“Alright,” Paul said, blood pouring from both his cheeks. “I know my limitations. And I have to admit it, you are still better than me.”
“I agree,” the lord replied.
“It's a wonder you didn't just take my eye out.”
“I was trying to.”
“Makes sense,” the young man replied. “Well, nothing beats a trial but a failure. Drop dead!”
A wave of golden light shot out from the young man, but it was immediately countered by a wave of black energy.
“I told you that wouldn't work,” the vampire chuckled.
“I know, but I had to try.”
“I would have done the same.”
Again the pair clashed together, the sword in Paul's hand covered in golden flames. Alena and Sarrac defeated the second lessor lord as well as one of the ladies with the aid of Nyssa. Each of these two also dissolved into mist which quickly made its way from the chamber. The fairy and the ogress then turned their attention to another of the vampiresses, while Sarrac once again came to Paul's aid.
Darek, for his part, had fought the sorceress to a standstill. Rather than face his flying blades longer she decided it would be best to retreat. Unlike her companions, however, she was happy to turn and flee using nothing more than her feet.
“Ogre,” Lord Telraen commanded. “Kill Paul!”
Sarrac stood dazed, unable to completely resist, but not totally compelled.
“Oh never mind!” the lord barked. “I'll do it myself.”
Once again the vampire found an opening in Paul's defenses, this time stabbing him in a joint between his armor.
“Okay,” the young man said, as blood ran down his side. “I'm seriously sick of this. I mean, you're an undead abomination and you have to die.”
“It doesn't look that way,” Lord Telraen pointed-out.
“Yeah I know,” he nodded. “It's very frustrating.”
“I would imagine.”
“So, I'm going to have to do something extreme,” he said. “Even if it is a little embarrassing.”
“And what's that?” the lord laughed.
“Guys!” Paul yelled. “I need some help here!”
“Coward!” the vampire yelled.
“Not a fool!” the young man retorted, doing his best to block the multiple attacks flying at him.
In mere moments his companions finished with their opponents and rushed to the young man's aid. As skilled as the vampire lord was, he had no hope of keeping so many foes at bay. Finally, Paul spotted an opening and thrust Telseir into the very heart of the vampire lord. Instantly he dissolved into mist, still burning with golden flames, before rising from the chamber.
“We did it!” the young man exclaimed.
“Not yet,” Myra pointed-out. “But we're real close.”
Chapter 16: A Little Light Reading
“What do you mean?” Paul asked, sliding Telseir back into its scabbard and reaching up to his bleeding face. “We just killed him.”
“No,” Myra replied, shaking her head. “We just hurt him real bad.”
“Which is incredible,” Darek said with a wide smile. “We just defeated eight vampires without even getting injured.”
“What?” the young man asked, gazing at his friend.
“I meant seriously injured,” he explained.
“I'm injured,” Paul replied. “I'm serious.”
“Don't be such a baby,” Nyssa giggled, running her tiny hands over his wounds. “It could have been much worse. We could all be dead.”
In seconds her work was completed and the young man healed.
“So he's not dead?” Paul asked.
“Of course not,” the maiden replied. “But he will be soon.”
“Stop for a second,” the young man said raising his hand. “Explain what just happened.”
“Alright,” she sighed. “When a vampire is dying its body may dissolve...”
“Into that mist,” Paul interjected.
“Exactly,” the maiden replied. “Of course, they can also choose to do it in an attempt to escape, like Lady Telraen did. She fled, but she's not injured.”
“Neither is that one with the crush on me,” Darek pointed out. “She just ran off as well. I could have chased her, but I figured I owed her about three weeks of life. I mean, we can always kill her later.”
“Either way,” Myra continued. “Lord Telraen is seriously injured. And that means his body will have gone back to his crypt to regenerate.”
“So we head for his crypt?” the young man asked.
“We do,” she nodded. “He didn't know it, but I know where it is.”
“What about the other vampires?” Darek asked.
“They're not likely to challenge us again,” Alena pointed out. “We just defeated them in the heart of their stronghold.”
“And I suspect,” Sarrac said, “at least from the way Lord Telraen was talking when we first came in, that our forces may actually make it inside.”
“I agree,” Myra replied. “All things considered I don't think we have much to worry about from them. Of course, before we leave, we need to kill as many of them as we can. We just have to start with Lord Telraen.”
“What about Lady Telraen?” the young man asked. “Don't we have to kill her?”
“We don't have to,” the maiden replied. “Just killing Lord Telraen will have done a lot of damage. For one thing, his will dominates a number of the undead here. When we kill him some of them are just going to go crazy.”
“That should wreak some havoc,” Alena smiled.
“It will,” Myra agreed. “But only after the lord is actually dead.”
“Of course,” Paul nodded. “So let's kill him.”
The maiden immediately turned and led her companions back to the stairs. A little more than halfway up them she pressed a series of stones on the wall. This revealed a secret staircase which they immediately descended. At the foot of these stood another iron door. Myra opened this after chanting another incantation.
As they stepped into the chamber beyond, they discovered a large green crystal shard floating in the middle of the room.
“What is that?” the young man asked.
“A dark shard,” the maiden replied. “It maintains the dark lands around the tower.”
“Can we destroy it?”
“We can try.”
“How?”
“Hit it with Telseir maybe,” she suggested. “But keep your shield up. Oh, and the rest of us may want to look away.”
“Are you sure about this?” he asked, raising his shield and drawing back his blade.
“No,” she admitted. “But I am curious. If we can find a way to destroy them we could start destroying the dark lands themselves.”
“Alright,” he replied. “Here goes.”
Having said this he swung the blade with all his might into the floating crystal. It exploded with the force of a small bomb, blowing the young man across the room.
“Are you alright!” both Myra and Nyssa cried at the same time as they were running and flying respectively toward the young man's prostrate body.
“I'm injured,” he said, refusing to move. “I'm serious.”
“Don't be such a baby,” the fairy giggled again, waving her hands over his body.
“In future,” he said, slowly raising himself from the floor, “we have to find a better way to do that.”
“Agreed,” the maiden smiled. “But you can feel good about the fact that the dark lands around here are already starting to come back to life. In a year or so plants might even start growing again.”
“That's good,” he nodded. “And I'm glad we didn't take the time to think about it at all. Heaven forbid that grass should have to wait five more minutes to sprout.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” he chuckled. “Let's go kill us a vampire lord.”
“Right!”
The maiden immediately led the band into the adjacent chamber, which
was very clearly an office of some kind. A large table dominated the center of the room covered with maps and papers. Without pausing to look, the party continued to the door in the far wall. Once again Myra intoned words of arcane power before opening the portal.
Beyond it was a much smaller room almost completely filled by a heavy stone crypt. Sarrac and Alena lifted its lid to reveal the body of Lord Telraen laying within.
“Now,” the maiden said, “we can use a stake or one of the swords.”
“A stake,” Alena said, pulling one, along with a hammer, from a pouch at her side. “May I do the honors? I've been waiting for a moment like this my entire life.”
“Please,” Paul said, waving his hand over the body. “Be my guest.”
Without hesitation the ogress lifted the stake and drove it into the heart of the vampire lord. A scream of agony echoed through the chamber as the monster's body turned to dust. Alena then took flask from her pack and poured its contents onto the ashes. Another scream rent the air as the holy water completely dissolved what was left of Lord Telraen's body.
“Yeah,” Darek nodded. “He ain't getting any deader than that.”
“No he ain't,” Paul agreed. “And that was easier than I expected.”
“Easy?” Myra chuckled. “You think that was easy? First we had to defeat him, then we had to find his vault, disable a number of magical traps and locks, and finally kill him twice with a stake and some holy water.”
“Oh yeah,” the young man nodded. “I guess it wasn't really easy. We were just really well prepared.”
“We were,” she agreed. “Next time we do this it could be a lot more difficult.”
“Well that's something to look forward to,” he smiled. “Where to next?”
“Back out of the vault,” she replied. “We need to try to find the other injured vampires before finding a way out of here. Oh, and we need to see if our allies managed to make their way in.”
“You're right,” Paul nodded. “Let's go.”
As they were walking back through the previous chamber Paul's attention was attracted by the parchment covered table.
“One sec,” he said, gazing down at one the papers. “Is this the prophecy about me?”
“Yes,” Sarrac replied, glancing down at it. “Why?”
“Now it makes sense,” the young man laughed.
“What do you mean?”
“Look at what it says,” Paul said turning it toward the ogre.
The child of the deaf shall hear clarion call,
And the son of the blind see our dread plight.
The daughter of darkness will then finally fall,
When the heart of the coward shall take up the fight,
And the rays of the dawn shall at last shatter night.
The place he will find, where she’s hidden her soul,
And her heart he will pierce, which long has been cold.
Fire will consume her, like a smith’s blazing coal,
Then vengeance she’ll taste, deserved from of old,
Dealt by lips of the righteous, and hands of the bold.
You shall summon this son from the land of his birth,
At the ruins of Daelcast, now called the tower.
When the moons are alight you must call him from Earth,
While the stars are aligned to mark the true hour,
To bring us this son in strength and in power.
What starts as a whisper will end as a roar,
Chains will be broken, our people set free,
The side of the light will win battle and war,
When eyes of the blind at last learn to see,
And the title he bears from his home is IT.
“That's what I told you it said,” Sarrac replied. “Exactly what I told you.”
“No,” the young man replied, shaking his head. “You said the last word was it and its I T.”
“I T is it, Paul,” Alena pointed out.
“No,” he replied laughing again. “I mean it's I period T period. They just don't put the periods. If you do that it fixes the rhyme and the meter. And the title he bears from his home is IT. See what I mean?”
“So you're title is IT?” Myra asked.
“Back home I'm a programmer, remember?” he replied.
“And?”
“Oh, of course. Programmers are IT professionals. So, yes, part of my title is IT.”
“And what does IT mean?”
“Information Technology.”
“And what does that mean?”
“A lot of us don't know,” he confessed. “We just think it makes other people think we're smart.”
“Right...” the maiden replied slowly.
“So you are the it,” Darek said. “Or I should say the IT, I guess.”
“You should say: the Paul,” the young man replied.
“Did you have any doubt, Darek?” Alena asked. “I mean look at what he's done.”
“It was saving Myra that had me confused,” he explained. “And it still does. Well, that is to say, she can't be the daughter of darkness.”
“And why not?” Sarrac asked.
“Alright,” Darek replied. “Starting from the beginning: she was around for a while, so she could finally fall. Her phylactery was destroyed, so her soul was found. She got vengeance twice because she had it dealt to her, and then dealt it to her monster parents...”
“So far you make a compelling case,” the ogre said, “for proving that she is the daughter of darkness.”
“Right!” he replied. “But if that's the case why didn't he pierce her heart?”
“He did,” the maiden replied, gazing at the young man and biting her lower lip.
“I'm sorry, Myra,” Paul said, stepping over to her. “I really am. But I'm from the south and sometimes a southern boy just hast to take charge of the situation when it comes to him and his lady. So I hope you'll forgive me, but it's been long enough.”
Having said this he took her in his arms and kissed her passionately. While this was going on Darek continued.
“Alright,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at the kissing couple. “Saying we accept that he pierced her heart in the metaphorical sense, he still saved her from the fire. So how is it that Fire will consume her, like a smith’s blazing coal?”
“Well...” Sarrac said thoughtfully. “Sometimes the prophecies can be...”
“Wow!” Myra exclaimed as soon as Paul released her from his grip. “I mean, it felt good the first time you did it, but that was... Amazing!”
Having said this, she grabbed the young man and began kissing him passionately once again.
“Alright,” Darek nodded. “So she is the daughter of darkness. That's cleared that up then. And you're right, understanding the prophecies can be difficult.”
“That's what I told you,” the ogre pointed out.
“Okay,” Paul laughed, gently pulling the maiden's arms from around his neck. “Let's show some decorum. After all, we're not alone at the moment, and we'll have plenty of time later on. For now we need to...”
The young man's thought was interrupted when he tumbled out of bed. He sat straight up and glanced wildly around the room.
“No way!” he almost yelled. “No way that was a dream!”
The young man paused for a moment and then checked his breath.
“Okay. I do have morning breath, which is weird. Still... Not a dream. I must be under a spell or something. I just need to stay calm until Myra or Nyssa figure out how to fix it.”
Having said this he got up and glanced out his bedroom window. It was morning, but not late. He could certainly make it to work if he hurried.
“No point in that,” he said, slowly making his way to the bathroom. “Weeks of not showing up without even calling in. If I am really back, I'm fired for sure. I mean, because there was no way that was a dream! You don't have weeks of dream!”
Paul continued to think things out as he brushed his teeth.
“Well,” he said, as soon as he had rinsed his mouth. “Either way, it's time to check the e-mail, I guess.”
The young man strode into his living-room and dropped down into his computer chair.
“And one,” he said, shaking his head. “And it's tomorrow... which is impossible... because there is no way that was a dream... And who is the SPAM from? [email protected]...”
He stopped, gently rubbed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before staring at the screen again.
“Nope,” he said, shaking his head once more. “It still says [email protected]. And the subject is: Remember. Well, let's see what it says here: Dear Paul. That's a switch. You'd have expected it to start with Dear valued customer. Either way, Dear Paul, Don't worry, they're all safe and sound. Rest. But be ready. Your Friend, -The Administrator. Well how very cryptic. Do they want me buy something? I mean, Rest. But be ready. What does that even mean?”
As he said this another e-mail arrived.
“More weirdness,” he sighed. “Like I haven't had enough of that. And it's also from [email protected], subject: Don't Worry. Message reads: Dear Paul, You'll figure it out if you try. Your Friend, -The Administrator P.S. Answer the door.”
At that moment someone knocked on his door.
“Sure,” he said, a tone of disbelief in his voice. “Why not.”
He opened the door to find a young man roughly his age standing on his porch with a package under his arm.
“You Paul Stevens?” he asked.
“I am,” Paul replied.
“I hate to ask,” he said, “but can I see some ID? I have to get a signature for this.”
“Sure,” Paul sighed. “One sec.”
Moments later he returned with his driver's license.
“Thanks man! You can't be too careful these days, you know?”
“I feel ya,” Paul replied.
“Cool. And if you'll just sign on the bottom there.”
Paul signed.
“Awesome, man! Have a great day!”
“Thanks. You too,” Paul replied, before closing the door and making his way back to his desk.
He immediately opened the package to find a book within.
“Let's see here,” he said, pulling it from the box. “The Paul Alexander Stevens' Complete Guide To Paladinhood.”
The Tower of Daelfaun (The Tales of Zanoth Book 1) Page 27