by Tim Waggoner
"But you weren't the only hunter stalking the darkness," Diran said.
Leontis let out a bitter laugh. "Hardly! There's always something hungry roaming the night, isn't there? But you're right. As I was hunting the lycanthrope, so too was it hunting me. I suppose it was my arrogance that proved my undoing. After all, I was one of the Purified, a warrior of the Silver Flame… I'd battled evil on so many occasions, faced creatures so powerful that ordinary men and women would've been driven to the brink of madness merely to gaze upon their dire countenances. How could a single lycanthrope compare to that?" Leontis shook his head. "Pretty damned well, as it turned out.
"Lycanthropes are different than other evil beings, Diran. They combine the best and worst aspects of both man and beast. Intelligence and cunning, savagery and cruelty, instinct and forethought… that's what makes them so deadly, and that's why the Purified fought so hard to eradicate them during the Purge. If their contagion were allowed to spread, Khorvaire-perhaps all of Eberron-might be lost."
Diran waited for Leontis to continue, but when the man had remained silent for a time while he stared into the fountain's basin, Diran said, "So you encountered the lycanthrope."
"Yes. It came at me out of the darkness, moving far more swiftly than I would've thought possible. I had an arrow nocked and managed to release it before the beast was upon me, but I had no idea whether I had struck the monster. It knocked me to the ground, clawing, biting…" Leontis shuddered at the memory, grimacing as if he felt the pain of the attack anew. "I couldn't even tell what kind of lycanthrope it was. All I knew was that it had fur, claws, and teeth, and that it was doing its best to tear me into ribbons. The agony was incredible, but I fought to ignore it and reached for the silver knife sheathed at my belt. And that's the last thing I remember before awakening to see a canopy of trees above me and beyond their leaves the blue sky of morning.
"My clothes were shredded and caked with dried blood, but I had no wounds. Lying next to me on the grass was a young man who most likely hadn't seen his twentieth year. He was naked, his skin covered with blood-some of it his, but much of it mine, I warrant. The shaft of my arrow protruded from his shoulder, and my blade was lodged in his heart. He had a number of stab wounds on his chest and abdomen, and I was amazed that I had been able to strike so many times as I was losing consciousness."
Diran smiled sadly. "You've never understood just how much inner strength you possess, my friend."
Leontis ignored Diran's comment and went on. "I disposed of the boy's body, first performing the Rite of the Death of the Foe, then burning the corpse. Afterward, I buried the bones in an unmarked grave and prayed over them. Then I returned to the village priest to tell him what had happened. The priest was relieved, thanked me for my service, and told me he was glad I had received no injury during my battle with the werewolf. I didn't… couldn't tell him the truth. And so I left the village and began the journey home."
Diran wanted to ask Leontis why he hadn't tried to prevent the lycanthropic infection from taking hold in his body. There were rites that could be performed using silverburn, flame, and priestly magic… but then Diran realized what had happened. Leontis had fallen unconscious before he'd had the opportunity to attempt such rites. Even when conducted immediately after infection, the rites didn't always prove effective, but after several hours, they would've been useless. The curse of lycanthropy had transformed Leontis, and there was no going back.
"I wanted time to think, so I decided to walk back to Flamekeep instead of returning by airship. Several days into my journey, I… changed for the first time. I don't recall exactly what I did while in beast form, but I know that I roamed the countryside without encountering anything more than rabbits and deer which I killed and… devoured. When I awoke the next morning, I was human once more. I considered attempting to take my own life, but I knew that, once unconscious, I could not perform the rites to make certain I did not rise again. And so I've been wandering ever since, avoiding cities and villages, anywhere that people might congregate, lest I harm anyone or worse, pass my curse on to some other unfortunate, and allow the evil of lycanthropy to begin spreading throughout the land once more."
"What kind of beast do you become?" Diran asked.
"A werewolf. Or so I believe, based on tracks I've made while in my lycanthropic state. I have memories of what I do when I change, but they're different than human thoughts… not words or ideas, but rather images and sensations."
"I assume you've continued to change," Diran said.
Leontis nodded. "I always try to fight it, though, and sometimes I'm successful." His voice grew softer. "But only sometimes."
Diran was filled with sorrow and sympathy for his friend. "It sounds horrible."
Leontis gave a hollow chuckle. "If only it were that good."
The two men were silent for a time, but then Diran asked the question he feared to speak, but which he knew he had to.
"Have you killed anyone?"
Leontis's answer was swift and sure. "No. I have hunted and slain only animals and other night creatures. Never have I taken an intelligent life."
Diran wondered how, if Leontis's memories of being in his wolfstate were unclear, how the priest could know for certain that he had never killed a person. But he decided to let the matter go for now.
"I've spent the last several months trying to find a Knight of the Flame, one with the strength to slay me and make certain I don't rise again. And, as fate would have it, you're the first priest I've encountered." Leontis gave Diran a sad smile. "In truth, I'm glad it's you, for if I must die, I prefer it be at the hands of a friend. I first saw you in Perhata. I almost caught up with you there, but you left the city before I could make contact. I learned you and your companions had left for Kolbyr, so I booked passage on a swift sailboat. Evidently you traveled by slower means, for I arrived in the city a full day before you did and have been searching for you ever since." The templar rose to his feet. "So, now that we're finally reunited, let us tarry no longer, Diran. Strike and be swift about it."
Diran stood and drew a silver dagger from its cloak-sheath. Leontis's jaw was set in a firm line, and his gaze was strong and clear. Diran gripped the handle of the dagger tight. He had no need to think about where to strike. He knew from long experience exactly which ribs to slide the blade between to pierce the heart in an instant. Leontis would be dead before he even knew the dagger had entered his body. Diran's muscles tensed, and he was about to lunge forward, but he hesitated. He remembered the last vision the demon had shown to him-the face of a wolf with a man's eyes. He then thought of the ghost of the mill girl that Leontis and he had encountered so many years ago. There were many ways to purge evil, and not all of them required a dagger-thrust to the heart. At least, not immediately.
Diran sheathed his blade with a fluid, graceful motion and smiled.
"Before I kill you, what do you say to going on a little trip with me and my friends?"
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Makala stood on the deck of a sloop, gazing upward at a black sky-no clouds, moons, or stars, just featureless, unbroken darkness. But though the sky appeared empty, she had the sensation that a malevolent presence resided within the unrelieved blackness, a baleful force that was watching her with cruel amusement. She couldn't bear the oppressive weight of the dark watcher's gaze, so she lowered her head and looked past the ship's starboard railing. Startled by what she saw, she quickly looked port, aft, and stern, but each glance only confirmed what her eyes had first revealed to her: the elemental sloop was surrounded on all sides by the turbulent waves of a blood-red sea.
This didn't make sense. A few moments ago she had been lying on a blanket in a moonlit glade with Diran holding her close. They had just made love for the first time, and it was more tender, sweet, and exciting than she could ever have imagined. But how did she come to be here, and where was Diran?
She shook her head, as if such a simple action of denial could make this distorted rea
lity disappear. But the sky remained black, the sea remained red, and she could still feel the pressure of the watcher's dark gaze bearing down upon her like a giant invisible hand slowly but inexorably crushing her.
"This isn't real," she whispered.
"Of course not. You're dreaming."
Makala turned toward the owner of the voice. An instant ago she had been alone on the Zephyr, but now an elderly man wrapped in a fur cloak stood less than half a dozen yards from her, grinning to display enlarged canines, dark shadows writhing within empty eye sockets.
"Cathmore." But it wasn't him, not exactly. The being resembled the master assassin in general-emaciated frame, wrinkled skin, hook nose, claw-like hands. But those fangs… those eyes…
Makala was terrified, but she'd been trained to be a cold, calculating killer, and she knew how to keep a tight rein on her emotions.
"What are you?" she demanded, her voice steady and strong. "What is this place?"
The man… no, the creature resembling Aldarik Cathmore spread its hands, as if to indicate that it intended no deceit. "I told you: you're dreaming. Not a very pleasant dream, I'll grant you, but then you're in so much torment these days, aren't you, my sweet? No wonder that even your dreams are filled with darkness and fear."
The creature stepped forward as it spoke. Makala reached for her short sword, intending to defend herself, but when she drew the weapon, she saw that the blade was covered with reddish-brown rust. It was the only weapon she had, though, so she brandished it before her as if it were newly forged and held a razor's edge.
"Stay back!" she commanded.
The creature grinned wider. "Or what? You'll shake flakes of rust on me?" The creature pursed its lips and blew a stream of air toward Makala. A strong breeze kicked up out of nowhere, and her sword trembled in the sudden wind. Bits of reddish-brown sheared away from the blade, only a few at first, but then dozens more joined them. Within seconds, the corroded sword had completely disintegrated, and Makala was left holding the hilt.
The creature with Cathmore's face continued its approach. "I told you that you're dreaming, but I neglected to say that even though it's your dream, you're not the one in control here: I am."
Makala hurled the useless sword hilt at the creature's smiling face. Not because she thought it would do any real damage, but because it was the only thing she could do. The Cathmore-thing batted the improvised projectile aside with a casual flick of its hand, and the hilt flew over the railing, hit the surface of the blood-sea, and sank beneath its thick crimson waters.
The creature pursed its lips in annoyance. "Every dusk it's the same thing: you draw your rusty sword, I blow it away, then you throw the hilt at me. It's all getting rather tiresome, my sweet."
The air grew colder the closer the creature came, and Makala began to shiver as much from the temperature as from fright. But she continued to put up a brave front. She recalled something Emon Gorsedd had once taught her. The moment you surrender to fear is the moment you're lost.
"It's not dusk. It's…" She glanced up at the featureless black sky once more. "I don't know what it is. But it surely isn't dusk."
The Cathmore-thing had closed to within ten feet of her now. "Not here it isn't, but it's dusk in the waking world."
Makala had no idea what the creature was talking about, but the cold continued to intensify, and that's when she realized the frigid sensation emanated from within her body, not without. The creature was only five feet away now, and despite her intention to keep up a brave front, Makala couldn't help stepping backward.
"If this place isn't real, then neither are you," she said. She'd meant for the statement to come out as a bold accusation, but her words were little more than terrified gasps of air.
"Untrue," the creature said. "You and I are the only real things here." He glanced upward. "Not counting our Dark Queen, of course. From far away among the ice-covered peaks of the Fingerbone Mountains, seated upon her throne of bone and sinew in Illmarrow Castle, she watches."
The Cathmore-thing continued its slow approach, and though Makala wanted to hold her ground, she couldn't stop backing away from the creature.
"What do you want?" This time her words came out as little more than a whispered plea, like a scared child hoping to find some way, any way, of placating an angry, dangerous adult.
"Nothing dire, I assure you. I simply want to help you wake up. Think of me as your own personal alarm. You're sleeping right now, Makala. In that." The creature nodded toward something behind Makala. She turned just in time to keep from bumping into an obsidian sarcophagus with strange runes carved into the sides. Makala frowned. The sarcophagus looked familiar, but she couldn't remember where she'd seen it before.
The creature laughed at the expression of puzzlement on her face. "The undead slumber during the day and wake come nightfall. But though they appear to lay in a mindless stupor during the daylight hours, the truth is that vampires are very much active during the day-within their own minds. It's an aspect of the curse, you see, and a most delightfully cruel one at that. During the day, what remains of your mortal soul is allowed to dream… to recall what it was like to be human. This day-as on numerous others-you relived your first time Diran and you made love. Then at dusk, the hunger that has claimed your soul takes over and the vampire Makala awakens."
"If that's true, then what are you?" Makala asked.
"I'm the dark spirit you received from Aldarik Cathmore when you attempted to drain his blood. A parting gift from one of your former teachers." The creature glanced skyward, and though there had been no obvious change in the darkness above, the Cathmore-thing said, "The sun has fallen, and it's time for you to rise."
The creature dashed forward and before Makala could react, it grabbed her by the arms and lifted her into the air. She looked over her shoulder and saw the lid of the sarcophagus had opened of its own accord and hovered in the air next to the obsidian coffin. Inside was nothing but darkness, just like that which filled the sky above. The Cathmore-thing shoved Makala into the sarcophagus, and she found herself falling downward into endless darkness. As she fell, she wailed in despair, knowing once again what she had become and what she had lost.
And from the sky above came the sound of cold, dark laughter.
Makala opened her eyes to darkness. She started to take a breath-a habit from her days as a living woman-but then stopped. Since her rebirth, she only needed air to speak.
Deep within what remained of her mortal soul, Makala screamed in frustration and sorrow as the woman she had been was once more consumed by darkness, leaving only a vampire's animalistic desire to rise from its resting place and feed. She reached up and rapped knuckles cold as ice on the inside lid of the obsidian sarcophagus. A moment later the lid was removed and laid aside, and she found herself looking up at the face of a goblin framed by a starlit night sky.
"Good evening, Makala," Skarm said. "Sleep well?"
Makala hissed like a cat and lunged for the barghest, intending to slake her thirst. She grabbed hold of the barghest's tunic and pulled him toward her, the scent of his blood pumping just beneath his orange skin sending her into a near-frenzy.
"Hold!"
Makala froze, her teeth mere inches from Skarm's jugular.
Nathifa glided out of the Zephyr's cabin and across the deck toward the sarcophagus. The lich was living darkness, her undead eyes burning with crimson anger. "I'll admit Skarm's not much use, but until I have no further need of him, you will not drain him dry."
"I'll just take a little," Makala said, chafing from the way the sorceress had asserted control over her with a single word. As much as she wanted to sink her teeth into the barghest's throat, she was unable to do so. She could not move her mouth a single fraction of an inch closer to Skarm's neck. "His blood tastes like sour milk, but it will do until we reach our destination, and I can hunt for a finer vintage."
"You've fed recently enough that you will lose little strength by fasting this night," Nat
hifa said. "And Skarm would be weakened by the loss of blood. You will have to suffer your hunger."
Makala glared at Nathifa for a long moment, fighting to break free from the lich's mystical control. At first nothing happened, but then she began to feel Nathifa's hold slipping. But the sorceress's red eyes blazed like twin flames as she redoubled her efforts, and Makala knew that this was a battle she could not win… yet.
"Fine," Makala growled, and tossed Skarm aside. The barghest landed rear-first onto the deck and yelped in pain. Makala ignored both Skarm and Nathifa as she climbed out of her resting place, picked up the heavy stone lid as if it weighed no more than a thin sheet of vellum, and replaced it atop the sarcophagus.
Skarm rose to his feet and rubbed his sore rump. He gave Makala an angry glare, feeling bold because his mistress was near. Makala considered tearing the barghest's head off his shoulders and heaving it out to sea, regardless of what punishment Nathifa might dish out, but she decided the satisfaction of killing Skarm wasn't worth the trouble. Besides, she could always slay the barghest later.
Then she realized something: Skarm wasn't piloting the ship. She looked back to the elemental containment ring and saw that it had been deactivated. The Zephyr traveled now by natural wind power alone.
Makala looked at Nathifa. "What's going on?"
As if in response to Makala's question, a figure came shuffling out from the sloop's cabin. Haaken appeared much stronger than the last time Makala had seen him, and she could tell by the scent of his blood that not only had he recovered from his injuries, but he was fairly bursting with health and vitality. She took a step toward Haaken but stopped when she remembered Nathifa was present. No doubt the undead bitch wouldn't let her take any of the man's blood either.