The Blood Moon And The Black Mountain Of Sorrow 174t5k

The Blood Moon and the Black Mountain of Sorrow

R.A. Murdock

Copyright © 2020 R.A. Murdock All rights reserved First Edition PAGE PUBLISHING, INC. Conneaut Lake, PA First originally published by Page Publishing 2020 ISBN 978-1-6624-1168-7 (pbk) ISBN 978-1-6624-1169-4 (digital) Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Journey Making a Deal with the Darkness The Calling Family Ties The Legendary Blacksmith Back to the Present A Hidden World Solrac A Destiny Set in Motion The Bridge A Prophecy Foretold For a Sacrifice They Mourn Journey into the Spirit World The Souvenir A Man Called Five Mountain of Sorrow The Decision Has Been Made

I want to dedicate this book to my father, David Murdock Sr. I also want to send many thanks to all my friends and family who have stood behind me and encouraged me to use my imagination, most of all to my father, may his soul rest in peace; my grandpa Ralph, may his soul rest in peace; my stepmom Debbie; and my half sister Debra—they all have encouraged me the most in my life, and my sister still encourages me to this day. Thank you to all of you, and many blessings.

Preface

It was a clear night with a full moon as Dave was lying on his back on the shore next to the lake, staring up at the night sky, when he noticed a falling star. A grin formed across his face as he quietly made a wish. “I wish for some adventure,” he whispered to himself. As he made the wish, he noticed that the falling star seemed to be coming to his direction. He quickly stood to his feet in astonishment as he felt the rumbling caused by the object hurtling through the sky. As he stood, staring in disbelief, the object made a very loud explosion as it hit the ground directly across the lake from where he stood. Seconds after he heard the explosion, for a split second, he saw a large cloud of debris shoot into the air just before he was knocked on his ass from the force of the impact, briefly knocking him unconscious. When Dave awoke, he could see the cloud of debris falling back to ground and the large ripples and waves moving all across the surface of the water. Without hesitation, Dave jumped into his wooden boat, which he had made by hand, and began paddling across the lake to the area of impact. Once he got to the opposite shore, he could easily tell where it had landed due to the fact that there was an area about sixty feet across that had no trees and multiple small fires. The young man began to carefully examine the area looking for the fallen rock. As he walked closer to the center of the small impact crater, he saw a smoldering somewhat round rock half-buried in the dirt. When he got up close to it, he noticed that it was cracked in half. He quickly found himself a sturdy stick and began poking at the crack. After just a few gabs at the rock, the two halves fell apart, and to his astonishment, there was an object of rectangle shape wrapped in some kind of cloth on the inside. The curious young man slowly and cautiously bent down and touched the object, and to his surprise, it was not hot or even warm. He then quickly picked it up and headed to his boat, and in a hurry, he headed down the lake to a small cove where he knew no one would find him. Once he was in the cove, he pulled his boat on shore and covered it with branches and found himself a small cave

entrance where he could examine the object without being disturbed. As he began to unwrap the object, he realized that he had never seen or felt a cloth like the one wrapped around the object. Once he flipped the final layer from the object, he saw what he had in his hands was a book. The cover of it was made from a thick leather that seemed to be unnatural. On the cover it read The Remembrance of Heroes. He then gently opened the book out of curiosity and noticed that the pages were made of a material he never had seen or heard of and that the edges and letters on the pages twinkled with a golden sparkle. He then began to read.

The Journey

Ajax and Benderman were two young men in their twenties that had been best friends since they could walk. They grew up closer than brothers, and they did everything together, even the mischievous. Their bond to one another was like titanium, unbreakable. What made their friendship so unique was that not only were they neighbors from the get-go, but they were also both born on the same day, making them practically twins. Both of their families did everything with the two boys. The two brothers spent a lot of time camping, hiking, and random exploring together throughout their childhood and teenage years. As their adult years approached, they both got jobs at the lumber mill outside their town of Calming. Over time they became well known and well liked for their hard work and fun attitudes. On one peculiar morning, as the two sat at the break table before work as they always did, a stranger showed up. Looking like a homeless man, the friends didn’t know what to do. “Where are you from?” Ajax asked curiously. The man replied in a low tone, “The West and the time is near.” The man looked at Benderman and mumbled what sounded and looked like, “The Carnage is coming.” Throughout that day, the two friends discussed with each other what they had seen that morning. By day’s end, the men decided that they would take a week’s vacation and go journey deep into the western lands. After a couple of weeks of saving some money and gathering the supplies they needed, the friends finally headed west. Not knowing where exactly they were heading, they decided to take the most secluded scenic way they could find. This choice that they made lead them to a lonesome gravel road in the middle of a dense forest they couldn’t even find on the map.

“Where are we at?” Benderman asked curiously. “We have never been here before.” “I’m not sure,” Ajax replied with confusion. “Do we even know what the name of this road is? I never saw a road sign.” “Neither did I,” Benderman answered with a chuckle. “That’s kind of why I turned on to it. We wanted a journey, and what better way to start it off than on the first day, to take an unmarked road to the middle of nowhere,” he replied, looking over at his friend with a smile. “True that.” Ajax laughed as he began to fold the map and place it back in the glove box. “I can’t believe I can’t find this area on a map. Hell, I can’t believe we have never been out here through all the adventuring we have done.” “Yeah, I agree with you on that one, bro,” Benderman acknowledged with a grin. After their short conversation, the two of them just sat in silence and let their minds wander, both men wondering what they might find or run into. Ajax was wondering why he couldn’t find where they were on a map. Benderman was curious on where the road was taking them. As a few more hours ed in silence, both still in deep thought, the road began to lead them up the side of a small mountain. Twisting and turning all the way to the top where it was flat and covered in trees, the boys finally got to a spot where they could park and get out and stretch their legs. The view had momentarily struck the two with speechlessness. “Whoa,” they both exclaimed softly as they stood at a cliff hundreds of feet in the air, looking out over the dense forest that was laid out before them. “Have you ever imagined anything like this, bro?” Ajax asked with total astonishment in his voice. “I have never seen or even dreamed of anything close to this.” “No, bro, neither have I,” Benderman replied as he tried to focus on a small group of mountains miles in the distance in front of them to the west. “Do you see those mountains way off in the distance, bro?” he asked, adding to the awe of the scenery. “Those three that stand together by themselves in front of the Rockies, slightly to the northwest?”

“Yeah, I do,” Ajax answered. “How far do you think they are from here?” he asked. “I’m not sure, but I’m willing to bet it’s probably a day-and-a-half- to two-day hike from here,” Benderman replied. “If not farther.” “Hike?” Ajax asked, confused. “Why not drive? Why do we have to hike it?” Benderman turned and looked at his best friend with a grin on his face. “Do you see any roads that head off in that direction?” “No, I don’t,” he replied. “So I take it you want to go check them out?” “Yep, looks like it could be a fun adventure. What do you think? It’s what we came here to do, bro,” Benderman exclaimed with excitement. “Well,” Ajax replied with a smile, “we didn’t buy hiking supplies for nothing. I’m all for it. Besides it looks like an awesome destination to me. We have a few hours until sunset, so what do you want to do, camp here for the night or go ahead and start the journey now?” “I say the sooner we start, the sooner we get there,” Benderman replied, anxious to get started. The two men stared at the mountains for a few more minutes in silence, taking in the overview of the land, then at the same time both of them turned around and headed to the trunk of the car. While Benderman began gathering his equipment, Ajax decided to look along the cliff edge in the trees to find a doable path that led downward. After a few minutes of searching, Ajax found a path that looked like they could handle while carrying their gear. “Hey, bro.” He motioned to his friend as he walked back to the car. “I think I found a spot where we can get down over there in the trees. It might be a little tricky, but I think we can handle it.” “Sounds good to me,” Benderman replied as he slid his arms through the straps on his pack. “Get your pack, and let’s go we’re burning sunlight.” “I’m on it, I’m on it,” Ajax replied laughing. “Are you in that big of a hurry?” he asked. “We have only been here a few minutes or so. We still have eight days left

on vacation.” “Yeah, well,” he replied sarcastically, “maybe I want to put as much time to good use as we possibly can. Besides, who knows what kind of interesting things we will run into on the way, or what we might find when we get there.” “I know, bro, I’m just giving you a hard time. Believe it or not, I’m just as excited as you are. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited in my life,” Ajax explained to his friend as he slipped his pack onto his back. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get going,” he said with a smile. It took the two friends until nightfall to reach the bottom. Both being tired from the trek down the cliff, they decided to make camp, eat dinner, rest for the night, and get an early start in the morning. Little was said that night around the fire both were too exhausted from the day. The next morning came fast and early. Neither of the two men could sleep past sunrise due to the excitement that had built up in their hearts and minds. When they awoke, Ajax began to put out the warm coals by covering them with dirt, while Benderman dug through his pack to get some jerky for breakfast. After they ate breakfast and gathered their gear, they began the long hike west to the mountains. It took everything they both had not to stop and check out everything that caught their curiosity throughout the first half of the day. Shortly after high noon, they decided to rest for a bit and eat some grub. “How far do you think we have walked so far?” Benderman asked his buddy as he pulled some homemade bread from his pack. “I’m not sure, but I’m willing to bet that it’s probably around twelve to fifteen miles at least,” he replied as he pulled a jar of homemade jam from his pack. “I’m guessing we have been hiking about two miles an hour, and we started out about seven this morning, and it’s about one now, so ya about twelve to fifteen miles so far.” “Good,” Benderman replied, “hopefully we can reach the mountains by tonight or at least no later than tomorrow afternoon. Let’s finish eating and get back to it.” After a short rest and some food in their guts, the two friends packed up their

gear and headed back out on the long hike. Even though it was still daylight, they could hardly see more than a hundred feet through the woods at any given time, making their journey difficult. They continued on till nightfall. When nightfall came, they finally stumbled into a clearing and decided to make camp. In the clearing, there seemed to be some kind of old ruin that was nothing but rubble. “Hey, bro,” Ajax began to ask as he set up a campfire, “what do you think this pile of rubble was at one point in time. I mean, I know you’re not some kind of archaeologist, but what is your guess? I think it’s an old farmhouse.” “Well…” Benderman paused for a moment to think about his answer. “I think it’s an old castle,” he replied laughing. “I don’t know, bro, we will probably never get to know either. Maybe in the morning, if we get up early enough, we can spend a little time and check it out.” “Sounds good to me,” Ajax replied as he began to eat his dinner. It didn’t take long for the brothers to out after dinner from their long day. Throughout the night, both men had odd, weird dreams causing them to toss and turn most of the night. For all the tossing and turning, they both did, neither one of them ever woke up until the sun rose the next morning. “Yo, bro,” Ajax said loudly as threw some jerky at his still sleeping friend. “You ever gonna get up? It’s about to be daybreak, and I want to explore this rubble before we head out.” “What the hell, bro,” Benderman replied, half-asleep and kind of angry. “It’s not even daylight yet.” “Actually, it is, bro,” he replied in a sarcastic tone. “It’s just that the trees are so dense you can barely tell, but hey, the area we are in looks a lot bigger than we thought last night,” he continued in a slightly excited voice. “What do you mean, bigger?” Benderman replied as he stumbled to his feet. “It can’t be that much bigger, can it?” When he got to his feet, Benderman yawned and stretched to wake up then went to stand by his buddy and watch the sunlight up the clearing. As the sun rose the pile of rubble became more visible. “Bro,” Ajax interrupted the silence, “I don’t

think it’s a farmhouse. I think it’s an actual castle. I truly believe it looks like it could be a real castle.” “How is that possible?” Benderman whispered. “Do you ever hearing about anything like this in school?” he asked his friend as he started walking around in the rubble. “No, actually, I don’t. I can’t think of anything that ever mentioned anything about this place,” he replied, confused. “You know, now that I think about it, it’s like this land doesn’t exist.” “What do you mean? How could that even be possible?” Benderman asked as he came to a stop on the edge of the rubble, not too far from his friend. “Hey, bro!” he interrupted. “Come check this out, man. I think I just found the front door.” “No way!” he replied as he ran to where his friend was standing. They both stood in shock, staring at a very large front door made of solid black oak and iron, laying in pieces among the rubble. The boys looked around for a few more moments in hopes of finding something of value. It had looked like it had been there for centuries. “Hey, bro,” Ajax said after a few minutes. “I think it’s time to head out. We will have to stop here and spend a half a day or so on our way back through.” “Sounds good to me,” he replied, excited to get back on track to the mountains. “I want to see the mountains first.” The two friends gathered their gear and once again headed out on the long hike toward the mountains. Neither one of them could stop thinking about what was ahead of them or the pile of rubble behind them. Time was ing so quickly this day, the friends decided to skip stopping for lunch and just eat jerky while they made their way through the forest. To the amazement of the brothers, they had actually reached the edge of the forest a few hours before nightfall. There, in front of them for them to view, was a mighty mountain. It was so tall, its peak was hidden up in the clouds. The boys could not believe that they had finally made it. “We finally made it!” Ajax exclaimed loudly as he punched Benderman in the

arm jokingly. “And we made it before nightfall.” “Yeah, I know, I can see that,” Benderman replied, rubbing his arm were Ajax had punched him. “Do you see that there on the face of the mountain?” he asked his friend. “See what?” Ajax asked, confused while he searched the face of the mountain, hoping to see what his friend saw. “I can’t see anything out of the ordinary.” “Bro,” Benderman explained enthusiastically, “I think there is a narrow path going up the mountain.” “I think I see it,” Ajax replied. “Do you want to start on it now, or do you think we should wait until morning?” he asked. Benderman began focusing further up the mountain on the trail until he saw what looked like a flat area. “Well,” he answered, “we might be able to make it to that flat area up there before dark. It’s only a few hundred yards, I’m guessing.” “I’m all for it if you are,” Ajax answered back. “Let’s get going. We aren’t doing anything but wasting daylight standing here.” The two friends adjusted their packs on their backs and began to climb the narrow path up the mountainside. It only took them a couple of hours to reach the flat area. The area was just big enough for them to set up a small camp for the night. The boys, exhausted from the day, ate dinner in silence and ed out without saying a word to each other. When the boys awoke the following morning, the sun was piercing over the horizon, causing a weird spectacle of dancing light to the southeast. Confused, the boys had no idea what was causing it. They had heard about it before on the science channel of unexplained phenomena, but they had never actually seen it for their selves. Unable to speak, trapped in a gaze toward the awesome spectacle, both boys felt an insatiable connection to the dancing light. Seeing it for the first time, the friends felt deep down that they knew what was causing it, but they just couldn’t figure it out.

After just a few minutes had ed, the spectacle ended, freeing their gazing trance from the horizon. When the boys snapped out of it, they both realized that just a few moments ed, but to them, it felt like hours. “What the hell was that?” Benderman asked, confused, as a warmth over took his body. “Man, I have no idea, bro. But I’ve got this weird warm feeling…” Ajax paused for the moment. “It feels like it’s crawling around on my soul almost, but it feels freakin’ amazing.” “I kind of feel the same way,” Benderman acknowledged, as he slowly started to gather his gear. The brothers gathered their gear and ate breakfast in silence. Both of them trying to figure out what had just happened and why it happened. After a short bit, at the same time, both boys stood up and kicked dirt on the smoldering coals to put them out, then looked at each other, and without a word, they both started back on the trail up the mountain. As the hours ed, the boys made it farther and farther up the trail. Not a word was spoken between the two since earlier that morning. Both men were too occupied watching the trail and thinking about the light they had seen. It was late in the afternoon before they were able to spot a place to stop and rest. The men knew it was still a ways away, so they continued without a word for a few more hours. It was dark when they finally reached the spot to rest. When they finally made it to the spot, they both dropped their gear simultaneously and fell to the ground exhausted. They closed their eyes for a few moments and took a few deep breaths. After a few minutes, they sat up and started to set camp for the night. While poking the campfire with a stick, Ajax looked at Benderman with a serious look. “Bro, I know we joke around a lot, but man, I have this weird feeling that we were meant to be here, like something has pulled us here.” “I know what you mean?” Benderman replied. “I got that feeling too. I’m anxious to see what we find up here. We need to get some sleep and finish this hike tomorrow, or at least I hope we can finish it tomorrow.”

“That’s no joke. Tomorrow’s only day four, and I’m already worn out,” Ajax added as he lay down and almost instantly ed out. The night went fast for the two exhausted men; both slept like two pups next to a warm fireplace in winter. Though they both slept soundly, the two friends were having more vivid and weird dreams of what they thought to be of the past. The men awoke shortly before daybreak to a faint moonlight through the clouds. When Ajax stood to his feet, he noticed something odd about the area they had camped in. “Hey, bro, check this out!” he exclaimed in a loud whisper. “I think it’s a huge valley, and I think it has a lake in its center and three mountains surrounding it.” “How is that possible?” Benderman asked as he stumbled to his feet to stand by his brother. “What the—” He stopped himself to watch the sun crest the horizon behind them and brighten up the valley before them. They could not believe what they were watching. As the sun rose behind the two brothers, it cast their shadows out over a massive valley that lay before them. As the valley lit up, the men could start to see an island dead center of the large lake in the middle of a heavily wooded valley. It was a bowl-shaped valley cuddled in the middle of three very large mountains. Benderman got curious for a moment and walked to the ledge they crawled up the night before to see how far they climbed. When he looked down from the ledge, all he could see were clouds. “Bro, get over here quick,” Ajax exclaimed, interrupting his friend. “You got to see this.” Benderman trotted back over to where his brother stood and instantly noticed something happening in the middle of the lake on the island. The boys stood and watched as a large tree formed out of thin air in the sunlight as it moved across the island. The roots of the tree were large enough to cover most of the island. As the light stretched across the lake ever so softly, it began to show a bridge of some sort that stretched from the island, all the way to the shore closest to the brothers. On the shore, as the light embraced the trees, a path began to reveal itself from the shadows.

Once the sun rose enough to put direct sunlight on the edge of the forest just down the hill from the men, they saw the entrance into the woods. As soon as the entrance appeared, the tree on the island faded away. The two men stood staring at the island. Both were speechless at what just happened. “Please tell me we are going to the island,” Ajax commented, breaking the silence. “I don’t know about you, but I can feel there are some serious vibes here, bro. We got to go check it out,” he said with a smile. “Oh, don’t you worry, brother.” Benderman answered with a grin as he turned to gather his gear. “I don’t want to wait any longer. Let’s gather our gear, put out the coals and head out. We can eat jerky while we walk.” “Right there with you, brother,” Ajax agreed. “Waiting isn’t really an option at this point. Let’s go.” The friends walked for a few hours before they finally reached the inner edge of the woods encoming the lake. They stopped as soon as they exited the tree line staring at the vacant island in confusion. Both men knew they saw the tree appear on the island. “This can’t be,” Benderman whispered quietly. “How is this possible?” “I’m not sure,” Ajax answered. “But I can tell you one thing, it doesn’t end here. I don’t know how I know, but I do.” Ajax began walking to the water’s edge. As he got closer to the water, the end of the bridge began to take shape. “Are you seeing this, bro?” “How…” Benderman paused as he got up next to Ajax. The men watched in amazement as the bridge and tree began to rematerialize right before their eyes the closer they got. When they both stepped up onto the bridge, it and the tree were no longer images fading in and out, but complete solid objects. The men pause for a moment, then at the same time, they began walking across the bridge to the tree. As they walked, they noticed that the bridge itself was made solely of roots of all different sizes and all intertwined with one another. When they reached the end of the bridge on the island, they came to a large door within the roots of the tree. From there, they notice how truly magnificent the

tree really was. It towered hundreds of feet above anything else in the valley. The men were astonished by the true size of the tree. Before either one of them could speak a word, the large door in front of them began to open slowly. They could hear someone coming from within the darkness, but before they could get a single word out, an old man in an old tornup robe carrying a staff came walking into the light. When he got to the men, he stretched out his arms and grabbed the chins of the two friends and began quickly examining their facial features. “Yep,” he commented as he looked at Ajax. “You do look like him.” He moved his stare to Benderman. “Yep, and you look like him,” he commented as he lowered his hands. “Wait a minute,” Benderman demanded. “Who do we look like? Who are you? And what the hell is this place?” “Pardon me,” the old man begged. “It has been a long time since I have had any visitors. These mountains are named the Three Sisters, and the valley I call the Valley of Life. As for me,” he continued, “my name is Edwen, I am a very old wizard, and I have been waiting for over three and a half millennia for the two of you to come find me. Please, come in, come in,” he begged. “We have a lot to discuss. Let me tell you a story of your ancestors, a fallen forgotten hero, and the carnage they all fought together to try and save mankind.”

Making a Deal with the Darkness

The two young men followed the old man into what looked like a large study as the door slowly shut behind them. The two friends stood for a moment to take in all the surroundings of the room they were in. They watched as candles all around the room began flickering on, all by themselves. Neither man knew whether to be afraid or to be excited at the fact that they were watching what appeared to be magick happening right before their eyes. The old man stood with a smile as he watched their facial expressions as his magick illuminated the room. “You boys look a little confused,” the old man stated as he turned toward a large fireplace that just burst into flames as he raised his staff. “Have you never seen real magick?” he asked with a smile. “No, sir,” they both answered with a quickness. “I thought magick wasn’t real,” Ajax asked in a confused tone. “I thought it was all done with mirrors and distractions.” “Well, my boy,” the old man replied, “you are more than welcome to search all you want for mirrors and anything else to prove my magick is fake. But if I were you, I would take my word for it. I have a lot to catch you two up on.” “What do you mean, catching us up?” Benderman asked, confused and a little shocked. “Catch us up on what?” “My young friends,” the old man began to explain, “it was fate that brought you here, nothing more. The world is in dire need of your assistance. Something dark is coming.” “What do you mean something dark is coming and the world needs our assistance?” Ajax questioned, as he started to get frustrated. “Stop talking in riddles. Just tell us what is going on here. We are on vacation and decided to take a journey here for our own adventure.” “Whether you want to accept it or not,” the old man answered back in a stern

voice, “three and a half millennia of both your bloodlines have called you here. Now take a seat,” the old man demanded as he pointed to three chairs by the fireplace, “and listen closely to what I’m about to tell you, for it involves the both of you. Fate brought your two families to the same town, and it brought both of you into this world at the same time,” the old man continued. “Do you really think it is just by chance that the ancestors of both of your bloodlines were best friends three and a half millennia ago? Those guys, together with others, fought the darkness that engulfed the land.” The old man paused for a moment while he manifested some old ale out of thin air for the three of them to wet their whistles. “Now the time has come for the darkness to return,” he continued. “We need the champions to fight for us once again.” “What darkness?” Ajax asked with concern. “And how are we supposed to fight it? We are simple people, a little weird at times, and maybe a little crazy, but we have never been in a battle, let alone a war.” “How do you know about any champions from back then?” Benderman asked, trying to figure out if the old man was conning them. “How do you know that we are related to those heroes? How do you know anything ?” The old man stood up from his chair and walked to the open area of the room, shaking his head. “If you’re not going to believe my words,” he muttered, “then maybe you will believe me when I show you my true form.” The young men glanced at each other as the old man walked away, muttering to himself. “Sir,” Ajax began, “we are—” “Hush!” the old man interrupted in a loud, deep, stern voice. “You will hear me out!” The old man stopped in the middle of the open area and stomped his staff on the floor one solid hard time. “I am Edwen the Wizard,” he began, as swirls of light and debris began to circle him. Before the young men knew it, there stood a large white dragon where the wizard once stood. “I am also the White Dragon of Life and Knowledge!” it roared. It moved its head closer to the two young men. “Do you question me now?” it asked in a demanding voice. The two young men stood staring in fear and in astonishment. Unable to verbally

answer, they both slowly nodded to answer the dragon. As fast as he turned into the dragon, he turned back into the wizard. “Now,” Edwen began, “I hope I have proven to the both of you how serious I really am. I want no more doubting. If you have questions, I will answer them, as long as they are intelligent ones.” The two friends nodded in agreement. They no longer had any reason to doubt the wizard. He had proven to them way beyond a doubt that everything they have seen the past few days was real and that he seriously meant business. They were now dead set to hear the wizard out completely. The wizard stared into the flames in the fireplace as he began his story. “It all started three and a half millennia ago, in this very land, when vampires and some dragons coexisted with humans. And yes, vampires and dragons do exist. Back then, if a male and female vampire was a perfect match with one another and they proved their loyalty to Loveaya, she would allow them to create and give birth to one child and one child only. “Now I want both of you to understand something about real vampires that are born and not bitten. For one, the basics of their strengths and abilities they get from Luna, the moon. Yes, they are immortal, and yes, they need blood to keep their strength up, but they can also eat normal foods just like a human. Normal foods will keep them alive, but it will not build their strength. Too long eating normal food and no blood, they will eventually lose their strength and the ability to change into their true form and become practically a human that can live a long time. “For their children to be able to grow into adulthood, the vampires could give birth to these children only at the Stonehenge. It could only happen during a full moon, on the bloodstone altar that sat in the center of it. These vampiric children didn’t fully mature until the age of twenty-five. Until then they grew and aged just like any human. Once they hit full maturity, they could transform into their true form.” The old man paused for a few moments. “It was quite the sight to see,” he continued. “In normal form, they almost look completely human except for the slightly pointed ears. But when they transformed, they became twice their size, with bat-like wings protruding from their backs, with a wingspan that matched their height. They were actually quite

beautiful creatures.” Edwen loved the fact that he finally got to tell the story to the brothers. “There was one family of vampires that I called friends. And this is their story. It all started with the vampires Vlad and Vile and the choice they made on one cold sad night. Vlad and Vile were two mature vampires that had been together for more than seven hundred years. And on that cold night, Vile gave birth to the couple’s only child, a boy. Unfortunately, he was born with a weak heart. The child was looming on death’s doorstep.” As the two friends listened to the smooth, calming voice of the wizard, images of the past began to flood their minds. They quickly fell into a trance where they could see and hear the past events unfold, like they were there in person, living it. As the images became clear and visible, the two men could see a red moon in the night sky, about half the size of the real moon. The red moon put a red glow on everything, including the actual moon itself. “Vlad!” Vile screamed as she sat up on the bloodstone altar in the middle of Stonehenge, holding her newborn baby boy. “He is not breathing right, and I can barely hear his heartbeat. What’s wrong with our baby Vlad?” She buried her head in Vlad’s chest as she held her baby to her own. “I do not know my love,” he answered. “I swear to you that I will not let our son die.” Vile began praying, something that she had never done before. “Please gods and goddesses or Loveaya, please save my son. Take my own life if you have to,” she begged. “Please just spare his life, give him a chance.” The two parents stood as still as statues, holding each other and their son, patiently waiting for a response from the gods or Loveaya. As they waited for an answer, they both stood staring into their boy’s eyes. They could both see that their son would not make it through the night. The parents simultaneously kissed him on his forehead. “I do not think the gods are going to save our child,” Vile commented as she looked up at Vlad, in an almost angry tone. Vile looked back down at her child as she began to speak softly. “Why will you not help my son?” she asked. “We

have done nothing but protect and help the people around us,” she continued. “They are your creations, and we have never asked for help. Not from any of you, and yet you cannot even give me an answer? Some gods and goddesses you are, and, Loveaya, you disappoint me. I will find a way to save my son, with or without your help.” She closed her eyes and began to concentrate as she spoke in a whisper. “I am talking to anyone or anything out there that will hear my plea. Please, if something out there can save my son, I will be in your debt. I will give you anything to save my son.” Vlad stood quietly listening to his love beg for help, causing tears to roll down his cheeks. As angry as Vlad was, he was able to keep his anger in check. He did not want to leave his wife’s side, so he embraced her to try to help comfort her and himself. After she stopped whispering, the two adults stood, once again, patiently waiting for a response. They were beginning to lose hope, when a far distant noise caught their attention. They both tilted their heads, aiming an ear to the wind, listening closely to each noise it carried with it. Among the noises traveling in the wind, they both picked up a unique flapping noise. As the noise got louder and closer, they began to realize that the noise was a dragon flying toward them. They had the look of confusion at first, then out of nowhere, Vlad’s facial features went from confused to terrified instantly. “What is it, Vlad?” Vile asked as she began to worry from the look on his face. “What is wrong, my love?” Vlad spoke only one word. “Karne.” The moment she heard the name she to, became terrified as well. Neither vampire knew what to do, except not to run. They both waited in silence, each closely listening to the wind while focusing on the darkness that loomed just outside the circle of Stonehenge. Before long, a rumbling crashing noise caught their attention to the south. Before they could react, a very large, black dragon head appeared out of the darkness above the large stones that made Stonehenge.

“Karne,” Vlad responded to his appearance out of the cover of darkness, “why are you here, and what is it that you want? We did not ask for your help.” “Oh?” Karne replied with a smile. “You may not have asked for me specifically, but the plea was not really specific now was it? I do believe that your beautiful Vile there, did ask for anyone’s or anything’s help. Now, down to business, do you want my help or not?” Karne asked in a deep rumbling voice. “No!” Vlad answered back ready to protect his family, transforming into his true form. “We do not want your help,” he growled. Karne, getting extremely angry over Vlad’s response, lunged toward the vampire family from the darkness of the night. “How dare you test my patience vampire!” Karne yelled in a very loud, deep, rumbling voice. Karne was now bracing his front half of his body on the large outer stones of Stonehenge and had his head just inches from Vlad’s face. “I could kill you and your family without breaking a sweat vampire.” The dragon proclaimed. Before neither Vlad nor Karne could get another word out Vile gently placed her hand on Vlad’s chest to calm him down and stepped between the two arguing males. “Stop,” she pleaded to both of them. “Can you save my child?” she asked as she turned to look Karne in his eyes. “Can you save him to where he will have a chance to grow and mature and survive?” Karne backed away from the family and nodded to her. “Yes, I can, but I warn you now, Vile, there will be a price to pay,” Karne replied as he laughed. “What is it?” Vlad demanded. In a deep flat tone, Karne replied, “When your son reaches eighteen, he will have the urge to seek me out. When this time comes you are not to stop him. If you do in any way try to stop him or slow him down, I will destroy you.” “We will do it!” Vile cried as she laid her son on the bloodstone altar that stood between them and the dragon. “Just save him. Please,” she begged. “My love,” Vlad started as he put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked caringly.

She turned her head to look at him. “Yes, my love,” she replied softly. “I want our son to have a fighting chance. “As you wish my love,” he replied as he nodded. Vile gently unwrapped her newborn baby and took a step back, crying as she left him on the altar. Karne then leaned inward toward the infant. “What are you going to do to him?” Vile softly asked. “I’m going to let him drink some of my blood,” Karne replied with a grin as he cut his right palm with a claw from his left hand and let the blood drip into the mouth of the child. The baby vampire was staring at Karne with fear in his eyes, trying to kick and swing his arms and legs but not able to do so, yet not making any noise in the process. As soon as the blood began to land in his mouth he began to cry. Vile buried her face in Vlad’s chest, unable to watch. After a few short moments of feeding the child his blood, Karne backed away into the darkness and breathed fire on his wound to heal it. Before any words could be spoken by the vampires, Karne warned them, “When the time comes, heed my words vampires, or die.” Then he jumped into the night sky and vanished. The vampires were shocked to see how quickly Karne had left. They turned their attention to the little vampire lying on the altar swinging and kicking his arms and legs and giggling. Vile rushed over to her son and swooped him up in her arms. As soon as she picked her child up, the altar crumbled into thousands of tiny pieces. “Oh, my sweet son,” she whispered to him, “I am so sorry. Please forgive me I did not know what to do.” She paused for a moment after she noticed the altar had been destroyed. “What have I done?” she asked her husband as even more tears began to stream down her face. “There is nothing we can do now my love,” he replied. “What shall we call him, my love?” Vlad asked as he ran to her side to hold their son and trying to change the subject.

“Razien,” she replied with a smile looking into his eyes as she handed him to his father. “It is a good strong name.” “Razien,” Vlad repeated as he lifted his son up to Luna, their moon. “I like it. It is a good strong name. We will raise him to have honor and respect and to help those who are less fortunate. We will teach him right from wrong.” He continued, “We must take him to the great wise wizard Edwen, to see if he can help us at all. He has to know something we can do.” Vlad handed young Razien to his mother. “That decision is yours, Vile, my love. We do not have to do it tonight but eventually we should. Besides I think he would love to see our son.” “I agree,” Vile answered. “I think we should head there now, Vlad.” Vlad looked into his lover’s eyes and knew right away this is what she wanted to do. He grabbed her hand, while she secured her son in her arms, and together they jumped into the sky and transformed and began flying to the Three Sisters. They made it to the mountains in just a few short hours, to the far west, where their friend Edwen the Wizard resided just past their own home. When the three mountains came into sight, they were only moments from the wizard’s domain. When they arrived, they landed on the east side of the lake and walked across the bridge to the tree on the island. The wizard met them as they stepped off the bridge and onto the dirt. “I know why you are here, my friends,” he acknowledged, skipping the pleasantries. “Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to help you. You made a deal, and only the broker of the deal can cancel the deal. I truly am sorry.” “Since you cannot get us out of this deal,” Vile pleaded, “can you tell me what you see for his future? I just need to know something it is killing me not knowing what his future holds for him now. Will he live a long life? Will he be a good man, or will he fall to the darkness?” she begged the wizard for answers. “My sweet Vile,” the wizard responded with sorrow. “I cannot see his future, for it is hidden from me in a dark mystery.” The old man paused for a minute. “I can tell you that his life will be a very hard journey, and when the day comes for him to leave, you must let him go. Razien faces many difficult challenges in his future. You must start preparing him now for his journey to the black mountain.”

“What do you mean by difficult?” Vlad interrupted. “When he is called by the black dragon at eighteen,” replied the wizard, “he will not be able to resist it, and he will leave. Once he leaves, he will find himself in many dangerous situations, even for a vampire. You must prepare him for those. Raise him right and we may have a better chance at surviving what is to come.” “Is that all you can tell us?” Vile questioned, hoping to get better answers. “Yes, my dear,” he answered, “and if I could tell you more I would. By the way, you two,” he said with a smile, “congratulations with the addition to the family. I am glad it has finally happened. Out of all the vampires I know of, which is a lot, you two deserve a family. Take care of each other. Now if you will excuse me, I must get back to my studies, we all must prepare.” The old man then turned and disappeared behind the door in which he came. Vlad, knowing Edwen for over five and a half centuries, was not shocked at the old man’s reactions. He looked at Vile, standing there embracing their son in her arms, and touched her shoulder with his hand. Seconds later they both gently jumped into the air and began their fly home. Their castle was in view within just a matter of minutes due east from the Three Sisters. When they arrived home, it was just before daybreak when their human helper Jon, who was no older than six years of age, met them at the front door. “Good morning sir, my lady, glade to see your back.” “Young Jon,” Vile responded with a smile, “you are not our slave, so please call us by our names. I know your young and only six, but you are the only child of our best friends, which makes you our new best friend, and we want you to be comfortable and free here.” She paused for a moment. “Would you like to meet our son, your little brother?” she asked as she knelt in front of him so he could see Razien. “He looks strong,” Jon commented with enthusiasm then began giggling because Razien tried to grab his own feet. “You know, Jon,” Vile mentioned as she stood back up. “When he is old enough, he is going to be looking at you like a big brother. What do you think about having a younger brother?” she asked with sincerity.

Jon’s eyes got wide when he heard the words little brother. “Are you joking with me Miss Vile?” he asked. “No, I am not joking, he is your little brother.” She smiled at him as her and Vlad began heading toward their bedroom upstairs. “We are going to bed young Jon we are not to be disturbed.” “Yes’em, Miss Vile,” the young boy replied. Over the years, Razien and Jon grew close like brothers. They were both learning all kinds of trades from the human workers around the castle. They learned how to make their own weapons and armor from the blacksmith. The hunters taught them how to hunt with bows and spears. Vlad was the one who taught them swordsmanship and how to defend themselves. Though Jon was only, human he became quite terrifying with a sword, and he was a fast learner at everything he did. Razien, since birth, has fought off an evil that was been pulling at his heart since he could first . The more and harder he trained, the stronger it felt like the evil was pulling at him. Razien tried hiding how he was feeling from everyone, but everyone could see the war raging in his crystal-blue eyes. Everyone thought it was just him fighting the thirst for blood. Little did the humans of Black Onyx Castle know that their Prince of the Black Oak Forest, as some have come to call him, was growing into be a half-breed— part-vampire and part-dragon. His body was pure born vampire, but in his veins, it was a mix of vampire blood and the black dragon’s blood, and the evil that came with it was also his to bear. Razien was the only one of his kind, having dragons blood rushing through his veins gave him the ability of being able to withstand the sunlight’s touch without losing any of his strength. He was also stronger than all other vampires at his age. When Jon turned twenty-one, he decided to journey out and settle down in a small village to the east. “Little brother,” he said, looking at Razien, “come see me if you ever take a trip out my way. I will be headed for that small town just east of here, you know the one that sends it prisoners once a month to your parents, Creeton I believe it is called. You take care of this place and your parents. Until we meet again little brother, take care of yourself.” Jon shook

Razien’s hand and gave him a hug then turned toward the road and began his own journey. Razien stood and watched his best friend walk away leaving him alone with no friends for the first time in his young life. “Travel safe, my friend,” Razien whispered. “May our journeys cross again.” Razien then turned around and walked back into the castle, unsure of what to do next. “Razien!” Vlad yelled from upstairs. In an instant he was standing at the door to his father’s study. “Yes, Pa?” he asked curiously. “What is it you need?” “Come on in, son, take a seat, me and your mom need to talk to you,” Vlad replied with sincerity. “It is about the night you were born.” “What about that night?” Razien asked with confusion and concern in his voice. “I thought you and Mom told me everything about it already?” Vlad replied, disappointed. “We did not tell you everything about it, we kept some important situations to ourselves waiting until the right day presented its self. Today is that day,” Vlad continued to tell Razien about his past and the deal with the darkness his parents made that night around fifteen years ago. “You mean to tell me, I have dragons blood running through my veins?” he asked, shocked from the newly learned information. “The black dragon is pure evil, is he not?” he asked. He started to think to himself, that maybe that is why he feels so angry most of the time. “Son,” Vile spoke softly, “you were dying, and being your mother, I could not and would not let you go. It is my fault you are in this situation. Please forgive me. I truly am sorry.” “Mom,” Razien replied, “I’m not mad at you for what happened. I am glad you guys told me, now I know why I have been feeling the way that I have.” “You are in uncharted territory, son,” Vlad added in. “You have all the vampire strengths, but none of their weaknesses. Who is to say you do not have some of the dragon’s strengths as well. Anything is possible.”

“Razien,” Vile continued in a soft depressing voice, “at some point over the next few years you are going to leave us. You are going to have an irresistible urge pulling at you to seek out the black dragon.” “Something I do not understand,” Razien questioned. “How come I have never heard of this black dragon until now? Who is he? What should I expect if I do encounter him? I know nothing of him.” Razien was curious to learn about the dragon, but he also feared what he might learn about himself. “It is time you learned the history of the black dragon, son,” Vlad replied as he walked over to Razien and placed his left arm over his son’s shoulders. Vlad walked his son to another room of the castle, down at the far end of the massive hallway, from his study. The father and son stopped at the large iron-and-oak door that protected the story of the darkness. Vlad looked at his son as he lifted the handle and gently pushed the door open. As they entered the room Razien realized that there was no furniture in this room, just some shelves and bookshelves and large murals painted on the walls. Razien was astonished as he looked around the room noticing all the little details in the paintings. He could see one with Stonehenge, others with the black dragon, but most of all he noticed the Blood Moon was in all of them but one. “Wow.” Razien exclaimed acknowledging the true magnificence of the room. “My son,” Vlad began not wasting any time.” You are a seventh generation born vampire. By historical record I believe we have the most generations in one bloodline. We are also the oldest bloodline that exists to this day. This castle has been in my family since it was built, around fourteen thousand years ago, and from the time of its completion this room has been dedicated to holding information about the black dragon.” Vlad continued as he walked Razien up to one of the murals. “His name is Karne, he is also known as the black dragon, and some have even come to call him the Darkness. The ancestors of the past believe that the Blood Moon is the original home for all dragons. We do know that Karne draws his strength and life force from that moon. “The Blood Moon comes around every thirty-six hundred years, and it stays in view for sixty-six years. During the sixty-six years, Karne wreaks havoc across the earth. Some scrolls say he is searching for a black medallion, but no matter

what he says or does, Karne is the embodiment of pure evil. At the end of the sixty-six years of his destruction, and the moon finally leaves our skies, and Karne dies and becomes a part of his mountain. After thirty-six hundred years, the moon returns and resurrects him.” “The white moon, our true moon, is what gives vampires their strength. That is why we are more vulnerable in direct sunlight, and at night we gain our vampiric abilities. We are at our strongest during a full moon. Humans who have been bitten and turned into vampires will die from the sunlight’s touch.” Vlad paused for a moment as he walked his son to another mural. “People have come to call the sixty-six years the Karne Ages,” Vlad began again. “About sixty-three years ago, when Karne first appeared this go-round, he started a war between dragons and vampires across the earth. The finale battle took place to the far north where the ground is always covered in snow and the air is always frozen. Most vampires and dragons died in that battle. That battle left only a few surviving bloodlines that are still faithful to Loveaya.” Vlad looked at his son. “Karne does not want to kill everybody and everything. He likes to torture and bring chaos to the living, no matter what the species.” He guided his son to a third mural. “Now this one I am not sure about,” he exclaimed. “My father told me that about six thousand years ago, give or take a decade or two, Edwen the Wizard came here and placed this mural here with magick. Apparently, it is an epic battle between Karne and a creature that no one has ever seen or heard of.” Razien stared at the mural trying to figure out what the creature was. “So this mural is of the creature that defeats Karne?” he asked curiously. “No, actually,” Vlad answered with a smile, by what I have been told, the battle is never ending. This creature here.” Vlad pointed to the mural. “It is constantly fighting Karne during every Karne Age. Personally,” Vlad commented with a laugh, “I think the old wizard had a little too much mead, if you know what I mean. It has been here thousands of years and yet nothing of the sort has even come close to defeating Karne.” Vlad looked at his son and could see the fear. “You are a good man, son. You will always have a choice and I know you will make the right ones. I know you will make mistakes, the question is, will you learn from them.”

“I will try,” Razien replied as he gave his father a hug. “I got three years anyway before I’m summoned. So do you happen to know any legendary warriors?” he asked with a chuckle. “I’m going to need extreme training if I want to survive.” “Actually, I do know somebody,” Vlad responded eyes wide open and a smile across his face.” Razien looked at his dad with oddness, not expecting him to actually know someone. “Okay, who would that be?” he asked with curiosity. “His name is Nemajneb,” his father answered. “He lives in a cave at the base of the Three Sisters on the north side. He is the last barbarian of his race and he is immortal. His entire race was slaughtered by vampires, so he has dedicated his life to cleansing out any and all vampires who are tainted with evil, and he is good at it.” “So if he kills vampires, why would you send me to him?” Razien asked, confused and almost frightened. “Oh, do not worry son, he is a good friend to this family. He knows that not all vampires are the same.” Vlad continued with a smile. “We will leave in a few hours when it is completely dark. I want you to start training tomorrow.” “Are you sure he will be willing to train me?” Razien asked not wanting to be let down. Razien was ready to start his training. His best friend had just moved away, and he found out that he has a date with pure evil in his close future, all in the same day. “I want myself to be prepared. I want to be ready and strong enough when the time comes.” When it became dark Vlad took Razien outside and within a blink of an eye they both took off. Since Razien had not matured yet he could not fly so the father and son ran to Nemajneb’s cave. They reached the cave entrance in about half an hour, and Nemajneb was standing there to greet them. “Long time old friend.” Vlad said as he walked up to the barbarian and gave him a hug. “Sorry it has been so long.” “Quieter days now days.” The barbarian replied laughing. “What brings you out here friend.”

“Nemajneb, meet my son, Razien. Razien, meet an old friend of the family, Nemajneb. He is the best warrior in the lands and is over three hundred years old. I got a favor to ask of you, Nem. I need you to train Razien in every way possible.” “Yes, I can do that,” he answered. “You realize that it will take some time?” “Thank you, brother,” he responded. “Razien will explain everything, and it will be for the next three years, give or take some time. Thank you again, brother,” Vlad said just before he vanished into the night.

The Calling

“S o you are Razien, son of Vlad and Vile,” the barbarian questioned. “I have known your parents a long time, and Vlad taking off that quick means your training is to begin at first light. Get some rest because in the morning you begin the training set forth by your father.” “Why did you agree to train me so quickly?” Razien asked the barbarian. “He came to me shortly after you were born and warned me this day would come. I have been preparing for your arrival ever since that day. You have a powerful destiny ahead of you, my friend, and it will be difficult every step of the way,” he replied. The vampire and barbarian ended up talking for hours getting to know one another, and to Razien’s surprise, Nemajneb stopped aging around twenty-five but kept his same twenty-five-year-old personality. The barbarian and the vampire got along great once they began trading stories. Over time they became spirit brothers and vowed to always have one another’s backs. The three years of training were hard on Razien, but every day he woke up he tried harder than the day before. He got faster and stronger day by day. His goal while he was training was to be good enough to defeat the black dragon. By the end of the three years, Nemajneb accomplish what Vlad had asked of him. He turned Razien into a superior warrior. A week before his eighteenth birthday Razien began to feel an insatiable urge to leave, to run away. He was able to ignore it until his birthday. By midday Razien’s parents were still not present at the party Nemajneb had thrown for him. Razien began to worry. “Should they not be here by now?” he asked as he started to pace back and forth. “I need to go check on them brother,” he stated as he looked at Nemajneb. “I understand,” his friend replied, “you go on ahead. I will catch up to you in a couple of hours. I do not have your speed, but I do have a pretty fast horse.”

Not only was his worrying about his parents weighing on his heart, but that urge that started the week before was stronger than ever. Just as he went to take off toward his family’s castle, Razien noticed a woman, bloodied and wounded walking up the road toward him. The young vampire ran to her aid as she fell and caught her before she hit the ground. “My young master,” she cried, “I am sorry, young Razien.” “Calm down,” Razien begged as he tried to comfort her. “Take a breath and tell me what is wrong and who did this to you. Why are you sorry? You have nothing to apologize for.” “Karne attacked the castle,” she whispered. Razien’s eyes began to fill with tears while his heart began to burn with hate. “He murdered your father and…” The wounded woman began to lose the strength to talk. “No!” Razien cried. “Please, what of my mother?” he cried. “What has he done to her?” he begged the woman for an answer. “Taken,” she muttered with her last breath as she fell lifeless in his arms. Razien gently laid the woman on the ground. “Please burn this woman’s body and put her to rest,” he begged of his friend. “Meet me at my castle when you are done.” “That I can do, my friend,” Nemajneb replied. “Now you need to leave and go home, check on you parents I will be there as soon as I can. Please, Razien,” his friend continued. “Wait for me there do not do anything until I can catch up with you later.” Razien nodded to his friend in acknowledgment with tears running down his cheeks. “Thank you,” he said, just before he took off toward his father’s castle. It did not take much time for him to reach the castle. As he came running through the western tree line, he stopped dead in his tracks. There in front of Razien stood the most feared creature on the planet, Karne, the black dragon, towering nearly seventy-five feet. To Razien’s horror, the black dragon had demolished his father’s castle to a pile of rubble. The dragon stood on top of the pile in the middle like he had conquered the impossible. “What have you done to my home, where are my

parents!” Razien screamed in anger. “What have you done?” “I told them, years ago,” Karne answered. “If they tried to keep you from me when I called for you, I would destroy them.” “It was not them holding me back!” Razien yelled again as he walked closer to Karne. “It was me, I chose to ignore it!” “Then their deaths are on your hands.” Karne began to laugh. “I will kill you for this!” Razien threatened as he lunged at the huge black dragon. Karne grinned as he caught the vampire in midair. “Boy, you still have a lot to learn before you can take me on,” Karne threatened as he slammed Razien to the ground, on the big oak door of the castle, shattering it to pieces. “I have slain your father and I have your mother captive. You have less than three and a half months to represent yourself on my island and agree to be my apprentice or I will destroy your mother in front of you,” Karne promised as he jumped into the air and took flight. “Three and a half months!” Karne yelled again from afar, disappearing into the southeast. Not being completely matured, Razien had not yet developed the fast healing abilities of a matured vampire. He laid in agony unable to move. As the sun began to set, Nemajneb arrived in the castle on his horse Windglider. “Razien!” he yelled as he jumped off his horse. “My friend, what has happened? Who did this to you? Was it Karne? “Find my father,” Razien pleaded softly, barely able to choke out the words. “Leave me be and find my father.” “I will find your father,” his friend replied. “Let me make a place to lay you down first, my friend.” Razien was too weak to argue and began to lose consciousness. After making a bed out of animal hides found on the ground among the rubble, Nemajneb began to look for Razien’s father, Vlad, though it began to get dark. While looking on the south side of the castle, he saw a hand sticking out of the rubble. Not knowing if it was Vlad or not, he began to move the rubble as fast as

he could. To his surprise it was Vlad, he was still alive! “I found him!” he hollered to his friend with hope in his voice. “He is still alive!” Nemajneb continued to dig Vlad from the rubble. The more debris he removed from his very old friend the more he realized that Vlad was mortally wounded. There was a large wooden spike sticking through his chest penning him to the ground. “Please,” Vlad softly spoke startling Nemajneb, “give this to my son.” He handed his friend a necklace with a black medallion hanging from it that was as hard as stone. “He must protect it with his life.” Vlad gripped his friend’s hand with what strength he had left and looked him in the eyes and, with his last dying breath, said, “Tell my son I love him.” “I will, my friend,” he replied as he freed Vlad’s limp corpse from the rubble. “I will protect him with my life and I will fight by his side like I once did with you many years ago,” he promised as he laid him down on the ground next to his son. Throughout the night Nemajneb watched over his young friend, hoping that he will regain consciousness before sunrise. Before dawn, the next morning, Razien had awaken and had healed enough to be able to sit up and speak. “Why is my father lying here next to me? What happened, Nemajneb?” Razien demanded as he began to cry. Nemajneb began to tell Razien everything that had happened the day before after he arrived. “Your father gave this to me to give to you,” he explained as he gave Razien the black medallion. “He told me to tell you to protect it with your life.” “Did he say anything else before he died?” Razien asked in tears. “Yes,” he replied, “with his last breath he said he loves you.” Tears began to run down Nemajneb’s cheeks. “Why is my father here and not buried?” Razien asked, changing the subject. “When good-hearted vampires have earned the right to live on the Mountain of Heroes in the Land of Light of Loveaya when they die, they must be placed in the first rays of sunlight the following morning,” Nemajneb answered. “If they have earned their way onto the mountain, the sun is the only thing that can release their souls so that Loveaya may guide them,” he continued. “If they are

accepted, at first dawns light the sun will burn their bodies releasing their souls to Loveaya. If they have not earned their way, the sun causes their bodies to rot and decay in just minutes, destroying their souls forever.” Razien nodded in compliance. “Help my father be released so that he may his ancestors on the mountain.” Nemajneb knelt down and picked up the corpse of his friend and carried him to a stone altar on the western side of the rubble. He laid his friend down with care and headed back to sit by Razien. They both sat in silence waiting for the sun. After waiting a short while, the sun started to peak over the trees. With great awe, the two friends watched the sunlight touch Vlad and softly lift him up and gently burn his body to ash, which vanished into the wind. The two friends were struck with momentarily speechlessness. “In all my years of being alive,” Nemajneb commented, “I have never seen anything so beautiful and sad at the same time.” “I’m glad to see that Loveaya has accepted him and that he indeed was a great man,” Razien replied. “I know he was a good vampire at heart, and now I know he will no longer feel pain. Thank you, brother,” Razien said as he looked over at his friend. “It is what friends are for,” he replied. “Now what are we going do with you?” he asked. “You are too broken and too weak to walk or ride a horse. I could hook my horse to your wagon over there and take you back to my home until you are fully healed. If that is what you want.” “What I want,” Razien replied, “is to rebuild my father’s castle and to defeat Karne and rescue my mother from his grasp.” “Bro,” Nemajneb replied, “I think—” Razien interrupted. “I know, I am too weak and broken to do anything. Just take me back to your cave. I have a feeling it is going to take a couple of weeks for me to completely heal. When I am done healing, we need to go see Edwen the Wizard.”

“No problem,” Nemajneb answered. “But out of curiosity, why do we need to see the wizard?” “Because, of this,” Razien replied, holding up his father’s medallion. “I need to know why I need to protect this with my life. I want to know what it is and what it is for.” Nemajneb acknowledged his friends wishes and began preparing the wagon and his horse for the trip back home. “Well, first things first,” he stated as he picked Razien up off the ground, “getting you home so you can rest and build your strength so you can heal.” The trip home was made in silence. Both men had a lot on their minds. By midday they had arrived at the cave. Razien tried to crawl off the wagon by himself, but he still did not have much strength. Nemajneb got him inside and got a fire going and began fixing a meal for them to eat. After eating, Razien started to feel tired, so Nemajneb got him to his room and left him to sleep. Two weeks had ed by since arriving back at the cave and Razien was still asleep. Nemajneb did not know what to do, but he was thankful that his friend was still alive. He carried on with his normal day-to-day life waiting for his friend to awaken. Every evening the barbarian would go check on the young vampire, keeping his promise he made to Vlad. By the third week, Nemajneb began to worry that his friend would not pull out of this deep sleep. He even prayed to the gods and Loveaya, but none were listening. On one cold evening the barbarian was heading back to the cave from a good day’s hunt when he heard someone scream. “Father!” the voice echoed. He quickly realized that the scream had come from the same direction that his cave was in. He then began to run as fast as he could to see who it was, hoping it was his friend finally awake. As he exited the tree line, he did not see anyone moving about. He continued inside to check on his ill friend, and to his disbelief Razien was sitting up on the bed. “Brother,” he said with a smile, “I am glad to see you awake.” Razien looked at him confused. “Surprised to see me awake? I’m a vampire, I’m not that easily taken by death. Why do you look worried?” he asked.

“What do you Razien?” his friend asked with a concerning look. “Brother,” he replied, “I everything from yesterday. I am just glad I heal fast. Why do you ask?” “Razien,” Nemajneb began, “you have been asleep for nearly three whole weeks. What you are ing happened over two weeks ago.” “I have been asleep for that long?” Razien asked, confused. “My mother, I must go save my mother.” Razien began to panic. “My friend,” Nemajneb asked, “do you even know where the black dragon lays his head when he is not destroying villages and killing people? No, you do not,” he continued, “I do not think anybody really does.” “It does not matter,” Razien argued. “I need to save her. It is all my fault that she got captured and my father got murdered by Karne. I ignored his calling, and now my friends and family are paying the price. I cannot let this go on.” “I understand how you feel, brother, I really do—” “How could you ever know how I feel, Nemajneb?” Razien interrupted angrily. “Razien, my friend,” Nemajneb explained, “many years ago when I was still a mortal human, my entire village, including my wife and baby girl, were slaughtered by a large group of vampires. They did not do it for fun, they did it for revenge.” He paused for a moment as his eyes filled with tears. “I had found a vampire stalking my village from the tree line.” He looked down at his hands ing the blood he had spilt with them. “I did not give him a fair fight. I snuck up behind him and in one solid swing I severed his head from his body. Instead of burning the corpse, my people and I hung it up in the trees to warn other vampires that their kind was not welcome there. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.” Nemajneb continued. “Instead of the vampires staying away, one night while most of my people were sleeping, about twenty vampires attacked my village and slaughtered them until I confessed that I was the one who murdered their friend. They claimed it was an unfair fight, so they continued to murder the villagers, except for two, my wife and my daughter.” He began to cry.

“Two vampires held me down on my knees making me helpless as their leader ripped my daughters head from her body in front of me and her mother. My wife fell to her knees, screaming and crying over our daughter’s lifeless body.” Swallowing back more tears, Nemajneb forced himself to finish his story. “As I kneeled, begging for their forgiveness, asking them to spare my wife and to take my life, they all just laughed as four or five of them instantly ran to my wife and began eating her alive while the two holding me down forced me to watch. Now do you understand how I know how you feel?” he asked as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “I am truly sorry,” Razien replied as he also wiped tears from his eyes. “I did not know.” “Only two others have ever known until now.” He paused for a moment. “Edwen the Wizard and your father.” “If you hated vampires so much, how did you and my father come to be such close friends?” Razien ask curiously. “After the slaughter of my family and village, I wandered north until I came upon this land. I found these mountains and this cave and decided I would live here and train myself to be a better warrior and help defend people against the vampires. One day I was out trading supplies in a tiny town, just north of here called Taskany, and while I was there, they were attacked by a group of about twenty or so bandits. “Without hesitation,” the barbarian continued, “I began fighting the bandits to protect the town. All my memories of home came rushing back at me, letting me fight with vengeance. During my dance with the bandits, I saw two vampires land in the middle of town and start incapacitating some of them. I went to slaughter the bandits and the vampires, but the townsfolk stopped me.” “When I asked them why they did not want me to kill the vampires, they simply told me that the vampires help protect them.” A smile formed across the barbarian’s face as he continued. “I walked up to Vlad and introduced myself and began asking a lot of questions. To my surprise, he answered every one of them. He then in return started asking me a lot of questions. “To my surprise again, I answered all his questions. I told him everything up to

that point, even what happened to my village and my family. He knew the vampires that slaughtered my village and he knew where they were. He and his wife offered to help kill them. The next day the three of us set out and they kept their word and even let me finish off the vampire leader. Thus, ever since, your parents have been my closest friends.” “That was honorable of them,” Razien acknowledged. “So now I know how you and my parents became friends, may I ask another personal question?” “Let me guess, you want to know how I became immortal?” Nemajneb asked with a smile. “Yes,” his young friend replied. “How did you become immortal? Was it the wizard?” he asked. “No, it was not the wizard,” the barbarian replied. “At least I do not believe it was.” He chuckled. “Rumor has it, that there is a stream that flows from these here mountains, and it is called the Stream of Purity and only the pure of heart can see it and drink from it. It is said that whoever drinks from this spring shall gain immortality, and once they have drunk from it, they will never be able to find it again.” “I do believe that is a tall tale,” Razien commented laughing. “You are trying to fool me.” “Well, you can think what you want,” Nemajneb replied sarcastically, “but I did drink from a stream that flowed from the Sisters when I first arrived here a few hundred years ago. I have searched high and low to find it again and there is not even a trace anywhere around these mountains of even a dried-up stream bed.” “Whoa,” Razien whispered now believing his friend. “That is unbelievable.” “Now, to change the subject.” Nemajneb said with a smile. “I know we need to find your mother, but first we need to go see Edwen. See if he can figure out why that black medallion of yours is so important.” “What do you think,” Razien asked, “head up there in the morning?” “Sounds good to me,” he replied. “There is a path on the east side of the mountains that we can use.”

The two friends ate dinner and headed to bed early that night to get a good night’s rest for the climb the following morning. As dawn cracked across the morning sky, the two friends finished up breakfast and then began their long climb up the mountain. Over the past couple hundred years, Nemajneb carved a path going up the mountainside. It helped with getting to the valley faster, but it was still steep and dangerous. By nightfall they had reached the top and decided to camp for the night and talk to the wizard the next morning. As the sun rose the next morning, so did the two friends. They decided to skip breakfast and head for the wizard’s lair. Razien, had never seen the valley before and was awestruck at its size and beauty as the sun rose between two of the mountains, lighting it all up with a soft glow. “What is this wizard like?” Razien asked with curiosity. “I have never met him before.” “That is where you are wrong, little brother,” the barbarian answered with a grin. “You have met him once before, the night you were born.” “That does not count?” Razien replied chuckling. “I am not going to that far back, especially all the way back to the night of my birth.” “Trust me. I am sure you two will get along fine,” the barbarian replied with a grin. “Well, I guess I really do not have a choice now, do I?” Razien replied sarcastically with a grin. The two friends walked for a couple of hours until they finally reached the shore of the lake that sat in the middle of the valley. When they arrived, a large tree manifested on the island in the middle with a bridge that led to it. Together they both walked across the bridge and were welcomed on the island by the wizard. “Good to see you, old friend,” Nemajneb said as he reached out to hug the old man. “It has been too long. How have you been?” Razien stretched out his arm to shake the old man’s hand. “Good to meet you, sir,” he said respectfully. “My name is—” “I know who you are, son,” the old man interrupted. “You are Razien, son of

Vlad and Vile. I am sorry to hear of your father’s death. He was a great man and he had a lot of respect from people all around these lands. He will be missed dearly. I know of your mother as well,” he continued. “She is alive for now, but head what the dragon has warned, for he will kill her if you do not show.” “I understand,” Razien replied. “We plan on starting the search for his lair as soon as we climb down from up here. But first I have a couple questions for you. If you do not mind that is.” “Go ahead and ask your questions, son,” he replied sternly. “I will answer them to the best of my knowledge.” “Thank you,” Razien replied with a smile. “Can you help us on where to start on finding Karne’s lair?” “The one thing I cannot see is where Karne rest his head while he is with the living,” the old man replied with a frown. “I do know that he comes from the southeast every time the moon appears at the beginning of its arrival.” “That will help a lot,” the young vampire replied appreciatively. “At least we have a direction to start. My second question,” Razien began as he pulled the medallion from around his neck and handed it to the wizard. “Do you know what this is and what it is for and why it is so important?” The wizard stood staring in disbelief. “Where did you get this?” he asked with extreme curiosity. “Apparently my father gave it to me before he died, said I needed to protect it with my life,” Razien told him. The wizard looked up from the medallion to the two young friends standing before him. “Are you sure?” he asked. The barbarian looked at him and nodded. “Vlad gave it to me to give to Razien just before he died.” The wizard inspected the medallion intensely. “Come with me,” he demanded. “We need to go to my library I do believe I have a scroll that mentions this black medallion in detail. All I know is that it is the black heart of Corpsious Darmasochist, it is very powerful, and many thousands of years ago I gave it to a

vampire to protect.” The wizard led the two friends inside to a spiral staircase that lead upward. The three of them spent a good few minutes climbing the staircase. When they finally reached their destination Razien glanced down to where they came from and noticed that they had to be about one hundred feet above the entrance hall. “How far up does your library go?” Razien asked chuckling. “All the way to the top,” Edwin replied, concentrating on where he had last saw the scroll. “You have a huge library,” the barbarian commented as him and Razien began to scan the shelves. “How did you get ahold of all this information?” he asked in amazement. “I have never seen so many scrolls and books in one place. “My friend,” he replied as he sifted through some scrolls on a shelf, “I am almost twenty thousand years old. I have had a lot of time to collect and study as much as I can. I have had nothing better to do and for some unknown reason, I cannot understand, I am drawn to learn everything that I can.” “Twenty thousand years?” Razien ask astonished. “How is that possible?” “Ah, here it is,” the wizard remarked as he dusted off a scroll and rolled it out on a table behind him. Razien thought the old man was ignoring him, then the old man leaned close to him and whispered just loud enough for both young men to hear him. “Because,” he said, “I am the great white dragon of life, making me Karne’s opposite. Much of this knowledge has been left behind by the other white dragons before me. When a white dragon dies their bodies instantly burn to ash leaving only one egg, and that is how we continue through time.” “Well, if you are Karne’s opposite, are you not able to stop him?” Nemajneb asked curiously. “It does not work that way, my friend,” Edwen replied as he skimmed through the scroll. “We cannot destroy each other. If I destroy him, I destroy myself, the same is for him. We do not bother each other for it is pointless.” “That is—” Razien began to comment.

“Found it,” Edwen interrupted. “Found what?” both Razien and Nemajneb asked at the same time. “What the medallion truly is capable of,” he replied. “What is it?” they asked. The old wizard looked at his two friends with despair. “I am afraid if it falls into the wrong hands, it will be the end for all living creatures, including the vampire races and all of mankind.” “What do you mean it will be the end of all living creatures?” Razien asked in a worried tone. The old wizard looked down at the floor, then to his friends. “In ancient times, there was a story told to the ancient dragons of old, ed down from white dragon to white dragon through the scrolls in this library. They say that every sixty-six cycles of the blood moon, or approximately two hundred thirty-seven and a half thousand years, the white moon eclipses the blood moon, and during this eclipse, the black dragon has the ability to raise Corpsious Darmasochist, the dragon of the dead. He was once the king and the wisest of all dragons. “Through the millennia, he developed the craving to live forever. He began dabbling in the dark magick until he became obsessed and overwhelmed with it. Over time he learned how to raise the dead, any creature, but was never able to master immortality. “Having gone mad, not finding the cure for his own mortality, he removed a piece of his own heart and imbued it with the dark magick of resurrection. Fortunately, unknown to him, for it to work, he needed someone to do the spell after his death. Ever since his ing every black dragon that has come into creation has searched for Corpsious’s cursed heart to rule over all of life. “Once raised, there is only one thing that can stop Corpsious Darmasochist, and that is the flame of the black dragon. The only one who can raise him can defeat him. It is the flame of the black dragon engulfing the heart during the Blood Moon eclipse that awakens the dragon of the dead.” The wizard looked hard into Razien’s eyes. “Razien, my young friend,” he

spoke. “I fear for you on your journey. I believe Karne is going to try to use you to find this stone, and if he succeeds, his reign of terror will not stop when the Blood Moon es. It will continue, through Corpsious Darmasochist once he is raised. “Some of these scrolls in this very library speak of one who holds the key to either the destruction of the darkness or the fall of all life on this planet.” The wizard placed his hand on Razien’s shoulder. “You must fight the black dragons calling and defeat him, do not let him get his claws on this stone. If you fail, all life will suffer until there is no more life left, just the dead that he has risen to rule over.” Razien stood listening in terror, afraid that he might fail. “Is there anywhere I can hide this medallion where Karne will not be able to find it?” In an instant, Edwen disappeared into thin air with the medallion, and just as fast he returned empty-handed. “It is in a safe place for now.” He commented as he placed his hands on the shoulders of his two young friends and looked at the barbarian. “Nemajneb, you must help Razien find a way to defeat Karne and be there for him when he needs you.” Then he turned his attention to the young vampire. “Razien, you must fight the evil within you and learn how to defeat Karne once and for all. Now, with haste, the two of you must continue with your journey without delay. I will help you down from this valley.” With a stomp of his staff, he had teleported the two friends to Nemajneb’s cave entrance in a matter of seconds. The two stood staring at each other for a moment in shock, neither have ever teleported before. After a moment, the shock of magick had vanished, and they began gathering supplies and weapons for the long road ahead. Razien could still feel the calling of the black dragon. Once they were packed and ready to go, they decided to eat a quick meal before heading out. “Where do you want to head to first?” Nemajneb asked as he picked his pack up off the ground. “Well,” Razien replied as he grabbed his pack. “I was thinking of heading to Creeton, a small town on the far side of my father’s castle. Edwen said Karne comes from the southeast when the moon arrives, so I say we head east first to see if we can find out any more information.”

The barbarian adjusted his pack on his horse more comfortably and nodded in agreement. Without another word, the two friends headed out on their adventure, not knowing what lay ahead.

Family Ties

With Nemajneb on his horse, Windglider, and Razien running beside them, they made it to the town of Creeton in under two days’ time. It was midday when they arrived in the town. When they entered the small town, they saw almost half of the village was in ashes and still smoldering. “What happened here?” Nemajneb asked a man who greeted them as he jumped off his horse. “Why is this town in ashes?” “Jon, it’s good to see you,” Razien said to the man as he shook his hand and gave him a brotherly hug. “What happened here?” “Razien, it is good to see you too, brother,” the man replied as he motioned for the two to follow him. “We were attacked by bandits two nights ago. There were around forty of them, they slaughtered about a third of the villagers here and took just about anything they could get their hands on. I fought as many as I could, but there were just too many.” “I know this sounds selfish, brother,” Jon continued, “but where were your parents? We could have really used their help.” “Brother,” Razien replied hesitantly, “I do not know how to tell you this gently so I will just tell you. My father is dead, and my mother has been captured by the black dragon Karne. He was the one who killed my father, and in the process of doing so, he destroyed my father’s castle. Our home is gone.” “Razien, I am sorry to hear that, truly sorry,” he replied almost in tears. “Why has he attacked your family?” Razien replied with guilt in his voice. “He did it because he is after me. Enough about my problems, though, what can we do to help?” “If you would not mind,” Jon asked, “I have a half brother that lives just south of here, about a day, could you go and get him and let him know what has happened here. His father lived here and was one of the villagers who was

murdered in the attack. His name is Bull, and he will want vengeance.” “I can do that,” Razien replied. “Nemajneb, I want you to stay here and help them. I can get to Bull the fastest.” “Will do, brother,” Nemajneb replied as he shook his friend’s hand then walked off to start helping to bury the dead villagers. Jon looked at Razien with desperation in his eyes. “Follow the road south until you find a river then head west, it will take you straight to Bull’s house. Tell him I sent you.” Razien nodded in understanding. “I should be back by sunset,” he answered, and in an instant, he was on the road south to find Bull. Razien was on the road for about two hours before he finally found Jon’s brother, Bull. When the vampire found his house, Bull was out by the river cleaning a deer he had killed just an hour before. Razien was trying not to startle the man as he walked up behind him. “Bull!” Razien yelled, trying to get his attention as he slowly walked closer. “Bull!” he yelled again, this time the man heard him, causing him to turn and jump to his feet with the knife in his hand like he was ready for a fight. “Who are you?” the woodsman asked Razien, pointing the knife at him. “What are you doing on my land?” Razien stopped in his tracks trying not to anger the short-tempered man. “I am a friend of your brother, Jon. My name is Razien, Jon grew up with me in my father’s castle.” “You are a vampire?” Bull asked, getting angry. “I do not like or get along with vampires. They killed my wife and son, so if you do not want to die today, you might want to leave my property.” “Bull,” Razien replied, “Creeton was attacked two nights ago by bandits, your father was murdered by one of them. Jon sent me here to tell you that he needs your help to hunt them down.” “What do you mean my father is dead?” Bull asked as he became enraged by the

news. “My father was a great warrior there is no way a few bandits took him out. He trained me how to fight vampires. Humans would be nothing for him.” “Bull!” Razien yelled, trying to gain his attention. “Jon said there were around forty of them. The village did not stand a chance, and now they need your help. I am heading back now to help them. I hope, by morning, you will be there.” Razien then left Bull to his own self-pity, hoping he would grow up and realize that his brother truly did need his help. As Razien promised, he returned to Creeton by nightfall. Throughout the night Razien worked as fast as he could to rebuild the town hall to give the villagers a warm place to sleep until they could rebuild their town. By first light the following morning, Bull had entered the town just as Razien was finishing up the town hall, and the villagers began to stir and move about. “Glad to see you made it, Bull,” Razien commented as he met Bull by the town hall, attempting to shake his hand. “I do not shake the hands of killers,” Bull remarked sarcastically as he turned and began to walk away. Jon heard Bull as he came around the corner of the building by Razien. “Hey, brother, what is going on?” he asked, running up behind Bull. “He has not done anything wrong, bro. I asked him to go get you, and he has done nothing but help us, so why the attitude toward him?” “You know what vampires did to my family, Jon!” Bull exclaimed as he spun around to look at him. “I do not trust vampires, they are all the same, they are all murderers.” “Hey, man,” Jon spoke softly, “I grew up with him. His mother and father raised me as their own after humans killed our mother and my father. He is like a little brother to me, just like you. Except his is not blood.” “I am done talking about him,” Bull replied, wanting to change the subject. “Do you know where those bandits came from? If you do, we should gather some gear and weapons and head out for their camp and kill them all. I need to kill something.” “I do not know where they are camped. They showed up in the middle of the

night,” Jon answered, feeling guilty for not knowing.” “Were they wearing black fur over their shoulder armor?” Nemajneb asked as he walked out of a small building that was still standing from the attack. “Who are you?” Bull asked sarcastically. “You another vampire?” “I am here with Razien,” he replied with a grin as he glanced over at the vampire who was leaning against the newly built town hall. “No, I am not a vampire. I am a barbarian, last of my kind and best warrior in the lands,” he commented sarcastically back at Bull. “Get off your high horse we are only here to help, and those bandits are located about a day and a half from here. They call themselves the Black Bear Bandits.” “How do you know of them?” Jon asked before his brother, Bull, could say anything. “I have never heard of them at all.” “They are actually a very large group of at least a couple hundred, and they are scattered in smaller groups of about twenty to fifty throughout the land,” Nemajneb replied. “They are very organized and what they did to this village is exactly what they do when they attack any village. They have been around for about one hundred years.” “How do you know that?” Bull asked. “Because I have had run-ins with them before,” he replied. “They are strong, fast, and very strategic, and they have no mercy. Now, we can stand here and talk about them, or the four of us can head out now and be at their camp before sunset tomorrow and attack them the same way they attacked this place.” “What do you mean the four of us?” Bull asked in a rude tone. “I am not trusting that vampire with my life, so either he stays behind, or I do.” “Fine, if that is the way you want it, so be it,” Razien chimed in, starting to get frustrated with Bull’s attitude. “I really do not want to travel with someone that will not stop complaining. Nemajneb, I want you to go with them and show them where the bandits are hiding. I am going to talk around with people and try to find out if anyone has seen Karne at all in the past few days.” “Not a problem,” he replied, happy to help in any way.

“Yeah, I saw Karne about three weeks ago, give or take a day or two.” Bull smirked. “He was heading southeast the evening I saw him.” “How can I trust you?” Razien asked, wanting to believe him. “You cannot stand me, so why should I put my trust in you?” “Look,” Bull replied, “it is no secret that I hate vampires, but the one thing I hate more are dragons. So if I can put the two of them face-to-face to kill each other, I am not missing out on the chance.” “So in other words,” Razien replied with a small grin on his face, “I can trust you because you want me to kill Karne or if anything you want him to kill me?” “Exactly,” Bull replied with a smile. Razien shook the hands of his two friends Jon and Nemajneb and wished them safe travels in the fight to come. They both looked at him with sympathy and nodded in agreement. “Meet me at the wooden bridge to cross the river that is the eastern border to these lands in about eight to ten days,” Nemajneb told Razien as he let go of his friend’s hand. “I will meet you there, and we will continue our journey together. Find out all that you can until then. Safe travels, my good friend.” “Same to you, brother,” Razien replied as they both turned to go their separate ways. As the three warriors began to walk north, Razien started his journey southeast until his friends were no longer in sight. Once he could no longer see his friends, he turned north and slowly began to catch up to them. He made sure not to get too close, knowing it would cause issues with Bull if he found out that he was following them. As night fell, the small group made camp for the night next to a large black oak tree that stood alone in a small clearing. Throughout the night, the men took turns taking watch while unknown to them Razien was also watching over them from a distance. Being a vampire, Razien could go days without sleeping, and it not affect his mental or physical status. When it came to be Nemajneb’s turn to take watch that night, he could feel someone watching them from the darkness. Since he did not feel like they were in danger, he chose to keep his feelings to himself.

The next morning came quickly for the men, they ate breakfast and once again headed for the bandits’ camp. Nemajneb led them quickly and quietly through the woods, still feeling someone was following them. Without a word, the three traveled throughout the day, surprising Razien that he did not hear Bull complain at all. As evening fell, they came to a small ridge that ran east and west, and they could faintly hear noises coming from the other side. Nemajneb motioned for them to stay quiet as he pointed to the top of the ridge and for them to follow. As they reached the top, Jon and Bull followed Nemajneb’s lead and crouched down and slowly and quietly walked until they could see a large camp down in a small valley on the other side of the ridge. Bull looked at Nemajneb in fear. “How the shit are the three of us going to take on a large group of about fifty bandits? I did not come here to get massacred. I think we should go back.” “Bro,” Jon exclaimed in a quiet whisper. “They killed your father, and you are going to tell me that now that you see their numbers, you want to run home?” “It is not going to do my father any justice going down there and getting killed,” Bull replied with a shaky voice. “We need more men to take out a large group like this one.” “Well,” Nemajneb whispered in Bull’s ear, leaning over. “We would have had a vampire here to fight with us if you would not have thrown a fit like a child back in town.” “What is our strategy?” Jon asked as he looked over at Nemajneb. “We cannot just run in, there are too many of them for that. We need a plan.” “Well,” he replied. “They all look pretty drunk, and I think we could use that to our advantage. I am thinking we sneak down there, kill the few that are ed out in those tents that are down the hill from us then just quickly, and swiftly start cutting down as many as we can.” “Sounds like suicide to me,” Bull muttered to himself. “It is only suicide if we die,” Jon replied with a grin. “Besides, I think we can do this if we are swift, quiet, and accurate.”

Nemajneb looked at Jon with a grin, and the two of them began quietly making their way down the hill to the tents. With hesitation, Bull began to slowly follow. Unknown to the three warriors, bandit archers were on the ridges surrounding the camp, keeping a lookout. As the three made it to the tents, Razien quietly and quickly took out the archers before they noticed his friends. After killing the last archer, Razien leaned up against a tree and watched his friends as they began to slaughter bandit after bandit, watching the camp go from a party to a battlefield in seconds. He smiled at how well his friends were doing at the moment. Though his friends were taking the camp by surprise and doing very well at it, in a matter of minutes, the tables were turned as twenty more bandits came out of a large tent at the far end of the camp. In no time, the three warriors were surrounded and captured. Without a single order being given, the bandits erected three posts in the middle of their camp and then tied the three friends to them. Razien began making his way down the hill to his friends now that they were in trouble. All the bandits in the camp were surrounding the warriors, leaving no one to watch guard and for Razien to make his way to the group unnoticed. Razien stopped at the edge of the darkness where the fire could not give him away as the leader of the bandits walked out of his personal tent with two half nude women at his side with smiles on their faces. “I am Daal, leader of these men,” he said as he walked closer to the bound warriors. “Why is it that you attack us unprovoked?” “Unprovoked my ass!” Jon yelled. “You attacked my town of Creeton a few nights ago, killing over twenty villagers and burning most of it to the ground and taking anything you could get your hands on.” “My father was one of them, you bastard!” Bull yelled angrily as tears began to run down his cheeks. “You poor thing,” Daal replied, laughing. “Look, men, a grown man crying over his daddy,” he remarked, making all the bandits laugh loudly. Razien continued watching from the shadows feeling his rage within himself swell with every word the bandit leader spoke. “I am guessing your father was the village leader? Or more appropriately, should I say, the village idiot.” The bandits began to laugh even louder.

“That is enough!” Razien yelled as he walked into the light from the shadows making the entire camp go quiet as everyone turned to look at him, including his friends. “Well, look here, men,” Daal replied with a grin. “It must be their savior come to rescue them.” The bandits began to laugh again. “And who might you be, besides a fool?” Daal asked with anger in his voice. “I am Razien, and I am here to give you a choice,” he replied as he glanced over at his friends with a smile on his face. “Oh?” Daal questioned with curiosity. “And what choice would that be?” he asked. “To let them go or die!” Razien yelled, feeling his anger swell even more. “I am through with this,” Daal remarked. “No one comes into my camp and threatens me and my men. Men, kill him and let his friends watch.” In an instant, the bandits surrounded Razien with their swords drawn and began attacking him. His friends watched in horror as the bandits moved in on their friend with blades swinging. The bandit leader stood laughing as the intruder was engulfed by his men. As Daal and Razien’s three friends watched the onslaught, they began to hear different screams coming from the middle where Razien was standing. A grin began to form again on Daal’s face until he realized that his men began to flee from the fight. He then realized that it was his men that were screaming. Once his men had retreated from the intruder, Daal saw his foe still standing covered in blood with a dozen of his men slain at Razien’s feet. Daal began to look harder and noticed that the intruder had not a single blade in hand, and yet all his slain men had their heads, arms, and legs ripped from their bodies. He saw Razien’s gazed fixed upon him, but the blue of his eyes was no longer a blue but a blazing red, and all the wounds on him began to heal quickly. Razien began moving toward Daal, licking the blood from his lips, enjoying the taste of his fallen enemies as he stepped over their corpses. “What are you?” Daal questioned in fear as he stepped backward away from Razien.

“Your worse mistake,” he replied with a grin. “Cut them loose,” he demanded. Daal looked at his men with fear and motioned for them to cut the prisoners loose. When his friends were free, Razien attacked and ripped the heads off the bandits that had freed his friends. In fear, the bandit leader began to run. Before he made it fifty paces, Razien had caught up to him and dragged him back to Bull. “Let us tie the remaining bandits up.” Nemajneb motioned to Jon. Jon nodded in agreement and they began removing the bandits’ weapons as they all stood paralyzed in fear watching their leader being dragged by Razien. As Razien dropped Daal at Bull’s feet, he began to hear a female voice whispering to him. “Razien,” she whispered, “I chose you as my champion. You will fight for me and my creations, they are all in danger.” As her soft voice whispered through his ears, it slowly began to calm his rage. “Who are you?” he asked out loud, making everyone turn and look at him in confusion. “I am known as Loveaya,” she spoke softly, calming his rage even more. “I am the spirit of the earth, and I need your help. No one can hear me but you, and you are the only one that can help me. You must defeat the black dragon known as Karne, or he will be the destruction of us all.” “I do not understand,” he thought to himself. “If you are the spirit of earth, can you not defeat him? I am but a small creature compared to you. You are mighty.” “Thank you for the complement,” she replied to him with joy in her voice, making him the love his parents gave him and turning his eyes back to the crystal blue they were before the attack. “Your father is with me and wants you to what he taught you and the love he has for you. The love in your heart is the only thing that can defeat the rage inside you. When you can overcome your rage, you can defeat Karne. I must leave you for now, but I will always be watching over you.” Razien looked down at the bandit leader at his feet then at Bull. “He is yours to do what you will with him, for it was your home town he destroyed.” He then walked to the large group of bandits Jon, and his friend Nemajneb were tying up. “Who here wishes to change their ways?” he asked.

The bandits began to laugh and cheer, yelling Daal’s name. The vampire slowly turned to see Daal holding a knife to Bull’s throat with a smile on his face. “At least I will kill one of you,” Daal remarked, laughing. “If you kill that man,” Razien replied in a calm voice, “I will tear your head from your shoulders and burn your men alive. Your move, Daal.” Razien focused on Daal’s muscles in his hand with the knife and could sense when he went to slice his friend’s throat. Before Daal could move the knife across Bull’s throat, Razien was standing behind Daal with Daal’s own knife to the back of Daal’s head. Daal stood paralyzed in fear, realizing what had just happened. Razien put his head next to the right side of Daal’s head and whispered, “I warned you what I would do.” Razien then looked at Nemajneb with anger in his eyes. “Cover his friends in their mead. If it was made right, it should be highly flammable.” Razien then grabbed the bandit leader by the back of the neck and forced him to walk to the large fire they had burning when the friends showed up. Daal tried to fight free from Razien’s grip as he heard his men screaming and yelling from being soaked in their own drinks, but the vampire was just too strong. “If you kill us,” Daal choked out, trying to laugh. “You will be no better than us.” Razien squeezed his neck harder, bringing him to his knees. “We are better than you,” he replied calmly as he retrieved a large burning stick from the fire. “We do not kill the innocent. We only get vengeance on those who do.” Razien then stood Daal to his feet and forced him over to where his men were bound on their knees. “Please do not do this!” the men begged and screamed. “We are sorry, we did not mean to do it, he made us!” “Traitors!” Daal yelled back at them. Razien looked at the group with anger as his three friends finished pouring the last of the mead on them. “I gave you a chance!” he yelled. “But the moment you thought your glorious leader here,” he said as he squeezed Daal’s neck harder, bringing him to his knees once again, “had the upper hand, you all

showed your true colors. Now you all will die.” The vampire looked at his friends. “Gather what you can and meet me at the tree line. You do not need to watch this. It shall weigh on my heart alone, not yours.” The three friends nodded in obedience, then began to gather the valuables around the camp. Once they filled sacks, they had found they did as their friend requested and headed for the tree line. “Do you think he will be okay?” Bull asked with his voice trembling. “I have never seen anything like that before. Is he a fully mature vampire?” “No,” Both Jon and Nemajneb replied at the same time. “He is only eighteen,” Nemajneb informed him. “He has yet another seven years before he is fully matured.” “Do you think he will be okay, though?” Bull asked again with a shaky voice. “That was some terrifying crap he did back there.” As the three friends stopped at the tree line, they all turned to watch their friend. None of them could believe what they were watching their friend about to do. “I thought you did not care about or liked vampires?” Nemajneb asked, staring at Razien as the young vampire leaned his head close to the bandit leader.” “He is different, he saved my life. Now I owe him my loyalty,” he replied. “You and your men have murdered for the last time,” Razien whispered with anger in his voice into Daal’s ear. Razien then stood back up, and while looking at Daal’s men with fury, he squeezed Daal’s neck with all his might until the leader’s eyes began to bleed and bulge from their sockets. The bound bandits began to scream as they watched as the neck of their leader began to rip from his shoulders. “You fear for your own lives, yet you have no mercy when it comes to killing the innocent!” the vampire yelled at the bandits as the body of their leader fell lifeless to the ground, still holding his head in his hand. “I gave you a chance, now follow him into death!” Razien then threw Daal’s head in front of his men and smiled as they screamed for mercy and, without hesitation, threw the

burning torch that was in his other hand into the middle of the screaming men. The men began screaming louder in agony as they all burst into flames. Razien then turned his back to them and headed toward his friends at the tree line. As Razien reached his friends, he turned to looked at the burning men then back at his friends. “That must have been some really strong mead,” he commented with a smile. “Let us move from this place and find camp, where we do not smell the burning of flesh all night.” The four friends traveled in silence until they came to a small clearing in the woods, and the smell of burned flesh was behind them and began setting up camp. After setting up camp and eating dinner the four friends sat around the fire thinking to themselves of what had happened just hours before. “Razien,” Bull said, breaking the silence. “Thank you for saving my life back there. I truly am sorry for everything I said to you and about you back in Creeton. I was wrong about you.” “What happened back there between you and Daal?” Razien asked as he glanced up from the fire to Bull. “He had a hidden blade in his belt, and before I knew it, he had it to my throat,” Bull replied as he moved his gaze from Razien down to the fire. “I am in your debt for saving my life. Can I ask you a question though?” “Ask away,” he replied as he thought about the female voice he heard earlier. “After all that I have said about you, why did you save me?” he asked, looking back at the vampire. “You may be filled with self-pity, judgmental, and overconfident, but that does not mean you deserve to die, especially by the hands of the likes of that murderer,” he replied, still looking at Bull. “I just hope tonight has opened your eyes to reality. You can be a great warrior, if you can show self-restraint.” Bull nodded, and the men went back to sitting in silence for a bit. After a couple of hours of warming themselves by the fire, the men went to bed for the night. Throughout the night, Razien could not stop thinking about the female voice that he heard speaking to him and how she was able to calm his anger. He was curious about what she meant when she said Karne will destroy us all and how

he was supposed to defeat the black dragon. Every time he thought about what she said, he could hear her voice, and it would calm his mind. By daybreak Razien was up and had everything packed and breakfast ready for his friends when they woke. When they all had awoken and ate breakfast, they began their journey back to Creeton in silence. The four of them decided to skip lunch and were able to make it to the town by late evening. When they finally reached the town, they saw that the townsfolk had accomplished a lot while they were gone and were greeted by a large group of the town wondering what had happened at the bandits’ camp. As the townsfolk circled them, Razien raised his hand to motion them to be silent. “I will not go into detail,” he explained, “but I promise you they will not be back, and they have learned their lesson painfully. Now if you do not mind, we would like to eat and get some rest, it has been a long day for us.” The townspeople whooped and hollered in celebration and welcomed the group to them in a feast. After a couple of hours of the townspeople feeding them and celebrating their victory, the four friends decided to call it a night and went to rest in the town hall for the night. The friends slept soundly being in warm beds after their long journey from the day. When the sun began to rise the next day, the friends all woke up almost at the same time. “My brothers,” Razien commented, looking at Jon and Bull as they sat on the edge of their beds, “Nemajneb and I must continue on our own journey this morning after breakfast.” “Can we you?” Bull asked. “It is the least we can do for you since you saved our lives and helped us get revenge on the bandits.” “It is a dangerous and treacherous journey ahead of us,” Razien replied, looking at the two of them. “I cannot guarantee your safety.” “We do not want you to guarantee our safety,” Jon replied. “Razien, I grew up with you, you are like a little brother to me, and the other night, you saved us without hesitation. Let us repay you by ing you on your journey.” Bull nodded in agreement. Nemajneb looked at his vampiric friend and shrugged his shoulders, leaving the decision up to him.

“Very well,” he replied with a smile, “we leave directly after breakfast. Be ready or be left behind.” The four friends ate breakfast that the town had made for them and gathered some supplies for the journey. “Does anyone here know of a good blacksmith?” Razien asked the townspeople as they gathered to wish them a farewell. “We need some better weapons than what we have.” An elderly man stepped out of the crowd. “There is one, about two weeks’ hike east on the other side of the Cerberus River. I do not know his name, but I do know he is the best in the lands. He lives at the edge of a large pond. That is all I know of him.” “Thank you, sir,” Razien said with gratitude. “We are in your debt.” “No need,” the old man replied. “You have done plenty for us. Safe travels to you four.” The four friends nodded in appreciation, then turned and began their journey east in search of the blacksmith.

The Legendary Blacksmith

After about two weeks of walking through rough terrain and thick woods, the group of friends finally came across a large pond in the evening with a cabin sitting just a few yards off its bank on the opposite side. “Do you think we should go ahead and head there now?” Jon asked Razien, raising an eyebrow with curiosity. “Or should we wait here till morning?” “I’m thinking we should camp here,” Razien replied, staring at the cabin, “on the bank where he can see our fire.” “Why do you want us to be noticed before we show up?” Bull asked, confused. “Should we not camp back in the woods a little bit, so we are unnoticed?” “Jon and I both have heard stories of a legendary blacksmith who lives out in these parts.” Razien looked over at Jon. “Do you those stories, brother, that my father used to tell us?” Jon looked back at Razien, trying to all the stories. “I some of them,” he replied. “But not all of them.” “Well, as I my father telling us,” Razien began. “He is unmatched in armed combat and all his weapons he makes himself. None of his weapons have ever been flawed or have they ever failed in combat. No one knows how old he really is, and he makes his weapons from some metal that no one knows or has ever seen in its raw form.” Razien looked at Bull. “So to answer your question, brother, no, I do not just want to show up at his door. I want him to see us, and if he chooses, to come to us.” “Makes sense,” Nemajneb replied. “I may be immortal, but that does not mean I cannot die if my head gets separated from my shoulders,” he said with a chuckle. “Let him come to us if he chooses.”

Razien looked at his three friends with determination in his eyes. “If any of you choose to wander through the woods or near his home and get caught by him, you are on your own and I will not interfere. We need him to trust us if he is to make our weapons for us. Agreed?” His three companions looked him in his eyes and could see how serious he was, then at the same time, they all nodded in understanding. Without another word, the small group began gathering wood for their campfire next to the pond. After Razien had grabbed a couple of armloads of wood, he began breaking the larger ones by hand and started the fire while the others continued to grab a few more loads. Once they had enough wood to last them the night, the other three ed Razien by the fire. When Jon sat down, he began digging through his gear and grabbed some of the deer jerky the townsfolk had loaded him up with and ed it around the fire to his friends for dinner. As they sat and ate in silence, none of them dared to look toward the cabin in case the blacksmith was watching them. None of the friends had any idea how he would act when they finally did meet him. As the evening drew late, one by one the friends began to out next to the fire, except for Razien; he sat and watched over his friends as they slept. That night Razien’s vampiric ears listened closely to all the noises and sounds in the air. He could hear the frogs singing to each other around the ponds banks and the little critters running about. He sat and watched a raccoon try to catch a fish in the water just a foot or so from the bank a few feet away from where he and his friends had made their little camp. He could not resist but to smile at the furry little critter pouncing in and out of the water. As the late night slowly crept into early morning before the sun began to rise, Razien began to hear faint footsteps off in the distance. The vampire sat very still, not to make any movement looking like a statue. While he sat motionless, he could tell the footsteps were getting closer, but they were not getting any louder. He sat for a few moments contemplating whether he should turn around to see what was making the noise. Before Razien could decide whether to turn around or not, the footsteps stopped and a voice spoke so quiet it was almost a whisper. “Why are you intruding on my land?” it demanded. “I do not like visitors.”

“We need your assistance, friend,” Razien answered honestly in the same soft whisper. “We do not mean to intrude, but we need some weapons crafted for us for our journey, and we have heard from many people that you are the best.” “I am not your friend, stranger,” the voice replied with distrust. “I have had no visitors in a long time, let alone friends.” “You were once friends with my father,” Razien mentioned as he turned to look at the stranger. “A long time ago you fought next to my father in the VampireDragon War up north. I have heard many stories a=of you in my younger years.” “Vlad, Vlad is your father,” the stranger replied as he stepped out of the shadows with a smile on his face. Razien gazed at the blacksmith with excitement. “Yes, he is my father,” he answered back in a slightly louder voice startling his three sleeping friends waking them up. As his friends began to sit up, still half-asleep, Razien stood to his feet and walked to the blacksmith and introduced himself and his friends. “My name is Razien, son to Vlad and Vile Onyx, and these are my friends— Nemajneb, the barbarian, and Jon and Bull, both from the town of Creeton.” As they were introduced Razien’s friends stood to their feet and shook his hand. “It is my pleasure to meet you all. Friends to the Onyx family are friends to me,” the blacksmith said with a smile. “My name is Gullith Finesmith. How are my dear friends Vlad and Vile?” he asked. “My dear friend,” Razien replied, glancing down at the ground, “I come bearing grave news about my parents.” He paused for a moment. “My father was murdered by the black dragon Karne and my mother he has captured and has taken her to where he sleeps. I am sorry.” “Do not be sorry young Razien,” the blacksmith replied. “You are not to blame for the black dragon’s choices. He is an evil creature who does not care who he harms in any way.” “Gullith,” Razien replied, “it is my fault. When I turned eighteen, I could feel him calling to me and I did not answer his calling, I ignored it, and for that, he attacked my family. I must kill him and avenge my father and mother.” “Will the four of you me for breakfast at my cabin?” he asked. “You can fill

me in on the details while we eat.” The four friends nodded in agreement and began following the blacksmith back to his home. When they entered the small cabin, the four friends noticed a solid-black oak door located in a corner on the floor. They all looked at one another in confusion and curiosity. “Before you ask about that door,” Gullith interrupted their curiosity, “we are going to eat, and you, my friend Razien, are going to fill me in on what is going on.” “I have no problem with that,” the young vampire acknowledged. Gullith began making deer steaks for the five of them for breakfast. “How do you want your steaks?” he asked the humans. “I’m pretty sure I know how Razien wants his. “Warm and bloody, right?” he asked the fellow vampire with a smile. “Sounds good to me,” he replied with a smile in return. “Dead and hairless,” Razien’s friends replied at the same time. Gullith turned and looked at the friends chuckling at their replies. “Okay then, bloody it is.” The five of them sat down at a round black oak table and began devouring their meals, like a pack of rabid wolves. “Now,” Gullith began, “tell me what is going on and why Karne wants you so bad, Razien.” Razien looked down at his meal with hesitation as he finished his last bite. “Brother,” he said, glancing back up at Gullith; he then continued to tell him the whole story from the beginning at his birth. As he told the story, Gullith listened intensely to everything his newfound friend was telling him. After a couple of hours of telling his story, Razien finally caught Gullith up to the present, when Gullith found them out by the pond. “So you are the one?” Gullith acknowledged as he gathered the dishes from dinner. “You are the one the wizard has been waiting for.” “What do you mean?” Razien asked in a confused curious tone. “I am the one? What does that mean?” he asked.

“Many hundreds of years ago,” Gullith replied, “the wizard set up a gathering, or meeting as some would say, with all the vampire families of the land. Well, at least the families that protected mankind and told them that in the future, most likely the next Karne Age, a vampire would be born and he or she would be either the savior or destroyer of life.” He paused for a moment, then walked over to Razien and placed his hand on the young vampire’s shoulder. “You are the chosen one, my friend,” he said with a smile. “What does everyone mean by that?” Razien asked with concern. Gullith sat back down in front of Razien. “I have been around since before your parents Razien, and I have been friends with Edwen just as long. He has known me since I was born, and as a child, I always wanted him to tell me the story, so I know it well. Razien, you must fight the darkness within yourself. If you do not, you will become a slave to Karne, and every creature on this planet will suffer Karne’s wrath through you while he sleeps.” “If you can defeat the darkness within yourself, you will become the only weapon that can defeat Karne. I know it is a lot to ask, even from an immortal as yourself, but we are all depending on you to fight for us. You must become the beacon of light through the darkness known as Karne. I know you can succeed in this, and we are here to help you through it. Your friends that accompany you will help with the moral , so do not be afraid to lean on them when you need to. On the other hand, I will not be accompanying you. I am here to craft the weapons you will need to fight with.” Gullith stood from the table and walked to the oak door on the floor and opened it. “Now that I know your story and you know mine, let me show you where I will be making your weapons,” he said as he motioned to the four friends to him as he walked down the stairs into the dark. “Be careful on the stairs, they are pretty old,” he mentioned as he disappeared under the floor. Razien looked at his three friends with curiosity and began following the blacksmith down a long flight of stairs laid in a tunnel that went deep into the ground. The three friends followed their friend without hesitation. There were candles placed on the walls of the tunnel just far enough apart to leave a small gap of darkness in between the flickering glows they put off. After a short time, they could see a brighter flickering glow at the bottom of the stairs.

“How far underground, are we?” Nemajneb asked curiously. “We got to be what half a mile or so.” “Actually, yes, we are just over a half a mile underground,” Gullith replied with a surprised tone in his voice. “Believe it or not, you guys are the first people that have ever seen this place, besides me of course.” Bull and Jon remained quiet as they concentrated on where they were stepping, trying not to misstep and lose their footing while they listened to the others talk. When Gullith reached the bottom, he took a few steps forward and stood by the wall as he welcomed his new friends to a large cave that sat off to their right. One by one, as the friends reached the opening, they stopped in their tracks and stared in amazement at what was before them. The cave’s ceiling stretched hundreds of feet above them, and the walls were just as far apart. In the middle of the large room was a large forge dozens of feet in diameter filled not with coal or wood but molted lava. Surrounding the forge were dozens of weapon and armor racks loaded with finished weapons and armor. On the other side of the forge, they could see a very large pile of what looked like red rock. “Welcome to Heart of the Earth Forge,” Gullith said with a smile as he stretched out his left arm, welcoming them into the large cavern. “Please, by all means, look around, check out the weapons and armor, and if you see something you like take it, it is yours. If you would like, I would be happy to make each of you your own personal weapon.” The four friends began slowly exploring the cavern, taking in everything they saw. Bull and Jon walked to the weapon racks picking up and examining every weapon they came across. Nemajneb walked to the forge and began walking around it, examining its details. He noticed that the forge itself was naturally made over time, and around it on the floor were multiple small pools of freezing cold water also naturally made. “How did this get created?” Nemajneb asked, confused. “How did you do this?” “It was not me, my friend,” Gullith replied with a smile, almost laughing. “I found this place about five decades ago.” The three other friends turned to listen to him. “The staircase we came down was just a hole in the ground. I needed a place to make my home, so I crawled down the hole, hoping to find a cave to

live in. When I finally reached this cavern, I fell in love at first sight, and I knew from the moment I saw it what I was meant to do with it. Over time, I built a cabin on top of the entrance to hide it and began building a staircase in the tunnel to make it easier to travel up and down. The racks and pile of red rock are the only things I have added to this place.” The four friends stood, looking around with iration. “What about this red rock?” Razien asked as he began to walk toward the pile. “It does not look like anything I have ever seen, and yet I feel a connection with it. Where did you get it?” “Interesting that you say that, Razien,” Gullith replied. “I actually call it Red Iron. It came from the Blood Moon hundreds of thousands of years ago, if the story serves me right. I am not sure of what, but something happened to the Blood Moon a long time ago, causing a piece of it to fall to earth. The story says that there is a large piece of it, about the size of a large mountain, that landed somewhere in the Atlantis Ocean to the southeast. These pieces here are just a small amount of the debris that landed on solid ground. I collect what I can find, and some of it I buy off others that find it. The red stones are the pieces that have not gotten hot enough to forge.” “I have been collecting it for decades and making armor and weapons out of it. It takes me about four to five days to make a single weapon.” “Why does it take so long to forge a weapon?” Nemajneb asked. “It takes just a day or two for me to make a weapon, usually less than a day. It just depends on how intricate I make it.” “So it probably does, my friend, but have you ever used Red Iron to forge a weapon?” he asked in return. “No. I have never even heard of this mineral until now,” Nemajneb replied. “Why is it so hard to work with, and if it is so strong and dependable, why do others not use it to forge weapons and armor with?” he asked curiously. “To tell you the truth, I have tried every way possible to try to make it forgeable, but as far as I can tell, there is only one way it can be forged,” Gullith told Nemajneb with excitement in his voice. “And how is that?” the barbarian asked, confused.

The blacksmith stood staring at the large forge for a moment before he answered the barbarian’s question. “With that,” he replied, gesturing toward the forge that sat in the middle of the cavern. “I have to use molted lava from the heart of Loveaya.” “So that is why you call it Heart of the Earth Forge,” Razien interrupted as he walked over to the forge where his friend Nemajneb stood. “Yes, it is,” the blacksmith replied with a smile. “She is the only one that can heat it up to the proper temperature. That is not the only reason people cannot forge it either.” “What do you mean?” Jon asked as he and Bull walked over to listen, closer to what the blacksmith was saying. “What I mean is that no human has the strength to forge the Red Iron. Please take no offense to that, but it is the truth.” “Offense? I am not going to take offense to that I am going to take it as a challenge,” Nemajneb remarked, laughing. Jon and Bull both nodded in agreement, also laughing. Gullith smiled at the three humans knowing they would not be able to forge anything with the Red Iron, but he still wanted to watch them try. “Tell you what,” he said as he walked to the pile of Red Iron and picked up three pieces half the size of his fist. “I will give you each a piece, and you have one week to forge it into anything you want.” The three men got excited just to be able to try. “If you succeed, I will make you anything you want, no matter how intricate,” he told them. “You have no more than one week. That is the longest it has ever taken me.” He glanced over to his fellow vampire staring at a piece of the rock in his hand. “Razien, would you like to try?” he asked. Razien stood for a moment contemplating Gullith’s offer. “No, brother, I think I am going to on that offer. I have never been good at trying to be a blacksmith growing up,” he answered as he slowly walked over to the blacksmith. “I need to ask a favor from you, though,” he said, looking up from the stone in his hand to the blacksmith. “I need you to make something for me besides just a weapon.” Razien quickly walked to a small table not far from them

that had some light-colored hides and writing utensils and began sketching out the medallion that his father had given him. When he finished his sketch, he turned to Gullith, who was now standing next to him. “I need you to make this, and I need it as close resemblance as you can get it. It needs to be this size and black.” “What is this?” he asked, not knowing what it was. “It might be a little difficult, but I will do what I can.” “Trust me, the less you know about it, the better off you are,” Razien replied with concern in his eyes. Gullith stood staring at the sketch for a moment, trying to figure out why the medallion was so important. He then began to the story Razien had told him earlier that morning. “Wait a moment,” he said, looking up from the paper to the young vampire. “I know what this is. This is the heart of that dragon of the dead.” He had to stop and think for a moment to the name. “Corpsious Darmasochist. You want me to make this in hopes that it will help you fool Karne if the time comes.” “Yes, brother, it is his heart,” Razien replied with hesitation. “You must keep this between us.” “Betrayal is not in my blood, my friend. Your secret will be kept,” he replied with a smile happy to help his friend. Gullith folded up the piece of hide and put it in his pocket. “I will start on it when these goons are done making themselves look like fools,” he said quietly as he looked over at Razien’s three friends standing around the forge waiting for the Red Iron to heat up as they held it in the lava with the tools Gullith had laying on the edge of the forge. “Gentlemen,” he announced loud enough for them all to hear. “We are headed back up to the cabin for a while. If you like, we can bring you some bread and jerky back down later to snack on.” Without saying a word, all three men continued staring at the forge and nodded in agreement. “Then we shall see you in a few hours.” Gullith placed his arm around his young friend as they both turned and headed for the stairs. “Let us go have some mead and relax. I want to hear about your father.” “You do realize that mead does not have an effect on us, right?” Razien replied, looking at him slightly confused.

“Ah, that you are right, my friend, but I have found out that if you mix a really strong mead with blood and we drink it that way, it does give us a good buzz. If you drink enough of it, it will get you drunk for a short time,” he replied, chuckling as they began their ascent up the stairs. As the two vampires climbed the stairs, the humans continued their challenge to try to forge the Red Iron. After they had let it sit for about an hour or so in the lava, checking it occasionally, they all pulled their stones from the forge and began beating them with the hammers. They would hammer them for a few minutes, then return them back to the lava and continue this process for hours. The entire time none of them said a word to each other or even glanced at one another. Constantly wiping the sweat from their faces and wearing low on energy to swing the hammers, none of them had made any progress. They all decided to take a break and sit down and splash water on their faces from the little pools that circled the forge. Bull and Jon decided to go sit by Nemajneb to talk while they took a break. As they sat talking, laughing, and enjoying the cool breeze from the cave, they began to hear the commotion coming from the staircase. As they watched the staircase, Razien and Gullith came walking from around the corner. “What are you doing sitting down? That is not forging anything sitting on your asses,” Gullith said, laughing as him, and Razien handed their friends food and drink. “How do you do it?” Nemajneb asked, chuckling as he ate. “We have been hammering on these stones for hours, and we cannot even put a ding in them.” “My friend,” Gullith replied as he stood up, patting him on the shoulder. “I told you no human can forge the Red Iron. Only ones with inhuman strength, like vampires, can forge it.” “We cannot even get it to glow red no matter how long we let it sit in the lava. It just turns black,” Jon mentioned as he stood up. Gullith began chuckling at his friend’s comment. “That is because it does not glow red like the other metals do, it turns into deep black when it is ready to be forged. That is why all the weapons and armor I make with it are black. Let me show you.” Gullith walked to the nearest stone and grabbed it with a pair of clamps that lay

next to it and lowered it into the lava for a few moments. The four friends watched him intensely as he let it marinade in the lava. After a few moments, he lifted up the now black stone and held it on the wall of the forge with the clamps with his left hand, and with his right hand, he grabbed a hammer and began quickly hammering on the stone. As the friends watched, sparks began to fly, and they could see the stone start to give in to the vampire’s speed and strength. After about an hour or so of Gullith periodically dipping the stone into the forge and then hammering on it again, it began to flatten out. The four friends were astounded at how much it really took for Gullith to get it to abide by his will. No one ever saw or even knew vampires could sweat, but as Gullith hammered at the task at hand, they could see the sweat starting to form a drop at the end of his nose. Even Razien was surprised at what it took to accomplish the task. After about two hours, the once roundish stone became a flat piece of hardened steel that was about two and a half feet long. When he finally got it flat enough to his liking, Gullith dipped it in the pool of water next to him until it was completely cooled. Once it was cooled, he grabbed it with his hand and threw it to Razien. “I know you are the strongest of you four, now try to bend and break it.” The blacksmith and Razien’s three friends watched as he tried with all his might to bend the flat piece of steel and unable to do so. “Wow,” Razien said just loud enough for the four others to hear him. “This is incredible, Gullith,” he said with enthusiasm. “I have never seen a metal this strong.” “This is what you are going to make our weapons out of,” Bull asked with enthusiasm. “Yes, my friends,” the blacksmith replied with a smile. “This is what your weapons will be made of. Now enough talking, I need to know what kind of weapons you all want. I need to start on them as soon as possible because it is going to take at least four days per weapon.” Bull stepped forward with a glowing in his eyes. “I want my sword to be about five to six feet in length with just a basic grip but big enough for both hands and a little bit of weight to it.” Gullith smiled. “My friend, with it being that big, it is going to have some weight to it. Is that it for your weapon?”

“Yes,” Bull replied happily. “Who is next?” he asked. Jon stepped forward with a grin on his face. “I would like a double-bladed long ax, four to five feet in length. Nothing fancy just something basic.” “I think I can handle that,” he replied happily. Before the blacksmith could ask, Nemajneb stepped forward. “I would like a maul. If you could, make it around sixty to seventy pounds. It does not need to be anything intricate.” “If that is what you want, my friend,” Gullith replied with a smile. He then turned his head to the young vampire Razien, who was still trying to decide what he wanted to take into battle with him. “Any ideas yet, my young friend?” the blacksmith asked curiously. “No,” Razien replied, disappointed in himself. “I have never thought about a weapon to take into battle.” Razien paused for a moment to think. “What about a one-handed sword with a blade of about three feet in length and the blade itself is kind of wavy like a flame?” “Interesting,” Gullith replied as he pictured the sword in his mind. “I think I have a good idea in mind. Now if you all do not mind, I am going to get started on these weapons. You are more than welcome to stay and watch or stay up in the cabin, just do not get in my way.” All four of the friends nodded in understanding. Throughout the three and a half weeks, Gullith worked day and night and only sleeping and eating every few days in between weapons to keep up his strength. Once in a while, the four friends would go down to the cavern and watch the blacksmith work his magick with the Red Iron for a few hours at a time. They were careful not to make any noise to disturb him, and they made sure they stayed out of his way. Week by week, he would finish a weapon, but nobody knew what he would do with them when he was done because they were nowhere in sight. Confused about where he put them, the four friends waited patiently on their weapons. They knew that Gullith was going way beyond what he should have in helping

them out. Before they knew it, the final day was upon them. As they all sat at the table in the cabin listening to the faint hammering coming from the cavern, it stopped and became quiet longer than normal. The friends looked at each other with excitement in their eyes as they stood up from the table and began heading down to the forge. As they reached the opening of the cavern at the bottom of the stairs, they saw Gullith standing by a covered weapon rack with a satisfied smirk on his face. As the four friends walked closer to the blacksmith and the covered rack Gullith pulled a long glistening broad sword from under the cover and handed it to Bull. “I believe this is what you asked for,” Gullith said with a smile. “Wow, brother,” Bull emphasized as he swung and spun the sword around to see how it felt. “This is perfect Gullith, thank you,” he said, almost laughing in tears. As Bull practiced with his sword, Gullith grabbed another weapon from the rack. “I believe this one is yours, Jon,” he said with a smile as he handed Jon a double-bladed long ax with a six-inch spike that stuck out the end of it. “This is fantastic!” Jon exclaimed as he gently swung the ax to feel the astonishing balance it had. “I have never felt an ax like this, nor one that has this kind of balance.” Jon reached out to shake the blacksmith’s hand. “Thank you, brother,” he said as he stepped back and began iring the little details Gullith had put into the handle and blades. Gullith grabbed the next weapon and handed it to Nemajneb with another smile on his face. “Leave it to the barbarian to have the heaviest of the weapons,” he said as he laughed, handing Nemajneb his battle maul. Nemajneb began looking over the maul closely and could not ignore the fact that even though it weighed so much, it had a perfect balance and a very intricate design etched into it. “Brother,” he said as he shook the blacksmith’s hand. “I have never had a gift like this in my life. I cannot thank you enough.” Gullith looked at the three that had their weapons and got their attention. “Please come over here, my friends,” he said as he pointed next to Razien with his hand. “I do not ask but one thing in return from each of you for these weapons.” He paused and looked at Razien for a moment. “We all know that a long rough

journey lies ahead of our friend Razien here. We cannot begin to understand the hardship and battle that weighs on his heart, but we can be there for him when he needs us. So what I ask is that you fight beside him and have his back, as we all already know that he has ours.” The three friends agreed to the blacksmith’s without hesitation. Gullith smiled from ear to ear, seeing the three friends agree without hesitation as he pulled the last weapon from the covered rack and handed it to Razien. Razien and his three friends were speechless at the sight of his weapon none of them ever saw a sword like it before. It had a four-foot blade with six curves in it. The hilt had a six-inch-long spike that stuck out the end, and the guard was made of two spikes that curved upward at the ends. “I cannot thank you enough Gullith,” Razien replied almost in tears. “This is fantastic, brother.” “I call it the Flameberge, only one of its kind in existence. I just want the four of you to watch each other’s backs out there,” Gullith replied as he shook each of their hands. “Now let us get upstairs and eat, drink, and relax. You guys can leave in the morning. They all nodded in agreement then began making their way upstairs for the night. As Gullith shut the door on the floor since he was the last one up, Jon and Bull began preparing dinner for the group. As the group ate dinner, they all joked and laughed about the last few weeks. After hours of talking and laughing, the humans began to out one by one. Once the last one ed out, Gullith walked over to Razien and, without a word, motioned for him to follow. Razien followed the blacksmith outside, where he gave Razien the medallion he asked Gullith to make. Razien examined it closely and, without a word, stuck it in his pocket and shook Gullith’s hand, then they both nodded, then went to bed for the night. The next morning came quickly. The men got up and ate breakfast and thanked Gullith for all his help. As they finished breakfast, they gathered their supplies and one by one shook his hand and began heading southeast again. Razien was last to leave. “Thank you, brother, for everything,” he said as turned to begin the journey once again.

Back to the Present

As the wizard stopped telling the story so Ajax and Benderman could eat and ask any questions, they had the images of the four friends leaving the blacksmith began to fade from their minds. The two friends began to see the large room they were sitting in with the wizard come into focus. Unsure if it was the present, they saw they both rubbed their eyes at the same time. “What the hell was that?” Benderman asked as he looked over at Edwen, who was sitting across from them. “That felt like we were there in that time period. How did you do that?” he asked. “No kiddin’,” Ajax added with a smile. “That was so real filling. It’s almost hard to tell what’s real right now.” The wizard smiled as he pointed to the table between him and the two young friends forming two plates of food and refilling their drinks. “As I told you, before you can understand what is to come, you must know the past. Now do your selves a favor eat and build your energy.” He then stood and walked into the darkness without saying another word. The two men looked at their plates of freshly cooked chicken and potatoes. “This is awesome,” Ajax said as he chewed his first bite of the chicken. “I wonder if he could teach us some magick?” “Bro,” Benderman responded, “do you not that he is an ancient dragon, and we are just mere mortal humans?” “Yeah, I ,” he answered. “It would still be cool, though. I wonder where Edwen went.” Benderman shrugged his shoulders, answering his friend as they both continued to eat their hot meals. As the two ate, neither of them could stop thinking about what the wizard had shown them. They couldn’t believe what they had been shown by the old man. They continued eating their meals in silence until they were full.

When they were done eating the food, their plates vanished into thin air, and the old wizard slowly walked back into the flickering light cast by the fireplace from the darkness and sat back down in the chair across from them. “I hope the meal was sufficient and to your liking,” he said with a smile. “It was delicious, thank you kindly for it,” Benderman replied gratefully. “Yes, thank you very much,” Ajax added as he patted his belly in content leaning back in his chair. “Just out of curiosity,” he asked with a chuckle, “could you teach us some magick?” The old wizard sat back in his black oak chair with comfort and gently gripped the ends of its armrest, looking at the young men with a smile. He sat looking back and forth at the two friends for a moment in silence. “You know,” Edwen said, breaking the silence, “many centuries ago, I tried training a human in the arts of magick, and the knowledge that one has to possess to weld that kind of power overwhelmed his mind. He died in agony when he tried to use it. I have since learned that not everyone can handle the weight of the knowledge. In fact, there are only a handful of people in this world that can.” The old wizard looked hard at Ajax and Benderman. “For me to train anyone, they would have to go through extreme training that would take years, and we do not have that kind of time now.” “Damn,” Ajax replied. “I didn’t realize it was that deadly to humans to learn magick.” “Nor did I until it was too late,” the old wizard said softly with sorrow in his eyes. “I have a question, Edwen,” Benderman mentioned. The wizard held up his right hand, stopping Benderman. “There will be no more questions tonight. I want you two to turn in for the night and get some rest. We will continue this in the morning.” “Night?” Benderman asked, “We just got here, and it wasn’t even noon. How could it be night already?” Edwen stood from his chair and turned toward the large entry door and raised his

left hand. With a large gust of wind, the large door swung open. The two friends stood with a quickness startled by the loud sound of the door swinging open. They were shocked that the wizard was right as they stood staring at the darkness that was outside. Ajax and Benderman looked at each other in confusion, not realizing that they truly had been there more than half a day listening to the wizard. The old man walked over to them and placed his hands on their shoulders. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind, please turn in for the night and get some sleep. Tomorrow we will continue, for the days are numbered and we must get you upto-date on the prophecy.” The two friends looked at each other, then at the wizard, and nodded in compliance. Ajax looked at the old man in slight confusion. “Edwen,” he asked, “where would you like us to sleep?” The old wizard looked at the two young men with a smile as he tilted his staff to the open space in the room. Slowly a door formed out of a cloud of fog. “This door will take you to a bedroom. I will wake you in the morning to eat breakfast, then we will get started once again.” Ajax looked at Benderman with a grin and headed for the door. Benderman began to follow with hesitation and disappeared into the doorway behind his friend. When they both had entered the room, the door vanished behind them. The room was large and had an already-lit fireplace in its center and two beds along the far wall. The two friends took no time to ready themselves for bed, and each sat on the edge of the beds, silently going over everything they had seen in the past few days. They quietly looked at each other, knowing what the other was thinking but too tired and exhausted from the day to talk about it. Without a word, they both crawled under their blankets and quickly fell asleep. The next morning Benderman was the first to wake, and as he sat up on the side of his bed, the room began to gently light up as the sun rose above the horizon. Curious that there were no windows in the room, he started examining the room from his bed until he looked up to the ceiling. “Hey, Ajax,” he said as he walked over to his friend and began gently shaking him. “Ajax, wake up. You gotta see this.”

Ajax began to stir and open his eyes, looking at his friend with a dazed look in his eyes. “Is it time already?” he asked, almost disappointed. “No, bro, well, at least the door hasn’t manifested yet,” he replied. “Dude, check out the ceiling.” Ajax rubbed his eyes, trying to focus them. When he got his eyes to adjust, he looked up at the ceiling in amazement. The ceiling of the room was not an ordinary ceiling at all; instead, it was the canopy of the wizard’s tree. “What the…” he replied to the beauty of it. “That’s freakin’ awesome, bro.” As he stood from his bed to stare at the treetop with his friend, the door once again began to form out of fog on the far side of the room. At the same time, both friends looked at the door as it materialized then at each other. Without a word, they shrugged at one another and headed for the door. When Benderman opened the door, they could see the old wizard standing on the other side waiting for them. “Ah, good morning, gentlemen,” Edwen welcomed them with a smile as Ajax closed the door behind him. The wizard pointed to a table off to his right with three plates with freshly cooked eggs, bacon, and ham on them. “I have breakfast ready for us if you are hungry,” he said. “I’m starving,” Ajax replied with wide-open eyes and a growling stomach. “Me too,” Benderman added as they both headed for the table. The three men ate breakfast in silence, enjoying their meals. After they all finished, the wizard headed to his chair by the fireplace, and without hesitation, the two friends followed. As the two young men ed him by the fireplace, he filled two glasses with mead with the wave of his right hand. The old man looked at Ajax and Benderman with a grin. “Before I get started again, are there any questions either of you would like to ask? Is there anything that you are confused about or you don’t understand?” “Yeah, I got a couple of questions,” Benderman said as he leaned forward. “What is your question?” the wizard asked.

“I’m kind of curious about why Razien and his friends didn’t ride horses. I mean, wouldn’t it be faster to travel on horseback? I have only seen a couple of them so far. This country has thousands of horses today, where did they all come from?” “Well, my friend,” the wizard replied. “That’s a good question, Benderman, that’s very observant of you. To tell you the truth there, once was a large population of horses. The reason their numbers had dwindled to practically nothing back then was because they are the dragons’ favorite meal. They are large and very meaty, making them a great source of food for us. The way dragons digest food, they could survive on one horse a week. “Now, to explain why there are so many today, I will explain in the story because it is actually what happened after they left the blacksmith’s house. I will tell you that they were able to grow in numbers because the dragons were all but wiped out during the vampire dragon war just as the vampires were.” The wizard paused for a moment. “Are there any more questions?” “I do,” Ajax said with a slight grin. “I have a couple actually. First off, what is up with the way they talk? I mean, come on—‘is not,’ ‘has not,’ ‘cannot.’ Shouldn’t they be broken down into ‘isn’t,’ ‘hasn’t,’ and ‘can’t’? For my second question, does the blacksmith still live today? If so, where does he reside? If we are chosen to help Razien, do you think he will make us some weapons? That would be awesome if he did.” The wizard chuckled after Ajax asked his questions. “That’s a few more than just a couple,” he replied with a grin. “What I am showing you happened thirty-six hundred years ago. Language was a little different back then. To answer your second question, yes, actually, he does still live, but his cabin is no longer there. We had to cave in the main entrance to the cave, and he has chosen to stay in the cave for the most part to stay hidden.” “So if he stayed in the cave after you both destroyed the entrance, how does he get out, if he even leaves at all?” Ajax asked, confused. The old man chuckled again. “He created another entrance somewhere more inconspicuous. Only he and I know the whereabouts of the new entry point, and yes, he does leave the cave on occasion.”

“That’s cool,” Benderman said as he leaned back in his chair. “I got another question for you.” Benderman paused for a moment. “How long do we have before the Blood Moon returns this time, and how exactly are we supposed to help him? He had three friends helping him last time, and they were warriors, and Karne still was able to capture him. We are just two people, and we have never been in a true battle before, so we have no experience at all. They had experience and still failed him.” The wizard looked hard at the two young men for a moment. “That, my friend, is the question I have been waiting for. There is no way for me to give you an easy answer, but to give it to you straight, we have about one month before Karne begins his resurrection. Once it starts, we have about two to three months before he starts his carnage around the world. Everybody will feel his carnage, and we all will suffer.” The wizard stood from his chair and walked behind it, leaning his staff against the back, and placed both his hands on the top of the back of his chair. “If you think his friends failed him, you are wrong, my friends. By the time I am through telling you the story, you will learn they did everything they could for him. They did not fail in their mission.” He stood, staring at the young men. “This time, he has a better chance of succeeding.” “How is that?” Ajax asked with curiosity. “Because there is a Blood Moon eclipse coming in about six years, and it will be the last one for another sixty-six cycles of the Blood Moon. Karne will be frantically tearing the world apart to find the black heart of Darmasochist before the eclipse happens.” He looked at the young men with a small grin. “That is why we must find a way to free him and return his sword to him.” “You know,” Ajax said with a smile trying to brighten the mood a little. “I’m not trying to be a conspiracy theorist, but you said that the time periods when Karne is causing havoc are called the Karne Ages. Now a moment ago you said everybody will feel his carnage. Is that a coincidence, or am I looking too far into it?” he asked, laughing. Benderman looked over at his friend with a confused look. “I think your paranoid, bro.” “Actually, Benderman,” the old wizard said with a smile, “he is right to think

that.” Edwen looked over to Ajax. “My young friends, that’s where the word carnage comes from, it used to be spelled K-A-R-N-A-G-E. Over time the spelling was changed, and the truth about where it came from was lost, but the meaning has held strong for many centuries. I am kind of surprised that one of you noticed that.” “Are you serious?” Benderman asked, alarmed. “That’s really where the word comes from?” “Yes, it is,” Edwen replied seriously. “Dude, that’s kind of awesome, bro.” Ajax said, chuckling as he leaned forward in his chair. “I mean, it isn’t cool what Karne does, but it is interesting how the word carnage came into being.” Ajax sat for a moment, thinking about how proud he was of himself for being able to figure that out. “So just out of curiosity,” he asked, “are there any more words that came about like that?” Edwen grinned at the two young men. “You will have to pay attention to the story and figure that out on your own.” “Aw, man, that sucks,” Ajax said, disappointed as he sat back in his chair. “Can we get at least one clue?” he asked. “No,” the old wizard replied with a smile. “Okay, so I have an important question for you,” Benderman said as he rubbed his hands together, curious of the answer. “Ask away,” Edwen replied. “Who are we the descendants of in Razien’s travel companions?” he asked. The old wizard sat for a moment in silence, contemplating whether he should tell them or not. As the two friends waited patiently for the answer, he debated within himself, prolonging the silence, knowing they were anxious to know. Finally after making them wait, he decided to tell them. “Benderman, you are the descendent of Bull, and, Ajax, you are the descendent of Jon.” “Really?” Benderman asked, disappointed. “I am the descendent of a selfcentered fool?”

“He may have been a self-centered fool, but he was also a lot more than that,” the wizard replied. “You will soon learn how much he changed on his journey with Razien and his friends. “That’s pretty cool that we know who one of our ancestors was from way back then,” Ajax mentioned, trying to make his friend feel a little better. “Yeah, I know, bro, and you’re right, it is cool,” Benderman replied. “We’ve never known anything about our heritage until now and come to find out they played an important role in the past.” “That they did,” Edwen added. “Now if there are no more questions, I would like to get started.” The two friends sat for a moment, thinking to themselves, making sure they could think of no more questions to ask. Ajax sat with his fingers interlocked, tapping his thumbs together, trying to concentrate on everything the wizard had shown them so far. Benderman sat staring at his drink, trying to think of anything important he should ask. After a few moments of silent contemplating, both men looked at the wizard and shook their heads. “Very well,” the old man stated. “When I begin, I will start where we left off. What comes next is not important to the story, but it will answer one of your questions. Now get comfortable because you two are going to be here for a while today.” The two friends sat back in their chairs to get comfortable and relax. As the old wizard began to speak, the present began to fade from their vision and minds, and only the words he spoke manifested in their minds like a memory. Once again, they were locked into the past learning of the present.

A Hidden World

It had been about three days since the four traveling companions had left the blacksmith’s cabin. During that time, Razien had made a necklace out of sapling bark for the medallion Gullith had made for him at Razien’s request. Around midday on this particular day, they had run across a loud roaring noise and a shaking of the ground. The group stopped to listen to where the noise was coming from. Razien listened closely with his vampiric hearing and could tell the noise was not far ahead of them. With caution, his friends followed him as he slowly made his way through the woods in search of the ruckus, readying themselves for anything. Weapons were at the ready as each of them scanned the woods, trying not to make a sound as they walked. After an hour or so of following the noise, they could see something large through the trees up ahead. Razien stopped in midstride, halting the rest of the group to a stop. He squatted down and motioned for the rest of them to do the same. “Let me guess,” Bull mentioned quietly. “A dragon, is it not?” he asked calmly. Razien looked at his friends with a small grin. “Actually, there are two of them.” “Please tell me you’re joking, brother,” Nemajneb said with a slight worry in his tone. “One we might be able to handle, but two could be too much even for us.” “You are probably right,” Razien replied. “We need to get a little closer and see what they are doing.” “Why would we want to do that?” Jon asked curiously, and the other two agreed with him. “Can we just leave them alone? They are not bothering us.” Razien looked at his friends quietly. “Look, I do not want to start anything with them. I just want to see what has them in an uproar. What if there are people there that need our help?” he asked.

“He has a point,” Bull said reluctantly. “If there are people there that need help, we need to help them.” Jon looked at Bull with surprise. “Really, you are actually starting to agree with him now? You both realize we could be killed if we have to fight them, right?” “Yes, I realize that,” Razien replied. “If you choose not to fight if it comes to that, I will not hold it against you. Besides it may not be anything. As far as I know, they could just be playing. Now I am going to get a better view, so you three stay here. If anything goes wrong, trust me, you will know.” Razien’s three friends hid in silence as they watched him sneak closer to the dragons. Razien took his time to make sure he did not make a sound. As he got closer to the edge of the tree line, he could tell that one was a large red dragon with multiple horns protruding from its head and spine all the way to the tip of its tail. He also noticed that as the dragon bounced around, its scales changed color in the light. The other one was a green dragon about half the size of the red one. The green one only had three horns on its head, one above each eye and one on top of its nose. He could tell they were digging at the ground viciously, trying to get to something. As they bounced and stomped around, Razien got a short glimpse at what looked like a cave entrance in the ground where they were digging. As he crouched watching the dragons in silence, the large red one stopped all of a sudden and stood as still as a statue. The green dragon continued to bounce until it noticed that the red one was no longer moving, and it too stopped and stood still as a statue. After a few moments of not moving, the green dragon very slowly turned its gaze to the red one. Razien could tell that the green dragon was still a young one and learning from the older and larger red dragon. He stayed kneeling in the tree line for what seemed like hours watching the two dragons as they stood as still as stones, curious about what they were doing. After a while of them not moving a muscle, Razien stood to his feet, and without making a sound, he made his way out of the tree line. No sooner he stepped out of the tree line and before he could get a word out, the large dragon spun around and roared at the sight of the young vampire. “I mean no harm,” Razien said as he slowly raised his hands to his chest level.

“You smell different than other vampires,” the red dragon replied in a low growling voice. “Who are you and what is it that you want?” Razien could tell by the voice that it was a male. “My name is Razien—” Before he could finish his sentence, he was rudely interrupted. “Razien?” the red dragon asked. “I have heard of you. Our master waits for you on the Black Mountain Island.” Razien lowered his hands to his sides and stared at the ground in disappointment. “So you both are followers of Karne?” he asked, hoping they would say no. The red dragon took a step back surprised to hear the young vampire ask him that question. “After the great Vampire-Dragon War, there are so few dragons left, we must stick together. Now all dragons recognize Karne as our leader. He is the immortal king of dragons.” Razien looked hard into the eyes of the red dragon with a slight grin on his face. “You do realize that Karne was the one who started that war, right? So he technically is the reason you dragons are nearly extinct.” “It does not matter how it started, it only matters now that us dragons stick together,” the dragon replied sarcastically. “Besides, you have more pressing matters to worry about, like your mother. Karne waits for you patiently, but he will not wait forever.” Razien fought to control his anger at the dragon’s remark. “How do I find this island of his?” he asked, clinching his fists. The red dragon looked at Razien with a smile. “Continue going southeast until you get to a large crevasse in the ground. From there you will need to head south to southeast, and once you find the shore, follow it until you can no longer go south on land. The island rest to the southeast from there hidden by fog. Now leave me, vampire, and let me continue with my business.” “Well, I do appreciate the directions to Karne’s place of slumber, but leaving you to your business, I just cannot do,” Razien replied as he grabbed the handle of his sword and unsheathed it. “You have already told me that you stand with Karne. Well, I am here to destroy him and anyone or thing that stands with him.”

“So be it then, vampire,” the red dragon replied. “We will not have mercy on you, nor will we kill you. Karne wants you alive.” The red dragon leaped forward, trying to bite at Razien, but as the dragon’s mouth came chomping down where the vampire was standing, Razien dashed forward in a roll coming to a stop between the red dragon’s front legs. When he stopped, his right foot was planted firmly on the ground while kneeling on his left knee. Instantly and without hesitation, he swiped his sword across the back of the dragon’s left front ankle, causing it to rear up on its back legs and roar out in agony. The cut was deep, causing the blood to shoot out with every beat of the dragon’s heart. As the dragon came back down to all four feet on the ground, it tried to land on the vampire with all its weight. In doing so, as the dragon came down Razien once again rolled to safety, but this time he got out from underneath the dragon, and as before, he stopped with his right foot firmly planted on the ground and kneeling on his left knee with the tip of his black sword stuck in the ground in front of his right foot. As the dragon’s front feet met the ground in a thunderous rumble, it roared out in agony once again. Razien had noticed the cut he had made on the dragon’s leg was a lot deeper than he thought it was. While the dragon roared in pain, Razien dashed toward its side, and with a swift stroke of his blade, he sliced a horizontal gash on its rib cage just behind its left front leg causing the large dragon to jump sideways away from the vampire as it once again roared in pain. The dragon was now breathing heavy and staring at Razien in his eyes. For a split second, Razien noticed the dragons gaze shifted from his eyes to his chest. Razien looked down to see what had caught the dragon’s attention. He saw the medallion around his neck was no longer hidden under his shirt but was now hanging out where the dragon could see it. The dragon knew instantly what it was. The large red dragon let out a monstrous roar in the direction of the green dragon. Razien turned to look at the green dragon and noticed his three friends were almost upon it with their weapons drawn. Razien turned his attention back to the red dragon as it began to speak. “You must go to Karne and inform him that Razien has the heart,” it yelled to the green dragon. “I will occupy these fools until my death, but you must survive to tell our master.”

Without hesitation and without replying the green dragon took one good leap into the air and began flying southeast disappearing behind the treetops. Razien’s three friends arrived at the spot where the green dragon stood just seconds too late. His three friends turned toward Razien and began to walk his direction. The red dragon moved his gaze from Razien to his approaching friends who still had their weapons drawn. Razien turned to look at his friends and then held up his right hand with his sword in it to motion for them to stop. “I will take care of this one,” he said as he turned back to the large dragon. “This is your last dance dragon.” “You think killing me is going to stop the wheel of fate vampire!” the dragon exclaimed. “Even if you kill me on this day, you will still belong to my master, and you will still do his bidding. You cannot escape it no matter how hard you try.” “I will escape it, I am no one’s puppet, especially Karne’s,” Razien replied. “Too bad for you, you will never get to see the outcome.” Razien then gripped his sword with both hands and began running toward the dragon head-on. As he got within range the dragon quickly bit at the vampire but before he could bite down Razien had laid back on the ground allowing him to slide under the dragon’s head and neck with ease. As he approached the dragon’s chest as he slid, he planted his heels in the ground with force, causing him to quickly jump to his feet. The moment he landed on his feet Razien wasted no time and thrusted his sword into the dragon’s heart, killing it quickly. The dragon attempted to let out one last roar but was unable to do so as Razien removed his sword from the dragon’s chest. When he had the sword completely removed, the still-standing dragon began to sway gently from side to side for just a few seconds until it collapsed on its left side. Razien quickly took a few steps to the dragon’s right side to make sure he didn’t get caught under the weight of the heavy beast as it fell to the ground. Razien’s friends stood, staring at the dead dragon for a moment, amazed at how fast their friend had defeated the large dragon. They then began to slowly walk around its head to where Razien was still standing. As they walked up next to him, they all gave him pats on his shoulders and gave him a smile with a nod showing him without words how proud and amazed they were at his victory. Razien looked back into their eyes, returning a smile, but deep down inside, he

knew Karne would be much harder to defeat. As the four friends stood in silence, Razien slowly raised the tip of his sword to his lips and gently licked the dragon’s blood off the tip. The moment he closed his mouth and swallowed the blood, he got a vision of where Karne’s mountain was located and what it looked like. As soon as the vision faded, Razien turned away from the beast and began walking to the hole in the ground that the dragons were digging at. His friends quickly ed him at the edge of the hole. “What do you think it is?” Bull asked curiously. “Well, by my guess,” Jon replied, “it looks like an entrance to a cave.” The cave entrance was no more than four or five feet in diameter but had a steep decline that disappeared into the darkness beneath the ground. Razien slowly turned his head to face his right ear to the hole and gently lowered himself to a kneeling position at its edge. “What is it, brother?” Nemajneb asked as he knelt next to his friend. “I hear something,” Razien replied as he focused his hearing, trying to make out the sound. “I cannot tell what it is though. It sounds like there are multiple creatures down there.” Razien stood to his feet and looked at his friends. “Only one way to find out,” he told them just before he jumped into the hole. One by one without hesitation, his friends followed him down the pitch-black hole. The ground that they landed on just a few feet from the opening was too steep to walk down, so as they landed, they began to slide down a somewhat steep slope kicking up dust behind them as the slid. After what seemed to be at least a few minutes of sliding, they all finally came to a stop at a flat portion of rock at the top of a cliff that overlooked a large wooded valley with streams and a few meadows scattered throughout it. As the friends looked out over the valley in awe, movement in a field closest to them caught their attention. The four friends focused on the movement, which looked like a swarm of ants to them from that distance. Nemajneb, Jon, and Bull tried to figure out what the animals were, but all they knew is that they were animals that they were looking at. Having vampiric eyes, Razien was able to

focus his vision at a much further distance than his human friends and could make out what they were with ease. Bull looked at Razien, about to ask him if he could tell what the animals were, when he noticed the vampire smiling. The two other friends looked at Razien after they noticed Bull staring at him and caught a glimpse of a smile on his face just before it turned to a look of confusion. “What is it, Razien?” Bull asked, confused from the change in his facial expression. “What is wrong.” Razien looked to his left at his three friends staring at him. “Nothing is wrong,” he replied as he looked back down at the creatures. “They are horses, lots of them too.” “What are horses doing down here?” Nemajneb asked, confused. “How did they even get down here?” Jon added to the question. “I agree,” Bull asked with curiosity. “How did they get down there and on top of that how is this cave lit up like the middle of the day, I see no light source?” Razien slowly began to scan the environment below them, trying to find an answer for the questions that he too wanted answered. “I do not—” Before he could finish his sentence, he began to hear a familiar voice in his head again. “My strong Razien, my champion,” the soft beautiful voice spoke. “I have put them here.” Razien knew instantly who it was that was speaking to him. “Loveaya,” he whispered softly. His friends stood, staring at Razien as they heard him quietly speak to himself. They watched in silence as he stood as still as a statue like he was in some kind of trance. “Yes, Razien, it is I,” she replied with joy in her voice. “Why have you trapped these creatures down here?” he asked, confused.

The voice gently giggled. “They are not trapped Razien, I am protecting them from the dragons.” “How long have they been down here?” he asked. “I created this place hundreds of thousands of years ago just for these creations of mine when I realized that they were the dragon’s favorite food,” she explained to him. “I could not let them be destroyed, but I could not get all of them here in time, so some were left behind with regret.” “Will you ever be able to free them from this place?” he asked in a whisper. There was a short silence before Loveaya answered his question. “Yes, Razien,” she replied softly. “When the dragons have been destroyed, I will free them. But know this, my champion, you will be the one who frees me of those creatures. They are all but wiped out due to the Vampire-Dragon War that took place decades ago, leaving less than two dozen alive at this moment of time.” “What if I cannot defeat Karne?” Razien asked hesitantly. “What then will happen?” “My poor Razien,” she replied with sadness. “I know I ask much from you, but you are the only one who can stop him. You must not doubt yourself for you have the strength of both worlds. You have the strength of the vampires from me and the strength of the dragons from Karne’s blood. Your journey will be dangerous and lonely, but I believe in you, and no matter what happens, I will always be with you.” “I will do my best for you and my family and friends,” he replied with confidence. “I will always be watching over you, but for now, I will leave you in peace, but we will talk again soon,” she replied softly. Razien stood speechless for a few moments once Loveaya had stopped talking to him. As he stood staring out over the valley, he was going over everything she had just told him trying to get his head wrapped around it and what it all meant. After a few moments, Razien turned to his brothers and began to speak in a low voice. “Brothers,” he said. “We must save these creatures.”

“How do we do that?” Bull asked, confused. “We must defeat the dragons,” Razien answered as he turned to look back down at the thousands of horses. “Loveaya hid them down here thousands of years ago to protect them from being eaten by the dragons. Once we have rid the planet of dragons, she will let them roam free on the surface.” “Does that include Karne as well?” Jon asked curiously, hoping he would not hear the answer that he was dreading. Razien looked back at his brothers with sadness in his eyes. “Yes,” he answered quietly. “That includes the black dragon Karne.” Bull began to think quietly to himself for a moment then turned back to look at Razien. “What if we created a age out of here for the horses?” he asked. Razien looked Bull in the eyes. “We cannot do that, brother,” he replied. “For one, if we free these creatures before we destroy all the dragons, there will be thousands lost to the dragons. For two, Loveaya has spoken, and I will not defy her. She is on our side and these are her creations. If she says that we must destroy all the dragons first, then we must destroy all the dragons first.” “So what now?” Nemajneb asked as he turned to his vampiric friend. “Now we leave this sanctuary behind and continue our journey east,” he replied. “We must finish what we started weeks ago and save Loveaya and her creations. We must not fail her.” Razien’s brothers nodded in agreement, and at the same time, the four of them turned to the opening in which they came and began their long climb to the surface. Razien was first into the tunnel, then Bull, Jon, and Nemajneb. When they had finally reached the surface, the sun had already begun to set. “Well,” Bull said as he stood to his feet once exiting the hole. “I guess we are camping here tonight.” “I did not think we were down there that long,” Nemajneb added as he looked around the clearing scanning the tree line. “It must have taken a while for us to climb out of the cave.”

Razien looked at his friends. “I guess it does not matter how long we were down there or how long it took us to climb out because it is dark now and we are not traveling at night, so we need to gather some wood and get a fire going.” Without hesitation, the four friends went in separate directions and began gathering wood for the fire. Razien returned first with the biggest armload of wood and dropped it next to the dead dragon that he had slain earlier. The other three friends returned at about the same time and stopped and stared at Razien with a slight disgust in their eyes. “Are we really camping out by this dead dragon?” Bull asked as Razien started the fire. “Yes, Bull, we are,” he replied. The three friends looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders, then dropped the wood they gathered into one pile then sat down around the fire by their vampiric friend. The group ate some jerky and some berries they had found a few days before without speaking a word. For a couple of hours, the friends just sat around the fire, each going over in their own head on what had happened throughout the day. Jon finally broke the silence. “Hey, bro, can I ask you a question about earlier?” Razien looked at his childhood friend with his left eyebrow raised and a curious look in his eyes. “Brother, how long have you known me?” he asked with a smile. “A long time your whole life in fact,” Jon replied, looking into the fire with a grin on his face. “Well, out of everybody here, you should know that you guys can ask me anything, and I will be honest with my answer,” he told his friend. Jon looked back at Razien and nodded. “Earlier when you were communicating with the spirit of the earth.” “Her name is Loveaya,” Razien interrupted politely. “Sorry, brother,” Jon apologized. “Why does she not speak to any of us but

you?” he asked. “We all are on the same journey trying to accomplish the same thing.” “That I do not know, my friend,” Razien replied as he looked up to stare at the Blood Moon that sat high in the night sky but was getting smaller by the day. “All that I do know is that I am the only one who can stop Karne and his destruction. She needs me to defeat the black dragon because if I do not, she and all her creations will suffer until I do.” “So if you cannot answer that question, can you answer my question?” Nemajneb asked. “That depends on the question, I suppose,” Razien replied with a smile looking at the barbarian. Nemajneb looked up at the Blood Moon and pointed with his right hand. “How much longer before that curse in the sky moves on and leaves us in peace? I have been here since before it arrived, and it has been a long sixty-five years of chaos and destruction how much longer do we have to deal with the black dragon?” Razien looked around at his friends sitting around the fire. “In my father’s castle, he had a room dedicated to the known history of the Blood Moon and Karne. He showed me this room for the first time the same night just before we left for your cave,” he said as he looked into Nemajneb’s eyes. “What did he tell you?” Jon asked curiously. Razien rubbed his hands together, then stood to his feet and turned his back to the fire and his friends to stare out into the darkness in the woods. He choked back on some tears as the conversation began to bring back memories of his father and mother. In a shaken voice, he continued to answer the question. “The Blood Moon only stays around for sixty-six years, but it comes back around about every thirty-six hundred years.” Nemajneb looked up from the fire to look at his friend. “So we only have about three to four months left I do believe?” he asked with some enthusiasm in his voice. Razien turned to look at his friends, still sitting by the fire. “Actually a little less, I believe, but yes, no more months left. Now we need to get some sleep because

we still have a long journey ahead of us,” he said as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

Solrac

The group had traveled for about a week after leaving the Hidden Valley before they finally reached the edge of the forest they had been traveling through since the Cerberus River. The group noticed, when they exited the forest, the sun was setting and that there was a mountain range no more than a half day ahead of them. They made camp for the night in silence, and at first light the following morning, they headed for the mountains. As they got closer, they saw an open area, with no trees at the top of the ridge a little farther to the south. Before nightfall, the group had made it to the clearing on the ridge and began setting up camp. After camp was set up, they had just enough time and sunlight to scan the area. Every direction that the group looked, they could not see a single sign of a town or a single sign of any camps. In front of them far in the east on the other side of some slightly smaller mountains, they could see four dragons circling something that not even Razien make out. The only things he could make out were multiple smoke chimneys rising into the sky and the dragons. With the sun setting behind them, the group stared in curiosity for a few moments, then Jon lit the campfire. Once they had their campfire going, the friends discussed what their next move was. “Are we heading toward those dragons tomorrow?” Bull asked the young vampire as he lay next to the fire staring at the stars. Razien stood against a tree keeping his eyes and ears focused into the night guarding the group from unexpected guests. “We need to keep heading southeast,” he replied. “But I think we should check it out and see if anyone is in need of our help. If I am right, we should be arriving there about nightfall tomorrow night as long as we leave at first light and as we do not run into any trouble on the way.” “Get some rest, brother,” Nemajneb said, talking to Razien. “We all need it.” Razien pushed himself away from the tree with his right shoulder, then looked over at his friend. “Brother, you should know by now that I can go days without

sleep and still be at one hundred percent. Besides I need to keep watch just in case those dragons decide to show up.” “We can take turns keeping watch, brother,” Jon added in. “Look,” Razien replied as he turned to face all three of his friends. “You guys need the rest, I do not, so please get some rest, and I will keep watch all night. You never know, we might have a fight tomorrow if those dragons are still around by then.” Bull turned his head to look at Razien. “Can you still see them or hear them out there?” he asked. “Yes, I can. They have not moved from that area,” Razien replied as he turned his back to his friends and walked out of the light of the fire and disappeared into the darkness. Bull turned to look at his brother, Jon. “Do you think Razien will be okay?” he asked in a whisper. Jon looked up at the Blood Moon crossing his arms under his head. “I have known Razien all his life, and he has always been fighting the darkness within his blood, and he has always overcome it. Vlad and Vile raised him the right way. So yes, to answer your question, I know he will be okay we just need to make sure that we are there when he needs us most.” The three men lay in silence for a while before they all finally fell asleep. Throughout the entire night, while his friends slept, Razien kept a close watch over them. He knew deep down in his heart that without his friends, he would not be able to accomplish the task that was given to him by Loveaya. Even though his eyes and ears were focused on the night, his mind wandered to the day that he first ran into Karne and what he did to his father and his father’s castle. Thinking about his father brought tears to his eyes. The more Razien thought about what Karne did to his mother and father, the angrier he got. As his anger began to rise and his eyes began to turn from their crystal blue to a bloodred, the beautiful soft voice he longed to hear began to speak to him once again. “Calm yourself, Razien,” she said. “We are with you at all times.”

“What do you mean by we?” he asked quietly. “She means me and her, my son.” A male’s voice spoke softly to him. Razien realized that he knew the male’s voice, and tears began to stream down his cheeks. “Father?” he asked, softly choking on his words. “Yes, my son, it is I,” Vlad replied to him. “We are always with you.” “But how can this be?” Razien asked, confused. “I watched your body disappear in the sunrise.” “Razien, my warrior,” Loveaya replied, “what you watched that morning was me bringing your father back to me.” “But I need him now more than ever,” Razien replied as he sat on the ground against a tree. “My son, do not be sad, I am here with Loveaya, and it is beautiful. Just that with me here, I can be there for you whenever you need me.” “Razien, listen to me,” Loveaya said. “Your destiny has been preordained for many millennia. Your journey has been set for a long time, but the only thing that your destiny cannot control is your choices. You may choose the path you wish to walk, but all life needs your help, including me. I am sorry that you have to go through all of this.” Razien looked up to the White Moon, tears still streaming down his cheeks. “Father,” he said under his breath as he tried to control his emotions. “I do not know if I can do this. I am afraid that my anger will get the best of me, and I will fail you, all of you. Karne’s evil is strong in my blood, and it is hard to fight.” “Son,” Vlad replied, “I know you can do this because you are my son. You have been fighting Karne since the day you were born, and you have always succeeded. Use the love in your heart to continue fighting him, Razien. That is where he will underestimate you, you hold love for everybody and everything, and that is what it will take.” “Why did he take the two people I love most?” Razien asked.

“Razien,” Loveaya replied. “He will do anything it takes to bring your inner anger out. He thinks that his how he will get you to break and to him.” “What about mom?” Razien asked, worried. “Son,” Vlad answered, “do not count on Karne to let her live. He still has her, and she is still alive for now, but he will use her to barter. He will try to use her life to try to get you to him, and he will threaten to kill her if you do not. He may even try to keep her alive to keep you obedient to him.” There was a pause for a moment before Vlad continued. “Razien,” he continued, “no matter what happens or what Karne says, do not let your mother suffer at his hands. You know your mother would rather die than see you him.” Razien stood to his feet and wiped the tears from his face, and at that moment, he knew exactly what needed to be done. “I love you father, and, Loveaya, I love you too, and I will not let you or my mother down.” “I love you too, son,” Vlad replied. Loveaya paused for a moment before replying because she had never in her long life of existence had anyone ever told her that the way he did. “I love you too, Razien,” she replied, speaking the words for the first time in that way. As his father’s and Loveaya’s voices faded into silence, Razien realized that the sun was beginning to rise, so he turned to wake his sleeping friends. When he returned to the camp, he saw that his friends were already awake and preparing breakfast for the group. When Razien appeared from the shadow of the woods, his friends looked at him for a moment and could tell that something was on his mind. “Morning, brother,” Jon said, breaking the silence. “How did your watch go?” he asked, trying not to show concern to his childhood friend. Razien stopped and sat next to his friend, crossing his arms on his knees as he stared into the small fire that they had going. “Loveaya and my father spoke to me,” he replied honestly. Bull and Nemajneb listened in silence as the two old friends discussed what happened throughout the night. Jon looked to Razien with curiosity. “What did they have to say?” he asked, trying not to make his friend feel like he was trying

to pry. “You do not need to answer if you do not want too, brother,” he added. Razien sat for a moment in silence, contemplating if he should answer or not. After a moment, Razien looked up from the fire and glanced at his three friends around the fire with him. “They both told me that they are always with me and that Karne will use my mother against me to get me to do his bidding.” Nemajneb leaned slightly toward Razien. “Brother, we will do whatever it takes to save Vile.” Bull nodded in agreement. “Anything it takes, brother,” he added. Razien looked at Nemajneb and Bull with tears swelling up in his eyes. “You do not understand, brothers. I am afraid that if he succeeds in killing my mother, I will not be able to control my anger. If I lose my temper too far, Loveaya may not even be able to calm me. I promise you, though, no matter what happens, even if she does die, I will do everything in my power to keep myself in check. That is when I will need you all more than ever.” Jon patted Razien on the shoulder with a smile. “Brother,” he replied, “we got your back no matter what happens, and we will not let you Karne. Stop worrying, brother, you got this and we got you.” The other two friends nodded in agreement, then they all began to eat breakfast in silence. When they all had finished eating, they gathered their gear and began heading east down the side of the mountain. They had reached the valley at the base of the mountain in just a few hours. Their goal was to make it to the ridge of the smaller mountains on the other side of the valley before sunset. They knew that if they wanted to make it to where they had seen the dragons flying the day before, then they could not stop to rest at least until they reached the smaller ridge. Running out of energy and tired, they had finally made it to the smaller ridge just a few hours after midday. Once they had reached their destination at the top of the ridge, they had stopped to rest and gather their energy. While his three human companions rested and ate jerky, Razien went off into the woods to catch some live food so he could gather more strength. It took Razien only a few minutes before he caught the scent of a deer, and within seconds, he was tackling the deer to the ground. In just a couple of moments, he had finished

devouring his meal and stood to his feet. He could feel the warm blood of his kill rushing through him, strengthening every muscle in his body. After cleaning his face and hands of the blood, he headed back to his friends to sit with them. When he returned to his friends, they were still eating. As he got closer, they began to stare at him with almost-horrific looks in their eyes. He looked back at them with confusion. “What is wrong?” he asked, confused. Jon’s facial expression turned to a grin as he pointed to the corner of his mouth, motioning to Razien. “You got a little blood left on the left side of your mouth, brother,” he mentioned quietly. Razien used his left forearm and wiped the corner of his mouth. “Sorry about that,” he said with a smile. “I got a little carried away back there, it has been a little while since I have had some fresh blood.” “Come on, brother, we are trying to eat man,” Bull said disgusted and throwing his jerky back in his bag. “That was gross, brother.” Razien and his other two friends began laughing at Bull and the faces he was making at the vampire’s comment. Razien sat down next to Jon, and the four friends talked and joked for a bit while they rested. After about an hour or so, Razien stood to his feet and motioned to the others that it was time to go. While his friends packed their gear, Razien climbed to the top of a tree to get a good view and try to find where the smoke chimneys from the day before were located. As he scanned the woods below him at the bottom of the small mountain they were on, he noticed some faint small smoke chimneys filtering through the treetops, just a few miles from where they had rested. Once Razien figured out where they needed to go, he jumped from the top of the tree and landed next to his friends, making the three of them jump. As he stood to his feet while the three of them stared at him, startled, he patted Jon and Bull, the two he landed between, on the shoulders and motioned for them to follow him. “This way,” he said with a smile as he started down the mountainside. Within just a couple of hours, the group made it to the area where the smoke chimneys had come from. They made their way through the thick forest to a small opening in the trees where it looked as if a small battle had taken place.

The four friends began walking around the area, examining the burn marks on the trees and the ground. They found arrows stuck in the trees many feet above them, and some were just lying on the ground like someone had dropped them. “What do you think happened here?” Jon asked as he walked over to Razien. “I do not know,” Razien replied, confused as his vampiric eyes scanned the area. “My best guess is that the dragons were after someone they did not like.” “Do you think they are still alive?” Nemajneb asked as he walked over to Jon and Razien. “I hope so,” Razien said with hope in his voice. Razien’s ears began to twitch. “Bull, stop!” he yelled, trying to get Bull to stop searching by a hollow tree. Just as Razien yelled for Bull to stop, a man covered in dirt and filth jumped out of the hollow tree, grabbing Bull from behind, holding a knife to his throat. Bull tried to struggle free, but the harder he fought, the harder the stranger held Bull, and the harder he pushed the knife to Bull’s throat, causing a small trickle of blood to form at the tip of the knife. “Who are you!” the stranger asked in fear. “Why are you here!” Razien took half a step forward. “My name is Razien,” he explained. “We are not here to do you harm. We saw the dragons flying above this area along with smoke chimneys coming from here yesterday. We came to see what was going on and to see if anyone needed our help.” “Why would you help someone you do not know? How can I trust you?” the stranger asked. “What is your name?” Razien asked politely. “Solrac,” the stranger replied as his eyes moved from Razien to his two friends beside him, trying to figure out if he could trust them or not. “Solrac,” Razien replied. “Like I said, my name is Razien, this here is Nemajneb.” He motioned to his right. “This here is Jon.” He motioned to his left.

“And the one you are holding a knife to is Bull. Now if you would please let him go, or I will have to make you, and I do not want to do that.” Solrac took a step back, pulling Bull with him. “If you take one step near me, I will kill him before you get to me.” As soon as Solrac completed his threat within a blink of an eye, Razien was standing in front of Bull and his captor holing Solrac’s knife in his hand. Solrac stood stunned for a moment as Razien stared into his eyes. “How did… Wait you are a vampire?” Solrac asked in fear. “Yes, friend, I am a vampire, but I am not here to hurt you but to help you.” “Why would a vampire be traveling with humans, let alone want to help me, another human?” Solrac asked, confused as he let Bull free and took a couple of steps back. Razien gently grabbed Bull’s arm and moved him to his left out from between him and the scared stranger as he handed Solrac’s knife back to him. “Because my fight is not with you, it is with the black dragon Karne. Now I have shown you, we mean no harm to you, so please let us sit and talk,” he said as he reached out to shake Solrac’s hand. Reluctant, Solrac shook Razien’s hand. “Okay,” he replied. After they shook hands, Razien turned and looked at his friends and motioned for them to him in gathering firewood. As the four friends walked around gathering wood Solrac turned toward the hollow tree he was hiding in and grabbed his gear and his bow he had stashed in it. When the four friends began to bring back wood and pile it up, Solrac got the fire started. By the time that everyone got done collecting wood and began to sit by the fire, Solrac no longer felt threatened and began to relax and let his guard down. “So,” Bull asked as he leaned against a log by the fire picking at the dirt under his nails. “Are we camping here for the night, or should I say for the day since there are still quite a few hours left in the day, or are we just taking a long break?” Solrac looked around the fire at the four friends. “So why are you going after

Karne?” he asked, confused. “You do know that everyone who has fought him has died, right?” Razien looked at Solrac with a small smile on his face then glanced over to Bull. “Once I have caught Solrac up on the events that have unfolded, we will head out, Bull. Plus we could use a short break for right now.” Razien then looked back at Solrac and began filling him in on the events that had led up to that moment. It took a couple of hours for Razien to explain everything to Solrac without getting into extreme detail. When Razien had finished his story, Solrac sat staring back at Razien with an aghast looked on his face. Solrac was not sure exactly how to react to what Razien had just told him. “So you are telling me that you are a vampire with the black dragon’s blood flowing through your veins?” he asked astonished. Razien looked into the fire rubbing his hands together. “Yes,” he replied. “As I said, I had no choice. My mother made the decision on the night of my birth. I will be honest with you, I fight the darkness of Karne’s blood every day, and with the help of my friends, I will defeat him.” Razien sat in silence for a moment. “I do have a question to ask you, though.” Solrac looked at Razien with confusion for a second. “What is your question?” he asked. Razien looked around the small fire at his friends. “I would like you to us on our journey to defeat Karne.” Razien paused for a second. “So my question to you is, will you us and fight the evil that torments these lands?” he asked with a serious look on his face. Solrac stared back with a surprised look in his eyes. “Why would you want me to you when I held a knife to his throat?” he asked as he pointed to Bull, who sat to his right. Razien looked over to his left at Bull with a slight grin. “Yes, you did,” he replied, looking back at Solrac. “But let me ask you another question.” Razien paused for second again. “Why were the dragons after you yesterday?” he asked with curiosity. Solrac sat in silence for a few moments. “A week ago,” he began, “six dragons attacked my village that was about three days north of here.”

“What do mean by was three days north?” Jon asked curiously. Solrac’s eyes began to fill with tears as he swallowed hard to hold them back. “They destroyed the entire village, and I was the only one who made it out alive,” he replied as he wiped the tears from his eyes and cheeks. “My wife and our three children were all burned alive by dragon fire. I did everything I could to save them, but I was out on a hunt when the dragons attacked. When I finally made it back to my village, I made it just in time to watch my family huddle together and begin screaming in agony as they became engulfed in dragon fire.” Solrac took a few minutes to gather himself before continuing. “As I watched in horror as my village and everybody in got destroyed, an anger consumed me that I had never felt before and without thinking I took my bow and shot at the closest dragon to me, and I hit it in the left eye, sinking over half the arrow in its skull killing it instantly.” “How in the world did you hit a dragon in the eye with an arrow while it was flying?” Bull interrupted. “You have to be a damn good shot with a bow to do that.” Solrac looked at Bull with a small grin on his face. “I have been using a bow since I was twelve years old, and not to brag, I am a damn good shot with one thanks to my father,” he replied. “As soon as the dead dragon hit the ground, the other five dragons turned their attention to me. Unfortunately it was still too late for the people in my village. Once I saw the dragons coming for me, I had just enough time to shoot one more arrow at a dragon that was about to light my ass up with fire. I got lucky and hit him in the mouth as he opened it. Fortunately, that shot also killed that dragon instantly.” “As soon as I saw the dragon beginning to fall to the ground, I took off into the woods. Luckily for me, these woods are too thick for the dragons to land. I had been running and hiding from them for five days before I made it to this little half-ass clearing. When I made it here, that is when the dragons finally got me cornered. They circled above, leaving me no way out, so I shot every arrow I had trying to kill as many as I could, but unfortunately, the treetops were too thick for me to get a clean shot. That is when I hid in that hollow tree.” Razien stood to his feet and walked over to Solrac and motioned for him to stand with him. “Brother,” Razien said with sympathy. “All of us know how you are

feeling. We all have gone through some sort of tragedy to get where we are today.” Razien reached out with his right arm, and in return, Solrac reached out his right arm, and the two grabbed each other’s forearms and shook in understanding of each other. Razien looked at his three friends still sitting by the fire and nodded to them, then looked back at Solrac. “You are welcome to us if you would like to, we are all here for some kind of vengeance,” Razien told him. “Plus we could use a good archer on our side,” he added with a smile. Solrac looked into Razien’s eyes and knew he was sincere. “I will you as long as the rest of you are okay with it,” he said as he turned to the others. One by one, the others stood to their feet and walked over to the new addition to the group and shook arms with him, welcoming him to the group. After the last one shook his arm, they all sat back down by the fire except for Solrac. Without saying a word, he walked back to the hollow tree where he hid from the dragons and grabbed something from within it. As he walked back to the fire, he stretched out his left arm that was holding the leather pouch that he retrieved from the tree. “What is that?” Nemajneb asked curiously. “This is my own concoction of mead, and it is the best you will ever taste this side of the Cerberus River,” he said with a smile. “I would like to share it with all of you.” The four men sitting around the fire began to laugh and yell in approval as he walked back to the fire and sat down. “I will warn you, though, if we start to drink this now, we will not be able to travel until morning,” he told them with a smile. The men became silent and then looked to Razien, awaiting his approval since he was the leader and in charge. Razien looked back at the four men purposely, making them wait before he gave them an answer. After a few moments went by without saying a word, he stood to his feet and could tell that the excitement in their eyes was dwindling. As he stood there, he looked to the sky and could tell that there was still nearly a half a day of daylight left then looked back down to his friends. “Look,” he said to them, “we all have been through a rough time lately, and every one of us has had our own challenges that we have had to overcome.” With a smile forming on

his face, he continued as he sat back down. “Yes, we can camp here for tonight and continue in the morning as long as you all can promise me you will not be hungover and useless come tomorrow.” In excitement, the four men began to cheer and promise Razien that they would be fit and ready come sunrise. As the men began to the pouch of mead around, each one of them told their story to the others of how they became part of the journey with Razien. Razien ed on drinking since it would have just been wasted on him; instead, he just sat back and watched with enjoyment as his friends had a good time laughing and drinking. Razien knew in his heart that this could be one of the last times that they would be able to enjoy themselves like this. Bull was first to tell his story of how he ed and how he used to hate vampires because they slaughtered his family. He explained how it would have taken time to trust Razien, but since Razien had saved his life, he was quick to trust him. Bull told them how he hated being a negative person, but over the past few weeks, traveling with the group, he realized that there are so many others out there that have it worse. He told them how thankful and honored he was to be with them on this journey and that it has changed him into a better man. When Bull finished telling his story, Jon patted him on the shoulder and began explaining his story to the group. He told them how he had grown up with Razien since the day the vampire was born and how they became like brothers. He explained a little about Razien’s parents, Vile and Vlad, and what kind of vampires they were. He mentioned why he had moved to the small village of Creeton and why he had ed Razien on his journey. Nemajneb was last to tell his story. He told them how old he was and how he became that old. He explained the horrors he went through over his family and that it was his fault. He told them how he came to first meet Razien and the training he put him through. He told them how he watched the torment that Razien had went through when his father had died, and that from that moment, he swore to fight along Razien’s side until the end. For hours Razien watched and listened to his friends tell their stories to one another. He could not help but feel sorry for them, but at the same time, he felt a great amount of honor that they all chose to fight by his side. On occasion, the stories would bring tears to his eyes and more strength to his heart to fight the evil that flowed through it. As night began to fall, Razien watched as each

drunken man began to out beside the fire. It did not take long before they had all ed out heavily asleep. While his friends slept, he could feel the air getting chillier, so Razien decided to stay awake and keep the fire going while he kept watch over the camp. As he kept watch, he could not help but think about each of their stories that they had told. The more he thought about them, the more he realized that he had to do whatever it takes to defeat Karne, even if it meant losing his mother. As he thought about it, streams of tears began to roll down his cheeks. Razien looked up into the night sky at the white moon, Luna, as he wiped the tears from his face and whispered, “Mother, I am sorry, but I cannot let anyone continue to suffer. I must defeat Karne at any cost, even if it is your life that he threatens. Know that I love you but also know that I cannot let everyone who has died or is going to die, die in vain.” While he spoke to his mother, she could hear him all the way from the cave she was in where Karne kept her prisoner. As she lay in the dark listening for Karne’s return to the island, she began to hear the sound of Razien’s voice being carried by the wind. Though she was weak and shaking, she tilted her right ear to the wind and listened carefully. As her son finished and his voice faded, tears began to roll down her cheeks. After she stood for a moment listening to silence, she closed her eyes and whispered back. “My son,” she said with joy and sadness in her voice, “I will always love you no matter what, and I understand what you may have to choose. Know that your father and I love you and are very proud of you. I love you, son.” Razien heard his mother’s voice in the wind answering him. He also tilted his right ear to the wind and listened. Joy filled his heart for a moment before it sank back down to sadness. Razien thought he was just hearing things until he heard her voice again. “Razien, can you hear me, son?” she asked. “If you can hear me, please whisper back.” “Mother?” he asked in a confused but surprised whisper. “How can this be? How are we able to talk to each other? Are you close by?”

Razien had all kinds of questions he wanted to ask, but before he could get out any more, Vile interrupted. Vile began to explain to her son what was happening. “Razien, get control of yourself and listen to me. We are speaking to each other through what is called the vampiric whisper. Only vampires can hear it. Those of us that are pure born start to develop different abilities after we turn eighteen years of age. Every vampire develops different abilities at different times and different speeds between eighteen and twenty-five. The vampiric whisper is the first to develop in every vampire.” Razien stood paralyzed for a moment while he listened carefully. When she finished, Razien quietly replied. “Mother, are you okay? Do you know where you are?” he asked. “Do not worry yourself with how I am doing, I am alive, and I am fine,” she told him in a calm and collected voice. “, son, he wants to keep me alive so he can use me to get to you. You need to be strong and ready for when the time comes, and worrying about me when I am fine is not helping you.” Razien lowered his head and stared at his sleeping friends by the fire and understood what his mother meant. “Yes, Mother,” he replied in a whisper. “Son,” she said in a soft motherly whisper. “Now that you have the vampiric whisper, more abilities are going to start developing. All your senses will get a lot more sensitive, and it can be overwhelming…Razien, we have to stop communicating,” she interrupted herself. “I hear Karne returning. I love you, son.” Razien knew that if Karne saw her communicating with him, there was no telling what he would do or how far he would go to punisher her just to punish him. Razien stared back into the fire and at his four friends that have ed him to fight the darkness. As he glanced back into the fire, for the first time in his life as far as he could , his eyelids became heavy, and exhaustion swept over him that he had never felt. Before he knew it, he was ed out cold next to the fire and his friends. The next morning, one by one, the sun rays shining through the treetops began to wake everyone in the group. Razien was first to wake up, and as he sat up, he watched the others stir as they, too, began to rise. Razien stood to his feet, staring

at the ground with a confused look on his face. Jon noticed his childhood friend acting a little strange, so he walked over to Razien and patted him on the shoulder. “Everything okay, brother?’ he asked with concern. “You look a little confused this morning.” Razien looked into his friend’s eyes with confusion but with a smile on his face. “Yes, I am fine,” he replied. “I just…” He thought for a moment. “I think I am starting to develop my abilities.” “What do you mean?” Solrac asked as he rose to his feet. “What kind of abilities?” he asked curiously. Razien looked around at his friends with a smile from ear to ear on his face. “Last night, I developed the vampiric whisper, and I was able to communicate with my mother.” Each friend congratulated him, and as he smiled with appreciation, he continued explaining more about it and what had happened while they were asleep. “She told me that now that I have the whisper, other abilities will start to manifest, and before anyone asks, no, I do not know what they will be or when they will develop.” The four men chuckled at his last remark and began to gather their gear and put out the fire. Once the group finished gathering their gear, they began to follow Razien southeast again. As they started on their journey, none of them spoke a word to one another. Instead, they all were caught up in thinking about what had happened that night. With smiles on their faces and not knowing what was to come, they continued walking.

A Destiny Set in Motion

Afew short days after Solrac ed the group on their journey, they came across a small water hole that was no more than six feet in diameter in the middle of a thick pine forest. It was getting close to sunset when they arrived, and so they decided to camp by the water for the night. Everyone worked together in silence as normal, collecting the wood and preparing the dinner. Exhausted from the long journey, the humans ed out before the sun even surrendered to the night. For Razien, it was a little different, he hardly ever felt tired, and like most of the nights before, he stood watch as his friends slept. As all the other nights, he longed to hear Loveaya’s voice again. For Razien as the days and nights ed, he began to fall in love with the spirit of the earth. When she would speak to him, his heart would fill with light and love washing any darkness that would be there away. As Razien stood there leaning against a tree, letting his mind wander to the conversations he and Loveaya had, he began to hear her voice once again. Hearing her voice made him smile in relief and joy. “Razien, my champion,” she said in her soft voice, “come to me.” “How?” he asked in a whisper, curiously with excitement. “Tell me how I can come to you, and I will, Loveaya.” “That water hole you have chosen to camp by leads deep into a cave,” she told him. “It is a long swim, but you can make it.” “How do you know I can make it there without drowning?” he asked, confused. “Because I created you and so I know what you are and can be capable of,” she replied. “Okay,” he answered quietly, and without hesitation, he walked over to the water hole and took a deep breath and jumped in headfirst. As he swam straight down

for hundreds of feet, the water stayed crystal clear and was illuminated by algae on the walls of the tunnel. When he reached the bottom, Loveaya began to guide him through the entrecote cave system. For what seemed like hours to Razien, he had swum, following Loveaya’s guidance until she led him to an opening above him where he was able to crawl out of the water. As he stood to his feet, he wrung his long black hair, and to his surprise, he was not exhausted from holding his breath for that long period of time, like he thought he would be. “I am here, Loveaya,” he spoke out loud as he looked around the small cavern. He noticed that there were no tunnels in the walls and that there was only one way in and one way out, and that was the way in which he came. He saw little wormlike creatures crawling on the wall that produced a light-blue light from their bodies that illuminated the small cavern. “I know you are, Razien,” Loveaya replied as the wall to his right began to make a sound. He turned to look and saw that the wall had an opening that was not there before. He could see that it was a tiny room no more than a few feet in diameter with what looked like an altar in the middle. “Go to the pedestal,” she told him. As he walked closer, without hesitation, he saw that the pedestal had water in it that had a turquoise color to it. While he stood looking from the altar to the walls, he noticed a rugged-looking dagger engraved in the wall in front of him on the opposite side of the pedestal. “What now?” he asked curiously. Moments after asking that question, the dagger began to take shape right before his eyes and seemed to be hanging on the wall. “Take the dagger, Razien,” she told him softly. “Take the dagger and cut one of your palms and let the blood from your wound drip into the water in the altar.” Without thinking twice about it, Razien grabbed the dagger and did as she asked. Razien watched as his blood poured into the water, then out of nowhere, the water began to stir and boil. Shortly after the water began to boil, his wound began to heal, so he removed his hand from above the altar. Once he removed his hand from above the altar, he heard large amounts of water boiling behind him. As he turned, he saw the water in which he swam through was boiling rapidly. “What is happening, Loveaya?” he asked, confused, but she did not reply. He

stood watching, not knowing what was going on or what to do. “Loveaya?’ he asked again. With Loveaya not answering him, all Razien could do was stand there and watch. After a few minutes of boiling rapidly, the water instantly became calm without so much of a ripple. Razien stared at the water in confusion, and unbelievably, even seeing it with his own eyes, a form began to emerge from the water. He could tell that it was a human form, and from the facial features, he could tell it was a female. As she emerged from the water, Razien caught himself staring at her, entranced by her beauty. The woman had long dark hair that went to her knees with flower petals and oak leaves scattered throughout it and tiny vines weaved through it. Her skin was a turquoise color that glistened in the pale blue light of the cave. Her feminine parts were just barely covered by dark green oak leaves. Her eyes were like bright blue solar eclipses. “Razien,” she spoke softly. Razien looked hard into her mesmerizing eyes. “Loveaya?” he asked as he swallowed hard, recognizing her voice. “Yes, it is I, my champion,” she replied softly. Razien instantly fell to his knees at her feet. “How?” he asked, almost in tears. “How is this possible?” Loveaya leaned down and grabbed his left hand and helped him to his feet. “You were the one who brought me here.” She told him as she held his hands in her own. “I could not have done this without you, Razien,” she said with a smile. “It was your blood that gave me this form.” “Loveaya,” Razien said quietly as he looked from her hands to her eyes. “I have a confession to make to you. I think I am falling.” Loveaya gently placed her index finger on his lips, stopping him before he could finish. “I know, Razien, my feelings have grown strong for you too, but that is not why I had you come here,” she told him as she let go of his hands. Razien looked at her, confused and not knowing what to say; his eyes just stared

back into hers with all his emotions building up behind them. He wanted to move closer to her, but he felt as if his body was paralyzed. Razien had never felt this way in his life, and slowly, it started to frighten him because he had no idea how to respond to the feelings inside him that were coming to the surface. Loveaya held out her left hand in front of Razien with the palm facing up. Razien glanced down at her hand just as she began to speak. “Razien,” she began, “you came here so I could tell you the truth about your true destiny and how it came about.” “But did you not already tell me?” he asked, confused. Loveaya smiled at him and replied, “I told you the simple basic version, but it is much more complex and complicated than that.” She paused for a moment before she continued. “Your destiny started over six billion years ago. Now you may think that six billion years is a long time and for a human or even a vampire it is. Now for us celestial bodies such as myself, we are a little different, we age only ten years for every million in human years. So six billion years to you is only sixty thousand years to me, and that is still considered very young to us.” “To us?” Razien asked curiously. “Yes, us,” Loveaya answered as she looked down to her own hand, motioning Razien to do the same. As Razien looked down to her hand, like magick images of our solar system began to manifest above it. He looked at it with confusion, not knowing what it was. “What is it?” he asked. Loveaya gently placed her right hand under his chin and lifted it so that they were looking into each other’s eyes. “Before I continue,” she said softly, “you must understand that celestial spirits like me exist in every planet and every sun, and we are able to see into the past, the present and even the future.” Razien nodded, acknowledging that he understood what she was saying. Loveaya pointed at the image above her left palm, and the planets scrolled out of sight until only the sun was the only image above her palm. “I will use the names that humans will use in the future for the celestial names, for they are too difficult even for me to pronounce in this form.” She explained to the young vampire. “This one,” she said, holding her palm high, “you call the sun. To the

celestial spirits we call him father, or Abba.” Loveaya began moving her right finger above her left palm as she lowered it to chest level and making the image slowly scroll through all the planets. “What humans call planets we call celestial bodies.” She began to spread her fingers on her right hand above the image, and it began to zoom out to where it showed the whole solar system. “What humans will call a solar system we call a celestial family. The names of the celestial bodies in our family in order are named: Mercury, Venus, Luna, Mars, Earth, or me, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and our adopted one called Pluto.” Keeping her fingers spread, she moved her right hand a little farther from her left and caused the image to zoom out even farther to show the entire galaxy. “What humans will call a galaxy we call a celestial cluster. Around six billion years ago, a celestial body went rogue in our cluster.” Razien looked at Loveaya with some confusion. “What do you mean by went rogue?” he asked. Loveaya smiled at Razien. “At one point during that time period, a celestial body left its celestial family and traveled through space on its own that is what I mean by it went rogue. It chose to leave its celestial family behind.” Loveaya pointed at the image with her right index finger, and it began to zoom in on a celestial body that lay outside our celestial cluster. “This celestial rogue,” she said, “first came into our celestial family six billion years ago, and when it first arrived, one of its celestial guardians, or moons, smashed into me with great force.” Razien watched the image show the celestial rogue pushing one of its guardians smashing into a very large celestial body that was positioned between Mars and Jupiter, destroying over three-quarters of it. “That was you?” Razien asked as he pointed with his right hand and with sorrow in his voice. Loveaya just nodded to reply. “How were you able to survive that?” he asked with sincere concern. “Keep watching,” she replied with a grin. Razien watched as the largest piece that was left of Loveaya drifted into Luna’s

orbit. “Did Luna help heal you?” he asked curiously. She replied with a smile, “Please, watch.” Razien nodded. “Sorry,” he replied as he looked back down at the image. He noticed that Loveaya drifted in Luna’s orbit for a while before Luna was able to catch up with her. Once Luna had caught up with Loveaya, she began orbiting the wounded celestial body, and over time, Luna was able to heal Loveaya. “How long did it take for her to heal you?” he asked, feeling sorry for her. Loveaya stopped the image for a moment causing Razien to look at her. “Just over one and a half billion years,” she answered, then the image began to move again. “By healing me, Luna elevated her celestial status from a celestial body to a celestial guardian or moon as you all have come to call her. Ever since then, she has been watching over me and protecting me and my creations.” After she told him, with gratitude in her voice, she looked up as if she was looking at Luna and smiled. Loveaya looked back at Razien with a serious look on her face and began to explain more. “After the celestial rogue left our area, my celestial family and I hoped that would be the last that we saw of it. Unfortunately, it started to show up every thirty-six hundred years like it was on a schedule. Every time it came through, it would either destroy a celestial guardian or come close to destroying a celestial body or guardian. “Fortunately, in the total amount of times that the celestial rogue has come through, it has destroyed four celestial guardians and one celestial body. My family has mourned over the loss of our four guardians for a long time now. My family and I decided a long time ago that we would give this rogue a name, and that name is Nemesis, destroyer of worlds. Shortly after I was completely healed and began to create life once again, my family and I started to discuss how we could put a stop to the destruction that was Nemesis. “For many hundreds of millions of years, we discussed what we could do, then one day during its through our celestial family, a war broke out between the gods and the beast that lived on the rogue body causing a small chunk of its body to break off and soon after it landed in my oceans. When I realized what kind of creatures it brought with it, I began to beg and plea with my family so that they may quicken their decision on what we could do.”

Loveaya paused for a moment as her eyes began to swell with tears. “So this is what it is like to cry,” she said as she tried to force out a chuckle. With her blue eyes, she stared back into Razien’s eyes, mesmerized over the feelings that she was feeling inside. “I can when those creatures, those dragons first landed in my ocean,” she said as she grabbed Razien’s left hand with her right. “They devoured anything they could get their claws on. I feared for my creations, then I saw Karne, the black dragon. I could feel the evil that surrounded him, then I began to fear for my own creation.” Loveaya took a few moments to gather her emotions together before she continued. “When my family saw what was happening on the surface of my celestial body, they, too, began to worry. We discussed all our options over the next few hundred thousand years.” “May I ask a question real quick, Loveaya?” Razien asked with a smile. “Of course you can, Razien,” she replied, smiling back at him. “How come it takes so long for you and your family to discuss something that is so important?” he asked curiously. Loveaya smiled at him as she brushed his left cheek with her right hand. “Sweet, Razien,” she explained, “we are very large celestial bodies, so when we speak, it is through a vibration that resonates through us. If spoken too fast, we can cause what humans call earthquakes, so it can take a thousand years just to speak one word and sometimes even longer depending on the length of the word. So a conversation between celestial bodies can take millions of human years and can actually destroy them if spoken too fast.” Razien looked at Loveaya with a surprise in his eyes. “That is really interesting,” he told her with sincerity. “The patience that you celestial beings must have must be great,” he said. “It is not patience, Razien,” she told him with a smile. “It is life.” Loveaya pointed back to her left hand with a grin. “Now back to Nemesis,” she said as the image began to move again. “Every time Nemesis comes into our family, it travels extremely close to my celestial graveyard, or as humans will

come to call it, the asteroid belt.” Razien watched the image as it showed the celestial rogue just barely misses Loveaya’s old celestial graveyard, but it was still able to send bits and pieces of her old body in many directions. He watched as Luna, Mars, and Loveaya were bombarded the most. His anger toward Nemesis swelled more and more, the more he learned about it. As he watched, he noticed that Loveaya’s celestial body acted differently and would begin to shake as Nemesis got closer and would stop shaking once it began to leave the celestial family. “Why is it that you shake when the rogue enters your family’s space, but you stop when it begins to leave?” Razien asked, trying not to offend her. Loveaya looked down at the ground with sadness in her eyes. “When a celestial body gets hit like I did,” she said, “normally they get completely destroyed. I, on the other hand, got very lucky that Luna was able to heal me. Something like that would make anyone afraid, so yes, when it first enters my family’s space, I am terrified until I know it will miss me.” “I am sorry, Loveaya,” Razien said with sorrow in his voice. “I did not mean to offend you.” “You did not offend me,” she replied. “It was a good question, and I know that you will not understand everything fully. Unfortunately, there is terrible things that do happen when I tremble as Nemesis gets closer.” “What happens that is so terrible?” he asked, trying to comfort her as he saw the sadness in her eyes. She looked Razien in his eyes with tears swelling up in hers. “Razien,” she said, “when I tremble, all my creations suffer because it causes earthquakes all over my surface, and it causes volcanoes to erupt all across my lands and oceans, putting all my creations at risk of dying.” “So let me get this straight,” Razien sad, “not only does Nemesis pose a threat to the possibility of destroying a celestial body directly, but even if it does not hit anything, it can cause massive catastrophes across any world it comes close to?” “Yes,” she replied as she slowly closed her eyes and caused tears to roll down her cheeks. “That is why my family and I had to come up with a way to destroy

it, and after hundreds of thousands of years of debating, we finally came up with a solution.” Razien looked at her with hope in his eyes. “What did you come up with to stop him?” he asked. Loveaya looked at Razien with sparkles in her eyes and a smile on her face. “My sweet Razien,” she spoke softly, “you are the solution that we came up with.” Razien looked at her, confused for a moment. “How can I be your solution?” he asked. “I am just a vampire,” he told her. “Razien, you are much more than a vampire,” she began to explain to him. “Not only are you a vampire who happens to have the black dragon’s blood flowing through your veins, but the night of your birth was a very special night.” “What was so special about it besides the fact that Karne was the one who saved my life?” he asked, confused and a little frustrated. “Karne saving your life that night was not a part of our plan. The night of your birth took over three hundred thousand years to prepare for.” She told him with love in her eyes as she brushed his cheek with her right hand again.” Razien closed his eyes and gently pushed his cheek against her hand, enjoying the feel of her touching him. After a few moments of her touching his cheek, he opened his eyes again, looking at her with curiosity. “Why did it take so long just to prepare for my birth?” he asked. “Because my family and I had to be in the right positions for our plan to work,” she told him with a smile. “We had to align ourselves perfectly, and to do so, it took approximately three hundred thousand years for all of us to get into position, including Luna.” “Why did you have to be perfectly aligned for me to be born?” he asked. As Loveaya began to explain the image above her left hand began to move. Razien watched as the celestial bodies of Loveaya’s family and her celestial guardian began to align. When they were perfectly aligned, they seemed to move as one. “Do you see us moving as one?” she asked.

“Yes,” he replied as he continued to watch the image. “What is that?” he asked all of a sudden, pointing at a strange glow that began to illuminate from the celestial body of Neptune, the farthest planet from their father. Loveaya looked down at the image, then back at Razien. “That is our celestial life force,” she told him with a smile. “It is not visible to the naked eye, but I want you to visually see what happened that night you were born. When we are perfectly aligned like that, we have the ability to a small portion of our life force to one another. That night every one of my siblings starting with the farthest one out ed some of their life force down the line until Luna was the last.” Loveaya paused for a moment and smiled. “When Luna had received all the life forces, she sent them down to you while you received mine through the bloodstone altar. Unfortunately, it was too much for your vampiric heart, and it almost killed you, until Karne came. With the blood of the dragon, heart of a vampire, and the life force of my entire celestial family, Razien, you are the only one of your kind, and not even my celestial family can tell you what kind of abilities you will develop over time.” Razien stood with the look of astonishment on his face having a hard time believing what Loveaya had just told him. After a few moments, he backed up against the wall, then leaned over and put his hands on his knees. While he leaned against the wall, Razien began to go over everything that she had ever told him. The more he thought about it, the more tears began to fill his eyes. “Did my mother and father know about me?” he asked, looking up at her with tears streaming down his cheeks. “Did they know how and why I was created? Have they suffered for no reason?” “Razien,” she said as she walked over and knelt in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulders. “Many thousands of years ago, when your father and Edwen the Wizard became friends, he was told by Edwen that his child would be the one that would be the one to either or stand against Karne. No, Edwen did not give him specifics on anything or a time frame, but your father was informed of a distant future with a family he would have.” Loveaya took a breath for a moment before she continued. “Edwen has known for tens of thousands of years about the destiny of your family. He even put the

mural on the wall in your father’s castle. Your father only knew the basics, and he only told your mother what he knew. They may not have known everything, but they knew that if they had a child that it would be the champion that would fight for the light or the warrior that would destroy for the darkness.” Razien dropped his look from her eyes to the floor of the cavern. “So they basically did know,” he said with sadness. “Yes,” she replied Razien stood up from the wall and wiped the tears from his face with the sleeves of his shirt. When he finished wiping the tears away, he began to hear his father’s voice. “Son,” he said. “Do not be upset with anyone over what has happened. I could not be prouder of you with what you have accomplished. If anyone can save us from Nemesis, it is you.” Razien looked about the cavern in hopes to see him. “Father?” he replied. “Why have you not told me this before? If you knew, why did you hide it from me?” he asked in a disappointed tone as tears began to fill his eyes again. “My son,” his father replied, “you cannot tell a child what their destiny is and expect them to understand. I told you when I thought you were ready, but I do not think that anybody can be prepared for a destiny quite like yours. I am sorry I did not tell you sooner, but please try to understand my situation from my point of view.” “What do you mean?” Razien asked, a little confused. There were a few moments of silence before Vlad replied. “You see it as a son who was kept in the dark about his true destiny by his father. Try seeing it from a father’s perspective. You are his only son, and the world’s greatest responsibility and its future rest on his shoulders. You would want to wait as long as you could before telling him as well, would you not?” Razien stood still thinking about what his father just said. He went over it again and again in his head until he finally realized that his father was right. “I am sorry, Father, you are right, I would probably wait to tell him as well.” Razien looked into Loveaya’s mesmerizing eyes. “I am sorry I questioned you the way I

did. I understand now why you did what you did.” She looked back into his eyes and could see the love that he had for his father and for the life around him. She knew he was the one to stop Karne and Nemesis, and the more she stared into his eyes and thought about him fighting Karne for her and all her creations, the more she began to feel an immortal love for him. She had never felt that feeling before not in all her years in existence. It took everything that she had, not to lean forward and kiss him on the lips, so to help keep from kissing him, she gently touched his right cheek with her left hand. The moment her hand made with his cheek, a small spark had formed, sending a sensational surge of energy through both of them. At the same time the energy surge ed through them, the ground shook gently. “What was that?” Razien asked, confused and surprised at the same time. “Why did the ground around us shake?” With her eyes wide open and not blinking, Loveaya stared into Razien’s eyes. “That was not just the ground around us, Razien,” she replied after a few moments of silence. “What do you mean?” he asked curiously. “Razien,” she said with a confused look on her face. “That was not just the ground around us, it was my entire celestial body that shook like that, and every living creature felt it.” Razien stood staring back at her in silence for a moment with a look of confusion. “How is that possible?” he asked. “I do not know,” she replied as she began to think to herself in silence, trying to figure out what had caused her to shake. After a few moments of silence, Razien was about to ask her a question when she startled him by breaking the silence first. “Razien,” she asked seriously, “can you make it back to the surface without my guidance?” “I believe I can,” he replied, confused. “Why, what is wrong?” he asked with sincere concern. Loveaya looked at him with urgency in her eyes. “I must talk to my family and

see what has just happened.” Razien looked at her with another confused look on his face. “But I thought you said it takes tens of thousands of years for you and your family to have a conversation?” Loveaya looked at Razien, with a concerned look on her face. “You are right,” she acknowledged. “I do not know what I was thinking. I do not know what to do, Razien. I need to know what caused me to shake like that and what it means. I should have seen this coming, but unfortunately, I was unable to do so.” Razien reached out with his right hand and grabbed her left hand with it and cupped his left hand over it while he looked her in her eyes. “I have an idea,” he mentioned to her. “What is it?” she asked curiously. Still looking her in her mesmerizing bright-blue ecliptic eyes and gently squeezing her hand, he began to explain. “You said that all celestial spirits can see into the past, present, and future correct?” he asked her. “Yes,” she replied, slightly confused. “What does that have to do with this situation?” Razien smiled as she asked her question. “Well,” he continued when she was done, “what if you return back into your true form and look into the future to the answer you received from the question you want to ask? Once you find the answer, you can come let me know. Is that at all possible?” A smile began to form on her face after he told her his idea. “That is a beautiful idea, Razien,” she told him as she kissed him on the cheek, causing another surge of energy to flow through both of them and causing her celestial body to also shake once again. As she leaned away after giving him a kiss, they looked at each other with ion in their eyes, not wanting to leave. “I must be going,” she told him as she backed away from him and toward the water in which she came. Razien watched with sadness in his heart as she disappeared into the water. Razien stood staring at the water for a few moments, already anxious to see her

again. “Until next time,” he whispered under his breath softly as he began to walk to the water and dive in. In no time and without any issues, Razien made it to the entrance of the water hole where his friends were camped close by. As Razien pulled himself out of the water and onto the ground, his four companions came rushing over to him to see what had happened. As Razien lay there, he realized it was still dark out. When his friends reached him by the water, they helped him to his feet. “Where were you?” Bull asked. “Did you feel those earthquakes?” Solrac asked in a worried tone. “Come on, guys, give him some room,” Jon told everyone as he shook his old friend’s hand motioning for him and the others to sit by the fire. The five friends walked to the fire and sat down on logs and rocks that were placed around it. As Razien sat on a log, he began looking around at his friends as they sat down and began looking back at him, anxious to find out where he was. Razien began to stare into the fire and slowly and gently rub his hands together. He could feel the eyes of his friends staring at him, waiting patiently for answers. After a couple of moments, Razien looked up at his friends and began explaining where he was. As he told his story, his friends listened intensely to every word he was saying. He told his friends every little detail of what had happened in the cave. He explained to his friends that he was falling in love with Loveaya and that he had a strong feeling that she felt the same way toward him. He told them that when she had touched his cheek and again when she kissed his cheek is when the earth had shaken. He told his friends about his adventure until the sun rose that morning. When he had finished his story, the group began gathering their gear and putting out the smoldering coals of what was left of the fire. Before the sun was able to completely rise above the horizon, they were back on their feet, heading southeast once again.

The Bridge

It was about four days after Razien learned of his destiny when the group came across a crevasse just after sunset. By what they could see, it looked like the depth of it was endless. They decided to wait until daylight to start looking for a way across. As the sun lit up the land around them the following morning, the group noticed that there were no trees anywhere near them except the forest that was about a mile or so behind them and that the crevasse itself went on for miles to the north and south and at least four hundred feet across. Razien looked at his four friends that sat on the edge of the crevasse with him. “Nemajneb, Solrac, I want you guys to go north. Jon, Bull, I want you guys to go south,” he told his friends with hesitation. “I want you all to search for a way across until dusk. If you cannot find a way across, I want you to make camp and head back here in the morning.” “What are you going to do?” Jon asked curiously. “Well,” Razien began to explain, “I am going to attempt to jump down into this crevasse, and if I succeed, which I should, I am going to explore around down there. If none of you find a way across, I will attempt to jump each one of you across here.” “Why not just do that instead of having us waste time by looking for a way across?” Bull asked, confused and slightly frustrated. Razien looked at Bull with a grin on his face. “Because for one, I want to check it out down there, and it will be easier to do that by myself. While I am doing that, you all can explore up here and see what you find. We all should meet back here tomorrow night.” Bull and the others nodded in understanding, and without another word being spoken, the five friends split up; Nemajneb and Solrac went north, and Bull and Jon headed south. Once his four friends were far enough away where he knew they could no longer see him, Razien looked over the edge of the cliff, and with little hesitation, he jumped.

For hours Jon and Bull walked south along the edge of the cliff, hoping to find a way across. By midday, they stumbled upon some dense woods that went all the way to the edge of the crevasse. They decided to take a short break just inside the wood line at the cliff’s edge. As they sat there eating their lunch, Jon began to scan the crevasse to the south, and as his eyes wandered, he could faintly see what looked like a bridge crossing the gap far to the south. “Hey, brother, check that out,” he said to Bull as he playfully slapped him in the chest with the back of his right hand and pointed toward the south to the bridge. “I think it is a bridge.” He told his brother. Bull leaned forward a little to try and get a better view. “You may be right,” he replied. “Only one way to find out though,” he said, looking at his brother with a smile. The two brothers finished eating and quickly gathered their gear and headed for the bridge. The men knew that it would be hours before they would reach the bridge, so they made sure to pace themselves so that they would still have their strength when they arrived, just in case they needed it. As they made their way through the dense woods after a couple of hours, Jon began to feel like someone was following them. “Hey, brother,” he said quietly, “I think we are being followed.” “What do you mean?” Bull asked as he went to turn around. “Do not look,” Jon whispered as he gently elbowed him in the gut. “Damn, brother, that is the fastest way to show that we are on to them if we are being followed.” “So what do you want to do to get them to show themselves?” Bull asked curiously. “Here in a minute, we will stop for a break, and I want you to get a small fire going while I wander off and see if that will get them to make a move on us,” Jon replied. As Jon was explaining what they should do, since he was a better strategist in warfare, Bull suddenly had a vision through his mind. “Suddenly, brother, I do not think that will work,” Bull interrupted.

“Why not?” Jon asked, almost offended. “You have never doubted me before, so why all of a sudden now?” “I do not know how to explain it, brother,” Bull replied with a confused, worried look on his face. “All I know is that while you were talking, I had this weird vision, I guess you could call it.” “What do you mean you had a vision?” Jon asked, interrupting Bull. “You have never had a vision before, have you?” he asked. Bull got a little frustrated from being interrupted by his brother. “No, I have not had any visions before this one,” he replied, frustrated. “What I was trying to say is that in this vision I had, you went off by yourself, and moments after you disappeared into the shadows, we both got captured by tall women that looked like warriors.” Jon looked at Bull with a smile on his face. “You know, brother, I cannot see anything in that statement that sounds bad to me.” Bull looked at his brother with a concerned look on his face. “That is what you may think, but, brother, I am having a bad feeling about this.” Jon patted Bull on his left shoulder as he turned to walk away. “We will be fine, Bull,” he said as he disappeared into the shadows of the woods. “That is what you think,” Bull muttered to himself under his breath as he began to gather wood for a small fire. While he continued to get a fire going, he realized that it had been quite a while since his brother disappeared into the shadows. Bull, being frustrated by his brother and cautious from his vision, slowly stood to his feet and began slowly and quietly, making his way in the direction that Jon had gone. After a few minutes of walking through the woods and seeing no sign of his brother, he began to worry. Just as he was about to call out to his brother, he felt a sharp object being pushed against his back next to his spine. Without saying a word, Bull spun around with his sword in hand, attempting to surprise the culprit behind him. To his dismay, the culprit was a woman dressed like a warrior that stood about six feet tall. Being caught off guard as he swung his sword at her, she easily deflected it with hers knocking it out of his hands.

Bull stood staring at the warrior in disbelief because she looked exactly like the woman in his vision. While he stood staring at her, another woman came from the shadows and tied his arms behind his back. As the woman tied his hands, he glanced back at her then back to the one in front of him. “Where is my brother?” he asked her in a stern tone. “So he is your brother,” she said with a smile on her face. As the woman in front of him replied to his question, the woman behind him kicked him in the back of his knees, causing him to fall to the ground. As he hit the ground with a thud, the woman behind him grabbed his long blond hair with force jerking his head backward and leaned forward to speak into his left ear. “You will not speak until our commander gives you permission to speak,” she told him in a demanding tone. Bull looked at the woman in front of him with wide eyes from the skin on his forehead being stretched back from the woman pulling his hair and, in an angry voice, asked again. “Where is my brother?” The women surrounding him just stared at him in silence. No matter how hard he struggled and fought to free himself, the bondages were too strong for Bull. After a while of struggling, Bull finally exhausted himself until he could not struggle anymore. Once he had stopped struggling, he just sat on his knees with his head hung low. Shortly after Bull gave up and stopped struggling, the woman behind him lifted him to his feet and began pushing him to get him to walk. After about an hour of him being constantly pushed from behind to get him to move, the commander of the women walked up to him and threw a rope around his neck. “You will move, or you will die,” she told him in a sharp tone. “You think you are a warrior?” she asked. “I have killed more people than you ever will,” Bull replied coldly as he looked her in the eyes. “You think you have killed more than me, but you are no warrior. Warriors do not pout, not even for their family. I should kill you now since you are no

warrior, we only want warriors.” “If you only want warriors, then where is my brother?” he demanded as the woman behind him began pushing him again. “No need to worry yourself with his location,” she replied as she turned to lead the way. Bull reluctantly followed the commander in hopes that she would take him to Jon. After a couple more hours of walking south, they reached the edge of the forest, and as Bull made his way out of the woods, he could see that they were at the bridge that Jon had spotted earlier that day. To his surprise, there was a small village at both ends of the bridge. As Bull scanned the village looking for his brother, the commander grabbed the rope that tied his hands and began pulling him behind her. Bull was so exhausted from the trampling through the woods for the past few hours he was barely able to keep up with the commander. Every time she pulled on the rope, Bull would stumble and almost fall to the ground. Once they made it across the small field between the wood line and the village, the commander handed Bull’s rope to another woman dressed in battle armor that was standing guard in an opening between two buildings. “Put him with the others,” she told the guard as she continued down the dirt path. “What others?” Bull asked, trying to catch his breath. He looked at the guard that he was handed off to. “What others?” he asked again. “Shut up and keep quiet,” she scolded as she harshly jerked on the rope causing Bull to fall to the ground. “Stand to your feet, you pathetic piece of meat called a man,” she yelled at him. “Warriors should not give up so easily.” “What is it with you women and warriors?” Bull asked as he stood to his feet, brushing the dust off his shirt, still trying to catch his breath. “And who said I gave up?” he asked her as she began leading him down another dirt path. “You know I am only human, so did you ever think that maybe I am just tired from being forced to walk for hours on in?” The woman ignored Bull and his complaining until she finally led him to a large

hole in the ground that was about ten feet deep and fifteen feet in diameter. Before Bull could walk to the edge of the hole and look down, the woman spun him around to where his back was facing the hole, and she cut the rope from around his wrists, then placed her right hand on his chest and pushed him in. “You complain too much,” she said, looking down at him as he tried catching his breath from hitting the bottom of the hole and getting the wind knocked out of him. “You are handsome, so I hope you know how to fight or you will die,” she said just before she turned and walked away. As Bull caught his breath and sat up holding his chest, Jon pushed ed a couple of other men surrounding Bull and grabbed his arm startling his brother. Bull looked up and saw his brother. “So what were you saying about it could be fun getting captured by women?” Bull mentioned to his brother sarcastically as he stood to his feet. Jon rubbed his head for a couple of seconds with his right hand. “Bull,” he asked curiously, “how did you know that was going to happen to us?” “I do not know,” Bull replied, just as curious. “It was just a random thought that went through my head, except it almost felt like a memory for the second that it lasted,” he explained to Jon. “Now I have a question for you,” Bull stated. “What?” Jon asked. “How in the name of the gods did you get here before me? I thought you were dead because they would not tell me anything,” he asked in an almost worried tone. “Brother,” he replied, “I have only been here for just an hour or so. My question to you is, why did it take you so much longer to get here than it did me?” Bull looked down at the ground and replied in a low tone. “Because I thought you were dead, so I was being stubborn and difficult.” Bull looked up from the ground to look at his brother. “Do you know why they want us?” he asked curiously.

“I do not,” Jon replied as he leaned against the side of the pit. “All I know is that they are looking for warriors,” Jon added as he tucked his hands in his pant pockets. “That is all that I heard too,” Bull said as he leaned against the wall next to Jon. “Why warriors, are they building an army or something?” he asked as he looked over at Jon. One of the other men in the pit began to chuckle. “You two are not from around here, are you?” he asked, still chuckling. “No, we are not,” Bull replied angrily because the man was laughing. “Do you have a problem with that?” he asked as he leaned away from the wall. Jon leaned away from the wall and placed his left hand on Bull’s shoulder as he saw his brother become angry at the man chuckling. “Calm down brother, there is no need to get angry,” he said. “Let me talk to him.” “Whatever,” Bull replied as he sat down, trying to keep his cool. Jon looked away from his brother to look at the man who was chuckling. The man was hidden in the shadows to where all Jon could see was the left side of the man’s face. “We are from west of the Cerberus River, so if you would not mind, sir, we would like to know what it is that we do not know about this place.” The man’s chuckling came to a stop. “There are many things that you do not know about this place,” he replied in a low steady tone. “For instance, these women do not need warriors for an army,” he stated with a smile. “They are their own army.” Bull stood to his feet and took a step forward. “Then why is it that they want us, why are they collecting warriors?” he asked frustrated. The man stepped out from the shadows showing his entire face. All the men in the pit stared at all the scars he had on his face and arms. He had a grin from ear to ear as he spoke. “My young friends,” he said, “they do not collect us.” “Then what is it that they do with us?” Jon asked curiously.

The old man continued to smile. “They use warriors to breed and increase their ranks.” “That does not sound too bad to me,” Jon replied with a smile. Bull stood, staring into oblivion for a moment due to another vision he was having. Jon nudged Bull’s shoulder trying to snap him out of it. After a few moments, Bull began to quickly scan around him. “Did you have another vision, brother?” Jon asked, curious to know what it was about. Bull gazed into the old man’s eyes for a moment before speaking. “They make each one of us battle one of them, and if they approve of our skill, they keep us around to breed with, and when they are done with us, they throw us off a cliff, do they not?” The old man’s smile faded from his face and a look of surprise took hold of him. “If you are from beyond the Cerberus River, how do you know that?” the old man questioned Bull with a curious tone. “No one has ever left here alive, no one. I have been here for nine months now, at least I am pretty sure it has been nine months, and nine months is the longest they will keep anyone.” “Why nine months?” Jon asked. The old man looked at Jon with a look of dread on his face. “To make sure that we impregnate them,” he replied. “So what happens if we do and what happens if we do not?” Bull asked. The man looked down at the ground with sorrow in his eyes. “Either way, we will die, but they keep us alive for the nine months, so if we do get them pregnant, they show us what it will be just before they throw us off the cliff. If the child they bear happens to be a boy, they will let the father hold him, then they push them off together so that the son will die with his father. If we cannot get them pregnant, they will be quick to throw you off the cliff after three months. If they have a girl, they will show you what she looks like just before you take the plunge to your death.” After hearing that, the other men in the pit began panicking and screaming to

want free except for Jon and Bull. The two brothers tried to calm everyone down, but the men were just too scared. As the scared men worked themselves into a frenzy, they began to attack one another. The old man and the two brothers stayed back from the cluster of fighting men, trying not to get involved. As the cluster of men continued to fight, they worked their way to the three men standing up against the wall. Out of nowhere, Bull was punched in the face bringing him into the mix. The moment Bull threw his first punch Jon ed in with his brother, and one by one, the terrified men began to fall to the ground. With ease Bull and Jon had laid out every one of the fighting men in just a matter of moments. The brothers were both raised to be able to fight with or without weapons. As the last man hit the ground with a solid thud, the brothers and the old man heard women chuckling. At the same time, the three men looked up and saw a dozen women in armor surrounding the top of the pit watching them fight. “Is that what you want!” Bull asked in a loud angry voice, looking up at the women. “No, that is not what we want,” a voice replied from behind a couple of the women. “We want you to fight us,” The voice said as a hand was placed on one of the women’s shoulder gently moving her out of the way. “Their commander,” Bull said as she came into view. “How do you know?” Jon asked, looking at his brother curiously. “Because she was the one who brought me here,” Bull muttered his reply, trying not to let his anger get the best of him. The old man leaned forward to whisper in Jon’s right ear. “She is the commander, and she is the toughest of them all. That is how she is their leader.” The women continued to stare at the three standing men in the pit while they whispered to each other on who wanted each of the men. The commander raised her right hand, instantly silencing all the warrior women. She looked straight ahead into the west, letting the warm light from the setting sunlight up her eyes. “I want these three men placed in the Hall of the Gathering,” she told the

women. “Keep them chained and secure and put four guards on the door. Make sure to feed them well, for tomorrow they fight, and we will see their true inner warrior.” After telling her warriors what she wanted, she looked back down into the pit. “Throw the rest off the bridge and send them to their gods for they are not warriors, they are cowards.” Over the next several minutes, some of the women went off to grab a ladder while the rest stood around the pit, watching the knocked-out men wake up and slowly stagger to their feet. When the women with the ladder returned, they lowered it into the pit for the men to climb out. Once the ladder was put into position, the men fought to climb out first. “Stop!” the commander yelled at the men. “Those three first,” she said, pointing at the old man and the two brothers. “Not fair, let us out,” the others pleaded. The commander looked hard at the men that were complaining. “You will be free soon enough.” She told them sternly. “Now move out of the way and let them up first.” Jon and Bull let the old man up first, then Bull followed and Jon followed Bull. As the three men climbed out of the hole one by one, they were escorted by multiple beautiful warrior women. The women escorted the three men down a dirt path between some buildings that lead to the main dirt road that went down the middle of the village. As the men walked out onto the main road, they could see the bridge that crossed the large crevasse to their left. The women led the men down the main street for about one hundred feet to the largest building in the village and walked them inside. Inside the large building, there were two long wooden tables nearly the length of the building, each of them set just to the sides of the entryway, leaving an aisle between them. The aisle extended from the entryway all the way to a table that stretched across the room from one long table to the other, creating a large rectangle space between them and about ten feet of walking room around the outside of the tables. The men stood in awe in the doorway for a few moments taking in the beauty of the craftsmanship and details of the Hall. After a few moments, the women lead the men to sit at the table to their right. Once they had sat down, three of the women left and returned shortly with food. Hungry and not having a decent meal

in weeks, the men were practically drooling over all the food the women were bringing them. Over the next hour or so, the men indulged themselves with the food, trying to eat everything that was placed in front of them. While they ate their dinner, other women of the tribe prepared rooms for the three captives, and others prepared hot baths for when the men were done eating. By the time the three men had finished their dinner, the sun had completely set. While the three men were eating in the Hall of the Gathering, the other men that were in the hole with them were being helped out. As each man crawled out of the hole, a woman would grab him by the arm gently and just hold onto them. Once all the men were out of the pit, the women walked them to the bridge. As they got closer to the bridge, the men began to squirm and panic, realizing that they were about to die. “I thought you were going to have us fight each other to see who was a better warrior!” one of the men cried out, fearing for his life. “No,” the commander replied, turning to look at the small group of men. “We were going to have you fight us to see how good of a warrior you are. Unfortunately, while you all were in the pit, you all showed us your true nature. You are all cowards.” As soon as she finished speaking, she looked at women holding the men’s arms and nodded to them. The moment the commander nodded to her warriors, they each gave the man they were holding a kiss on the cheek, then at the same time, they all pushed the men off the bridge. As they turned and walked away, they could hear the screams of the falling men for only a few seconds, then silence fell upon the village. Once the cowards were taken care of, the commander decided to check in on the warriors eating in the Great Hall. When the commander walked through the door, the men had just finished their dinner. Some of the women were cleaning up the messes that the men had made, while the other women began leading them to a door on the far end of the hall that opened to a path that led to another smaller building with multiple baths. Before they got to the far end of the hall, the commander began to speak. “Warriors!” she said loudly, causing everyone in the Hall to stop and look at her, including the three men. “To my warriors,” she continued, “bathe them well

tonight, but do not bed them.” Some of the women sighed in disappointment. “To you three warriors,” she said, looking at the men, “sleep well tonight, for tomorrow you fight, and I will see what kind of warriors you truly are.” She then turned and walked out of the hall without another word. As the women walked the men outside and down the path to the bathhouse, Jon looked over at the old man. “I thought you already proven that you are a warrior?” he asked, confused. “I did,” the old man replied, also confused. The woman walking with the old man looked at him with a smile. “My friend, you are not fighting tomorrow,” she told him. When she told him that, the old man’s mind began to spin and his heart began to race. “I am being sacrificed tomorrow,” he stated, giving her a worried look. She pulled him close. “Yes, but do not be frightened, old man,” she said with a smile. “Tomorrow, you will get to see your daughter.” A smile formed on the old man’s face. “I have a daughter?” he asked. “Yes, and she is very beautiful and strong,” the woman replied. “You should be very proud.” As they walked, the man’s eyes lit up with joy while he could barely contain the excitement that began to swell inside him. Without making a sound, the woman hanging on his arm just stared at him with a smile. She knew why he was happy, and she was just as happy for him. After a few more moments, the group arrived at the bathhouse. When they entered the bathhouse, the men were astonished seeing over a dozen baths, all lined up in a perfect row and all built into the floor. Each bath was a circle about four feet across, and the walls and bottom of them were coated in clay. The bathhouse itself was made of a red wood that the men had never seen before, and the floor was as smooth as a well-made blade. The women that had walked the men down to the bathhouse began placing more hot stones in the baths to keep the water hot. As the men began to undress themselves, more women came in from outside and took over for them. Once

they were completely naked, the women guided them into their baths. Once completely bathed, the men were escorted to a bunkhouse that sat off by itself behind the Hall of the Gathering. The bunkhouse had a five-foot wooden fence surrounding it. As the men walked through its gateway, the brothers noticed that it had thirteen beds lined in a row up against the opposite wall. Jon looked at the woman on his right with curiosity. “Why twelve?” he asked. She looked back at him with a grin. “We will never have more than thirteen women pregnant in a thirteen Luna cycle,” she replied. “That means no need for more than twelve trophies at one time within a single year. We have to be careful not to overgrow our ranks too fast, or we could cause ourselves to starve.” Jon tilted his head to his left a little, thinking about it for a moment. “I guess I can understand that,” he replied with a grin. “At least you have a code that can make some sense to live by.” The woman smiled at him in return as she turned and walked back outside and closed the door behind her. Bull chose the bed that sat at the very end of the room up against the wall to the left while Jon chose the bed directly in front of the door. As the two brothers lay in the beds, the old man found his way to the second-to-the-last bed on the farright end of the room. Just as the old man sat down on the edge of his chosen bed, three women came into the bunkhouse without tops on and walked down to the old man. The brothers, faintly able to see due to the light from the Blood Moon and Luna’s light, watched the women walk down to the old man’s end of the room. Because the ends of the room were the darkest, they could not see what was happening to the old man. Just a few moments after the women disappeared into the shadows, the brothers could hear the old man and the women groaning and moaning and an occasional giggle from the women. “Hey, where is ours?” Jon asked as he sat up in his bed, squinting his eyes, trying to focus them in the reddish light. “Mind yourself, young buck,” he heard the old man reply to him. “This is my last night in this world, so let me enjoy it in peace.” Jon nodded in understanding, then lay back down and began to stare at the

ceiling. Bull stayed, lying down throughout the entire commotion, thinking of all that they had been through that day. He wondered to himself if he and his brother would be able to escape their captors. As he lay there pondering their next move, if they ever had the chance, another vision struck him. In his vision, Bull saw him, his brother, Jon, and the old man all standing on the bridge next to one another. He watched in his vision as the old man was about to be pushed first, by the mother of his child. As she gently placed her hand on his chest and went to push, he pleaded out, “Please, not like this, let me die by the sword in combat. It is the only way a true warrior should die.” The commander stepped forward and granted the old man his last wish and walked him to the center of town. When the commander returned to the bridge where the brothers stood, she asked, “Would you prefer to procreate and have a chance to live for nine more months, or would you rather die now?” “Kill me now,” Bull replied. Just as she was about to push him, a large black creature stopped her and negotiated the release of the brothers. The creature was at least nine feet tall and walked on two legs, and it had a wingspan of about fifteen feet, and they looked like dragon wings. The large creature had glowing red eyes and a tail that dragged the ground behind it, and its entire body was covered in glistening black scales. In his vision, the creature reached out with both arms and placed its right hand on Bull’s right shoulder and its left hand on Jon’s left shoulder. For some reason, Bull felt that he and his brother knew the creature, yet Bull knew he never met a creature like that one. As the large black creature placed his hands on the two brothers’ shoulders, it turned to black smoke and disappeared, and Bull’s vision ended. When Bull came to after his vision, he opened his eyes to see Jon standing over him and multiple women standing at the foot of his bed. “Hey, brother, you okay, man?” Jon asked as he helped Bull sit up. To Bull’s astonishment, it was already daylight outside. “Is it really day time already?” he asked, kind of confused.

“Brother,” Jon replied with a smile as he placed his right hand on Bull’s left shoulder. “It is almost midday. You have been asleep for a while, brother.” “How is that possible?” Bull asked as he stood to his feet and walked to the window that was closest to his bed. Jon walked over to stand beside his brother. “What happened last night, brother?” he asked curiously. “Are you gonna be all right?” Bull stared out the window for a few moments in silence, then he turned to look at Jon. “I had another vision last night,” he replied with a worried tone. “It started before I even fell asleep last night. That is why I am having a hard time believing that it is already midday.” “What was this one about?” Jon asked with concern. “What do you mean you had a vision?” one of the women behind them asked. “Nothing,” Bull replied. “They are just weird feelings that I have just before something bad happens to us.” “Fine, do not tell us,” one woman said as she walked forward and grabbed Jon gently by the arm and walked him to the door. As they approached the door, another woman walked up to Bull and gently grabbed his right hand with her left, disrupting his train of thought. “Where are we going?” Bull asked, confused as she walked him to the door to stand next to Jon and the woman holding on to his arm. The four stood in silence, patiently waiting for the door to open in front of them. The brothers slowly glanced at one another then back at the door, both curious of what was happening. As they stood staring at the large door, it began to slowly creep open until it was completely open. Outside the building stood the commander and six of her warriors waiting for the two brothers to step outside. They stood frozen for a moment, contemplating what they should do as they each carefully took mental notes of the weapons each warrior in front of them was carrying. A few moments later, when they realized that they were outnumbered, they both simultaneously walked up and stopped just a couple of feet in front of the commander.

The commander looked at both of the brothers with a slight grin on her face. “Do you know what we are about to do with you?” she asked the two men. Bull turned and looked at Jon for a second, then back at the women. “You are going to make us to fight to see if we are worthy of fathering a child with one of you,” he replied in a flat tone. “If we do not your standards, we get thrown off the bridge. If we , a few of your warriors will be chosen by you to mate with us. If we get them pregnant, you let us live here until the child is born, and then you throw us off the bridge.” The brothers stood in silence for a moment. “Am I right?” Bull asked. “Yes, you are right,” the commander replied, looking Bull in the eyes. “Are you two prepared?” she asked. Jon stepped forward with a smirk on his face. “Might as well get it over with, who am I fighting first?” “We do not fight here,” the commander replied with a grin. “The fight will be held on the bridge.” As the commander finished her sentence, she turned and began walking to the bridge. Her warriors surrounded the two brothers and escorted them to the bridge, staying just a few yards behind their commander. As they got closer to the bridge, the men noticed that the entire village was at the bridge waiting except for the few that were on guard duty. The closer to the bridge they got, Bull started noticed the old man they met in the pit was standing at the north side of the bridge in the middle holding a newborn baby. He could see the tears glistening on the old man’s cheeks as he cried with a smile on his face. The old man gently brushed the child’s face with his right hand and kissed it on the forehead. Moments later, the brothers stepped onto the bridge and were forced to walk out onto the middle of it. As they walked toward the middle of the bridge, the women formed a circle completely surrounding them. The brothers stood side by side, both of them looking around at the women that encircled them. The brothers realized that now was the time that they would be forced to fight. With her sword in her right hand, she pointed to Bull with it. “You will be first,” she told him with a grin. “You”—she pointed to Jon—“step out of the circle until

your turn.” As she took a step toward Bull, a sword was slid to him on the ground from one of the warriors surrounding them, and Jon was escorted out of the circle by two other warriors. Before Bull picked up the sword, the commander raised her sword and swung it at Bull’s head. Bull barely having time to think, rolled to his left where the sword lay on the ground and with a swiftness, picked it up and blocked the incoming attack. Bull stood to his feet, pushing her sword away with his, and the fight was on. For what seemed like half an hour, Bull and the commander battled each other. One would swing and the other would block, and so it went on until the commander was content with the way Bull fought. When the commander was finally done testing Bull, she stepped back and sheathed her sword while Bull stood ready for an unexpected attack. “We are done fighting, young warrior,” she told him with a smile. “You fought well, and you ed my test.” The commander turned her attention to Jon, and with a small wave of her sword, she motioned for him to walk back to the middle of the circle. As he walked to where Bull was standing, he nodded in approval of his brother’s skill, and Bull handed him the sword. After Bull handed the sword over to his brother, two warriors came and escorted him to the edge of the circle. Jon stood ready with sword in hand, waiting for the commander to make the first move. The commander could tell that Jon was a much better warrior than his brother just by the way that he stood and the look in his eyes. With very little hesitation, she swung her sword with speed and accuracy at his torso, and with just as much speed, he blocked it with ease. Jon smiled at the commander as he lowered his sword. “A true warrior never lowers their sword in battle,” she told him with a slightly confused look on her face. Jon smiled at her again. “A true warrior knows how to fool their opponent to win the fight with less effort.” With every attack she threw at him, Jon would block it with ease, but he would never return an attack. After a bit of seeing him fight, the commander stopped

attacking and sheathed her sword and motioned for Bull to come stand by his brother. “You both fight very well,” she told the brothers. “Bull, you fight with a little too much aggression, and, Jon, you never once attacked me. Why is that?” she asked him curiously. Jon smiled as he answered her question. “Blocking is much easier and takes a lot less energy than attacking. Everyone I have ever fought in single combat gets tired from attacking, and once I see them getting tired, that is when I attack. I have fought many people, and you are the only one I have ever seen attack like that and not get winded, that is why I did not attack.” The commander stood with a grin, thinking about what Jon just told her. “That is a very smart tactic to fight with, young warrior. I have decided that both of you are worthy of giving us children. Now if you will excuse me, I need to finish off the old man now that your test is done. Without another word, she turned away from the brothers and began walking to where the old man stood on the bridge with his daughter in his arms. Tears began to stream down the old man’s face as she got closer, knowing that his time with his daughter was coming to an end. After she arrived directly in front of the old man, she gently removed the child from his arms. Just before she was going to push him off the bridge, Jon and Bull both came running toward her causing the women warriors to draw their swords ready to protect their commander. “Wait!” they both yelled at the same time as they were stopped by multiple warriors. “What is it that you want?” she asked as she turned to look at them. Jon looked at her dead in the eyes. “At least give him a choice to die fighting or be thrown off the bridge.” She looked at the brothers, then back at the old man, and nodded in agreement. “How would you like to die today, warrior?” she asked the old man. The old man handed his baby girl back to her mother, then wiped the tears from his cheeks as he stood up straight. “I would like to die in battle, like a true warrior. Please,” he replied as he glanced over to the young brothers and nodded

with appreciation.

A Prophecy Foretold

Razien landed on his feet at the bottom of the crevasse with a hard, loud thud causing the ground to indent and crack around him. With a smile, he stood to his feet from the crouching position he landed in and looked up to the spot in which he jumped from. “That has to be at least three hundred feet,” he said to himself with astonishment as he began walking south. As Razien walked southward through the bottom of the crevasse, he noticed that there were thousands of large cracks that ran across the ground he was walking on and up the walls on both sides. Noticing all the cracks, he began to the stories his father, Vlad, had told him about how the crevasse came into being. Razien loved ing those quality times between him and his father, especially now since his father had been murdered, and there would be no more stories to listen to. Razien was just six years old when his father took him down into the crypts under their castle, where there were multiple tombstones representing all the fallen Onyx family . Razien ed seeing dozens of tombstones with the Onyx name carved into them, along with even more tombstones with other family names on them. “Dad,” young Razien asked, “why are there graves down here with different last names on the stones?” A smile formed on Razien’s face as he ed his father’s answer. “My son, those are the humans that have lived within this castle and were friends to our family.” “Why are there so many more of those graves than our family’s graves?” the young vampire asked his father curiously. “Since this is our family’s home, we should have more, should we not?” “No, son, we should not,” his father replied as he knelt down to young Razien’s level. “You must son that we vampires can only have one child and that is only if Loveaya allows it.”

“Loveaya?” young Razien asked. “Who is Loveaya and why is it that she gets to choose for us?” Vlad smiled at his son as he stood back up to his feet. “She is the spirit of the earth, she is the one who created us to protect the humans.” “So why did she create the dragons?” he asked as he and his father continued to walk through the catacombs. “All they ever do is destroy and kill everything they see. Why would she create something so mean if she cared for her humans so much?” As Razien reminisced through childhood memories, he began to notice small roots covering the ground directly in front of him. Razien paused for a moment and began to focus his eyes on the roots up ahead of him. He could see that a few miles ahead of him were larger roots that stretched from one side of the crevasse to the other. He sat his memories to the side for a few minutes and began picking up his pace. As he got closer to the large roots that he saw from a distance, he realized that the farther he went, the larger the roots got. As he focused on the roots farther in the distance, he noticed that they were no longer just growing across the ground. Instead, he saw the roots stretching from one side to the other suspended a few feet from the ground. As he scanned the area, he realized that Loveaya was attempting to close the crevasse using roots deep underground. As he began to realize what was happening, his mind went back to the memory of him and his father in the catacombs beneath their castle. His father placed his hand on little Razien’s shoulder, stopping him in front of the oldest tombstone in the catacombs. “Razien, my son,” Vlad spoke softly as he knelt down to his son’s level to look him in the eye. “I am going to tell you a story, a story so old that it is older than the vampires.” Little Razien’s eyes lit up like a sunrise. “About nine hundred thousand years ago,” his father began, “a large piece of the dragon’s home world, the Blood Moon, broke off and fell to this beloved earth of ours. That piece of their home was about the size of a mountain, and it landed to the far southeast of here some were in the Atlantis Ocean.” “Have you ever seen the dragon’s mountain before, Dad?” little Razien asked curiously.

Vlad looked at his son with a smile. “No, son, I have not seen it with my own eyes, but I have seen some of the damage it has caused to the beloved AllMother Loveaya.” “What kind of damage has it done?” the boy asked softly. “I will tell you in a moment, but first let me finish the story.” The little vampire nodded with a smile. “Shortly after the rock landed,” his father continued, “dragons began to emerge from the mountain in large numbers, and for tens of thousands of years, they roamed the earth, causing havoc and chaos, killing anything they could. Over time Loveaya decided that her favorite creations, the humans along with all the others, needed protection from the dragons, so she created us, the vampires. “In the beginning, there were five thousand vampires, outnumbering the dragons four to one. Unfortunately, that was not enough to fight off the beasts. In the first ten thousand years alone, over three thousand five hundred vampires had lost their lives. Half of what was left of us turned their backs to Loveaya and became jealous of the humans and became violent and volatile toward them, using them for food and slavery. The other half of us chose to stand behind our great creator and continue protecting the humans. “Though both sides lost most of their numbers, there is still a power struggle between them both. Those of us that chose to stand behind our creator decided to disperse and build homes all across the earth to protect as many humans as we can. And in doing so, those of us who stay faithful to her are granted the ability to have one child.” “What about the damage that the mountain caused?” Razien asked with a disappointed tone. Vlad smiled at his son again. “Oh, right, the damage. Sorry, son, I got a little carried away. When the large rock hit Loveaya, it caused a cataclysmic scar in the ground. It created a crack so long not even vampires can see from one end to the other and so wide a vampire cannot even jump it at a full run.” Razien’s eyes got huge and tears began to form. “Is she gonna be okay, Dad?” he asked, worried. Seeing his son being that worried over Loveaya gave Vlad hope for the world. “I

am sure that someday she will be, son.” “Good, because I do not want to see any bad things happen to our creator,” Razien said with a smile. “Now, back to the story, Dad,” he added, intrigued. “Okay,” Vlad replied with a smile as he sat on the ground, motioning to his son to him. Razien sat on the ground in the dirt in front of his dad, eager to hear the story. “As the piece of the Blood Moon fell through our skies, many smaller chunks were ripped away from it scattering across the land. One piece in particular was recovered by the white dragon Edwen. This piece was not part of the large falling rock; in fact, it was the black heart of a dragon by the name of Corpsious Darmasochist, the first black dragon to give in to the dark magick. “After Edwen retrieved the heart, he hid it from the other dragons for hundreds of thousands of years. After Edwen unknowingly proved himself to Loveaya, she spoke to him once and only once. She requested that he take the heart and give it to a vampire by the name of Aleko Onyx that lived to the south of him.” “Why was Aleko so important, Dad? Is he related to us?” the young vampire asked, intrigued by the story. Vlad stood to his feet and reached his right hand out to help his son to his feet. As young Razien stood to his feet, brushing the dirt off his pants, Vlad took a step forward to stand beside his son and placed his right arm around Razien’s neck and shoulders. “See that tombstone there, son?” he asked as he pointed with his left hand. Razien looked up from brushing his pants off and examined it for a moment before he realized what name was on it. “Aleko,” he read softly. “Wait, is that the Aleko from your story, Dad?” he asked with a smile. “No, son, that is the Aleko from our story,” he replied with a smile. Razien had a confused look on his face. “How is it our story? You are the one telling it.” Vlad chuckled at his son’s comment. “He was one of the five thousand vampires that the All-Mother created in the beginning, and he is the first of our bloodline.

Aleko was the first of all the vampires to be created by the All-Mother, making him the king of all vampires.” “Does that mean that we are kings of the vampires to Dad?” little Razien asked with a big smile on his face. Vlad placed his right hand on his son’s left check softly as he looked into his eyes. “My boy,” he replied, “I do not consider us kings of the vampires or any other creature for that matter, for I believe that all creatures are of equal stature.” “Except for the dragons, right, Dad?” little Razien asked, a little worried. “Except for the dragons,” he replied with a smile. Vlad turned to look at the stone with his ancestor’s name and placed his right hand on it. “After thousands of years,” he continued, turning to his son, “Aleko had earned Loveaya’s utmost respect, proving his loyalty to her she decided to empower him with the most important task ever. She sent Edwen to him so Aleko could take over the protection of the black heart medallion. From that moment on, it has been under our family’s guard for hundreds of thousands of years, and one day, son, I will it down to you to protect.” As Razien’s memory faded, he knelt down onto his knees, and tears began to form in his eyes. Razien was missing his father so much at times, he did not think he could complete his task. “I miss you greatly, Pop. Life is so much harder without you. I promise I will succeed and save Loveaya and all her creations.” As he made that promise to his father, tears began to fall from his cheeks. When Razien’s tears fell, they landed on one of the roots growing across the ground, and instantly small flowers began to grow right before his eyes. Seeing those flowers bloom before him, he knew how much Loveaya truly appreciated him and how much she meant to him. Razien stood to his feet, wiping the tears from his face, and with a renewed hope in his heart, he continued to walk south through the crevasse. Razien knew that his companions in arms were not going to be back at camp until the following night, so he chose to keep walking through the crevasse to have some time to himself. Razien enjoyed seeing the roots growing across the crevasse, it ensured him that Loveaya would heal, but it would just take some time. As the sun disappeared beyond the west wall of the gorge, it became so

dark it was nearly pitch black. Even though there were still a few hours before sunset above the crevasse it became so dark where Razien was walking, he began to have issues seeing the terrain around him. Unable to see clearly, the vampire continued to climb through and over the roots that lay in his path. Though the path was tricky to see and tough to maneuver through, he continued until he found a small opening on the ground where there were no roots. The area was no more than ten feet across and covered in moss; for Razien, it was the perfect spot to camp for the night. For the first time in many weeks since his journey began, Razien was able to sleep soundly. While he slept, Razien had two dreams, the first one was a short unspecific dream. He dreamed that he had somehow flown into space and collided with a large rock causing it to explode. After the rock exploded, he could see himself falling to earth, and the impact was like a meteor hitting the ground. As the dream faded, he saw a very large tree in the place of his crater he left behind. In his second dream, he saw a male figure that he could not make out, holding a large battle maul glowing bloodred. He watched the figure take a seat on the empty throne of the heavens. He could hear the figure speak. “Your memory will live on forever, Razien, and the code you live by will be the new code of the heavens, from now until the end of time.” Razien awoke suddenly from his dream and saw that the sun was beginning to rise. Razien stood to his feet slightly shaken over his dreams, but without much thought into them, he continued his journey south. That day went by fast for him with random little thought s and memories going through his head. He knew that he needed to be back at camp at nightfall that night, but the crevasse had his curiosity, and he knew he could make it back in a short time if he ran his fastest. As the day ed on, he noticed a shadow high in the sky, so he decided to check it out. Without hesitation, he began to run through and over the roots like an obstacle course. Within minutes he was under the bridge looking up at it, and he could hear commotion coming from it. Razien began to scale the west wall of the crevasse slamming his hands into the rock like it was mud. Within seconds he was pulling himself up onto the surface, and when he stood to his feet, he turned toward the bridge and saw a large group of warrior women gathered around the center of the large bridge. Without a

second thought, he started walking toward the crowd. As he gently placed his hands on the shoulders of the female warriors to gently move them out of the way, heads began to turn to look at him. He could see in their eyes as they stared at him that there were looks of fear and astonishment. Before he knew it, all of them began to look in his direction, and like magick, the crowd began to make a path for him. When he finally made it to the middle, he saw Bull and Jon talking to the tallest of the warriors. Some of the women behind Razien began to slightly touch him like he was almost fragile, and he could hear them whispering. As the commotion started, the leader of the warriors looked up from Jon’s and Bull’s eyes to see Razien staring back at her. She instantly stopped talking and walked over to the pale stranger. Without saying a word, she walked up to Razien and began to scan over him with her eyes, paying close attention to all his details. When her eyes locked with Razien’s, she was almost mesmerized. She saw that he had pale skin, slightly pointed ears, and eyes of the bluest water that looked like a blue eclipse. “You have arrived,” she whispered. “All this time and you are finally here.” “What do mean?” he asked, a little confused. Before she could answer, Jon and Bull walked over to greet their vampiric brother. Before they could say anything, five warriors stepped forward and stopped them. “Who are you and what are you doing with my brothers?” Razien asked as he put his hand up, motioning for the women to stop what they were doing. “My name is Sam-hain, and I am the leader of these Amazon warriors,” she replied. She then began to explain everything to the vampire and what her intentions were. “My name is Razien, and if you would not mind, let me speak with my brothers in private for a moment please,” Razien demanded politely. Sam-hain nodded in approval and motioned for the warriors to step back and to turn their backs to give the three brothers some privacy.

Razien placed one hand on one shoulder of each brother. “I recommend you two have as much fun as possible tonight because we are never guaranteed tomorrow, and it could help your bloodline continue.” Both brothers looked at each other then back at Razien and nodded with a smile in agreement. Razien grinned back at them, then turned around and walked up to Sam-hain and placed his hand on her shoulder. “You and your warriors can turn around now,” he said with a smile. “Why are you smiling?” she asked curiously as she turned and saw his smile. “I have never seen anyone show that much respect to another when it comes to a conversation,” he told her with respect. “Now, they have agreed to stay the night with you ladies, but come tomorrow, they will leave me.” “That is not our ways, Razien,” she told him with a stern voice. “Sam, may I call you Sam?” he asked. “Yes, you can,” she replied. “They are helping me on my journey to fight Karne, the black dragon,” he explained to her. “I need them with me.” Sam-hain thought about it for a second, then replied, “In that case, yes, that will be fine.” “I am glad to hear that,” Razien replied. “I am going to head back to our camp to the north and retrieve our other two brothers Solrac and Nemajneb and bring them here so we can cross this crevasse.” Sam-hain quickly reached her hand out and grabbed Razien’s left forearm to stop him. “Did you say you have another companion by the name of Nemajneb?” she asked, almost excited. “Yes, we do. Why do you ask?” he replied. “Never mind,” she said as she looked into his blue eyes. “When the three of you return, I need to speak with you and Nemajneb in private.”

Razien looked at her, a little confused. “We can do that,” he replied. “We should be back here by midday tomorrow.” He then turned and walked up to his brothers. “Sam-hain has agreed to my request, so I am going to go get Solrac and Nemajneb and bring them back, we should be back by midday tomorrow.” Jon and Bull both acknowledged what Razien told them then stuck out their hands to shake his. After shaking their hands, Razien turned and walked to the side of the bridge, then turned his head and nodded once at the crowd of women, and his brothers then jumped back down into the crevasse. The moment he leaped off the bridge, the brothers and all the warriors, along with Sam-hain, went running to the ledge just in time to see him land on his feet. As he landed on the ground, he saw hundreds of skeletons and corpses covering the area. He slowly made his way over the bodies and large roots in his way. Once he was clear of the large roots, he began to run at vampiric speed. As the crowd above him watched, all they could see was a line of dust that quickly disappeared into the horizon. Within just a little over an hour, he had made it to the area where he first jumped off the edge of the crevasse. Once he reached the spot where he landed the day before, he quickly began to scale the wall and arrived at the campsite. He knew that Solrac and Nemajneb might not return until sunset, so he decided to make a small fire and wait. As he sat waiting, staring at the fire, he began to talk to Loveaya out loud. “Loveaya, my love, may I ask a favor of you?” he asked. He waited for a few moments for a response. “Loveaya, are you there?” he asked. After a couple of minutes, he heard her voice, but this time, it was not coming from inside his head. Confused, he looked up from the fire and noticed a figure in the distance walking toward him. He watched the figure for a moment and saw that it was a female, and it was moving faster than any human, and before he knew it, Loveaya was standing on the other side of the fire from him. “I am here, my Razien,” she replied in her soft, beautiful voice. “What is it that you wish to ask of me?” Razien stood to his feet as she walked around the fire to be by him. “Please, let us sit by the fire and talk,” she said with a smile as she reached out and grabbed his hand with hers, and together, they sat down by the fire. Razien turned to look her in the eyes. “I know you have been watching my

friends and me and everything that has been happening, and I was wondering if you could do a favor for my brothers Jon and Bull.” “Let me guess,” she replied with a smile. “You would like for me to grant each of them a son.” “If at all possible, yes, very much so,” he replied as he took in her beauty. “Razien, my love, I am the creator of life in my celestial family, and you are my warrior, and if that is what you want, then yes, I will grant both of them a son,” she replied happily. “Now I need to ask a favor from you,” she added. “Anything for you, Loveaya, anything at all,” he replied with a smile, excited to know that both of his brothers’ legacies will continue on after they are gone. “When you return to the Amazon warriors tomorrow, I need you to tell them that they are killing my creations for their own purposes, and I need them to stop,” she told him. “If they agree, I will create ten thousand acres for them far south of here where they will be hidden from the world, and it will be called the Amazon.” She paused for a moment. Without hesitation, Razien replied, “I will, Loveaya.” “There is one catch,” she added. “I will allow them to live forever, but none of them but Sam-hain will be able to leave the sanctuary and return. If any but her leave, they will not be able to return, and they will lose their immortality.” The young vampire looked at her with comion and nodded in agreement. Loveaya then stood to her feet still holding Razien’s and helping him to his. “Unfortunately I must be going,” she said as she kissed him on the lips, causing the ground to shake ever so gently. “But I will always be with you.” Before Razien could reply, she began walking in the direction from wince she came, and like dust in the wind, she disappeared before his eyes. After he sat in silence for a moment, he began to hear a commotion coming from the north very faintly. When he glanced to the north to see what it was, he could see that it was Solrac and Nemajneb coming back to camp. He knew it would be a little while before they arrived, so he fed the fire and patiently waited. After about an hour, they finally arrived at camp.

Solrac and Nemajneb approached the fire, where Razien sat, looking at them. “Have Jon and Bull not returned yet?” Nemajneb asked. Razien looked up at his friends. “No, and they will not be returning, but I know where they are at, and they are safe. Please sit, eat, and get some rest, we have a long journey ahead of us, and we need to leave in a few hours, after you get some sleep.” “Where are they?” Solrac asked curiously. “To the south, waiting at a bridge. I will give you more details once we are on our way, so please sit and get some rest. The sooner you get some sleep, the sooner we can leave.” The two men sat down without a word, ate some jerky, and quickly fell asleep due to being exhausted from their journey from the north. As Razien sat watching the small fire, it was like he fell into a trance, and before he knew it, it was completely out. When he realized the fire was out, he looked up into the night sky to Luna. He could tell by her position and the position of the Blood Moon that a few hours had ed since his two companions had fallen asleep. Knowing that his friends were tired and exhausted, with hesitation, he woke them up. As the two sleeping men slowly opened their eyes, they both moved their gaze to where Razien stood waiting for them. “I know you two are tired, but we must leave now, we need to try to make it to the bridge by midday if possible.” Reluctantly Nemajneb and Solrac stood to their feet, still half-asleep. As they stood to their feet, Razien made sure the coals of the fire were completely out by using his feet to step on it and smearing it around until he could no longer see any hot coals. “So why do we need to leave now for the bridge?” Nemajneb asked as he grabbed some jerky out of his pack for Solrac and himself. “You know,” he added with a smile, “I may be immortal, but I still need my beauty sleep.” Razien and Solrac both chuckled at their friend’s comment. “Brother,” Razien replied, “I do not think that any amount of beauty sleep is going to help your looks at all.” Nemajneb smiled. “You are probably right about that,” he replied.

Within no time, the three friends were heading south toward the bridge. For the first few hours, the group walked in silence; about the time the sun began to rise, they had reached the edge of the forest. “How much farther is this bridge?” Solrac asked as they entered the forest. “Well,” Razien replied, “if we keep this pace, and we do not stop for a break, we should be there by midday, maybe a little sooner.” As the three friends walked through the woods following an animal path, Razien turned to take a quick look at Nemajneb, who was behind Solrac. “Nemajneb,” Razien said, finally breaking the silence. “I must tell you something.” “What is it, little brother?” he replied as he moved branches out of the way of his face. Razien ducked under a branch too big to move. “At this bridge, we are going to…” he said, hesitating for a moment. “There is a woman there that knows you and wants to talk to both of us when we arrive.” “Why is there a woman waiting for me at the bridge, and what is it that she wants?” he asked curiously, confused. “I do not know what it is that she wants,” Razien replied, “but she is the commander of the villages that are located at each end of the bridge.” Razien stopped suddenly in his tracks and turned to his two friends behind him. “And whatever you do, please do not piss these women off. They do not care much for men,” he told them with a seriousness in his tone. He then turned and began walking south once again. “So are you saying that there are nothing but women in this village?” Nemajneb asked with a smile on his face. “Yes,” Razien replied simply. Solrac developed a curious look on his face. “Where are all the men?” he asked. Without hesitation, Razien replied, “One way or another, they kill them all.” “How do they kill them?” Nemajneb asked, almost worried.

Razien glanced quickly back at his two friends for a second. “They either kill you with a sword or they push you off the bridge to your death.” “That has to suck,” Solrac replied. “That is an interesting way to put it,” Nemajneb replied with a chuckle. “Where did you hear that saying before?” he asked. “Nowhere,” Solrac replied. “It just kind of came out,” he said with a smile. “So how is it that these women reproduce?” he asked Razien. Over the next few hours, Razien explained how the warrior women lived and their ways. The hours flew by for the three men, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the village. Before the group stepped out of the tree line, Razien stopped and turned to his two companions. “ what I have told you.” Both men nodded in acknowledgment. Razien led the men through the field just outside the village until he spotted one of the warriors standing guard between two buildings. As the group got closer to the warrior, Razien whistled to get her attention. The warrior looked in the group’s direction and raised her right hand with her sword in it, then turned and disappeared. Razien continued to lead the small group to where the guard was standing then into the small village. As they walked out from between the two buildings, many of the female warriors met them and greeted them. Nemajneb and Solrac where amazed at how many beautiful women had surrounded them. As many of the warriors gently touched Razien’s shoulders, arms, and chest, one made her way from the back and motioned for them to give the men some room. “Please, follow me,” she said in a soft, beautiful voice. “I will take you to Samhain. Without hesitation, the three men followed the beautiful warrior to a small house on the other side of the village. When they had reached the front door of the house, she motioned for them to enter. Just as Solrac went to take a step forward, she gently placed her hand on his chest. “I am sorry, but you cannot enter at this time.” She told him softly. “I will take you to your other friends Jon and Bull. They are in the Hall of the Gathering

getting ready to eat.” Solrac looked at Razien with a worried look on his face. “It is okay,” Razien told his friend, “You can trust them.” Solrac trusted in his friend and without a word he followed the female warrior. Razien was the first to walk through the doorway and as he entered Sam-hain met him with a hand shake. “Good to see you again Razien.” She said with a smile. “Please make yourself at home we have some important things to talk about.” Razien smiled and stepped aside so she could see Nemajneb. “Sam,” he said, “this is my good friend and teacher, Nemajneb.” As the barbarian walked through the door, Sam-hain quickly embraced him with a hug. “Finally, after all this time, you have finally found me.” She said as tears of joy began to run down her cheeks. Nemajneb, being confused, respectfully hugged her back, not knowing what else to do. After a few moments of embracing her, he gently placed his hands on her shoulders and took half a step back. “Do I know you?” he asked, confused. “Please sit down, both of you, and I will explain.” She replied with the biggest smile they had ever seen and tears still streaming down her face. The three of them sat down on the floor around a small fire pit in the middle of the room. “May I say something before you began please?” Razien asked politely. “So sweet and polite.” She replied. “Yes, you may, my friend.” Razien smiled at her kindness. “Last evening while I waited for Nemajneb and Solrac to return to our camp I had a short conversation with the great All-Mother Loveaya. She requested that I make you a proposition in her honor.” “So you can speak to the All-Mother as well,” she said softly. “So you are the one. So what is her proposition?” she asked. Razien looked at Sam a little confused then continued. “She asked that you stop killing her creations for your own benefit, and if you do, she will grant you ten

thousand acres far south of here where it is always warm, and it will stay hidden from the world until the end of days. You and your clan of warriors will be immortal for as long as you stay on that land.” “You will be the only one granted to leave and return at any time without repercussions. If anyone else leaves at any time, they will not be allowed back in, and they will lose their immortality. She also said that she will officially call it the Amazon after you and your warriors. She understands that you were forced to leave your lands, but this will be the only offer she gives you and your people. Will you accept?” Sam-hain sat for a moment in silence, looking at the fire. “Another prophecy foretold,” she whispered’ she then looked into Razien’s eyes. “Yes, yes, I accept her offer,” she replied. “Then when you and your warriors are ready, she will guide you to your new lands,” Razien added with a smile. “And as a token of my thanks, I would like to name the end of harvest after you. Since the end of harvest is approaching and this is the time you agreed to the offer, I would like to call it Samhain. I will spread your name in every town I come across and it will let your name live on forever, and the mortals will celebrate it every year.” Sam-hain looked at Razien with eyes filled with tears and a smile on her face. “It is not needed, but I will be honored. Thank you, Razien.” Sam took a few minutes to get her tears under control and wipe them from her cheeks. “Now then,” she said, taking a sigh of relief. “Razien, my warriors and I have a prophecy about you, and we have been waiting for you for a very long time, me more than any of them.” Sam-hain stood to her feet and walked to the wall behind him, opposite of the front door were a large blanket hung, and she pulled it down. Behind the blanket were two paintings painted directly on the wall. The one on the right was a human-looking creature that resembled Razien, with pointed ears and the bluest of eyes and pale grayish skin color. The figure on the left was a creature that was much larger than the other, and it was black and had large wings, a tail, and the reddest of eyes. Seeing the figures on the wall, both Razien and Nemajneb quickly stood to their feet and walked closer to wall. Nemajneb looked at Razien, then back at the first figure. “Brother,” he said, almost stumbling over his own words. “This one looks

like you, man.” Razien nodded. “It kind of does, does it not?” Razien walked to the second figure and examined it closely. “I have seen this one before,” he said as he took a step back. “Where have you seen this before?” Sam-hain asked curiously as she took a step toward Razien. “Only my warriors and I have seen this.” Razien looked at her with a smile. “It was in the mural room in our castle.” Samhain and Nemajneb looked at each other, confused, then back at the vampire. “It was a room in our castle that had many murals painted on the walls. Each mural had represented a story from our past, all our pasts. But this one…” He paused for a moment. “The mural that was of this figure was painted by none other than Edwen, the great white wizard, many thousands of years ago. Anyway, I am sorry for interrupting. Please, finish your story.” “Thank you, Razien, but no need to apologize,” she replied. “Anyway,” she continued, “many generations ago a prophecy was told to my people. The prophecy foretold of a creature unlike anyone had ever seen or would see, and the creature would save the entire world from the destruction of the dragons or help them to destroy it. It is said that the black creature on the wall there”—she pointed—“is the creature’s true form.” “This creature is the only creature on this planet that can talk to the All-Mother Loveaya. We were told that one day this creature would come to us, and one day, he would change our ways.” She paused for a moment while the two friends listened intensely. “Razien,” she continued, “I believe that you are the prophecy, and that you will save the All-Mother and all her creations.” Razien looked at Sam-hain with comion. “Sam, I do not know if I am that savior or not, but I do make this promise to you, Loveaya and all her creations. I promise I will fight with all my heart, mind, body, and soul to defeat Karne.” “I believe you will,” she replied. After Sam-hain and Razien finished their conversation she turned her attention to Nemajneb. “Nemajneb,” she began, “you may not know me, but I do know you.”

“How do you know me?” he asked, confused. “I am not famous, and I have never been in this area of the land in all my life until now.” Sam-hain smiled at his comment. “No, you have never been here before,” she reassured him. “The last time I saw you, we were in the halls of the heavens.” Both Nemajneb and Razien looked confused at each other and were at a loss of words for a moment. “Nemajneb,” she continued, “you are my little brother, and we are the last survivors of the gods. Our father was Ornhyme, and he sat in the throne of the gods. He was their king and loved by all of them.” “Many hundreds of thousands of years ago, when the war broke out between the gods and the dragons, in a last effort to save his bloodline, he sent us to this rock of creations. Here we remained cocooned in time until the time of the savior approached. I woke up thousands of years ago because I am much older than you. I searched for you for over two thousand years, but our father hid you well.” “Over time, I realized all I could do is wait until you awakened, and when you did, I knew you would find me. When your journey is finished with Razien’s you will have to make a choice. A choice that will change the heavens forever, you will need to make the choice of taking our father’s throne in the heavens and become the king of the heavens or to leave the heavens empty for all eternity.” “Wait a minute,” Nemajneb asked, extremely confused. “If we are gods, can we not stop all of this?” he asked. “What happened to the gods?” “We are not gods. You must finish your journey here with Razien, then, if you have proven yourself the celestials will give you a choice, and it is that choice that will change everything.” She told him with sorrow in her tone. “I know that this is a lot to take in, but it is the truth and it is your destiny, but only you can make the decision.” “What about you, Sam-hain,” Razien asked curiously. “Why have you not chosen to sit in the throne, you are the oldest?” “Yes,” Nemajneb added, “why have you not taken it?” Sam-hain smiled at the two men. “The women do not become gods, we find it to have too much politics. Instead, we choose to become immortal warriors to fight

for all the creations. Whether it be on this planet or another, or we chose to stay in the heavens to mother the children.” Nemajneb had a confused look on his face. “Okay, but what happened to our father and the other gods?” he asked. Sam-hain stood to her feet and motioned for Razien and Nemajneb to do the same. “That is a story for another time. I have told you both everything you need to know, now walk with me to the Hall of the Gathering and eat with us.” Nemajneb gently placed his hand on Sam-hain’s shoulder. “How can you tell me something like that and then just end the conversation?” he asked. “Little brother,” she replied, “if you choose to take the throne, you will receive all the knowledge of all the gods before you, and in return you will have all your questions answered. Now please me and eat with us. We all have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow.” Nemajneb thought about what his sister told him for a moment; he then realized that she made a good point. The three friends then began walking to the Hall of the Gathering together. Once in the large building, everyone sat down and began eating and celebrating their newfound friendships. As the hours ed slowly, but surely, they all headed off to bed. Each of the men, except for Razien, was led to bed by two warriors and were bedded like kings for the night. The next morning came way too fast for everyone. Razien himself stayed awake throughout the entire night, communicating with Loveaya. As Sam-hain exited her home with a sack thrown over her shoulder Razien was there to meet her. “I spoke with Loveaya las night,” he told her. “She wanted me to let you know that all you need to do is walk straight south to the ocean, once there continue south with boats, if you see dark fog make sure you stay far to the west of it and once you have reached land follow the shore for three days and three nights to the southeast. From there, she will guide you with signs only you can see.” “Thank you, Razien,” she replied as she shook his hand. “I still find it amazing that you can truly talk to the All-Mother. I wish you luck in your battles to come.” “Thank you,” he replied, still shaking her hand. “Many blessings to you and your

warriors on your journey to your new home.” “I will tell you now where you must go for your next destination,” she said to him as she let go of his hand. “Head as far southeast as you can go to the shore. Once there, look for a small house with a fishing boat. The gentleman that lives there goes by the name Five. He can tell you where to find Karne’s black mountain.” “Five, huh? How far away is this Five?” he asked with curiosity. “Do not worry, my friend,” she replied with a smile. “He is a good man, I have met him a few times, and he has never been anything but nice and respectful to me. It is about two weeks from here, maybe a little less.” “Then if you trust him, I will trust him,” Razien replied as he nodded and respectfully turned and walked away to let her and her brother say their goodbyes. Nemajneb walked up to his sister after Razien walked away and, without hesitation, gave her a hug and embraced her tightly. “Now that I know I have a sister, I do not want to leave you. I want to get to know you more.” “I know, little brother,” she replied as more tears began to stream down her face. “But our journeys will take us on separate paths.” Sam reluctantly took a step back from her brother and put her hands on his shoulders. “We never know what the future holds for any of us, so maybe one day in the future, we will see one another again.” Sam-hain leaned forward and kissed her little brother on the forehead. “Safe travels to you little brother.” Sam then turned to her warriors as they waited for her with their sacks thrown over their shoulders filled with their belongings, and as one, they all turned and began following her south. Razien and his friends watched for a few moments before they began their journey crossing the bridge. The group began their journey in silence and tears of joy and of sorrow.

For a Sacrifice They Mourn

It had been just under a week since Razien and the group parted ways with Samhain and her warriors. Nemajneb stayed quiet most of the time, thinking about his sister he never knew he had and his past he never knew. As they traveled across the land heading for the fisherman named Five, they came across a very small village in a small clearing of woods that was completely destroyed and burned to ashes. Immediately everyone in the group knew that it was destruction caused by dragons. “Keep your eyes open and be on constant alert,” Razien whispered to them, not knowing if any dragon was in hiding waiting for them. “I have a feeling that we are not alone.” Without a word more spoken, everyone in the group crouched down just inside the tree line. As they waited for Razien’s command, the vampire listened intensely to the noises around him while he scanned the area with his eyes. Not seeing or hearing anything out of the ordinary, he motioned with his hand for the group to wait while he slowly and quietly ventured into the clearing to the closest pile of burning rubble. As Razien slowly made his way to the pile of rubble, the smell of burning flesh and hair became overwhelming even for him. He tried not to make any noise, but before he knew it, he coughed. As soon as he felt the cough, he quickly covered his mouth, but it was too late; the cough had made it out. Razien waited a moment to see if the noise was going to attract any unwanted guests. To his surprise, nothing showed itself. Once he realized nothing was coming, he peered around the side of the burning rubble he was hiding behind. He counted more than a dozen large burning piles of rubble. The vampire slowly made it to the center of the small village and then realized that there was not a single body lying in the open. He saw that all the bodies were inside and on top of the piles of burning rubble. The group watched from the tree line waiting for Razien to give them a signal that it was clear to him. Razien looked back at his group, barely able to see

them through the smoke and motioned for them to continue waiting. Not seeing or hearing anything, Razien began to second guess himself that it was dragons that did this. He began to wonder if it was men or other rogue vampires that did it to make it look like it was the dragons. Razien stood to his feet and pulled his sword from its sheath feeling in his gut that something was not right. As he stood in the middle of the village next to the largest of the piles of rubble (which he assumed was the main hall), he began to see a mirage take form in its flames. As he watched it take form, it began to look familiar to him, then he realized it was his mother, Vile. “Mother?” he questioned quietly. The mirage began to speak. “Razien, my son, please stop fighting your fate. You must realize by now that you do not have much time before Karne takes his long sleep and that you cannot defeat him.” “How can you say that, Mother!” he yelled. “Do you not that he killed my father, your husband, Vlad?” he questioned angrily. “I will not give in to his hatred. I will defeat him no matter what it takes. The whole world is depending on me. I am the only one that has a chance to defeat him. If you choose to side with him, then you are dead to me already.” Razien turned his back to the mirage in disappointment. “I will not fail, I cannot fail. I will die trying if that is what it takes.” “Son,” she spoke softly, “if that is how you feel, then you have already lost.” Razien spun around with lightning speed. “Lost!” he yelled. “I have not even begun!” As Razien finished his statement the large pile in front of him began to shake. The vampire watched closely with curiosity, he then realized it was a trap. Before he could warn his friends, most of the piles of rubble in the village exploded with fire, smoke, and red-hot coals spewing into the air. Before Razien knew it, he was being thrown to the ground with extreme force knocking his sword out of his hand. As he tried to stand, he looked around and he realized that there were dragons hiding in the burning piles of rubble that exploded. Before he could get to his feet, the largest dragon hit him on his right side in the

ribs with his large tail. Razien flew over sixty feet into the air and nearly one hundred feet away. Razien’s friends watched paralyzed in fear, not knowing what to do. As Razien began to fall back to the ground, he yelled to his friends, “Run, damn you!” Just before he hit the ground, he spun himself and landed on his feet, holding his right ribs with his left hand. Not far from him, a medium-sized green dragon ran toward him with mouth wide open ready to bite down onto the vampire. The moment Razien saw the dragon just feet away, Razien’s eyes instantly began to glow a bloodred. Before the dragon could close his mouth around Razien, the vampire grabbed the dragon’s upper jaw with his left hand and the lower jaw with his right. Within a split second, Razien had ripped the dragon’s head in halfkilling it instantly. As the dragon fell to the ground, Razien could hear another dragon flying toward him from behind. Still holding the upper half of the dragon’s head in his hand, he flipped it around with a quickness and grabbed it with both hands by the large teeth and spun around smacking the incoming dragon in the side of the head with the horns bringing it to the ground lifelessly. Before he could react, another dragon hit him from behind in the back with its claws, leaving three large gashes and sending him sliding across the ground. Razien was wounded and hurt, but still, he forced himself to his feet in agony. As he stood to his feet, he scanned the area and saw his sword in a pile of rubble over one hundred feet away. “I must retrieve my sword if I am to stand a chance against these beasts,” he muttered to himself. About that time Razien saw another dragon that was one of the smallest and dull yellow, running at him bearing its teeth. Just as the dragon lunged at him, he painfully rolled to his right, causing the dragon to plow face-first into the pile of burning rubble behind him. With his vampiric speed, Razien stood to his feet, forgetting about his pain and grabbed the dragon by the tail, and with great strength, he threw the dragon into the large pile in the middle of the village impaling, it with one of its pillars. “I did not aim for that to happen,” he said to himself with a smile. “But whatever gets rid of these damn creatures, I will take it.” Razien’s eyes began to glow a brighter red than ever before. The more pain he

was in, the brighter his eyes began to glow, and the more pain he was able to block out. As he turned to the next oncoming dragon, another dragon attacked him from his left side, catching him off guard. When the dragon from his left lunged at him, he was able to spin out of its way, but not before its right front claw slashed him across the chest. Razien could feel his chest burning like it was on fire, causing his eyes to glow an even deeper red. Quickly Razien ran for his sword dodging two other dragons that were in between him and his weapon. After Razien picked up his sword, he gripped it tightly with both hands, and just for a moment the handle began to glow the color of fire. Angry and in pain, Razien ran at the closest dragon to him, one that he dodged getting to his sword, and with the speed of a lightning bolt, he jumped into the air, and as he came down, he plunged his sword through the top of the dragon’s head killing it instantly. The vampire then spun and bolted to the first dragon he dodged, and before the beast could block the vampire, his sword had already sliced through his throat, dropping the creature into a pile of convulsions gasping for air. Razien turned to look at the other dragons that had begun to circle around him as they slowly made their way around him, he was able to count eight of them. Trying to prepare himself for anything, he gripped his sword tightly with both hands bringing the blade up to his right shoulder. “This is your one chance to live through this fight!” he yelled as he stared at the largest of all eight of the dragons, which happened to be standing about three dozen paces directly in front of him. “If you choose not to flee now,” he continued as his voice became deeper, darker, and more sadistic, “I will slaughter you all!” “You pathetic little vampire,” the large red-and-brown dragon replied in a low tone. “Those were the weakest of us, so you do not stand a chance with those of us who remain. We can see that you are wounded and running out of strength, but do not worry, for your fight is about to end.” The dragon twitched his wings for a second, and in that moment, three dragons from three different sides of Razien ran to attack him. “He is right about my strength,” Razien said to himself. “I must make this quick or it may be my last fight.”

“Razien, jump now, as high as you can, and prepare yourself,” Loveaya whispered to him. Without hesitation, Razien gathered as much strength as he could, and just before the three dragons could get to him, he jumped into the air with all his might. As the vampire reached the height of his jump, a good one hundred and fifty feet, Loveaya struck him with a large bolt of lightning, causing all the dragons to cower in fear and confusion. When Razien came hurtling back to the ground, he landed with a large explosion of lightning and debris electrocuting and impaling the three dragons that were attacking. Their bodies flew back to where they had started landing limp onto the ground burned, smoking, and bleeding profusely from hundreds of puncture wounds. When the debris and dust cloud settled, Razien was crouching on his right knee, where he landed. He slowly stood to his feet with a smile on his face. “You may have the numbers, but I have the best ally anyone could have.” The dragons looked at Razien with fear and uncertainty, not sure if they should run for their lives or to continue fighting. Razien’s friends in the tree line watched with intensity and hope in their hearts. “How in the name of the All-Mother did he do that?” Bull asked with a smile of curiosity. “I think you just said it, brother,” Jon replied. “What do you mean?” Solrac asked, confused. Nemajneb looked at his three friends beside him. “I think it was the All-Mother that helped him do that,” he said as he smiled with hope patting Solrac on the shoulder. “Do you think we should go help him?” Bull asked with uncertainty. “No, not yet,” Nemajneb replied. “He does not want us to interfere yet. Now if we see that he is beginning to lose this fight, then by all means, we will go kick some dragon ass.” The group continued to watch their brother fight an impossible battle, and yet he continuously surprised them with every kill. “Who is next!” Razien asked loudly, ready to kill another one.

The large dragon glared at Razien with his green eyes beginning to get angry at the vampire. “You will pay for that,” he told Razien while growling at him. The dragon then stomped his left hind leg on the ground, giving a sign for another attack. A light-blue dragon from behind Razien and slightly to his right stepped forward. “Your fight ends now, you worthless vampire. I will destroy you.” “You know, you dragons keep telling me that, but so far, none of you have proven worthy enough of my death,” Razien replied, trying to buy a little time to gather some more strength. Razien’s comment angered the dragons even more. “We will see about that!” the dragon yelled as he began running toward the vampire. “I will end you!” he roared. With a smile on his face, Razien ran toward the oncoming dragon, and just as they became just inches from one another, the vampire quickly rolled forward. As he rolled forward, Razien stopped himself with his feet in a crouching position and held his sword up with both hands. Before the dragon could maneuver out of the way, Razien’s sword had pierced the dragon’s chest. With the momentum of the dragon’s speed, it was unable to stop or even slow down, and in just a few seconds, Razien had sliced the dragon from chest to tail, spilling his insides onto the ground. The dragon instantly collapsed on the ground behind the vampire and slid across the dirt, leaving a trail of blood and intestines. After the dragon’s body was behind him, Razien stood to his feet with a smile still on his face. The vampire looked back at the slain beast then back at the remaining four dragons. The vampire’s face and upper body was covered in the dragon’s blood. “I told you that none of you are worthy enough of my death.” He told them with a sadistic grin on his face as he licked the dragon’s blood off his lips. “You dragons make a pretty good snack if I do say so myself,” he said sarcastically. As the dragon’s blood made its way into his system, he could feel a warm tingling sensation spreading throughout his body. Before Razien knew it, he began to feel his strength return and his pain disappear. The four remaining dragons watched in horror as Razien’s wounds began to heal themselves right before their very eyes. The vampire, feeling a renewed sense of energy, just

smiled at the dragons. “Who is next?” he asked. “Someone kill this baby vampire!” the large dragon yelled. “We must not fail our king!” “Man, I feel sorry for you guys if I am a baby,” Razien commented sarcastically. “I am not a guy!” a purple-and-blue dragon roared as it stepped forward. “I am a female and the last of the females!” “Oh, I am sorry about that,” Razien proclaimed, chuckling at her. “It is just so hard to tell you all apart from each other since you all pretty much look the same to me.” Razien could see her muscles starting to twitch out of frustration. “Ahhh!” she roared as she slowly approached the vampire. “I will succeed with your death you little bastard!” “Hey, that was mean,” Razien replied with a smile. “I am not little, I am at least average.” Razien and the female dragon heard laughing coming from the tree line. “We are not worried about those fragile humans of yours,” she said as she looked back at Razien with a smile. “We will squash them just as easy as it is as stepping on an anthill. You on the other hand we want now.” “Now you are making me blush,” he replied. “Shall we dance?” he asked as he tightened his grip on his sword, preparing himself. The dragon slowly made her way toward Razien until she was just one of her arm lengths away. With lightning speed, she swung her left claw at the vampire’s head. Razien ducked and rolled to his right while swinging his sword downward cutting off one of her claws. Razien quickly stood to his feet prepared for another attack. The dragon grabbed her left hand in pain and began to growl. Just as Razien was about to make a sarcastic comment, the dragon swiped his feet out from underneath him with her tail. The vampire landed with a loud thud on his back. Within seconds the dragon was standing over him with her right hand pining him to the ground. The dragon slowly began to add weight onto her hand that Razien was under slowly starting to crush him.

Feeling like he could not breathe, with one fast movement, he took his sword with his right hand and slashed at her right arm, cutting it off halfway between the wrist and the elbow. The dragon quickly reared up on her back legs and let out a long, loud roar in agony. Before she completed her roar, Razien quickly threw her hand off him and stood to his feet, and as he stood to his feet, he thrust his sword directly into her heart. As the sword pierced her heart, her roar became more of a scream that turned into silence as she fell onto her right side. As she hit the ground, Razien watched her lungs let out their last breath. Razien turned to look at the last three dragons with a grin. “I got to tell you guys,” he said, “I think you are screwed on reproducing now, sorry about that, but she started it.” The three dragons looked at Razien with vengeance in their eyes, then at the same time, the three of them let out loud roars and began spitting fire. As the dragons let out their breath of fire, each of them waved their head from side to side, trying to make sure they got the vampire and the area he was standing in. Unknown to the dragons as they tried burning Razien, he crouched where he was standing holding on to his sword as he stabbed it into the ground in front of him and held on. The dragon fire burned all his clothing off him except for his pants and left Razien himself unscathed. As the dragon fire receded and disappeared, Razien stood to his feet with both hands placed on top off the handle of his sword, still grinning at the dragons. The dragons stared at Razien with dumbfounded looks and a sense of horror once again, seeing his shirt completely gone and three massive scars on his chest from the wounds he had earlier. “How are you not dead?” the large dragon asked. “Dragon fire can burn anything, this is impossible!” he roared. “Actually,” Razien began to explain, “if you ignorant beasts had any brains,” Razien began, looking around at the ten lifeless dragon corpses. “Apparently you all do not because I see nothing that resembles brains anywhere around your dead companions. You should know that I have the blood of your ‘king,’ as you so call him, flowing through my veins.” “That should not matter, you are still a pathetic vampire,” the large dragon replied. “Okay, for one, I am getting tired of you calling me pathetic,” Razien replied,

starting to get a little angry over the disrespect. “I may be little compared to you, but single-handedly, I have slain ten of you bastards in under an hour, so at least have the respect toward your betters, or at least it to defeat.” “We will never it defeat, especially to the likes of you, and you are not our better.” The large dragon proclaimed. “Attack!” he roared at the other two. The two dragons began walking a circle around Razien, waiting for the perfect moment for them to attack. As they paced slowly around him, Razien held his sword tight in his right hand as he carefully watched the two dragons. After a few moments of waiting for one of them to attack, Razien decided to attack the gray one since it looked smaller and easier to deal with. Just as Razien started to run toward the smaller dragon in front of him, the larger green one behind him picked up a boulder that weighed about three hundred pounds and launched it at the vampire. The boulder smacked the vampire dead center of his back and sent him hurtling face-first into the dirt. Razien slid across the ground until the gray dragon stopped him by harshly placing his front left hand on Razien’s head. The gray dragon picked the dazed and injured vampire up by the back of his neck and threw him back to the other dragon. Razien’s body hit the ground with a loud thud and slid a few feet until the green dragon stopped him by stabbing one of his claws through the vampire’s right shoulder and into the ground. Razien yelled out in agony but was unable to fight back. The green dragon picked Razien up with the claw that impaled him and dangled the vampire for the other two dragons to see. The large red-and-brown dragon watched with a grin as the other two dragons played with Razien’s body as if it were a toy. As the green dragon dangled Razien from his claw, the gray dragon noticed that the vampire had dropped his sword when he landed and slid to his feet. The gray dragon picked the sword up with his right hand and began examining it. “Nice weapon,” he said as he looked at the vampire. “Let us see how sharp its blade is to you.” The dragon flipped the sword into the air and caught it by the tip, and in one swift move, he threw it at Razien. The sword glistened as it flew through the air, and with a sadistic sound, it impaled Razien dead center of the chest. Razien let out half a moan just before he went silent and limp. Razien’s companions watched in horror as the world’s savior became a play toy

for the dragons. Once his body went completely limp, the green dragon threw Razien’s corpse to the ground. The moment Razien’s body hit the ground, his four brothers came running out of the tree line with their weapons drawn ready to their brother. Solrac quickly aimed his bow, and with his first shot, he hit the gray dragon in its left shoulder, causing permanent injury. As Jon was running toward the dragons, he saw Solrac’s arrow injure the smaller dragon. Without a second thought, he darted toward the gray dragon, and with all his human might, he buried his large battle-ax into the side of the dragon’s skull, killing it instantly. The large red-and-brown dragon saw what Jon had done and became infuriated and lunged at the four men. Before he even landed on the ground, Solrac released an arrow at the dragon. The arrow hit the dragon in its left eye and exited out of its right eye. As the dragon landed on the ground stumbling unable to see, it began randomly and furiously spewing fire in every direction. As the large dragon began to spit fire, it distracted the green one long enough for Nemajneb to hit it in the right side with his maul breaking its ribs. When the dragon turned to try to bite the barbarian, Bull was able to stab the dragon in his heart with his long sword. As the dragon fell to the ground dead, both the barbarian and Bull took cover on the far side of it from the flames. As soon as Jon saw the flames, he instantly ducked down beside the gray dragon. While he crouched next to the corpse, he saw Bull and Nemajneb were also safe. He could tell that they were yelling at him, but the noise from the flames was too loud. He realized that they were pointing behind him, and when he turned to look at what they were pointing at, he saw Solrac running toward him for cover. Just as Solrac jumped for cover beside Jon, the dragon fire completely engulfed him. Solrac’s burning body landed many paces away from Jon because of the force of the flames. Horrified, Jon peaked over the dragon corpse he was hiding behind, and the moment he saw a window, he leaped onto the dead dragon and then leaped at the feet of the large one. The moment he landed underneath the panicking dragon, he twisted the end of the handle on his battle-ax and a twofoot spike stuck out of the end between the blades. Without hesitation, with all his might, he jammed the spike as deep as he could into the heart of the dragon then rolled out from underneath it. The dragon instantly stopped spitting fire and

began to collapse lifelessly. Jon quickly ran to Solrac’s burning body and put out the flames. He could still hear Solrac moaning in pain as the last of the fire was put out. Tears began to fill Jon’s eyes and roll down his cheeks, seeing one of his best friends in so much pain. The dying hero’s fingers were melted together, and his eyelids were completely singed away showing his eyes that were boiled in their sockets. Jon could hear Solrac muttering something but could not make out what it was. With his heart filled with anger and mercy, he pulled a small dagger from a sheathe on his chest and gently, but quickly, he stabbed his dying friend in his heart, killing him quickly. “Go with, Loveaya, my friend, your pain and suffering are over. She will embrace you in her arms,” he whispered to his friend as tears fell from his cheeks. Bull and Nemajneb raced over to Jon and Solrac, but before they were able to get to them, Jon slowly stood to his feet. He looked at his two friends, and instantly they could tell that a companion was lost. Together the three of them rushed over to Razien’s body with his sword still sticking out of his chest. As they stood over the vampire’s body, they looked into his open eyes, and they felt like they were staring into the abyss. Nemajneb softly grabbed the hilt of Razien’s sword and gently and slowly pulled the sword from his chest. As the sword was being pulled out, it made a slurping suction noise that made the three friends cringe. When the sword had become completely removed, blood began to flow out of Razien’s chest profusely. Bull turned away and began to gag at the sight. Nemajneb laid the sword on top of the vampire’s torso, then the three friends knelt down by his side. “My brother,” Nemajneb spoke out loud, “I do not know if you can hear me or not, but I do not believe this is the end of your journey. Please come back to us, the world needs its savior.” “Loveaya,” Jon added, “if you can hear me, please help our friend. He has done nothing but protect your innocent creations of this land, please give him a second chance. I beg this of you if you need a life for his without hesitation, I will give you mine.”

Bull knelt down by Razien’s head and softly closed his eyelids with his left hand. “Strength to you, my friend,” he said as he stood back up. The three friends looked at one another with heavy hearts and tears in their eyes. “Let us go burn our comrade,” Nemajneb said as he turned and began walking to Solrac’s burned corpse. For the next few hours, the three friends gathered wood from the forest and made a large pyre for their friend. Once the pyre was built, together the three friends gently grabbed Solrac’s body and placed it on the pyre. The stack of wood was so high that the friends had to carefully climb up the stack a few feet to be able to get their friend to the top. Once they got his body on the pyre, Nemajneb lit three torches and handed one to Jon and one to Bull. The three friends stood for a moment in silence with their heads bowed. Bull was the first to lift his head up and take a step forward. “Brother,” he said, wiping tears from his cheeks, “if not for you and your skill with a bow, the dragons would have won the day. Thank you, my friend, rest in peace.” He then took a step backward. Jon stepped forward next. “My brother,” he said, trying to hold back the tears, “Bull is right. If it was not for your speed and accuracy with your bow, we would have lost. You saved us from an early grave by putting yourself in one. Many blessings to you on your journey to your next life.” Jon then took a step back. Nemajneb dried his tears then took his step forward. “You traveled with us for only a short time, but in that time, you became a brother to us all. You sacrificed yourself for the journey, and in doing so, we can continue on. Your memory lives on through us. May Loveaya rest your soul.” As Nemajneb finished his speech, he glanced back at the other two, and together they stepped forward, and together they placed their torches at the base of the pyre. As the flames began to engulf the pile of wood and kindling the three friends turned and moved a dozen paces away from the flames then turned to watch as their friend became engulfed by them. As the pyre burned, the remaining friends gently and carefully carried Razien’s body to the tree line. Over the next few hours, the three friends sat around a small fire in silence, thinking about how the day had started and how the day dramatically ended.

Razien’s body lay just a few paces away so they could keep an eye on it. Each of them had hope that their brother would sit up at any moment and scare the piss out of them. Unfortunately their hopes never came true, and as the hours ed, the pyre became a large pile of ash, and slowly they each began to out due to exhaustion from the weary day.

Journey into the Spirit World

As Razien hung helplessly from the dragon’s claw sticking through his shoulder, he could faintly see the gray dragon pick up his sword, and in an instant, he felt the agonizing pain of it plummeting deep into his chest. Within seconds his vision had faded and turned dark, and he could feel his life force draining quickly. After what seemed like an eternity for Razien he began to hear Nemajneb’s voice. “My brother, I do not know if you can hear me or not, but I do not believe this is the end of your journey. Please come back to us, the world needs its savior.” Razien tried to speak but was unable to do so, and when Nemajneb stopped talking, Razien began to see a bright greenish light taking over his vision. “Do not panic, my Razien, for it is me, your Loveaya.” “Where am I?” he asked, almost afraid. “Am I dead?” “No, my love, you are not dead, but you are among the spirits of the dead,” she replied with sadness in her voice. “We must talk, you and I, you have made a terrible mistake.” “If I am not dead, then how did I get here?” he asked, puzzled. “I brought you here because your body is weak and needs time to heal, so I thought we would use this time to talk,” she told him. “How will my body heal if my soul has left it?” he asked. “Do you doubt me, Razien?” she asked in a saddened tone. “No, no, I do not doubt you, Loveaya,” he replied, disappointed in himself. “Then stop the worrying,” she demanded politely. “I will protect your body.” As Loveaya told him that, roots and vines began to grow out of the ground,

engulfing Razien’s body as it lay next to his three sleeping companions. “You are my warrior,” she told him. “I will not let you die that easily, but that does not mean that you cannot die.” Razien thought for a moment to himself then realized that he screwed up while fighting the dragons. He began to go over the entire fight in his mind trying to figure out where and when he made his mistake. As he pictured the fighting in his mind, his surroundings turned into a large meadow surrounded by trees. In this meadow, he saw many people laughing and having fun, and even some were having large feasts at long tables. “What is this place?” he asked curiously. “This is the Realm of Light, a place for those who live honorable lives and do not want to be reincarnated come to live out eternity.” Razien smiled. “It is very beautiful here, Loveaya, I can see why people would not want to leave.” Loveaya manifested herself into her physical body right in front of Razien, startling him. Loveaya gently grabbed Razien’s left hand with her right, and together, they began to walk through the meadow. Razien was more following her lead than walking with her. As they walked through the meadow, the entire scenery around them began to change into a very dense forest with a small path leading them, just wide enough for them to walk side by side. The forest was filled with large and small critters scurrying about everywhere. “Do the predators still eat the prey in this world?” Razien asked out of curiosity. “Yes, they do, Razien,” she replied with a smile. “But unlike the world of the living, every creature that dies does not feel pain and is reborn the next morning at sunrise. Humans, on the other hand, cannot show any violence of any kind, it is forbidden.” “So do they live the same day over and over?” he asked. “No,” she replied, still smiling, “every day is different here, just like in the world of the living. If an animal of prey dies today, it has the chance of living throughout the entire day tomorrow.”

“Interesting,” he replied. “So what happens if a human shows violence here?” he asked. “Well, since I have first created man, there has never been an incident of that here, but if it were to happen, I would immediately send them to the Halls of the Damned.” She replied with a sense of pride. “Halls of the Damned?” he questioned curiously. “What is that?” Instantly the landscape around them changed once again, but this time the area turned into an endless rocky desert with no plants, no animals, and no water or food. Out among the desert, Razien could see and hear thousands of humans screaming in terror at nothing. “What is wrong with them?” he asked suspiciously. “Those of who I send here live their worst nightmares for at least a thousand years in real time,” she replied with a smile as she paused for a moment. “Which to them feels like an eternity, but their fears that they are living are just in their minds, but they think it is real.” “What happens to them after their thousand years are up?” Razien asked, looking at her. Loveaya looked back at him and replied. “After their thousand years are up, I reincarnate them back into the world of humans. If they fail a second time, they go to the Land of the Tortured for all eternity, unless I feel that their soul has been taught a lesson, then they go back to the Halls of the Damned forever.” “Land of the Tortured?” he asked reluctantly, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer. Again the scenery began to change, but this time they were standing at the edge of a very large cliff overlooking an endless land of what looked like a dead forest of black oak trees. Within the forest, Razien could see some humans running from large beasts that looked like very large wolves. Some humans, as he watched, got mauled and mutilated by the wolves. The backs of the wolves stood taller than a man. He watched one human get attacked by three wolves as they slowly but viciously ripped his arms and legs from his body. As the man lay screaming in pain, he watched as the wolves ate his appendages right in front of

him. After the wolves ate his arms and legs, then they just turned and casually walked away, leaving the man there to suffer. “Those wolves, what are they?” he asked. “They do not look like a typical wolf.” “They are my pets, so to speak,” she replied as she laid her head on his shoulder. “They are my guardians of this realm. I call them werewolves, for they once were men who suffered in this Land of the Tortured for many hundreds of thousands of years. Eventually after being here for so long, they lose every bit of their humanity. When that happens, they turn into these beautiful creatures who will do only my bidding, no questions asked.” “Remind me never to get on your bad side,” he commented with a smile. “Razien,” she replied, tilting her head up to look at him, “if I have to remind you, you are already here.” “I thought you loved all your creations?” he asked as he swallowed hard. “I do,” she said, “but I will not tolerate the destruction of the innocent. If anyone chooses to break my one golden rule, then they shall suffer the consequences.” “I can agree with that,” he replied as he nodded with a smile. Loveaya lifted her head off his shoulders and looked into his blue eyes. “There are a couple of people that want to speak with you.” She told him as the scenery changed. This time they were standing in a great hall with a large circular table in the middle. The walls of the hall were made up of millions of vines that went from the floor to the ceiling. The ceiling was of the night sky with the eight planets and the sun clearly visible to be seen for all those who sat beneath them. The floor was of a thick grass that felt like a soft rug under the feet with roots that protruded from it, creating the table and eleven chairs that surrounded it. “What is this place?” he asked in awe as he took in the beautiful scene. “This is called the Great Hall of the Meeting,” she replied as she raised his hand and kissed the back of it. “Please sit down with me,” she said as she led him to a chair. “They will be here in a moment.” “Who are they?” he asked cautiously.

Just as he ended his question, two people appeared behind him and walked to take a seat beside him. As they arrived by his sides, he looked up and saw his father taking a seat to his left. “Father!” he shouted with joy as he quickly stood to hug him. “Why are you here?” he asked, excited and confused. Vlad hugged him back for a quick moment then motioned with his left hand for him to acknowledge the person behind him. Razien turned to see who else had come, and to his despair, he saw Solrac standing there with a partial smile. “Solrac?” he asked, questioning his own eyesight. “But why, how are you here?” he asked, confused and afraid, as he shook his friend’s hand and pulled him in for a hug. “What happened to you? Who did this to you?” Solrac shook Razien’s hand and returned the hug. “My brother, you did this to me.” “How could I have done this to you?” he asked with confusion and anger in his heart as the three of them sat down, ing Loveaya. “My sweet Razien,” Loveaya replied, “when you became overconfident in your last fight with the dragons and they defeated you, your friends ran out of the tree line to try to save you, knowing that they would most likely die doing so. With two arrows, Solrac had turned the tide of the battle to their side, and in doing so, it cost him his life.” “Brother,” Razien said with tears filling his eyes. “I told you all to run, why did you not flee?” “You said it, Razien,” he replied with a smile. Razien had a confused look on his face. “Because you are our brother, Razien, from now until the end of existence. In this quest of yours, if you fail all life in this realm and the world of the living will be lost, and that includes Loveaya and her celestial family. You must fight brother, for all of us so that we do not die in vain.” Razien wiped the tears from his eyes. “I am sorry, brother, I did not know this would happen.”

“Do not apologize for this,” he said as he patted Razien on the shoulder. “I died for the greatest cause of all I died for my brothers and for Loveaya.” Loveaya smiled with gratitude. “And I thank you for your sacrifice, and for all that you have lost and sacrificed in my name, I shall grant you age to the Mountain of Warriors.” As soon as Loveaya finished her sentence, Solrac began to fade away. “Take care, my brother Razien, and do not feel sorrow for me for I am with our creator living without sorrow or pain.” Solrac then faded from the room completely. Razien turned to his father. “Father, I have failed you,” he cried. “How can you ever forgive me?” “My son,” he replied, placing his right hand on Razien’s left shoulder. “You have not failed me, yes, you have made mistakes, but you have not failed me. But that is also why I am here to teach you to learn from your mistakes.” “I have let my friends down you down and Loveaya along with everyone else,” Razien replied with tears still in his eyes. Vlad clapped his hands together very quickly, making a very loud smacking sound that startled Razien. “Boy, pull yourself together and stop feeling sorry for yourself,” Vlad demanded in a stern tone. “I have raised you better than this. What have I always taught you about my philosophy about one’s mistakes?” he asked seriously. Razien dried his tears and sat up straight and looked his father in his eyes. “You have taught me that there are four different types of people when it comes to mistakes.” “And what are they?” Vlad asked. “An ignorant person does not learn from any mistake. A smart person learns from their own mistake. An intelligent person learns from others’ mistakes. And a wise person does not need to learn from any mistakes because they know not to do it in the first place.” Razien stared at his father for a moment in silence after repeating his dad’s saying out loud.

Vlad stood from his chair, motioning for his son to follow. Once standing, Vlad paced both hands on both Razien’s shoulders. “Son, we know that there are very few if any wise people left out there, including you, but you need to figure out, which of the others that you are. Are you an intelligent man, a smart man, or an ignorant one?” Vlad smiled at his son. “I know for a fact that you are not an ignorant one.” Razien stood straight and proud and replied, “I will learn from my mistake, Father, and that you can count on, thank you.” Vlad pulled Razien in for a hug, and for a couple of moments, the father and son stood, hugging each other. They both knew that this would be the last time they would get to hug each other for a long time. After a couple of moments, Vlad began to fade away as he gently pulled himself out of the hug. “, son, no matter what, I will all ways love you, Razien, because you are my son,” Vlad told him with a smile. “I love you too, Dad,” Razien replied just before his father vanished. “Where did he go?” Razien asked, looking over to Loveaya. “I have sent him to the Mountain of Warriors with Solrac and all the other vampires that lived honorable lives,” she replied with a small smile. “Thank you, Loveaya,” he said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “I am ready to go back and fight alongside my friends.” “You may be ready, but your body is not,” she replied sternly. “Besides you have a few more beings that want to talk to you.” Razien thought about what Loveaya had just said for a moment. “What do you mean by that?” he asked, confused. About the time Razien finished his question, nine beings began to take form around the table with each one manifesting in a chair. As they appeared, Razien noticed that they were all colorful beings. Once they had fully manifested, Razien looked around the table and did not recognize any of them. “Who are you?” he asked, confused.

The man that sat almost directly across the table from Razien was red and yellow and began to speak. “I am the father of this celestial family, and to keep it simple, we will call ourselves by the names that the humans of Loveaya will call us by in the future,” he said in a rumbling tone. “I am known as the Sun, but please call me Abba, it means father, and I give warmth to my family and those creatures that my daughter has created. “That one there,” he said as he motioned with his right hand pointing to the male on Razien’s left who was of a brownish-gray color. “He is known as Mercury. The pale yellow one to his left is known as Venus. You already know my daughter, Loveaya.” He then motioned to the one next to himself on his right. “This one here”—who was of a reddish brown—“is known as Mars. They are the youngest of our family.” He then motioned to the orange-and-white one directly to his left. “He is known as Jupiter. The brownish-yellow one to his left wearing all those rings is known as Saturn. The blue one next to him is Uranus, and then we have Neptune, who, as you can tell, is also blue with some dark bands and spots. They are the oldest of my children, and then we have my adopted son, Pluto.” Razien looked at Pluto curiously, who was a pale-brownish color. “Adopted?” he asked. “Yes,” Abba replied. “He once was a part of the same celestial family that the Blood Moon belonged to so many millennia ago. When Wormwood, the true name of the Blood Moon, left his family and went rogue, he expelled Pluto from it as well. Scared and not knowing what to do, Pluto followed his big brother until they came through our celestial family’s home. Seeing what his brother was capable of, we offered him a new place in our family, and he has been with us ever since. “When Loveaya decided that she wanted to create a warrior powerful enough to destroy Wormwood, since she was the first and only one so far to be attacked by him, we all agreed to help her in doing so. When you were born, each of us gave Luna a very small portion of our energy to give to you. In doing this, it was almost too much for your small fragile body to handle. That is when Karne stepped in, and without knowing it, he helped us to make you even stronger. “This energy of ours that flows through you is not enough to destroy Wormwood

yet. It lays dormant within you waiting for the right time, and when this time does arrive, it will be used as a conduit for us to channel the energy to you that you will need so you can destroy that rogue planet. But we must warn you, when the time comes, there will be a sacrifice that will have to be made. Razien listened closely to what the All-Father had to say, and when he was finished, Razien stood to his feet. “If it is my life that must be sacrificed, then without hesitation, I will give it full-heartedly and with honor. For my Loveaya, I will do whatever it takes to protect her and all the innocence that lives here.” “For the first time in my existence, I have never been so full of joy and honor in something other than my family alone.” The All-Father replied as a single tear formed in each of his eyes. As the two tears began to roll down his cheeks, they quickly began to sizzle and evaporate. “Now I will let each of them explain their gift that they have given you,” he said as he motioned to all his children. “I have a quick question before we get started, if that is okay,” Razien said as he looked around the table. “By all means,” the All-Father replied. “Ask any question that you wish.” “I only have one, but why is it that I cannot know your real names?” he asked curiously. All but Loveaya chuckled at his question. “Razien,” the All-Father replied with a smile. “It is not that we do not want you to know, but it is impossible for our names to be spoken in any language but our own.” “Why is that? What makes it impossible?” he asked with a smile of curiosity. “What you call earthquakes and vibrations and even volcano eruptions are actually Loveaya speaking to us,” he replied, hoping that Razien would understand. “I think I understand completely now,” he acknowledged. “I guess there really would be no way for anything but you celestial bodies to speak your language,” he said with a smile. “Razien,” the All-Father replied, “I have given you the attribute of knowing thyself. What that means is that when you get lost in your anger, you will be able

to find yourself easier due to the fact that your true self is much stronger than that of all others. I hope it serves you well.” “Razien,” Mercury spoke up when the All-Father was finished. “I have empowered you with the attribute of intelligence. This means that knowledge and understanding of information will come to you with ease. You will be able to work through difficult situations and problems before anyone else can even comprehend the situation. I hope my gift to you serves you well.” “Razien, I am known as Venus,” the next one stated, “and I give onto you the attribute of love. The love in your heart is already strong, so in a sense, it is your strongest attribute. It will allow you to fight harder for those who need you to fight for them. I thank your father for the way he has raised you. I hope it serves you well on your journey.” “Thank you, Venus,” Razien replied as his eyes began to water. He then looked to Loveaya. “My sweet Razien,” she began with a smile. “I am your and your life force. I will be by your side throughout your journey, whether you feel my presence or not. You are the love of my essence, many blessings on your journey. Before Mars speaks, there is one celestial body that could not make it to this meeting, so she wanted me to tell you something for her.” Razien had a confused look on his face. “Who is it, Loveaya?” he asked curiously. “Luna,” Loveaya replied, “she wants me to let you know that she, too, has given you a gift. She has given you the attributes of emotion and feelings, and with these attributes, you will be a force to be reckoned with, especially if it is a family member or friend or even the innocence that is put into danger. Your love of life will conquer all, and she and I both wish you many blessings on your journey.” “Thank you, Loveaya, I could not do this without you,” he replied as the tears fell from his eyes. “Thank Luna for me if you would.” Loveaya nodded in agreement. “My friend,” Mars said with a smile, “I have given you the attributes of will and courage. With these attributes, you will be able to face the dark days ahead

without fear, and no matter what life will throw your way, you will find the will to carry on. May my gift to you help you on your path that lies ahead.” “Razien Onyx,” Jupiter said with a smile, “the attribute that I give to you is generosity. Now by what I have seen and what my sister Loveaya has told us, your generosity that you carry inside you is way beyond any of her creations, and for that, I thank you. I cannot tell you any more about it or what it will help you with because you already use it at its full potential. But what I can say is continue using it the way you do, and you will honor me. Thank you, young Razien Onyx.” Razien looked to Saturn next as Saturn looked back at him for a moment in silence. “What I give to you, young friend, is discipline and commitment. It will help you evolve yourself to become better in every way and to focus on your goals in this quest of yours. May this gift help you on your path.” Uranus looked at Razien, then at Loveaya, then back to Razien. “My friend, I have given onto you the attribute of individuality.” Uranus smiled and chuckled at his own comment. “There is not much that I can say except that you already are the only one of your kind in all creation. You alone are the definition of individuality, and for that, I could not be happier. In the future it will help you deal with the fact that you will stand out and the humans of my sister creations will talk about you behind your back. My attribute will help you overcome this obstacle. In the end, it will help you be what you want to be.” Razien smiled at Uranus and also chuckled. “Thank you, friend,” Razien replied. Razien then looked at Neptune, waiting for his gift. “What I give to you, Razien, is better intuition and healing,” Neptune said. “Your intuition now is very strong, but you still need to work on it. It will help you a lot in the future. Do not be afraid of listening to your gut or your heart, they will guide you. The healing aspect is just as mental as it is spiritual and physical. Just that in time you will heal.” Razien nodded with a smile. “I can definitely use the healing,” he thought to himself. When it became Pluto’s turn, he stood to his feet. “First of all, I want to thank this entire celestial family for taking me in when you all had no obligation to. What my brother Wormwood has done to you, Loveaya is unforgivable. It broke

my heart when I had to watch helplessly as one of his guardians smashed into you, nearly ejecting you from your family.” Pluto turned to Razien, who sat to Pluto’s left. “Razien, my friend, he said with a smile, “I have never seen or heard of a celestial family coming together the way this one has to create a creature such as yourself. You have much power, and yet you do not abuse it. I know how to destroy my brother, and when the time comes, I will let you know. For now, my gift that I have given you is transformation and power. You have great untapped power that resides inside of you that you can use, but you must unlock it on your own. When you reach of age and fully mature, I will help with your transformation, and Karne and Wormwood and anyone else who will choose to stand in your way will see the true warrior who fights for all the innocence out there.” “Thank you, everyone, for your and your gifts,” Razien replied as he stood to his feet. “I will do my best to defeat Karne and to not let you all down again.” As Razien finished his sentence, all the celestial beings rose to their feet together and spoke at the same time. “Razien, many blessings to you on your journey, and may our gifts serve you well.” Before he knew it, the celestial beings disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared, leaving only Loveaya and himself standing alone in the Great Hall. Razien stood feeling confused but enlightened and began to smile as he turned to look at Loveaya. Razien now understood why Loveaya had brought him here to her realm. “I must get back to the realm of the living,” Razien stated as he looked into Loveaya’s eyes with love and comion. “Is there any chance that my body is healed enough for me to return to it?” he asked. Loveaya looked back into Razien’s deep blue eyes, and with a faint smile, she replied. “Your body is not completely healed yet, for it has only been just over half a day since you fell in battle, but if you truly are sure this is what you want, I will send you back.” Razien gently touched her left cheek with his right hand and smiled. “I know my body will still be a little weak, and it will take a few days for it to heal properly,

but I must get back to it. We do not have much longer before Karne goes to sleep for the next three and a half millennia.” Loveaya placed her left hand on his right, holding it to her cheek. “I will send you back, but you must what you have learned here and use that knowledge wisely.” “I will,” he replied with a smile. The next morning as the three friends woke up from a rough night of sleeping, they simultaneously glanced over to where they had left Razien’s body and realized that it had been consumed by the roots and vines of the forest floor. With only muttering a few sounds, the three friends rushed over to their friend’s body and began trying to cut away the roots and vines. For what seemed to be half an hour of no luck at even scratching the roots or vines, the friends sat back on the ground next to one another, staring at their friend’s tomb. As they sat, staring in silence at the lump on the ground, that once was their friend; they noticed that the roots and vines began to slowly retract off Razien’s body. The friends quickly stood to their feet and watched with curiosity and confusion. “Nemajneb, do you know what is happening?” Jon asked, almost worried. “I do not, my friend,” he replied just as curious and confused as the other two. “I have never seen, nor have I ever heard of anything like this.” Before they knew it, the roots had vanished into the ground, and their friend Razien lay at their feet. The three friends stared at Razien’s pale corpse lying on the ground for a moment before they each realized the same thing. As the sun rose, its light gently and slowly moved across the ground and over the vampire causing his skin to change in the most unusual way. “Hey, brother,” Nemajneb said quietly as he gently nudged Jon with his left arm. “Is it me, or is our brother here got a greenish tent to his skin?” he asked, confused. Jon bent down on his right knee to get a closer look at his friend’s skin. “You know, I think you’re right, brother,” he said as he looked up at Bull then Nemajneb. “It does have a very light hint of green. I wonder why it has

changed?” he quietly asked as he stood to his feet. “Maybe it’s—” Before Jon could finish his sentence, Razien’s eyes opened, startling the three men into silence. The men’s gazes were transfixed on Razien’s eyes as the blue in them gently flashed brightly then slowly faded back to their normal look. As Razien opened his eyes, he could feel an energy surge through his veins with every beat of his heart. He sat up as he got his bearings straight and looked up to his friends and reached out his hand for help to his feet. Without breaking the silence, Nemajneb quickly grabbed his friend’s hand and pulled him up. Razien knew instantly what the energy was and where it came from. After Razien stood to his feet, his three friends took turns giving him a hug. “Welcome back to the land of the living, my friend,” Nemajneb said with a smile. “Brother,” Jon said as he placed his right hand on Razien’s shoulder. “I have bad news—” “I know,” Razien interrupted. “Solrac is dead, and it is because of me and my actions,” he said with a heavy heart. His three friends looked at one another astonished that he knew. “Please forgive me for my actions that got him killed. He was a good man and a great warrior, and he died saving all of us.” Razien looked at his brothers with urgency in his eyes. “I know you all have a lot of questions for me, and I will tell you, but right now, we need to get back out on the road. We need to head south until we reach the ocean.” “You just came back to life man,” Bull said, worried. “Are you sure you are going to be okay?” he asked. Razien looked into the eyes of his three friends. “There are many things that I want to tell you that I have seen, but first we must truly be on our way. When we are packed and headed south, I will tell you what happened.” Razien then turned and gathered his gear, then without a word, began walking south. His three friends were quick to catch up. Throughout the day, Razien informed his friends of everything that had happened in the spirit world. Hearing their friend explain in detail of what had happened and what Loveaya had told him, it had left a mark in their minds and hearts that would last generations.

The Souvenir

Just under a week after Solrac’s sacrifice in battle, the group of brothers arrived at a small plateau late in the evening and set up camp. The next morning shortly after the sun rose and the men had eaten breakfast, they began to pack their bags as a large shadow quickly swallowed the morning sunlight. The four friends simultaneously looked up, and as one, they grabbed their weapons and dropped everything else preparing themselves for battle. The friends quickly put a few paces between themselves, creating a U shape facing the edge of the cliff with the forest to their backs. “How did he find us!” Bull yelled to his brothers. Razien looked up, gripping his sword tightly. “I have no idea!” he yelled back with fear and anger in his voice as he watched Karne land in front of them. “Pathetic mortals,” Karne said in a calm, deep, dark voice. “You have been led to your graves by this one.” He pointed to Razien with his left claw. “What do you mean by that?” Razien demanded in anger. Nemajneb lowered his weapon causing Jon and Bull to look at him in confusion. “Razien, my friend,” he said in a calm voice. “You share his blood. Your blood has given us away, and it always will. You will never get the upper hand on him.” Razien looked at his barbaric friend with such hatred for the betrayal. The blue in his eyes began to change into a bloodred color as he turned toward Karne. Karne looked into Razien’s bloodred eyes and smiled. “You know you cannot defeat me, young Razien. You have tried once and never even came close.” Karne paused for a moment to look at Razien’s three companions. “This is your last chance to me. If you refuse, I will kill your friends, and then I will wait for you to come to me where I will kill you. So you see Razien, you have already lost.” Razien could feel the rage swell inside him, screaming to get out, and deep in all

the chaos that was going on in his head, he heard that soft calming voice. “Calm yourself, my Razien,” Loveaya whispered to him. “Channel your anger and use that energy that you hold inside.” The vampire tightened his grip around the handle of the sword as he drew it back, preparing himself to lunge at the dragon. Nemajneb noticed quickly what Razien was about to do and so with all his speed and might, he lunged toward the dragon striking him in his right shoulder. At the same time, Karne kicked him in the chest with the same leg sending him flying back dozens of yards. The barbarian hit the ground with a loud thud and came to a stop against a tree. With Karne’s brief distraction with the barbarian, Razien took advantage of the opening and lunged toward the dragon’s chest. He pushed so hard with his legs he left indentions in the ground where his feet were. The sword pierced the dragon’s scales on his chest, causing Karne to stand back on his back legs and roar in agony. After only a quick moment of roaring, he pulled the sword from his chest and quickly landed back down on his front left leg. Karne stared at the black sword with pure anger and hatred in his eyes while blood poured from the wound in his chest. After a short moment, his gaze moved from the sword to its master, but before Karne could retaliate, Jon and Bull both lunged at the dragon together. Jon’s blow bedded deep into the dragon’s rear left leg just above the knee. Bull’s blow left a gash in Karne’s left rib cage. Feeling the piercing blades slice through his scaly skin made Karne leap to his right to put distance between him and the warriors. The black dragon spun his large head around and shot fire at Jon and Bull, causing them to dive out of the way. He then turned his attention back to Razien as he threw the vampire’s sword into the woods. The dragon stared long and hard into Razien’s eyes; he then began to speak to the four warriors as one. “I see you have found a way to pierce my skin with your weapons, but as I told you before you pathetic creatures, I cannot die even if you mortally wound me.” Karne turned his head to face the wounds that Jon and Bull gave him and began to gently breathe fire onto them. As the fire gently rolled across the scaly, shiny black skin, the wounds began to heal before everyone’s eyes. Bull stood to his feet as he brushed the dirt and smoldering ashes from his

clothing, then gripped his longsword tightly with both hands. “How are we supposed to kill something that cannot die!” he asked Razien loudly where everyone could hear him. Razien looked at his two friends that were nearly engulfed by a fireball, then he glanced over at Nemajneb, who was just starting to move and stand to his feet. “We do not have to kill him!” Razien yelled at his brothers as he locked eyes with Karne. “We just have to keep him at his cave until the Blood Moon disappears in less than two weeks,” he told them just loud enough for them to hear him. Nemajneb finished standing to his feet and noticed Razien’s sword lying in some brush just a few paces from him. “We all knew that this could be a one-way journey, so if we must die keeping him occupied, then we shall die with honor,” he told them as he picked up his friend’s weapon, boosting their confidence. “ what is waiting for us if it is our time. Loveaya will embrace us.” The three warriors walked over to Razien to stand by his side as he faced Karne. “All we must do is mortally wound him,” Razien told them. “If we mortally wound him, he will have to return to his cave to heal, and it will take some time.” Karne grinned at the group as Razien spoke. After Razien was done speaking, the large dragon stood tall on his feet then he moved his head to where he was right in front of the warriors. “Yes, you may wound me and keep me from my goals this time around, but when it is all said and done, the four of you will be dead and you, Razien,” he said as he locked eyes back with the vampire. “You will be my trophy for the entire world see.” Karne moved his head back away from the men. “Razien!” he said loudly. “If you come with me now quietly, I will spare your friends and even your mother.” Razien looked up at the dragon with anger. “For one, I do not even know what it is that you want my help with? And for two, why would I trust you? You have done nothing but kill and cause havoc across this world.” Karne lowered his head back down to Razien’s level, and in a deep low tone in almost a whisper, the dragon spoke. “My, how little you know,” he replied. “We dragons have ruled over countless worlds and civilizations for millions of years. “So tell me, little vampire,” he said with a smile. “How do you and this pathetic little world plan on defeating me?”

The four men quickly pulled back their weapons about to strike at Karne but the dragon too fast and was able pull his head back in time. After the men missed his head, they all looked up in time to see him breathe fire down at them. Without hesitation, Nemajneb and Razien dived toward the trees for cover while Jon and Bull dived in the opposite direction to take cover behind a couple of large rocks. “How are we supposed fight this damn thing?” Jon asked Bull as they both hunkered down behind the rocks trying not to get roasted by the fire. “I am not sure, brother,” Bull replied, trying to figure out indeed how to fight something like Karne. “Hey, do we have Solrac’s bow and arrows?” he asked Jon curiously. “I think I have an idea.” Jon thought for a moment to himself. “Yes, we do, brother,” he replied with a smile as he looked out from around the rock to point at the pile of coals and ashes were they had their fire the night before. “It is there, between us and the dragon,” he stated as he took cover and sat back up against the rock. “Well, damn,” Bull replied as he laid his head up against the rock with a thud. “I am out of ideas.” Jon leaned to his right just enough to where he was able to see where Razien and the barbarian had lunged into the woods. As he scanned the area with his eyes, he saw Razien staring at him. Once Razien had Jon’s attention, the vampire motioned for Jon and Bull to distract Karne while he ran and grabbed the bow. Jon put his left hand up, motioning for Razien to wait a moment. “Hey, brother,” Jon said as he leaned back. “Razien wants us to distract this beast of darkness while he gets the bow.” Bull looked at Jon for a second. “How about they distract it, and I get it since it is closer to me, and I am farther off to Karne’s side than any of us.” Jon thought about what Bull had just told him for a moment, he then leaned forward again and motioned to Razien that Bull was going for the bow. With hesitation, the vampire and the barbarian agreed to Bull’s plan. Razien and Jon both sat, staring at each other then, simultaneously they both held up three fingers, and together they counted down. The moment his and Razien’s third fingers went down, Jon patted Bull with his right hand to signal him it was time for him to do his part.

The moment Razien lowered his third finger, Nemajneb and he both peeked out from behind some trees, and Razien began yelling and making noise while Nemajneb began throwing rocks at Karne’s head. Both men knew that their actions were not going to do much but piss Karne off. The moment Jon patted him, Bull took off from behind the rock and hauled ass to the bow. By the time, the barbarian threw his fourth rock, Bull was back behind the large rock. Nemajneb paused for a moment just before he took cover back in the woods. He glanced over at Razien that was just a couple of yards away. “Did you see that?” he asked his friend. “That man can run.” Razien smiled at his friend. “It is amazing what anyone can do if they just put all fear aside, and they put their mind to it,” he replied, proud of his friend. As Bull came sliding around the rock, he held out the Solrac’s bow and arrows to give to Jon. “What the…damn, brother!” he said from being startled. “That was fast.” Bull placed the bow and arrows up against Jon’s chest as he kept an eye behind him for flames or the dragon. Jon grabbed the weapon from his brother. “Why are you giving this to me you are the one that risked your life to get it.” Bull looked over at his brother with a grin. “When we first started this journey, I had doubts about everything.” Bull paused for a moment. “But over the course of this journey, I have seen a lot of things that have changed the way I perceive the world. I know now the difference between fighting for revenge and fighting to save something worth saving. We are fighting to save the world here, and you are a far better shot than I am with a bow.” Jon smiled as he patted Bull on the shoulder. “Then are you ready?” he asked his brother. Bull nodded. “Let us finish this,” he said with a smile. Jon grinned back at Bull. “Give me a moment and let me motion to Razien to let him know we are ready.” Jon knew that for him to truly injure Karne, he would have to shoot him in an eye. Jon readied an arrow, then peeked around the rock and motioned to Razien that he was ready. At the same time, the other three ran out from cover toward the

very large black dragon. When Karne brought his head closer to the ground to attack Razien, he had unblocked the sun, causing it to shine directly in Jon’s eyes. As soon as the sun temporarily blinded him, Jon accidently let loose of the arrow. Unable to defend himself at the moment, Jon ducked back behind the rock. Razien dashed toward Karne’s head as it got closer, but before the dragon could sink his teeth into him, the vampire dodged, then rolled up under the dragon’s chin. The moment Razien came to a stop under the head of the dragon, he quickly rammed his sword upward through its chin and into the mouth of the beast. With the sword piercing his tongue and the top of his mouth Karne instantly reared back on his back legs and let out a very loud growling roar in pain. As the dragon let out his scream Nemajneb twisted the handle of his battle maul, causing spikes to protrude out of it, and with all his might, he slammed it into Karne’s right knee causing him to stumble over toward the barbarian. The beast hit the ground hard on his right side, sending dust and debris everywhere. Nemajneb was able to just barely escape from being smashed as he stumbled out of the dust cloud. Once he caught himself, he came to a stop in front of Razien with a smile on his face. “That was a close one,” he commented as he began to knock some of the debris from his clothing. As the barbarian was brushing himself off, Bull came running at him as fast as he could with his claymore drawn. Confused, the barbarian gripped his weapon tightly, ready to defend himself, but to his surprise, Bull was swinging at something behind the barbarian. Just as Bull swung his claymore, the ground began to shake, and a loud growling roar came from the still present dust cloud and at the feet of the barbarian fell a large black claw. Razien looked at the claw on the ground then at Bull. “Nicely done, brother,” he complimented him with a grin. “We will take him piece by piece if we have to,” he added with a laugh. “We all know he is not dead, so let us keep our wits and defeat this beast.” Just as Bull turned to face the dust cloud that hid the dragon, Karne’s head quickly appeared, making one loud clamping noise, then disappeared back into

the cloud of dust. The men stood frozen for a moment, astonished at how fast Karne moved. With making very little sound, Bull collapsed to his knees and fell forward. Jon, being behind Bull, realized very quickly what had just happened and fell to the ground with his brother. Jon let out the most horrid of yells sending chills down even Razien’s spine. When Razien and Nemajneb looked down at their fallen brothers, they had realized that Karne had just bitten off Bull’s head in the blink of an eye. Seeing his headless friend on the ground, Razien began to feel a power surge through him, making the red of his eyes glow with a hint of green. “Karne!” he yelled angrily. “You will pay for this, you bastard!” he threatened. Karne began slowly flapping his large wings, causing the dust cloud to grow and thicken. “I warned you, Razien!” he hollered back. Jon rose to his feet with tears in his eyes, clinching the handle of his weapon in his right hand while he made a fist with his left. “I am going to kill you, you son of a—” Razien and Nemajneb both stepped in front of their friend to stop him. Even though they were both immortal and very strong, and Jon was only human, it took everything that they both had to hold their angry friend back. There was strength inside Jon beyond the boundaries of man, and Razien and Nemajneb could both sense it. “Brother,” Razien said as he spoke into Jon’s ear. “Please try to restrain yourself. This is what he wants. He wants you to go running at him blinded by anger so that you will be an easy target. Let him fly back to his cave, my sword nicked his heart, so I know it will be at least a week or so before he is able to leave his island again. We can meet him there before he is completely healed, and then you can have your vengeance.” Jon stopped fighting against them and began to think about what Razien had just said. “I want his head,” he demanded as he glanced away from Karne and locked eyes with Razien, his little brother. “You fools truly think you can defeat me?” Karne asked as he lifted into the sky. “You will all die. I have seen it in my visions.”

“Your visions mean nothing to us, you coward!” Jon yelled, looking up at him as he stood between Razien and Nemajneb. As Karne flew higher, knowing there was nothing he could do at the moment, Jon turned his attention to Razien and the barbarian. “I want the fatal blow when next we fight him,” he told them as he knelt down to Bull’s lifeless body. Without a word spoken between the three men over the next couple of hours, they gathered wood for a pyre and stacked it on the very edge of the plateau so to overlook the massive forest that lay before them. Once the wood was stacked with the help of Nemajneb, Jon gently placed his brother Bull’s body on the top. Jon slowly stepped away from the pyre and retrieved a torch from Razien’s left hand. Jon turned away from Razien and walked back to his brother’s corpse with anger and hatred running strong through his veins. As he clinched, in his hand, the bleeding claw Bull had severed from Karne’s hand Jon looked at his brother’s body and began to speak just loud enough for the other two warriors to hear. “You were a great warrior and a good brother, may you run free now with Loveaya and watch over the innocence of this valley. Peace now be with you, brother.” Jon then threw the torch at the bottom center of the pile, followed by Razien and Nemajneb throwing their torches at each end. Together the remaining three brothers turned and began heading down a steep, narrow path that twisted its way down the face of the cliff. About halfway down the cliff, Jon broke the silence. “So about how long do you think it will take to reach his island?” he asked, trying to hide the sadness he carried from their losses. Razien stopped and looked out over the valley. “See that dark speck out there?” he asked as he pointed out in front of him to the south. “It is right there at the horizon.” Both Jon and Nemajneb stopped moving and focused on the horizon. “I think I see it,” Jon replied, unsure if he truly saw it or not. “We should be there in no more than three or four days,” Razien replied confidently. “What is that speck?” Jon curiously asked, trying to force a grin out. Razien glanced over and caught Jon trying to grin, then he too began to grin, and

in return he replied sarcastically, “Well, that speck, my friend, is where we find age to the island.” He turned to Jon with a smile. “You know, to get a boat to go across, unless you plan on swimming.” Neither Jon nor Nemajneb could resist from chuckling. “No, I would rather take a boat,” Jon replied. “How long do you think it will take to get there, Razien?” Nemajneb asked with a serious tone. Razien glanced back and up at his friend, who was a few paces behind Jon. “We should be there by tomorrow night, maybe early evening,” he replied as he turned back around and continued down the path. “I will forewarn you, though.” Razien continued with a grin. “The man that owns this land out there is a little off, if you know what I mean.” “I thought you said you have never traveled away from home,” Nemajneb stated curiously. “Hey, he is right, Razien,” Jon added. “I grew up with you throughout your entire childhood, and I know for a fact that you never left the castle.” “I never said I did,” Razien replied quickly. “I just some of the stories my father used to tell me when I was a child.” “So what is the story on this fisherman that we are going to go see?” Nemajneb asked, curious to hear the story. Razien went silent for a moment, thinking about his father. “Many decades ago, there was a noble vampire family that owned this entire piece of land that sticks out into the ocean, the land is massive.” He paused for a moment again, except this time, he was trying to choke back the tears that the memories of his father telling the stories brought out. “So what happened?” both Jon and Nemajneb asked at the exact same time, not realizing why their friend had paused. After he cleared his throat, he continued. “One day, a small group of vampires got together at the family’s castle in hopes of accomplishing a surprise attack on Karne’s mountain. My mother and father were both there.” Razien grinned to

himself, ing the next part. “The way my father told it and my mother never disagreed with it, so I took it as being true. He said that there were eight vampires total, but as they reached the shoreline to the south, they were met in air by a dozen dragons. The battle lasted two days before a single vampire fell.” Razien looked back at his friends to make sure they were still listening, and they both were staring back at him with eagerness to hear more. The vampire chuckled to himself and continued. “On the morning of the third day, there were four vampires killed by dragon fire. By the time the sun set on that day only my mother and father remained of the vampires, but in those long hours of that day, ten of those dragons had fallen.” “Due to exhaustion and knowing that the battle was lost, my parents fled and retreated to their own castle back home. Days later, my father traveled back down here to check on the towns. What he found was nothing but burning rubble where the towns once stood. My father said he searched for hours for survivors but found only one.” Razien shook his head in disbelief in the horror. “Out of six towns there was only one survivor.” “My father told me that when he found this one survivor, this man, he was covered in blood and holding his four lifeless children in his arms with his wife’s body, lifeless, next to him. My father helped the man bury his family, and in return for causing the retaliation from Karne that killed the man’s family, my father turned him into a vampire. Ever since then, the man has vowed to keep a watchful eye out and warn us when the black creature leaves his mountain.” “I have a question,” Jon interrupted. “If he warns us when Karne leaves his mountain, how come I have never heard his warning?” he asked curiously. Razien chuckled as he looked back at his brother. “Do you not the vampiric whisper? Or as I like to call it, whispering on the wind.” “Crap,” Jon replied, shaking his head at himself. “I now,” he muttered to himself as he looked back to see if Nemajneb heard him. When Jon locked eyes with the barbarian, he could see him chuckling at him. “Do you know his name?” Nemajneb asked. “If I correctly, his name is Five,” Razien replied.

“Five is an odd name,” Jon added. “Why a number?” he asked. “It is not his birth name,” Razien answered. “It is a name he has given himself. He chose Five because that is how many loved ones he lost that day.” “Are we sure that he will help us?” Nemajneb asked. “My father told me that Five had promised to repay him when next my father needed him,” Razien replied. “My father is dead now, so I can only hope that this man finds it worth his time and energy to help me.” “What are we going to do if he refuses to help?” Jon asked as he adjusted his sword and sheath more to his side. Razien waited a moment before he answered. “If he does choose not to help us, then I guess we are searching for the black dragon’s lair on our own. I do not feel he is going to turn us down, though.” “Well, I hope you are right, brother,” Jon replied and not another word was spoken until they reached the bottom of the cliff in the late afternoon. When they arrived in the small clearing at the bottom, they noticed that there was no way into the woods. “This forest looks kind of thick,” Nemajneb stated. “I hope it is not this thick for too far.” “I have no idea how far this thicket covers,” Razien added as he began to walk to the tree line just a few dozen yards from the cliff face. As he examined the thicket, he realized that it completely boxed them in. The only clear area was the area where they were resting. “Hey, brothers,” Razien said as he focused his vision as deep into the woods as possible. “I am not seeing an end of this thicket in any direction.” The vampire pulled out his sword and began swinging it through the thicket made up of vines and bushes trying to make a path. With each swing, the sword would slice through the foliage, like a sword through water, but no matter how fast he swung his weapon, the foliage would seem to heal instantly. After a few hours of trying to find a way through, with no luck, the men decided to call it a night and start early in the morning.

After Nemajneb and Jon both fell asleep, Razien sat up against the base of the cliff, closed his eyes, and began to speak softly. “Loveaya, can you hear me?” he asked. “I must speak with you. We have run into a problem.” “My sweet Razien,” he heard her soft voice tell him. “I can always hear you. I can even hear your thoughts. I have been working on your problem since we first met in the cave.” “What is this place?” he asked softly. “What kind of magick is this?” “It is Karne’s magick,” she replied, her voice sending a calming sensation through Razien’s body. It is very strong magick, I can only create a path for a short time, and it is not long enough for you all to make it through alive.” “How is his magick so strong this far from his mountain?’ Razien asked, confused. “This cliff was caused by that piece of rock he calls home when it first landed in my ocean,” she replied with a saddened tone in her voice. “This whole piece of land that this valley is used to sit even with the top of the cliff. But when that rock hit me, it hit me with such force that this landmass broke in half creating this valley.” “I am so sorry,” Razien replied with sincerity. “We will defeat him for you and for all your innocent creations.” “I know you will, my champion, you are the only one that can,” she told him softly. Razien stood to his feet real fast, having come up with an idea. “All-Mother,” he whispered, “can you make a cave system quickly?” “I am already ahead of you, my Razien,” she replied with a hint of joy in her voice. “I have created a tunnel under the forest that comes out on the far side. I may have created the tunnel, but he still has the ability to use his magick in there. Now if you would like to wake your friends up, I hid the cave entrance behind these bushes,” she said as she manifested a phantom of herself pointing to some bushes that they had ed at the end of the path. Razien walked over to his friends and quietly woke them up. Once they were

both awake, he informed them of the plan. As soon as they gathered their gear, the three men headed into the cave. As they walked into the darkness, three dim lights began to glow on the wall to their right. With the dim light making visible what was once hidden in darkness, the group noticed that the glowing lights were some kind of crystals that were attached to the end of small logs to make torches. Without thinking twice, they each grabbed a torch and began their journey through the dark tunnel. Within an hour after entering the cave, the small group came to an area of the tunnel where it opened up into a large cavern. The men stopped before they entered the cavern and carefully and cautiously examined the room for any enemies. To their amazement, the torches that Loveaya had created for them were able to light up the entire cavern with a dim glow. Not seeing any movement, the men slowly and cautiously began walking toward another tunnel opening on the far side of the cavern. About the time they reached the middle of the large room, three dragons flew down from a crevasse in the ceiling and landed on the ground surrounded the men. The warriors quickly grabbed their weapons, preparing themselves for the battle. The biggest of the dragons was brown and landed in front of the group while the other two landed behind them. Once on the ground in front of them, the brown dragon pushed his chest out as if he was trying to intimidate the warriors. “I am Grauff,” he said with a proud smile on his face. “We are the last of the dragons ruled by Karne,” he stated. “Are we supposed to feel sorry for you or something?” Jon asked, interrupting the dragon. “Because honestly,” the warrior continued, “I am getting real tired of you damn dragons wanting to carry on a conversation with us like we are your friends. We are not your friends, and that is why we are here to kill all of you.” The dragon looked down at the mortal with a grin. “We know why you are here,” he replied sternly. “We also know that there used to be five of you. But no matter I will stop prolonging the inevitable, and we shall destroy you here and now.” As soon as he finished his sentence, the two dragons behind the group lunged without making a sound. Feeling the slightest vibration in the ground from them lunging, Razien, who was standing between his two friends, quickly pushed them to the side out of the way. But before he could protect himself, one of the dragons was able to get a

solid slash across his back, knocking his torch out of his hand. Razien hit the ground with a hard thud and let out a loud growling noise. The vampire slowly stood to his feet, feeling every bit of the pain rushing through his body. “You cheap shot sons of bitches,” he said angrily as he gripped tight the handle of his flam Berge sword. He tilted his head from side to side popping his neck. “I am so tired of the way you all fight! Why do you not fight us with honor?” he asked. Grauff stopped himself from lunging at the vampire. “You want us to fight you with honor?” he asked curiously while staring at Razien as he motioned for the other two dragons to hold their attacks. “How do we know you will fight with honor?” “I am past fighting with honor against you bastards!” Jon yelled as he swung his battle-ax with all his might horizontally at one of the smaller dragons that was closest to him, slicing its head clean off. “You know nothing of honor,” he proclaimed as he watched the blood run off his ax. With fear taking it over, the other small dragon began to run and jump into the air to take flight. “I do not think so, you damn beast!” Nemajneb yelled as he hurled his battle maul at the escaping dragon. In disbelief, Grauff watched as the maul flipped end over end through the air until it made to the back of the dragon’s head, embedding the end of the maul deep into the skull. They all watched as the dragon hit the ground with a loud thud and slid across the ground, coming to a stop against the cavern wall. “Aaahhh!” Grauff yelled as he reared up on his hind legs flapping his wings. “I will destroy you!” he yelled as he began to lift into the air. The barbarian darted quickly for his maul as Jon went to throw his ax at the fleeing dragon. “No,” Razien said as he put his hand on the end of Jon’s ax. “Nemajneb, stop!” he yelled, making his brother in arms stop in his tracks. “He is mine.” Razien’s brothers watched as the dragon climbed higher and higher to a large opening to another dark tunnel up by the ceiling of the cavern. “Brother!” Nemajneb yelled. “Do it now before he escapes!”

“He is right, Razien,” Jon added. “You must do it now before it is too late.” “Not yet,” Razien replied in a low, angry tone. “I want him to think he is getting away before I kill him.” Nemajneb grabbed his maul and began to walk back to where his brothers were standing. “Brother, you must do it now,” he told Razien. “He is almost to the tunnel entrance.” Razien quickly glanced from brother to brother then back at the escaping dragon. Jon and Nemajneb watched with such intensity that they began gripping their weapons as if they were about to throw them at the dragon themselves. In the last few seconds, before the dragon would disappear, Razien flipped his sword into the air and caught it by the tip. In one fluid motion with lightning speed, Razien launched his weapon as hard as he could at the beast. Just as the dragon’s head entered the darkness of the tunnel, he began to smile, knowing he was about to escape. Before the dragon could make it any farther, Razien’s sword impaled him in his spine just above his tail. With a loud and annoying high-pitched scream, Grauff hit the wall hard. His front legs hit inside the tunnel, and with all his might, he clawed and scratched, trying to pull himself up. Unable to use his back legs, he slowly began to slip out of the tunnel until he could no longer hold on. Nemajneb and Jon both watched, worried that the beast would escape. Razien watched with a smile on his face knowing that the dragon was going nowhere. After a few seconds, the three friends watched as the dragon fell from the wall and landed behind some rocks with a loud echoing thud. Razien began heading toward the dragon with a look on his face that his friends had never seen before. “Let’s get out of here,” Nemajneb said as he and Jon began to follow their friend. “With that wound, he will not survive long,” he added. Razien glanced over to his barbarian friend as he caught up with the vampire. “No,” he replied. “I am going to finish that bastard off.” In silence, the two friends continued to follow the vampire. Unable to go around the large stones, the three warriors climbed up them. Once they reached the top, they stood staring for a moment at the crippled dragon that lay before them. They watched as Grauff tried to stand to his feet but constantly

fell back down. As they stared down at the helpless dragon, he stared back up at them, and they could see the fear in his eyes. “Wait here,” Razien told them as he leaped from the rocks down to the ground beside the dragon. As soon as Razien landed next to the dragon, it tried crawling away, but there was nowhere for him to go. “Karne will defeat you,” Grauff warned the vampire. Razien smiled as he stepped over the dragon’s tail. “Whether he defeats me or not,” Razien replied with a smile as he gripped the handle of his sword, causing the dragon to twitch and yell in agony. “I will kill you first.” Razien placed his sword back in its sheath as he walked up beside his enemy to his head to stare him in the eyes. “He will get what he is looking for,” Grauff replied, running low on energy and breathe as he glanced at the object that hung around the vampire’s neck. “And you will take it right to him.” Razien smiled at the dragon as he knelt down between its front legs and removed his sword from its sheath. “I was going to kill you quickly,” Razien told the dragon. “But I want you to feel the pain before you die.” The vampire then leaned close to the dragon’s head. “You want to know a secret?” he asked. Grauff looked at Razien with confusion and curiosity. “What secret?” he asked. Razien chuckled a little. “I know what he wants,” he answered as he grabbed the black medallion that hung from his neck. “This is a fake,” he said as he quickly ran his sword down Grauff’s chest, slicing it open and causing the dragon to jerk his head back and moan in pain. The dragon’s eyes focused on Razien as it made a coughing sound, and Razien stared back at him. “Even if he does defeat me,” Razien told the dying dragon. “He will never find the real medallion.” Razien’s friends watched in horror from above as their friend ripped the dying dragon’s heart from its chest. “Have you ever seen him do anything of that nature?” Jon asked his fellow warrior that stood next to him. “No, never,” Nemajneb replied. “Have you?” he asked. “No, I have never seen him do anything like that either,” he replied, almost

worried for his little brother. As Grauff lay dying, Razien knelt down next to the dragon’s head to make sure the dragon could watch him as he sank his teeth into its heart that Razien held in his right hand. As Razien drained every drop of blood from the heart, he watched as the life faded from the dragon’s eyes. When the dragon’s life had finally ended, Razien stood to his feet as he crushed the heart in his hand then threw it on the ground next to Grauff’s head. Razien stood silent for a moment as he felt the fresh power of the dragon’s blood rush through his veins. When the tingling sensation from the freshly absorbed energy had stopped and his wound on his back was healed, Razien turned to the rocks in which he jumped down from, and in one solid quick leap, he was back up standing next to his friends. His brothers looked at him with worried looks on their faces. Razien smiled at them as he placed an arm around each of their shoulders. “Hold on,” he told them with a grin. Both men placed an arm around the vampire’s shoulders, and in an instant, he leaped from the rocks, and the three of them landed safely on the ground. After they landed on the ground, the trio of warriors walked over to where they dropped their torches on the ground and retrieved them. Once they all had their torches in hand, they continued on their journey. Hours after they had continued their journey into the tunnel, they began to see light at the end. When they had finally reached the end of the tunnels, they realized that it was already sunset and that they had spent nearly an entire day underground. They wasted no time in setting up camp for the night. Once camp was set up and they had eaten their dinner, they sat around the fire in silence. After a few hours had ed without a word being spoken, Nemajneb finally broke the silence. “Can I ask you a question, brother?” he asked, looking across the fire at Razien. Razien formed a slight grin across his face. “Let me guess,” he replied. “You want to know why I cut out Grauff’s heart and drank the blood from it.” “How did you know that is what I was going to ask?” Nemajneb asked, confused.

Razien looked up from the fire to look at his brothers. “Because,” he replied, “there has been an awkward silence since that fight. And to answer your question, I did it because I needed the blood to help me heal faster.” “But you could have just as easily sliced his neck and drank the blood from that wound,” Jon added. “I could have,” Razien replied. “But what fun would have that been?” he asked with a smile. The two warriors looked at Razien worried over his response. “Look,” Razien added. “Bull and I may not have gotten along so well, but he was still my friend and a warrior on this journey to help us. After Karne had killed him, the anger inside me did nothing but swell until we ran into those dragons in the cavern. As soon as I saw them, I knew I needed to let loose my anger before it got the best of me, so I let it out on the one dragon that was left for me to kill.” Both friends looked at each other and shrugged in understanding. “We can understand that,” Nemajneb replied, looking back at Razien. “By the way,” Razien added, “nice kills to the both of you back there, very nice.” Both men looked at each other with a smile then back at Razien. “Thanks,” they replied at the same time. “Our kills were nothing compared to yours,” Jon added. “For sure,” Nemajneb said with a smile. “That was the best throw I have ever seen. And I have been around a long time and seen many battles and many more unique kills.” Razien began poking at the fire with a stick. “I do have to agree with you two,” he said. “It was a pretty bad-ass throw. I had no idea I was going to be that accurate. It surprised the crap out of me.” “Surprised the crap out you?” Jon proclaimed. “Brother, I have to tell you, man, I was worried you were either going to miss, or you were going to throw your sword too late because that dragon was a good distance from us.”

“I have to agree with him, bro,” Nemajneb added. “I, too, was a little worried over the same things, but you fixed that real quick.” “Well, we should be at Fives’s house within a couple of hours or so after we leave here in the morning,” Razien said, changing the subject. “We might as well as get some sleep because we never know what is lying and waiting for us tomorrow.” The other two men nodded in agreement, and in no time, the humans were ed out.

A Man Called Five

The following morning the small group was up at sunrise, and in no time, they were headed south to Fives’s house. Just like Razien had told them the night before, they had arrived in just a couple of hours. When they finally arrived, they came out of the woods behind his house. Razien led the way as they walked around to the front that faced the ocean. To Jon’s and Nemajneb’s surprise when they finally came around the front, they saw a man sitting in a chair next to the water staring out over the ocean to the south. Before Razien could get a word out, the man stood to his feet and turned to face them. “Who is it that treses on my land?” he asked. Both Jon and Nemajneb paused for a moment to stare at the large man. He stood at least seven feet tall with long reddish-blond hair and had shoulders that were at least three feet wide. “My name is Razien,” the vampire answered. “I know no one by that name,” the man scolded. “What is your business here?” he demanded. “You knew my father and my mother,” Razien answered back. The large man began to walk toward them. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Jon asked quietly. “There is no need to whisper,” the man said loudly. I can hear you from hear. Razien looked at his two friends and motioned with his right hand to stay put. Without arguing, the men nodded in compliance. “My father’s name is Vlad, and my mother’s name is Vile,” Razien replied as he laid his sword on the ground and began to walk toward the large man holding a very large sword that was also walking toward him. Once he heard the names Vlad and Vile, the man stopped in his tracks. “Vlad and Vile, you say?” the man asked.

“Yes,” Razien replied, “they are my parents.” The man motioned to them to come to him. Razien turned to his friends and nodded for them to come also. With little hesitation, his two friends began to walk toward him, stopping to pick up Razien’s sword along the way. Razien turned and headed toward the man showing no fear. As he approached the tall being, Razien stuck his arm out to shake his hand. “My father told me how you came to be the watcher of the skies,” Razien said. “I am sorry for your loss.” As his two friends arrived next to Razien, Jon handed him his sword. “This is my brother, Jon.” Razien motioned as he grabbed his sword. The man stuck out his hand. “My name is Five.” Jon shook his hand. “Good to meet you,” Jon replied, gripping Fives’s hand tightly. “You are human?” the man stated, a little confused. “Yes, sir, I am,” Jon replied. “Interesting,” Five stated with a grin. Razien then turned to the barbarian. “This is Nemajneb,” he introduced his friend. “He is my teacher and he is also like a brother to me.” The barbarian stuck out his hand. “It is good to meet you, Five,” he said with a smile. Five reached out and shook the barbarian’s hand. “Likewise,” he replied, but before he let go, the man looked at the barbarian, also slightly confused. “I can tell that you are human,” he said. “But there is something different about you.” Razien leaned toward Nemajneb and put his right arm on his left shoulder. “This here, barbarian,” he said with a smile, “is older than the three of us combined.” “How is that possible?” Five asked curiously.

Nemajneb looked at Razien, then back at Five, not sure if he should tell him the full truth. After taking a few seconds, he decided he would tell him the full truth once he got to know him better when he knew he could trust him. “A few centuries ago, I drank from a stream that that flowed out from the Three Sisters.” “The Stream of Purity,” Five said, interrupting the barbarian. “I have heard of this stream, but I heard it was just a myth.” “Well,” Nemajneb said with a smile. “I am proof that it is real. My horse even drank from it, and he, too, is now immortal.” “Interesting,” Five stated again. “What is interesting?” Nemajneb asked. A grin began to form on Fives’s face. “Well, let me see here. A human that is abnormally strong, an immortal human, and a full-blooded vampire that is not quite a full-blooded vampire.” Five paused for a moment. “Now the three of you have to have some interesting stories, but first I would like to know how your parents are doing. I have not seen them in about twenty years or so.” Razien looked at the ground with a heavy heart. “Can we sit down somewhere?” he asked with sorrow in his voice. “Please, follow me,” Five requested as he led them inside his house. As he opened the front door, he motioned for them to take a seat in his front room. “Would any of you like some water?” he asked. Both Jon and Nemajneb nodded. “Please and thank you,” Nemajneb said with a smile. “I will be back in a moment,” Five said as he turned to go back out the door. Within just a couple of minutes, he had returned with two seashells filled with spring water and handed them to the men. “Now, Razien,” he said with a smile as he locked eyes with the young vampire. “Tell me how your parents are doing and why have they not come to visit me?” Razien took a long deep breath and over the next couple of hours, or so he caught Five up on all that had happened to his parents and his companions in the past, nearly three months. The only thing that he left out was Loveaya and the

purpose of the medallion. When he was done, the group sat in silence for a moment. Five then leaned back in his chair, going over everything that he was just told, in his head. When he was done going over everything in his head, Five leaned forward again. “So you are telling me that you are half dragon?” he asked, confused. Razien looked down at the floor then back up at Five. “Not just half-dragon,” Razien said in a low voice. “I am half-black-dragon, I have Karne’s blood running through my veins.” “Five looked at the young vampire with anger in his eyes. “And you come to my home,” he replied as he leaned forward. “My home, where Karne himself murdered my family?” Five stood to his feet. “Tell me why you have come here before I make you regret it,” he demanded. Razien stood to his feet and looked up to lock eyes with Five. “I am sorry I have brought back terrible memories for you, Five,” he proclaimed. “But that was not my intention.” “Then what is your purpose for being here?” he asked in an angry tone. “We need you to take us to Karne’s island,” Razien replied, trying not to anger his dad’s old friend. “We mean you no harm, nor do we mean you any disrespect.” Razien paused for a quick second. “I came here to fight and defeat Karne on his own ground. Do you him flying back to his island a couple of days ago?” he asked. Five went silent for a moment. “Yes, I , he was not flying like he normally does,” he replied. “It looked like something was wrong with him.” Razien smiled at the tall vampire. “That is because I wounded him in the heart with my sword.” “That is impossible,” Five replied with doubt. “No weapon can pierce his scales.” Razien pulled out his sword and handed it to five. Five grabbed the sword and began to examine it carefully. “Where did you get this weapon?” he asked curiously as he handed the sword back to Razien. “I have never seen anything

like this before in my life.” Razien grabbed his sword and sheathed it. “That is because it is made from pieces of Karne’s own home world,” he said with a grin. “How did you get it to turn black?” Five asked. Razien smiled again. “When forging the stone, you have to get it extremely hot and work it hard and fast. Once the red stone turns black, you know you got it hot enough.” “Where can I go to have a weapon like those made?” Five asked with a little jealousy in his tone. “There is only one being who can make them,” Razien replied. “But it takes a week for him to make one weapon.” “Maybe he just needs the strength and speed of a vampire,” Five replied jokingly but serious. “He is a vampire,” Razien added. “And he is a few thousand years old, and he has been a blacksmith all his life. So the chances of you out doing him is highly unlikely, we have already tried.” Five was disappointed with hearing Razien say that before he could say anything, Jon stood to his feet and removed Bull’s sword from his hip. “Please,” Jon said as he handed Five the sword. “Take this one, it was my brother Bull’s sword.” “I cannot take your slain brother’s sword,” Five replied respectfully. “It just would not be right. Jon, still holding out the sword for Five to take, looked him in the eyes. “Look, big guy, my brother is dead and so this sword is now useless to him. So please take it. If you think you need to earn it, then take us to Karne’s island so we can finish him off once and for all.” “I will do you one better,” Five added. “Not only will I take you there, but I will also fight by your side. I owe him for the death of my family.” Five gently grabbed the sword from Jon. “Thank you, friends,” he said with a smile. “And

just to let you know,” he added. “Karne’s home may be an island, but it is more like a very large black mountain.” “It does not matter what it is or what color it is,” Nemajneb said with a smile. “He will not rise again.” “Hey, Five,” Razien said, looking up at the fellow vampire. “How long will it take us to get to Karne’s mountain?” he asked seriously. “Well, Razien,” Five answered. “It really kind of depends on the weather. If it is good weather, it takes just one to two days.” Five stood for a moment in silence, then walked to the door and opened it and motioned for Razien and his two friends to follow. The three men followed Five outside to stand by the shore. Five pointed out to the south in the ocean. “His island resides out that direction. There is one problem, though, even if the weather is in our favor,” he mentioned to them with a look of uncertainty. As Razien stood staring out at the horizon in the direction Five was pointing, he began to feel a strange pull tugging at him from the inside. He could feel the pull in his blood with every heartbeat, it made him feel like he felt the first time he faced Karne. Trying to shake the feeling, he started focusing on the horizon, trying to see what was lying and waiting for them in the distance. “Fog,” he said quickly as he turned to the others. There is a dense fog surrounding his mountain with many jagged rocks sticking out of the water with many more just below the surface.” Razien stopped to look at his friends and saw that they were all staring back at him. He could tell by the look on Fives’s face that he was not expecting the young vampire to know those details. “How did you know that?” Five asked curiously and confused. “I cannot even see the fog from here,” he mentioned as he looked back out in that direction, trying to focus his eyes. “I cannot see it from here either,” Razien proclaimed in a disappointed tone. “I can see it through his eyes.” “You talking about Karne, brother?” Nemajneb asked as he looked over at Razien.

Razien nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. “Unfortunately, yes,” he replied as he opened his eyes back up and looked over at his friend. “It seems that the closer I am to Karne and his mountain, the stronger the connection gets between us.” Razien paused for a moment and began to think about what he had just said. “Brothers,” he said as he turned his body to face them. “I think that when we get to his island you should drop me off and come back.” Jon and Nemajneb both looked at him and felt almost offended. “Brother,” Nemajneb said as he walked up to Razien and placed his right hand on the vampire’s left shoulder. “I started this journey of yours with you from the very beginning, from the moment that young girl showed up and told us about Karne attacking your home. At that moment, I swore I would help you get your revenge for your father’s death.” “I do not know, and cannot speak for the other two here, but I am with you all the way to the end, even if it means my death. You should not fight Karne alone, you may be the only one with the true strength to truly defeat him, but that does not mean that your fight with him is yours alone. All of us here have lost someone because of that evil beast that lies beyond the horizon out there.” Jon walked up next to the barbarian and placed his hand next to his on the vampire’s shoulder. “He is right, brother,” Jon said, agreeing with the barbarian. “I have lost my entire family, including Bull to either vampires or the dragons. Personally I want some damn pay back even if it means I have come to the end of my journey. Besides, according to you, we have a wonderful place waiting for us on the other side of life.” Jon paused for a moment. “You cannot keep me from this fight, brother, so do not try,” he said with a smile. Five walked up with Bull’s long sword in his right hand while the blade rested on his right shoulder. “I have just met you, my friend,” he said with a smile. “But the way your friends here treat you and the fact that Karne killed your father I want in on this fight. I have been wanting justice for my family since they were murdered. For decades I have been able to do nothing but warn others when the beast leaves his mountain. Now I have a weapon that can wound him and warriors to fight beside. I am with you all the way to the end, my friends.” Five pulled his right hand from his pocket and stuck it straight out in front of

him with the palm facing down. “Place stack your right hands on mine,” he demanded to the group with a smile on his face and a tear in his left eye. The three warriors looked at Five, all with confused looks on their faces. After a moment of trying to figure out what he was doing, Razien quickly placed his right hand on top of Fives’s. Without a word being spoken, Jon and Nemajneb quickly followed Razien’s lead. Once all their right hands were placed on top of each other, Five began to speak. “I know that none of you have ever done this, and your kind of confused right now, but it will make sense soon. My little boy started this. Every time my son caught three or more people making deals or promises, he would run up and make them do this. There was a lot of bartering in my village, so we got quite good at it. Within a year, he had everyone doing it on their own.” The warriors looked at each other then back at Five all with smiles. “Righteous,” Razien said quietly, causing everyone to look at him curiously. “Sorry, it just came to me, seemed like a good word to use,” he said with a smile. With a smile on his face also, Five continued. “I want to make a pact or deal with the three of you.” The warriors nodded in silence so as not to interrupt him. “No matter what, and no matter the sacrifice, we do everything that it takes to put a stop to Karne and his destruction.” The group looked back and forth at each other for a quick moment, then simultaneously they all said the same thing. “Agreed.” The group then removed their hands from the stack and turned to face the ocean once again. After a few moments of staring, Five quietly turned from the ocean and began walking to his house. Being the only one distracted by his exit, Razien turned his head to see what his newly acquainted friend was doing. Five disappeared into the house, but before the door had fully closed behind him, it swung back open with the vampire exiting his house with three chairs in his arms. Razien quickly headed toward him to help, distracting the other two warriors causing them to notice what was going on, and they, too, went to help. Each of the men grabbed a chair from the tall vampire, and together the group headed to Fives’s chair where he was sitting when they first arrived. Razien sat his chair to the left of Fives’s chair while Jon sat his to Fives’s right and Nemajneb to Razien’s left. Once they sat their chairs in place facing the

ocean, the three warriors followed Fives lead and sat down. The group sat in silence for a while before Nemajneb broke it. “When are we going to leave for the island?” he asked as he leaned forward to look at Five. Five looked over at the barbarian with a grin. “Are you in a hurry for us to get to our graves?” he asked, smiling back at him.” We will leave at first light in the morning so that we will reach the edge of the fog by midday, and that will give us half a day of sunlight to work our way through some of the fog before we tie off.” “Why not leave now?” Jon asked as he stood up, getting ready to go retrieve his shell of freshwater from the house. “Would you like your shell of water, brother?” he asked Nemajneb. “I am going to go get mine. “Please,” the barbarian replied. Five looked up at Jon. “We must wait until morning because it is the safest course of action. On a cloudy night, it is very easy to get lost in the ocean, and even if we did make it to the fog, we must wait until daylight. At night in the fog, you cannot see anything beyond your own arm length.” Jon listened as he went and retrieved his and the barbarian’s drinks. “I guess that does make sense,” he replied as he handed Nemajneb his shell. “I would rather not sink our boat that close to Karne’s lair. I cannot exactly fight a dragon that well while I am trying to swim.” “Neither can I,” Nemajneb added with a short chuckle as he grabbed his shell from Jon. I would rather us take it slow and steady and make it there in one piece and with the boat.” Razien sat in silence, listening to the conversation and just smiled and nodded once in agreement with the barbarian. As the young vampire sat in silence, staring out in the black mountain’s direction, he began to hear Loveaya’s voice. “Razien,” she spoke softly. “You have thirty of your days before the blood moon leaves my celestial family and continues back to its own. The night of the thirtieth day, Karne will fall back into his slumber for thirty-six hundred more years. You must keep him from causing destruction until then. This is when he is

the most destructive. Just before he goes back to sleep.” Without saying a word out loud, Razien replied, “I understand. We are the last hope for this go around.” “No, Razien,” she replied, trying to warn him. “You are their last hope this, go around, as you so call it.” Razien nodded in understanding. Nemajneb looked over at Razien in time to be the only one to see him nod his head in silence. By the look on Razien’s face, like he was staring off into nowhere, the barbarian could tell that he was communing with Loveaya. When Razien was finished communing with the spirit of the earth, his facial expression had changed and his eyes began to move around scanning the area. Nemajneb leaned toward the young vampire and nudged him in his arm with his elbow to get his attention quietly. “So what did she have to say this time, brother?” he asked curiously. “Or was it a private conversation?” he added jokingly with a grin. Razien looked over at his friend with a weary look on his face. “I am afraid that whoever comes with me will not survive this battle with Karne.” “Well, brother,” Nemajneb replied as he patted Razien on his left shoulder. “You cannot stop any of us now. We all made a pact with one another, and nothing is going to break that pact, not even fear. Tomorrow we leave at daybreak together as a group.” Razien nodded in compliance. As the day went on, the four companions sat staring out over the endless ocean without a word to be spoken out loud. Each one of them sat contemplating over their own lives and what had to happen to lead them to that very moment. Jon sat thinking about everything that Razien’s father, Vlad, had taught him. He ed how Vlad always made him train with a different weapon every day of the week. He then began to wonder if Vlad knew that all that had happened was going to happen. Nemajneb let his memories take him all the way back to his family and his village. He began to wonder if it all happened just for this purpose. He thought about what his sister, the sister he never knew he had, told him at the bridge. He then began to disbelieve her story of their heritage. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get out of his head that he was too helpless to save his family, and

they paid the ultimate price for it. Five thought about the day Karne came to his village and murdered his family. Tears began to swell up in his eyes as the memories flowed back into his mind refreshing them like it all happened the day before. To hide his tears, Five stood up and walked to the edge of the water and knelt down. Before he went back to his chair, he stayed in that spot until he was able to get his tears under control. All Razien could think about was how badly he wanted to get revenge against Karne for his father’s death. ing the moment his father’s body turned to golden dust and disappeared into the sunlight brought a single tear to form in the corner of his right eye. As the tear rolled down his cheek, it triggered his memory of Loveaya’s realms for those in the afterlife. Out of all the different memories that ed through his mind, one stood out the most. The last conversation he had with his father. As he ed the memory of him hugging his father one last time in Loveaya’s Land of Light, Razien stood to his feet and walked a ways down the shoreline away from the group. When his emotions became too much for him, the young vampire came to a stop and fell to his knees. Within a few seconds after falling to the ground, Razien felt all his emotions stirring inside him. “Let it go Razien,” Loveaya whispered to him. “Let it loose.” Without any more hesitation or holding back, Razien looked up to both Luna and the Blood Moon, and with all his might and energy, he let out the loudest yell, which was more like a roar, anyone had ever heard. As he clinched his fist tighter and tighter, his roar grew louder and louder. He could feel an energy building inside him that he had never felt before. Razien stared hard at the moons as he yelled, holding both fists in the air. Within just a few seconds, his eyes began to change colors. His right eye began to glow a bright blue with a hint green, and his left began to glow a bright bloodred. “Father!” he yelled out in the middle of his roar. When Razien began to yell, his three friends watched helplessly from their seats, not knowing what to do for their friend. The louder he got, the ground began to shake beneath their feet. When Razien yelled out to his father, the ground began to shake more violently. Jon began to feel something strange like a vibration as his friend yelled father.

Not sure what it was, Jon began to look around him, and that was when he noticed that the vibration that was making him feel odd was coming from his pack that was on the ground leaning against his chair. The young warrior reached into his pack to see what it was. With him sitting to Fives’s and Nemajneb’s right, they noticed him digging through his pack. After a moment of searching, he finally figured out what it was. Razien was still yelling when Jon pulled the shaking object from his pack. With the object still in his hand, he turned to the other two with a horrific look on his face as he showed them. In his hand, he held the black claw that Bull had cut from Karne’s hand. It was the claw that was shaking, and the louder Razien yelled, the more the claw began to shake. When Razien had finished his yelling, he lowered his head and whispered quietly to himself. “I miss you, Pop. I could really use your advice right now because the darkness that I feel coming from Karne’s mountain is almost unbearable.” “Son,” his father replied, surprising Razien, who did not expect him to reply. “You have a kind heart and were raised with love and comion. I know you have the strength to resist the darkness you just need to believe in yourself and in your friends.” “Razien,” Loveaya added. “ the gifts you were given. You have what you need, but you must find your inner strength on your own.” Razien looked out across the water toward Karne’s direction. And a faint smile began to form on his face. “Thank you both,” he replied to both Loveaya and his father. “I really needed to hear what both you had to say. I will not give up, and I will fight the darkness with all that I can. Thank you again.” The young vampire then stood up and put his hands in his pockets. When Razien stood to his feet, the claw in Jon’s hand became still except for a few random twitches. “Razien!” he yelled out to his friend. Razien turned to look at his three friends and began walking toward them. “What is it?” he asked as he got closer to the group. Jon held out his hand with the claw in it. “When you were yelling,” he replied with a worried look on his face. “It began to shake and tremble. At first I thought

it was just the ground shaking but—” “What do you mean you thought the ground was shaking?” Razien interrupted. Nemajneb stepped forward toward Razien. “Brother,” he answered. “When you were yelling, the ground began to shake, and the louder you got, the worse the ground shook.” The barbarian paused for a quick moment. “Until you stood up, then it stopped,” he added. Jon looked at the barbarian then back at Razien. “Yes,” Jon said, still with a worried look on his face. “As you were yelling, not only did the ground began to shake, but so did Karne’s claw that Bull cut off. And like the ground, the louder you got, the more this claw shook, too, until you stood up, then it also quit.” Karne was lying on the ground just inside his cave when he heard the roar from Razien. His eyes opened with quickness as if he was startled out of a bad nightmare. The small rocks began to rattle on the stone floor as the ground shook, causing Karne to lift his head and stare out across the ocean from the darkness of his own sanctuary. Karne’s bloodred eyes focused on the horizon for a moment before they shifted to the cave wall on his right. As Karne stared at the wall, he heard the sound of chains dragging across the stone floor. “Razien,” a voice whispered as the figure walked closer to the wounded dragon. “He has come to finish what he started, and maybe this time, he will completely pierce your heart instead of just nicking it.” Karne looked into Vile’s sunken brown eyes with a grin. “I may be a bit wounded at the moment, but I promise you young Vile,” he replied with a couple of small coughs. “If he does not me and agree to help me find the black medallion, I will kill him.” “I have faith in my son, Karne,” she replied. “He is the strongest vampire I have ever seen, and he has not even fully matured yet.” Karne turned his head to stare back out across the ocean. “We will see,” he replied as he laid his head back down and closed his eyes. “We will see.” Vile sat on the ground up against the wall where her chains were attached and folded her arms on her knees and lowered her head to rest her forehead on her arms. “Please, my son,” she said in the vampiric whisper. “Karne has warned me

that if you fight him, he will kill you. Razien, I am afraid Karne is not as wounded as he looks, please be careful and be prepared for anything.” Razien was still standing on the shore, grabbing the claw from Jon’s hand when he heard the whisper on the wind. Hearing the whisper, the young vampire tilted his head to his left to listen more carefully with his right ear. As he listened to his mother’s voice, he started, clinching his jaws as his three friends watched with curiosity. “Everything all right, brother?” Nemajneb asked, not sure what else to do. “My mother,” Razien responded. “What do you mean?” Jon asked curiously. “His mother thinks that this is a trap,” Five answered as he looked out at the ocean. “Trap?” Nemajneb asked. “What does he mean by a trap?” Razien paused for a moment as he looked at the setting sun on the western horizon. The sun reminded him of his father and where he was at. “Brothers,” he started as he turned back to face them. “We may be walking into a trap when we reach Karne’s mountain. My mother thinks that Karne is not as wounded as he tried to make us think.” “I think she is right,” he added. “I think we are going to be doing exactly what he wants us to do. If I did not nick his heart like I thought I did, then that means he will probably be fully healed when we show up. If he is, it will take every one of us to defeat him, and we still may not be able to, but no matter what, we have to try.” After hearing what Razien said, the four friends stood in silence, staring at the ocean, thinking about their situation. “Well, my friends,” Jon said as he turned and picked up his pack and headed toward a fire pit next to Fives’s cabin. “I am hitting the sack, I am not immortal, so I need my beauty sleep.” “All right, brother,” his friends replied as they looked back at him. “How are we going to do this when we get there?” Five asked, looking over at

the two remaining friends. “He is just a human, he does not have the strength that vampires do.” “I am human too,” Nemajneb replied with a smile. “I do not have the strength of a vampire either.” Five looked at the barbarian for a second before he replied. “You may not have our strength, but you are immortal, are you not?” “I am,” Nemajneb answered with a grin. “He may not be immortal or a vampire,” Razien said as he looked over at his childhood friend that was making a fire. “But I promise you, his strength is unrivaled even by most vampires.” “What do you mean by that?” Five asked as he walked back to his chair. “I will let you two talk,” Nemajneb said as he bent down to pick up his pack and headed toward Jon. “I may be immortal, but I am still human and I still need rest,” he added with a smile. “Good night, gents.” “Good night, brother,” the vampires replied as they sat down, chuckling to his response. Once they had sat down, Five glanced over at Vlad’s son. “You know,” he started. “It is hard to believe that Vlad and Vile were gifted enough to have a child. I heard that it is kind of rare anymore for that to happen.” Razien looked at Five with a serious look. “Brother,” he said, looking down at the sand on the beach. “I have something to tell you about that.” “What is wrong, brother?” he asked, confused. “Brother, I am the last vampire to be born,” Razien replied. “There will be no more after me.” “Are you telling me that you are the one that broke the bloodstone the night you were born?” he asked, surprised. “Yes,” Razien replied with sadness in his eyes. “Vampires will no longer be able

to reproduce.” “How did that happen?” he asked. Razien looked at Five then up at the Blood Moon and ed what the spirits of Loveaya’s celestial family had done. “The energy it took to create me was too much for the stone, and it broke. If it was not for Karne, I would have died that night.” “Man, that has to be awkward, being saved at birth by the very thing you have grown to hate and now are determined to destroy,” Five said, raising his right eyebrow. “You have no idea,” Razien replied as he looked down at Karne’s claw that he still held in his right hand. “No idea at all.”

Mountain of Sorrow

The next morning the group gathered their packs and jumped into Fives fishing boat and headed toward Karne’s island to the south. Nearly half the day had ed without a word being spoken between the men. With Five at the helm, they were making good time, and before they knew it, the fog that hid Karne’s mountain appeared straight ahead on the horizon. As the fog appeared, the men gripped their weapons as if the battle had already begun. In the distance, the fog covered for miles across the horizon with what looked like storm clouds above it. As Razien focused his eyes on the fog, a tiny black spot appeared in the middle between the storm clouds and the fog. He then focused on the black spec and realized that the black spec was the peak of Karne’s mountain. “I can see it,” he said as he turned to look at his fellow warriors. “I can see the top of his mountain.” The other three men looked at the fog, but out of the three, only Five could see it. “That is one tall mountain,” he said with a worried tone in his voice. “I have never seen anything so tall.” “It would be nice if we could see it,” Jon said as he chuckled and jokingly elbowed Nemajneb in his arm. “It is not funny, brother,” Razien said, turning to look at him. “Loveaya herself is depending on us.” “I know,” Jon replied, looking out at the fog in the distance. “I was just trying to lighten our spirits a little.” Razien sat down and rubbed his face with his hands. “I know, brother,” he said as he lifted his head from his hands. “I need to try to relax a little, but it is hard. We are so close now, and it feels like every bit of my skin is on fire.” “Hey,” Nemajneb said with enthusiasm. “Look, guys, we are about to enter a

battle that none of us may walk away from. We need to concentrate and prepare ourselves mentally for this. We all know that Karne can get into our heads and use our darkest memories against us. If he does that, he has already won. We all need to our loved ones, whether they are still here or gone to the afterlife, we must fight for them.” “You’re right, Nemajneb,” Five replied as he pulled the long sword from its sheath and placed the tip of it on the bottom of the boat. “I lost my family fiftytwo years ago to Karne’s destruction.” Five lifted the sword and began staring into its deep black blade. “I have waited a long time to get my revenge, but I have never had the ability to get it.” Five lowered the sword and looked at each of the warriors. “Meeting you guys has given me hope that one day Karne will pay. Hopefully, it will be tomorrow, but if we do fail…” The vampire paused for a moment. “Looking at these weapons, I believe that no matter what happens tomorrow, one day he will be defeated.” The three warriors pulled their weapons from their sheaths, and together the four men raised their weapons into the air and began to yell loudly. After a few moments, they stopped yelling and lowered their weapons. They all sat there with smiles on their faces, and their spirits lifted. For the next couple of hours, they sat in silence, wondering what waited ahead for them. After a couple of hours had ed, they had finally reached the edge of the fog. Five dropped the sail and began to slow down. “We all need to pay very close attention,” he demanded to the men. “Razien, you have the best eyes, so I want you up front, keeping your eyes peeled for any rocks in front of us and especially for any under the surface. Jon, Nemajneb, I want one of you on each side to help keep a lookout for any rocks that may make it past Razien.” “So how long do you think it will take us to get through this fog?” Jon asked as he stared into the dense fog looking for any jagged rocks. “All right, guys,” Five replied. “Keep a lookout for any rocks sticking up out of the water that we can tie off to. We need to stop until morning.” “I got one over here,” Jon answered quickly. “It is about twenty paces out. Is that close enough,” he asked.

“Hey, Razien,” Five replied, “do you think you can get a rope around it?” he asked. Razien looked at Jon and motioned for him to take his spot at the front of the boat. Razien picked a rope up off the floor of the boat. “I do not know, but there is only one way to find out,” he answered as he began to make a loop with one end of the rope. As soon as he finished making the loop, he quickly tossed it out into the fog at the rock. To everyone’s surprise, including Razien’s, he made it around the rock on his first throw. “Nice throw, brother,” Jon said with a chuckle. “It would have taken me the rest of the day to even get close.” Jon looked over at Five. “You know we still have a little daylight left, we could keep going for a bit.” “We could,” Five replied, “but it is about to get real dark real fast in this fog, and I personally will not move in this crap when it is dark. We are safer to just wait until morning before continuing.” “I thought vampires can see perfectly in the dark?” Nemajneb asked with a grin. “We can,” Razien answered as he turned to look at his friend. “But not even I can see through this fog even with there still being daylight out. I agree with Five, stopping for the night is the smartest course of action right now.” After Razien pulled the boat to the rock and tied the boat to it, the four men sat quietly listening to the noises in the fog while they each pulled food from their packs and began to eat. More than anything, they heard the lapping noise of small waves hitting the rocks around them. Occasionally they would hear what sounded like small fish jumping up out of the water and quickly landing back in it. Even though he could hear all the little noises going on around them, Razien focused more on the noises farther away from them that they could not hear. “What is it?” Nemajneb asked, seeing the look of concentration on the young vampire’s face. Moving just his eyes, Razien glanced over at the barbarian. “I am listening for anything that sounds out of the ordinary. Being this close to Karne’s mountain, we need to pay close attention with our ears since we cannot see with our eyes. If Karne chooses to attack—” Razien paused instantly, motioning with his hands for the others to stay silent.

“He is here,” Razien whispered. About the time Razien whispered to the others, they all began to hear flapping of wings out in the fog. Before any of them knew it, flames started spewing from the sky all around them. The men crouched down in the boat silently, hoping that the flames would miss them. As the men watched toward the sky for the flames, they all noticed a huge shadow fling over them. After about half an hour of blindly spitting fire trapping the warriors in their boat, Karne finally left and went back toward his mountain. “I know you and your warriors are out here, Razien,” he yelled at them. “I may not be able to find you, but I know you are here.” The four warriors waited a while, making sure Karne was gone before they had moved an inch. “Do you think he is gone?” Five asked as he was unsure if he should move or not. “He could be perched on one of the larger rocks that stick out of the water.” “No, I do not think he is perched anywhere,” Razien answered. “I think he went back to his mountain.” “How do you know that?” Jon asked curiously. “Did you not hear him?” Razien asked, looking at him. “He said he could not see us but knew that we are here. That means that the fog is even too thick for him to see through. We can use that.” “How do you figure?” Jon asked. “We will wait here until morning,” he answered. “It is the safest place to be for the night. This fog puts us all on the same level of abilities. While we remain here, there is not much he can do. In the morning, when we leave, we will make no noise until we reach his island.” “But just in case,” Nemajneb added. “We will take turns keeping guard.” “Agreed,” Razien said, looking at the barbarian. “I will be first on watch.” Razien’s three friends agreed, then they each found a spot on the boat and lay down. Jon and Nemajneb both fell asleep quickly due to the exhaustion caused

from being on the boat all day. Five laid at the back of the boat by the wheel, staring up at the fog with his arms crossed under his head. Razien sat at the front keeping his eyes peeled and ears perked for another attack from the black dragon. When the sun had finally set, the darkness had taken over with a quickness. Once the dark had taken over, Razien closed his eyes and began to concentrate on every little noise that he could hear. As he concentrated with his hearing, he began to notice something different in the sounds. He began to hear a faint sound of a breeze blowing. When he started focusing on that noise, he realized that what he was hearing was the fog itself moving through the air. Interested in the fact that he could hear the fog move through the air, he began to concentrate even harder. The more he concentrated, the more noises he began to hear. Razien had been concentrating so hard that when he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that the light from the sun began to light up the fog. He could tell by how dim the light was that the sun had just pierced the horizon. Listening very carefully for Karne, Razien slowly, carefully, and quietly moved from warrior to warrior, gently waking them up. As he woke them up, he placed his index finger over his lips to caution them to keep quiet. As the warriors opened their eyes, they, too, were surprised to see that it was morning already. Razien stayed knelt next to Five until he was fully awake, and once he sat up, he looked at the young vampire slightly confused. Razien placed his left hand on Fives’s right shoulder. “I am going to go untie us, and I need you to pay close attention to my hand movements. I want to try to get out of this fog with making as little noise as possible.” Five rubbed his eyes then stood to his feet, nodding to Razien in understanding. Razien smiled and gently patted his new friend on the shoulder, then turned and headed to where the rope was tied to the boat and the rock. Once he untied the rope, he picked up a long thick stick that was lying on the floor of the boat and headed toward the front. He motioned for Jon and Nemajneb to do the same since there were three more sticks. “We are going to use these to push away from any rocks that we get to close to.” He told them in a low whisper where they could just barely hear him. “We must try to be as quiet as possible.” Both humans looked at their friend and nodded in

understanding. With just his small sail out to catch the wind, Fives’s boat moved slowly through the dangerous waters. For hours, the four warriors took their time to maneuver through the rocks careful not to make any noise. As the hours dragged on, about midday, they noticed that the fog began to get thinner and thinner. The four friends looked back and forth at one another all with smiles on their faces and nodding at one another over their success in making it through the fog. As thrilled as they were, their happiness quickly turned to dismay as they exited the fog. Before them stood a mountain bigger than they had ever seen. All four men stood staring in disbelief on its size when the boat ran onto the shore. Even as they got out of the boat, none of them could look away from the mountain. “This mountain has to be bigger than the Three Sisters,” Nemajneb mentioned in a whisper. “I have traveled many miles in my lifetime, and I have never seen anything so large.” “Has anyone noticed the color?” Jon asked as he picked a rock up off the ground. “It is black like our weapons.” “That is because it is made of the same material as our weapons,” Razien answered as he pulled his weapon from its sheath. Razien’s three friends followed his lead, and they too unsheathed their weapons. The four warriors stood staring at the very large pitch-black mountain for a moment. As they stood there, they each scanned the side of the mountain looking for Karne’s entrance to his lair but was unable to see it. “Well,” Five said, breaking the silence. “Are we splitting up to look for it or what?” he asked a he looked over to his right at Razien. “No,” Razien quickly replied, looking back over at his fellow vampire. “We must stay together. We have a much better chance of success if we stick together. I have learned my lesson on splitting the group up or trying to go at it alone.” Razien paused for a moment as he turned to face his friends. “This is it,” he said as he looked at his sword then back at his friends. “If any of you are having second thoughts, this is your last chance to back out. No one here will judge if anyone chooses to leave now.”

The three men stared back at the unique vampire in silence, refusing to change their minds. “Okay, then,” he said with a slight frown. “We are in uncharted territory, and I have no idea what to expect, so let us keep our wits .” No sooner he finished his sentence, they began to hear the sound of chains dragging across the ground. The group turned their heads in the direction in which the noise was coming from. To their surprise, the noise was coming from inside a very large cave entrance that was directly in front of them in the mountain. “What is going on here?” Nemajneb asked. “That was not there a second ago,” he added a little confused. As the men stood staring into the darkness, Karne stepped out from the shadows and into the dreary gray light. At the sight of the black dragon and his size, the four friends simultaneously inhaled deeply, held it for a moment, and then exhaled. As they exhaled, Karne’s left hand came from the shadows holding a chain. Razien’s friends looked on with curiosity and confusion while he looked on in horror. “Aaahhh, Razien,” Karne spoke in his deep dark voice, “I see you have brought some little warriors with you.” Karne then tugged on the chain, and out from the darkness of the cave stumbled Vile with the chain attached to a metal collar around her neck. “Vile!” Jon yelled out. “Where is the black heart medallion?” Karne asked loudly. “I will never hand it over, Karne!” Razien yelled back. “You will never find it!” Karne pulled Vile closer to him and lowered his head next to hers. Her head was no larger than his eyes. “Not even for your mother’s life?” he asked in a deep low tone with a grin. Razien paused for a moment to look into his mother’s eyes. “I am sorry, Mother,” he whispered so only she and Five could hear. His eyes then moved to lock with the dragons. “No!” he yelled. “Not even for her life. Stopping you is more important than any one of our lives.” Tears began to form in Vile’s eyes and roll down her cheeks.

“I love you, son,” she whispered back to him. Karne grabbed the chain just a few feet from where it connected to the collar and lifted up until Vile was lifted off the ground just a few inches. As she hung there helplessly, she gripped the collar with both hands trying to free herself with no luck. The men could see by the look on her face that she was in lots of pain and in an extremely weakened state. Her vampiric strength could do nothing for her. “This is between you and me, Karne!” Razien yelled back at the dragon. “Let my friends take her to safety so you and I can settle this just between us.” Karne looked at Razien for a moment in silence, then without saying a word, Karne lowered the young vampire’s mother to the ground. With little effort, the dragon snapped the lock on her collar and let it fall to her feet. Vile looked up at the dragon with confusion for only a second before she began walking and stumbling toward Razien and his friends. Razien looked at his three friends as she headed their way. “Five, take her to your home and do what you can for her please,” he said with urgency. “I want you two to go with them and do whatever it takes to protect them.” “But, Razien,” Jon replied, “you know what will happen if we split up.” “Look,” Razien replied, looking at his friend. “He is letting her go, I cannot lose her too.” Razien looked at his friends in what they thought was silence, but Razien was actually whispering to Five so that no one else could hear. “I will distract Karne when you all leave. Once you are in the fog maneuver, the boat to one side of the island and get your asses back here. I cannot do this alone.” Five nodded, and when Vile was within just a few paces from the group, Karne quickly whipped his tail out and caught Vile by wrapping the end of it around her. Once he had her in his grasp, he yanked her back to him in the blink of an eye. When he had her back at his side, he began to squeeze her tightly, making her scream out in agony. “Stop!” Razien begged. “Stop?” Karne replied angrily. “I can sense your betrayal young Razien, you plan on double-crossing me. I will give you one last chance to give me the medallion, or I will kill your beautiful mother.”

“I do not have it!” Razien replied with tears forming in his eyes. “I have no idea where it is!” “So be it,” the dragon replied as his tail loosened from Vile’s body, causing her to fall to her knees. “You leave me no choice,” he added as he picked the weakened vampire up. Karne held Vile upright with her legs clinched in his fist. The black dragon looked down on the young vampire and his friends with his bloodred eyes and a grin on his face. With one quick motion before anyone knew what was happening, Karne bit Razien’s mother in half and spat her upper body directly at Razien. Razien caught her torso, causing him to drop his sword and slide backward on his feet a few paces. When he looked down in his arms and saw his mother’s face looking back up at him with the life in her eyes fading fast, the young vampire then fell to his knees and began to scream. His scream was so loud that his friends had to cover their ears to protect them. As he screamed, the mountain began to shake vigorously. Seeing Razien shake his mountain to that extreme Karne began to develop a look of fear on his face. As he screamed, Razien’s eyes began to glow a dark bloodred until his scream began to dissipate. When his scream went silent, he gently placed his mother on the ground and then stood to his feet, and then there was, for a moment, dead silence. He then walked toward his sword and picked it up. As he picked his weapon up off the ground, he locked eyes with the dragon. Razien began to clinch the handle of his sword tightly with all his might. When Razien began to clinch his sword, his friends watched in almost horror as his muscles seemed to enlarge themselves tremendously. Razien glanced over at his friends, and they all noticed that his eyes were no longer red like the dragons; now they were glowing more of a bluish-green color. With speed that not even Five had ever seen, Razien took off toward Karne. Without hesitation, his friends followed his lead. With the speed of lightning, Razien leaped toward Karne’s chest with the point of his sword leading the way. Just as the tip touched the scales in front of his heart Karne’s tail smashed into the vampire’s right rib cage, slamming him up against the mountain. Razien hit the ground hard, but to his surprise, he was still holding onto his sword. As he stood to his feet, his fellow warriors began their attacks.

Nemajneb rolled under the dragon’s tail as it fell back to the ground, and as he rolled, he twisted the end of the handle of his battle maul, causing two dozen foot-long spikes to instantly protrude from it. When he came to a stop, he was next to Karne’s left foot, and with all his might, he brought that spiked hammer down, causing the large dragon to roar and kick in agony. The barbarian tried to dodge the dragon’s kick, but he was just a little too slow. Karne’s kick caught Nemajneb square in the back, sending him flying. He hit and slid a good forty feet across the black stone that was the ground until he came to a stop at the water’s edge. Instead of running head-on with the dragon, Jon darted to his right, and as soon as the dragon had kicked the barbarian, Jon threw his battle-ax and embedded it deep into Karne’s left thigh making him roar in agony again. Karne looked down at the human, and with great force, he hit Jon in the chest with his tail sending him flying over one hundred feet, causing him to land in the water. It took a moment before his body floated back up to the surface, floating face down. When five took off, he headed for the mountain next to the cave entrance. With three great leaps, he had positioned himself directly above Karne’s head about the time Jon was hit in the chest. As his new friend went flying, Five leaped from the rock, and just as he went to plunge his sword in the back of Karne’s skull, the dragon turned to look at Razien, who was just picking himself up off the ground. Turning his head caused Five to quickly reassess his mark, so with a quickness, Five sliced the dragons left ear off, causing him to roar in pain once again. The vampire hit the ground with a thud and rolled to his feet with a smile on his face. As Razien finished standing to his feet, he glanced over at his fellow vampire who was still smiling and watching the dragon. Razien quickly darted away from the dragon to help his barbarian friend to his feet. “Go help Jon,” he told the vampire as he glanced over at his friend who was still floating lifeless in the water. His gaze then moved up from his floating friend to meet the gaze of the dragon’s. “We will defeat you, Karne,” he demanded as he noticed the dragon’s severed ear on the ground. “Even if we have to do it piece by piece.” “Have you not learned anything, you pathetic creatures?” he replied with a grin and pain in his voice. “My life force is connected with this piece of rock that is

my home world, and it will not let me die. But please continue your pointless attacks so that I have some sport in killing all of you.” Karne paused for a moment as Jon began to cough and spit up water from Five, laying him on the shore by the water’s edge. Karne then turned his eyes back to Razien. “Find me Darmasochist’s black heart, and I will let your friends live.” Razien looked hard into Karne’s red eyes. “I told you, you bastard, I will never help you. I swear on all creation that I will be the end of you. You will suffer my wrath and the wrath of Loveaya.” Karne began to laugh loudly. “I have never heard of that name, and if I have never heard of it, she must not be that important for me to worry about, so let us end this now,” he demanded. “But this young Razien,” he said as he leaned his head closer to the vampire. “When I defeat you, I will parade you around for all to see like a war banner and your friends I will hang from chains on the walls of my home until their bones turn to dust.” “We will not die that easy.” Jon choked out as he stood to his feet, coughing. “Then this should be interesting,” Karne replied with a smile. Getting tired of hearing the dragon talk, Five darted toward him as fast as he could possibly run with his sword still drawn. This time Five was not aiming for a fatal blow, but instead, he had anticipated that the beast would use his tail to block. With one fluid strike as the tail approached the vampire, he swung his sword with all his might. Karne saw what was about to happen, but he was unable to stop his tail in time. In that blink of an eye, Karne let out a scream of pain that no one had ever heard before as the last six feet of his tail fell to the ground, twitching violently and bleeding profusely. Seeing an opening the other three warriors rushed the beast in hopes that they would continue keeping the upper hand. As Razien and Nemajneb ran at him from his front, he was no longer able to block with his tail leaving the barbarian an opening to plant his battle maul deep into the left knee. At the same moment, Razien jumped into the air and embedded his sword in Karne’s chest once again, missing his black heart by only a thickness of a hair. Before the young vampire could pull his sword from the wound, Karne grabbed him with his right hand and slammed him against the mountain once again. Razien hit with such force, his body instantly went limp, making him drop his sword as he fell to the ground.

While Karne grabbed the vampire’s sword from his chest with his right hand, he covered the wounds it left with his left. Jon, being pissed off over being thrown, took advantage of the moment while both of Karne’s hands were occupied and lunged at the dragon’s side. As he jumped, Jon twisted his upper body to his right so that when he reached the peak of his jump, he threw his battle-ax horizontally harder than he ever threw anything before. With a loud slurping sound, the ax embedded itself deeply between two of Karne’s ribs, causing him to roar once again in pain and stumble to his right. The three men watched in horror as the dragon stumbled toward Razien’s motionless body afraid that the dragon would fall and crush him. To their astonishment, Karne was able to gain his balance and pull the ax from his side. “No human has ever spilled my blood before!” Karne yelled in anger as he glared at Jon. “You will pay for this mortal!” he yelled again. “Actually,” Jon replied with a smile, looking up at the dragon. “That ax was free as long as we kill you, and by the looks of it, we are doing a pretty good job so far.” Karne glared at the human for a moment, then before anyone knew it, he threw the ax hard and fast. Before he could dodge it, Jon’s own ax was embedded in the right side of his chest and had him pinned to a rock that stuck up out of the water. Jon’s eyes looked at his friends with fear until his eyesight went black, and he could feel his life force fleeing from his body. His friends looked on in horror as their friend’s body became limp as it hung from the ax, and his blood poured from the wound. The three remaining warriors knew that there was nothing they could do for their dying friend, so they all turned their gazes back to the black dragon. Without a word spoken, the warriors charged Karne with their weapons at the ready and battle cries coming from their sunken hearts. Before any of them could land a blow, with his left hand, Karne quickly picked up the chain that held Vile captive and quickly flicked it like a whip at the trio of warriors. Due to their vampiric abilities, Five and Razien both were able to roll under it before it could hit them. As they came to a stop, they both looked back to see if Nemajneb was able to do the same. Unfortunately, they looked back just in time to see the end of the chain disappear into their friend’s chest. They watched,

frozen in horror, as Karne violently yanked on the chain pulling their friend toward him. As soon as the barbarian’s body was close enough, Karne smacked it with the back of his right hand, sending Nemajneb’s body smashing into the ground. The dragon then stepped forward to the body, placing his right hand on top of it while he violently yanked the chain from the warrior’s chest. Karne stopped for a moment as he looked down on the last two surviving warriors. “You have lost, Razien,” he proclaimed with pain still in his voice. “Surrender to me and I will let your friend there go, and I will even let him take the two corpses with him so that they may be buried.” Razien stood, staring at Nemajneb’s body, as blood trickled down his back from his own wounds. After a moment of being motionless he turned to look at Jon’s body still hanging from his own ax. “Five,” he said, glancing over at the other vampire. “I want you to leave and take them with you.” “We cannot just give up,” he replied angrily. “Not after they gave their lives for you and your vengeance.” “They fought for their own reasons,” Razien replied. “Besides, someone needs to survive to tell their stories so that they may live on forever.” “This is my fight t—” Before Five could finish his sentence, a chain wrapped around Razien’s upper body. Razien had just enough time to look down as the chain tightened around him. “Go!” he yelled as Karne violently yanked on the chain, causing him to fly toward him and hit the ground hard. “Before you go, I want you to bear witness to my victory!” Karne yelled as he dragged Razien toward him. “I may be too wounded to parade him around before I sleep, but he will still be my war banner for the rest of time.” Five stood paralyzed, unable to move, watching as Karne picked Razien up in his right hand, and with a smile on his face, he slammed the vampire hard onto the ground. As Karne held the helpless unconscious vampire against the ground, he reached out with his left hand and picked up the Flameberge sword. Five tried to rush to Razien’s aid, but the moment he got close enough to strike, Karne backhanded him with his left hand sending him flying backward. Five realized as he began to pick himself up off the ground that all hope was lost and that he

alone would not be able to defeat the beast. Karne stared at Five for a moment then turned his gaze to the trapped vampire beneath his right hand. Razien’s eyes slowly opened but was unable to speak due to the amount of pressure the dragon was putting on his body. “I see that you are still with us, young Razien,” he said softly as he leaned his head down close to the wounded vampire. “Razien, fight!” Five yelled at his friend. “You must fight!” the vampire then began to run to try to help his friend once again. Before he could even get close, Karne quickly turned his gaze and his head to the approaching vampire. “Stop!” the dragon yelled loudly, causing Five to come to a sliding stop and fall on his ass. Karne then lifted Razien’s sword to look at it and then turned his head back to his wounded enemy. “You know, Razien,” he said with a disappointed tone. “I am practically like a father to you. If not for me, you would have died on the night of your birth, and you would not exist today.” Karne glanced over at Five to see him still sitting on the ground watching in horror. “It is my blood that flows through your veins. We could have been a great team together, but instead, you chose to defy me, knowing that you would lose. Not only did you lose, but you sacrificed the lives of your friends to do so.” Karne examined Razien’s sword once again. “A weapon created to kill me, and now it will be used to clean the flesh from between my teeth, but first I must bathe it in the blood of my enemy.” Karne looked back down at Razien, who was still too weak to move and slowly removed his hand from on top of him, and with a slow, steady motion, he plunged the sword deep into the heart of its owner. As the sword pierced his heart Razien’s eyes flashed an extremely bright blue as he let out a yell that Karne would forever. Razien’s yell shook the entire mountain causing massive rock slides all the way around it. Karne turned to look behind him in time to see the entrance to his cave get sealed off by some of the rocks. Karne lifted Razien up with his Flameberge sword with a smile. “My mountain still stands, young vampire.” Razien’s eyes slowly shut, and his body went completely limp. “Now to show you off to the world as a warning to all those

who defy me, there will be no mercy.” Wounded and unable to fly, Karne turned to face his mountain, moved Razien to his left hand, and began to climb. As the dragon climbed higher and higher, Five decided to make one last attempt to retrieve Razien’s corpse from the beast. Staying as quiet as he could be, Five began to quickly follow Karne up the mountain. When he was in range, Five jumped as hard as he could, but before he could get close enough to strike at the dragon, a small rock had fallen loose from where he had jumped from and began tumbling down the mountain. Hearing the noise from the rock, Karne quickly turned and caught Five in midair with his right hand. “I would normally kill the likes of you,” he said with a grin and a small cough caused by the multiple wounds he sustained in the fight. “But I want you to live and tell all others of what has happened here today.” Karne then violently threw Five back down the mountain to the ground. With nothing to slow his momentum, Five flew through the air like a meteor falling from the sky. Unable to stop or even slow his dissent, the vampire hit the black stone ground so hard it caused him to bounce. The impact had knocked Five out cold. When Karne arrived at the peak of his mountain, he pulled the sword from Razien’s chest and placed him standing up on a flat surface just six to seven feet from the peak. Once he had the vampire’s body standing upright, he began to stack the loose black stones around Razien’s body. After he had placed the last stone, Karne began to cough as he breathed his fire into the sky until it turned from yellowish orange into a bright white. Once his flames had turned to white, he focused it on the peak of the mountain where he had placed the body of the vampire. Five woke up just before the sun began to set, in time to see what Karne was doing. Confused at first Five watched until he saw the aftermath of Karne’s doing. In disbelief, Five could see Razien’s corpse encased in what looked like a solid diamond coffin at the peak of the black mountain. Five stared for a moment until he noticed Karne was heading back down the mountain. The vampire turned his head to where the barbarian had fallen, and to his surprise, the body and the weapon were no longer there, they had disappeared. There was nothing left but the blood that remained glistening on the black stones. Five then quickly turned his eyes to where Jon’s body was hanging, and again, to his disbelief, his body and weapon were also gone. The vampire looked

around for a moment to see if he had mistaken on where his friends had fallen. Since he could not find the corpses and Karne was more than halfway down the mountain, Five decided to get in his boat and head back into the fog. Knowing that Karne could not see him in the fog, nor could he fly due to his wounds, Five decided to tie off once he could barely see in the fog. The vampire sat up quietly all night, thinking about the battle and the friends that were lost the day before. He still was in disbelief over the fact that both Jon’s and Nemajneb’s bodies had vanished and that the tide of the battle had changed so quickly. Before he knew it, the sun had begun to rise, so he decided to make his way back home. After arriving home, Five sat in his chair by the shore watching and waiting for any sign that Karne was going to make one last appearance before his slumber. As he sat there, he would occasionally glance over at the chairs that his friends had sat in, and he would what it was like before the battle. While he sat there going through his memories, he began to realize that he was turned into a vampire by Vlad, yet the sunlight had never hurt him, not once. He knew that a human who was turned into a vampire would burn in sunlight and could only survive on blood. He then realized that he was different for some reason.

The Decision Has Been Made

Amonth had ed since the battle with Karne, and Five still sat in his chair every day, only to get up to feed or relieve himself and occasionally rest. On this particular day, as he sat there focused on the horizon, a horse and its rider came galloping out of the woods from behind Five’s house. The rider stopped the horse by the house and climbed down to walk the rest of the way. “I do not want, nor do I like visitors,” Five said without moving his eyes from the horizon. “So you may do well to turn around, get back on your horse, and go home.” “Well, that is no way to treat an old friend!” the rider yelled back with amusement in his voice. Distracted by the rider’s comment, Five turned to see who the stranger was, and to his astonishment, it was Jon. Even though he was confused, Five jumped to his feet and ran to give his friend a brotherly hug and handshake. “I thought you were dead,” Five said with tears filling his eyes. “Where is Nemajneb, is he with you?” Five asked, hoping to see him too. “I do not know where he is at,” Jon replied sadly as he patted his friend on the shoulder. “Come, have a seat,” Five offered with a smile. The two men walked to the chairs and sat down. “So where have you been?” Five asked curiously. “After the battle, I looked for yours and Nemajneb’s bodies,” he added. “But you both had disappeared.” “I know, brother, and I am sorry for that,” Jon replied as he rubbed the scar on his chest, left by his own ax. Jon paused for a moment while he looked out over the ocean toward Karne’s island. “According to Edwen,” Jon began. “After Karne threw you from the mountain and knocked you out and Karne was preoccupied with entombing Razien, he

came and retrieved my body and my ax and took me back to the Three Sisters, his home. Once we arrived there, he gave me a drink from some stream. Apparently it was the same stream that Nemajneb drank from to make him immortal. It took some time for my wounds to heal, but they did, and yes, just like Nemajneb was, I, too, am immortal now. Edwen hardly spoke to me at all, but when he did, the few words that he said was to come find you and that the two of us need to go back to Karne’s mountain.” “Did he tell you why?” Five asked, disappointed. “I really do not want to go back,” he added. “He did,” Jon replied. “He said that we would find our answers there.” “Do you trust him?” Five asked skeptically. “Of course I do,” Jon replied with a smile. “He saved my life.” Five shrugged. “Okay then,” he replied, “we will wait until midnight so that when we arrive at the fog, we will have all day to make it through, and we will not have to wait like last time.” Five paused for a moment. “What about Karne? What if he is still there?” Five asked with fear in his voice. “Edwen said that Karne will be in his slumber by the time we get there,” Jon answered with a smile. “Apparently the Blood Moon has left our celestial neighborhood, and he will not be waking up for another thirty-six hundred years. That is why we cannot see the Blood Moon anymore.” Five nodded in understanding, then the two men spent the rest of the evening in silence until midnight arrived, then they headed to the fog. Not much was said between the two until they were about halfway to the fog. “So what happened to Razien?” Jon asked, breaking the silence as he choked back his emotions. “Did Edwen not tell you?” Five asked, surprised. “No,” he replied. “He told me that I needed to find out for myself.” Five nodded. “I will let you see for yourself, but I will warn you it is a heartbreaking sight.”

“That bad?” Jon asked. Five looked into Jon’s eyes and just shook his head in silence. Before they knew it, they had reached the fog at daybreak. Together they made their way through the fog by midday. As the silhouette of the mountain began to pierce through the fog, both men swallowed hard, preparing themselves for the dismay. When their boat finally made it out of the fog and to the shore, the two men slowly stepped out onto the black stone ground. “What happened here?” Jon asked curiously as he looked around and noticed all the fallen rocks around the base of the mountain. Five looked at Jon with somewhat of a smile. “Razien, that is what happened.” Five pointed to the ground in front of a large pile of boulders that blocked the cave entrance. “Over there is where Karne killed Razien with his own sword. When his sword pierced his heart, he let out a yell that almost brought the entire mountain crumbling down.” “Shit,” Jon muttered to himself. “So where is Razien’s body?” he asked, confused, expecting to find it lying on the ground still. Without looking, Five pointed to the top of the mountain as tears began to form in his eyes. “There,” he replied. “What the, how did that happen?” Jon asked, almost furious. “Have you not tried to free him?” he asked as he began walking toward the mountain. “I do not think there is anything we can do to help him, brother,” Five proclaimed. “That coffin he is entombed in is a crystal or diamond formed by the black stone and a white fire that Karne created with his breath.” “We have to try!” Jon yelled in reply. As Jon walked closer toward the mountain, both men began to hear a commotion coming from the ocean where the boat was beached. It sounded like waves churning and clapping against each other. Curious, both men turned and watched as a figure came walking onto shore from the water. The friends stood astonished to see a beautiful woman that was turquoise standing before them.

“Who are you?” Five asked, almost terrified. “How did you do that?” “Wait a minute,” Jon interrupted. “I know who she is,” he added as he walked up to stand next to Five. Five had the look of confusion as he turned to look at Jon. “Who is she, and how do you know her?” he asked, looking back at the woman. The woman stared at the two men with a smile on her face as she walked closer to them. “I am Loveaya,” she answered for Jon. “I am the spirit of earth.” “Spirit of the earth?” Five asked, confused. “Yes,” she replied softly as she approached the men and placed a hand on both of their shoulders, calming their minds and hearts. Loveaya then looked up at her champion imprisoned at the top of the mountain. “Are you here to help us break him free?” Jon asked, almost excited. She looked back at Razien’s two friends. “No,” she replied with a smile. “I am here to help both of you to understand.” “Understand what?” Jon asked, confused. “What is there to understand? If you are truly the spirit of earth, then you should be able to help him.” Loveaya looked at Jon with a smile as she placed her right hand on his left cheek. “So faithful to your friend, I could not have picked better friends myself for my champion. But as sad as it is and as hard as it is going to be for all of us, we must leave him there.” “Why?” Jon asked with tears filling his eyes. “Why must we leave him there? Does he not deserve a proper funeral on top of a pyre?” Loveaya leaned her head toward the two men until her head was between both of theirs. “He would, if he was dead.” She then leaned back and smiled. Both men looked at each other confused then back at Loveaya. “If he is not dead, then should we not go up there and free him?” Five asked as he tried to wrap his head around it all.

Loveaya paused for a few moments trying to figure out how to explain it to them to where they could understand. “Do you know what happens to a caterpillar before it becomes a butterfly?” she asked with a smile. “It creates a cocoon to sleep in so that it can make the transformation,” Five answered, raising his right eyebrow. “What does that have to do with anything?” Jon asked, confused. “While on his journey here, he was but a caterpillar sharpening his senses and his skills,” she replied with a smile. “Now he is asleep in his cocoon waiting for the day that he is ready to become what he is truly meant to be.” “So what about Nemajneb?” Jon asked, starting to get angry again. “Did he die just so Razien could catch up on some sleep?” “No,” she replied with a smile still. “All those who journeyed with Razien had a purpose, and all of you who made it here to fight in the battle by his side were chosen by fate.” “I do not believe in fate, lady,” Five replied skeptically. “Nor do I,” Jon added. “If we were chosen by fate, then why did we not defeat Karne?” he asked, confused. “Because each of you were caterpillars that had to go through personal changes. That is what this battle was for,” she explained as she turned her eyes toward Jon. “Jon, if you had not been mortally wounded, you would not be immortal now. It took this battle for you to prove your worth to drink from the Stream of Purity.” She paused for a moment then looked at five. “Five, you are the only one that did not go through any changes after this battle. Instead, your transformation happened the day that Razien’s father Vlad turned you into a vampire.” Five looked at her, confused. “What do you mean?” he asked. “You are the only one of your kind,” she replied. “Just like Razien is the only one of his kind, you are the only human that has been turned into a vampire, yet the sun does not harm you just like it does not harm a blood born vampire.”

Five stood speechless as his mind raced back to the thought he had on the beach in front of his home. “Damn,” he replied. “She has a point.” “That explains us,” Jon replied. “What about Nemajneb? You have yet to answer that question. “Yes, Nemajneb,” she replied, not sure how to explain it to them. “The decision has been made.” “What does that mean exactly?” Jon asked, curious about what happened to his friend. “He has made a choice that will ripple into the future for all time,” she answered with a smile. “He was never just a mortal man, he belongs to a special group of beings that we, the celestial beings, had chosen to be what are known to you as gods. These gods were selected by us for their ability to love and respect life. The gods only had one responsibility, and that was to protect all life, but they could only interfere if evil began to get the upper hand. “Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the dragon’s home world, Wormwood, destroyed a celestial body in my family that cradled all kinds of life. In doing so, that destruction caught the attention of the gods, and they set forth to destroy the dragons once and for all. That celestial body was not the first that they had destroyed. It was only the first in my celestial family. When the gods arrived on Wormwood, the dragons met them with a strength that the gods had never seen.” No sooner she finished her sentence, a fireball fell from the sky and hit the ground behind Loveaya, causing an explosion of fire and smoke, sending debris in all directions. Out of the smoke came a figure with flaming red hair and beard that seemed to glisten like a red ruby in sunlight, wearing battle-ready attire and a familiar face. “Nemajneb!” both friends yelled as they went running toward him but stopped to take in his new look as they could feel the energy flowing from him. “I am now known as Branimir. I had to rid myself of my mortal name before I could sit on the throne of the heavens,” he told them in a calm tone. The two friends could not take their eyes off their friend’s weapon. It was still his battle maul, but it was much larger, and it had red veins that flowed like tiny

rivers all over it. “I like the weapon,” Jon replied with a smile. “I am not here to talk about my weapon,” Branimir replied. “I am only here to prove to you that what she says is true, and that the battle with Karne is far from over. Keep your minds straight and your hearts true and when Loveaya needs you again, and she will fight for her as you fought beside me, with honor.” Before they knew what happened, Branimir held his maul to the sky as lightning struck it, and in that instant, he had disappeared. The two friends looked at each other with confusion and disappointment. Loveaya looked at them both with a smile as she placed her hands back on their shoulders. “The war has begun, and though it seems we have lost the first battle, it only seems that way,” she said with a slight grin. “My warriors have been chosen, and now they must seek another. I need you two to return to Gullith Finesmith and let him know what has happened here. Once you have informed him the both of you need to stay hidden until the next battle.” “What do you mean hide until the next battle?” Five asked, confused. “When is that supposed to take place.” “Just over three and a half thousand years from now,” she replied. “How are we supposed to hide for that long?” Jon asked. “We do not even know if we will even live that long.” “Before you answer those questions, tell me something first,” Five demanded. Loveaya, no longer smiling, looked at the two men. “Fine, but these are the last questions I will answer. After this, you two need to go to the blacksmith.” Five looked at Jon then at Loveaya. “Where is Karne? I thought he was supposed to be sleeping or something. I know he is not in his cave because I watched the entrance get blocked while he was on this side of them.” Loveaya looked to Jon. “To answer your question, in the future, the human population will explode in size, and therefore, it should not be too hard for you to find creative ways to hide within it. You can even hide under it, the choice is yours. Karne and Edwen are the last two dragons, and there are very few vampires left, so it should not be too hard.”

Loveaya then turned her attention to Five. “To answer your question,” she said as she knelt down to pick up a smooth black stone off the ground, “this is what happens to Karne every time the Blood Moon leaves our celestial neighborhood. His body breaks down into these small stones and becomes part of this island until the Blood Moon arrives back in our celestial neighborhood. When it first arrives, these small rocks start to come to gather, and it takes about one to two months for him to be fully resurrected and able to fly.” She paused for a moment. “Now take this with you,” she said as she handed Jon Razien’s sword. Then without another word being spoken, she turned and walked to the ocean and disappeared into the water. The two men looked at each other and the sword with confusion, then up at Razien entombed in his crystal coffin. After a few moments of silence, both of them headed for the boat, and before they knew it, it was sunset and they were back on the mainland getting out of the boat. “So where is this blacksmith we need to find?” Five asked, breaking the long silence. Jon looked at Five, then at the horse that was grazing next to the house. “If we both ride him, it will take about a week,” Jon replied. “What if only you ride him?” Five asked. “, brother, I can run faster than a horse and for just as long if not longer.” Jon formed a grin on his face as he looked back at Five. “About two days or so.” Five was smiling back at Jon. “So let us start our journey now,” he suggested. Jon nodded in agreement and instantly he ran and jumped on his horse and from that moment the horse and Five began hauling ass along the eastern shore so that they would not have to deal with Karne’s magick forest and the cliff that the original four had to go under and climb down. Within just a few hours, they had made it to the bridge where the Amazonian women warriors lived. After they made camp, they both sat down by the fire. “This is where you and Bull almost died until Razien saved you, is it not?” Five asked with a smile. “Our lives were not in danger at that time,” Jon replied with a smile. “But yes, he did free us from certain death. I will tell you one thing though,” he added with a smile and a chuckle. “Those women sure know how to have fun.”

Five leaned back against his pack to get comfortable. “So tell me more about this place,” he requested. Jon smiled, and over the next few hours, he told Five everything that had happened there. He even started from when they first arrived at the crevasse. The next morning as the sun began to peek over the horizon, the two men rose to their feet. Five threw his pack over his shoulder, and Jon attached his pack back on the horse. As the warrior climbed onto the horse, he noticed something in the middle of the bridge just a few paces from where they had camped. “What is it, Jon?” Five asked curiously. “That crack,” Jon replied as he pointed at a crack that went from one side all the way to the other. “So,” Five replied, raising his right eyebrow with confusion. “It is an old bridge, it is going to have them.” “You do not understand,” Jon replied as he jumped off his horse. “This crack was not here the last time I was here. This crack is new.” Jon followed the crack to the edge of the bridge, and when he looked down into the crevasse, he noticed something different. “Hey, Five, come check this out.” He motioned to his friend. Five walked over to the edge and looked down. “Okay, so it looks like vines or roots growing across the floor of the crevasse.” “You do not understand,” Jon replied with a smile. “The last time I was here, it was twice as far to the bottom and not nearly as many roots growing.” Jon stood in silence thinking. “So what does that mean?” Five asked curiously. Jon looked over at his friend with a huge smile on his face. “She is healing herself, and she is doing it faster than she ever has.” “What do you mean by that?” Five asked again. “Loveaya, Loveaya is healing herself faster than normal.”

“How do you know she is healing faster than normal?” the vampire asked, confused. “Because one night, Razien told me that when Karne’s mountain landed in her ocean, it created this crevasse and that cliff or plateau that me, and the others had to deal with on our way to find you.” “I know what cliff you are talking about,” Five acknowledged. “So his one mountain did that much damage to her?” he asked astonished. “Yes,” Jon replied. “And now for some reason, she is healing faster.” Jon, still smiling, walked back and jumped up onto his horse. “Well, no sense in hanging around here any longer.” Without another word, the two friends headed out. After traveling most of the day, Jon led Five to a familiar spot where he and his past companions had camped before. As they exited the path, they were on into a clearing, Five stopped and stared at the different dragon corpses and multiple piles of ash. “What happened here?” he asked with curiosity. “This had to be one bad-ass battle,” he said with a smile. Jon jumped off his horse and detached his pack and threw it on the ground next to an old campfire. “This is where Razien screwed up, and we lost our friend Solrac. Razien killed all but three of these dragons single-handedly.” “I you guys telling me about that,” Five replied with a frown. “I am sorry to hear what had happened to your friend.” “Do not be sorry for him,” Jon replied with a smile. “Yes, it is, sad that we lost a friend, but he died a warrior’s death saving the rest of us. Tell you what, though,” he added as he got a fire started. “What is that?” Five asked. “That man sure could shoot a bow,” Jon replied with a big smile as he looked at the large pile of ashes where they had built the pyre for their fallen warrior. “See that he biggest one over there?” he asked his friend. Five nodded as he sat down by the fire. “Solrac nailed that son of a bitch square in the eye in the midst of battle. I have trained most of my life with all sorts of weapons, and I could not have made that

shot even with a thousand arrows.” “So tell me more about this Solrac character,” Five requested. “I like to hear the stories.” Jon looked across the fire at his friend and began telling him about his fallen friend and the journey they had while he was with them. For hours Jon told stories, making them both laugh, and before they knew it, they both were asleep. As the sun peaked through the treetops the next morning, the two friends woke up to smoldering coals, a light breeze, and bird noises echoing through the woods. The two quickly gathered their belongings and headed out once again. By midday, they came to a large clearing with a large pond and a cabin just off the bank. “This is it,” Jon said as he jumped off his horse. “This is where the blacksmith lives.” “I follow your lead,” Five said with a smile. Jon gently grabbed the reigns to his horse and began leading him and Five to the cabin. Jon kept a very close eye out for any movement. “If you see anyone stop and let me know,” Jon told his friend. “Gullith does not care much for visitors.” “Not a problem,” Five replied as he scanned the area. In a short time, they had made it to the door of the cabin without seeing anybody. “This does not seem like the blacksmith,” Jon said, almost worried. “I hope he is at his forge,” he added as he let the reigns go. “And where is that at?” Five asked curiously. “Down underground,” Jon replied as he opened the door to the cabin. Once inside, Jon walked over to the door in the floor and pulled it open, and he could hear a faint clinking sound coming from deep within the tunnel. Slowly the two men made their way down the dark tunnel of stairs. When they reached the bottom, Jon motioned with his hand for Five to wait where he was at. Jon slowly peeked around the corner to find the blacksmith hammering away on some Red Iron. “Gullith!” Jon said loudly.

The blacksmith turned to look in Jon’s direction. “Jon, is it not?” he asked as he turned back to the forge. “Bring your friend in here so I may meet him,” he demanded without losing his rhythm. Five walked around the corner to meet the blacksmith. As the two men began to inform Gullith of everything that had happened since the last time Jon was there. Edwen stopped talking, causing Ajax’s and Benderman’s visions of the past to fade away. “Hey,” Ajax said, disappointed. “Why did you stop there?” he asked, confused. Edwen looked across the table at the two young men. “That was the moment I stopped watching over those heroes,” he answered. “Why would you stop watching over them?” Benderman asked as he stood up, rubbing his belly. “To protect them from any unforeseen harm,” he replied as he waved his hand, making food and drink appear on the table in front of them. Smiles formed on both of the young men’s faces as they looked at each other, then at the smorgasbord in front of them with big round eyes. “I am so starving right now,” Ajax said with a chuckle as he grabbed a huge turkey leg with his right hand and began eating it like he hadn’t eaten in days. “Yeah, me too,” Benderman added as he sat back down, also grabbing a turkey leg. Edwen stood to his feet and walked toward the fire. “I need you two to go in search of our champions,” he said as he stared into the fire. “I have no idea where they are, but I do believe that the blacksmith is still in the same location.” Both men stopped shoving food in their face long enough to look up at the wizard. “We have to get back to work, man,” Benderman replied as he placed the leg down on an empty plate in front of him. “We can’t afford to go on another journey. We have to give at least a week’s notice for our vacation to get approved.” Edwen spun around to look the two men in the eyes. “Have you heard nothing!” he asked angrily. “Do you not understand what is at stake here? We have about a month before Wormwood enters this solar system again and about one and a half to two months after that until Karne will be fully revived. Once that happens, he

will wreak carnage across this planet once again. You two need to find the champions before that happens. I have been told that they know where Razien’s sword is, and when he awakens, he will need it. Karne will be in search of the black heart of Darmasochist, and if he finds it before Razien can stop him, we are all doomed. Razien must have his sword.” Ajax and Benderman listened intently to the wizard as he spoke. “Where and when do we start?” Benderman asked as he stood back up. “In the morning at first light,” Edwen replied with a frown. “The blacksmith, like I said, should still be out to the east just on the opposite side of the Cerberus River.” Benderman looked the wizard in the eyes. “I apologize for not taking you seriously after everything that you have shown us.” “It’s a lot to take in,” Edwen replied with a smile. “Now, do us all a favor and you two go get some sleep.” Without hesitation, Ajax stood from his seat, and together they both headed for their room. “Can you believe that?” Ajax asked his friend. “Believe what?” Benderman asked, extremely confused. “That both of our families have lived next door to each other since the two of us were born, letting us grow up together and becoming best friends. Then come to find out we are actually related.” “What do you mean?” Benderman asked curiously. Ajax let out a small quiet sigh a little disappointed that his friend didn’t notice it. “Bull is your ancestor, and Jon is my ancestor, and they were half brothers. That makes us cousins,” he replied with a smile and a laugh. “Well, I’ll be damned,” Benderman replied as they entered their room and went to bed. When Dave had finished reading the book, it was dark outside once again, and his eyes were red and his cheeks were wet from tears. “What is this?” he asked himself as he wiped the tears from his cheeks with his right sleeve. “Why me,

why am I the one who found this book? What does all of this mean?” Dave sat in silence, thinking about how he found the book the night before, and just as he began to shut the book, he noticed something happening on one of the empty pages in the back of the book. The young man quickly opened the book back up and flipped to the empty pages. When he flipped to the empty page where he saw something happening, he noticed that in the middle of the page, there were letters and words being formed. It was like they were being written with magick, gold dust forming each letter at the same time, then with a sizzle, it was like the words got burned into the page. The words read, THE MESSENGER HAS BEEN CHOSEN.