I'm back again. And you thought you could get rid of me so easy. Guess again, I'm here forever. (insert evil laughter). Excuse that, I'm just a tad odd today. But that's good, oddity is fun.
Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me about the last installment, and the ones before that. You guys have helped a lot. In particular I want to thank LHW and Kenitra, as well as Aphrodite. There are more, many more. But I can't think of your names right now. There are also a number of stories I should recommend, but I can only think of two off the top of my head. BSB and Nsync Chronicles is a good one and so is Millenium Love. Check them out. It's worth the time. If I forgot you, I'm sorry.
The usual disclaimer applies. This story isn't meant to implay anything about the sexuality of the members of Nsync. If you're not old enough or it's illegal in your area to read this story. Please leave. This story will contain homosexuality. If that offends you, boy are you in the wrong place. I use some concepts in this story from the RPG Rifts. All trademarks belong to Palladium books and Kevin Siembieda.
Enjoy, Rune
PART FOUR
The cool desert breeze blew through the camp that Justin and Pyre had set up. Both of them had agreed that the town they had been staying in wasn't right for them. Neither felt overly comfortable there, but had stayed until Justin stopped flying up to the ceiling. Thankfully Justin had learned quickly and was fine by the time the sun rose. They had left later that day, after securing some supplies for traveling.
Justin had grown accustom to the heat of the desert, so traveling during the day wasn't a problem any more. Actually he wasn't affected by the cold either. The first few nights traveling with Pyre had been awful. He would freeze during the night and roast during the day. That had all changed when he had been given the ring. He assumed that his immunities were a result of the ring's power.
"Justin?" Pyre's voice broke through. "I've something I want to ask you."
"Huh?" Justin said as he snapped back to reality. "What is it?"
"Are you comfortable traveling with me?"
"What?" Justin said. Dread began to fill him. What if Pyre wanted him to leave. He wasn't ready to brave this world alone. He needed Pyre to be his friend.
"It's a simple question. Do you like traveling with me? Do you want to continue traveling with me?"
"Yeah. I'm like traveling with you. I've only known you a week, but I like you. You're a good friend. I want to stay with you, if you'll have me. Why do you ask?"
"I was hoping you'd say that." Pyre smiled and pulled something from his pack. "I was wondering if you wanted to be my partner."
"You're what?" Justin asked surprised.
"You know, a partnership. Where two people enter into a contract and help each other out." Pyre grinned at Justin. "It's really not that difficult to understand."
"Shut-up." Justin punched Pyre in the shoulder. He'd gotten control over how much force he used, so Pyre didn't go flying. "What do you do?"
"I'm a vampire hunter," Pyre replied. "These lands are full of them, and there'd be a lot more of them if people didn't try to stop them. Most people are too afraid of them to try to do anything. And I guess it's to be expected. Vampires aren't the easiest things to deal with if you don't know how."
"So basically you want me to be your vampire hunting buddy?"
"That's one way of putting it."
"Cool. I never thought I'd end up like a Belmont."
"Who?" Pyre asked with utter confusion in his voice.
"Oh. Where I come from there are some video games that have a character called Simon Belmont in them. He's a vampire hunter, his entire family are, and he goes up against Dracula."
"Whose Dracula?"
"You don't know who Dracula is?" Justin asked in amazement. "He's the most famous vampire ever. He's like the vampire king."
"The intelligence?" Pyre asked. It was Justin's turn to look puzzled. "Oh, you don't know. Vampires are created in a world when a powerful intelligence reaches out and touches a mortal mind. It offers that mind great power in return for servitude. If the mind accepts then the intelligence transforms it into a master vampire. The master then begins spreading the plague by biting people. When there are enough vampires the intelligence can come to that world physically. So the intelligence is a king of sorts."
"Uh, I guess so," Justin said. "But I think Dracula would be more like a master. He's powerful, but he didn't create vampires. He just became one."
Pyre shrugged. "Sure. So do you really want to be my partner?"
"Of course I do," Justin said. "It'd be so cool. And who knows, I might actually meet up with my friends. That'd be nice."
Pyre nodded and handed Justin a small wooden box. "Those should help with fighting vampires."
Inside the box were ten silver claws. Justin had to laugh, they reminded him of the claws Catwoman had worn in Batman Returns. Each was well crafted and looked sharp enough to cut through steel. "Wow!" He pulled out one of the claws and put it over his index finger. It was a perfect fit. He quickly put the rest on his right hand and scratched at the air a few times. The claws showed no sign of falling off. "Are these for real?"
"Yep. They're real silver," Pyre told him. "And they've been enchanted to make sure they won't break."
"You know," Justin said as he put the claws back in the box. "As morbid as this sounds, I can't wait to try those out." Pyre laughed. "Thanks Pyre."
"For what?"
"All of this. You've been a great friend."
"No problem Justin. I'm glad I ran off that woman when I met you. You've been an interesting person to be around."
"Fayth," JC called. "Wait up. I want to talk to you." JC had finished his lesson with Ivar and had gone looking for Fayth. He'd just found her near a network of caves. Everything was different underwater. There was no real up or down. And he still couldn't get used to the fish swimming around him all the time. The sun was just starting to set, not that that had much impact on where he was swimming. Though the shadows were starting to encroach on the caves.
"What do you want Josh," Fayth practically spat at him. "Why are you here?"
"I wanted to talk to you Fayth," Josh said as he swam up next to her. His swimming skills were getting better, but he still couldn't keep up with her if she decided she really didn't want to talk to him.
"About what?"
"That," Josh told her. "Why do you hate me so much? You hated me the second I walked.er.swam through your door with your father. I haven't done anything to you and you hate me. What's up with that?"
Fayth arched an eyebrow. "You're human Josh, that's enough for me."
"You hate me simply because I'm human? Something I have no control over whatsoever? You're telling me you hate me because you're a bigot? "
"I am not a bigot Josh," Fayth hissed at him. "I hate you because of what you did to my mother. Nothing more nothing less."
"No you hate what happened to your mother and you blame humans in general," Josh retorted. He was starting to get angry. "You can't stand the fact you were powerless to help one of the people who you loved. You can't punish the people who were directly responsible for your mother's death, so you punish every human that comes along instead."
"And what if I do?" Fayth snapped. "That's my business."
"Let me tell you something Fayth. Every human isn't out there for the soul purpose of killing your loved ones. The universe doesn't revolve around you. People get hurt and people die. We don't have any control over that. I've got friends some where in this world and I don't even know if they're alive. I could blame the eel-people just because they were the first things I saw in this world. But I don't. And do you know why?"
"Why?" Fayth asked with sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"Because I realize that there are some good people out there. Yes, there are some bad people. But you're never going to find one of the good ones if you don't stop hating every human that comes along. Not all of them are evil."
"Good speech human." A soft voice said. A dark shape loomed in the shadows of one the cave mouths. "Very good indeed."
The shape moved out of the shadows. It was a giant shark, easily a fifty feet long and ten feet across. It's jaws alone would have been able to snap a grown man in two without difficulty. It's skin was a dark gray and it almost appeared to have no eyes at all. It disturbed JC that the shark was talking. Not because it was talking, but that it was actually doing it. The mouth of a shark isn't built with the concept of talking in mind, but this creature was doing very good job of speaking.
"A shadow shark," Fayth hissed under her breath.
The shark looked at her. "Quite right. You two have arrived just in time actually. You two are going to deal with a small problem I have."
"Really?" Josh asked cautiously.
"Yes. I'm rather hungry at the moment and you're going to solve that problem for me." Somehow the shark managed to smile. It was a truly disturbing sight. Rows of teeth gleamed in the dim light.
"Josh, it get stronger in the shadows," Fayth whispered to him. "You get some light here. I'll set up something else to buy us some time to work out a better plan."
JC nodded and quietly began singing. The shark noticed him and started to swim forward. There was a flash and the shadows were gone. A ball of light hung above JC's head. He moved it mentally and it set it above the shark's body. He sang a few more notes and the ball moved when the shark did. Always staying above it.
The shark noticed the ball and swam in a few circles trying to shake it. Fayth moved herself the other side of the shark while JC just watched the creature in awe. It was performing physical feats that were impossible. It went from being completely still to swimming at incredible speeds in less then a foot. To top it off, the shark was spinning in circles so tight that it should have snapped in two.
Fayth began singing her own song as the shark stopped spinning. The creature oriented on JC. "That was not a bright idea human." It lunged toward him but stopped suddenly. A number of seaweed plants had attached themselves to it's tail.
"Josh move out of the way," Fayth called. More seaweed attached itself to the shark preventing it from moving. JC swam out of the shark's range, but made sure to keep it completely in sight.
Fayth had already started another song and was ignoring him now. It was a shorter song, but made shivers run up his spine. She held the last note. The longer she held it the higher it got. She abruptly shut her mouth and a wave pulsed through the water. It slammed into the shark, hard. Because of the weed-snare it was in, the shark could only rock in place. JC guessed that the force of the pulse would have sent it into one of the nearby rocks.
"Would you mind helping me?" Fayth asked. "Or is that thought just to much for your mind to handle?"
"Just keep it busy," JC snapped back. He opened himself to his emotions and sang them into a message. His voice rose high enough to drown out the shark's struggling. When he finished a sound wave moved away from him in all directions. "That should get someone's attention. FAYTH!"
While he had been singing a distress call the shark had broken free of it's snare and was now swimming after Fayth. It easily caught up to her and opened its jaws to rip her tail off.
Without thinking JC started swimming toward them. "The sun is yellow, the ocean blue, the grass is green, what lovely hues." The water around Fayth hardened as the jaws snapped shut. The shark grunted in surprise. It opened its jaws and closed them quickly again. Fayth's tail was fine. She pulled it away from the shark's mouth and slapped the creature with it. Fayth turned sharply and swam into a nearby crevice.
The shark shook its head to clear it. By the time it had recovered itself Fayth was safely out of reach. It turned toward JC with its jaws opened. The teeth were even more terrifying when they were moving toward you. He started swimming backward trying to get some momentum, but the shark was closing to quickly. He closed his eyes and prayed.
There was the sound of something being struck and a gasp of pain. JC slowly opened his eyes. The shark had suddenly relocated itself alongside some sharp rocks. It lay there a moment before shakily swimming away.
A naked man floated in the water to JC's left. No hair touched his ebony black skin. The skin around his left eye and cheekbone was white. It made an interesting contrast. He was in perfect physical condition, and didn't seem disturbed that he was naked in the presence of other people.
"Fayth," the man called. "Come out now. The shark is gone."
"Erastus?" Fayth called as she pulled herself out of the crevice she'd dived into earlier. "Is that you?"
"Yes child, it is. Now get moving. Your father will not be impressed by this incident." Erastus turned to JC. "Next time move when a shark is about to eat you. Closing your eyes will do nothing to aid you."
"I knew you wouldn't be any help," Fayth snickered.
Erastus gazed levelly at Fayth. "Actually he's the reason you're both alive. He sent the call out and I heard it. You two both are too inexperienced to be tackling a shadow shark by yourselves. What were you both doing out here alone?"
JC blushed slightly. Thankfully Erastus hadn't stopped looking at Fayth and she was to busy studying the rocks to notice him. "I followed her," he explained. "I wanted to talk to her and I found her here. We were talking and that shark showed up."
"Of course," Erastus said. He seemed to know there was something more, but didn't press the issue. "Ivar will want to speak with you both, and I want to talk to him as well."
Lance pulled his knees tighter to his chest. He had run from Selvar a few hours before and had come across this library. Normally libraries fascinated him, but he just found the farthest corner and curled up in it. The last rational thought he had thought through was locking the door. He'd done that two hours before. He hadn't move since.
"Lance?" Maria called softly. The petite servant girl stood at the end of the aisle of shelves. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you."
"Go away," he whispered. "I don't want to talk to anyone."
"Funny," she said as she came toward him. "Selvar said the same thing a little while ago. But he needed to talk. Just like you do. He told me what happened Lance."
"Really? Did he tell you about all of the things that he did. All of thing atrocities that he committed? Did he tell you that?"
"Yes, Lance. And he told me more. I know more about Selvar then you do Lance. We've been friends for a very long time. All you saw was part of his past. You don't truly know the man."
"I know enough to hate what he is, " Lance whispered. "A monster."
"Listen to me," Maria said forcefully. "Why do you think that Selvar helped you in those woods? Why do you think he helped you? He could have just killed you in the forest. Or he could have brought you back here and tortured you. But he didn't did he?" She waited for a response, but didn't get one. "No, he didn't. Did you question why he hasn't harmed you the entire time you've been here? That thought hasn't crossed your mind, has it?" She paused again. "Well, has it? Answer me!"
"NO it hasn't. Are you happy now?" Lance shouted at her. "Are you happy to know that I haven't questioned why a murder hasn't killed me yet?"
"Think about it Lance," Maria said softly. "Think for just a moment why he hasn't done anything to hurt you. He's gone out of his way to make you comfortable. None of his minions are here. He's opened himself completely to you. If someone were to attack the castle right now, we'd be in trouble. Serious trouble. We'd win, but we'd take loses because the castle's normal defenders have been moved."
"Why?"
"Because they make you uncomfortable. Lance, Selvar is a necromancer. And a damn good one, but he's not evil. At least not any more," Maria whispered.
"What happened to him?" Lance asked quietly. "What changed?"
"A spell," Maria replied helping Lance to his feet. "One simple incantation destroyed a monster and created a man. He was attacking a village. I forget exactly what the village had done, but it had earned his wrath. He was striking a villager down when the town fool revealed himself to be a dragon. The dragon cast a spell on Selvar. In a moment Selvar relived every atrocity he had ever committed."
"So? What would that have done to him?" Lance asked as he sat down in one of the chairs at a library table. "He wasn't affected by them the first time. Why would the second time be any different?"
Maria smiled as she sat down across from Lance. "Because this time he experienced the events from his vicitms' eyes. In an instant he relived everything. He was horrified that he had done these things. Normally the spell's effects only last a few minutes, maybe a few hours at most. For some reason Selvar reacted more powerfully to the spell. The effects were permanent. It's been over two centuries and Selvar still hates what he did. He's never forgiven himself for it. I doubt he ever will."
"So a magic spell made him the way he is," Lance asked. "And is that supposed to make it all better?"
"Not it isn't," Maria snapped. "That spell didn't change him directly. For one moment it let him see the world differently. He made the choice to keep looking that way. He could have gone back to the way he normally thought, but he didn't. He's trying to repent for his sins. But he won't accept forgiveness. And that alone deserves some understanding."
"How do you know all of this? Did he tell you everything? He could be lying you know."
"Selvar has never told me about his past in detail. I knew he did some bad things, but he never told me exactly what. I know what happened to him because I was there. I saw him struck down with my own eyes. I touched his mind and knew what he was going through, and I knew he had forever changed. I slipped into the village and took him away. It was hard at first, I had to stop him from committing suicide. In time, he saw that he could continue living. If only to make amends."
"Are you an elf too?" Lance asked. "Selvar said he was over three hundred. You don't look that old."
"Thank you," Maria blushed slightly. "A woman is a mysterious creature." She stood and walked over to a shelf. She scanned it for a moment and pulled down a number of books. She set them on the table and pushed them toward Lance. "I suggest that you at least repair the door before you leave."
"Leave?" Lance asked.
"That is what you were thinking isn't it? You were going to leave. That way you won't have to deal with a monster."
Lance hung his head. "I'm sorry Maria. I didn't think things through. He made mistakes. But I did too."
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. Selvar is. Though I'd read up on diabolism before you do. That way you could at least understand how much damage you've done to the door."
"Diabolism?"
"Rune magic. It takes symbols and charges them with magical energy," Maria explained. "The symbols on the door were magical runes. You shouldn't have been able to open the door, but you overloaded the magic. You seem to have a touch for rune magic. You might just be able to fix the door. It's the least you can do."
"I guess so," Lance opened one of the books he'd been given. It was a thick leather bound tome. The first few pages were covered with nonsensical scrawling. A few pages in it started to make sense to him. Maria was right, he would have to fix the door. After that he would talk to Selvar.
The soft snores from Chris caused Evelyn to smile. She carefully pushed the blanket around his shoulders and lightly kissed his forehead. Chris snuggled into the warmth of the blanket without waking. She stepped over to Joey and made sure his blanket was tucked around him before kissing his forehead as well.
"They're so innocent when they're asleep," she murmured to herself. "I hope they stay that way forever Daryl." She quietly backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.
It had taken some time to get Chris calm enough to sleep. He may not be five years old, but he had the energy of a child at times. It was endearing at times. She finally just drilled him on the candle until he was exhausted. He had gotten it to light several times before he went to bed.
Evelyn took her cloak from its hook. She gave the room a quick glance to make sure everything was settled. It was. She wrapped the cloak around her shoulders as she stepped out into the winter night.
It was snowing outside, but there was no wind. She didn't bother with a telekinetic shield to block the snow. She'd long ago learned that these situations didn't need her enormous psionic power. Instead she just shut the cold out with her cloak and ignored the occasional piece of snow that worked its way up her leg.
She moved away from the cabin and into the dark forest. The darkness didn't bother her. Evelyn had never been afraid of the dark. She would occasionally scan the area with her mind to make sure nothing was in the area. Nothing dangerous ever was. The local wildlife was either sleeping or uninterested in her. She wouldn't be bothered.
Her destination appeared ahead of her between two large trees. She had traveled this route so many times she could have done it blindfolded. There were times she wished she could forget that this place existed. But she never had, and never would.
Evelyn pushed onward and entered the cave. A small snowdrift had collected in its mouth. She stepped over it and continued. Just inside the mouth she picked up a torch. She concentrated on it and the tip lit. Chris would have been envious of how easily she did it. He was still having difficulty trying to concentrate long enough to create fire. She shook her head and forced the thoughts from her mind. Christopher wasn't why she was here. At least not exactly.
The cave echoed her footsteps as she made her way toward the back of the cave. The hard rock of the outer cave gave way to soft earth. The cold hadn't penetrated this far in, so the earth wasn't frozen. In the torchlight Evelyn saw why she'd come. A hand- carved tombstone gleamed in the gloom. Holding the torch in one hand, she lowered herself next to the grave.
"I know it's been a while since I've come," Evelyn said softly. "But I've been busy. Some boys came into my life. I've been taking care of them. They're so young an inexperienced." She laughed quietly. "Like you actually.
"Christopher is like you in so many ways. I've been able to use some of my tricks on him. You know the ones I used on you? They still work. At least they work well enough." She sighed. "They're both good boys. I only hope I can help them both.
"I can't really stay long. I want to. But they might wake up. They aren't ready to be without me just yet. I exhausted them both before I left. They shouldn't wake up, but they might." She touched the grave with her free hand. The moisture from the cave had condensed and obscured anything written on the stone. "I miss you. I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you." She pulled her hand away and ran out of the cave.
In her haste Evelyn to leave dropped the torch. It lit the room, but slowly started to die. One word shone in the fading light. Daryl.
TBC
Okay, how was that? Feedback please. I'm not sure when I'll have the next part out. But since I've been pumping these out so quickly, I think we can all wait a bit for the next part. Anybody want to hazard a guess as to who Daryl is? I've already sort of told you, but I just want to see how many people remember.
Feel free to drop me a line at Mist_dark@hotmail.com