Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ A Journey for the Lost One ❯ Beasts and Vampires? ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

This story, characters , places and all that nice stuff in the story is my work. Thank you so much for reading! ^-^ *bows* Enjoy!




Zin made his way up to second floor and opened his door, relieved to see a nice soft bed. He walked in and closed the door behind him quietly and calmly, then jumped on the bed with a small shout. A soft bed was a luxury when you traveled this much. He rolled around and messed up the sheets in his show of over dramatics. After a short while he ceased his theatrics to get up and take a bath. He reluctantly dragged himself out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Opening the door, he walked in then shut the door behind him and began to undress after turning the hot water on.

This bath would be so much better with a few pretty girls. He sighed deeply then went about getting undressed. He slipped off his shirt to reveal a lean built muscular chest and torso. Various scars littered his torso and back, all different sizes but usually appeared to be like blade wounds. Zin grinned and flexed a little before moving to take off his breeches and boots. He looked down at himself. Lightly tanned arms, legs and torso gave his skin a healthy golden color, aside from a few splotches and dirt or grass stains. Unlike others of his kin, he was not pale or had problems with being seen but he didn’t heal as well at all. What an accursed heritage, he snorted at the thought then shook his head. It wasn’t his fault he was brought into this yet he had to deal with it; and pick up the pieces it left behind at the same time.

He did need a bath, though; he had been rolling in the dirt all day with the children and sleeping in the woods for the past few nights had not helped that much. With a soft sigh, he sunk into the hot bath water and turned off the faucet after the tub was full enough. He lay back comfortably with his arms resting on the rim and his eyes closed. Minutes ticked away, and he almost fell asleep in the tub before long. With a startled gasp, he bolted up from under the water and forced a little water from his nose and mouth. He shook his head then sighed with a light cough before picking up a wash cloth that hung over the rim near the faucet. It took a couple of minutes but he managed to spot the soap. He growled audibly and rose out of the tub then walked over to the vanity to get the soap before returning to his bath. Anything to interrupt his relaxing bath.

After a nice hot bath and soak, he drained the tub then left for the bedroom; still wrapped in only a towel. He wasn’t expecting company so it didn’t really matter if he sleep nude or not. Whose business is it anyway? What would they do about it anyway? Tell his parents on him or something?

Zin reached his bedroom and closed the bathroom door behind him quietly. His cloak hung in the wardrobe with the rest of his clothing. He walked over to the bed and slipped the towel off and let it fall to the floor in a circular pile; before climbing into bed and under the covers to finally get some well deserved rest. Sleep seemed like it wanted to be elusive tonight, though.

Women were nice company, something he took for granted quite often. He never really imagined life without them. It was something he had just always been used to, girls being disposable and such. Secretly, he could understand partly why the prince would take all of these girls; but the reasons for so many baffled him still. One was enough for Zin; then again, two or more made things more interesting. He did have a number of partners at a time before, and even had more than one girl from a brothel at once. Usually this was only if he was in a particularly frisky mood, though. He couldn’t imagine having that all the time, and with how jealous females could get. He cringed inwardly at the thought. Some girls could go over the top to keep a partner. He found this distasteful and considered such girls low-bred. Not that he was so great and mighty himself; but when your partner sleeps with multiple other girls, why fight with the other girls over him? He justified doing it because most girls did the same thing in his eyes, aside from that, he was a traveling mercenary. He didn’t see a problem with it, and neither did his current partner in his homeland.

He thought about it for a second more. She was a really odd character, though, fascinated with anything that had to do with sex or foreplay. She was good, though, he had to admit it. Sometimes he wondered if she worked a brothel while he wasn’t around, but she claimed not to. It really surprised him when he asked and she laughed then denied it. He surely didn’t expect her to laugh about it, if anything maybe offended to high heaven; he was serious about it, though.

His thoughts ceased and the image of his partner waiting at home for him surfaced. Her long red hair tied up in a high tail with green ribbon. A very low cut forest green shirt with a very wide and low v neck that barely covered her breasts with a matching, even shorter, mini skirt. She always wore something that matched her hair and her dark green eyes. He did buy her outfits that were more decent and showed less for public outings but she would always cut or tear them to her liking. This did bother him, but not as much as his more current and slightly more urgent issue. The sooner he got the girls back, the better. Hell, he might even stay a couple more nights for the hell of it. His mind wandered dangerously off course and into very erotic places; he growled at himself then rolled over and willed sleep to take him, because no girls meant no sex. This may also mean a very unpleasant night and a grouchy him in the morning.

The next morning Zin was woken up by the bright rays of the sun shining through the window. He growled and rolled over, shoving his head under the pillow to block out the light for a few more hours. Soon enough he was sound asleep again. A hard night was enough but being woken up too early would just irritate the hell out of him.

Not long after, all hopes of sleeping in were ruined when a knock sounded at the door. “Sir Zin of the Geoganthra tribe, it is I, the elder of the village. Now, please, open the door so that I may discuss the terms of the agreement with you.” came the old man’s voice through the door.

Zin jumped with a muffled shout and fell out of the bed, the sheets piled on top of him. “Hold on a second, jeez! Does anyone sleep late around here!?” Zin grumbled as he rushed about to get dressed. He scrambled to his feet and gathered up his clothing from the bathroom. He threw on his shirt and breeches then his boots.

“It is nearly past noon, sir.” the old man said flatly from the other side of the door.

Zin growled under his breath as he slipped on his leather shirt and breeches then his boots before opening the door to greet the old man and blacksmith. Zin wondered if the constant presence of the bulky smith was meant to intimidate him. He stored the thought for later consideration. Not that he was intimidated at all. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

“Please, Sir, food is awaiting us down stairs in the tavern.” The old man said then bowed politely before leading the way downstairs with the blacksmith behind him.

Zin knew he was going to get tired of these people quickly at this rate. He growled under his breath and closed the door behind him then took his time getting to the table to irritate them just a little. Vengeance was sweet but he was starting to wonder what kind of other things he could do to grade on their nerves even more.

He took a seat nearest the window and leaned back in the chair, folding his arms behind his head. “So, why bug me so early in the morning?”

“It is noon, my friend, and I wished to discuss the terms of our agreement.” the old man replied flatly, as if annoyed by having to repeat himself.

Zin nodded once then stated simply, “Then start talking so I can go back to bed.”

The old man’s eyes narrowed slightly at Zin’s misdemeanor, for he was not used to such rudeness. “Very well then. You see, the price you asked for was very steep so I thought I would be able to make things even for both sides, if you do not mind, Sir.”

Zin merely blinked boredly at this and for the most part, stayed silent. People sometimes had a strong thing for irritating him. First, they ruined his meal, then they woke him up early and now, they want to change the terms for him to get his money.

“We need our girls back as soon as possible, and with that though in mind; the longer you take getting them back, the less money you will get.-”

“But that’s not fair!” Zin whined from his side of the table.

“It is for the price you asked!” the old man raised his voice in brief loss of composure. The old man coughed once, as if it covered the mistake he’d made.

Zin went silent again. For one, the old bugger was right and for two, he didn’t think he’d see the old bag have a fit like that. He held back the urge to grab the old man by his throat because he knew it wasn’t the elder’s fault that Zin had a rough night. Then again, it wasn’t his fault that they lost their women either.

“To put things exact, for everyday you don’t turn up with the females, you will lose a silver piece.” the old man stated simply.

Zin was about to spit a nice long string of insults at the old man but the glare from the blacksmith stopped him. Though, it wasn’t just the blacksmith’s glare, rather the sight of the very sharp dagger that was strapped comfortably to his forearm. He didn’t care about either, but there was always that slight possibility that the dagger was silver or had silver in it. Some villages were superstitious like that; and he wasn’t one to test his limits. He wasn’t sure if silver would really hurt him or not but he didn’t want to chance it.

“So then, may I take your silence as agreement to the terms?” came the old man’s question. He seemed to act like there was no threat or danger. He had planned this so Zin could not refuse. If Zin refused, the blacksmith and his nice little dagger would probably persuade him to think otherwise.

Before Zin could nod his agreement the food was brought. He grinned wide and dug in gleefully. Suddenly, he paused mid bite by the blacksmith’s large gloved hand on his dagger, which was now in view, “State any objection now, kid.” The blacksmith’s voice was gruff and cold but once again, that wasn’t what bothered Zin; the dagger was. Zin nodded his agreement with the terms and waited till things seemed to settle before digging in again.

Sometime during his meal, the two males had left the table but he really didn’t care. What bothered him now was that the elder was trying to cheat him out of his money, so just to prove that elder wrong he was going to get those girls back tomorrow.

After paying for the meal, he left for his room. Once inside the safety of its familiar walls he went about putting on his armor and cloak then gathered up his weapons. When he was sure everything was ready to go and cleaned up he left for the inn entrance to leave. He would deal with this now but first he needed to restock on some things. After leaving the inn as non-conspicuously as someone like him could, he headed toward a magic shop he’d spotted the day before while exploring the town a little the day before.

The shop was small, like most magic shops, and the front stonewall was covered by old vines. The door was solid wood, unlike the typical kind like there was at the inn, it lacked a small window or design. The only window looking into the shop was rather large but stained green due to the vines and some neglect over the years. He walked up to the door and grasped the handle then pushed. It took a little effort but not much, the hinges probably just needed a bit of oiling. He stepped in and looked around.

The shop was indeed small. He estimated that, from where he stood, it must have been about thirty feet from the front door to the back wall behind the clerk’s desk. He looked back and forth before going deeper into the shop. The floors were a little dusty and gray with age, they even creaked slightly in protest when he stepped. About four medium sized, plain tables spotted the floor while the side and back walls were lined with rows upon rows of shelves that held various items.

A tall suit of armor stood on the left side of the door with a tall battle axe in its left hand. Something told him to not ask about the left hand thing. Luckily, he was able to use both hands so it didn’t really matter, for him at least.

Zin wandered over to the nearest table to look over the contents. A few orbs, special amulets, and various potions littered the table’s surface. Each potion had a small label on it; it also appeared that each was a simple potions like sleep aids or energy boosters. He moved to the next table and looked it over. A wide variety of stealth weaponry and trick bags sat here. The small bags held little escape tricks, like dust or smoke bombs. It was a very simple trick, all one had to do was throw it before their feet then flee while they had the chance. He just may need that, he picked up three of the small bags then looked over the other items. A gauntlet, a set of very sharp stilettos, and a few enchanted crystal daggers. Zin paused before picking up one of the crystal daggers then moved on toward the third table. This table, oddly enough, had mostly jewelry on it. Assortments of necklaces, rings, bracelets, and small crystals or stones. He wasn’t sure if these were enchanted but they didn’t appear to be so he went to the forth table and final table. It had a long Rapier with a silvery blade and a ruby-winged, golden phoenix hilt. The hilt was a large piece of gold plated metal carved perfectly to look like a diving phoenix; the flaming ruby tail curved to fit the back of the wielder’s hand while the beak opened to ruby flames that ran a several inches down the long blade to hold it solidly and securely in place. The phoenix’s ruby wings curved out like the wings of a diving bird and served as the hilt’s wings. The monster even came with a matching sheath. It was a real beauty that was for sure, but Zin doubted he could afford something like that.

He wasn’t one to drop opportunity, though. He had lost his last sword before coming here when the blade snapped during a battle with some bandits. He decided to take the gamble for the sword, maybe he’d get lucky. With that solved, he moved to the shelves upon the walls to inspect their contents. It was mostly the same things, but in different variations. As he walked around he found a lot of odd and interesting things like spell books, special powders and crystal balls. Even sometimes some nice weapons or strange potions, but not always. More curious than not, he picked up a few spell books on black and white magic to brush up on his abilities in that region. He shrugged then picked up a small crystal ball as well. Zin was never able to get these things to work but he was damned well determined that he would get this thing to work for him.

He walked slowly to the clerk’s desk, looking at everything on the shelves carefully. A pendant caught his attention. It was blue but seemed to shine all colors depending on how much light hit it and at which angle. He turned it in his fingers to find a label but saw none. With a light shrug, he looked over at a matching blue ring then picked it up as well. Before paying he decided to check out some of the stuff on the other side of the room as well. This side was lined with potions and ingredients for spells. He walked along the wall and glanced at the items as he went. He picked up a few cheap sleeping powders and spell ingredients then headed for the dusty desk.

He put his items down then looked around for some help. The place seemed mostly empty. Zin tried to call for someone so he could be on his way. Thankfully, he got an answer. He fidgeted anxiously as he waited for the keeper if the shop to come. He wanted to leave now! He had things to do, people to save and brothel girls to do.

An older and slightly hunched over man hobbled over to the desk from a secret door behind it that was hidden in the walls, “Hey there, youngster! Sorry I wasn’t in earlier, I was reading the paper.” he offered a friendly smile after he finished then sat behind the desk.

Zin nodded as he took out his money pouch. “Can you tell me how much this will be so I can leave quickly? I’m on a mission that requires immediate action.”

The elder nodded and started going through the items. Sometimes the old man talked very softly to himself as he calculated the numbers. Zin ignored this and leaned on the counter while he waited.

“What is your name, son? I don‘t believe I have seen you around here before.” the old man asked suddenly, as if trying to start up a conversation. He never made eye contact, though, and kept his eyes on his work.

“My name is Zin. Why do you ask?” Zin replied simply. When the old man paused, Zin blinked. The man seemed to be thinking this over as if he recognized the name.

“By chance are you the boy who is said to be taking the responsibility of saving our women?” the old man asked quietly as he went back to his task

“What if I am?” it was more of a rhetorical question, “Word flies fast around here. I always thought women were the gossipers.”

The elder shook his head and chuckled lightly. “Everyone gossips, child, but I must offer my thanks and best wishes on your journey. No one from the village would volunteer.”

Zin blinked at this, “Why not?”

“They feared what lie in wait for them behind the castle walls. If I were younger I would have gone but I am much too old for such things now.” replied the elder. His tone seemed regretful and angry almost.

Zin paused then looked at the small pile as the elder neared the end, “By chance, would you happen to have a pack or bag I could carry some of this in?”

The elder paused in deep thought then snapped his fingers, “Why yes I do, but you may have it on the house.” he responded, in a better mood than before, as he bent down to get the bag from in one of the desk’s cabinets. Zin flinched slightly as he heard the man’s back crack a little under the strain.

“Thanks but I can get it if you’d tell me where it is.” Zin started to walk around the desk to help the man but the man held up a hand to silence him.

The man sat up and straightened with a hand on his back to help crack it again. He sighed lightly then handed the brown satchel to Zin with a friendly smile.

Zin smiled back and took the bag then paid the elder for all of his items. He even managed to afford the nice sword. By some strange act of God, he supposed. Though, now he didn’t have the money to pay for an inn on the way home. He bade farewell to the shopkeeper then left. So maybe he would not be sleeping with girls after he gets them back but at least he had a nice sword now. Hopefully he would get his money from the elder and be able to afford everything then. After he was outside the front door he moved his cloak to tie the satchel handle to the inside of the cloak material then the sword to his belt. Now that he was done, he was ready to go. He slipped a hand into one of the pockets in his cloak for his compass.

It didn’t take him long to locate the road to the castle, now all that remained was getting there. He put the compass away and made his way down the road. Apparently, the guards at that gate had already mastered sleeping with their eyes open and standing up before the other from before had. He sighed and shook his head, he might just asked the elder about this later.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated the time it would take to walk from point A to point B. He growled under his breath, a little irritated to the point that he started to wonder why he even took the job. No matter, he would still accomplish this mission then rub it in their faces. Problem resolved, he straightened up and forced himself forward, grinning at the thought of the looks on the elder’s face. Zin walked down the dirt path of the main road without stopping until he figured he was halfway there. Unfortunately, his drive to succeed pushed him to walk late into the night and not stop until early morning. Around the time of dawn, he stopped for a little sleep. He wandered off the road to find a suitable place for a short rest. A large, thick oak tree seemed fitting enough to him at this point. He didn’t ask for much. Soon enough, he found himself in a small clearing with a large oak that had large branches which hovered over the clearing. The large branches nearly blocked out the half moon that hovered silently above, shining down on the land below. He didn’t want to look like a run down old tired person when he finally got the girls.

He climbed up into the thicker, denser parts of the tree then found a good place amongst the branches to rest. Using his cloak as he blanket and his arm as a head rest, he fell asleep in no time.

It was well into noon of the same day when he awoke to the glare of the too bright rays of the sun. He growled and sat up the stretched briefly before jumping down to continue on his journey. He didn’t want to sleep this late but he supposed it was the result of bad sleep habits.

It seemed strange to him, the road was deserted except for him. It bothered him, maybe this was a trap set for him, then again, maybe it wasn’t. You could never really tell with people. Zin kept walking nonetheless, enjoying the breeze that blew through the forest every now and then. He was still on the path when dusk came but at least now he could see the castle from where he was. He decided since he would probably reach it soon, he would camp for tonight so he would be rested up enough to face whatever he may encounter there. From the way the villagers made it sound, this place had a few surprises that just might give him trouble.

A small clearing just off the road was enough for him to settle down in for the night. He didn’t even set a campfire; he just sat under a large tree, surrounded by thick bushes. The bushes would hide his scent and he would be safe. He was too tired to climb up the tree that he leaned against and supported his weight on and between its roots, kind of like a wooden lazy boy chair.

Near dawn, an odd sound awoke him. He grumbled softly at first and willed it to go away, rolling over in hopes that it would stop. Then he heard it again and paused to listen. As it neared him, he recognized the bark and howl of tracking dogs and it was coming from the castle. Someone was trying to track him or maybe it was just a bunch of hunters from the village. He hoped for the latter of the two.

He snuck from his sleeping place and made his way through the forest silently, hoping to elude them for awhile. The noises got louder and he assumed there were at least ten to twenty large wolfhounds in the pack, tracking him down. He quickened his pace; at this point it didn’t really matter to him if he made noise or not because they already had his scent. They were closer now and he could here the sounds of horses’ hooves mixed with the dog’s racket.

He hastily climbed up a tall fir tree, using his extended claws cat style, to some of the thicker branches. After gaining his balance on the branch he started a quiet but swift run over the branch then jumped to the next one on a neighboring tree. He continued this pattern of run and leap, which worked very well in confusing the dogs and putting space between them. Eventually he came to large stream and jumped down onto one of the large rocks.

The dogs were still a ways off but he had to take every precaution. He slipped down into the water, in a more shallow area that was only about shin depth. From that point, he ran over the rocks in the water so he wouldn’t leave foot prints or a scent. For once he thanked his heritage. A normal person wouldn’t have been able to pull off something like that, even with the right skills. The rocks under his shoes were slippery but once again, part of his heritage made that job easier too.

To his fortune, the stream ran close to the castle. A slight distance off but it was still close enough for good time. Zin made his way out of the stream and closer to the castle. He climbed up, koala style, a tall fir tree to get a look see. It was still very dark, but his heritage helped that situation too.

It was very odd set up. Hell, everything about this part of the continent seemed odd, now that he thought about it. The castle was surrounded by a tall stone wall with an even taller metal gate sat at the entrance. To complete the picture of odd, there were wolfhounds at the gate, acting as guards. Well, it explained the dogs from earlier at least. He shifted his gaze from the gates to the castle. It looked like a typical castle, granted a few hundred, maybe even a thousand years old but still pretty typical. He strained his eyes to see but couldn’t see anything moving in the windows from his spot. As far as he could tell, aside from the dogs, the place seemed vacant.

He snorted, he hated using his inherited abilities but he had no real choice. He expanded his senses, his pupils dilated until the violet of his irises was completely taken over by the black of his pupils. His ears, before were rounded like human ears, then lengthened and became pointed like an elf’s ears. He looked the structure over carefully before his senses and appearance reverted again.

Satisfied, he slipped down from his treetop perch to stand on the ground once more. He didn’t see any girls, just dogs and large cats, and prayed to God that hopefully magic wasn’t something that was used here. He had a bad nagging feeling that it was, though.

He made his way closer to the castle, but unfortunately, he’d gotten there by nighttime. Or maybe this was in his favor, he wasn’t entirely sure yet. He watched the castle from the safety of some thick fir branches, which were high enough that they gave him a small view of what lay in wait beyond the gates. From what he saw, it was mostly large dogs or large cats. They were all chained with thick silver shackles about their necks. Large panthers and tigers were off to one side of the main walkway while wolves, Great Danes and Mastiffs occupied the other side. As long as he stayed down wind, he would be alright. Or so he hoped.

Just to make sure, he decided to see if it was like this all the way around the castle. Zin tried to be as quiet as possible as he moved through the trees and around the castle. It was indeed this crowded all around. Obviously, something was going on here. No one needed this many guards. Perhaps the prince was turning the girls into animals. So, he couldn’t hurt the animals, just in case his theory was correct.

This made things pretty difficult. He sat back on the branch and thought for a moment on this. Suddenly, an idea came to him; he reached into one of his cloak pockets and pulled out a small vial of red dust. He just bought the stuff at the magic shop a day or two ago, he hoped it would work.

He pulled the cork from the vial then pulled the vial close to his lips and held it there, as if to drink from it. In a very soft whisper, he started a chant. After a few seconds, the words seemed to carry the dust on the wind as it spread of the occupants of the grounds surrounding the castle. Unfortunately, because of the large numbers and sizes of the beasts, the spell wouldn’t hold for very long at all.

He made his way down the tree then walked up to the gates. After a short period of digging through his pockets he found his lock pick and started to work on the lock. The low click from the lock signaled its compliance and Zin grinned at this then pushed the gate gently. Unfortunately, the gate’s old hinges screamed like a banshee.

Zin froze upon hearing it, the sound grading at his ears and made him shiver. The sound that made his skin crawl so badly, ironically made the occupants awaken in a very grouchy mood.

He never thought he would die on a mission, being eaten alive by beasts or women. Well, maybe it crossed his mind, but he never thought it would come true.

The animals roared and growled their awakenings with a short stretch then all eyes were on him.
The two wolfhounds behind him growled as they crouched and got ready to tear at his legs. On impulse, he ran as fast as he could, hoping to escape them in one piece. He ran into the grounds as a mass of very angry claws, fangs and fur jumped at him.

The first to strike was a large tigress. Her massive paw came down as he passed and scratched deeply down his back which threw him off balance completely, he tumbled to the ground. The crowd advanced as he quickly got up and tried to bolt again. He didn’t even make it three steps this time before a large silver female wolf managed to break her binds and tackled him. He bite back a shout as the k9’s large paws and heavy body pressed and dug into his fresh wounds. He tumbled with the large fur ball until they hit a bulky panther. The panther roared at them then batted the snarling wolf away in preparation to attack him. In the few seconds of the distraction the wolf provided, he managed to escape the panther. He rolled to the side as the animal batted at him, cutting a few ruts into his side. He was pretty badly wounded, but for him, not fatally.

He considered himself lucky that the animals were chained, but it had caused enough racket to wake up the entire castle by the time he had finally made it to the doors. The animals were still raging at him and that wolf was getting really for another assault. Zin sighed and slipped into the door. The main room seemed to be empty except for a single stone throne chair and two passages on opposite sides from each other. The walls, floor and ceiling were made up of stone with torches that lit up the room and the passages ways. A large blue wolf lay shackled and caged beside the chair. Out of curiosity, he walked closer.

The beast remained still on the cage floor. Its bloodshot gold and blue eyes were fixed on him. It had a thick coat of midnight blue fur, a silver underbelly and black streaks that started at its black nose and continued to its tail by tipping it black. The long black tipped pointed ears were set at a relaxed pose, as if it knew he was there but didn’t care. He looked at it in the eyes, trying to make direct eye contact. The beast merely shifted its line of vision, it seemed so miserable. Zin felt bad for it, almost. He looked over the shackles, they were entirely too thick of metal to be just for holding the beast still. They must have been meant to weigh it down for some reason. Yet this creature didn’t look like it cared enough to escape. It looked like its spirit was broken as lay there on the floor of the cage as if it were dead or dying. He wondered if it was sick or something; that would surely explain its seclusion from the others.

He looked at the beast’s eyes again and it met his eyes with wide, frightened ones. A bright light flashed before his eyes. The flashes continued, merely a second apart from one another and pictures flashed between them. He didn’t have time to put them to memory but he saw them. Most of them had a petit female figure and who Zin guessed was the prince of the castle. He couldn’t gather much from the pictures because of their quick succession. He pulled back and shook his head out of surprise, he wasn’t expecting that.

He backed up from the k9 and glared lightly at it. The creature seemed to relax again and go back to its depressed state, slowly moving its head until its nose pointed to one of the passages. It seemed to take a lot of effort, even for that small motion, and dropped its head on the metal cage floor with an audible thump. A small grunt or bark sound came from its shackled muzzle. It looked back at him from the corner of its eye and jerked its head slightly toward the passage.

He paused, not sure if he should go that way or not. Just then, a feral snarl came from the opposite passageway. He turned to see a large tigress glaring at him from the doorway, with a panther and a large she-wolf next to it. He went rigid, he didn’t think they’d have animals as guards throughout the castle. Whoever this prince was, he was a damned coward.

Zin couldn’t risk hurting the beasts, for they maybe the women changed into animals so he turned ad fled own the unoccupied passage the k9 had showed him. The trio had charged after him and he tried his best to dodge them without hurting them. His instincts were going wild but he kept a tight leash on them. After dodging a lunge from the panther, he shoved his hand in one of the cloak pockets and pulled out another vile of dust. He sped up to get some distance then turned sharply on the balls of his feet, uncorking the vile and slinging its contents out into the air. The dust hovered for a short period and he was afraid it would be too slow but the animals slowed and gradually slumped to the ground in separate heaps. Zin paused to stare at the sleeping heaps before him then silently cheered before turning to continue down the passage.

Zin made his way down the passage slowly, making sure to avoid traps. He reached down and grasped the two edges of his cloak then tied them together in front of him loosely. Quietly, he moved down the passage, using his senses to find any traps. Strangely enough, there were none. Zin found this very odd but maybe it had something to do with the age of this old place. Small holes in the walls and ceiling were rare but still existed, letting weak rays of early morning sun peek through.

He continued along the walls up the passage until he thought he had reached his destination, a large room at the end of the passage.

Zin slowed to a skulking pace and retreated to the darker parts of the passageway as the sounds of footsteps reached him. It was so slight that it didn’t even get a reaction from the animals; so he reached into the darker parts of his soul and expanded his senses. His pupils dilated and his ears elongated like an elf’s ears until the blunt but pointed tips peeked from his jet black hair.

His hair stood on in, he heard two sets of footsteps instead of one now. The second was so faint that he did not register it before, the sense of anger and death coming from this other character startled him a little. He’d never met one of his kin before, even though, he was a chimera of the oddest heritage. He’d never met any of his kin, until now, or so he feared. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to face those kinds of demons. He decided to follow under the protection of his cloaking spell.

The first figure was a shorter, blonde haired male in about his early twenties. He wore a long, royal red velvet robe with a long trail and thick white fur trimming. His pale blonde hair was even and cleanly cut to reach the base of his neck, while his eyes were such light shade of blue that they almost seemed transparent. A small blood colored pendant that hung on a leather choker around his neck caught Zin’s attention. This must have been the prince, but Zin did not understand the need for the pendant. He focused his senses on it and found that it as a small glass orb filled with blood. Something was very wrong here, but it explained why the vampire was present. They were performing some sort of ceremony or something of the sort. The blood pendant, or ones like it that Zin had seen before, were used in bonding ceremonies.

The footsteps grew faster and louder as they neared him. He chanted very softly and concentrated his energies to cloak himself completely. Spying and skrying were always fun, especially when it helped to prepare him for an upcoming fight. The footsteps were hurried, Zin assumed the racket awoke them; they rushed passed him and into the throne room. Zin followed silently behind them, keeping his senses expanded to catch everything he could. All the way down to the heart beats and breathing, but what seemed odd was that the second character had neither. It was as if he were a ghost. This realization startled Zin and he bristled, that other character was a vampire.

The vampire was taller, but not much taller than Zin, and more slender. Zin assumed the vampire studied the arcane arts or perhaps was a conjurer. Strangely, the vampire wore breeches, a long whit shirt and a leather, long sleeved vest. He didn’t seem to have many weapons on hand besides a long saber at his hip. Zin figure this was a young vampire, possibly still fresh from the grave by vampire years. The vampire’s face looked as if he were still in his very late teens or early twenties; his red hair seemed shorter but was wilder and stuck out in all directions. What gave him away as a vampire was his crimson eyes and lack of breathing or heart beat. He was definitely young, he didn’t even know how to properly disguise himself yet. This made Zin grin, for it gave him a huge advantage. Zin listened carefully as they started talking between each other.

“I know I heard something in here, Gateau! You will not tell me otherwise! My pets will not react if nothing is going on!” the young prince yelled over his shoulder at the vampire, who growled in response.

“But, your Highness, My Lord would have awoken if someone were here!” the vampire spat the words at the young prince. Zin guessed they didn’t get along, but who was this ‘Lord’ the vampire spoke of. No one mentioned a ruler. He was hoping it was just a ruler and not a high level Noble Dead.

The young prince seemed to ignore the vampire’s hateful words then nearly tripped over the slumbering heaps. The vampire grabbed the back of the young prince’s shirt at the last moment and jerked him hard backwards. The young prince wobbled a little then stood straight with a huff, “What in seven hells as happened here?! Do you see what I mean now, Gateau!?”

Vampire shrugged, “They’re sleeping on the job, so?” his words dripped with sarcasm. He obviously could care less for the prince.

They went silent and made their way over to the throne room that held the trapped creature. “Your Highness, we are not allowed to free that creature! You would do well to remember what My Lord command of us after its creation!” the vampire nearly yelled as the prince reached for the lock.

Zin watched quietly from the shadows, the exchange. This creature was made? Why weren’t they allowed to open the cage? Zin watched them carefully as they stood arguing. The creature watched them boredly, but was obviously tense and its black mane bristled sharply.

“I only want to move her to a safer location! She is a huge accomplishment for me and I do not wish to have her killed before she is mine!” the prince argued as he turned to the creature in the cage.

Zin blinked at them. This was strange, and he was no doubt missing something here. He watched the creature as it struggled against the binds, moving slowly to the back of the cage. Her pointed wolf ears were laid back, eyes wide in fear. Or was it revulsion?

The prince moved to mess with the lock on the cage when a tall, cloaked figure stepped from the shadows in the opposite passage. The prince did not seem to notice, but the vampire jumped then hastily moved to bow on one knee as if to royalty. The cloaked figure waved one of its gray-white, bony hands through the air as if batting away a fly. Suddenly, the prince’s body was thrown across the throne room and slid a few feet before stopping near the front door.

Even Zin himself flinched and bit his lip at it. The figure walked forward to the middle of the room. Clad in a long black hooded cloak that trailed on the floor, his appearance was completely hidden from Zin’s view. It almost seemed like this shadow was afraid of the light and did all it could to hide from it.

“Do not act so rashly, you incompetent fool. Our visitor is a simple matter and I promise he will not harm your prized possession.” the man’s voice was smooth and deep but faded as if he were very old. Perhaps he was a sage; to Zin, anything was better than a Noble Dead that old.

“Gateau!” the elder growled out the young vampire’s name and the young vampire tensed.

“Yes, My Lord?” he asked quietly without lifting his head or opening his eyes.

“Entertain our guest while I take care of this ingrate.” the elder growled out then turned to the cowering prince. “You will go to the tower with your possession and wait for further instructions, am I understood?”

The prince nodded then fled quietly, sending a brief glare at Gateau over his shoulder. The prince fled passed Zin’s position and further down the passage and into the darkness.

The elder waited until the prince had left then wave his hand at the snarling blue k9. The snarling ceased as the cage disappeared and Zin guessed it was being moved to the tower.

Gateau rose slowly, his eyes glowing red and locked on Zin‘s location. A weak breeze swirled up suddenly and pushed Zin enough top jostle his hair and clothing. Gateau’s aura changed dramatically as he showed his lengthening and sharpening fangs through a feral growl. Zin’s heightened senses picked up the extending of Gateau’s claws and the tensing and building of his muscles under his straining clothing.

Gateau snarled something in a language Zin didn’t understand but he did understand that whatever this guy had said had caused his spell to drop. Zin tensed, he was visible again.

In a matter of a split second, Gateau launched himself at Zin in a blur of motion. He slashed and grabbed at Zin then resorted to the saber at his hip. He hastily unsheathed the long saber and went at Zin again.

Zin dodged and blocked Gateau’s blows easily. He grinned at Gateau and flashed his elongated fangs when Gateau unsheathed his saber. Zin already knew this fight was as good as over when it started; Gateau was too impatient and hasty to do anything but use his instincts in a fight. Unfortunately, Zin miscalculated the young vampire’s capabilities and it cost him.

Gateau saw the triumph and egotistical pride in Zin’s eyes; it burned him to the core. He made a huge spectacle of letting it bother him, for he knew this would throw Zin off. He kept at this act until Zin dropped his guard enough, then he struck. Lashing his saber down at a deadly speed, he managed to break through Zin’s guard and cut through Zin‘s clothing to the chain mail armor. Gateau knew better than stopping there, his Lord would have his head, so he kept striking and slicing at Zin. He was determined to take this warrior’s head and mount it as a trophy.

Zin started to worry, this guy really meant business. The saber went through his cloak then down to the chain mail. He had to get rid of this nuisance before Gateau actually did serious damage. He continued to block and dodge the blows dealt, that’s all he was allowed at this point.

Gateau made multiple slashes for any vital areas he could reach. After each one was blocked, he tried to slice Zin down the middle but Zin blocked this as well. Gateau used this to his advantage and flipped over Zin, using the momentum from the swing to get over Zin’s head. He landed quickly behind Zin and made a slice for Zin’s neck. Zin turned in time to have the side of his neck receive a shallow wound, but Gateau didn’t stop there. Zin was taken by surprise just long enough for Gateau to make another slice for Zin’s torso and arms. Zin saw the movement and moved to block it, only to have a deeper wound to his left shoulder and some dents in his chain mail.

Things were slipping out of his control; he could feel his inherited nature creeping upon him. He forced it down and continued his fight. This lasted only for a short time, until a strong blast of wind hit him hard like a brick wall, and sent him sprawling.

A soft wind jostled Zin’s hair as he bolted upright. He kicked off of the floor backwards and landed a few feet away then looked up to find the cloaked figure gliding toward them. Gateau paused and his appearance returned to normal except for the sneer he sent Zin.

Zin tensed and his hair stood on in as he drew his new rapier. The cloaked figure was perfectly silent as he glided over to the scene. The figure’s cloak barely rustled as it brushed the ground and the only sound heard was a soft breeze. Zin guessed it was energy in a wind like form that kept him gliding instead of walking.

As the elder neared, Zin’s chimerical heritage crept upon him instantaneously. His senses expanded again, further this time. His teeth all sharpened and lengthened into long, ivory fangs that made speech nearly impossible and his mouth hard to close completely. His ears elongated and the tips grew into dull points, his sense of earring sharpened greatly and he could hear the dull single beat of the elder’s heart. Zin restrained and forced down the instinctive urge to shred this old Noble Dead, as his dragon heritage screamed for.

Natural instinct was hard to ignore, though. In this world, dragons were a race just as humans, vampires and other legendary creatures. Dragons bore a strong loathing for the ‘undead parasites’, as they called them, believed to have been created for the purpose of dealing with the undead. The feeling was mutual between the two races, they got along like werecats and werewolves in close company.

The elder watched Zin carefully from a distance, his eyes and face invisible under the darkness of the surroundings and his cloak. He watched quietly, still, as if waiting for something then finally, he spoke. His voice was full of malice and sarcasm. “Such a pathetic cretin, even worse than a hybrid. You are part of that foul race, are you not?”

Zin growled under his breath but did not answer otherwise. He couldn’t answer in words even if he wanted too. The dragon part of him was reacting badly to this elder. His fangs would not cooperate with him, his body was completely tense. Zin was struggling to hold his humanoid form and be somewhat coherent at the same time.

The elder chuckled lowly at him. The sound made his skin crawl and his vision turn red. “You can not lie to me, boy. I can see how the dragon in you longs to attack me.” The elder grinned, showing only a mouthful of stained brown fangs, as he spoke to Zin. “Let him, boy, and I promise you; you and you’re dragon will rest peacefully for all eternity.”

Zin remained still, a guttural growl rose from the pit of his gut. His vision was still red and the dragon still trying to force its way free.

The elder chuckled then swiftly waved his hand through the air. A gale followed the movement, and Zin dug his elongated claws into the stone floors. The claws left deep ruts in the stone as the gale pushed him backward. He growled deeply and felt his skin start to crawl and roughen. Large, metal black scales started to form on his skin. They framed his face, eyes, joints, and plated his torso like dragon armor.

The elder paused and his grin faded as a sudden tension passed over him. He grinned and glided closer to the crouching mercenary. A slashing sound followed by the sounds of tearing clothing and flesh sounded and startled the elder, causing him to stumble slightly.

Zin growled deeply and stood, his rapier gripped tightly in his right hand. He grinned menacingly and rushed at the elder, aiming for the slash already present in cloak and flesh beneath.

The elder froze and stared at the chimera boy. The boy slashed him faster than even the Noble Dead could see, let alone detect or predict. The elder moved aside as Zin rushed him. Dodging and attacking, even with spells, became increasingly difficult as Zin’s bloodlust and rage built. Eventually, the elder could do nothing more than dodge the boy’s constant and wild attacks.

Zin lost all awareness as his dragon took over and started after the Noble Dead before him. His vision turned crimson, as did his irises as his pupils turned to wide slits. His movements were blurs in his eyes as he slashed and attacked the elder with his sword, claws and fangs. Anything sharp and unyielding he could use, he used against the old dead man.


The elder, seemingly fed up with Zin, raised his hand to Zin’s face and yelled something in the same language the younger vampire had used. A strong gale followed and blew Zin into the opposite wall so hard he nearly went completely through it. When the elder was sure Zin stopped moving, he grinned then barked a command to the younger vampire to take care of the body.