frantic_scribbler

Chapter 1:
Elijah Stormraven

Elijah Stormraven walked the quiet cobblestone streets of Victoria. He had been hired to investigate the murder of a wealthy merchant’s son. His companions; the High Elf, Elwen Greenwood, and the dwarf, Borne Stoneheart, had gone back to the inn they were staying at. Elwen wanted to research some spells of safety for when they took their search down to the sewers and Borne had gone all day without a single drop of ale. Elijah didn’t mind, he liked to work alone most of the time. This time alone gave him a chance to walk around the city and get the feel of it. One could always tell what a city was like by looking at it during the night.
Streetlamps along the streets were all alight and were casting shadows upon the buildings and the city walls. The shadows moved with every flicker of the flames. The city guard patrolled the streets; they had buckled down on their defense and security ever since the merchant’s son had died. Elijah found it rather strange that there had been deaths of prostitutes, poor workers, and travelers and yet no one had worried until this most recent murder. He would ask the captain of the city guard when he got a chance in the morning. Elijah didn’t want to wake him up at this ungodly hour because the captain would most likely get defensive and ask the Elijah and his companions leave the city.
As he continued walking, Elijah could hear the sound of his boots echoing down the streets. He could also hear another set of boots following him. He stopped and could hear the sound continue on for a few moments and then stop. Elijah continued on down the streets and then side-stepped into an alley and melted into the darkness. He wrapped his black cloak around him and put up his black hood. The footsteps continued on to the point where he was.
The owner of the footsteps stopped right at the entrance of the alley. The figure was dressed all in very fine clothes. The man, or at least it looked like a man, wore a frock coat, tights that were tucked into the dress shoes, and his hair was tied up into a ponytail. Hanging at the man’s waist was a rapier. The figure looked around the area as if looking for Elijah. He then sniffed the air and looked directly at the alley.
“Elijah, you better keep your nose out of trouble. One would be wise to watch their back while in Victoria, especially at night,” said the man.
Elijah was just about to speak when the man walked off down the street. Elijah walked out of the alley and chased after the man, but he was long gone. It was almost as if he vanished into thin air or was swallowed by the shadows. Elijah decided that it was probably best to head back to the inn. It was getting late and the entire group would be searching almost all day tomorrow for clues.
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Elwen looked up from his book as the door to his room opened. He opened up his hand and began muttering a spell. A ball of red energy began forming in his palm. As he was about to throw the ball of energy at the door, Borne walked in and hit the floor. Elwen immediately dispelled the ball of energy with a flick of his wrist.
“Whit in the ten hells were ye trying tae do tae me, elf?” asked Borne with just a bit of anger in his voice.
“One can never be too careful while in a strange city. Especially since most elves and dwarves live in the slums here and are frowned upon in the higher class,” said Elwen.
“Well throwing a ball ‘o’ energy at someone coming intae the room won’t exactly improve conditions any. Sorry tae burst yer bubble, but it would most likely make the higher class even angrier at the dwarves and elves and would get us kicked out of Victoria fer the rest of…well… my natural life,” said Borne.
“I know that, Borne. I’m just a little on edge. It’s something that became second nature after having assassins always trying to kill me,” said Elwen.
“Okay, I get yer point, elf. T’was probably mostly my fault anyway by not announcing who I was. I just have tae sleep off all this ale,” said Borne.
“What is it with dwarves and getting drunk every night?” asked Elwen rhetorically.
Borne never heard the question though. The minute he was on the bed he was dead to the world. Within a few minutes long snores were coming from him and Elwen was finding it hard to study.
“I better get some sleep; too, know that I think about it. I won’t be any good to Borne or Elijah half-awake,” said Elwen to himself.
He went over to his bed and plopped down onto the feather mattress. Elwen flicked his wrist and the candle went out and before falling asleep he cast an alarm spell that would wake him up if any intruder came into the room. It was always better to be safe than sorry. Elwen closed his eyes and within a few minutes sleep overtook him.
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Elijah got to the inn and entered the front door. He looked around the building. Many individuals were still at the bar, most of them so wasted they couldn’t even walk. Elijah walked over to the front desk and asked the clerk where his dwarf companion was.
“I believe he went up to the room that he was sharing with the high elf, sir,” said the woman at the front desk, “he seemed as if he had had a little too much to drink.”
“Ma’am, you have not seen my companion when has too much to drink. He would not even have been able to climb up the stairs and wouldn’t even know where his room was,” said Elijah, “but thank you for telling me where he was. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, sir,” said the woman.
Elijah headed up the stairs to Elwen’s and Borne’s room and was about to open the door. However, he caught himself as he sensed that Elwen had put a spell upon the door. Elijah thought it best not to set the spell off or try and counteract it. He walked one door down and opened the door to his room. Everything was just as he left it.
Elijah took off his cloak and hung it on the coat hanger. He then undid his mithril armor and folded it before putting it under his bed. Elijah unbuckled his belt and took his sword off the belt and set it up by his bed. He wanted the sword at the ready just in case that strange man might find where he was boarding.
Elijah kneeled down by his bed and began praying to his god; Cannibus, destroyer of evil and god of war. He prayed for strength and for guidance to find and bring down the murderer. Elijah then got up off his knees, threw aside his covers, and slipped into his bed. Before his head even hit the pillow he had succumbed to sleep.
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Elijah was awoken from his sleep when he sensed that there was someone in the room with him. He grabbed the sword at his side and looked around the room. His eyes were taking awhile to adjust to the darkness after the light of day in his dream.
“I know someone’s in this room with me,” said Elijah, “and you better show yourself or I will be forced to use magic on you and that is the last thing I want to do.”
“Is it someone or something that is in the room with you?” asked a voice.
“Who’s there?” asked Elijah.
“You feel a presence, but it is not someone. If it was someone it would have to be alive.” said the presence from the darkness.
“Illuminos!” yelled Elijah.
The room was suddenly filled with light from a small orb resting, or rather floating, in the palm of the vampire slayer’s hand. Not a single corner was covered in shadow. It was rather amazing that a thing so small could emit such a powerful light.
“Get rid of that blasted light! Turn it out now!” yelled a figure standing in the corner nearest the window.
Elijah dimmed the light with a wave of his hand and the room began to darken. The light coming from the sphere was less intense and there were now shadows in the corners. Elijah set the sphere on the nightstand next to him and it floated in place.
“That is so much better, thank you.” said the figure.
“Who… in the hell…are…you?” asked Elijah.
“Funny you should ask that question, Elijah,” said the figure, “because I myself do not know the answer to that.”
“How is it that you do not know your own name?” asked the vampire slayer.
“Well, young man,” said the dark figure (Elijah cringed at being called young, he was over a century old), “I have lived so long that I no longer remember what I originally was called. Things like that tend to happen to you if years pass by like seconds.”
“Okay, another question,” said Elijah.
“Yes? What is your question?” asked the late night visitor.
“Exactly how old are you?” asked Elijah.
“Well…let me see here. I have been alive, or rather undead, for about seven hundred years now,” said the figure.
“So you’re a vampire?” asked Elijah.
“By the ten hells, you are a curious little pup, aren’t you, boy? You just keep on asking questions,” said the undead visitor.
“I have a curious nature. I have a knowledge that cannot be sated,” said the vampire slayer.
“Well, if you really want to use that curious nature of you then I’ll tell you something. You will find some answers when you search the sewers tomorrow,” said the figure.
“Wait…how did you…” said Elijah, but it was too late.
With inhuman speed, Elijah’s late night visitor shot out the window and disappeared into the night. He was gone so fast it seemed as if he wasn’t even there to start with.

Chapter 2:
The Search

Elijah woke up the next morning to the sun shining through his bedroom window. He got up and strapped his sword to his belt and put on his shirt and armor. He then strapped his sword to his belt and donned his robe. Elijah left the room and headed downstairs. Elwen and Borne were downstairs at a table eating a hot breakfast.
“Ye look like ye barely got yerself a wink ‘o’ sleep, Elijah,” commented Borne.
“He does have a point, Elijah,” said Elwen, “and I barely ever agree with anyone who drinks ten times their weight in ale.”
“Hey now, elf!” yelled Borne, “I wasn’t that drunk last night. I was able tae get up the stairs. I usually can’t do that when I drink.”
“Well, while you two were sleeping I had a visitor last night,” said Elijah.
“Really?” asked Elwen, “Who was it?”
“I don’t know,” said Elijah, “he didn’t give me his name because he couldn’t remember it.”
“He couldn’t remember ‘is name?” asked Borne.
“How is that possible?” asked Elwen.
“Well,” said Elijah, “if what he told me was true; then he forgot it over the seven centuries of being a vampire.”
“How was a vampire able to get past the barriers that I put around our rooms?” asked Elwen.
“I really have no clue, Elwen, but somehow he was able to get into my room while I was sleeping,” said Elijah.
“That’s really strange, Elijah. Most vampires can’t get past those barriers,” said Borne.
“He must be a mage or something, either that or he was somehow invited into the room by someone,” said Elwen.
“That sounds like a reasonable explanation,” said Elijah, “the vampire told me that I’d find answers when we searched the sewers.”
“How did he know that we were gonna search the sewers?” asked Borne.
“We’ll worry about that later,” said Elijah, “I think we should go pay the Captain of the Guard a visit and ask some questions.”
“Why are paying the Captain a visit?” asked Elwen.
“Well,” said Elijah, “I want to know why we were called after the merchant’s son died and not when there were other deaths in the city that looked just like this most recent one.”
“Aye, that doos sound like a good idea te me,” said Borne.
The trio got up from the table and headed out the door onto the street. Even though it was early in the morning, the streets were already bustling with people buying and selling goods. The paranoia brought by the night seemed to melt away with the darkness as the sun rose and brought morning to the city. The group walked by many a vendor trying to sell their wares. It wasn’t until they passed a weapons vendor that they had to pull Borne away so he wouldn’t fight.
“My dear sirs,” said the vendor, “please by some of my weapons and armor. Not even the dwarven smiths of Hacknar could match the quality of these fine weapons.”
The minute Borne heard that he stopped where he was, turned around, and ran at the vendor. The curses coming out of the dwarf’s mouth caused mothers to cover their children’s ears. The dwarf was just about ready to lunge at the vendor, but both Elwen and Elijah caught him in midair with a holding spell.
“Come, master dwarf,” said Elwen, “we have better things to do then getting into fights with vendors in the middle of the streets.”
“I wasn’t fightin’, elf! I was forcefully expressin’ my opinion,” said Borne.
“Either way,” said Elijah, “we don’t need you to make more trouble than we already have. If you haven’t forgotten we are investigating murders.”
“I guess yer right, Elijah. I just got hotheaded fer a minute. I get pretty touchy when it comes to me kin’s handy-work,” said the dwarf.
With that the two mages released the dwarf from their holding spells and he landed on the ground with a thunk. Borne got up and dusted himself off. He looked at the vendor and offered his apologies. The trio then continued down the street toward the City Guard barracks.
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Captain Del’regard was just about ready to sit down at his desk and eat his breakfast. However, those plans changed as soon as the trio consisting of the dwarf, the elf, and the man walked into his office. He put down his fork and knife and smiled a wide, white smile at them.
“Gentleman, how are you on this fine morning?” asked the captain.
“We have a few questions for you, Captain Del’regard,” said Elijah.
“What questions would you like to ask?” asked the captain from behind his desk.
“We’d like to know why we weren’t called to investigate when the murders first started happening. We’ve talked with several citizens and it seems that there were deaths of prostitutes, poor workers, and travelers. Why weren’t we called to investigate when these murders first happened?” asked Elijah.
“Well,” said the captian, “we, uh…”
The captain was starting to sweat. He looked down at his hands as they fidgeted on top of his desk. His eyes kept on going around the room and never looking directly at the trio. He opened his mouth several times, but no sound came out. The captain finally kept his mouth shut and said nothing.
“I’m waiting for an answer, captain,” said Elijah.
“We thought they were deaths caused by scoundrels and gang members,” said the captain.
“So, what makes this particular murder any different?” asked Elwen.
“It was the murder of a very wealthy merchant who brings quite a bit of business to Victoria,” exclaimed captain, his face looking shocked that the elf would even dare ask that question, “why would you want to know about the murders of a few riff raffs and nobodies, anway?”
“We have reason to believe that the murderer is a vampire, Captain Del’regard,” said Elijah.
“Vampires?!? I’ve never heard of such a thing as preposterous as vampires. Are you some kind of a fool?” asked the captain with disgust in his voice.
“Fool? Bah!!! We’ve faces things ye’ve never seen in yer life. Ye’d crap yer pants if ye saw ‘alf the things we’ve seen,” said Borne, the captain could barely see his head over the desk.
“Gentleman,” said the captain, trying to keep his voice calm, “I don’t care how you do it or what it is, I just ask that you apprehend this fiend before more deaths occur. The city is not paying you to argue with me.”
“Very well,” said Elijah, “but if we have more questions we will come find you, captain.”
With that the trio left the barracks and headed out into the streets. The captain watched as the door slammed shut. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. From the shadows a voice spoke.
“They are starting to get a little too close, my dear captain,” said the voice.
“I know,” said the captain with his head bowed, “I’ll try and get them on the wrong track, but they are very smart for foreigners. Even the dwarf has a sort of intelligence about him. I don’t know how long I can keep them diverted from the truth.”
“Well, it just needs to be long enough for me to complete my mission,” said the voice from the shadows. Then a poof came from the corner and the owner of the voice was gone.
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The sewers were very dark the only light coming from the open manhole. Elijah looked around at the dark tunnels of the sewers and squinted his eyes.
“Illuminos!” muttered Elijah.
The tunnel filled with a very bright, white light. Even with the bright light the water was dark and murky. Rats moved along the sides of the tunnels and some dipped into the water. Years of living without light had caused the rats to develop larger eyes and many of them were mutated to different forms.
Elijah started down the tunnels with Elwen and Borne behind him. He looked from side to side at the muck covered walls. The sound of the water cascading against the tunnel walls echoed down the tunnels, along with the sound of the boots splashing the water. Borne was in the middle with his battle-hammer drawn and Elwen took up the back, his hands ready to form any kind of defensive or offensive spell.
After what seemed like an hour, one could never be sure in a dark tunnel, the trio came to an intersection of sewer tunnels. Elijah looked to the left, to the right, and straight ahead. He sniffed the air around the intersection for a few moments. Elijah looked to Borne and Elwen for a moment.
“Do you guys think we should split up or go down each one together?” he asked.
“Well,” said Elwen, “I’m thinking we should go down each one together. It may take time, but it’s better to have safety in numbers.”
“Aye,” said Borne, “I agree with the elf. None of us want tae get caught off-guard, especially when alone.”
“Okay then,” said Elijah, “I guess we’ll head straight from now on. After a bit we’ll come back and choose another way to go if we don’t find anything.”
“Sounds reasonable,” said Elwen with a nod.
“Same here,” said Borne.
Elijah nodded and then put an orb on one of the walls of the tunnel. Elwen and Borne raised their eyebrows at him.
“It’s a tracing spell so we can get back to the same intersection. No other magician or wizard can find it, only me. Elwen, you put one up to just in case we get separated,” said Elijah.
Elwen nodded and put an orb on the wall of the side of the tunnel that he was on. Elijah nodded in approval and the trio headed down the tunnel. As the trio continued deeper down the sewers they continued to see creatures that had been mutated from their years without sunlight. Spiders as big as a human’s head crawled along the walls of the tunnel and looked around with white, blind eyes. Rats scurried along the edge of the sewers, the sound of their claws echoed down the tunnels. The trio looked around themselves for other tunnels, booby-traps, or ambushes.
As the trio got deeper down the sewer tunnel the smell of waste got stronger. The smell caused Elijah, Borne, and Elwen to start getting lightheaded. The immortal cast a spell for the trio to block out the horrible smell. The light from the orb in Elijah’s hand illuminated the way down the tunnel and after a few moments they came to another intersection.
The immortal, dwarf, and elf saw what was causing the horrible smell. It was not the smell of waste, but the smell of corpses. In the middle of the intersection was a small pile of dead bodies in all stages of decomposition. The trio had to look away to prevent from becoming sick. Maggots, worms, snakes, and blind rats crawled around the mound of corpses.
“By the gods,” said Elijah in shock, “are these past victims of our murderer?”
“I…I don’t know,” said Elwen, his eyes big O’s of horror, “what kind of monster would do this. They are all so young.”
Indeed they were young. None of the corpses must have been older than 20 years of age. The corpses on the top of the mound were just starting to decompose and were probably the biggest reason for the smell in the tunnels. The cadavers at the bottom of the mound had been down in the sewers for gods know how long.
Just as the trio was about to start to proceed down the sewers they were surrounded by shadowy figures. Elwen was just about to cast an offensive or defensive spell when he was hit over the head. Borne drew his battle hammer and was just about ready to attack and one of the figures covered the dwarf in a binding spell. Elijah drew his sword and he too was put in a binding spell.
Three of the figures picked up the man, dwarf, and elf. The group of silent shadows headed down the tunnels into the deep darkness of the sewers. The only sound was the scurrying of rats along the sides of the tunnels.

Chapter 3:
Tuel Nighteye

The moon-elf Tuel Nighteye brought his scimitar down quick and hard and the vampire fell to the ground. Just as he was about to behead the creature, two more vampires appeared in the hallway.
“This is the last time you will escape, pale one,” said one of the vampires.
“To the ten hells with these foul creatures,” though Tuel, “you try to escape and live for a few more centuries and they just can’t have that. Guess my swords will have to persuade them otherwise.”
Tuel drew his scimitar in the other hand and faced the two newcomers with both his scimitar and his scimitar.
“Well,” said Tuel, “are you going to attack me or just stand there looking at me you blood-sucking abominations?”
Both vampires attacked with their long, sharp nails aimed at the moon-elf. As the undead attackers neared Tuel he ducked their nails, spun around, and sliced both of them across the back with his swords. The vampires screamed, more in fury rather than pain, and turned to the elf. The white-skinned elf was no longer there, though. Just as the vampires where about to wonder where he was, they felt the cold-steel of his blades against each of their throats.
“I thought vampires were supposed to be quicker than living things, but you guys are the slowest enemies I’ve ever faced,” said Tuel with a smile on his face.
“You bastard,” said one of the vampires, “Lord Ash will have his revenge on you for escaping and killing his men.”
“Well then,” said Tuel, “I guess I’ll just have to suffer his wrath.”
With that he sliced off the heads of the two vampires. He then looked around at the doors surrounding him and proceeded to check if anybody was in them.
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Elwen Greenwood, one of the best elven mages in the land, woke up with a splitting headache. It felt like he had been hit over the head with something very heavy, and then he remembered. He had been hit over the head with something very heavy which is why he had blacked out.
The elf tried to remember what he had seen before he had been knocked out. Out of the blackness of thought the images of rotting corpses resting in stagnant water came to his mind. Elwen tried to suppress the panic that was rising in his throat, but he couldn’t. What came out was a very savage scream that was laced with the sounds of fear.
The scream echoed off the stone walls of the prison. Elwen finally calmed himself down and pushed the image of the corpses out of his mind. The high elf sat down and began to think. He tried to perform a spell, but discovered that his magical powers had been bound.
Elwen was just about to think about what he could do to get himself out of the dark, dank prison and he heard a knock on the door. The high elf looked up at the wooden door.
“Hello,” said a voice from behind the door “is there anybody in this room?”
Elwen was just about to disregard the voice when he thought about the voice. It was fair and musical like all elven voices. The high elf stood up and went up to the door.
“Hello,” said Elwen, “who is this. Are you elf-kind?”
“Yes I am,” said the voice, “I am a moon-elf.”
“Can you open the door from out there?” asked Elwen.
“Yes I can,” said the voice, “I stole a ring of keys from one of the guards I killed.”
Elwen heard a key slide into the key lock and click as it turned the gears inside the lock. The door opened and Elwen saw a very tall male moon-elf with black hair, elven armor, and a scimitar and scimitar on his hips. One scimitar was thin and small, more for stabbing and short slices in armor and skin. The other scimitar was broad, more for slicing, cutting, and making large wounds.
“May I inquire as to your name, moon elf?” asked Elwen.
“You certainly may, elven mage,” said the moon elf, “I am known as Tuel Nighteye. May I ask your name, mage?”
“I am Elwen Greenwood, Tuel Nighteye. I have heard of your exploits. I never thought I’d ever meet the elf who led a successful battle against the black orcs of the Shade Forest,” said Elwen with a bit of admiration in his voice.
“I have heard of you as well, Elwen Greenwood. It’s not everyday that an elf meets a great mage. Tales of your powers have reached even my ears. Pray tell; what are you doing in this dark, dank prison?” asked the moon elf.
“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” said Elwen, “but I’ll tell my tale first. My comrades, an immortal named Elijah Stormraven and a dwarf called Borne Stoneheart and I were called here to Victoria to investigate the murder of a rich merchant’s son. The body had been dumped in the streets. It was drained of blood and its neck had been snapped. We began to question people in the city and soon learned that there had been previous murders similar to this one.
“We were told that several prostitutes, travelers, and poor workers had been murdered and the city guard had done nothing about it. Many of the citizens we talked to believe we were not better, even when we told them we would bring their loves ones’ murderer to justice.
“Shortly after learning of the previous murders we paid the captain of the guard a little visit. He attempted to lie to us, but he was no good at it. I suspect that he was under the influence of a higher power. While he was talking I was able to sense something or someone else in the room with us, hiding. The captain of the guard told us that he believed the previous murders to be nothing but gang wars or little vengeful killings.
“We finished questioning the captain and told him that if we had anymore questions we would be paying him another visit. We then entered the sewers because that was the one place we had not attempted to search, yet. My companions and I had been down in the sewers for gods’ know how long when we came across a pile of rotting corpses.
“Before we knew what was going on we were surrounded by shadowy figures and I was clubbed over the head just as I was attempting to cast a spell to fight the new nemesis. That is all I remember of our trip into the sewers. When I woke up I was here, wherever here is.”