User:Damon/The Vampire's Tale/5

Here it is! Part Five of The Vampire's Tale. As always, there is that Talk Page tab that you can click if you wish to critique this part of Tale for me. We finally have one piece to go, Part six, and then The Vampire's Tale will be completed, and it will be on to another project. Yes, I have another project in mind. Several actually, but you'll need to wait and see. ;)

Enjoy,
--Snowmane^(talk) 08:29, 17 January 2013 (GMT)

The Vampire's Tale: Stories

The sun was finally setting, and day was turning to night. Gallen could feel his heart almost exploding with anxiety from anticipation of what was to come. Jean, on the other hand, had little difficulty maintaining his composure as he buttoned up a rather fine silk shirt and pulled a large traveler's cloak over it. Then again, he wasn't the one who was on the edge of an emotional breakdown, and he wasn't quite so emotionally attached to the mission at hand.

As Gallen gathered up the scrolls and potions given to him earlier in the day, Jean casually walked up to a mirror and played with his hair for a moment before giving up and just pulling it back into a tight pony tail. He couldn't help but notice Gallen's confused look as he glanced up from the knapsack that would carry their gear and provisions. After a moment, Gallen finally had to say something.

"You're dressed rather finely for such a journey, Why, may I ask?"

He replied simply, "Convenience. Who would suspect a nobleman and his armed escort if we were seen on the road? Two men in rags sneaking through the wood would look rather suspicious, wouldn't you think? Three people are dead. Your wife, your daughter, and I read in the Black Horse Courier on my doorstep minutes ago that there is a dead city guard. There will be far less questions asked if a Blade is escorting a nobleman down the road."

Nodding in agreement, Gallen threw the knapsack over his shoulder and donned his helmet before following Jean out into the cool winter air to the stables. As usual, the vampire was right. While Cheydinhal's guard were questioning the other travelers as they walked in and out of various inns and shops, nobody batted an eye at the Breton in silks and a hood and his Imperial escort.

The Black Waterside Stables were closed when Jean and Gallen got there. The gates were locked, the house sat dark. Gallen and Jean walked up to the door, and Gallen tapped his shield on the door frame, making a rather loud bang on the hinges, but nobody answered. Jean walked around to the window to look in, and saw in the dim light that the one room shack was empty.

"Gallen, he's not here. I think he's in town. His smell is all over this place, and it's one that was in town minutes ago."

Gallen rubbed his hands together to warm them up a bit before replying, "What do you suppose we do?"

"How soon do you want to pursue Crimson?"

"Fast as we can."

Nodding, Jean walked up to Gallen who followed him to the stable gate. Looking around to verify that nobody was nearby, Jean suddenly paused to concentrate, and his hands turned a brilliant orange as conjured fire burned the wood around the metal lock, enabling him to kick the gate open and walk in.

The two horses were feisty, the fire startled them and they bolted upright and started to neigh and get rowdy. Closing his eyes and focusing again, Jean began to mumble under his breath and the horses started to calm down, undoubtedly under the influence of some kind of magic. Gallen didn't understand magic. His years of service in the Blades put him around many mages, but he was never able to learn himself or even comprehend the awesome power that a person like Jean could wield.

Now that they were able to get close enough, Jean pulled the horses up alongside the gate while Gallen pulled two saddles from stable. in a matter of minutes, they were on the move.

The horses were fast. Cheydinhal was known for its fast horses, though Gallen had never been able to afford one himself. It only took them a few hours at a fast pace, and they were on the Red Ring Road near the way shrine to Julianos. The horses were tiring, so Jean suggested they take a break, and they dismounted and set up a campfire near the way shrine to warm up.

Jean reached into the bag and passed some wine and bread over to Gallen before sitting down on a downed log and staring off into the distance.

After a few minutes of eating silently, Gallen finally spoke up.

"Jean-Pierre", he said, "tell me about yourself."

Jean stood up and walked to the fire to sit near Gallen, though significantly further away from the flames.

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know. What's it like being a vampire?"

"There are days where it's a blessing, and there are days where I feel cursed. I miss the sun, for one, and I can't be out in the sun unless I am heavily robed to shield myself from the burning heat it radiates. I loved the sun. On the brightest, warmest days when I wasn't in the field for County Kvatch, I would be out fishing. Now, I am house bound during the day unless I really have to travel, and when I do travel, it's almost painful even cloaked, to be in the sun. It wasn't always like that. When you're a fledging, your feeding will sustain you in the sun and you can live a fairly normal life provided your feedings are regular. The older you get, the less your feedings will help you against the sun, but at the same time, you're becoming a stronger vampire as your powers expand."

"What do you feel about immortality? The concept of being around until the end of time or your life is taken?"

"It's lonely. There are days where I want to see how civilization advances, and how the Empire will respond to the events thrown at it, but at the same time, I hate it. I have to watch my family and friends die, while I am left here to wander aimlessly."

Jean stood up and doused the fire.

" We can talk about this later. It's time we got moving."

Nodding, Gallen stood up to gather everything up, and they mounted the horses to take off riding again. As they rode, Jean asked to know Gallen better, and Gallen replied slowly, deliberately.

"There's not much to say about me. I was raised in Stros M'Kai, I enlisted in the Imperial Army at 19, and I've been in the military since then. It wasn't until only a few years ago that I found time to start a family. I met Amelia when I was attached to Cheydinhal's garrison shortly before the Oblivion Crisis on a routine mission to secure the Castle for the Royal Family to make a visit.

"We fell in love, and after over three decades of service to the Emperor, I secured my discharge and we were wed. I was happier than I've ever been, and I was overjoyed when our daughter was born. I almost missed it. I was in Bruma at the time, and I got word that she had been in labor for a long time, and I managed to secure a mage attached to Cloud Temple to give me a teleportation. I arrived just in time.

"She was my life. I could not describe how overjoyed my little Rosy made me…"

Gallen trailed off, seeing Jean's discomfort.

"I'm sorry", he quickly said. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Jean took a breath and wiped his eye.

"It's fine, it's fine. Continue on."

"Are you sure?"

Gallen nodded slowly, and took a took a sip from the wine bottle attached to his saddle, before clearing his throat and continuing:

"There's not much left to say. We did everything together, and were never apart. The couple of weeks she left to go see her family with the baby was the first time she had been gone for so long. I was sick the day of the trip, and I stayed behind to tend to the house. I was looking forward to it. To my girls returning to me, and then…"

This time it was Gallen's turn to trail off, and Jean leaned over to pat his shoulder before looking ahead at the road.

There was some small talk of strategy, but overall the remainder of the journey was quiet. Too quiet. As minutes turned to hours and the sun slowly rose up over the forests to the east, neither of them said a word. They both knew what was about to happen.

They finally reached it. A sign on the main road pointing off to a fork in the road and the inn a few hundred feet into the trees.

They dismounted their horses and smacked with Gallen's shield to get them moving. The horses weren't going to be needed anymore. Vampires had sensitive hearing, and the last thing the two wanted were horses galloping up to the inn.

Jean pulled the cloak tighter around himself and moved into the dense trees motioning for Gallen to follow him. The two moved up beside the inn, and Jean gracefully vaulted the fence to move behind the inn. Seeing what he wanted, a few windows peering into the inn, he glanced around inside before slowly moving around smelling the air carefully.

He nodded to Gallen. Though he couldn't see the vampire, he was definitely in there.

Jean hopped back over the fence took Gallen by the shoulder, leading him away from the building.

"He's definitely here. Wait here. I want to scout it out, and I'll come back out in a few minutes. If anything sounds wrong, come in weapons drawn."

Nodding, Gallen donned his Blades helm and Jean walked up to the door and entered the inn.