by Kindred Ult
Somehow, Jaxon realized that the answer to this question would determine whether he died or lived today. "I started to keep my wife and five children fed—." He was cut off by Demenn's hand closing on his throat for just a second. He gagged when Demenn relaxed his iron-hard grip.
"Do not lie to me now, Jaxon. This could very well be the last minute you spend alive in this world. You should at least spend it being very, very truthful with me."
"Fine," a dangerous gleam entered Jaxon's eyes. "I became a bandit because I love the thrill of fighting and I was discharged from the army after I disobeyed an order from my general. He told me to attack the village my sister was living in. After that, I ran to get her and we fled the village before it was destroyed. I decided to become a bandit and she would not be persuaded to leave me so I had to let her become one too. I made her the archer so that she'd never be hurt, but doing something like that obviously just isn't enough anymore now is it?"
"Obviously. Do you have any final requests?"
"Unless you can somehow bring my sister back, I have none, besides that you finish me quick." Jaxon's mouth twitched.
The vampire looked down. "Unfortunately, I can do neither of those things. I am truly sorry for this turn of events Jaxon, but there seems to be nothing I can do for you now."
"I guess not." Jaxon closed his eyes and gasped when he felt his throat being ripped into and all of his blood being redirected towards that spot in his body. At first he felt tingles all over him, then he started losing feeling in his limbs and his heart began to beat faster and faster as more and more blood was demanded from it. In another minute, his heart collapsed and Jaxon felt searing pain before he blacked out.
If he had still been able to see, Jaxon would have seen Demenn's cheek, ear, arm, and side flow and flesh out with new muscles and skin until it seemed like nothing ever happened to him. He would also have seen Demenn go up to each of the members in his gang, take their swords and sheaths, and put them in a bag he had made out of the rest of Weslie's shirt. He would also have seen Demenn go off into the forest and return with his sister's bow and arrows before putting them into the bag, taking back his own weapons, swinging the bag over his shoulder, and walking back down the road. He walked deeper into the forest of Darkoven and left those eight where they lay. As he walked away, countless bats burst from their hiding places and descended upon the rest of the corpses. They squealed in excitement as they licked up the cooled blood on the ground or just took it directly from the bodies themselves. Jaxon might have seen all of this, but he was far beyond caring now.
Virgin's Blood
2
The Virgin's Blood
Nasoren walked down a street in the town of Valestren. She had lived here her entire life, so it was easy to forget how special her hometown really was. As she walked she looked around at the multitude of houses and shops that littered the town. While it was true that Valestren was not a city, it was still the largest town in Darkoven, and also the one that was deepest within it. The people that lived there were definitely not what normal folks would call normal because they all had to live their lives as if each day was their last. Living with the concept of death almost constantly in front of your face produced a strange kind of person: the people who lived here seemed to always be both solemn and humorous, as if they were aware that life could end at any moment and were determined to make every day worth living. Yes, even with all of the problems that came with living inside this cursed forest, Nasoren was sure that she would not trade this existence for one in any other town in of the world.
She passed by a street that crossed the one she was traveling on, and her gaze passed along the other street for a bit before it rested on the large, wooden wall that surrounded the entire village. That same wall had kept all of the vile beings that inhabited this forest from storming the village for over twenty-five years. Valestren had only two gates, one at the north entrance and one at the south, which were closed firmly every night and constantly kept under guard. Yes, the village was definitely almost impossible to sneak into. However, even with all of the precautions that the town had taken, sometimes a vampire, werewolf, or some other monster did get into the town, but every time an incident like that did occur, the vampire slayers had immediately sent out slayers and the perpetrator had been completely destroyed. The vampire slayers also kept two of their men inside the town at all times, but it had been over five years since anyone had been killed by one of the freaks, so no one really thought too much about a vampire or werewolf attack. This is not to say that they let their guard down, they would never even consider something like that, but over the years they had gradually decreased their security.
She was still thinking about that when she passed a large mirror that the townspeople kept in the middle of the town at all times to check for vampires. She paused and fixed her hair while studying herself for a moment. She was a pretty girl by any standard: she was tall for a girl and had long, blonde hair, a fair face, and normal sized ears. She was especially proud of her ears, since both her father and her mother had abnormally large ears. She seemed remarkably mature for only being seventeen years old, but she attributed this to being born and raised in Valestren. Letting out a long, slow sigh, she continued on her way down the street until she finally reached her destination: The Valestren Weapons Emporium. She still had no idea what "Emporium" meant, but she felt that the owner did not really care. It was not like he knew what it meant either.
She grasped the door's circular ring handle and pulled the door outward while walking into the shop. She chuckled silently to herself as she saw the shop's owner sleeping on the counter, a sword and cloth in his hands. She grabbed a bell from a shelf and walked up on him while he snored. With a yell she slammed the bell onto the counter right next to his ear and winced as the small device pealed out its anger at being so roughly handled. While she winced a bit, he let out a high-pitched scream and flung himself back against the wall, panting.
"N-no cookies!" He yelled, looking around in panic before his eyes settled on Nasoren standing before him with a bell in her hand and a smile on her face as her body shook slightly with laughter. Her smile broadened as he scowled.
"Jacob, you really should be more vigilant, what if I were a vampire or something?" She flashed her bright teeth at him, and for a moment he was tempted to not be angry with her, but then his scowl deepened and his deep brows furrowed.
"Well, if you was a vampire, at least I wouldna' had to wake up. He woulda' just killed me an' let me sleep like any other decent monster, not countin' you that is."
She laughed and then suddenly became serious. "You know Jacob, you really shouldn't stay up too late cleaning those weapons. You're not as young as you used to be, and cleaning day doesn't even officially start until noon today anyway."
"I know child, it's just that I don't like makin' you do alla' the work all the time."
"Oh please, that's why you pay me and my mom right?"
"Yea, but…"
"Listen, you go and get some sleep, I'll handle the shop and clean the weapons."
He hesitated a moment before releasing a long, melodramatic sigh. "Fine then child, but I'm paying you extra for this, you hear?"
"Yea, whatever old geezer."
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Ralph and Victor stood at the north gate of Valestren, and they were bored stiff. People rarely came into this town and also rarely left through the north gate. The south gate led to the forest and was where all of the lumberjacks went out and came back in, so the guards there were at least able to talk to people during their time, but the north gate led to the other towns and out of this accursed forest. People so rarely came through it or went out of it that having guard duty there was akin to sawing a rock in two. Ralph was bored out of his mind, and he knew that Victor must be too. They had tried playing dice for a bit, and then tried talking, but as the hours dragg
ed on, both of them had lost interest in the activities, and now there was only an awkward silence. His mind was racing as he desperately tried to think of something to do before his brain liquidated and fell out of his ears when he gasped. A person was actually walking down the road towards the town.
Ralph punched Victor in the arm, picked his halberd off the ground, and ran to his side of the gate to stand at the ready like he was supposed to all day long. By the time Victor had done the same, the person was close enough for them to realize that it was a man. He wore a brown cloak, carried a large pack on his shoulders, and had a large hat that covered his head and shoulders. Once he was close enough Victor raised his hand and called out for the man to halt. Ralph shot Victor a look of annoyance, it was his job to say things like that and there was no way he was letting the rookie take the only interesting thing to happen today from him. He faced the man and called out gruffly.
"What's your business here stranger?"
The stranger was looking down at an angle, so that only his mouth could be seen. "I am merely passing through on my way to a camp that is farther down inside the forest."
"Oh, and what kind of camp is this exactly?"
The man chuckled. "What kind of camp do you think? It is a lumber camp."
"Yea, I heard of a couple of those, but what will you be doing there?"
"Working."
Ralph scratched his chin. "Mighty dangerous to be lumberjacking in this forest, especially if you're far away from Valestren."
"I think I can handle myself, good sir."
Ralph cocked an eyebrow. "Well, your story doesn't seem too unbelievable, so now we just have one more test for you, just a small thing you know, take off your hat."
The man lifted his head again until his eyes connected with Ralph's. "I hardly think that is necessary, it would be far better if you just let me through, would it not?"
There was something strange about his eyes, but Ralph just could not place it. He mind felt strange, as if just thinking took as much energy as wading through a marsh. He knew that there was something he should be doing…but just what that something was seemed far beyond his comprehension. 'Maybe…maybe I should just…let him go…he seems…good enough…'
Ralph stuttered and gasped out. "Yea, I don't see why…we should keep you, very well…you can go…"
"Much obliged."
Victor looked at Ralph with amazement until the stranger fixed him with his gaze as well. He stood still for a moment before he nodded as well.
"Yep, everything seems fine…"
They slowly walked back to their previous positions as the stranger walked into the town. "Stupid humans, it is almost sad how little they know about us, or about how many of us have passed through here. It is a good thing most of us are too smart to cause trouble."
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Nasoren hummed a popular song that had been written by a bard who passed through from time to time as she ran a wet rag over an axe head. It was not double bladed, since it was not a war weapon. It was one of the many axes either Jacob, Nasoren's mother, or Nasoren herself had repaired for the lumberjacks but was still waiting to be picked up. There were almost as many normal axes as there were weapons inside this shop, but this was due to the fact that Valestren was primarily a lumberjacking town. Its main export was Darkoven tree's wood, which was very valuable because most people were not stupid enough to risk their lives to cut down the gigantic trees. Still, there were enough people who were that crazy to make several towns and populate them, although most of these were made after the vampires and the others stopped making so many attacks. Still, weapons were also in high demand.
Even though vampires rarely attacked now, the local wildlife seemed to have taken over their job with great fervor. The wildlife here was definitely nothing to shake a stick at either; there were wolves the size of bears, bats the size of cats, and even the rare living dead to deal with. Yes, with all of these problems, it was no wonder that selling weapons could keep someone living rather well in this forest.
Nasoren finished cleaning the axe and was about to switch over to a sword when the bell at the door rang, signaling that a customer had entered. She quickly put the sword behind the counter, cleared the rest of the items off it, and looked up with a smile.
"Welcome to The Valestren Weapons Emporium, I'm Nasoren, how may I help you?"
Standing before her was a tall stranger in a brown cloak and a large, brown hat that just barely covered his eyes. He smiled back at her and spoke in a low tone. "Thank you, I am here to conduct some business with you."
"Of course, are you coming to buy, sell, or trade?"
"I am here to sell."
She raised an eyebrow; people rarely came here to sell anymore unless they were merchants. "Your goods had better be of good quality, we at the emporium only accept those weapons that are of the highest quality since our customers' lives are at stake."
"Indeed, well, I am no judge of weapons, but I am sure that you would be able to tell for yourself. Just take a look at them and tell me whether you will buy them or not. I suppose you can just keep the ones you will not buy. I have no use for them anyway."
He swung the pack from around his back and set it on the counter before untying the crude string that bound its top, and lowering the end until the weapons inside it started to pour out on the counter. Nasoren systematically pulled out each weapon, examined it, and set it aside.
The first five swords she pulled out were sturdy, but unremarkable, next came a higher-quality bow and good arrows, and then came a matching sword and shield that were very finely crafted. She grinned a bit at these and instantly reformed her price, she would give a bit more, but not too much. She did have to make a living, after all. Even as she was about to set a price she pulled out the last weapon, and despite her businesswoman-like composure, she gasped. It very well could have been the best sword she had seen in her short life. The sword was made from a bluish-gray material that she had never seen, the hand guard was intricate, and the handle seemed to be made of rubber. She gazed at it and the customer smiled again.
"If you say 'Slythrin Lathna' the blade becomes electrifying."
As soon as he said those words the blade hummed loudly for a moment before going back to normal. Nasoren decided to take his word for it. Inside the bag were a few more trinkets and also something that looked like a metal forearm that she could not place a price on. She was about to offer the customer a price when she caught herself. It was policy to make the customer offer first and then barter them down.
"How much do you want for all of this?"
"I figure that two thousand gold is an extremely reasonable price."
She had to try very hard to not gape at this man. She could easily sell just the strange sword for more than three times that much. She was about to instantly agree with him when a thought entered her mind.
"And just how did you come by all of these various weapons?"
He tilted his head to the side slightly before answering. "I hardly think that matters, but just because I know you will buy them anyway I will tell you. I procured them from a group of bandits after I killed them all."
She raised one eyebrow. "This bandit group, it wouldn't happen to be Jaxon and his group would it?"
"Yes, I believe that was the leader's name."
"Hmmm, well, good riddance, We'll all be happier without them, but did you kill Korinna too?"
"Was that Jaxon's sister?"
"Yep, that's her."
"Unfortunately yes, I did."
"Well that's too bad, me and her were friends when we were young."
"I am sorry for your loss, but I have already been through this conversation. Will you buy them?"
"Heh, of course, I'd have to be daft to not accept your price."
"Yes, I suppose you are correct."
Nasoren ran to the safe in the back of the store, unlock
ed it, and ran back to the counter with two thousand-gold coins. He collected the money, she collected the weapons, and they bid each other farewell while he headed out of the store. As he was about to go out she called after him. He turned around.
"It's getting late, you sure you want to be staying out at night? If you want I could give you directions to Valestren's inn."
He shook his head. "That is not necessary, the business that I have to attend to is far too urgent for me to stop."
He opened the door, and stepped aside as another man stepped in. They exchanged glances and the second man seemed to shrink down a bit before the first customer walked past the second man and disappeared around the corner into the dusky evening. The second man walked up to Nasoren and she immediately recognized him.
"Hello Markus."
