and shot at a target all the way across the yard hitting the bull’s eye from over sixty yards away.
“Wow, what a shot Baldred!” exclaimed Kerwyn, amazed at how well and fast the Cyclopes had learnt how to use the foreign weapons. Kerwyn knew that they really were an amazing group of warriors now and they should be safe to get to the forest witch’s tree.
“Ok everyone,” announced Master Sernett, “If we don’t get started, we won’t make it there before tomorrow night. As it is we will have to spend one night out in the open and I'd rather not spend any more time in the open at night then we have to where the Dark Master’s minions could be lurking. So, let’s gather up all of our gear and get going.”
With that, everyone stopped talking and grabbed all their belongings and followed Master Sernett to the Great Hall where they said their goodbyes to the Queen and all of her people who they had come to respect and would miss. Kerwyn looked for Erlina but she was nowhere to be found.
The queen seeing Kerwyn’s look of sadness and said to him, “Do not worry, Master Kerwyn. Erlina was very upset this morning about not being allowed to go along with you so she was given a mild drug to make her sleep. She will be here when you return from your adventure. I wish you well and safe travels until we see each other again; know that the Elvin people will always be there when you need us. Fare thee well.” And, just like that, they were on their way to the forest witch’s tree.
They crossed the barrier and stood on the other side of the Elvin domain where the creatures of the forest howled and hunted. Each looked at one another and was surprised at how much the forest had changed since being inside the Elvin domain.
Kerwyn turned and placed his hand on the barrier and said his goodbyes to the living barrier and thanked it for letting them through. The barrier was so happy at that, it told Kerwyn that when they come back it would let them through without needing to ask and would give a fanfare to let the elves know that Master Kerwyn had come home. Turning back to face the group, Kerwyn explained what the barrier had said.
“Well, Master Sernett, do you know the way to the witch’s tree,” asked Byamee.
“Yes I do. We need to travel due north until we see a rickety old tree at a fork in the road. Then we take the western branch until we hit a clearing. There we will stop for the night, as that will be about half way. We do not want to meet up with the witch at night-time. I’m sure she won’t be happy to see us in the daylight, not to mention showing up for tea and coffee in the middle of the night,” turning on his heels Master Sernett took the lead with Byamee. Kerwyn took up beside Celie and Durin took up beside Elden while Baldred took up the back position.
They walked at a steady pace and Kerwyn felt tired after a while. The sweat started to pour out of him and he hoped that he could keep up and not slow the group down. Just when he didn’t think he'd be able to go any farther, the old rickety tree and the fork in the path appeared up ahead.
“Master, can we stop for a break? We’ve been walking most of the day,” asked Kerwyn.
“Ok. We’ll stop for a short while just to rest up. We need to continue though as we still have a ways to go. I do not want to get caught in the dark without a fire. The forest seems too quiet; almost like we are being hunted by something and the forest knows it,” said Master Sernett.
Kerwyn, feeling pretty stupid, turned on his nature senses and saw that Master Sernett was right; there were very evil creatures out in the forest that were looking for any creature they could kill and eat.
“Master you are right, there are evil creatures out in the forest on the hunt but they are quite far away so we have time to stop for a little bit. And, Master, the forest has changed. The evil has spread much faster then I would have thought. It covers almost the entire forest now. There are only pockets of areas that have not been tainted by the evil. We will need to set up watch at nighttime to make sure that we are not caught off guard,” finished Kerwyn.
“Alright, we will stop for just a short while to regain some strength and have a drink,” Master Sernett directed.
Kerwyn reached into his belt pack and felt something inside move against his hand. Looking down, he saw that it was indeed Hernes who had made it out of the barrier and was now free to go about his way if he chose. The imp looked up at Kerwyn and gave his hand a small hug and mouthed the words thank you to Kerwyn. Then he snuggled back down where he was to continue his little nap the same way a cat would curl up and fall asleep on a window ledge. Knowing that Hernes was safe made Kerwyn feel much better about the trip.
He grabbed his water bottle and took a nice long drink from it before putting it away. Feeling refreshed, Kerwyn stood up and stretched. He felt all of the kinks working out of his muscles and really started to feel amazing. Pulling out his water bottle again, he looked much closer at the contents thinking that with the way he was feeling, he would bet that the water had some healing potion properties to it. Looking back down into his belt pack he saw Hernes who just winked with a big smile. Kerwyn thought that having the imp along might come in handy after all. After about fifteen minutes, Master Sernett told everyone to get up, that it was time to get moving again. With a few grunts and groans the party resumed the trek through the forest path, heading towards Druantia’s tree and the clearing where they were going to stop for the night.
Just before they started to leave Kerwyn felt a presence coming from the rickety old tree and called a halt to the group. The Cyclopes pulled out their weapons and took up a defensive position. Durin unstrapped his massive hammer and walked up to the side of the tree with Kerwyn and Master Sernett to investigate. Upon approaching, a squeal came from the hollow in the bottom of the tree and out popped a dirtly little harpy, a half women and half vulture creature. A dirty and vile creature, their talons carried disease and most were poisonous from rotting excrement trapped in their nails.
“I see you and I’m going to tell the witch that there is a company of Cyclopes, a human, a dwarf and... an elf, oh she’ll want to know about this,” hissed the harpy who flew up and began to head in the same direction that the party were heading.
Faster then one would think possible; Baldred pulled out his bow and arrow and took aim.
“Baldred, put your weapon away. We are not here to kill every dirty creature that we happen to come across. We have a mission to do and killing all of the forest witch’s eyes and ears will not encourage her to want to meet with us. We need to let her know that we only have the most honourable of intentions and that we do not mean to cause her any trouble,” said Master Sernett.
“Master Sernett, I am still detecting something from inside the hollow of this tree.” Kerwyn bent over and reached his hand inside and pulled out a small egg shaped rock. Through Kerwyn’s eyes it looked like the rock was a pulsing blue light in his hand as though it were a living rock or was hiding something inside of it.
The rest of the party looked at the rock and saw just that; an egg shaped old rock. No one else could see or sense the pulsing of blue light coming from it. Kerwyn closed his black eye and the pulsing light remained but when he closed his blue eye, he could no longer see it. Again Kerwyn had made a discovery about his eyes and the things that each of them saw. Kerwyn now knew that his black eye could see in the dark and see hidden creatures and thing in the shadows while his blue eye could see other magical things that didn’t look evil.
Looking back down at the rock he was holding in his hand, Kerwyn wondered what they had found. He wondered why it pulsed with a blue light as though it were matching his heart, beat for beat. He placed it into his belt pack along with Hernes and his water bottle. Sensing nothing more from the tree, they moved on towards the clearing where they were going to spend the night.
As the day progressed into dusk, they finally made there way to the clearing.
Master Sernett was a good leader and had everyone doing something to get the camp set up for the night. Kerwyn’s tas
k was to get the fire going and to cook some of the food that they had taken with them from the Elvin kitchens. The Cyclopes task was to get a temporary shelter set up as it looked like there could be rain over night and they needed to stay as dry as they could. Durin’s task was to find some water so that Master Sernett could have some tea with his supper.
“Master Sernett, may I speak with you?” Byamee asked.
“Of course, Byamee, we are friends and comrades you do not need to ask permission to speak with me,” said Master Sernett.
“But you are a Master Wizard and respect must be maintained. But what I need to discuss with you is a dream that I have had with this exact setting. There are these creatures that have long fangs and they can float and move faster then the eye can track. They are very strong in my dream and they find a way to get us. I need you to know that I am not going crazy, Master Sernett, and I believe this was a warning from Mother Nature to me. I have been given the gift of dream-knowing. My ancestors had it as well; they could see danger coming and were able to warn our people about it. This is my warning and I am not sure what to do about it. These creatures are much stronger then we are, as they have unholy might. I need your advice on this matter,” said Byamee.
“Everyone, come here. We have something to tell you. Byamee has been given the gift of sight from Mother Nature and she has given us a warning. This night we are going to have evil company. From what Byamee has described, we are going to have vampires calling on us.
Now the way I see it we can try and outrun them but they are undead and will not stop their pursuit. Plus they can move much faster then any of us could run. The only option I see is that we take a stand and prepare as best we can.
We will need the fire burning brightly and we will need wooden stakes as vampires are killed when one is shoved through their hearts. If we are lucky and can make it till morning, the sunlight will also kill them. Our magical weapons should be able to kill them but we either need to chop their heads off or stab them through the heart.
The last book I read also said that they couldn’t be harmed by spells. They have natural defences against them as the Dark Master created them to be wizardkillers. That means Kerwyn, you and I need to be extra careful, as they will be coming after us the most. Still, all of you need to be aware that they are extremely fast, strong and very dangerous. Even the Cyclopes will have a hard battle on their hands, as vampires are just as strong, if not more so, than the Cyclopes are. So everyone needs to be safe and try not to let them grab you. If they get you, scream for help as they will try to suck the blood from you and it won’t take them long to drain of all your blood once they bite.”
They all started to gather up wood for the stakes and the fire was stoked so that it would burn nice and bright. Kerwyn felt a bit defenceless and wondered what he could do. So he did the only thing he could do and that was to stick as many stakes in every pocket and hiding spot that he could find so he would have lots of sharpened stakes to stab any vampires that got too close to him.
“Ok, I suggest that we try and get as much sleep as we can before the vampires get here. We will do this in watches. It is about three hours to midnight and I would assume that they would wait until then when they would think we would all be asleep. So I will take first watch with Byamee, Baldred will take second watch with Celie and Durin and Elden will take third watch. Kerwyn that leaves you for the fourth watch if there is one,” said Master Sernett.
“Master, I can take first watch if you want to get some rest,” offered Kerwyn.
“Kerwyn, please don’t take this wrong but if things go really bad, I hope that somehow you will be able to pull another magical spell out of your hat that will work on the vampires and save all our lives. Truly, I am very worried. Vampires are incredibly dangerous. There are not very many stories where a vampire has lost a battle in the night-time, for this is their time to rule; they are truly evil and evil loves the night. If this was daytime I would feel much more confident about our chances. Go and get some sleep; you will be our last defence so make sure you are well rested,” finished Master Sernett.
Climbing into his night roll, Kerwyn was having trouble trying to sleep knowing that impending doom was coming and that there wasn’t much he could do about it. The feeling of being watched was increasing and it was an eerie feeling to just lie there on the ground and try to sleep.
It was about three hours later when the first sounds of battle woke Kerwyn up. Jumping to his feet he turned to face their enemy. One of the vampires was locked in a death struggle with Elden. It was amazing that the smaller vampires had the same strength as one of these monstrous fifteen foot tall Cyclopes. The vampire had a hold of Elden’s spear and was almost ripping it out of his hands. If the situation wasn’t so serious the vampire might have looked funny because it stood about seven foot tall and was hovering off the ground about another five feet. But the vampire didn’t look like it was losing ground... or air; this must be part of the magic of these creatures. No matter where they flew they would have the same strength as though they were on the ground.
Kerwyn noticed that sweat was beading on Elden’s head and knew that the vampire could sustain its strength all night whereas the Cyclopes were mortal and would eventually tire out. Now he knew why they were so dangerous: they had limitless amounts of strength and they did not tire like mortals did.
Kerwyn looking around saw his Master in battle with another vampire and this one was a female. Master Sernett swung his staff like a windmill and any time the vampire was struck by his staff, sparks would burst from it, coating the vampire in fresh burns.
Byamee and Celie were in a similar battle. They were swinging their swords but the vampires were staying just out of reach of their blades. Baldred wasn’t fairing too well either as he was using his bow as a club trying to keep the vampires away from him. Kerwyn was looking around for Durin but he didn’t see him. He counted how many vampires they were doing battle against and Kerwyn counted nine of them. The big male still trying to rip the spear from Elden’s hands seemed to be the leader and was shouting orders in a foreign language to the others that Kerwyn didn’t understand. Kerwyn saw an opening and rushed to his master’s aid, plunging a wooden stake through the vampire’s back and right into her heart.
Fire burst forth from the vampire and it exploded into little charred remains.
The lead vampire seeing that one of its own was down, changed tactics from pulling to pushing on the spear and succeeded in pushing Elden to the ground. Feeling that it had the victory, it went in for the attack only to be stopped short with its head and spine crushed down into its upper torso and a great big massive silver hammer lined up for the killing blow. Another explosion rocketed the clearing as the force of Duran’s hammer separated the vampire’s head from its body and turned it to charred remains. There were two down with seven vampires still pursuing the attack.
All of a sudden Kerwyn was hit from behind and he felt fangs sink into the left the side his neck. He tried to scream for help but nothing was coming out of his mouth. He grabbed a wooden stake but his strength was waning and he dropped it to the ground. Master Sernett saw Kerwyn get attacked but there wasn’t anything he could do as he was in another battle of his own. Quickly looking back at Kerwyn, Master Sernett saw the fear and terror on Kerwyn’s face and he knew the vampire had over-powered Kerwyn.
All of a sudden there was something in Kerwyn’s hand and he twisted to the left leaving the vampire’s chest exposed. Kerwyn stabbed and stabbed, trying to find the creature’s heart while it was still feeding on Kerwyn’s own blood. He found his mark and was close enough to hear the intake of air into the vampire’s lungs as the fire from within engulfed him. Kerwyn’s ring of fire protected him from getting caught in the explosion of fire and saved him from harm.
Collapsing to the ground, he saw the imp that had brought the wooden stake to Kerwyn’s hand, and once more Kerwyn thought that it was a good thing to have befriended this imp. Turning to face
his master, Kerwyn opened up his eyes and yelled because in that moment when Master Sernett looked away the vampire had spun and grabbed his master by the throat and was sucking on his neck the same way that had Kerwyn had been attacked.
Elden, seeing that Master Sernett was in trouble, threw his spear and it caught the vampire in the chest and it exploded it while holding onto Master Sernett. Kerwyn watched in horror as his master went flying end over end and landed in a heap, not moving.
Baldred also saw Master Sernett go down and reached up to his quiver and pulled out an arrow. Catching the hand of another one of the vampires with his bow, he reached out and plunged his arrow into its heart. Jumping back because of the expected explosion, Baldred was free from harm. Running to Master Sernett’s side to protect him, he saw that Elden was weaponless and that one of the vampires was turning to go grab him. Faster than the speed of thought, Baldred loaded an arrow into his bow and fired at the back of the vampire. As before with the other vampires, there was an explosion of fire and charred remains fell to the ground and filled the air.
Byamee had enough of these vampires and reached back to grab his wife. Using his super strength, he threw her with her broad sword outstretched towards the vampire. Swinging her sword, she cleaved the vampire’s head from its body as she flew out of harms way.
Only Byamee had two of them and they had seen Master Sernett go down as well. Both vampires rushed towards Master Sernett, and Kerwyn cast the only spell he could think of at the time “Luminarium!!” With an explosion all of its own and a pop of sucking air, a pure white ball of light came into being just above Master Sernett. The light was so pure that the only other source of light as pure was the sun. With the light shining brightly both of the remaining vampires burst into flames and exploded into little pieces of flesh and bone.
With the last of the vampires gone, the silence returned to the clearing. Kerwyn and the others were getting up and were checking themselves over for injuries. Kerwyn rushed over to his master and found that his master was burnt, drained of some blood and had a big gash on his head from where he hit the ground, but he was alive.