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The night sky was filled with broken shards of clouds that masked the light of the moon. All was silent as Darlin picked her way along the verge of the roadway. We purposely kept to the grass to keep from making any noise as we headed slowly towards the Vesper graveyard. I had woken this morning with a tattered piece of paper tacked to the outside door frame of the house. Written in a crusty, red brown ink of sorts was a message asking me to come to the graveyard at full dark. I didn't like the look of the ink that was used at all. I wasn't fool enough to believe I wasn't a target, thus we traveled slow and carefully.

I was fully buffed to the extent of my meager magical abilities and I floated mentally in a void where I existed only as pure awarness, able to react instantly to any external stimuli. This mental trick had been taught to me decades before by a mage who lived on the outskirts of Moonglow. The trick was to visualize a sphere of energy and feed all your thoughts and desires into it until you had no sense of self, just pure awareness of life and the environment. This discipline had kept me alive many times in the past and I felt instinctively that I needed every edge now.

Amid the thick foliage of the forest stood dead trees with naked, skeletal branches reaching up into the night sky as if they were vainly trying to grasp any kind of hope. We neared the east fence of the cemetery, deep shadowed by the pale, broken light of the night sky. One of the shadows detached itself and slid silently towards us. Darlin went motionless, awaiting the unconscious commands my body would give her. I regarded the apparition calmly and it paused before emitting a low chuckle as the cloying odor of an opened grave passed over me.

"You know that Way, do you?", it whispered through the night. "Few I have met have mastered that discipline. That was one of the most trivial disciplines I mastered and it didn't help me.", the shadowed figure continued.

"Are you the one that left the note on my door?", I asked in a flat voice. "I don't generally care to come here to disturb the unquiet dead. What do you want?"

"Ahhh, the unquiet dead, what a precise way to put such an indelicate subject.", the being murmured as it moved fully into the roadway. A random shaft of moonlight speared down over the scene and the Vampire Lord was illuminated with the pale light. I wasn't quite up to fighting a Vampire Lord one on one either but part of me didn't care about that.

"You are gaining a reputation for fair and honest speech among the inhabitants of this world, whether they are human, non-human, " it paused with a muffled hiss, " or once human. I wish to tell you my story, will you listen?", it asked.

I cocked my head, allowing a bit of my non-focus to solidify as I considered the request. I was a warrior, not a scribe. Why were they all seeking me out? Why were they so eager to have their story told? Ach, Wyspr would love hearing this tale. He was avid for any information or lore. But, he'd probably end up doing something silly and getting killed in the process and besides, I was interested.
"I will listen, dark one.", I replied.

"YeeeesssssSSS!", it hissed angrily, "I am dark now. Once I was a creature of flesh and blood as you are. Once human blood coursed through my veins the same way it does in yours. I can see your aura of life energy and it calls to my thirst." The vampire moved closer and I gestured slightly with my mace of destruction.

"Ahhhh, threaten me not, human. I can read you like a book and know that your only recourse would be a protracted and undoubtably futile battle or mere flight. You may be valiant but your chances with me would be slim to none. However, I do not threaten you, I wish nothing but discourse."

I nodded my head as the luminous clouds slid silently across the sky. The eyes of the vampire glowed in the darkness and his evil aura pulsed with repressed rage and insatiable hunger.

%%%%%

Uncounted years ago, I was called Eliathan Farseer, a mage of renown. I studied with Farnsworth the Sage and had traveled extensively o'er this land, seeking knowledge and experience. I was a battle mage, not a mere student of lore, and held vast riches that derived from my plunders of countless foe in my townhouse in Vesper. I spent much time about this graveyard but my aura radiated so obviously with the innate power of my ability that only the most mindless cretins would attempt to accost me. Only the fabled Arcanum was mightier in lore and power than I, and I wondered privately if it were put to a test, who would emerge victorious?

My long years of study and exploration kept me from the more mundane parts of life. I ate only to nourish my body and cared for other people only to the extent that they were useful to me. Some regarded me as cold or snobbish with that attitude but only through my intense focus was I able to uncover the deepest secrets of the world.

One day I discovered I had used up the last of my wyrm's heart and rather than have it delivered as I usually did, I strode out of my home and down the street to the mage shop. People bowed to me as I passed or shrank aside, but I did not notice them. My mind was focused on the melding of the unique chemical constituents of physical ingredients with the tonal properties of the arcane syllables I was devising. I entered the mage shop and stalked to the counter and looked imperiously at the clerk behind it. As I met her eyes I felt something, a pain, a dysfunction of some kind pour through me! I took a step back and my face paled as tears flooded into my eyes. What was happening to me?

"Are you all right sir?", her melodious voice inquired. "Please, have a seat, let me fetch you a restorative." I allowed myself to be seated and sat entranced as the dark haired woman walked gracefully to another shelf and lifted a bottle. I could not remove my eyes from her as she poured a generous dollop into a glass and handed it to me. I automatically swallowed the mixture and felt it coursing through my body. I blinked my incipient tears away and asked, "What is your name?"

She cocked her head fetchingly and a corner of her mouth twitched. I felt my heart pound and she replied, "I am Sharranan, milord." That name floated through my head, echoing from one side of my skull to the other, reverberating and amplifying as I stared at her. "You are Master Farseer, are you not?"

Hearing my name from her lips made me quiver throughout and I had to take a deep breath once again. "Yes, I am he. But, please, call me Eliathan, would you?", I asked humbly. Part of me was shrieking, 'What are you doing? Why is wrong with you? What illness do I have? I must leave here!" and another part of me didn't want to leave this mage shop ever again.

We talked for some time as I gradually regained my self control. Everything about her impacted upon me with vital import. The way she moved her hands or her body. The way her hair swirled as she turned. Her voice held hundreds of subtle melodies and her eyes were limpid pools of joy and clarity. Before I left the shop, I had secured her acceptance to dinner that eve at my home. I rushed to the most prestigious chef's home and banged upon his door! After pouring a small fortune of gold into his hands, I told him what I wanted, nay what I needed from him, from him for this eve and returned home in an anxious state.

It was hours yet until she would come and I paced to and fro, upstairs and downstairs until I finally flung myself into a wingback chair and picked a volume at random from my bookshelf. I opened it carelessly and found myself reading a book of poetry that I had retrieved from the sealed chest of a shipwreck many years ago. I had disregarded the book after discovering what it was then but now it seemed to hold great import. One particular stanza seized my attention and I whispered the words that seemed to describe her so succinctly.

"She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies."

Yes, exactly! She was night and day, the best of both and my heart felt as if it were bursting with elation. How could I have ignored all of this for all the years of my life? How could I have laughed with scorn at the lovesick fools whose unbridled emotion led them to poor decisions and worse actions? It wasn't their fault for this was a most powerful thing, a most pure thing indeed! Ach, all my life I had sought sterile knowledge and I now was enwrapped within the most powerful, joyous thing of all, love. The old Eliathan would have laughed with scorn at such thoughts but it was as if a heavy veil had been removed from my eyes, a masking caul banished from my soul.

The time did finally pass and when she arrived, my man showed her in to the sitting room. There, amid the paintings and statuary, I waited with breathless intent. When our eyes met, we both knew. It is just that simple, we both knew. It was as if we saw into the innermost depths of one another and treasured everything we found. It was as if the cosmos itself paused and realigned to our perspective. We came together and shared a complete and sense enveloping kiss that seemed to devour and yet nourish our minds and bodies.

Breathlessly, Sharranan moved back and breathed softly through her slightly open lips, "Oh Eliathan, I have waited so long. All my life I have been looking for you and now you are here." She noticed the package she carried and laughed merrily, the sound of it ringing softly like far off celestial bells, and passed it to me. "Your wyrm hearts, milord. You walked out of the shop today without them.", she teased.

I looked at the package and everything seemed to come together in me. Yes, this was it. This was what I could do for her, for us. The spell I had been creating was one of incredibly complexity and power, something no one had attempted or probably even conceived before. The casting would require every bit of strength I had but would capture the essence of moonlight and starlight into a gem of incomparable beauty. A gem that granted the bearer the utmost protection against any harm. Dragons fire, attacks by Ogre Lords, the most deadly poison would all be naught to this amulet of protection. It would be my gift of love to the fair Sharranan. Yes, love it was and it filled every atom of my being. I knew that between the amulet for her and my own innate powers, we would be able to spend a literal eternity together.

Sharranan listened to me closely as I spoke of my plan, my creation, and her eyes glowed with a love that caused tears to rise unbidden to my own eyes. It was as if my love for her was an ocean with waves of passion that splashed tears of happiness throughout my being. I felt her pride for me and she felt my unconditional love as well. We would do this together. I had planned to do this later, at the big conference in Moonglow with other master mages in attendance and ready to offer support but I could not wait. Sharranan was the most precious gift the universe had ever granted me and I would not brook any delay in protecting her.

We strode out together into the night, my implements in a sack and our free hands joined. We crossed the bridge and approached the graveyard. Sharranan quivered with the slightest bit of fear inside and I was aware of it. "Nay, be not alarmed. They do not dare to approach me any longer. Too many times have I proven my superiority to them. You are safe with me.", I assured her. So it was to be. As we approached, the denizens of Darkness faded away in fear of the burning Light within me.

We entered the mist wreathed cemetery and stood in its very center, the sky above cloudless and pure. The full moon shone down upon us and the billions of stars poured their pure power down upon us. I began my casting and labored with single purpose for an hour of time, Sharranan standing beside me trustingly. At times, the unquiet dead would emerge from their hidden places and glare at us but they knew me too well. They kept their distance and only muttered hungry imprecations in vain.

After hours of exhausting focus, the time of completion was at hand and nearly every erg of my energy was gone but I forced out the final complex syllable and the night seemed to shift as the pure gem appeared before us, glowing with incalcuable power. "Take it", I whispered to Sharranan weakly and she gasped as her hand enveloped and held the arcane might of stars and moon. I crouched by her side, breathing deeply and beginning to draw upon the natural energy of the earth as the pale light illumined the blessed contours of her face.

With a fearsome scream, an ancient vampire emerged from a noisome crypt and flung itself upon me, avidly seeking the remaining bits of life force that remained! The clever one had waited patiently, shrouding himself from my senses until my aura was flickering with the most minimal lifeforce. I fell helplessly to the ground, reaching for my last resources but it was not enough. Sharranan has shrunk away in instinctive terror but a determination flared in her eyes as rushed forward, stooped and pressed the iridescent gem into my hand. "Here my love, here, take this and live!", she begged. My eyes widened with horror as the vampire turned with glee in his eyes upon her. Fetid breath spilled from his gaping mouth as its crooked talons reached for her.

Thoughts passed through my mind in an instant of time that seemed like ages. The secret of this gem could bring a new age to the World. No longer would humans walk in fear with a gem of this potency to protect them. I imagined a guild of ultra-warriors, protected with this ultimate protection and bearing weapons of awesome power. A guild to sweep o'er the world and make it safe for humankind. What could this woman offer to compare? Ahhh, but I realized none of that mattered a whit, she was everything to me.

I reached over and tucked the gem into her boot. The vampire shrank back with a shriek, its hands smoking and turned upon me once again in fury. Before Sharranan could do anything more, the creature had drained the remnants of my human life force and then with evil intent, spilled some of its own sordid essence into me.

I lay there, my body cold and remote, a dark fire beginning to burn inside of me. My emotional self, my human self was being shredded into nothingness and all the knowledge and mastery I possessed dispassionately analyzed what was happening to my body and adjusted the process to maximum efficiency. "I will love you always, Sharranan, but I am gone. What you see and what will rise from the cold ground is a cruel sham. A dark evil that wears my body.", I groaned out as my human self faded away.

"No! NO, I will not let it be!", she cried out, the glow of the gem bathing her with light that was now hateful and painful to my eldritch eyes. She reached for my hand and saw the substance of my skin begin to smoke and burn away in the pure light of the moongem. With a strangled cry, she staggered back and stood panting, her eyes wild and full of despair. "No, please...not after all my life, not after all my waiting. Why?", she pleaded, her eyes full or horror and despair.

I cared not for her foolish human emotions any longer. I was Eliathan Farseer, more powerful than I had ever dreamed to be. Necromantic energies flowed through my body and mind as I stood up and sensed the location of every undead creature in the area. With a gesture I sucked every bit of evil power from them into my own being and began to radiate a black light. I sensed the rich pulsing of her life within her and hungered. A choking scent of decay began to waft from my once human body. I stared at her and at the gem. This human female was in emotional extremis, it would be child's play at this point to manipulate her into believing her human lover could be restored...but a bit of human consciousness remained and I spoke. "Go, fair Sharranan. Bear that gem with you all your days. It is the only thing that will protect you ... from me."

She gasped and took two steps back, staring at my now pale face and the aura of irrepressible evil that began to radiate about me. "For I still want you my dear.", I grated out, "I want you forever and if you ever put that singular protection aside, I will have you...I promise."

Human tears of shattered dreams poured from her vulnerable eyes. I could feel the complete horror and total loss of hope in her and a miniscule part of me hated the fact that I reveled in that pain. The emotional agony she emitted was exquisite and I longed to prolong it so I could feast a bit longer.

Then I spent the very last bit of humanity within my darkened soul and bellowed, "GO!! FLEE NOW WHILE YOU CAN!" Wracking sobs of horror and loss shook her uncontrollably and my first and only love fled from me forever, the light of the gem bobbing in the darkness like a summer firefly, my agonized, choking laughter echoing with unearthly power through the night.

%%%%%

The void slipped away from me, I could not hold myself there with this story reverberating within me. I felt myself shuddering with horror and sensed that the being opposite me was feeding on this secondary pain. I sensed it gathering itself to strike and with an enormous effort, I let go of the pain and thoughts and sank once again into nothingness, awaiting whatever would happen next. It chuckled and bowed to me, acknowledging my mastery of the Way. Then with supernatural swiftness, it suddenly lashed out with one taloned hand that met the head of my mace with concussive force. I rocked in the saddle, Darlin tensed beneath me, ready to move any direction or flee. The being laughed again and as it turned to leave, I could feel the hatred feeding inside it like a ouroborous, a self feeding cycle that would never end. "There are reasons for everything", it hissed softly.

I waited as it faded into the eternal shadows of the Vesper night and then headed for the moongate, aching to go home to warm fire, light and hope.

you keep this up people are gonna think you can write
j/k
very well written keep up the good work

Trakas wrote:you keep this up people are gonna think you can write
j/k
very well written keep up the good work

*laughs* I doubt anyone would confuse me with a real writer but thank you nonetheless.