The Tower of Daelfaun (The Tales of Zanoth Book 1)

by Ethridge, Aaron J.

  “I was hoping you'd be stupid enough to come out here yourself,” the young man said, ducking a flying scythe blade, and blocking a blow from the vampire lord. “I really love watching you run away like a little girl.”

  “You won't be glad I came for long,” he replied, lashing out at his foe with sword and dagger alike.

  The lord's dark bride stood a short distance away chanting wildly. Her husband jumped to the side as she bathed the young man in flames. The fire, however, was unable to touch him.

  “That's nice,” he smiled, as the blaze died away. “Could you do that again? It's a little chilly tonight. Either way, enough playing around. Drop dead!”

  A wave a golden light seemed to explode from the young man as he spoke. Several nearby ghouls burned to ash, and a number of reapers, along with lady Telraen instantly took flight. The vampire lord stood his ground, however, screaming in pain and rage as the light engulfed him.

  “Not this time, paladin!” the yelled. “I was taken by surprise once, but I won't be again. Do you think this is the first time I've faced the power of the gods, boy?!?! It will take more than you to make me flee.”

  “Flee or die,” Sarrac said, rushing to his companion's aid. “It doesn't make much difference to us.”

  As he said this, the massive ogre swung his two-handed sword at the undead lord. The blow was deflected, but it was obvious that even the vampire would have trouble coping with the strength of such an enemy. As the rest of the party, along with the other warriors, slaughtered the remaining ghouls and reapers, the ogre and the young man focused all their attention on Lord Telraen. The vampire would have been a match for either of them, but he couldn't hope to long resist their combined efforts. As he blocked a blow from the ogre, he was stabbed in the shoulder by the young man, golden flames rising from the wound.

  “Ogre,” the undead lord cried, his eyes locked on those of his enemy. “Kill the boy!”

  For a moment Sarrac stood irresolute. Then slowly he lifted his blade before swinging in wildly at Paul. The situation quickly became dire. The young man was now facing two opponents, either of which would overcome him given time.

  “When at first you don't succeed,” he said, shaking his head. “Try, try again. Drop dead!”

  Another wave of golden light burst from the young man, this time with such force that several of the nearby reapers burned away to nothing. The vampire lord screamed again, determined to resist the gods. His resolve gave way, however, as bits of flesh were burned from his body by golden light. Lord Telraen fled into the safety of the night as his remaining forces were slaughter by their living opponents.

  “A little help!” Paul cried, as he fell back before Sarrac, blocking one blow after another.

  Immediately Nyssa flew into the ogres face and started pelting him in the eyes with what appeared to be handfuls of blue light. Moments later his mind seemed to return and he apologized profusely for trying to kill his friend.

  Just minutes after this the battle ended. The party and their allies had killed almost two hundred of the undead and only ten of their band had been killed or seriously injured. All things considered it was a massive victory. And they could be certain that the lord and lady would not sally forth again until more of their forces returned from the fields. And, if everything went according to plan, they would be long dead before that happened.

  The rest of the night passed uneventfully and before the first rays of sun lit the sky the war band was on the march. Before noon they had gotten close enough to the tower that the time had come to divide their forces. Each group wished the other luck and, as the Warriors of Dawn rode off toward the tower, Myra began drawing symbols in the dirt with her staff. As soon as this was complete she slammed the butt of her weapon on the ground.

  Instantly the party was surrounded in darkness. Moments later they appeared in a large stone room lit by a single window. In a corner of the chamber stood a simple bed and along one of the walls sat a wardrobe and chest of drawers.

  “Well that worked,” the maiden smiled. “We're in.”

  “Perfect,” Nyssa smiled. “Now, before we go try to kill these undead horrors we should do a little prep work.”

  Having said this she started throwing balls of blue light in Darek’s eyes.

  “Owe,” he said, squinting. “What are you doing?”

  “Protecting you,” she giggled. “You saw what happened to Sarrac last night. Vampires can mesmerize the simple minded.”

  “Thanks!” the ogre chuckled.

  “Not just the simple minded,” Myra smiled.

  “No, no,” the fairy agreed. “Not just them. Either way, we need to make sure he can't charm you three. Me and Myra are immune, and I'm basically positive Paul is.”

  “He is,” the maiden asserted. “Last night Lord Telraen called him a paladin. If he is...”

  “Which I'm not,” the young man replied. “We don't even have real paladins on Earth.”

  “You're not on Earth,” Myra pointed out. “And you've got to be a paladin. You can turn, you seem to be immune to death magic, you kind of act like a paladin.”

  “I agree,” Alena replied. “I mean, he's clearly inexperienced and just a little goofy, but he is a paladin. And really that fits in perfectly with him being the it.”

  “Absolutely,” Sarrac agreed.

  “Alright,” the young man replied. “Well what difference does it make?”

  “None,” Nyssa replied. “Except it means I don't have to waste power protecting you from something that you're immune to.”

  “So much the better,” he nodded. “Are we ready?”

  “Almost,” Alena said, before lighting a number of torches and passing them around. “Now we're ready.”

  “Myra,” the young man said. “Lead on.”

  The maiden immediately stepped to the door and began chanting softly to herself, waving her staff before her as she spoke. The moment she brought her spell to an end her eyes began to glow with a bright green light. She gazed at the entrance to her former room and the walls surrounding it before quietly opening the door.

  “What's with your eyes?” Paul whispered as they stepped into the dark hallway.

  “I'm searching for undead,” she replied softly. “I can see them through the walls with this spell.”

  “That's handy,” he smiled.

  “It is,” she agreed. “It means we're slightly less likely to be caught and killed. Now let's go.”

  Having said this the maiden turned to the left and led them through the corridor until they reached a thick metal door.

  “There are two undead on the other side,” she whispered. “I think they're wraiths.”

  “There are wraiths here?” Paul asked.

  “It's an undead fortress,” she replied shaking her head. “They've got a little of everything. At one time they even had a lich.”

  “Good point,” he replied. “So, what do we do?”

  “Kill them,” she said before throwing open the door.

  Instantly she commanded the wraiths to remain silent. The two formless undead obeyed the will of the witch, refusing even to cry out as Telseir brought their immortal lives to an end in an inferno of golden flames.

  “That worked,” Alena smiled.

  “Hopefully we can keep it up until we reach them,” Myra said. “If possible I'd like to take them by surprise.”

  “I entirely agree,” Darek nodded.

  The exit of the chamber they had just entered opened on a long staircase leading down into the bowels of the fortress. The vault of the lord and lady were at its very heart and it was there that the maiden expected to find her former foster parents.

  “There are four reapers in the next room,” Myra said softly as they reached a door at the base of the stairs.

  “We can slaughter them,” Alena asserted.

  “We could,” the maiden agreed. “However, I think I have a better idea. Reapers are mindless. If I can take control of them we can use them aga
inst the lord and lady.”

  “Now, that sounds like a plan,” Darek smiled.

  After taking a moment to prepare herself, Myra threw the door opened and demanded that the reapers within obey her. Each of the undead warriors drew back their weapons as if they were about to attack, but got no further. The maiden's will dominated the monsters and they fell in behind the party ready to serve in whatever capacity they were commanded to.

  Myra then led them from the chamber into another that was long and narrow, and had been built using jet black stone. Its ceiling, which was vaulted, was supported by a number of stone columns.

  “What is this place?” Paul whispered.

  “The court of the lord and lady,” the maiden answered.

  “Alright,” he nodded. “So they hold court here?”

  “I mean, it's where they gather with the other nobles to discuss things,” she explained.

  “Other nobles?”

  “The lord and lady are served by six other nobles.”

  “Vampire nobles?” he asked.

  “Of course,” she nodded.

  “And they're here, now?”

  “Probably,” she replied. “If you mean in the tower. Obviously, they're not in this room.”

  “So we have to fight eight vampires?”

  “Possibly.”

  “It would have been nice to know that before we decided to do this.”

  “Would it have changed anything?”

  “No,” he admitted, a tone of frustration in his voice.

  “Good,” she nodded. “And anyway, none of them are anywhere near as powerful as Lord and Lady Telraen.”

  “Well that's good news anyway...”

  The six companions and the four reapers that were serving them made their way to the back of the court, where they found two thrones, a short distance from which were a pair of doors. Myra made her way to one of these and gently chanted another incantation before opening it.

  They stepped through the doorway into a large, and lavishly decorated, room. The floor was made of polished stone and the walls covered in rich tapestries. The furniture which filled the room seemed to be of the highest quality and a massive canopy bed covered in crimson sat against one of the walls.

  “Come in,” Lord Telraen said, sitting up in the bed, still wearing his armor, his weapons hanging from his side. “I'm surprised you managed to get here so quickly. Last night you decimated most of the garrison I had here, but I expected my reaming troops to keep you at bay a little longer than this.”

  “We took a shortcut,” Paul replied, marching deeper into the chamber. “How's the shoulder?”

  “Better,” the vampire lord said, rotating it as he spoke. “And thank you for asking.”

  His lady, who had been laying at his side, sat up as he did this.

  “You can't have thought you really harmed my lord,” she said with a wide smile. “It would take a great deal more power than you have to do that.”

  “Maybe,” the young man shrugged. “But he sure jumped when I stabbed him.”

  “Don't worry,” she replied, glaring at him. “You'll get your chance to jump, as well as scream, before we're done with you.”

  “You mean scream like you did last night when you ran off,” he chuckled. “Maybe you'd like another taste of the turn, just to remind you what it's like. You might want to brace yourself though. I think I'm getting better at it. You might just up and burn to ash.”

  “Maybe,” the lord nodded as he rose from the bed. “But you might find it a little difficult to do here, Paul. You're standing in a pit of darkness, a bastion of unholy power. I doubt you could drive a half-dead zombie away from you in this place. Of course, you're welcome to try if you like.”

  “I might in a minute,” he nodded. “But I don't want you running off until we've had a chance to kill you.”

  “About that,” the lord replied. “I don't suppose we can negotiate. I mean, I'm very confident that my bride and I can slaughter you all, but on the other hand: why take chances? History is replete with examples of the arrogant who have died at the hands of lucky fools. I'm not arrogant, and I have no desire to lose my life to some ironic twist of fate. I have a great deal to offer, Paul. What do you want?”

  “We want nature to take its course,” Myra said, stepping up to the young man's side. “You both died a long time ago. It's time your souls were freed to receive their eternal rewards.”

  “I'm afraid we have no interest in that, daughter dear,” Lady Telraen replied, climbing from the bed. “We've worked far too hard to maintain our immortality. In time we'll be gods. And we're not about to let some pathetic child and a band of weaklings keep us from that.”

  “This pathetic child as you call her, killed Lord Kasric,” Alena replied. “I feel confident she can do the same to you.”

  “She was a lich then,” the vampiress smiled. “And she had our help leading him into a trap. This time, however, it's she who's in the snare.”

  As she said this she pointed to the far wall of the chamber. Six more vampires had crept into the room behind them, two lords and four ladies.

  “Last chance, Paul,” Lord Telraen said. “Are you certain we can't come to an agreement?”

  “I sincerely appreciate the offer,” the young man replied. “Well, I'm trying to be sincere, anyway. But either way, no. It's just nature, man. Y'all are already dead. We'll just be putting things back the way they should be. I have one question before we start though.”

  “And what's that?” the vampire lord asked.

  “Why don't you guys sleep in coffins?”

  “We don't really have to sleep,” the lord pointed out “And when we do sleep we certainly don't want to do so in a coffin. Would you?”

  “Good point,” the young man nodded.

  “I also have a question,” Darek interjected. “I mean, while I've still got a chance to ask and get an answer.”

  “Yes?”

  “So seriously,” he said, looking at the most attractive vampiress in the room. “Do you or do you not have a crush on me?”

  “A little,” she admitted. “But I'm still going to kill you.”

  “Of course,” he smiled. “Of course. I was just curious. I mean, I think you're crazy fine. But you're dead, and you're about to get even deader. Shall we begin?”

  This question was instantly answered in the affirmative as the combatants all flew together in a clash of flying weapons and arcane energy. The moment the battle began, Nyssa filled the chamber with magical light making the torches quite unnecessary. This act infuriated Lady Telraen, who seemed to expect that the fairy's magic wouldn't work in the very heart of their dark sanctuary. In response to her furious cries, Nyssa simply stuck her tongue out while dodging flames from the vampiress's outstretched hands.

  Myra order the reapers to attack the six lesser vampires while she focused her attention on Lady Telraen herself. Although the weapons of the reapers couldn't harm the foes they faced, they did at least serve as a distraction. Alena and Sarrac fought side by side against the two lords had had come in behind them and in moments they had so injured one that he dissolved into mist that quickly floated from the chamber.

  Darek faced off against two of the vampiresses. One was an expert with the sword and the other a sorceress. However, the young man's dexterity allowed him to avoid the blade of one and the bolts of ice that shots from the hands of the other time and time again. Finally the swordswoman made a slight mistake. Instantly Darek jammed his rapier through her heart causing her to collapse instantly to the floor before her body became nothing more than mist.

  Paul and Lord Telraen crashed together in a whirlwind of blades.

  “For the moment it's just you and me,” the lord smiled.

  “I wouldn't have it any other way,” the young man replied, once again renewing his attack.

  “You've improved greatly since the first time we fought,” Lord Telraen observed during a pause. “Of course, you still can't beat me.”r />
  “I don't have to,” Paul panted. “I just have to keep you busy until your allies are dead. Then mine will help me kill you.”

  The vampire lord lashed out at the young man striking sword and shield time and time again. The creature took advantage of a slight weakness in Paul's form and cut him across the face.

  “First blood, I think,” he smiled.

  “Yeah,” the young man nodded. “Unless you count me stabbing you in the shoulder last night.”

  “You had help.”

  “Fair enough. We won't count that then.”

  As the two combatants fell together once again, the witch and her former foster mother struggled against one another. Each intoned spells of power meant to end the life of the other, and each was defeated time and time again by the other's skill.

  “You can't defeat me,” the vampiress said, her breathing heavy. “Even if you were still a lich you would be outmatched. What are you now? A mortal! A nothing! You're a tool that's served its purpose.”

  “I was,” Myra nodded, her own breath coming in gasps. “But I'm a lot more than that now. I'm an ally of the it, a scourge of tyrants, and a champion of the people.”

  “Perhaps you want to be,” Lady Telraen laughed. “But what you really are is an orphan who faithfully served her parent's killers for over a century, helping them on their way to becoming gods. And now you have to cling to the fleeting days your mortal flesh has left. Even if we allowed you to escape, death would catch up with you in time. You're among the living again my dear, and you suffer from all their weaknesses.”

  “That's true,” the maiden agreed. “But I don't suffer from the frailties of the undead. For instance, I can't be compelled to obey the dark power. You, however, can be... Destroy Lord Telraen.”

  As Myra said this she slammed the butt of her staff onto the polished stone floor. Black energy shot out from her in a wave and the vampiresses turned toward her husband. Rage filled her eyes as arcane words filled her mouth. However, before her spell was complete her body dissolved into mist and drifted from the chamber.