Vampire Hunter D Fan Fiction ❯ Vampire Hunter Ramika ❯ Into the Dark Mist ( Chapter 4 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter 4: Into the Dark Mist

Ramika was careful to ride mostly at night, unless the day was cloudy. She was very careful to keep her visits to villages brief, and only to gather supplies. She crossed deserts full of ancient ruins, lush green forests full of animal life. Ramika was awed by the differences in climate as she traveled.
In retrospect, she felt that all of those years under his father's wing were more suffocation than protection. Magnus did not want his daughter to know about the world around her. He was afraid she would leave him, or kill him.
After man weeks of travel, she where a raging river cut a deep gorge. The sight was breathtaking.
She followed the river upstream until it forked. As indicated on the map Spenser gave her, the hunting lodge lied on the smaller fork of the river. She was on the wrong side of the river and only one flimsy rope bridge to cross.
Ramika covered her horse's eyes and slowly led it across the bridge. She wished she could cover her own eyes. The drop down to the river was long, and the bridge looked like it had not been used in years. The mossy boards creaked loudly every step she took.
"Just be careful how you step, and don't look down." she kept telling herself.
As she and the horse made it safely across, Ramika breathed a sigh of relief. She looked ahead and saw the deep valleys in the distance. Ramika reached into her pocket and made sure she still had the note Carmen had instructed her to carry.
Ramika was traveling very close to the valley of the Barberoy. Carmen wanted to make sure they did not hamper Ramika's progress. Carmen had been trying to touch and weave the dreams of any Barberoy citizen she still knew to reside in the valley, but wanted to make sure Ramika was not harmed.
Ramika doubted any note would be enough to stop the Barberoy if they had orders to kill her, but she did not fault Carmen for trying.
As the sight of the windmills came into view, Ramika quickened the pace of the horse, and turned down the narrow path that lead to lake not far away. She hated having to take that path. It left her vulnerable, but any other path would take her straight through the heart of Barberoy land. There were no other plausible options.
As she galloped through the path, she felt that she was being watched. Ramika slowed the horse down to a trot and kept an eye out for an ambush.
"Who passes through the land of the Barberoy?" a voice echoed off the steep sides of the ravine.
"Ramika Lee." she shouted back to the stones.
"All who pass must pay a toll, Ramika Lee."
"Do you still follow the covenant with the vampires?" she said thoughtfully.
"That we do. Have you a quarrel?"
"Nay. I have lain asleep for many years, imprisoned and recently escaped."
"Ye are a vampire then?"
"The daughter of Magnus Lee." She listened to muffled whispers bouncing off of the stones as she slowed to a stop.
"Magnus and his daughter are dead, destroyed by a hunter. Prove your claim."
"Magnus Lee was killed at his wedding to a human. The hunter who called himself D. I was buried in the rubble of the great hall. It allowed me to escape the flames of destruction. My lover, Rin Gessi, was killed by my father as my father made his way to the great hall."
More muffled whispers sounded as a small group of horribly mutated snake-like creatures slithered their way down the ravine and into the path.
One of the creatures raised back high on her tail so that her humanlike torso stood straight and her eyes were even with Ramika's.
Ramika patted the skittish horse as the snake creatures scrutinized her closely.
The one looking her in the eye smiled. "Gessi has been dead a long time. Few know how he actually died. I smell your vampire blood, but you are a Dhamphile."
"Magnus kept that hidden."
"Who was your mother?"
"I do not know, father destroyed her not long after I was born."
The snake woman nodded and waved a hand to her underlings. "She may pass."
"But mistress, she has not shown enough proof, she has not proven her story."
"She is a female and a dhamphile. It is enough."
The underlings slithered away as the leader whispered, "I saw the dream."
Ramika nodded as the lead snake-woman slowly backed away.

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Exhaustion came over Ramika in a rush. She was not sure if it was heat syndrome or the simple weariness of travel, but if she traveled much further, she would fall off her horse.
She found a copse of trees that surrounded a larger one. The tree near the center had a hollow near the base. Since Ramika did not wish to bury herself, she felt that sitting in the hollow and covering herself with mulch should suffice.
Her horse stood nearby munching on sweet grass as Ramika pulled her hat over her eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.
"Shh, you idiot, the thing might wake up." A voice rang through her near unconscious mind.
"Keep the horse quiet."
"A vampire can not wake once asleep in the sleeping forest. The ancient spell is absolute. Let's be done with it."
Ramika tipped back her hat and frowned as she opened her eyes. The four men jumped back away from her with weapons drawn .
"You can't have my horse." She said as she stood and brushed herself off.
"We don't want your horse, vampire, we want your life." One of the men blurted out.
"Ah, hunters. You are here to kill any unsuspecting vampire making their way to the lodge. I have no wish to harm you, but I will defend myself."
"A vampire in the sleeping forest, telling us a lie." The leader said calmly as he raised an odd looking gun. "Come no nearer."
"You have me at a disadvantage sir, but believe me, I am a hunter not unlike yourself, although my prices for my services are much higher than you ruffians charge, I am sure."
"Hunters know better than to fall asleep here." The leader said calmly. He was dressed much better and somewhat differently than the others. Split robes of green held by a wide belt to keep the tails from becoming entwined in his brown tight breeches. A rich brown cape and hood his facial features.
Ramika removed her hat and her weapons slowly and put them in front of her for the bedraggled men to inspect. She suspected it was not the wisest of moves. Sabattian had warned her that this sort of thing happened frequently, and it was best to keep calm in the situation. "I did not know, I have never been to this place before. My employer simply gave me a map."
One of the hunters grabbed her sword. He marveled at the hand guard as he pulled it from its sheath. "Boss, she's got a holy sword."
"Let me see that," The leader lowered his gun and grabbed the sword carefully by the base with his leather-gloved hands. "Keep her covered while I see." He slowly put his gun on the ground as one of the other men raised a bow with an arrow at the ready.
The leader looked at the runes carved near the hilt, and the ornamentation around the pommel. His eyebrows raised slightly as he calmly looked up. "Give her back her things. No truly evil being can lay hands on a sword like this. I know the enchantment well."
"But boss.."
The boss growled as he turned, and gave the sword back to Ramika with the pommel towards her. A show of trust for any warrior. "My name is Rodgen of the wood. " He said as he removed his hood revealing lush, curly brown hair and deep blue eyes, "Hunter, ranger and sorcerer extraordinaire. These are my friends, Mathew is the dark haired one, Mark is the redhead and Luke is the tawny haired one. They are hunters now but were mere nameless bandits when they graced my forest. Where did you get a draconian sword?"
"I found it when I was most in need." She said as she sheathed her sword and returned her gear to the places it was before she removed the gear from her person.
"That is how it should be. You are a dhamphile, are you not? Only a dhamphile can make use of that sword's full potential."
Ramika gasped at Rodgen's words. "Yes. My name is Ramika Lee."
Rodgen got a shocked look on his face. "Impossible, Ramika Lee is dead. She died in the destruction of Lee's castle!"
"Not dead. I survived by a pure stroke of luck. The room above me, that fell on top of me, was warded. It saved me. I merely slept and healed."
"Now you are a hunter." Rodgen nodded. "I had often wanted to meet you, and regretted your supposed death. "
"Am I so famous then?"
"Not so famous. You and I have something in common. You see, I am also a dhamphile, and a child of Magnus Lee. I am your older half brother."
"Boss!" Mathew slapped his knee. "Should we celebrate this family reunion?"
"No, we don't have time. Anastasia and those she draws to her lodge corrupt the forest daily. I am sorry to shock you , Ramika. My mother was a simple concubine. She escaped here, to the sleeping forest, when your father became fascinated with your mother."
"It is hard to believe, but I have seen and been told many things since I woke that are hard to believe. So, Anastasia is the name Radu's widow uses these days."
"So, that is who she is and why she has so much power. I see we have the same goal. I want her dead."
"We are in agreement in that."
"Good. Now first, let me help you rewrap the ornamentation to your sword. It will you no good to go into her lair with it on your hip."
"Boss, can we at least make camp for a while." Luke complained, "I am bone weary."
"Yes. Ramika chose a good spot. Easy to defend. If she had wanted to kill us, we would already be in little pieces."
"Here boss, here is your gun back." Mark handed Rodgen the gun butt first.
"Good fellow. Not that he could have used this gun anyway. It is imbued with magic, and can only be used effectively by a dhamphile. It uses magic, not ammunition. Since I am one of the few who still knows the true ways of magic, only I can use it."
"Clever."
"I use it much more than I do this," Rodgen pushed his cloak to the side to reveal that he also wielded a draconian sword. "Mine is called Melos, the melody. I only know of one other besides you and myself that wields one of the five draconian swords."
"D."
"Yes. His is called Imperium Rex. The most powerful of the five swords."
"D's two sons wield the other two swords. They are waiting to come to my aid once I can locate their father. He has been imprisoned by Radu's widow, and put on display for her patrons."
Rodgen gasped, "She is drawing off of him. "
"I'm to my bed, boss," Mark said as he rolled up in a ragged blanket. "I will see you in the morning."
"You other two should get some sleep as well. I know how you hate to watch me eat, and I am certain my sister eats just as I do."
"Raw." Ramika said flatly.
Rodgen smiled," Raw. I will go get some small game for us."

***********

Ramika and Rodgen discussed plans for entering the lodge long after the three humans fell asleep. Rodgen instructed his men that he and Ramika would sleep the next day, to be ready to put any plan they had into motion once night fell once again.
The forest became blanketed in a strange mist, making both of them sleepy, but Rodgen told Ramika how to fend off the effects. "My mother was a sorceress, from a long line of sorcerers. Her great grandmother put the spell on the forest, to protect it. It cost that sorceress her life, and her very soul, thus the spell can never be removed. It was to protect her clan from the vampire lords who threatened to destroy them. My mother wandered off, in a fit of rebellion. You know the rest."
"So you do actually own this forest."
"Yes, everything except the lodge itself, deep within. Somehow, Anastasia pushed the spell away from the place. She could not destroy the spell, but she uses something to create a bubble around the lodge, making her, and those within immune to the sleep." Rodgen became agitated and clenched his fists as he stared into the crackling fire.
"What is the matter?"
"I was born in the lodge. By right, it is my home. I want her gone, and her putrid stench out of it."
"We may have to destroy the building to kill her."
"It doesn't matter. The house can be rebuilt, the tunnels cleaned out or re-dug. The house sits on a node, a place where chi lines connect. When I can get to the place, my magic powers become great. Those powers allow me to more effectively protect the forest, and keep it a sanctuary. Unfortunately, I have been unable to get close. She has servants who watch for me from all sides. So far, Anastasia's servants have yet to hunt me directly, but I know that time will come. " He clenches his hands.
"How long do you think it will take D's sons to get here? It would be better if we were all together. She is just too powerful to take on by ourselves."
"I am certain Sabattian and Spenser will get here as quickly as they possibly can. Sabattian told me that he and Spenser had problems getting close to the lodge. Is it possible that it was the spell on the forest, and not Anastasia's power?"
"I do not doubt that in the least. Too bad I did not find them when they attempted to free their father. But, if they are half as good as D, then I understand why I did not."
"Does Anastasia know you are Magnus Lee's son?"
"Doubtful," He said as he stretched out his legs and yawned, "she does however, know I am a Dhamphile. It is probably the only reason she has not hunted me down already."
"Dawn is coming, Rodgen. We need to sleep. "
"I will wake Mark, he is a morning person. Sweet dreams."

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