The road stretched on, unforgivingly, for several more miles. Finally, I reached a small road sign. It pointed to the north and read, “Natchtholm.” I followed the road, until I could finally make out the small houses and buildings that made up this small town.
However, my progress was blocked. Mountains surrounded the town, while a deep river ran through the only entrance. It seemed that word of my presence had reached here, for the one bridge across the damn water was sealed by several boulders. At first, I thought of simply trying to find another road, until I saw the dark clouds coming. I had only a few hours to find shelter, and I did not want to stay inside any town for too long.
In desperation, I pushed against the boulders, and to my amazement, they began to move effortlessly. Finally, after several minutes of pushing, they were out of my way. It seemed that the voices had not lied; I was indeed more powerful than before.
“Get him!” Then again, the foolish humans did not seem to notice what had happened. Already, several armed men, probably nothing more than petty mercenaries and bodyguards, going from owner to owner, driven by greed, approached me.
“Kill the vampire!” shouted one of them. I drew my sword and met their advance. I sliced one across the chest, then gracefully slid and sliced another’s head clean in two, then removed another fool’s arms with two clean strokes, with one more to remove his torso.
The others began to falter. “What matter of demon is this?” I overheard one of them ask. Many of them finally regained their nerve and charged, only to be destroyed with a few more slices. The last one turned and ran. I raised one hand and recited the arcane spell. The man turned just as the bolt of energy ripped through his body, tearing it to small pieces.
I smiled, then feasted on what little fresh blood remained. It was not enough to satisfy me. I had to find some more. Then I spied a nearby tavern. Raising my sword, I snuck inside.
The roar of voices inside drowned out the commotion from outside, as well as my own heavy footsteps and the clink of my armor. The wenches were too busy inticing the patrons to notice me, while the men were too busy staring at the breasts of these prostitutes to care that a pale man with sharp teeth had entered their bar.
Then I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. “Get out of here,” said a rather stiff voice. I turned, and saw the burly barkeeper staring at me. The other patrons and wenches turned their eyes towards me as well, and horror seemed to simultaniously flood over all their faces as they realized what I was.
“I will leave,” I said, “but not until my thirst is quenched.” I then grabbed the bartender and, with one mighty pull, threw him over the counter. I then bit into his neck and drained his body of blood.
The other patrons watched this in shock. Finally, they turned tail and ran, jumping out of windows and tearing through the door in an effort to escape. My thirst was gone, but I felt rather bored. I raised three of my flails, took aim at three of the fleeing men, and threw them. They went through the broken window and found each of their targets, tearing through them with ease.
I smiled, then left the tavern. I next entered the old blacksmith’s shop; it is always wise to ensure that a weapon is in its best form. The blacksmith, however, was gone. I sighed, until I noticed something below me. I bent over, and found a small red orb lying on the ground. It seemed to pulsate with a rather strange light, and I immediately thought of how strange it would be for a blacksmith to have something like this.
Then I heard the sound of a weapon being moved. I turned, and faced the blacksmith, raising a double-bladed axe. “Go to hell, vampire!” he shouted. He brought the axe down, while I dodged. In my panic, however, I had accidently thrown the orb at the man.
The minute it impacted with his body, he began to scream in pain. I saw blood rise like a fountain from his mouth, as his body seemed to shrink. However, as I looked closer, I saw that it was not shrinking; it was being crushed together. The man screamed as his head tore to pieces. The sound of bones crunching echoed in my ears. Finally, what was left of the man exploded in a gory fountain of blood.
I enjoyed the entire spectacle. I then noticed a small chest of these orbs, numbering about ten total. I packed the chest into my satchel, then left the blacksmith shop.
(to be continued)
Just wait until Kain starts playing with a certain blade…
Just wait until Kain starts playing with a certain blade… 