Chapter 2: The Hunt Begins

Standing on the highest peak of Ohmanry Glen, I stare off over the many leagues in to the heart of Orcshire. My adrenaline surges, and my blood burns with rage. Upon the mountainous land the wind rushes, whipping my new green colored trench coat behind me. My sense of smell is overwhelmed with the stench of the vile race known only as Orc. My name is Aerol Reign, and my mission in life is eliminating them. Three weeks ago a band of about one hundred Orc slaughtered my family, and my friends. I am now alone. The sole survivor of the Reign legacy. Now I perch myself upon the pinnacle on the land of Allukra. The highest mountain range in the western part of the land. Ohmanry Glen rumored to be the homeland of my newly discovered half sister, Catbriar. I decided that since I was here I would try to find her. I could try to smell for her and find her that way. But I've never met her. I have no idea what she would smell like. So I have to do this the old fashion way. Hunting.
I make my way down from the rocky peaks to the rough valleys below. Once I reached the bottom floor I looked up and was unable to see the moonlight. The mountains stood so high that it blocked out the gift of the night. Just as I was about to pull my gaze away from the stars I thought I had seen a large creature, resembling a dragon with three heads flying high above the mountain tops. After taking a second glance I realized I was probably just imagining things. Perhaps I needed to feed, but I couldn't be sure. I took off toward the south in a swift jog. Occasionally looking up toward the sky to see if I could locate the large flying creature. My greatest enemy, the sun had just gone to sleep a little more than an hour ago. The night was still young, and perhaps I was a little bit hungry. I picked up the pace a bit so as to make good time in getting to the capitol of this land, Ohmanry Star. After running for only a few minutes I slowed to a normal walk as I could see the firelights of Ohmanry Star. Surely someone in there has heard of the name Catbriar before. I sheathed Sableleaf so as to not draw any unwanted attention to myself. Walking into the city I heard music coming from the south part of the city. The buildings were among some of the most impressive I've ever seen in a village. The stores were actually built from stone like a castle instead of wood. The stores' rooftops were made from wooden planks instead of the typical thatched roof. The homes were made from stone as well. The difference in the houses and stores was the color of the stone, black for the commerce buildings, and white for the individual homes. The masons who built these took great lengths to perfect their craft. The shutters on the windows of the stores were closed shut, signaling the end of the business day. But it seemed to me as though the day had truly just begun.
A half of a mile into the city I came upon a large group of about thirty five people making music, singing and laughing. They were having a celebration of some sorts. Men dressed similar to pirates, with earring hoops in each ear. A white ruffled collar shirt accented with gold embroidered trim and buttons. I approached a scruffy looking man wearing a black captain’s hat operating a portable mead trolley. “Excuse me sir,” I said. “I am new to these parts and am looking for an old friend. I was wondering if you might help me.” Skeptical, the man looked at me and gave me a sneer from the left corner of his mouth and said, “Then sir, you have most certainly never been to Ohmanry Glen before. Because our only friends are right here in this place, we never leave our country. Never.” I tried to backpedal and repair my mistake by fumbling over a few sounds. But it was too late; he already nailed me as untrustworthy. “You know sir,” he said quietly and leaning in closer, “we gypsies don’t take too kindly to those that try to mislead us.” I tried to apologize, as hopeless as it was. Then he screamed, “Piamrev Bectish!” the music stopped immediately, “He’s a member of the Bectish!” Quicker than I could react my hands were bound by invisible rope to my sides. I had become their prisoner, and I never even killed anyone. I attempted to explain my case, I opened my mouth to speak and with a loud thud everything went black.
My eyes creaked open to a bright light. I looked up to find my arms over my head being restrained by the invisible ropes once more. My head dropped to discover that my jacket, shirt and boots had been removed. From beyond the bright light I heard a male’s voice. Not the same one that I had previously spoken with though. This voice was much deeper and had gravel to it that the one before didn’t. “Are you a spy?” He said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said, noticing how weak I was and how badly I needed to feed. “I told you before, I’m looking for a….” “Yes! We know what you said” the voice scolded. “None from the Glen have friends on the outside of our ranges. Now,” he said, “try telling us the truth. Are you a spy for the Piamrev Bectish?” I allowed my head to drop once more, trying to go through my memories of who the Piamrev Bectish was. I know I’ve heard the name, I can’t think. My mind is befuddled. I need to feed, and soon. “Are you using magic on my head?” I asked, stumbling through the words. “I can’t seem to make much of a coherent thought.” The voice spoke again, this time more calmly. “No Vampire, we are not using magic on your head. You need to feed, which is why you are bound by magic. We will hold you here until Lady Athah can come and discover the truth for herself.” This could wind up being one of the longest nights of my life.
“…up! Wake up you spy!” I barely heard a female voice say. “You need to be alert,” she said, “when Lady Athah arrives. And she is nearly here.” I raised my head and noticed that the bright lights had been extinguished. The flap to the captives’ tent flung back to the side and a strikingly small woman burst through the tent wearing a black mage’s robe adorned with runes embroidered in gold. Her eyes bore through right to my soul the instant she walked into the tent. “So, you are the Vampire that has managed to weasel your way into being a member of the Piamrev Bectish.” She said with a gentle tone. “I never thought I would live to see the day when they would accept one of your kind as their own.” My head began to lower toward the floor. A surge of lightning was sent coursing through my body, sending me into convulsions. As the power decreased, my entire being sunk to the ground nearly tearing my arms from their sockets. “That is your only warning spy.” She said in the same calm demeanor. “Next time I will send lightning through your body that will put you in torpor.” I vaguely remembered my sire, Dante Vizjeri speaking of torpor. “It is what happens my son,” Dante said, “when a Vampire is running very low on blood and needs to feed, but can’t. It is a very deep sleep that you will not awaken from until someone gives you blood.” That was a place that I didn’t want to go. So I dug deep within me to find what my Master had taught me of the Druid magics. I found the hidden pool of power and released it into every fiber of my being. I was going to pay for this one later. I stood up straight as though I was tied to a tree, and lifted my head to meet my interrogator in the face. “No!” I said, “I am not a spy for the Bectish. They are my enemy as much as they are yours.” Speaking with more power in my voice I said, “My name is Aerol Reign. Crowned prince and heir to the throne of Reign’s Reach. I assure you, I am here looking for someone.”
“Well,” the woman said, finding a spot to sit on the ground just out of reach of my feet, “you have most certainly found someone. Whether it was the person you were looking for doesn’t matter.” She folded her hands inside of her robe and glared into my eyes directly to my soul again and said “I am wondering where you found your reserve strength Vampire. You should be near torpor by now. But here you stand in all your proud glory right in front of me.” She never broke her gaze from me, as if trying to put me under a warlock’s curse and spoke again almost in a whisper, “There are some men here that wish to speak with you. They arrived in our town two days before you did. I had to put on a show for them so they wouldn’t kill us all and kidnap my daughter Catbriar.” “CATBRIAR!?!?” I yelled loudly. “Shhh,” said Lady Athah slamming the index finger on her right hand to her lips, “they’ll hear you, and then the cat will be let out of the bag.” I lowered my head and my voice and leaned in as close as I could and said in a whisper, “Catbriar is your daughter?” she nodded in acknowledgment, “she is the one I’m looking for. She’s my…” I decided to let the next word just hang out in space as I realized that Lady Athah didn’t recognize the last name Reign. This wasn’t her biological mother. “She’s my friend from many, many years ago.” I said, “We were childhood friends ever so briefly, before she wandered out into the woods never to return.” Athah never altered her features. She must have known that this was an extreme possibility. Blinking very slowly she said, “My daughter is not of importance right now. What is important is you surviving what is about to happen.” She stood up and removed her black cloak to the ground, and took two steps toward me. Leaning her head to her left she said, “Drink, you’re going to need your strength.” She moved the soft, sweet smelling flesh of her exposed neck close enough toward me to touch my mouth. I part my lips slightly, and slide my tongue between them to taste her blood beneath the skin. I opened my mouth to reveal my fangs, “No.” I said, turning away from Lady Athah’s offer. “Put your clothes back on. I have an idea.”
Lady Athah held the flap on the tent back as three men of medium build walked in. They all stood shoulder to shoulder wearing blood red tunics with a large bright yellow sun over their hearts. The man in the middle snapped his fingers toward Lady Athah. With looks that could kill she exited the tent and closed the flap. I could hear her walk about thirty paces away and then stop. Looking at my now slouched, weak and weary body, and my arms that were about to be pulled from their sockets. The man on the right spoke in a high pitched nasally voice. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t Aerol Reign, crowned prince of Reign’s Reach?” He laughed higher pitched than he spoke. “A Vampire of all things, you will be useful to the all powerful Piamrev Bectish.” The man in the middle, the one obviously in charge, snapped his fingers again and the third man produced a green tipped arrow and handed it to the leader. The captain stepped near me and got down on one knee. Leaning in closer he said quietly, “Do you know what this is Prince? This is a poisoned tipped arrow.” He rotated the arrow in his fingers. “But it’s not just any poison. This poison is straight from the blood of an emerald Dragon. Fascinating stuff that Dragon’s blood, it has many, many uses.” He continued, “Each color of Dragon has different properties in their blood. The emerald Dragon, we have discovered give us the ability to control peoples’ minds.” He grabbed the poisonous weapon like a dagger and stood up. “And what is going to happen is simply this. I am going to stab you at the base of the spine so the poison can attack your entire body. More specifically, the brain.” He walked around to the back of me. “Then you, the crowned prince of Reign’s Reach is going to journey to the City of the Kings and kill the Vampire King. Got all that?” I attempted to raise my head and speak at the same time. Incoherent babble was all that I could muster, and my head collapsed again. “What was that you’re royal highness?” Said the high pitched voice, laughing again. With the speed of a hundred horses, I jumped from a knelt position on to the man with the girly voice and sank my fangs deep inside of his flesh. Within a split second I drained the Bectish ambassador. I spun around toward the captain and flashed a grin. “I said, my arms aren’t really being restrained.” Horrified, the leader charged me with the arrow cocked back ready to stab me. I kicked the third man in the ribs so hard that I heard four of them crack. He fell to the ground clutching at his sides. In an instant, the one in charge was within six inches of me, bringing the poisoned tip aimed at the base of my spine. Quickly thinking back to my years of training with my Master, Dante Vizjeri I yelled, “MIST!” And the man’s arrow swung all the way around, stabbing himself right in the stomach. A green swirl of mist floated around the floor of the captives’ tent, making its way toward the fallen man with the broken ribs. The mist began to enter into the man through his open mouth and nostrils. Once the mist had completely disappeared from view, another shout was heard. “AEROL!” The man lying on the ground exploded like a watermelon with a shot of cannon power inside. Blood and body parts flew all around the tent covering everything including the walls and the leader. Who was now lying on his back gripping at the protrusion from his midsection. And there stood in the place of the most recently deceased, also covered in blood was Aerol Reign. I walked over to the last remaining ambassador and sat down beside him crossing my legs.
The flap on the tent flew back again. I spun my head around and seen Lady Athah gagging at the site of the gore that I had just caused. She tossed a small dull bronze ring in my direction and ran away from the tent heading south. I caught the ring, and slipped it on my small finger. I could feel its power resonating from my body. Healing all of my wounds and relieving me of the pain from my arms. This will certainly come in handy. I’m glad she recommended doing this. I was just going to kill them. I took the ring off and held it in my left hand. With my right hand I grabbed the arrow sticking from the dying man’s stomach and jabbed it further in. “Now how about you let me ask some questions?” I said in a sharp tone. “Let’s see if your theory is right. Do I really need to stab you at the base of your spine?” I asked. “Or will your placement suffice? But, first things first, what is your name?” I waited for a short moment. All the man did was moan. Grabbing his hand, I slipped the ring on his little finger for just a few seconds. “Now,” I said, “what is your name?” The man clutched at my wrists, trying to pry them from the still embedded arrow. “My…my name is Whiteraven, Vontae Whiteraven.” Hmm, either he is finally being polite or the penetration doesn’t have to happen at the spine. With laughter in my voice I said, “Kindly remove your hands from my wrists Vontae and start clapping your hands.” He did as he was told immediately and without question. A large smile crossed my face, “Now whistle like an owl.” Again the order was followed without argument. This is going to work. I can’t believe it’s actually going to work. “Stop clapping and whistling, who do you take orders from?” I said matter of factually. He let out a low groan, trying to resist the control that I now had over him. Finally giving in to the inevitable, he said “Eldon Crisp the Elder. King of Wellspring Island and secret leader of the Piamrev Bectish.” My thoughts began to race as to how I could spin this for the greater good of the world. How should I make this man do my bidding? Should I have him kill Crisp the Elder? Or perhaps I should have him be a spy for the Lady Athah. I could even order him to follow me on my own personal quest to eliminate the Orc from this world. Would I send him in to the walls of the palace in Piamrev Bectish and set flame to all of the cannon powder? Or maybe I could have him...Yes! That is what I’ll do! “Do you have another of these neat little arrows on or near you at the present time?” I asked. He tried to sit up to rest on his elbows, but the pain was too much. He replied, “Yes, I have one more. Just incase you were able to resist the poison the first time you were stabbed.” I laughed inside so hard that I nearly sent my chest heaving.
“Now pay attention Vontae Whiteraven. This is what you are going to do. You are going to stay in Ohmanry Star for three months time.” I said. “In those three months you are going to serve the Lady Athah. You will do her bidding without question.” I spoke now with more conviction. “When those three months are up, you are going to take your last poisonous arrow to wherever Eldon Crisp the Eldest is.” Excitement began to well up inside me as my plan began to unfold. For I knew that Vontae would follow these orders without question. “Then you are going to stab Eldon the Eldest with the arrow and demand him to convince his son to take control of the Piamrev Bectish.” I continued, almost as giddy as a child with a piece of rhubarb candy. “Afterwards, you are going to go to the armory on the palace grounds and, without being seen destroy every poisonous arrow.” I said with a smile on my face. “You will then leave the Piamrev Bectish and attempt to restore your name to your family by helping those who need it.” My smile turned into a thin lipped expression as I said, “You will go to every town that is controlled or occupied by the Bectish and offer your services whatever they may be to those that require assistance. Charging only two meals a day and occasionally some new clothes when you need them.” Slowly pulling the arrow from his abdomen I continued, “Once you are done with that, you will return to your homeland where you will beg for forgiveness from your King. If you are put to death for your crimes, so be it.” The arrow nearly removed, I slid the bronze ring on his little finger again. “If you are forgiven, then you will continue to serve your King as he sees fit. And you shall never return to the Piamrev Bectish again, understood?” Nearly healed completely he nodded his head, stood up and removed the ring and handed it back to me.
The two of us exited to tent and found two wash bowls and cloths to clean up with. Relieved, I also found my clothes and my weapons lying on the ground next to the wash bowls. After cleaning up, Lady Athah approached from the south looking a bit discolored. I relayed to her what Vontae Whiteraven’s orders were. She agreed, satisfied with the outcome of the situation and immediately put him to work cleaning up the captives’ tent and disposing the body of his companion. Lady Athah looked at me with knowing eyes and said, “You were asking about Catbriar.” I nodded. “Well,” she said, “she isn’t with us anymore unfortunately. She went on an excursion with her friends some two weeks ago and has never returned. So when you arrived, perhaps you’ll forgive the way we reacted?” I folded my arms and looked down at the Lady of the Star. “Yes my Lady, all is forgiven. But I would require your help if I am to find her.” She looked down at the blood stained earth, and a single tear ran down her cheek. She reached up to wipe it off, but thought better of it. “I will do anything it takes to get my daughter back,” she said, “You name it, and it will be at your disposal.” I let my arms fall to their sides. Excited at the chance of finally getting to meet my sister, if I could find her. “All I require is an article of her wardrobe. That way I can track her by scent.” Lady Athah nodded and ran off toward the largest house in Ohmanry Star with me in tow.
A day later I stood back on top of the highest peak in the western country. My body aimed straight toward Orcshire. She’s not dead. But she’s in Orcshire. And if I don’t find her soon, she will be. Let the hunt begin!