Sanvala turns to him and wipes the smile off his face. “Follow me, young one.” He makes his way towards a door on the far wall of the room that was obviously not there before. Lethean drifted loosely behind him. Sanvala continued, “You seem to be progressing quite fluidly. I didn’t expect you to make it this far. I have greatly underestimated you.” Lethean let out a sigh and eagerly awaited the next challenge. The two began walking down a long red carpeted hallway lined along the walls with bookshelves that seemingly had no end. Sanvala broke the awkward silence among the two.
“You don’t realize who we are do you…?”
Lethean was puzzled by the question he was asked.
“I didn’t think so. We are not exactly an organization, but a mere group of followers. We were your father’s right hand men. The big man you saw earlier was the muscle of the group. I was the brains. There were two others but they were vanquished many eons ago.” Sanvala lowered his head in desolation. He kept walking though. Lethean did not care for these matters but he did have a question. “So you are not of the humans. You are a hybrid?” Sanvala wiped his face with his forearm repetitively and walked upright. “Yes, I am a vampire. The others are no different. We were once humans that simply served under you father’s grace, working among the peasants in the villages. One day, I received a letter from the King requesting me as his royal guard. I was honored. I was to be summoned to his highness’ throne room. I was one of many others. We all were going to serve as his protectors. After a few lectures here and there, we were given these pamphlets. They were like contracts as the humans call them now. Some of the summoned were not to fond of the idea and walked out of the palace back to their regular everyday lives. I stayed as did five others. 10 fled cowardly from the position. The fact that it was a life agreement to serve your King for eternity with your life turned them off I guess. The money was more than enough to sustain our lives so the five of us remained. We were all summoned to individual chambers, told to wait for the King to speak with you personally. When my turn came round for the King, Lord Jahnnum, to speak with me alone. I found out that the agreement for eternal service was something out of the ordinary. The King informed me that I would be turned or killed. I was confused at the time but told me not to worry. Then out of nowhere he just bit me on the neck. I remember everything blurring out after that. Ever since that day, I have been grateful to him. I served him well. In my opinion. The others must have turned the same way I did.” Sanvala turned about and began to walk backwards while talking to Lethean. “Lord Jahnnum, is a great man. You would be proud to know who he was. You'll acquire knowledge on that subject later though. I'd rather you find out on your own. The Ancient Scrolls tell all. The Scrolls are around here somewhere... Be sure to take a look at them sometime or remind me to show you to them. They reveal your past as well as your present. Right at this moment, the scrolls are writing themselves as we speak.”
Lethean’s hood was shrouded in darkness- concealing his emotions and expressions from Sanvala. He spoke with ease though, “I will be sure to remember that. I don’t know much of my past either…” In his mind he had other intentions with the scrolls though. He wasn’t to fond of other people knowing his current and previous actions. He was going to take the scroll since it was his anyway. Sanvala turned back around walking in the proper fashion. Looking to his left and right, one after the other, he stopped on his right. The hallway was wide but wielded not one door. Lethean floated aside him, waiting for his actions. Sanvala placed his palm against an empty space on the bookshelf wall where no books resided. His hand manifested a bluish glow. The bookshelf then engraved itself into the wall and glided sideways behind the adjacent bookshelf. Lethean spoke with sarcasm. “A hidden passage…. how original.” Sanvala smiled gently and laughed to himself as he walked into the darkness within the passage. Lethean followed.
The passage wasn’t normal. It was a cave really. A large wide round cave that let enormous spikes dangle carelessly from its ceiling. The sides of the cave had full skeletons embedded inside groves. The corpses’ bones were radiant like sapphire due to the cave’s mystifying azure light being dispersed from the small fireflies that roamed freely in the area. It was indeed a beautiful cave to pass through. Sanvala was silent as he lead Lethean through the wondrous cave. The young vampire had much to learn. Sanvala abruptly turned to Lethean while walking. “Don’t let those fireflies get on your clothing. They are labeled fireflies for a reason. They also have a tendency to explode on people. Quite useful if you ask me!” He laughed to himself wholeheartedly. Lethean held up his lantern in front of him. Some of the blue fireflies gathered one by one around its light. Lethean began to blow them away in fear of blowing up. He hurried on ahead- walking side by side to Sanvala who began to laugh some more.
Sanvala spoke with spirit, “We aren’t that far now, boy. Remember your previous battles.” His tone lowered slightly. “They’ll come in handy when you fight this one. Seriously, heh heh” The two soon arrived at their destination- outside the castle in a clearing surrounded by a cluster of dead forest trees. Lethean was confused to why he was viewing dead trees and grass that were damp with mud and scattered skulls. He turned around and saw that he must’ve been led out of the castle from that secret passage. Sanvala reassured him by resting his hand on his shoulder, “You have been taken out here because your next trial will need to be on real battle grounds. You will also have more space to move around.” As he said that, he pointed to the vast field of grass and bones beyond a narrow path in the forest, indicating that it was where his battle would take place. Lethean’s eyes showed for the first time. Sanvala wasn’t surprised. Two narrow yellow eyes pierced out of the shadow within his hood, looking to the field with anxiety. Sanvala took a few steps back, “Here take this…” He phased a rod into his hand and tossed it to Lethean who caught it in one hand while carefully minding the lantern in the other. “…now use it well and defeat these foes of yours” Lethean made his way toward the empty field through the small path between the dead swamp of trees.
When the vampire arrived at the rendezvous spot, he stood looking at the night sky. It was eternal in this realm. The moon’s light was harmless. In a sense it empowered him. Lethean commence preparations for his battle by checking his lantern and mounting the rod to his back- holding it there using his shadow powers. In that very instant, he was quickly surrounded by four beings-two of which he became familiar with. The werewolf from earlier as well as the impaled woman were on his left side. On his right side, a swordsman and staff wielder. He did not turn in any direction. Lethean simply readied himself for combat, spreading his legs and arms from his body. He made it look as if he were a professional with that rod of his. The four others did not bother to speak. The knew their purpose was to kill. And like lifeless dolls they made it a point to do so. The tall swordsman dressed in a tight tunic and black baggy pants, planted himself in his spot not budging an inch just as the other weapon wielder did. The psychic vampire and werewolf wasted no time lunging at Lethean with intense speed. The werewolf came head on first, attempted to claw Lethean’s skull off. It failed miserably as Lethean skillfully ducked subsequently lifting himself into the air and rolling off the back of the psychic vampire who was dove for his legs.
His yellow eyes narrowed as he held his lantern up in front of himself. The werewolf had agility that wasn’t to be underestimated. Lethean took this into mind as he saw it rampaging towards him. The psychic vampire gathered herself and began casting a spell by creating various hand signs with her eyes closed. Lethean realized he had a problem that needed to be solved. The werewolf was to fast for him to focus his energy into the flame. He was forced to dodge the werewolf’s strikes, evading each one with various moves- jumping over the accursed thing, side stepping, ducking, and rolling. An onslaught of violent swipes and bites came at Lethean nonstop. He had to be careful. One scratch would be the end of him. The werewolf had revenge on his mind and hunger on his stomach’s. Lethean was getting annoyed at his inability to outmaneuver his current foe. He suddenly used his control over the shadows to stun the beast. He bound his legs together and muzzled his mouth, rendering the wolf useless.
Lethean looked to his spell casting friend only to be petrified to find that a swarm of sharp pieces of bark and branches were soaring at him. She had intentions of impaling his body as he did hers- just with the pain of splinters added to it. Lethean wasted no time in materializing a half dome-like shield in front of himself in order to deflect the offensive. The sharp pieces plummeted into the dark shield almost breaking through. A few pieces made it half way through. Lethean was grateful. Letting the shield phase away, he let the shards drop to the ground. The woman made and effort to conjure up another time consuming spell. Lethean used this to his advantage. He shadow-warped behind her and rapidly opened his robe to her back. She tilted back into the abyss which was forever carried by Lethean due to its intense suction. Twas her downfall. She was nothing but a memory now. After her body was long gone from this plane, he looked to the others that were left over. “2 down… 2 to go.”, he reminded himself.
The samurai moved in the blink of an eye from his spot to one near the staff wielder’s. Lethean quickly zipped his robe up and drew his newly acquired metal rod from his back. The rod, as Lethean drew it, seemed to emit a dark aura as if it were alive. He immediately set it ablaze at its tips with the help of his lantern in the opposite hand. The flaming rod did not seem to intimidate the other two at all. The individual holding the staff wore a large sleeveless robe and florally decorated pants held up by a mere string. That man seemed very skilled with his weapon as he spread his legs wide, holding one palm out to Lethean and using the other to hold the long rigid, metal staff behind his body. The samurai separated his legs also to gain a firm grip on the ground he stood. He leaned forward slightly as he grasped his sword, ready to unleash its fury.
Lethean set his lantern on the ground aside, freeing one hand for this fight. He knew he would need it. Holding out his free hand, Lethean gestured them to come forth. Just before he finished the movement of his fingers, the two vanished leaving nothing but a few floating pieces of grass in their wake. Lethean didn’t feel their presence at all. Suddenly the rod began to move on its own. Lethean let his arm succumb to the rod’s will. The two men clashed violently with the mysterious staff of Lethean’s. The two men did not stop with their assault. As soon as the swordsman’s blade hit steel, it was subsequently slashing at another target. The other opponent was even more relentless. He would fake a strike every few milliseconds- twirling his staff viciously at various locations on Lethean’s body almost simultaneously. The staff that the vampire owned however was demonstrating its rather impressive use as it blocked every single attack made by the two. Lethean’s body was being somewhat controlled by the metal staff’s inner spirit. Twirling the staff gracefully as he spun about in circles, deflecting and evading numerous attacks while in chorus with his attempts to strike them. Unfortunately, they proved to be just as experienced since they warded off his attempts with a devastating strike of their own. The trio became a series of distorted figures as they skirmished in the timeless night’s moonlit plains… This mêlée seemingly had no conclusion for it was to evenly harmonized.
Meanwhile, Sanvala was moving about on his own accord inside the castle. He had his own agenda...
--End of Chapter IV--
Comment for Chapter III of my story E.N.D.
(It's copyrighted, stalkers *scorns*)
